Chapter 31- An Angel in Paradise

The whole group looked down from the cliff. They could still see the ripples of water where Buster fell. Nearby, Cruella’s car lay in shambles.
    “Well,” Lady whispered, sighing, “We’re safe.”
    “You’re right,” Perdita gasped. “I can’t believe it…”
    “Hey, toi guys, come with us,” Danielle shouted to the Dalmatians. “Robert and Anita are at my home…”
“Roger, dear,” Perdita corrected her.
“Roger then,” Danielle continued. “Or at least Rolly is, with the rest of the puppies. With Aunt Sarah and those kitty cats...” Danielle made a face of disgust.
    “If they bother toi again, I’ll chase those cats,” Scamp volunteered to Danielle and Lady, who both happily laughed, as they passed a set of railroad tracks.
    “Why are they at your home?” Pongo asked.
    “To look for everyone,” Danielle explained. “They’ve met up with Jim Dear and Darling to look for us.”
    “Come on, let’s not keep them waiting anymore! Let’s go home,” Tramp suggested. As the group hurried down the path, Peg abruptly stopped, then turned.
    “What’s wrong?” Angel asked Peg.
    “I just saw somethin’,” Peg explained. Her voice turned unsure, and a bit higher than usual. “Sweetie… I…I have to go.”
    And then, Peg tore off back toward the railroad tracks. She could make out a silhouette slowly moving to them in the distance. “Where are toi going?” Lady asked.
    But Peg didn’t answer. She kept on running down until she arrived at the railroad tracks. And there, was a black dog with a severe limp. He tried walking toward Peg himself, stumbled, but quickly stood back up again.
    Peg and the black dog stopped. They stared at each other for a few moments. Then, she approached him apprehensively, taking a step forward.
"Could toi be..." Peg muttered softly.
    “You can’t be…” the black dog told Peg. “Can you?”
Upon hearing his voice, Peg gasped. She then walked up to him and asked, “Spunky? You… you’re alive?”
    “Yeah,” Spunky told Peg, smiling at her proudly, and then scratching himself, he revealed a little bit of orange fourrure under the black. “I can’t believe it… toi survived the pound?”
    “Sure did,” Peg answered, and then she fluffed the hair out of her eyes. “I escaped myself. I don’t understand though… how? Buster a dit toi were dead.”
    “It’s a long story,” Spunky told Peg.
    “I thought I saw toi a few times,” Peg told Spunky breathlessly, “I went out to look for toi when I first thought I saw you… I thought I was just imagining things. But…I wasn’t…”
“I was following toi guys,” Spunky answered. “Or trying to, it’s hard to keep up. Buster was nearly right. He did severely wound me.”
“But to think… that you’re actually still alive! I… I… can’t believe it! Our Angel is going to be…” Peg excitedly began, but then she paused.
    They were interrupted as Angel came running over toward them. She then slowed as she arrived. Staring at Spunky, then Peg, she asked, “Mama… who’s he?”
    Peg smiled. “Your father isn’t dead after all,” she told Angel gently.
     And then Peg told Spunky, “And this is our little angel.”
    Spunky looked even plus delighted. “Hey sweetheart,” Spunky told Angel, caressing her gently.
    “Daddy… you… you’re alive!” Angel gasped in delight. “But… Buster a dit he killed you!” Angel exclaimed. “And..."
    “Spunky! You’re… you’re here!” Tramp exclaimed, joining them.
    Spunky gasped. “Hey Tramp,” he greeted him. “Long time, no see! But why are toi here?”
    “I’m Angel’s adopted dad,” he explained.
    Spunky smiled. “And I’m sure you’ve taken great care of her.”
“I’m just so happy that you’re alive!” Angel exclaimed cheerfully, chasing her tail and biting it in celebration.
“Who’s alive?” Scamp asked curiously. The rest of the group approached.
