Death of a Comedian

8/14/2019 Death of a Comedian

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During this time Foxy had recourse to Gadget's sage advice on many occasions, butGadget's advice to her was of no help in getting Dale to popthe long-awaited question. Still though, Gadget always assured her that Dale did indeedlove her and she need only be patient.

OK, then, let's just see one of these occasions:

Foxglove entered Gadget's room, and to her surprise, and relief as well, she was stillawake, sitting on her bed and reading one of her tremendouslytechnical manuals, again. She looked up and greeted her,

"Oh, hello, Foxy. How was the movie?"

"Oh, it was fine, I guess—" the bat trailed off with mild frustration.

"A real bomb, right?" asked the mouse, noticing the frustration.

"Uh, well, no!" replied Foxglove, trying to bring her mind to here and now. "Actually, itseemed pretty interesting—" Gadget put her book down,stood, and walked over to Foxglove. Looking into her eyes, she calmly asked,

"Foxy, what was the title of the movie?" Somewhat surprised at this more-than-obviousquestion, Foxglove was about to reply when she realisedthat her mind was totally blank concerning this. Trying to blink her memory back on line,she ransacked her brain in search for an answer,

"Uh-uh—it was a monster movie, again, I know that. It was called—it was called—" Nouse, she had been too busy noticing something else tonotice the title of the flic. Gadget tried something easier,

"What was the movie about? Godzilla, again?" Foxy thought for sure she had the answer to this one, and she knew Godzilla was NOT in themovie, but as she tried to recall the plot, she was again lost. Covering her head with her wings, she trembled momentarily. An uncomfortable thoughtcrossed Gadget's mind, though she already knew what the answer was. "Dale DID see themovie, I suppose?" Foxglove sagged. She walked over tothe bed and slumped to a sitting position.

"Yes, he saw every second of it. And he enjoyed it completely. AND he even yelled onthe scary parts, even though that was the eleventh time hesees that movie!" Covering her head again, Foxglove wondered if she should cry at his

point. Gadget sat next to her and put her paw on her shoulder. "You know," sobbed the bat, suddenly straightening up and startling Gadget,"Dale has a one track mind. And I love him for that, too.Once he sets out to do something, he does it, and nothing else. I mean, he asks me out ona date to see a movie at the drive-in, and I am more than



happy to do so. And that is exactly what he does: See the movie!!" Clearly frustrated nowwith a touch of anger, Foxglove wringed her wings infront of her. This was not the first time, but Gadget could see that Foxglove was gettingmore than slightly annoyed every time this happened. Foxyturned to her roommate and continued, "He really likes monster movies. I mean, why

should he think I don't? After all, he does invite me tosee them with him, especially the premieres, and I go happily along. Why should he think I have something else in mind when I make us sit WAYin the back? And echosounding him throughout the whole thing, that is really something.You know, Gadget, you should really invent a sonar machine to echosound him yourself. I think only THEN will you be able to see what youmissed. You really blew it by not choosing him. And—healso enjoys his junk food, too. He loads himself up just before the movie starts, and againin the intermission. And he shares his food with me. That'svery romantic, don't you think??" Gadget was about to console her when she continued,"And what is even more romantic is the fact that when

he gets scared, he jumps and puts his arms around me!! You can't get much moreromantic than that, can you??" Breathing quite audibly now,Foxglove waited for the usual reply.

"Foxy, you know this doesn't always happen. After all, if Dale really enjoys his movies,he also knows you are very special to him by the fact thathe wants you to see them too, with him. I guess he also respects you very very much,despite the temptation you set up for him every time."Foxglove pondered on this point, and replied,

"I don't understand: I love him, he loves me, we love each other, we practically live witheach other, and he just doesn't seem to get the hint. Herespects me, I know—he's a REAL, wonderful, caring, loving, HANDSOME, gritting her teeth RESPECTING gentlemunk—and I love him for that, too, and—I respect him, too, but it just seems that he is perfectly happy and satisfiedwith the way things are right now and doesn't wantanything more. We kiss, but I wouldn't mind him stealing a kiss from me once in a while.It's almost as if—as if he finally put me in a little corner of his life, along with his love of movies, comic books, TV—as if I don't rank beyondthose—those—THINGS!!" Foxglove cried openly at this

point, and Gadget calmy put both paws on her trembling shoulders.

"You know that's not true, Foxglove, he loves you very much, even more than thosethings. He wouldn't enjoy them without you, not in the least.And you've had romantic dates, too. Without movies, comics, or TV."

"Those don't happen very often, you know," she replied, getting just a trifle more upset."And I want more of that, more of when he holds me inhis arms and looks into my eyes, and I feel his heart and not just hear it, when Iechosound him to his face and hear his face—have you ever



HEARD someone's face in your face, Gadget? That is really something you should dowith Chip—"

"Foxy!" cried the mouse, unsure whether she should build a sonar machine at this point.

"Sorry. And he doesn't resist me anymore, but I do wish that he'd take the lead moreoften. And I wish those dates would never end. I know heloves me more than anything, Gadget, and I know he is romantic, but it looks like that isALL our relationship will ever amount to: RomanticDates, one lived happily, the other in frustration, ever after, the end." Gadget gathered her thoughts for a few minutes, allowing Foxglove to continue

purging her eyes, and explained,

"Foxy, you remember how difficult it was for Dale to admit his feelings for you. Justimagine how difficult a time he must be having right now, toadmit he too wants more. And do you think that it is easy for him to hold himself back

simply out of respect for you? He's a male, and it isspring, you know. I mean, if it was difficult for him to behave himself when he was inlove with me—" The bat looked at the mouse's eyes, clearlycommunicating that she did NOT want to hear this part of Dale's life.

"Sorry, Foxy. But please understand how he feels, and what he is fighting against. I'msure he wants more out of this too, but he needsreassurance. In the meantime, he needs you, Foxy. He can't live without you." Foxglovelooked into the distance, as if she were looking at Dale inthe living room.

"Do you think he loves me enough to marry me, or just enough to have me as hisgirlfriend?" That was a tough one for Gadget, but she quicklyreplied,

"I've never seen anyone fall in love as suddenly as he did with you. He wants you badly, but I guess he thinks he's not ready, or he's afraid of howyou'll react."

"Oh, why can't I be the one who has to ask the question?"

"He needs a little more time, Foxy. Just wait, and I'm sure he'll pop the question whenyou least expect it." Foxglove looked at her roomate again andsighed,

"Well, thanks, Gadget. I guess I feel a little better."

"I'm always here for you, Foxy." Foxglove stood, dried her eyes, and stretched,



"Well, I guess I should let you go to sleep then. I think I saw a few moths outside.Yummy!" Foxglove was about to leave when Gadget asked,

"Did Dale land the Ranger Plane where I told him to? I don't want it to get in the way of the other vehicles again—"

"It's parked just fine, Gadget. He's not exactly a slob anymore, you know." With a slygrin, Foxglove left. Gadget felt just a trifle guilty for asking thatlast question. Dale had changed a lot since last June, and he was a lot more responsiblewith the vehicles. Still, sometimes he did park the planesright in the middle of the hangar, blocking the way out for the other vehicles, a big no-noin case of an emergency. But that did not happen oftennow, and all the Rangers were glad because of this. So, exhausted after yet ANOTHER emotional bout with Foxglove, Gadget put on her nightgownand fell asleep.

We then move on to:Meanwhile Chip, Zipper, and Monterey were doing their best to talk Dale into beingconfident enough to make the proposal.

OK, then:

Foxglove entered the living room and saw the boys watching TV. Still keeping that slygrin, she walked behind the couch, and kissed Dale on hishead. Surprised, and feeling more than slightly self-conscious, Dale whirled and gasped,

but calmed down when he looked at Foxglove's eyes.

"I'm glad you enjoyed your movie," she said, with just a slight hint of sadness. "I'll seeyou tomorrow, Cutie." With that, the bat walked out the door,took off, and began feeding. Smiling happily to himself, Dale settled down and continuedwatching the late news with the others. The others,unfortunately, had noticed something wrong with Foxglove.

"Um, Dale, tell me, how was your date?" asked Chip.

"Oh, it was wonderful! We went to see 'Attack Of The Giant Newts IX'! It's about a bunch of mutant newts that attack Rio and start eatingeverything—"

"Uh, pally, how did Foxglove take it?" asked Monty.

"Foxy? Well, she loved it, of course! She just sat back and enjoyed the whole thing. Never said a word, except a scream or two on the scary parts.Ah, I love that bat."



"Did you tell her that?" asked Zipper.

"What? That I love her? Well, no, she already knows that, but she did say she had a goodtime. You know guys, maybe we could all go watch itnext time—"

"Dale," said Chip. "Have you noticed something about Foxy lately?"

"Noticed? Noticed what?"

"Well, take just now. Didn't she look a little sad to you?"

"Well, no. And why would she be sad? We just had a great time, I tell you! And youknow, I think she is actually starting to calm down. She didn'tmake a single pass at me tonight. Or, not any that I noticed, anyway." Chip thought for amoment, trying to figure out the best way to break this to

him."Is tonight the first time she is actually on her best behaviour?" Dale looked at his bestfriend for a moment, not quite sure what he meant by this,and asked, rather upset,

"What do you mean 'best behaviour'? She's not a delin-delinq—criminal anymore, youknow." Chip rephrased himself,

"I mean was tonight the first night she didn't make a pass at you?" Thinking for amoment, Dale replied,

"Well, she's calm only at the drive-in. Ironic, isn't it? Naturally, there are those dates inthe park—" Dale got a dreamy and blissful look in his faceat this moment. Flustered by the fact that Dale just couldn't get it, Chip blurted,

"Dale, I think Foxy wants more out of you than just dates and insipid movies and comic books!"

"What do you mean ins-insi—what you said? That movie just happened to be a classic,"he crossed his arms to emphasise this, "and I'll have youknow she loves my comics, too! She knows they may be priceless someday. And whywould she want more? More what? What else can Igive her? I mean, I love her, she loves me, we love each other, we see each other everyday, we work together, we solve cases together with youguys, we beat the bad guys together with you guys, hey we practically live together, for crying out loud! What more could she possibly want?"Getting a flashback of a commercial, Dale jingled, "Who could ask for anything more?Toyo—"



BONK!!

Dale rubbed his head at this point.

"That's just it, Dale," continued Chip, trying to ignore that last commercial by keeping his

right paw fisted. "You practically live together. But— have you noticed that right now you two sleep in separate bedrooms?" Dale looked atChip for a few seconds, trying to figure out what he meant bythis question. Upon realising what the alternative was, he bonked Chip a lot harder thathe did, messing up his fedora.

"Of course, stupid!!" he growled. "What kind of guy do you think I am??" Chip rubbedhis head now, but before he could reply, Montereystepped in, trying to save Chip from another bonk,

"Uh, let me put it this way, pally. 'ow close are you an' Foxy?"

"Oh, we're close. Very close. We're like this:" he showed two fingers together for all present to see.

"Uhm, let me ask this another way, Dale. 'ow close 'ave you two—er—gotten lately?"Dale thought about this for a moment, and that dreamy and

blissful look crept onto his face again.

"Ahhh, I don't know which is better: me kissing her, her kissing me, or we kissing eachother." Monterey shifted, obviously uncomfortable by thefact that they were speaking about this subject. Still, he had to make Dale see the light.Rubbing his fingers, he asked,

"Er—pally—when you do that—do you ever feel like getting—um—closer?" Dalelooked at Monty, pondering the question and looking at himthe same way he looked at Chip a moment ago. He then bonked him as hard as he could.Standing, he growled,

"Again with the dirty questions?" Monterey rubbed his head and fixed his leather cap.Annoyed, but concerned about Dale, he looked at him andinsisted,

"'ave you?" Dale was more than annoyed with this interrogation, but seeing the more-than-serious look on Monterey's face calmed him down.Thinking for a moment, he quietly replied,

"Uh, well, sometimes."

