Detective Pin: The Orb of Life (Book 2 of the Detective Pin Quadrilogy)

Chapter 1: The Grandfather Tree

"Thank you very little, Pin," Noah said.

"No problem, old man," Pin replied.

It was a sunny day in Animalia. Pin has just finished chopping wood for Noah the grumpy ol' cat.

"It's about time I get going," Pin said.

"Alright kid, see you later."

Pin headed to his home and went to bed.

The Next Morning~

Pin woke to crowds yelling outside his house. He got up and looked out his curtains. He saw lots of animals. He opened the door.

"What's going on?!" Pin asked with a shout.

"Are you going to fix it?" A fox asked.

"Will you do anything to help?!" a deer shouted.

"Fix what!?" Pin asked still trying to yell over the crowd.

The crowd quieted down.

"Have you not heard?" A goose asked.

"I DIDN'T HEAR ANYTHING!" Pin yelled getting very irritated.

"The Grandfather Tree lost its leaves and it's pale! All the nature around it is slowly losing its color!" The goose shouted.

"What! When did this happen?" Pin asked.

"We don't know! We all saw it like that this morning!" A platypus shouted.

Pin saw Noah in the crowd.

"Hey, Noah! Do you know anything about this?"

"I think I may have a idea," Noah answered.

Noah led the crowd and Pin to the Grandfather Tree.

"In the tree is the Orb of Life," Noah stated.

"What's that?"

"The Orb of Life is the source of nature in Animalia places by our founders," Noah answered.

"So you think the orb is missing?"

"Precisely."

Pin, Noah, and the crowd looked in the tree.

"It's gone!" Noah yelled.

The crowd gasped.

"Look for holes or some kind of opening," Noah demanded.

Everybody searched high and low.

"What's this?" Pin asked.

Pin moved some leaves and saw a hole going underground.

"Noah! I think you'd want to see this!"

Noah walked over to Pin.

"Well, well, well. Looks like it was an animal with claws or a digging ability," Noah stated.

"Everybody stay here! Pin and I will figure this out!" Noah yelled over the crowds gossip.

Pin threw a stick down to see how deep it was.

"According to my calculations, this hole is 25 feet deep," Pin explained.

"I'll go get a net so I can jump down and catch you," Noah said.

Noah went to go get a net.

10 Minutes Later~

Noah came back with a rather small net.

"Is this big enough?" Noah asked.

Pin is a rather small dog, so it would be big enough.

"Yeah, it'll do," Pin answered.

Noah jumped down.

"Alright get ready to jump," Noah announced, "3, 2, 1, JUMP!"

Pin leaped, he felt like he was in one of those movies where you need to jump to avoid an enemy or an explosion. Noah caught Pin.

*sigh*

"I'm too old for this," Noah said under his breath.

Pin and Noah walked in the tunnel.

"I see the light!" Pin yelled.

"You don't need to yell, I'm right here," Noah said irritably.

Pin and Noah walked to the light. When they got there, they saw Jasper the Australian Shepherd child.

"Hey, Jasper. What are you doing?" Pin asked.

"Oh! Hi, Uncle Popcorn!"

"Yeah, hi. Why are you here?" Pin asked hastily.

"Oh, I live here. This is my backyard," Jasper explained.

Pin and Noah exchanged looks.

"You do know there is a hole here that leads to the Grandfather tree, right?" Noah asked.

Jasper just noticed Noah was there.

"Oh, yeah. A cat came by and asked if I could dig a hole for her," Jasper remembered.

"So lemme guess, you did what she said?" Pin asked.

"Of course! I have to be a gentleman, according to my Parents."

Pin and Noah did a facepalm.

"Did you even ask why?" Noah asked.

"Nope, my Mom said never to question adults."

"Did you at least catch her on her way out?" Pin asked about to face palm if Jasper said the wrong thing.

"Yeah, she was holding a ball," Jasper remembered.

"The orb!" Pin and Noah said simultaneously.

"What? Orb? Huh?"

"No time, do you know where she went?" Pin asked hastily.

"Oh, she went to the forest over there," Jasper said, pointing at the forest.

"Why did you need to know this stuff?"

Pin and Noah were already running.

"Wait!" Jasper yelled.

Jasper ran after them. So the three of them ran to the forest.

"Hey, Uncle Popcorn. Can you tell me why, please?"

"Jasper! Why did you come! Go home!" Pin demanded.

"But I wanna help with whatever you're doing."

"Jasper go—" Pin paused. He saw Tobuscus building his new house.

"What?" Jasper asked.

Pin ran over to Tobuscus.

"Hey, Tobuscus, Toby. Can I call you Toby? Anyway, have you seen a cat come around here with a ball-like object?"

"Yeah, I did. I thought it was odd, but I ignored it," Tobuscus replied.

"Well, do you know where she went next?" Pin asked getting tired of asking this question.

"Hmm, yes I do. She went up the mountain. Why do you ask?" Tobuscus asked.

Pin sighed.

"Okay, tree lost power, cat stole orb, we need to find her."

"Wait a second, was it Kityan?" Noah asked.

"No, no. This cat was a brown tabby cat. Plus she was a bit old looking, but not Noah old. No offense, Noah."

"It's fine. Thanks for the info," Noah said.

"Anyway, how does a orb have to do with the tree?" Tobuscus asked.

"Well, it's the orb of life, nature orb if you want. Without it, we lose all nature as we know it," Noah explained.

"We will head into the forest in the morning, I can see in the night, but you can't, Pin." Noah said.

"Alright," Pin agreed.