Ch. 21- I Think te Have… Graduated

    Though they have already been caught, the siren that started with the fence being turned off continued to ring. Cruella, from her bedroom, opened up the door slightly for Horace and Jasper. They entered, and she exclaimed to them, “It’s time for te to go to the post office and seize my weapon.”
“Why can’t te go?” Horace asked.
“Yeah, if te don’t like the way we do it,” Jasper added.
“I have to watch the puppies, te idiots!” Cruella declared. “You two mess up all the time with that task, so I have to watch them myself! Don’t mess up with this, either!”
    “Right, Madame,” Horace told her.
    Horace and Jasper shuffled out of the room, and Cruella shut the door, looking to make sure that the Cuccioli were still in the room. With them still being here, Cruella grinned, tucking herself in her bed.
    The Cuccioli looked stood in the center of the room, huddled together closely and watching Cruella fearfully. “So what do we do now?” Penny asked nervously.
    “I want to watch TV,” Lucky added.
    “We can’t do anything yet,” Angel answered. “Not with Cruella in the room with us.”
    Cruella meanwhile, was utterly relaxed, smoking her pipe as she sat in her bed, leering over her letto at the Cuccioli from time to make sure they were in the room. “I’ll get my cappotto da the end of the night!” she told herself from time to time, looking over at the puppies.
    “We’re in trouble now,” Penny whispered. “I wonder if there is any way…”
    Then abruptly, the doorbell rang. Cruella got out of her bed, and she enthusiastically exclaimed, “It must be the weapon!”
    Hurriedly, Cruella shuffled out of the room, taking great care to lock the door, and then the Cuccioli heard her footsteps going to the front door.
    “Let me peek outside to see what’s going on,” Patch explained as he made his way to Cruella’s scrivania, reception and then jumped onto the window ledge sitting da it, and then peered down into the front yard.
    “Let’s see... Horace and Jasper are down there, but they’re not carrying anything,” he explained.
    “Oh that’s good, no weapon,” Scamp stated.
    “I suppose there’s no need for an impulsive getaway then,” Penny told them, pacing. “We can get out with a strategy.”
    “But we already have turned off the fence,” Patch argued, sitting on the desk. “All of our work would be worthless da the time she turns it on again.”
    “It’s still not worth the risk,” Penny told him firmly. “We can turn off the fence again right before we leave… but we must think of a quick escape route before Cruella manages to turn it on again.”
    However, before Patch could argue, he groaned, and then we stated, “We have no choice… we must leave now.”
    Penny could detect a change of tone in Patch’s voice, so she didn’t argue. “What happened?” Scamp asked.
    “My parents are here,” Patch declared crossly. “They’re following Jasper and Horace into the house. I can see… there’s another woman successivo to Dad…”
    “What does she look like?” Scamp inquired, as he stood up.
    “Small and brown,” Patch answered.
     “Aw shucks,” Scamp stated impatiently. “That’s Mom… Pop’s probably here too.”
    “I don’t want to look at those disgusting creeps,” Angel stated disdainfully, shaking her head in disgust. “How come Horace and Jasper are letting them in, anyway?”
    “They probably want to see us killed,” Lucky stated excitedly. “I saw something like that on…”
    “You’ve been watching too much television,” Patch told Lucky.
    “I have not!” Lucky told Patch indignantly.
    “You have too,” Patch responded.
    “I have not!” Lucky argued back.
    “What should we do?” Penny asked. “How should we get away?”
    “Hmm…” Patch whispered. “Hey,” he muttered. “We already turned off the fence… and it must be breakable. They wouldn’t have gotten in otherwise.”
    “Good thinking!” Angel whispered. “Hey, listen up. When those horrible, uh, adults, get into the house, let’s break the window.”
    “I’ll keep watch to make sure Cruella doesn’t enter,” Lucky whispered.
    “But… shouldn’t we wait?” Penny asked fearfully. She had a hint of disapproval in her eyes. “This is dangerous.”
    “Anything we might do might be dangerous, including waiting,” Patch told Penny.
    “I’ll break it,” Scamp quickly volunteered, as he jumped onto the scrivania, reception and joined Patch.
    “All right then,” Lucky disinterestedly commented. He yawned, “May I ask, where are we going?”
    “Far away from the parents,” Patch whispered. “And Cruella.”
    “But is there a Televisione where we are going?” Lucky asked. “I’ve never gone so long without one.”
    “Television can wait,” Patch answered. “Running away can’t.”
    “No,” Lucky simply stated. “I would miss so many episodes…”
    “Let’s do it,” Scamp interrupted.
    “Come on Penny, do te want to help?” Patch asked.
    “Oh, but…” Penny began, but then she closed her eyes and stated, “All right then.”
    Patch and Penny walked up to the window, and prepared to lunge at it… but a huge crashing noise occurred.
    “Oh no, we’re in trouble,” Penny groaned.