"Just sometimes?" asked Chip. Dale, now getting more uncomfortable than annoyed,stammered,



"Well, uh, sure. It has crossed my mind, you know. I mean, that happens, doesn't it? I— It's a guy thing, right? It's not as if you guys never thought about it, right? And—and—I—I have felt it, but—hey, who hasn't? It—hascrossed my mind lately—sometimes—" The insisting look

of the guys made Dale even more nervous. "Okay, so it's been kinda-sorta happeningoften! But hey," here Dale stood straight, crossed his arms, andcalmly declared, "I love Foxy, and I respect her. And I would NEVER do anything tohurt her, no sirree!! And I'll have you know that when itDOES cross my mind, I immediately back down and throw it out of my head! I guess it's

been happening more often because it's spring, but Ishould calm down by June. At least that 's what I thought last October—" Montycontinued,

"Look, mate, it's great that you respect 'er, but you do know you've been wanting to getcloser. An' by the looks of it, I think Foxy wants to get

closer, too.""She does? Well, I'm glad she shows plenty of self-control, too, then! Or what kind of girldo you think she is anyway?" Monterey rubbed one pawdown his face, and "calmly" continued,

"We know she's one well bred lass, Dale, but what we're trying to tell you is that shewants both of you to get closer legit style."

"'Legit'? Ha! The only way that can happen is if we get—" Here, Dale was robbed of allmanner of speech as his brain tumbled to a complete stop.His jaw sagged and his eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. The others, seeing that theyhad finally made Dale see the light, sighed in relief. Dalecould be so simple-minded sometimes!

"She wants to get closer, mate, legit," repeated Monty. "After all, you really didn't expect'er to be just your girlfriend for the rest of 'er life, now doya?" Dale, with great difficulty, uncrossed his arms and tried to make his right paw findhis head.

"Who could ask for anything more?" jingled Zipper. Dale felt as if the whole world haddecided to lean on his back. Breathing with difficulty, as if he had forgotten how to do so, he began to stagger, trying to coordinate a trajectory to thenearest cushion before his legs shut down. Chip thenstood and helped his friend sit back down. It was at this point when Chip's chest began

burning. He had just helped convince his best friend thathis girlfriend wanted to be more than just his girlfriend. Still, there was no turning back now. It was all up to Dale now. His powers of locutionreturned, but not totally functional,



"She wants—she wants——with me—only—me—" He was sweating profusely at this point, and by the way he was breathing, he appeared to have just run the Boston Marathon. Chip spoke,

"Look, Dale, we're sorry we had to break it to you this way. But, Foxy needs you, and she

needs you badly. You don't have to decide this right now;you will have to think about this VERY thoroughly. And if you need help, well, we'rehere for you, pal. And—and—whatever you decide— whatever you two decide, I will back you up. You have changed a lot since she came

back, Dale, and though it's been sorta eating at me, I see that it'sall for the best of us—" For some reason a knot began forming in Chip's throat. "For the

best—between us." Dale looked at his lifelong friend and, by default, "big brother". He was hurting, for some reason, from the look in his eyes.Calming down, finally, Dale replied,

"Oh, okay, Chip. I—I understand—I—think—I—think—no, I don't think—I want—I

mean—I do want—but—can I——I mean I can, but——am I—am I—r—red——"

"Nobody's totally ready for this, pally," said Monterey. "But if you really know yore not,it's okay. Just be sure to tell Foxy that, mate."

"Uh—M—Monty—could you please—not use—the word—'mate'—right now?

Monterey smiled and chuckled, "Sorry, mate, won't do it again." Looking over to Chip,he saw that he was getting worried and pained about this."Ah, don't worry, lad. Seen it a million times. Hey, this is nothing compared to what Iwent through before I proposed to Desirée."

"B-but—you did—but you never—"

"I know, Dale, but I doubt your chocolate problem will get in the way of you and Foxy.Think long an' hard about this, mate, but just don't taketoo long. I doubt she wants to waste anymore time than what she already 'as."

"Uh, thanks, Monty, and thanks—Chop—er—Chip. I REALLY have to figure this out,somehow. But first, could one of you guys remind me wheremy bed is supposed to be?"

A few nights later. . .

Dale was on his way down the hall, heading for Gadget's room, but just before he couldstep up and knock, the door flew open and Foxglove ranout, greeting him with a very interesting kiss. Shocked for one millisecond, Dale huggedher and returned the kiss. Parting 19 seconds later, Foxgloveasked,



"Miss me, Darling? I could tell it was you coming just now. I just love the way your footpads sound when they bounce off the wood." Slightlyembarrassed, he replied,

"Uh, thanks, Foxy, I guess I'll never be able to sneak up on you like that. But you do haveto stop doing that."

"Why, are you getting tired of it, Cutie?"

"Uh, no, I kinda like it, but—oh—never mind. You can sneak up on me as long as youwant. Just be sure I'm not carrying explosives or anythingfragile when you do that." Foxglove chuckled at this advice and replied, while scratchingthe top of Dale's head with her wingtips, making him gigglesoftly,

"You know I always echosound you before I come up to you, dear. And you know that Ilike what I hear." Blushing more than evidently againat this compliment, Dale tried to free himself from her wings, but Foxglove tightened her grip. "What, Dale? I was going to feed tonight again, but

perhaps you would like another walk in the park?" Dale looked at her royal blue eyes andnearly fell into them. She was truly the most beautifulchiropterid he'd ever come across. And the fact that her heart was his alone was morethan mind blowing. Yes, he wanted more, he knew that, but hehad to do something first.

"Uh, not tonight, Foxy, I have a headache—I MEAN—no!! I DON'T have a headache! Imean—I would love to go out tonight, but, I have to do— something—and I need to ask Gadget something. She isn't asleep, is she?" Saggingslightly in disappointment, Foxglove replied,

"No, she's still awake." She then released him, and continued on her way. Noticing her disappointment, Dale said,

"But be sure to prepare for tomorrow night." Turning as her face lit up, she giggled inresponse,

"'Why, Dale, what are we gonna do tomorrow night?'"

"'The same thing we do every night, Foxy:'" and together they chanted,

"Try to take over the world!" And as was expected, they jingled together,

"They're Foxy, they're Foxy and the Dale, Dale, Dale, Dale, Dale!" They laughed for amoment, and Foxglove said,



"Well, then, good night, Cutie." She turned to leave again when Dale replied,

"Good night, Foxy. I love you with all my heart. Please don't ever forget that." Foxglovestopped and turned again. Looking at him with slightconfusion, she stated,

"Dale, it's impossible for me to forget that you love me. You know that."

"Yes, I know—I——know." Dale said, slowly turning and looking at the floor. Seeingthis, Foxy turned and left, and as she did, she thought, Heloves me more than anything, but he's NEVER going to propose! Never! And with tearsin her eyes, she flew away and began to feed.

Dale knocked on the door and Gadget opened it. By the way she was blushing she hadobviously heard a significant part of the previousconversation.

"Y-yes, Dale?" she asked, trying to calm down.

"Uh, Gadget, could I use your workshop for tonight? I won't use any of your tools or blueprints or anything, just your worktable, and your pencil."

"Golly, Dale, I guess so, but if you just need the table, why don't you use the living roomor kitchen table?"

"Well, I need to figure out a few things, and I figure, since you figure out a lot of stuff inyour workshop, I thought maybe I could figure this out

better over there." A very unusual request. Dale was most certainly not mechanicallyinclined, just what did he need to figure out?

"Do you want me to help you? I'm really good at figuring things out, Dale—"

"Uh—no! I kinda—need to do this myself." Reading the look on his face, Gadget asked,

"Do you think you'll need Chip or Monterey to help you?" Dale sighed and replied,

"I probably will, but I need to do as much of this by myself as I can." Gadget concludedthat Dale had obviously been hit with a major equation, onethat involved the HEART constant, or, inconstant, in his case. "Please? I promise I won't

break anything. Not even the paper." She looked at himwith sympathy and replied,

"All right, Dale. But be careful with my stuff, and—be careful with—your stuff. And Iknow you have a lot of questions right now, Dale. If youreally need help with this, I am right next door, and the guys are down the hall."



"Thanks, Gadget. I'll try not to stay up all night. Good night." Dale turned and entered theworkshop. You can figure it out, Dale, she thought.Do it for Foxy, and yourself.

Dale looked at the large white sheet in front of him. His mind was as blank as that paper

now. Must be some cosmic joke that today is April Fool'sDay, he thought. And nobody noticed it but me. I wonder if they actually miss my practical jokes. But to think that this just happens to be theday I have to sort out how I really feel about Foxy! But if I don't do this, I could loseFoxy. Oh well, first thing's first: He then scribbled histhoughts on the paper: I love Foxy, she loves me, and she wants to marry me. Why?Because she wants "more". She wants to have my CUBS, for crying out loud! And with me, only me, for the rest of our lives. Does she think she'sready? I don't know. Do "I" want more? Well, yes. But do "I"want to marry her?

His mind went blank again, as he honestly could not answer his own question.He thus rephrased himself, Do I really want her to have my cubs? Am I "ready" for cubs?Am I ready to keep her and protect her no matter what,for the rest of my life? "Can" I protect her? Can I raise our cubs?

This line of questioning wasn't getting him anywhere, so he tried another approach: Whatdoes Foxy see in me? She says I'm cute, I'm handsome,I'm strong, I'm funny, I'm smart, I hate the bad guys, and I have one heck of anecholocation profile—hmm, I wish I could echosound her back,

just once————

Dale suddenly shook his head, bringing his mind back on what was important at this point.

And what do I see in Foxy? She has beautiful eyes, a great body, silky fur, a lovely voice,she's learned new languages, she also fights the badguys—good thing, too—she can see things we can't, she's sweet, she's helpful, she'sfunny, too, she loves my movies and comics——we're a perfectmatch!! So—

His mind trailed off again, this time due to uncertainty.

Why can't I bring myself to propose to her? Chip would do it with Gadget in an instant!Why? Why??——— His mind drifted back to hisearly time with the Rangers, although his memories at this point, for some reason, werenot the pleasant ones. Of practically every single case hescrewed up, of when he deserted the others back in Paris and nearly killed them throughhis RamDale personality, of when he cracked under



pressure inside that boot: "AH! I'm no leader!", of EVERY time Chip bonked him because he said or did something stupid—

Stupid.

But Foxy doesn't think I'm stupid! And Chip told me I have been changing. But, isRamDale gone? Do I keep on screwing up? Why wouldChip do it in an instant but not me?

"Who says I would?" Dale nearly fell off his chair when he heard Chip behind him.Turning to face him, he chattered,

"When the hell did you get in here? And how did you know what I was thinking?"

"Well, I got here from 'echolocation profile' And you mumble quite clearly, though your pawriting leaves a lot to be desired." He looked at the

undecipherable scribbles in front of him. "I know I always seem confident of myself, butI would probably be going through the same thing you areif I had to propose to Gadget. You don't know how much I envy you, Dale. You have thelove of your life, and she wants you—she wants to be withyou—forever."

"I know. I want forever with her too, but—I don't know if I'm ready for forever."

Chip sighed. "Dale, what is it that you need to get ready?"

Dale thought for a minute, and sadly replied, "I don't know. I guess that's what I'm tryingto figure out here. I mean, if we're perfect for each other,then why can't I bring myself to ask her? Why am I so afraid? What am I afraid of?"

"Well, let me see, do you think she's going to say no?"

"No."

"Then, if you know she won't reject you, then the problem is with you, I guess."

"AND I CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT IT IS," he growled, with his paws shaking. "Wait,you said you would have the same problem with Gadget.Why is that?"

"I guess because I would be scared of the decision itself, and the commitment it brings. Itis forever, you know."

"But how would you know if you're ready?"



