UDCFR

Chapter 15

1 week later...

October begins, and the cold weather it brings. Leaves of green, yellow, orange, and red start to fall and litter around the lookout yard. Blaze is gathering leaves into a pile and letting his son dive into it. They repeat the process when a red Jeep drives up to the lookout. Marshall recognizes the jeep and bolts towards it. Blaze's mate, Misty, gets out of the jeep.

"Mom, you're here!" The young Dalmatian says with excitement.

Misty hugs her squirming son, "Hello Marshall, I missed you."

"What took you so long?" Marshall asks, wriggling in Misty's embrace.

"The moving company added us to a waiting list and didn't help until four months after they said they would."

Misty lets go of Marshall and he backs up, "Why did they not help?"

"I don't know honey. The only thing that i care about now is that we are finally here, back together."

Mark Taylor, the owner of the Dalmatians, gets out of the driver seat, "Hello Blaze, and Marshall."

Mark bends down to pet Marshall, and pats Blaze on the neck. Jeff and Hunter come out of the lookout. Jeff and Mark embrace.

"How has it been Jeff?" Mark asks.

"All is well," Jeff says, "Looking for one more member to join the team."

"I thought you needed six."

Jeff nods, "Yes, but we also needed one small dog to fit our helicopter. So we are still searching."

Mark nods back and turns to pet Hunter, "And how have you been Hunter?"

Hunter sits down, "I have been good. Disappointed about not flying the copter." Hunter has been feeling down since the driving lessons. Another job that life will not let him have.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Mark says, pausing before speaking again, "How is your learning from Max and Blaze going?"

"It has been going good, finished the basic learning about two weeks ago. since then, I have been hard at work making dog packs for Max, Blaze, and the other members of the team."

"Dog packs?" Mark questions, "What is that?"

"I'll show you." Blaze says, running inside the lookout. He comes back out wearing a red dog pack. Blaze faces away from everyone. Blaze barks and calls for a water hose. The pack's top lifts to reveal two small water hoses attached to the underside of the pack's top. A mechanical arm raises the hoses over Blaze's head.

"You then attach the pack to a fire hydrant or other water source, and you're set." Blaze says before barking away the hoses.

Mark's eyes are wide with amazement, "And you built that? With no hands?"

Hunter nods with a smile.

"You are amazing at those gizmos." Mark says in astonishment.

"Hmmm." Jeff muses as he looks at his watch, "I hope Max and Chase get back before Wendy and Roxy get here."

"Are they on an errand?" Mark asks.

"Yes, they are at the town's farmer, Alvin Murry. He has a harvest and wanted to give us some vegetables as a late welcome gift."

"A three and a half month late welcome gift." Mark states.

"He means well."

Jeff looks at his watch again, "Max should've been back twenty minutes ago." Max is not allowed to drive his police vehicle until his driving lessons are complete. He and Chase took a pull wagon to bring the produce back. Jeff knew it would be a long walk, but it wouldn't take an hour and a half to walk to the farm and back. It is still a small town. Jeff is about to walk after them when he sees Max and Chase at the bottom of the hill. The wagon is full of produce.

The group comes to stand beside Jeff as he looks down the hill.

"Who's that?" Hunter asks, pointing to the small cockapoo dog walking with Max and Chase.

"I don't know." Jeff says, "Looks like they made a friend."

Max, Chase, and the cockapoo get to the top of the hill. "Hello sir," Max says, panting hard, "Got the produce like you asked."
"Thank you, Max." Jeff says, "And who do we have here?" Jeff gets on one knee to greet the small dog.

"We found her picking a fight with a couple of mutts." Max says as he pulls the wagon towards the lookout. Chase runs to Marshall and the two start playing in the leaves.

"They wouldn't leave me alone." The cockapoo says, "I was on my way here when two jerks began to make fun of me, saying I was too small to even try out for the UDCFR. Then they pushed me and wouldn't stop. One point I moved out of the way, and they slammed into each other. Then Officer Max appeared and told them to leave."

The little cockapoo has on a cute blue shirt with pink lining and some navy-blue pants. Her fur is the color of light tan with an even lighter tan on her paws and muzzle. Her eye patches have a darker shade of tan than the rest of her body. For a small dog, she carries herself as if she is ten times larger.

"I'm sorry that happened." Jeff says to the young dog, "You are here now, and we are looking for a small dog. I can interview you for being our aviator."

The cockapoo's eyes lit up with excitement, "I get to fly?!"

"It is the only job available." Jeff says to the cockapoo. "You will have to learn to fly our helicopter."

The cockapoo starts spinning in circles repeating "Yes" over and over. Jeff gets up and heads to the lookout to prepare the interview. Hunter, Blaze, and Misty watch the spinning dog.

"I'm certain dogs aren't allowed to drink Red Bulls, right?" Blaze says.

"No," Hunter says, not taking his eye off the still spinning little dog, "little dogs produce their own. Biological fact."

Blaze laughs as he approaches the little cockapoo. The dog has stopped spinning and is swaying side to side. Blaze holds the little dog steady. "You okay little thing?" Blaze is trying not to laugh.

The cockapoo looks up at him, "I'm fine sir. And I'm four years old, not a little thing anymore." She walks forward and shakes.

"What is your name?" Hunter asks the cockapoo. The small dog looks at him with the most interesting eye color Hunter has ever seen. Each iris is a mixture of magenta and navy blue, both fading into each other.

"My name is Skye." She says. Chase and Marshall are running when Marshall slams into Skye. After the entanglement, Both get back on their paws.

"Sorry." Marshall says before running after Chase. Skye, not resisting the urge, starts running after the duo.

"Excuse me, young dog!" Jeff calls from the lookout entrance. Skye skids to a stop before looking at Jeff.

"I'm ready to interview you now!"

Sky doesn't hesitate. She runs to the entrance as fast as her short legs could take her, her ears flapping like a tan flag. After Skye is inside, Hunter exhales deep, "She is an energetic one."

"Will Chase and Marshall wear her out, or will she wear them out?" Blaze asks, watching Chase and Marshall chase each other.

Hunter pauses before answering, "My money is on her."

The two kept talking as they went inside the lookout.

Hunter, Wendy, and Mark Taylor belong to me.

Max, Blaze, Misty, Roxy, and Jeff belong to ThreadyRumble.

Chase, Marshall, Alvin Murry (Farmer Al), and Skye belong to spinmasters.