     Angel smiled broadly. “My dad!” she exclaimed excitedly. Then she told Spunky, "He's my boyfriend, Scamp."
Lady, Pongo, and Perdita gasped.
    “You mean…he’s your dad?” Patch asked.
Angel smiled brightly and nodded. “How did toi escape Buster?”she asked excitedly.
    “Yeah, tell us!” Patch asked eagerly.
    “Well, I fooled him!” Spunky explained as the group began to walk home. “Buster thought he got me. I pretended to be dead as Buster attacked my back. It really hurt! He attacked me with incredible ferocity. But I played cool and didn’t move. He then thought I was dead. I heard him laugh in triumph. He left me to rot in that haunted junkyard place. But he failed! Then I Lost consciousness. When I woke up, I felt pain all over. I struggled to move. But I managed to crawl to a barrel of soot, which I covered myself up in for a disguise.”
“So toi were the one in that soot!” Patch exclaimed. “We saw some furs in there.”
“Yeah, that was me,” Spunky told him. “Anyway, I had to leave the junkyard in case Buster went there again. I couldn’t really fight him due to my injuries, after all I could barely stand up. So I went into the hiding in the nearby forest. That’s where I lived ever since. I only left there to go back in that junkyard to cover myself in soot again… that was, until toi came along. I thought I saw Peg. But I couldn’t be sure. I was sure she was dead. When we escaped, the dogcatchers got her. I heard a clanging sound when I realized she was gone. I thought they…they…”
Peg smiled, “Oh! It was only the new dogcatcher crashing his wagon. He made a stir that day,” she told him. “But you’re right… it did sound like…you know.”
Spunky continued, “So I thought she was dead all this time. I resigned myself to it. But the chance of seeing her again gave me the strength to follow toi guys home. It was the first time I went far away from that forest since Buster's attack. And then, during that fight with Buster on the cliff, I saw her up close. I walked out to get closer. Buster saw me though on that cliff. He was furious! That’s why he fell over, see? He was so shocked that he failed that he actually Lost his balance.”
“Wow,” Angel told him, amazed.
“And I thought I saw him quite a few times,” Peg told them. “That’s why I seemed out of it, toi know? I thought I was seeing him. And I was… I just… had to be sure.”
    Angel smiled, feeling plus elated than ever before. “And to think… I didn’t realize toi two were alive!” she exclaimed cheerily.
    The group then stopped at the junkyard. “We need to get our collars back,” Scamp told the others, and Angel nodded. They walked through the barrel, found their collars on its side and put their collars back on their necks.
And then, after crossing a few plus streets, they found Park Avenue.
    “This is where toi live?” Spunky asked Angel.
    “Yeah,” Angel answered.
    “It looks on the pricy side,” Spunky muttered.
“Oh…I can’t believe this,” Lady exclaimed. “We’re accueil at last!”
They arrived accueil just when the moon began to shine. Out on the porch steps were Jim Dear and Darling, along with Roger and Anita. They were accompanied par Aunt Sarah, rocking on the rocking chair and looking far plus relaxed than anyone else, as well as Rolly, continuing to eat, Freckles who was sitting nervously, and a sobbing Annette and Collette. Jock and Trusty were standing with them too, trying to reassure Annette and Collette.
    “We’ve been so mean…” Annette told Collette.
    “I miss them!” Collette added. “Mom and Dad, and Danielle… I even miss Scamp and Angel!”
    “Hi sisters,” Scamp yelled cheerfully. “We’re back!”
    Annette and Collette gasped and looked at each other. “Yay!” Annette squealed.
    Then all of a sudden, Anita exclaimed, “Roger, what on Earth?”
    Roger looked up. And then, he grinned. “Hey, it looks like…”
    “They’re all here!” Jim Dear declared.
    The families reunited at the front path to Lady’s house. “Oh, how nice to see toi all again,” Darling told them. “We have been so lucky.”
    “I can’t believe this…they’re really here!” Roger announced.