"I guess that is just something I would know when it happened. But back to you, Dale,you're not stupid. You just—say stupid things once in awhile. And I don't think RamDale will come back, seeing he was just temporarily

programmed in you. And while you do tend to get a littledistracted now and then, you're smart, in your particularly goofy way. You still screw up,

but no more than the rest of us now. And your randomness, well, that drives the bad guys crazy every time. I'm sure that your kids—"The knot and the burning were there again, "—that somedayyour cubs will be glad they have a dad like you. And you have gotten more serious lately,Dale, and I don't know if I should be happy or sad

because of that. You were—you are a fun guy to be with——" Chip could say no more atthis point. He stood and headed for the door, trying tokeep his emotions in check. Before he left, he turned and said,

"You're the best thing that happened to—all of us, Dale, and the most excellent thing thathappened to Foxy. And only you can make it into

something even more wonderful." Chip then left Dale alone again. For some reason, Dalefelt even more confused than ever. He continuedscribbling,

I've gotten serious? Zowie, I never noticed that! I always thought I was the clown of thisgang—

The clown.Goofy.Distracted.Randomness.TV.Movies.Comic Books—

Ohhhh!! I think that, inside, I'm still a cub myself! No wonder I don't feel ready! But still,if I am getting serious, then that's a good thing! Soall I need to do is wait until I no longer act like a clown and then I'll pop her the question!

"I don't think she can wait that long, mate." This time, Dale did fall out of his chair at thesound of Monterey's deep voice. He and Zipper helpedhim up.

"Let me guess, you came in right after 'serious', right?" he asked, as he sat down again.

"Too right, pally! Chipper here told us it was our turn to 'elp you with yer problem."

"Uh, thanks, Monty, but I think I already figured out my problem."



"No, you 'aven't, lad! You can't change who you really are inside. I know that I called youonce our 'comedy relief', and I'm mighty sorry I did so.But don't go calling yerself a clown. Yer more than a clown. Yer a top-notchcomedian/detective/Rescue Ranger/Romeo/entertainment expert!Per'aps yer now focusing on the detective part, but please don't get rid of the comedian

part. Foxy loves every single one of those things, an' you'dnot only be killing a part of yerself, but a part of 'erself too." Zipper buzzed,

"You're just nervous about the whole thing. Just ask her!"

"Yeah? Well, I'd like to see you do the same with Queenie!" Zipper blushed for amoment, but Monterey continued,

"Look, Dale. I told you I went through the same thing with Desirée. As tough as I look, Iwas as weak as curds when it came to asking 'er. I was

prob'ly even more scared than you are now. But I gathered my nerve, set up a romantic

atmosphere, and asked 'er. It's difficult, but I know you cando it." Dale pondered some more. It all added up, so it seemed.

"All right, Monty. I guess I am terrified, but then, Foxy might be too. I will gather up thenerve, and then I will ask her."

"That's me pally! 'ey, do you want me to 'elp you set it up? I could cook a mightyromantic dinner for you two—"

"Uh—well, sure! But—wait 'till I ask you to. I'm gonna need some time to gather thenerve, and I'm gonna need all the nerve I can get. And whenyou make our dinner, try to go light on the cheese, will ya?"

"I will. C'mon, Zip, looks like our job 'ere is done." Monterey and Zipper left Dale alone.Dale pondered on his scribblings so much that he did nothear the high five just outside. It all added up. It was here and now, and nothing could bemore perfect for him and Foxglove. It was so perfect.

And Dale had never felt more terrified in his life because of that.

...But Dale had also made up his mind to break his silence and get the suspense over with.

. .

And he did. But now let's move to the opening scene:

Night had fallen in the park and the Rescue Rangers, who had just wrapped up a toughcase, were preparing for a well earned leisurely supper.The chipmunks, Gadget, and Zipper had agreed among themselves to set to work at oncein the kitchen before Monterey Jack could protest, so that



they could have something besides cheese. It was while they were all busy preparingdishes and shouting among themselves in the kitchen (so as notto have to argue with Monty) that Foxglove, who had just awakened from a long day'ssleep, stumbled yawning into the room and accidentally

bumped into Dale. The two started, eyed each other with alarm, and hastily exited, each

by a different way.

Let's make that just a trifle humorous:

It was while they were all busy preparing dishes and shouting among themselves in thekitchen (so as not to have to argue with Monty) thatFoxglove, who had just awakened from a long day's sleep, stumbled yawning into theroom and accidentally bumped into Dale, lips first. Andsince both had their mouths open at this point, Foxglove from yawning and Dale fromsaying, "Well, I—" . . .

Well . . . it was so sudden, so unexpected, so natural, so loving, so passionate, soautomatic, so right, that neither of them was 100 conscious of what they were doing. With all manner of logical thinking now so suddenly shut down,they instantly and instinctively locked out their audience andsurroundings and began embracing. It was not until they heard four collective gasps and acacerole clanging on the floor that they broke with a start.They eyed each other with alarm and hastily exited, each by a different way. Monterey

picked up the cacerole he had deliberately dropped andcommented,

"Couldn't 'ave 'appened to a nicer couple, mates."

And now, on to our feature presentation:

Just then the crowd heard the sound of a motor and propellers above them, and they allinstinctively moved aside so that the Ranger Wing couldland, with Gadget at the controls. The Rangers and their friends were very glad to see her,with the possible exception of Tammy. But what reallysurprised those who knew here was that she was wearing a DRESS!!

"Hi, guys!" It was her usual greeting and quite fitting for the occasion, they all thought.She was introduced to Phinehas and Otis, was overjoyed tofind Midge there, and made it a special point to speak to Tammy and her family. After she had made the rounds, so to speak, four more animalsstepped up from the crowd.

"Dale!"

"Chip!"





your mom are really proud. Here you are, a Rescue Ranger, and you're finally taking the plunge. Foxglove is a really lucky bat, and from whatyou've said about her in your letters, you're one lucky Oakmont, too."

"And it was about time, too!" added Dalee. "ALL of our neighbors are showing off their

grandcubs, making us look bad! I hope your line of work won't get too much in the way of that!" It was Dale's turn to blush.

"I hope so, too," he replied, sheepishly.

"Oh, Chip, NOW do you see the situation you've put us in?" asked Nikoma. "Pretty soon,WE will be the only ones in our part of the forestwithout grandcubs! And with you in the line of fire everyday, well, you wouldn't want theMaplewood line to die out, would you?"

"Uhm, mom," he said, obviously annoyed. "I would be more than happy to give you

grandcubs, but," he turned them aside and whispered, "theother party is not exactly cooperating at this point in time," nodding his head towardGadget.

"Oh, nonsense, boy!" blurted Chap. "You've got the dashing looks of your sire andgrandsire, you're everything you can be, and if the other partydoesn't cooper—"

"SHHHHHHHHHH!!" he hissed. "I AM working on it, dad! Just be patient!"

"Patient?? We've been patient for the better part of two decades—"

"Anyone 'ere getting married? You'd better 'ave good food after this shindig!! An' it 'ad better be with cheese!!" They all turned and saw none other than Cheddarhead Charlie!! He was suddenly shoved aside—

"Ah, pipe down, ya big lug! 'ey, mates, you'd better keep an eye on this bloke afore 'ecleans out all the cheese from yore tables!"

"MOM! DAD!" exclaimed Monterey, running to hug them. "But—I thought you twowere in Kenya and Samoa!"

Cheddarhead explained, "Well, I WAS in Samoa albatross-wresting when a nice gerbillass came and asked me if I was yore dad. She told me thatwith 'er computer she talked to someone 'ere in York and she said that a Rescue Ranger was getting 'itched. I came 'ere as fast as I could, but when Isaw the papers an' saw that it wasn't you, I was mighty disappointed. Still, I'm 'appy for yore friend, 'ere."



"An' I got tired of playing make-the-inbred-lion-drool-oops-'e-already-is, back in Kenya,so I went to the city an' picked up a paper. Ya know the rest.Dale, me lad, I don't know whether to congratulate you on yore wedding or call you crazyfor marring a bat!"

"Mother, please—"

"That's all right, Monty," said Dale. "I knew there would be opinions, but I decided not tolet them get to me." Canberra Kate then turned to Montyand slapped the back of his head.

"Now WHY can't ya be like that, Monty? If it wasn't enough that you blew it with thatFrench lass, you look like you REALLY like to take yoretime with this!! An' at this point, I wouldn't mind if you married a lizard, jus' as long aswe knew you were in good paws!!" Now it was Monterey'sturn to blush.

"Mom, dad, I'm getting to that. Really—" The parents introduced each other, and as theywere doing so, a knot began forming in Gadget's throatnow. While she was more than happy for Dale and Foxglove, the sight of everyone else's

parents was almost more than she could take. With no oneof her bloodline present, she just couldn't help but feel cheated, even if this was a happyoccasion for the family that "adopted" her.

"You don't look too happy for Dale." Startled, Gadget stuttered,

"Huh? Oh, golly, Mr. Maplewood, uh, I AM happy for Dale. It's just that—that—"

"I know, child, I know. Chip told me what happened. I can only imagine what you wentthrough, and what you're going through now. But, here's ahappy thought: How's about you having us as your parents?"

"DAD!!" screamed the other Mr. Maplewood. Dale turned to him and whispered,

"That would then make her your sister, Maplewood!!" He then received a well deserved bonk for that remark.

"Now, now, son, take it easy," said Chap. "I was merely telling your friend she could'borrow' us whenever she should need a mother or father."

"Oh, golly, Mr. Maplewood—"

"Call me 'dad'." Chip slapped his forehead and wiped his face in tremendousembarrassment.



"Mr. Maplewood, I just couldn't. I really appreciate your offer, but I don't think it would be convenient, for me—or Chip."

"Nonsense, Gadget babe!" said Nikoma. "While we never had a daughter, we would loveto have you as part of the family, even if it is only in a

'rent-a-parent' basis."

"Just trying to help you out, son," said Chap, aside.

"Well, you're NOT," he growled in response, with one paw still covering his mouth.

"Mr. Maplewood, it's just too much, too soon, really. But I will give it some thought."Zipper then asked her something in his high, squeaky voice,to which Gadget replied, "Where was I all this time? Well, I realized after Foxy and I gothere that I'd forgotten the cassette player and music I had

picked out—and no, Dale, it's not that one—and so I went back for it. Then as soon as I

got it I realized that Dale's wedding is a special enoughoccasion to wear something special, so I changed clothes. And as for the Ranger Wing, Ineeded to save time getting back here and besides, Ithought Dale and Foxy could have it after the service and the rest of us would fly back inthe Ranger Plane . . . if you know what I mean!" Shewinked at Dale, who appreciated her thoughtfulness. Then she asked something thatmade them all feel uncomfortable. "Er . . . where is Foxy?"

Dale immediately snapped out of his reverie and began to panic. "Isn't she with you?" heasked in a voice full of anxiety.

"No. I thought she'd be with you guys. Hmmm," she added, "maybe she's still down bythe pond where I left her," and she turned her steps thatway, the crowd following her. It took her no time to return to the exact spot, but Foxglovewas not there. That was bad enough. But even worse waswhat was there. On the very edge of the pond was a flurry of footprints that could not beclearly made out, as though some sort of struggle had taken

place. And on the dry ground just beyond the mud lay a very fancy envelope. Dalesnatched it up at once and found "The Rescue Rangers" writtenon the front in calligraphy and an old-fashioned seal on the back holding it shut. He torethe envelope open to find a very expensive looking card thathad "On Your Wedding" written in glitter on the front, but the inside of the card had no

printed message, being one of those on which the sender writes his own thoughts. It was this that brought him to the pinnacle of despair, for on itin the same beautiful manuscript as appeared on theenvelope were the words "You know the place" and a pawprint in ink. There was nodoubt whatsoever about what it meant, and Dale let the carddrop out of his hands and after remaining immobile for what seemed like a very long timefainted dead away . . .



. . . When Dale came to, he found himself lying face up on the couch with the other Rangers, Tammy, and Midge gathered around him with worriedexpressions. . .

Let's break off to the tangent right here:

When Dale came to, he found himself lying face up on the couch with Tammy, Midge,Otis, his parents, Chip's parents, Monty's parents, andPhinehas gathered around him with worried expressions.

"Wh-what happened?" he asked in an unsteady voice.

