Paw Patrol: A Runaway Pup

Chapter Eleven

All the pups stared at Ryder in silence, not knowing how to answer his question. He only interrogated Chase, but the other pups knew they had to say something because they were already involved in it as well.

"Chase, I'm asking you..." Ryder repeated, "Is it true that Marshall is missing and not dead?"

The pups stared back at Chase, who was stunned.

"What do we do?" Rubble whispered.

"Silly you, we don't really have a choice," Zuma whispered back.

"Chase, tell him!" Skye said.

"I... Uh... uhm..." Chase stuttered.

"Please, Chase! There's no way you cannot say it now," Rocky told him.

"Rocky, shut up!" Zuma snarled at Rocky.

"What's wrong with tha-"

Chase suddenly cut off Rocky, blurting out everything they have been hiding about.

"It's true, Ryder..." Chase said, "Marshall isn't dead. He ran away the night after the accident. We didn't want to tell you because we knew that once you'd find out, you would risk everything to find him. And we didn't want you to get hurt again like last time. Ryder... I... I'm sorry."

The rest of the pups dropped their jaws when Chase finished. Ryder went speechless, hearing the whole story Chase just told. He had mixed feelings of surprise, betrayal, and disappointment. He didn't know how to answer what Chase just said.

"I think I need to be alone for a while," Ryder said, as he walked away, heading to his bedroom.

The pups still stood there, with guilt covered on their faces.

"That was brave of you to say, dude!" Zuma said, letting out a grin.

"Zuma, could you not?!" Rocky scolded him.

"Hehe... Sorry about that," Zuma replied, with the grin fading off his face.

"Skye?" Chase called. Skye didn't even dare to face him.

"I told you you should've told him sooner!" Skye confronted. She ran away in front of him with tears coming down from her eyes.

"Skye, wait!" Chase yelled.

"Chase, just give her some space..." Rubble said, "Just for now."

"How about we head to our pup houses and rest a bit? So we can calm ourselves down," Rocky said.

"Sure, dude! I like that," Zuma agreed.

"Okay, Rocky... Sounds good," Chase added.

"Anybody wants something to eat? I can go get you all some," Rubble asked.

"Sure, Rubble! Thanks," Rocky answered, while Zuma and Chase nodded as well.

As Chase, Zuma, and Rocky were quietly sitting there alone in their pup houses, a call from Everest was ringing in Chas's pup tag.

"Hey, Chase!" Everest greeted, but not in an enthusiastic tone.

"Hi, Everest!" Chase replied, "Uh, is something wrong?"

"Yeah... I bet Ryder asked you already about Marshall," Everest said.

"Uh-huh... He did. How did you know?" Chase questioned.

"Jake accidentally spilled it. I'm sorry, Chase..." Everest answered.

"Everest, it's okay. It's not your fault. Ryder somehow found the note that Marshall left before running away. He questioned us and that's when I had to tell the truth." Chase explained.

"Oh... So, it wasn't just Jake's fault?" Everest asked.

"Well, yeah, I guess... He never told us about whatever Jake said," Chase replied, "What did he say, anyway?"

"Uh... I think he asked if Marshall has returned there yet," Everest answered, sheepishly.

"My gosh, why did he ask that?!" Zuma shouted, overhearing the conversation.

"Zuma... Could you learn to shut up for just at least thirty minutes? Please?" Rocky scolded.

"Sorry, I'll shut up now..." Zuma answered, smiling sheepishly.

"Well, what did Ryder say?" Everest asked.

"He, uh... Said nothing," Chase replied, "He just walked away, saying he wanted to be alone in his room for a while."

"Oh, okay... " Everest answered, not sure how to answer, "Well, I gotta go... Gonna help Jake out with something."

"Sure, Everest! Go ahead... Talk to you later," Chase replied.

"Bye!" Everest said and hung up.

After she hung up on Chase, he turned his attention to Rocky and Zuma, who both had their mouths shut.

"What is wrong with you two? Could you learn to not eavesdrop when I'm in a conversation with someone?" Chase scolded. The two pups smiled in embarrassment.

"Sorry, Chase!" Zuma and Rocky apologized.

"Anyway, where's Rubble? He said he'll be here with some food?" Chase asked.

On the other hand, Skye was full of both frustration and guilt. Frustration because she already told Chase to tell Ryder the truth sooner, but he didn't do it. And guilt, she is involved in hiding it from Ryder, so it was her fault too. As she passed by Ryder's bedroom, she thought to herself.

"I know I should apologize to him. This was also my fault. Well, basically, it was all our fault. But Ryder did say he wanted to be alone, and if I come and barge in, I might upset him more."

Skye thought about it for a few minutes. Then, she finally decided to kindly and calmly apologize to Ryder.

"Oh, well, worth a try..." she said to herself.

Skye slowly creeps into the room, looking for Ryder. She scans every part of the bedroom and finds Ryder, crying and hugging his knees on the floor. On her right, she notices a tissue box on the table, high enough for her to reach. She gently grabs the box with her mouth without wrecking it and slowly walks toward Ryder. When Skye got closer, she sat there next to him, putting down the tissue box.

"I'm so sorry, Ryder..." Skye said, softly. Tears started falling from her eyes.

The moment Skye spoke, Ryder looked at him, grabbing a tissue from the box and wiping the tears off his face.

"I know what we did was wrong, but we didn't really want to lie to you. When Marshall ran away, we knew you would worry so much about him. But the last thing we wanted... Was to put you in danger again after that accident," Skye continued.

Rubble, who suddenly overheard the conversation from outside, gently enters the room as he listens to Skye.

"We just didn't expect to take this too far..." Skye added.

"Skye's right," Rubble joined in. Ryder and Skye looked at Rubble, who just came in, "I'm sorry, too, Ryder... I hope you understand why we never told you in the first place."

Ryder just kept silent, still sobbing softly there in front of the two pups. Skye, who was also crying already, just hugged Ryder. Rubble comes closer to join the hug as well.

Ryder, still sobbing there without a word, thought to himself all that Skye said. He didn't know if he should feel upset at what the pups just did. At first, he felt as if his pups just betrayed him. But he realized that there was a reason why they had to do it. But now that he knows the truth, the question for him is, 'Where did Marshall go anyway?'