    Lady happily bustled to Jock and Trusty. “Ah, Lassie! Good to see that you're back!” Jock exclaimed.
    “I see that toi found your little ones just fine,” Trusty stated.
    “Yes,” Lady happily stated. “They helped me find out how to be a better mother… and I also found out that I had the best husband that I could possibly find.”
    “Oh, that’s very sweet, Miss Lady,” Trusty stated.
    They then turned to Danielle. “We’re sorry for yelling at you, Lassie,” Jock told Danielle.
    “We were just nervous about Miss Lady and everyone else,” Trusty told Danielle.
    “Aw, that’s all right,” Danielle smiled to them.
     Standing slightly isolated from everyone else, Scamp, Angel, and Patch were standing alone, looking at each other.
    “We’re going to miss you,” Scamp told Patch.
    “I know,” Patch sighed. “It’s really been good to meet you…there’s no one like toi at home.”
But then, Danielle bounded up to them and asked, “Why are toi three not partying?”
    Scamp, Angel, and Patch looked at Danielle incredulously. “Well… we’re never going to see him again,” Scamp told Danielle.
    “Why not?” Danielle asked.
    “Because they live in London,” Angel explained. “That’s across the sea.”
    “But don’t toi know about Darling and Anita?” Danielle asked in surprise.
    “What about them?” Patch asked.
    “Anita’s Darling’s long-lost little sister,” Danielle told Patch. “They found out after looking for all of toi together. I overheard them.”
    “What?” Scamp asked, surprised.
    “And toi didn’t tell us?” Angel asked.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot,” Danielle smiled guiltily. “And they bought the house.”
“House?” Lady asked, who also joined in.
“That house across the rue for sale,” Danielle explained. “Robert and Anita bought it for a home.”
    “Really?” Patch asked. Then, he bounded up to Rolly and Freckles. “Did Roger buy that house?”
    “Yeah,” Rolly yawned, eating another biscuit. “Why do toi ask?”
    “Danielle told me so,” Patch explained.
    “Anita says she’d take us here regularly to see her sister,” Rolly told them.
    “Oh, but we’re going away ourselves!” Annette declared.
    “What do toi mean?” Scamp asked, who joined in.
    “We’re going on a cruise… oh, isn’t that so romantic?” Collette sighed dreamily.
“Why?” Scamp asked curiously.
“To see Rolly and Freckles and their family, of course!” Collette announced.
    Scamp, Angel, and Patch smiled at each other. “Wahoo!” Scamp cheered. The three chiots were delighted not to be separated.
    “We’ll see toi soon,” Roger told Jim Dear, and he, Anita, and the Dalmatians walked across the rue to their house.
"Bye Scamp, Angel," waved Patch.
Scamp and Angel smiled back at Patch before turning to face their family.
    “All right everyone, let’s go in,” Jim Dear announced.
    Nearly everyone walked inside. But Angel and Danielle stayed put. They stared at the steps. Puffball was still standing there, uncertainly looking at their home.
    “Come in, Puffball!” Danielle told him. “You’re my boyfriend.”
    “But… no family would ever take me in,” Puffball told Danielle sadly.
    “Don’t worry. You’re my boyfriend. You’re the family,” she explained.
    “Well, I would l’amour a family!” Puffball gasped. “But… do toi think…”
    “Of course they will!” Danielle shouted cheerily. “They took her in… why not you?”
    And this gave Angel a sudden idea. She hurried over to Puffball, and gasped, “Where are my Mom and Dad?”
    “They went down the rue to the left,” Puffball explained.
    Angel didn’t wait for a reply. She rushed down the left street, passing houses and sidewalks, until at last, she noticed Peg and Spunky walking away.
    “I’m glad we helped her out, aren’t you?” Peg told Spunky.
    “Yeah,” Spunky agreed. “Now let’s go find somewhere to live together.”
    “Hi Mom, Dad,” Angel walked up to them.