"You don't remember?" Midge asked him. Dale knew that he was feeling terrible aboutsomething, but he just couldn't remember what it was. Butwhen he saw Midge, Phinehas, his parents, Chip's parents, and Monty's parents, herecalled the reason for them being there and soon recollection

returned in full, and with it all the emotions connected with it."Foxy!" Dale shouted, "Fat Cat's got her! We've got to rescue her, Chip, we've just gotto—uh—where are the others?" Tammy replied,

"They took the Ranger Plane and went to rescue her as soon as you fainted. Mom took Bink back home, and Chip told us to bring you back here andmake sure you were fine, and that—you—wouldn't do something crazy."

"CRAZY??" he yelled, sitting up and attempting to stand. Pierre and Cheddarhead heldhim back, though. "WHY WOULD ANYONE THINK IWOULD DO SOMETHING CRAZY?? AFTER ALL, THE MOST EVIL CAT IN THEWORLD JUST KIDNAPPED MY FUTURE WIFE AND IPASSED OUT BECAUSE OF THAT AND NOW I AM BEING HELD CAPTIVE BYA TEENAGE SQUIRREL, FIVE OLD CHIPMUNKS, TWORATS, AND A BLUE SWALLOW WHILE MY OTHER FRIENDS GO AND RESCUEHER AND LEAVE ME OUT OF IT!! YOU KNOWTHAT'S NOT ENOUGH TO DRIVE ME CRAZY, TAMMY!!" Here, Phinehas steppedup and connected a swift back-paw on Dale's face. Hewas strong for an old chipmunk. Dale, having his head reinstalled by this, breathedcalmly and slowly.

"Uh, sorry, Tammy, I—I—didn't mean to yell at you. And—thanks, Phinehas. Now I seewhy Chip left me behind."

"Trust me, sonny, this 'old chipmunk' knows that a chipmunk gone berserk is not only adanger to others, but to himself as well."

"Oh, Dale, we're so sorry that this happened to you on your wedding night," cried Dalee.Dale calmed down at the sound of his mother's sad voice—



But then he saw Otis standing in front of him.

His very species brought the emotions and pain back with a vengeance.

"And what the hell are you doing here?" he asked insolently. Otis, feeling a trifle self-conscious, stuttered,

"Uh, well, I—sorta felt worried for you too, Dale—and seeing you would be s-s-orta joining our kin—well—it is our duty to protect one another. Itold Chip I could round up every single bat in New York to help you guys, but he refused.The others also offered their help, but he said the Rangersknew the enemy very well, and—that we could cause more harm than good. So, instead, Iasked him if I too could stay here and look after you."Dale once again felt embarrassed by his incivility. But still, he knew Chip had made theright decision. They simply could not waste any time in

rescuing Foxglove, and they knew all about his random behaviour, and howunpredictable he could get in such a situation like this. Even so, he just couldn't sit here and do nothing. His face then turned to stone, and in the most seriousvoice he had ever generated, to his surprise, too, he askedthe bat,

"Otis, can you really gather every single bat in New York City?" Stunned for a momentat his tone of voice, along with everyone else, he replied,

"Y-yes, but I don't think Chip will—"

"How soon can they come?"

"Well—i—in about twenty minutes. But you—"

"And how long have I been out?"

"Ten minutes," replied Tammy. "Dale—" The chipmunk slowly stood and eyed theyoung squirrel. It was doubtful that more pain, fury, shock,terror, hatred, worry, insanity, and, why not, passion, could have come out of those eyes.She cowered as she realised Dale had made up his mind.The chipmunk then eyed each of the others as well as he calmly declared,

"Chip always told me I was the crazy one, the clown. Well, then, that cat just honked thisclown's nose one time too many. Tammy, I'm gonna needyour help in—"

"Sorry, Dale, but Chip told me to stay behind and prepare a bed with first ai—" Tammychoked on her own words as the full seriousness of thesituation suddenly hit her. Dale continued.



"Okay, okay, you—do that. Although I hope we won't need it." He turned to the elders,"Guys, I think you'd better stay here with her—"

"Oh, no you don't lad!" said Cheddarhead, standing and locking eyes with him. "Chipper

told us you'd go crazy enough to do somethin' like this!That's why we're 'ere: 'e knew it'd take ALL of us to keep ya 'ere and make sure youdidn't go bonkers!"

"That was a stupid cartoon—"

Canberra pleaded, "Please, Dale, if ya really love Foxy, don't run off and screweverything up like you always—" Dale also made eye contact withher. For two huge mice, they, too, cowered at Dale's gaze. So, that was the reason theyleft him behind. They knew he would try and come to therescue, and knowing Dale, something was practically always sure to go wrong whenever

he was involved, especially in a situation such as this.They couldn't let him take a risk that could put Foxglove's life in more danger than shealready was—

Dale was hazardous to Foxy's health?

Infuriating at his own clumsiness and incompetence (even though they had diminishedsince last year), his eyes yellowed and his fur darkened. Wassmoke coming out of his ears?

"NO," he snarled. "NOT THIS TIME. THIS TIME I WON'T MESS UP. NOT WHENFOXY'S INVOLVED. FAT CAT, THIS TIME IT'SPERSONAL. I AM GOING TO HELP HER, AND NOBODY BETTER TRY TO STOPME. AND GOD HELP ME, IF I GET BUTONE CHANCE TO KILL THAT CAT, THEN I WILL KILL HIM." Startled at his ownwords, Dale shivered slightly, andadded, more calmly, "Er—as I was saying, you'd all better stay here with Tammy—"

"No," said Pierre, eyes flashing, standing to meet his son's gaze. "Not when our newdaughter is in such danger. We're coming with you, son."Cheddarhead added,

"Well, mate, since you made up yore mind, an' if we can't stop ye, we might as well cometoo."

"And we're not missing any of the fun, either!" added Chap. "Chip always told us aboutthe excitement of the rescue, so I think it's fitting that weexperience that, too!" Dale turned to them and said,



"That's great, but the problem is that none of you know how to fly the Ranger Wing, andonly I know how to hang-glide. I am the one with themost 'rescue' experiece here, you know. I—have to do this." They all looked at him withsadness for a moment, and then Pierre said.

"Okay. We will stay here and—and—help Tammy out a bit."

"Thanks, dad. Midge, Otis. . ."

It was a warm May night just past the full moon, and a night they otherwise would haveenjoyed. But a single thought coursed through their mindsthis night, and that was to save their friend. Again no words were spoken. In this manner,and with the Ranger Plane going full speed, they arrivedsoon enough at their destination, the statue atop the Happy Tom cat food factory.

The decision to use the Ranger Plane had been a good one, for now they could forego

landing in what might have been plain sight in favor of perching just beneath the surface of the roof, thanks to the two plungers it used for landing gear. With stealthy springs (except for Zipper, for whomsuch tactics were unnecessary) the Rangers were on the roof itself, Gadget leading theway with her weapon at the ready, and Monty close behindwith his sleeves rolled up. And without Dale along to show off his heroics with nothought whatsoever by charging straight in right there and then,things appeared to be going smoothly.

They slowly made their way to the entrance to Fat Cat's headquarters, located at the baseof the head of the cat statue. They stopped just outside thesmall opening and looked at one another in silence. They knew there was probably a trapinside waiting for them, but they did not want to givethemselves away by speaking. After this fleeting exchange of glances they entered tomeet their fate.

Once inside the statue's head they found it very dark indeed. There was some faintillumination filtering in through the narrow neck from the body,

but even to rodent eyes it proved of very little use in seeing their surroundings. Theyknew of course that it was toward these lights that they mustgo; it was the place where the kingpin of feline crime held court, and they had been there

before. But the darkness and silence of the place, combinedwith the perilous situation in which they knew their innocent friend to be, gave them allan especially somber feeling. It seemed that this time their arch-nemesis intended to settle matters once and for all.

Despite the small amount of information provided by two of their senses, a third toldthem loudly and clearly of the danger they were in.

"Guys," Gadget whispered, "I can smell them! They're in here!"



"Stay close to the walls, guys," replied Chip. "And don't make any sudden movements!"Slowly, they moved to the wall on their right, still headedfor the faint lights.

"Can you see 'her, mates?" asked Monty.

"No, I don—"

A horrified gasp shot through Gadget's throat.

There, for all to see, not too plainly, however, was a bat hanging from the ceiling,

held by a long, thin rope.

Horror ripped through the Rangers' hearts at this sight. Chip could not bring himself to

think what he would tell Dale, or what would have happenedif he had been here to see this. Speechless, the four of them walked toward the hangingshape. A closer inspection brought welcome gasps of relief when they saw that the rope was not around the bat's neck. Instead, it bound the wingstogether, rendering it momentarily flightless.

"Looks like she's out cold, I hope," whispered Chip. "Guys, they're in here, all right, but Idon't think they've seen us. They would have been all over us by now. Gadget, can you snap the rope with the plunger?"

"Sure thing, Chip. Guys, get ready to catch her and run for your lives!" The mouse raisedher plunger harpoon, drew a bead on where she calculatedwas the weakest point of the thin rope, and fired. The plunger snapped the rope, and the

bat fell down. Catching her, Chip and Monty suddenlygasped. It wasn't Foxglove. It was a rag dummy! And before anyone could do anythingabout this, something fell on them at this point, somethingelastic. Then, it was pulled up from under them, knocking them off their feet. And almostas suddenly as they had felt the net tighten around themthey felt themselves lifted off the floor and suspended horizontally as wicked laughter assaulted their ears.

"Well boys, what did I tell you?" the familiar voice cooed in triumph, "the simpler the plan, the greater its chances of success!" Then the Rangersfound themselves being carried into the body of the cat. Another light switched on now,and they all could clearly see Fat Cat holding them in thenet with his right paw, and with an unconscious Foxglove in his left.

Fat Cat, too, knew his enemy well, and so he knew that they would come to free the bat.So even before the actual kidnapping he had already begun



setting up this trap. Knocking the bat out was easy, one swift rap on the head was enough.He also knew that the Rangers would be counting on himhaving stashed her in a cage of some sorts, but he decided to have some fun and let themsweat at the thought he had hanged her, while he had beengrabbing her all this time. There were just a couple of electrical lights here, and Wart,

good climber that he was, reached them and smashed themwith a small mallet. To Fat Cat's thinking they served no real purpose anyway, and their light at this time was an obstruction to his plans. If thehumans thought they were so important, they could fix them later. And with all hiscronies waiting for the right moment to pull on the net, it almostamazed him that this time his plan had been accomplished without any flaws whatsoever.Besides, those "Rescue Rodents" would not leave withoutmaking every attempt to free their friend. It was a weakness to be counted upon amonggood guys! All the same, Gadget's whisper at having caughttheir odor caused him much concern, but with everyone holding their positions and notmaking a sound, the trap was sprung successfully. It was at

this point that Fat Cat issued his cry of victory and the hearts of the Rangers fell. Itseemed that they were doomed after all, the five of them, at least.

"Now, we need everyone to be fully aware of what is coming up next," said the obesefeline. He stepped up to a fishbowl, and dunked poor Foxy init. Pulling her out one second later, he shook off the excess water while Foxglovecoughed and gasped her way back to consciousness. The otherscringed in fear and rage at this sight. Dale was more than lucky not to be here to see this.Foxglove took deep breaths and slowly assessed her situation.

"Foxy, are you all right? Has he hurt you?" asked Chip.

"No, Chip-cough!-I'm fine, except for a headache-wheeze—!" Chip was sorely glad Dalewas not seeing this. Looking at her captor, Foxglovededuced who he was.

"Fat Cat! How dare you do this to me! Just you wait, the Rescue Rangers are gonna comeand give you what you—" It was here when Foxglovesaw where the other Rangers were at this point. Gadget said,

"Sorry, Foxy, we appear to have a small problem. But don't you worry! We've been inthis predicament before and we've always gotten out! We'llrescue you yet!"

"Too right!" Monterey Jack joined in, "that tubby tabby hasn't seen the day he canoutsmart the Rescue Rangers!"

"I don't think so," Fat Cat responded confidently, "though I give you an 'A' for effort intrying to cheer up the young bride. You see," he continued,



"I have always made one mistake when dealing with you vermin. I have always put youaside for later while attending to more urgent matters. Butthis time you are the urgent matter. And much as I'd like to exercise my creativity indesigning appropriately inhumane deaths for you all, I have

built my empire on one single, simple principal: never let emotions interfere with purely

business decisions. So," he said, holding the helplessRangers even with his malicious gaze, "I have decided that the only way to get rid of youonce and for all is to kill you all myself, RIGHT NOW!"

