The Wounds We Heal

Chapter nine: Thrills And Chills!

The husky then turned towards Marshall, despite being covered up under the thermal blanket.

"How did you know where my pup tag was?" Snowflake asked curiously.

"Uh,.. instinct?" Marshall answered uncertainly. "And I could tell where you were by your voice."

Zuma shuddered.

"How much longer will it be before help gets here?" he asked, trying to pull the blanket down to cover him a little more.

"Soon, I hope. Wait... Oh gosh. I didn't bring my cozy sleeves either!" Snowflake replied, until she realized her mistake.

"I've got sleeves on and I'm still cold!" Zuma whined.

All their wriggling about shifted the pups closer to Chase, and the contact with their cold skin made him more inclined to escape.

Turning blindly, he rushed forward and the restrictive material finally seemed to release him, and he used his momentum to slide into a turn towards the crystal relief he felt he needed.

"No..-"

Soon a weight on his back stopped him short of the shoreline, at a distance that didn't even allow a paw to touch its surface.

"Hey lemme go!" Chase cried, trying to get up, even while his shoulder cried out for mercy and his friends' body and paws held him there.

Marshall had plopped himself on top of Chase, and Rubble and Rocky arrived to help hold him down when he nearly stood to successfully knock the Dalmatian off him.

"No way!" Marshall refused. "You're not going back in there, till summer! It's not safe!"

"I was better off there than out here!" Chase growled, still trying to escape.

"We just rescued you from that freezing cold pond.. we're not about to let you make yourself sick by jumping back in!" Marshall answered.

Chase managed to get his paws under him enough to try and shift himself forward. Even allowing him success by a few inches, until the friction of the ground and his fellow pups' combined leverage spent the extra energy he put into it.

"No!..- guys!!" Chase strained trying to muster up the strength.

"Man,.." Rubble gasped, while they all continued to hold their ground on him. "For a tired, wounded pup,.. he sure is strong!"

Chester then came over to straddle his weight across Marshall's back to help hold down the fort.

"Ihn.. well,.. that's Chase for you.." He said, putting his own strength into it. "Can't knock a guy that works out."

Everyone could still feel Chase resisting their touch, but with each attempt he slowly ceased to resist. He finally set his head limply on the ground, and sighed, making no more attempts to move.

The pups finally relaxed, all sighing with relief.

"Crisis averted?" Chester stated, sounding more like a question.

"Wooph! Hopefully." Marshall breathed.

"Sorry Zuma. Hold on, Ned, stay with him. I'm g-g-g-going to help the others," Snowflake said before leaving the thermal blanket.

"Okay," Ned said, before happily continuing to hug Zuma, the pup's fur still wet and cold.

Snowflake ran out and saw the pile of pups.

"Chase? You were going to go back in the pond? Are you crazy?" Snowflake asked in shock.

"Noo!!- don't touch me, please!! You're cold! You're all c-cold!!" Chase wailed trying to escape the pile once again, and failing completely.