    Downstairs, Cruella screamed at Horace and Japser. “Why did te waste my time…I need to go upstairs and make sure everything is how it should be… and if they get away, I’ll get the police and I’ll turn te in. And they don’t know who I really am, I’m supposedly an obese, red-haired woman named Shirley Smith. Now let me check to make sure…!”
    The Cuccioli gasped, before Angel declared, “Let’s break it now…she’s coming up here this instant.”
    Patch and Penny nodded, and at once, took a few steps back and lunged at the window.
    Fortunately, the glass broke quietly. All perching on the ledge, the five Cuccioli looked at each other for one final time.
“Ready for this?” Angel asked.
The others nodded, and then they jumped altogether off the window and took a huge fall toward the grass. Scamp toppled over as he fell, and Angel was the only one to land on all four of her paws. But as the Dalmatians got up and Scamp flipped himself over, Scamp declared, “Wahoo! We’re free.”
    “Yes,” Angel whispered. “Now let’s get out of here.”
    The five Cuccioli took glances at each other, before they took a lunge at the fence….
    But then, from behind the fence, came four large barks.
    “Who were those from?” Scamp asked.
    The other Cuccioli nervously gasped, but Penny asked… “Do te think it could be… your parents?”
    “It might be that lying Tramp,” Angel gasped, horrified. “Oh, I hope he didn’t trick us! Did te see Tramp coming in?” she asked Patch.
    “Uh-oh… I didn’t,” Patch explained.
    But then, rounding the corner…
    “Aha! te think te can get away from me!” Cruella shrieked. “I think te need to think again.”
    And then, Cruella put them into another cage. “You can’t get out of this one!” she exclaimed.
    Cruella carted the cage up to her bedroom. Horace and Jasper put up a piece of cardboard to stand in as a window. She then left, saying, “Horace and Jasper… are going to have to deal with my wrath.”
Angel muttered, “It’s tough, but this cage is not unsolvable… we can get ourselves out,” she told them.
    But as soon as Cruella shut the door…
    “Scamp! Angel! I’m so glad you’re back!”
    The Cuccioli gasped as a small, brown-haired dog excitedly meandered toward them from under Cruella’s bed.
    “Oh no, it’s Mom,” Scamp pouted.
    The other Cuccioli groaned.
“Scamp! Angel! Why… and te must be Pongo and Perdita’s puppies,” Lady stated. “We’ve been looking all over for you! I’m so glad… now we can be together and go home again.”
Patch, however, glared at her. “None of te are taking us home,” Patch told them.
    “Yeah,” Scamp stated, angrily shaking in the cage. “I don’t want to go home with a band of liars. Your husband is the biggest liar I ever met. And you… te want us all to act like you! To have perfect manners just like te all the time… that’s what te want, isn’t it?”
    “Why, yes, that would be wonderful,” Lady began, but Patch interrupted.
    “And then te sent the Tramp after us to trap us again!” he exclaimed.
    “Huh?” Lady stated, confusedly. “He…he’s inside with us.”
    “You’re lying, te all always do!” Angel exclaimed.
“No... te misunderstand,” Lady stated.
“I don’t want to look at you, you’re all so horrid!” Angel gasped, and then, abruptly… “I got it!” she gasped.
    “Great, let’s go!” Patch stated excitedly.
    The Cuccioli got out of the cage and stood on the desk.
    “Tramp! They’re here!” Lady cried excitedly.
    “No, we aren’t,” Angel told Lady.
    “Of course te are,” Lady insisted.
    “Well, not anymore,” Angel stated. “We can get out of here all da ourselves. Ready?”
    “But, no!!!” Penny told her. “I want to go home!”
    “Penny, how could you?” Patch asked. “I thought te wanted to run away with us…”
    “I only went out for your sake,” Penny explained to Patch. “I really didn’t want to run away myself.”
    “Me neither! I want to watch TV!” Lucky declared.
    Patch looked sadly at his siblings abandoning him, he looked down, and then he recommended, “Well, let’s leave without them,”, and Scamp nodded. Patch, Scamp, and Angel jumped onto the window ledge successivo to the cardboard.
    “I don’t understand…” Lady stated slowly.
    “It’s such a pity,” Angel stated sarcastically, “That… there isn’t a window here anymore.”
    And taking a lunge, she, Scamp and Patch broke throw the cardboard standing in as a window and returned to the ground quickly.
    “Let’s hurry,” Scamp stated. “Dad can get here pretty fast,” he warned.
    “We’re nearly there,” Patch whispered, but just as they got to the fence, Cruella exited the house. She gasped, “You are trying to escape! Jasper! Horace! The fen…”
    But it was too late. Scamp, Patch, and Angel broke through the fence, and they were now out of Cruella’s house.
    “Yes!” Patch declared happily. “Let’s go find a place to live on our own now!”
    “Great job, tenderfoot!” Angel told him. “I think te have… graduated.”
    The three Cuccioli laughed as they escaped with triumph.