"WAIT!" Chip had been silent, but now his voice rang out loud and clear. "Fat Cat, Ihave a deal to offer you."

"A deal?" Fat Cat asked in a tone of disbelief, "you, my friend, are in no position to offer a deal to anyone!"

"Just hear me out!" Chip said, "I think you will find it quite satisfactory!"

"Now you have me interested, rodent! What is this 'deal?'"

Chip drew a deep breath. "I'm the one you really want," he said. "I'm the leader of theRescue Rangers. The whole thing was my idea. I'm the onewho's always had to be the hot shot crime fighter. So my deal is this. Let the others go.All of them. They'll disband the Rescue Rangers and never

bother you again. And in return . . ." and here he swallowed audibly, "you get me. My lifein exchange for theirs. Or at least let Foxglove go. Shenever did anything to you. Deal?"

Naturally when Chip said this there was a gasp from the other Rangers, followed by protests from each of them. "NO, pally!" Monty exclaimed."Chip, what do you think you're doing??" screeched Foxglove. Zipper buzzed indisbelief. Meanwhile Gadget turned to him with eyes full of tearsand said, "CHIP! You can't mean that! We won't be able to go on without you! We . . . Iwon't be able to go on without you! Don't do this!Please!!"

"Sorry, gang, but I'm the leader and I make the decisions!" he told them, "including thisfinal one. Well, Fat Cat? What do you say?"

"Now that is an interesting proposition!" Fat Cat said, obviously taunting him, "let methink about it. Now let's see! Hmmmmmmm . . . NO!! Andnow that we are all happily reunited, we shall all go down at once: the bride, the groom,the bride's mate, the best man—" Fat Cat suddenlystopped and inspected the net more closely. It wasn't as heavy as he thought it would be.Running some figures through his head, and then shakingthe net and twirling it around to make sure he was counting correctly, he came to realisesomething. Holding up the net to his face, he growled at the



now somewhat groggy and slightly bruised Rangers,

"All right, where is he??"

"Where's who?" asked a very dizzy Zipper. Foxglove had also scanned the net and didn't

know whether she should be happy or scared at this pieceof information.

"Where's Dale?" she asked.

"HIM!!" roared Fat Cat. "That vermin red-nosed groom! Mepps, Wart, Mole, Snout,search the compound! He must have escaped, somehow!!"

"All, right, Dale!!" cried Foxglove. She then echosounded the room as best she could,also looking for her mate. But when the familiar and sensual

profile did not reach her ears, she turned to the Rangers. "He's not—" The others clumsily

held their fingers to their mouths, and Foxglove heldher peace. But the look on her face clearly communicated that she wanted to know wherehe was, why he wasn't here, and what the others were

planning. After intense searching and sniffing, Mepps whined,

"Boss, I don't think he's here!"

"Oh, he's here, all right. After all, I am sure your boyfriend would more than want to bein your little rescue operation, right, bat?" Foxglove turned toher captor and looked at him with the most dangerous gaze she could conjure,

"You'll never find him. And you'd better let us go before something awful happens toyou."

"My dear, the only 'awful' thing that will be happening will be happening to YOU if hedoesn't show his face!!" He then stood straight and called out,"All right, you miserable rodent, we ALL know you are in here! And while you're hidingvery well, I can say that it will NOT do any good for your friends! After all, you're but one and I have the rest in my claws! So, you have exactlyTEN SECONDS to show yourself!! And if you don't, I amgoing to eat your bride right here in front of you!" This was too much now.

"He's not here, Fat Cat!!" screamed Chip, finally. "He collapsed when he saw whathappened, and we left him behind!! He'll probably be out coldfor the rest of the night!!"

"He DID??" asked Foxglove, in total surprise. Fat Cat looked at Chip with mock pity.

"And do you really expect me to believe that?? TEN—" Foxglove realised that she had to buy time somehow—perhaps she could bluff her



way out!

"Mr. Fat Cat, you'd better not eat me," she warned.

"And why is that, Madam?" he asked in an amused tone.

"If you eat me you'll go crazy and die!" she said, all the time thinking I can't believe I'mdoing this!

"You look perfectly healthy to me!" Fat Cat responded, still amused.

"But it's true! It's been in all the papers," she added.

"My dear, the only thing in the papers germane to your situation is the background theyall gave of you. That's how I knew how to appeal to your daughterly instincts," he said with satisfaction, not seeming to care a whit about the

cruelty of his trick. The Rangers looked at Foxglove in surprise,who then explained,

"He sent me a letter that supposedly was from a bat who thought I was his daughter. I— I—fell for it." She sniffed back a tear of shame at her weakness. Gadget cringed upon hearing this. This whole situation was her fault!Foxglove suddenly snapped out of her reverie and continued her

ploy, though she now thoroughly realized the danger of the game she was playing.

"You'd better take my advice," she said with the greatest sincerity, "if you eat me you'lldie within forty-eight hours! You know how much faster batrabies works than any other kind."

"Really?" Mepps asked, beginning to become concerned, "why is that, Boss?"

"'Cause it's magic!" Foxglove answered him before Fat Cat could respond.

"Gee, Fat Cat," Mepps said, "maybe we'd better do what she says!"

"I've done research on that, Fat Cat," added Gadget, playing along with Foxglove, hopingshe could make up for her mistake somehow. "And it's100 true. In fact, we had to give Dale an immune shot just so he could kiss her on thecheek. It took us a whole year to make just one milliliter,that's why they didn't get married sooner."

"Oh, shut up, rodent!" Fat Cat growled at her. Then he turned to Foxglove again. "I knowwhat you're doing," he told her in a voice that made hisdispleasure quite clear, "and it won't work. I am going to eat you. Please don't bringsomething even more unpleasant upon yourself."



This frightened Foxy even more and made her resort to even more desperate measures."Then after you die you'll come back and be my slave andhave to do everything I say," she said. "Don't you ever watch the late show?" Meanwhile,within herself she was giving the great-granddaddy of allwinces.

"After I've eaten you? Now you are getting pathetic! I would not have expected suchillogical thinking, even from a woman with the poor

judgment to want to marry one of those rodents," he said patronizingly.

She put on her best Christmas-orphan expression. "I'll make you be good," she warned.

"Oh, please!"

"I'll make you be sweet."

"ENOUGH!" he roared, "My patience with you is over! You will neither save your ownlife nor distract me from attending to your boyfriend! Nowsince your job as the bait in this trap has already been completed, I advise you to bequiet! After all, I don't really need you any more! Now, wherewere we? NINE!!"

"Uh, Boss—"

"QUIET, MEPPS!! EIGHT!!" Did Foxglove hear something at this point?

"SEVEN!!"

"B-Boss—" Fat Cat growled at the lanky cat,

"Mepps, don't interrupt me again! SIX!!" Snout and Wart turned pale at this point, too.

"FIVE!!"

"You're as good as dead—uuuuuggghhhhhh!!" said Foxglove, with sudden confidence inher voice. The Rangers could only look in awe andsurprise at Foxy's sudden change of attitude. But then they all cringed as Fat Cat eyed her and tightened his grip, squeezing nine-tenths of the windout of Foxglove.

"No, my dear, YOU are. FOUR!!"

"Uh, Boss, I think that—"

"SHUT UP, WART. THREE!!"



"Fat Cat—"

"I DON'T NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU, EITHER, SNOUT. TWO!!" Foxglove noweyed him with contempt, though her eyes and cheeks were

bulging due to the cat 's grip. "I MEAN IT, RODENT!! SEE, I AM OPENING MY

MOUTH REALLY WIDE!! ONE!!" Instinctively, shewas about to bite him when they all heard,

"You're as good as dead, fatso."

They all turned and saw Dale standing behind the group. Never had they seen his face sostone-like, not even with RamDale. Dale looked at Fat Catin such a way that it even made him quite uncomfortable.

"Oooh, you're quite a brave one, rodent," he said coolly, in a quick recovery. "And I seethat you've finally decided to show yourself. That was

smart of you, after all, you really would not have wanted your lovely bride to have endedup as cat food, not after all you've been through."Dale then began walking toward the feline, in a very definitely defiant stride.

"Fat Cat, you have exactly five seconds to release my friends, before a slow death comeson you and your thugs." His voice was unbelievablydangerous.

"Uh, Boss—"

"Not now, Wart! Well, if it isn't the bravest rodent in the world, walking toward his owndeath, in a futile attempt to save his friends and his never-to-be wife!"

"Dale, get outta here!" yelled Chip. Dale ignored him.

"I mean it, Fat Cat," he continued walking. "If you don't let them go, you are going to diethe slowest and most painful death possible." If Fat Cathad known Dale more personally, he would have immediately released the Rangers andFoxglove at this point. The others who did, however, knewthat by the look on Dale's face, one they had never seen before, he was very much intenton killing Fat Cat, somehow. The cronies then beganencroaching the kingpin, as if looking for protection.

"You morons!" he growled at their behaviour. "Can't you see he's bluffing?? He can't doanything to us!!"

"B-Boss—?" Mepps whined as if he was about to be run over by a semi. Fat Cat lookedat him and was about to yell at him, but when he saw the



look on Mepps' face, he wondered just what had him so pale-scared and all. It couldn't bethe chipmunk, for there was only one with no weaponswhatsoever. Then he noticed Mepps was looking at the ceiling. Looking at the others,they were also looking at the ceiling, pale, speechless, andhorrified like never before. So, Fat Cat looked at the ceiling——

Covering every single square millimeter of the ceiling, were BATS, all looking at himwith dark eyes, smiling evilly.

The Rangers also looked up, and smiled.

Eerie laughs began resonating throughout the compound, echoing in cowardly headsdown to cowardly hearts.

Fat Cat was now robbed of all speech, and all his blood pooled in his foot-paws.

"You're right, Fat Cat, I can't do anything to you. I can however, order my soon-to-beextended family to start hitting you and your cronies withevery drop of SPIT they have. Would you like me to do that?" Fat Cat, still looking at thesea of bats above him, very slowly, put down Foxgloveand the net containing the Rangers. Foxglove fell over, free of Fat Cat's constrictor-likegrip but with little blood in her extremities now. Otis andMidge flew over and helped the Rangers out of the net. Monterey and Chip ran over toFoxglove, hoisted her on their shoulders, and carried her over to Dale. Embracing her, he held her steady as she tried to catch her breath again. Her fur was damp, for some reason.

Momentarily shocked at the fact that Foxy might actually be injured, Dale chattered, "FatCat, you didn't do something as crazy as hurting myfuture wife, did you now?"

"Well, Dale," replied Foxy, wincing as she tried to get blood circulating in her wingsagain. "SOMEONE did hit me on the head, I can't say it washim, but he DID dunk me in a fishbowl and nearly squeezed the guts right out of me."Dale's eyes narrowed when he heard this.

"Oh, did he, now? Guys, could you help me, here?" The Rangers stepped up to him andhe handed Foxglove over to them. He then approached the

petrified feline and chanted, "Oh, Faaaatsoooo—" Fat Cat looked down and saw Dalemotioning him with a finger to come closer. Trembling, FatCat knelt and brought his face down to match Dale's height. And though Dale was totallyunarmed, the fierceness in his eyes made Fat Cat think thathe was going to kill him right there and then. Dale inhaled deeply, making a growlingsound as he did so. He reared his head momentarily, and thenhe—



PTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEYYY—

TOOOOOEEEYYY—

TOOEEEYY—

TOOEEY—

tooeeyy—

ooeey—

ooee———

(Yes, it echoed throughout the statue for a minute or so.)

Fat Cat suddenly jumped back, covering his left eye with both paws."Be thankful that right now I am feeling forgiving," growled the 'munk. He then walked

back to the others, lifted Foxglove in his arms, turned to facethe kidnappers again, and added, "And if you or your thugs come anywhere near Foxglove again, I WILL KILL YOU." And by thetone of his voice, all present knew he more than meant that. He turned and headed for theexit, the others following. The bats on the ceiling remainedwhere they were, however.