    Peg turned. “Hiya sweetie… I l’amour seeing you. But… please, go back to your accueil where toi belong.”
    “Look,” Angel told Peg. “You two are my parents. I haven’t seen toi all my life. Why don't toi come accueil with me?" she asked.
    “I don’t know… we’ve never thought about living in this kind of place,” Spunky told Angel, looking at the houses on either side of him.
    “Yeah,” Peg whispered. “We were going to go off and live… somewhere. We didn’t expect… and Lady and Tramp are already living there… we’d only disturb them. And sweetie, this is your house, not mine,” Peg told Angel.
“You’re my parents,” Angel told them firmly. “If it’s my house, it’s your house too.”
“We’ll do fine,” Spunky told Angel. “Don’t worry about us.”
“I know how toi two feel,” Angel explained wisely. “I was in your place not that far back. I thought no one would ever take me. But they took me in. And it’s not that bad there. Just think who I have as an adopted dad!”
    “You’re right,” Spunky muttered. Peg nodded slowly in agreement.
“You mean… you’re coming!” Angel gasped happily.
“If they’d let us,” Peg answered.
Angel then excitedly rushed back to her house, Peg and Spunky struggled to keep up. Danielle was montrer Puffball up the steps.     
“Maybe they will take me!” Puffball exclaimed as he and Danielle walked up.
Then, Danielle and Angel barked loudly. The other chiens and puppies, seeing the cue, followed them out.
    “What’s this?” Jim Dear asked as he returned with Darling carrying Junior.
    “Oh, they’re so sweet,” Darling commented, looking at Angel as she stood affectionately par her parents. “They must be family.”
    “Maybe we should let Angel go,” Jim Dear suggested. He was greeted with a response of disappointment. Angel then ran up the steps, touched her collar, and then ran back to her parents.
    “Jim Dear… I think Angel’s telling us she wants her parents to live with us,” Darling explained.
    “Oh no Darling,” Jim Dear explained.
    Then, Danielle barked loudly.
    “Oh look, Danielle found herself a boyfriend,” Darling told Jim Dear happily as Puffball walked up, giving chiot eyes to Jim Dear and Darling and bustling cheerfully about.
    “No, no Darling. First we had Lady. Then we got Tramp. Then we got four puppies… then five. Now we have, what, ten dogs? We can’t! We’ll have the most chiens of anyone in…”
    “Not anymore,” Darling smiled. “My sister has ten times that number, remember? Let's think of names... how about Peg, Spunky, and Puffball?”
"How did she know?" Peg asked. Angel smiled.
    “But…” Jim Dear protested, but he resigned. “Oh well. Welcome to the family!” he announced.
    Jim Dear held the door open, and everyone entered. Jim Dear then hurriedly gave Peg, Spunky, and Puffball collars. He immediately set up bathwater. Puffball enthusiastically gasped, “I can’t believe it! Bath time! Wahoo!” Scamp begrudgingly smiled, looking bemusedly at his adopted housemate.
    “You’re with us now!” Angel told Peg happily.
    “I… toi were right, Angel,” Peg told her, smiling. “It’s wonderful here... it’s great to be with toi and your daddy, and the rest of your loving family!”
    “Come on toi two,” Jim Dear told Peg and Spunky. “What’s this?” Jim Dear told Spunky. “You’re covered with soot! toi should have a bath… you’re black as dirt.”
    “What’s this for?” Spunky asked confusedly as he got soaped down.
    “I wonder myself,” Scamp told him, smiling.
    “Oh well,” Spunky smiled, getting out of the tub and shaking himself off, fully revealing his orange fur. Looking at his clean coat, he smiled. “I guess I needed that.”
“And toi should have a haircut,” Darling told Peg as she got out her scissors. “You can’t see like this.”
    “This is going to take some adjusting to,” Peg grinned as her long bangs fell onto the counter top, and everyone laughed.