Fat Cat sat up, wiping his face, and trembled, "I've—I've l—l—let your f-f-riends go-go-go-go——c-call—offfff—the bb-b-b-b-bats—" Dale turnedto his friends and asked,

"Should I call them off?" Foxglove then leaned to his ear and whispered something for awhile. He smiled. "Well, you heard her, guys!" he called tothe bats on the ceiling. "But wait 'till we're outta range. C'mon guys, you don't want to getrabies, either." As they walked toward the entrance, theyheard Fat Cat stutter,

"W-w-wait—we—had a—d-d-deal!! C-c-come back!!—C-c-c-c-call them o-o-off!!" TheRangers looked at the couple with wonder.

"Dale, what's going on?" asked Gadget, but Dale only beamed. When they were right atthe entrance, Dale stopped and turned around again. The restdid too.

Spit.

Spit spit.



Spit spit spit spit spit spit spit spit spit spit spit spit spit spit spit spit spittter spittter spittter spittter spittter spittter—

The five kidnappers gasped in horror as a rain of saliva began pouring around them, but

not on them directly. They huddled as close as they could,some tried to climb on Fat Cat, but he shook them off. Chip, seeing this, didn't knowwhether to feel happy and relieved or absolutely grossed out.Finally, he turned to his best friend and declared,

"I knew I could count on you, buddy. You saved the day." Dale did not reply at this, but adistant look came upon his face. "Uh, Dale?"

Fat Cat was wondering how long they would have to wait before the saliva dried out before they could move from that spot, when suddenly heheard Dale yell,

"LET THEM HAVE IT!!"

And the pouring saliva now came on them.

Screaming with unimaginable horror, the five of them tried to dash to the nearest exit, butwith the floor being so slippery they fell in a heap,struggling to keep covered, and screaming all the more. The Rangers then ran out to theroof and waited until the bad guys tumbled out. Fat Catcried,

"Quick! We have to get to that seedy vet with the revoked license that I keep on the payroll before WE GO CRAZY!! AND HURRY, YOU IDIOTS!YOU KNOW HOW MUCH FASTER BAT SPIT WORKS THAN ANY OTHER KIND!IT'S BEEN IN ALL THE PAPERS!" And they dashed off,screaming for the rest of their journey.

The Rangers, Midge, and Otis looked on as the cronies stumbled into the darkness. All breathed deeply in immense relief.

They were all safe now.

Dale turned to Otis and said, "Thanks, Otis, I'm glad I could count on your friends."

"You mean 'brothers', 'brother'! And I must say, you're one lucky 'munk to have a bride asgreat looking as her!!" he replied. Foxy blushed, butDale then got that distant look again, and without a word, carried her over to the Ranger Plane. The others were wondering what was eating at Dale.After all, no one was seriously hurt, they had rescued Foxglove, and everything wouldsoon be back to normal, wouldn't it? The bats began flying



out of the statue and started circling the Rangers, obviously sharing their joy of thesuccessful rescue. Chip stepped up to his best friend and asked,

"Dale, what's wrong?" Dale turned and looked in his eyes. Chip was now the one to see pain, for some unknown reason.

"Later," was all he said. "You take Foxy in the plane, and I'll hang-glide back home."

"Dale, what—" Foxglove was cut off as she, too, saw immense pain in his eyes. Dalehanded Foxglove over to Chip, who reluctantly carried her intothe plane. Dale turned to Otis and said,

"It's still a few hours 'till daylight, and there are plenty of insects in the park. I guess that'sall I can give you guys for what you did."

"Hey, you're practically family now. So just think of this as a family favor—" Otis could

not for the life explain why even more pain came to Dale'seyes, who then shook his wing, and headed for his glider.

Dale took off, followed moments later by the Ranger Plane, and as they flew back home,they could only look in awe as they saw themselvesescorted on all sides by countless bats. When they reached the park, all the bats dippedtheir wings toward them in salute, and dispersed.

Everyone had been up all night and had rested very little the night and day before, buttheir adrenaline had kept them going through the wholeordeal. Now it was returning to its normal level and their exhaustion was beginning to hitthem all at once. They were also feeling very hungry,especially Foxglove, who required more food than the others to meet the requirements of her metabolism. So upon entering headquarters, much asthey would have liked to go to bed, they simply had to eat. Monty insisted that he wasquite capable of preparing dinner, but they all knew better.Fortunately, when they saw the shape their friends were in, Tammy, Phinehas, and the six

parents had set about serving a meal at once. That was prepared previously as they had waited in extreme anxiety, and when dinner was donethey had kept themselves busy by cleaning up the tree house.And after anticipating a far greater emergency, they were only too glad to perform such amundane task. It was only upon tasting their food that theyall realized how famished they really were, especially poor Foxy, who had to haveseveral plates of delicious mealworms and lots of water. While shewas thus busily engaged she and the others looked upon Dale with pure admiration.

"Fellow Rangers, I give you the hero to whom we owe our lives—Dale Oakmont!" Chipexclaimed, holding a thimble of water aloft.

"To Dale Oakmont!" the others concurred enthusiastically, completing the toast.



Dale did not react to this complement, but still kept his pained look in his face. "Well,thanks, guys," he answered softly. "Though most of the planwas made up as I went along."

"Aw, come on, Dale!" Gadget said, "That's exactly what we were expecting! Your randomness! Fat Cat and his gang simply cannot figure youout! You practically had them wrapped around your little finger!!"

"I—I have never felt more scared, not only for you, Foxy, but for you guys, too." Hisvoice was still rather distant.

"That's what a hero is," Chip said, "just someone who in spite of his own fear—and wordof command—risks himself to try to save others."

"Too right!" Monterey Jack put in with enthusiasm, "That's all it takes, and that's what

you've got in spades! And while yore record ain't perfect, yoremore than perfect in MY book, and in Foxy's too, I take it!" Zipper heartily squeaked hisagreement. Foxglove, however, began to feel terrible at this

point. She lowered her head and confessed,

"This would never have happened if I hadn't fallen for Fat Cat's trick. I'm sorry, Dale,and—I'm sorry, guys."

"No, Foxy!!" cried Gadget. "I should have never given that press release!! I think wewere lucky only Fat Cat decided to show up!! Or—atleast—I should have never left you alone by the pond—"

"It—it—wasn't your fault, Gadget," said Dale, still tremendously pained, "or yours,Foxy—"

"You know, Dale," said Nikoma, "for a hero who saved everyone and everything, youlook as if you just killed your best friend."

I think I did, he thought.

"Brighten up, will ya?" said Chap. "From what Chip tells me, your 'hero moments' don'tcome too often!! And what else could be better now? Yourescued our kids, you got your bride back, you're getting married, everyone's safe andsound—give us a smile, will ya?!" Dale looked up at Chip'sfather and, with great effort, smiled one half of one millimeter.

Foxglove decided to make him feel better, so she wrapped a wing around his shoulder and asked him in a sensual voice, "So Cutie, how's it feel to bethe hero who just saved the day?"





"Foxy—I——failed you!!" The bat was a mess now, too. And she couldn't even begin tothink why Dale said that. A few distressing minutes later,Dale continued, "Foxy—I failed you. When I saw the note—Fat Cat left, I fainted——— I passed out—when you needed me most—that's why I

failed you—I should have been strong—gone with the others—they knew better—theyknew I could—screw things up——again—"

"Dale, things were screwed up WITHOUT YOU!!" she sobbed. "And YOU saved all of us!! If you fainted, that's okay—"

"NO, IT'S NOT!!" he yelled, scaring her even more. "I—loved you—I never wanted tohurt you—what if it happens—again—with you—with our cubs—!!" Another bout of sobbing followed. Foxglove tried to find words of comfort,

"Dale, no one saw this coming!! You didn't know what was gonna happen!! And it was

ALL MY FAULT!! Please, please don't leave me!!"Dale shook his head,

"Not yours——or Gadget's——mine—all my fault——for wanting to—marry you— Foxy—if you had not chosen me—to fall in love with—andme——in love with you—Fat Cat would have never——done this to you——to us—— we have lots of enemies——it could happen again—Iwould faint—the bad guys would get you—our cubs—you—they—we—may not be so— lucky—next time!!" Dale then sat up and continued,still not looking at Foxglove. "I am—incon—inconsis—unstable——Gadget knew that— that's why she—didn't choose me—and she wasright—by not choosing me—why did—YOU CHOOSE ME??"

Angered, she sobbed, "GADGET WAS A FOOL FOR NOT CHOOSING YOU!! I choseyou because you're the mother of ALL luna moths!!And it WASN'T your fault!! This whole thing was Fat Cat's doing!! You may havefainted, but you recovered and came back with a vengeance!!"

"My fault——I—am—cod liver oil—always was—always will—Chip knows that—theothers know that—I—could have—messed up—again— even with Otis and Midge—I could—have killed you——the others—and me——please,Foxy—I love you—I adore you—more thananything—that's why I—have to let you go——just—call it off—the whole thing——

just be friends—so you won't be in—danger—just dropthe—whole thing——just—be——friends——"

Completely not believing what he was saying, Foxglove sat him up, turned him around toface him, even though he would not look at her eyes, andcried, "Dale, please don't reject me!! Not now!! Please! I've been so happy since youasked me to marry you! And since I first met you my heart's



been in my throat at the very idea that you might like me. Please don't do this to me because of what some villain tried to do to us! Please! I couldn'tlive here anymore! I couldn't bear to see you and hear your voice and know that we'dnever be anything but just friends, not now! I know youdeserve someone better than me, but . . . but if you've brought me this far along just to

break my heart at the last minute, then I'll hunt Fat Cat downand feed myself to him! That's what I'll do! Because if I have to go back to the life I had before I met you then I might as well be dead!" And shespoke with such intensity that it sounded as if she really meant it. Dale calmed down a

bit, and replied,

"I—am the one who doesn't deserve you——or Gadget—or anyone—you think—your heart is breaking?" Here, Foxglove realised that the holein her chest very definitely matched Dale's. "Figures—" he continued, "I am the biggestclutz in the universe—not only—do I break your heart—Itotally pulverize mine—no clutz deserves someone like you—and—and you don't have to

go back to your old life, Foxy." He then looked up intothe dark of pre-dawn, as if looking for something. "Can you hear them?" he asked softly.

"Hear who?"

"Them. The bats. Your people. Your kind. Don't go back to your old life. Start a new one.You said you never hung around other bats, so—go. Goand live with the other bats. Maybe you'll be happier. Maybe you'll find someone—whodeserves you."

"Oh, no, Dale, no——no! No! NO! NO! NO! No bat sounds the way you do!! And I havespent a little time with them, but no bat had what I sawand heard in you!!"

"Otis seems like a nice guy," he stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

"For all we know Otis could be my brother!!"

"Then GO!!" Dale finally locked his eyes with Foxy's. "Find him!! Find your family!!Find your past!! And—leave me. Leave the clutz. Leave theclown. Leave this life of danger. I—am hazardous to your health." He turned aside andcommented, "You know, this wouldn't be so painful if wewere still enemies."

"Dale, I'm not leaving you. Not now, not ever. Not after I met your parents. You are myfamily. You and your parents, and the rest of theRangers!! You are my past, present and future!!"

"Foxy, please. I am asking you to take a break from danger—from me—and try your life,even for a little bit. Please, you gave me a chance,



you believed in me—and I failed you, as I have the others over and over—it has always been my fault, I know that now. With all the love I havefor you—I am now giving you a chance, I am now believing in you. Please, give yourself a chance now. Find out what you have missed.You may like it better over there—you may like them better—than me." Foxglove was

about to say something but Dale suddenly embracedher, looked into her eyes with pain and passion, and kissed her very deeply.

You know, Dale has a one track mind. And I love him for that, too. Once he sets out to dosomething, he does it, and nothing else. . .

And she knew he had made up his one-track mind and was saying good-bye.

Finally, he whimpered, while rubbing his cheeks with the bat's, "Please, Foxy. Just go. Iwill miss you, and never forget you. I will keep your ring incase you come back. I—won't use the new room. But if you do find someone else——

drop me a line. I will feel better knowing you are finally outof danger."

With flashing eyes, Foxglove stood and growled, "All right, if that's what you want,Mister Oakmont, then so be it!! I will go, but ONLY as afavor to you!! And I WILL spend time with the bats, and I WILL prove you wrong! AndI WILL come back, and SOON, mind you!! And the day Icome back will be the day you will more than FEEL just how much I love you!!" It was avery strange expression that showed through her eyes:anger, torment, grief, and ecstasy combined. "You'd better have the room ready, becauseI MIGHT come back by sunset!!"

Dale stood and looked into her eyes. "So long, Foxy. I love you with all my heart. Pleasedon't ever forget that."

"So long, Dale. You are the only one I have ever loved, or ever WILL love. And I WILLcome back. Please don't ever forget that." This time, sheembraced him and kissed him deeply. Looking into his damp eyes one more time, alsowith pain and passion, she echosounded him from top to

bottom several times, jumped off the branch, and flew off into the night.

When she was well out of range, a certain heart-disintegrated chipmunk whispered,

"Good-bye, my wife."

And somewhere in the night, a certain heart-disintegrated bat replied,

"Good-bye, my beloved husband."

For they both knew perfectly well that they would never see each other again.



THE DAY LAUGHTER DIED

Chip awakened from another night’s sleep. Or so he thought, for when he looked at theclock on the wall he saw that it was six o’clock in the evening.

Odd. Why did I sleep so late? he wondered. Normally, only Dale sleeps in, but never thisfar… He got up and was about to shake Dale back into consciousness, but upon lookingat the occupant on the top bunk, his sense of continuity was abruptly thrown out thewindow. He laid his ears back in confusion. Cheddarhead? What’s he doing in Dale’s

bed— It then all came back to him, much to his regret. Yesterday was the big day when Daleand Foxglove were to be married, only to be interrupted by Fat Cat kidnapping Foxy.Dale passed out, and they couldn’t wait for him to wake up, so the Rangers left him herewith all the parents that came for the wedding. Their attempt to rescue Foxglove from FatCat’s lair went awry and they were in need of rescue themselves, but they were rescued

by Dale, Midge, Otis, and several hundred other bats, and just in the nick of time, too.

While the rescue had been successful, for some reason his best friend was behaving as if Foxglove had been killed. Then, at dinner, he suddenly broke down in tears and ran outthe tree, with Foxglove following. He, too, was about to follow them, but Dale’s father,Pierre, asked him to leave the two of them alone. Something had quite obviously snappedwithin Dale, but what? Exhaustion had prevented him from pondering on this, and theyall retired to sleep for the day, with Dale’s parents, Pierre and Dalee, sleeping in the newroom, his father Chap and his uncle Phinehas sleeping with Monterey and Zipper;Camembert Kate, and his mom, Nikoma, sleeping with Gadget, and Tammy Hazelnutand Midge on the couch.He got dressed and went to the living room. There was no one there, so he went to thekitchen and saw the others, except for Kate, preparing dinner again. Neither Dale nor Foxglove were around, however. Again, Pierre was a tough and burly sciurid, his brownfur beginning to grey slightly, with a black nose and buckteeth, and he was now wearinga dark grey shirt. Dalee had a red nose and straight incisors, her fur was brown likeDale’s, and she was clad in an orange dress. Chap looked exactly like Chip, except for the greying and the wrinkles, and now wore a black leather jacket. Nikoma had greeneyes and brown fur with just a touch of grey, and had chosen for her attire a plain greendress, which accentuated her eyes.“Anyone seen Dale or Foxy?” Pierre and Dalee stopped mixing ingredients and justlooked sadly at each other, laying their ears against their heads. Gadget padded up toChip and replied,“No, Chip. They haven’t come back yet, and we’re getting worried. Maybe we should golook for—”“NO!” Everyone stopped breathing for one second, laid back stiff ears, and looked atDale’s parents..“Er, no,” repeated Pierre, more calmly. “Dale and Foxy are going through—something— that can only be solved by them. Please, please leave them alone until they come back.”Chip looked at Dale’s father and exclaimed,“But they haven’t come back, Pierre! And it’s been a whole day! Also, both of them areRescue Rangers, and as members of this team it is our duty—”



“Chip, please,” said Dalee, with a soft, sad voice. “We know Dale is your best friend, andwe know you’re worried, but, right now, this is something between him and Foxy. Weknow, we—sorta went through the same thing.” Chip looked at Dalee for a moment, withslight suspicion.“What?” he asked. Pierre looked at his wife sadly for a moment, and then replied,

“I think we should talk about this in the morning, it’s kinda long…”

A reddish light filtered through Dale’s eyelids, waking him. Someone who was playing aradio a trifle too loudly just now may have also awakened him, but he wasn’t too sure of that at this point. He opened his eyes to see the sun setting behind the skyline,announcing the end of the day. It was a beautiful sunset, so beautiful, it made him lay hisears back and cry.It made him cry because in a flash, memories of the past year and the previous nightlanded on him like an anvil. Memories of him and Foxglove so much enjoying sunrisesand sunsets, memories of them about to get married yesterday, memories of the tragicevents of last night, memories of the sudden realisation of who he was and what he was

getting Foxglove into, memories of the talk they had———oh no———no————— He noticed he was still in the tree across from the large oak he called home. He was sodevastated and exhausted that he didn’t bother going home, and had curled up in a crotchand cried himself to sleep. His cheeks and throat were matted from his tears, andFoxglove’s, too. Her scent was still quite prevalent, emanating from his arms and torso.The pain in his chest then reappeared with full force, making him think he had a black hole where his heart used to be. He tried to comfort himself,I did the right thing. Foxy doesn’t deserve someone so hazardous and fickle like me.She’ll be safe now, safe from me. And despite her promise to return, it was more thanobvious to him that she would not be coming back, not ever. And he knew she knew that,too. His sorrow was then mixed with anger. His ears remained flat, and his tail stiffened,All this time, I never thought it would happen to me. What are we cursed or somethin’?Why do ALL Oakmonts have to go through this? All those stories my parents told me,they were sad, but I thought they were all coincidences. Now it happened to me. What’sworse, it happened to Foxy too!! Sitting up, he looked at the oak, and then at the sky,with one last smouldering wick of hope. The oak remained still, and its occupants madeno sign they were there. But he knew they were there, as they should also be waking up

by now. The sky was a swath of blue and red, and a hint of dark blue off in the easternhorizon. A crescent moon hung just above the southwestern horizon, and an occasional

bird fluttered through the sky. There was an airplane now and then, but no bats.She would not be coming back.…a tear quenched that smouldering wick…If she knows what’s good for her, she will stay away from me. From us. From our enemies. For a moment, he thought that since Foxglove was gone, he should reinstate thecompetition between him and Chip over Gadget, but he quickly removed that thoughtfrom his mind. No. Chip loves Gadget, maybe more than I loved Foxy. If he’s willin’ togo through what Foxy and I went through, then he deserves her more than anybody. He’sno klutz, so he’ll probably make a better husband and father than me. If Gadget hasn’trealised that yet, then maybe I should talk to her. She’s blowin’ the chance of a lifetime—

—



He began sobbing uncontrollably again at this point; the unbelievable sorrow and grief and pain and anger within him overriding his desperate need for food.But no more. No more Klutz, no more Clown, no more goofin’ off, no more foolin’around, no more—gettin’ girlfriends—in danger—no more gettin’ your hormones andemotions in the way of duty! I’m a Crime-fighter for cryin’ out loud! Crime-fighters and

Comedians don’t mix!! No more—no more———no———more——— Exhausted from his emotional disturbance and lack of nourishment, he cried himself tosleep again, with those words echoing all over his spirit, mind, and body, announcing thedecision he had made:

No more, no more, no more…

The sunlight filtered through the western windows of the steeple, illuminating the painting of Noah’s Ark. A breathtaking sight, so breathless, it made Foxglove cry; her tears flowing up her forehead, down to her ear tips, and dripping to the floor below. Aradio that had apparently been playing a trifle loudly outside awakened her shortly beforethe spectacle began, and upon seeing the painting, she too, was hit full-force with

memories that, more than fresh, were downright freezing.How she wished Dale were here, to see this just one more time with her!How she wished to have never thrown a stone at the window, (which had been replaced)in order to come in here again!How she wished she could have said something that would have made Dale change hismind!How she wished to have never fallen for Fat Cat’s trick!How she wished Dale to have just a slightly different echolocation profile, so that shewould not have detected him so easily!How she wished to have never picked up Dale on her sonar and fallen head over heels inlove with him in the first place!How she wished Winifred had succeeded in becoming a full-fledged witch, and thenturned her into a completely evil animal, incapable of feeling affection for ANYONE!How she wished Bud had never captured her!How she wished to have never fallen from her mother as she flew!HOW SHE WISHED SHE HAD NEVER BEEN BORN———!!Her train of thought was derailed at this last wish, and she also began sobbinguncontrollably. A few minutes later, she saw the blurred image of Noah’s Ark begindarkening as the night set in. She had told him she would eventually return, but thosewere just words. He had released her, and she could not go back to him, ever. He wantedwhat was best for her, and he obviously thought he wasn’t the best, and would never be.And with enemies all around, she, and whatever cubs they had, would never be safe.Looking down at the floor, she saw the spots her tears had made, mingled with pieces of

broken glass, and the stone that she threw last night. Her tears were mixed with Dale’s;they were on the floor too, as well as on her face. His woody/nutty/bubble-gummy/chocolaty scent was still mingled with her own as well. That final good-bye hurt,and it hurt so much, she actually reconsidered her threat of finding Fat Cat and feedingherself to him—

No.



She told Dale she would try living with other bats; she at least owed that to him, as thatwas his parting wish. Besides, it was obvious that Fat Cat and his cronies had mostdefinitely removed chiropterids from their diet list after last night’s saliva fest.If she did not like her new life, then she would try something else, and if not, then shewould try over and over until she found a lifestyle that would satisfy her, but the one

thing she would NOT do was to fall in love again. The pain was too extreme. Nochipmunks, no bats, either, no male of no species would have her heart offered to himever again.“But if you do find someone else——drop me a line. I will feel better knowin’ you arefinally out of danger.”She would drop him a line: a note left on his doorstep in the middle of the night, a pieceof paper with a lie written on it, a lie that would tell Dale that she was happily marriedand with two pups, with her and her fictitious family in no danger whatsoever, so maybeDale would then forget her and try to find someone he truly deserved.Instinct set in at this point and she released herself from her perch, flew out the window(the opening was large enough for her to fly through), and headed in a direction well

away from the park.As she rode the air currents, her sonar picked up two distressingly familiar signals: upahead were two bats, and their flight paths were converging.Well, I guess my social life with bats begins now. Catching up to them, she detected thatthey were both female—

—and one was carrying a pup.The hexagonal knot in her throat connected with the black hole in her chest, causing her ears to droop somewhat.Unable to speak, she tried not to look at or echosound at the pup. They did not sayanything to her either, or to each other. Perhaps they were not among the chiropterids thatattacked Fat Cat last night and thus did not recognise her. Well and good. They wereheaded for Staten Island, occasionally catching a few mosquitoes; perhaps there theywould reach a larger feeding ground. Hopefully, no one there would recognise her, either.She calmed down, gradually, as the distance between her and Dale increased with eachflap of her wings.And how she wished that right now, instead of being so far apart, she and Dale be asclose as husband and wife could get, enjoying each other on their magical first time

IT’S AN OAKMONT THING

“Dalee and I were both madly in love, as crazy for each other as Dale and Foxy were.”Were? thought Chip.“We were planning an enormous wedding, inviting every herbivore in our part of theforest, including deer and moose. One day before the wedding, a lynx kidnapped Dalee.

Now, that lynx was not just your average woodland predator. He was downright EVIL, probably even more evil than your friend Fat Cat. He not only killed, but he tortured hisvictims in the most horrible ways no human or animal has ever thought or seen. Heseemed to be in a particular rage against us Oakmonts, since my ancestors befriended afamily of bobcats and had some protection against him. I was enraged, as much as Dalewas when he woke up. All the animals then gathered against that lynx, and we rescued



Dalee. Now while she knew about the feud my family had against that lynx, she never expected something so horrible like this to happen. And that lynx then went on to find afew allies of his own! I was so worried about Dalee, and I then knew that even with the

bobcats, she and our cubs would be in constant danger. So, I wanted to let her go, but sherefused. We got married and had Dale.”

“But why let her go?” asked Gadget. “Couldn’t you two have lived somewhere else?”“That would have been the easiest thing to do,” replied Dalee. “But it’s not that simple.Pierre just couldn’t leave his old homestead, and even if he did, he knew that the lynxwould have hunted him down, and found him, no matter where he went. Also, he had adeep friendship with a bobcat, his name is Tac, even though he pleaded him to moveaway. Pierre refused, thinking that it would be better if I moved away and marriedsomeone without family feuds. Tac then changed his mind and insisted that Pierre marryme, and we finally did. The bobcats then doubled their surveillance, and the lynx and hisallies were eventually defeated.”“Sounds like a ‘appy ending to me, mates.” said Monterey. Zipper added,“Yeah, I just hope this incident doesn’t break up Dale and Foxy.” Pierre then looked at

the overweight murid and his muscid friend, took a deep breath, and continued,“That’s what we’re afraid of, guys. You see, every single male member of my family hasgone through the same thing. You may think that all of this is a coincidence, but by theway it’s been happening, by the pattern it has followed, and from what happened now, weknow now that there is something, or someone, behind this. A ‘family curse’, if you wishto call it that.”“Sounds to me that you’re just as superstitious as Dale,” said Chip. “And just exactlywhat is this ‘pattern’ that your family is ‘cursed’ with?”“Dalee got kidnapped, was rescued, and she married me. My father first fell in love witha flying squirrel, she got attacked by a marten, was rescued, but she left him, and he wenton to marry a chipmunk. My grandfather fell in love with a squirrel, and she nearly diedin a forest fire. My great-grandfather first fell in love with a chipmunk, but she caughttuberculosis and died, and he married another. My great-great-grandfather fell in lovewith a buck-toothed hamster, she was captured by a wild dog, was rescued with the helpof the bobcats, and they married. The list goes on and on.” The mammals, the insect, andthe avian looked at the Oakmonts in disbelief. Dalee resumed,“You see, every single generation of Oakmonts has been hit with either abduction,disease, or accidents, all right before the wedding. And every ‘other’ generation of Oakmonts has lost their first fiancée, one way or another. And since Pierre got to keepme, I—I—” She lowered her ears and began to cry at this point, “I think Dale is going tolose Foxy!!” She wept on her husband’s shoulder but was suddenly frightened, as well aseveryone else, when Chip stood and banged his fists on the table, ears back and tail stiff.“NO!!” he chattered. “This is INSANITY!! It’s all a COINCIDENCE!! Foxglove was

NOT killed!! She would NEVER leave Dale!! And he would NEVER let her go!!” Dale’sfather stood and glared at him, also with stiff ears and tail.“All right, Mister ‘Detective’, then YOU explain why our family has gone through this— this—this HELL!!” Both sciurids breathed heavily and appeared to be ready to jump ateach other. Chip began to calm down, however, when he felt Gadget’s paw on hisshoulder. Pierre, too, calmed down, as his wife held him close. Tails relaxed and earswere raised again. Slowly sitting back down, Pierre sighed,



“Sorry, Chip, I guess my temper got the best of me.”“No, no, I shouldn’t have started yelling. This is—a very sensitive issue. I should have

been more understanding with you. I’m sorry too, Pierre.” Breathing deeply for a fewmoments, Chip continued, “Now, then, Pierre, let’s say that this is indeed a family curse,or that someone secretly hates your family. Do you know when this pattern began?”

Pierre thought deeply for a moment, and replied,“This—this curse began even before we got the Oakmont name. And since we startedkeeping records only recently, I really can’t tell you when this all began. I’m sorry, Chip,

but for all we know, this could have started before our ancestors boarded Noah’s Ark!”Chip thought for a moment, and then he asked,“Are you completely sure that this has happened to EVERY single Oakmont generation?There haven’t been any breaks in this pattern?”“The pattern has held since before the Europeans arrived. Beyond that, I can’t say the

pattern hasn’t been occasionally broken, but from what my grandfather told me, it hasalways been there.” Chip pondered again and said,“Then for all we know this pattern began spontaneously, and it could very much break

spontaneously—”“That’s what I was hoping for since the day I met Dalee,” he replied through clenchedincisors, lowering his ears.“Now, now,” said Chap, “Pierre, you can’t just give up hope for Dale and Foxglove. This

pattern could very much break with them!! There’s no reason why it shouldn’t!”“He’s right,” added Gadget. “A similar case would be the U.S. Presidency. Since 1820,every president that got elected in a year that ended in zero died in office, one way or another. As far as we know, that pattern began spontaneously, and was stoppedspontaneously by Reagan, elected 1980.”“But that’s only 160 years of a ‘spontaneous’ pattern,” said Nikoma. “The Oakmont’sstreak has existed since before Columbus, or even the last ice age!” Chip interrupted,“Guys, what I’m saying is this: There’s no way to find out how this all began. Hence,there’s no way to find out how to end it. But also, there’s nothing that can prove that this

pattern has NOT been broken before. In Dale’s case, Foxglove was abducted, but she wasnot murdered, made sick, or killed in an accident. And judging from Dale’s behaviour,there’s NO WAY he’s going to let Foxglove go. And don’t even THINK Foxglove isgoing to leave Dale. Sheesh, they would have probably got married right after theWinifred Case if Dale hadn’t been so shy!! Look, Pierre, I think my dad is right. There isno reason why this pattern cannot break now. This whole incident may just as well bringDale and Foxy even closer than ever before. For all we know, they could have gone to thenearest justice of the peace, got married right there and then, and right now they could beon their way to Bermuda!!” Pierre then looked at his son’s best friend’s eyes, raised hisears, and asked,“Then why was he hurting?” Chip sat back at this question.“Huh?”“You saw the look in his eyes. It was the same look I had when I told Dalee I was goingto let her go. I was going to remain single and let the Oakmont line die—to end the curse.I didn’t want my cubs, or their cubs after them, to go through the hell this family has been

put through. And his reaction was an exact copy of what I did 25 years ago!!” Pierre laidhis ears back again and began to cry and snarl at the same time, while digging his claws



on the table. “It—it was like watching a re-run on TV!! Or even worse, it was likewatching a ghost of myself, my father, my grandfather, every single ancestor, all rolledinto one tortured ‘MUNK——!!” Dalee held her husband tighter as he tried to remaindignified before his friends. Chip, however, did not know what to make of this. Dale wasin pain; perhaps it was because he thought the curse had landed on him. But Foxglove

was safe, and there was absolutely no reason for him to break up with Foxglove at the lastmoment!“Is that why you didn’t want us to go after them?” he asked.“Yes,” replied Dalee. “We didn’t want you to see history being repeated.”“Blimey!” squeaked Cheddarhead, gruffly. “You don’t know if THAT was what‘appened!! I say Chipper’s right and those two are ‘itting it off right now—!!”“Watch yore language, ya big lug!!” said Camembert, slapping the back of his head.“There are cubs present!!”“Where?” asked Tammy and Midge at the same time. Chip then tried to regain control of this conversation.“Listen, guys, the fact is that Dale and Foxglove have been missing for over 24 hours

now, and I think we should start looking for them. From Dale’s behaviour, they could beon their honeymoon right now, but I know he’d at least leave us a note telling us wherethey were going. And if they’re NOT on their honeymoon, then they just MIGHT be introuble again! But those two breaking up, Pierre, I’m sorry, but I just don’t see anymotive in that!! They love each other so much, they’re absolutely inseparable!!” Pierrethen turned and looked at the watch on the wall.09:28He then looked back at Chip and said,“Dale will come in here right now, and when he does, we’ll see about that. And you don’tknow how much I have prayed that this pattern would break right here, right now—”Phinehas asked,“And just how do you know he’s going to come in at this very moment—”The front door opened.Everyone turned and saw a familiar rodent standing there.All ears and tails drooped at this point.Pierre and Dalee’s hearts sank when they saw him standing— Alone…

A SEARCH BEGINS

Staten Island was not exactly a new place for Foxglove; she had been here before. Still,she felt more than a trifle self-conscious when she reached the garbage dump and beganfeeding, for this was the first time in a long while that she fed with other bats. And fromthe looks and echosoundings they were giving her, she knew that several of them thoughtthey recognised her. Still, there were plenty of insects for everybody (but she couldn’t

bring herself to eat flies), and she tried to blend in. But as the night wore on, she startedgetting increasingly nervous. Several male chiropterids tried to start conversations withher, but she quickly banked and flew away from them. And one male pipistrell in

particular seemed to be echosounding at her very closely. At first, she regarded this as



normal, but when she heard him continuing his scans with more and more intensity, shedecided enough was enough and left the dump. She didn’t get too far, however.“Foxglove??” Her ears perked up. She turned around and heard— “Otis!!” She had been found by the “chiropterid representative” of their wedding, not tomention the same one who helped round up a myriad of bats to assist in her rescue. She

let him catch up to her, and he continued,“Foxglove! It IS you!! I thought I heard your profile, but I couldn’t believe YOU would be HERE!! I thought I was getting a sore throat or something, or that I needed to get myears cleaned.” They turned and headed back to the dump.“Well, yes, Otis, your throat and ears are just fine. It is me. It’s just that—when you wereechosounding at me so loudly, I thought you had—other things in mind.” Ashamed, hereplied,“Oh, um, well, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to make sure you wereyou. I’m sorry I made you think otherwise.” Deciding to change the subject, he asked,“And what are you doing here, anyways? Aren’t you supposed to be getting married?And—are you all right?” Otis had noticed her matted fur on her face. Foxglove’s throat

tightened again and her ears went limp. What on earth could she say to this? She simplycould NOT spill the beans right now, not in the middle of this crowd!“Er—well—we—um—decided to wait—sort of—until we both calmed down—and— and—we decided—to take a break—for a while—and—and—I’m all right—really—I

just haven’t groomed my face yet—” She simply could not tell him they had broken up,as he then would probably begin to court her. She also tried not to notice his handsomefeatures, and the only way to do this was to think of him as her possible long-lost

brother— “Um—Otis—actually, the real reason—I’m here is because—because I need tofind my family. Any family. I really need someone of my family present at the wedding,even if it is a distant cousin. The ceremony—can’t be totally legal without witnesses from

both families. And—and—I need your help.” Both of them banked and hoveredsuddenly, echosounding at each other for a moment. This was the first time Foxglove hadasked for help from someone other than the Rescue Rangers.“Really?” he asked. “Then why aren’t the other Rangers helping you? Or are theylooking somewhere else—?”“YES!” she blurted, trying to keep his mind away from Dale. “The others—are searchingother areas——I was assigned this place, and—and I will need your help. First, we willneed to gather any couples or mothers who lost their pups several years ago. Then—wewill need to—screen them—somehow—”“Wow, Foxglove, you’re a very good detective!! And you’ve learned that from your friends, didn’t you? You must be really proud to be a Rescue Ranger.” The knotintensified and she could barely speak,“Yes, I know—I—am—”For she could simply not tell him that she was a Rescue Ranger no longer…

I AWOKE AND LAUGHED NO MORE

“Dale, where’s Foxglove?” The other tamias turned and replied, lowering his ears,slightly annoyed,



“I’m just fine, Chip. Excuse me, I need some breakfast.” With that, Dale padded into thekitchen, with his parents following.Everyone feared the worst at this point. Chip then stood, ran out the door, and lookedoutside.It was another fine day, with partly cloudy skies. A perfect day to get married.

Foxglove wasn’t there.“No,” he growled. “NO! You DIDN’T!! YOU’RE STUPID, BUT NOT THATSTUPID!!” He whirled and saw Gadget at the door. Both had their ears down now. Hetried to reason, “No. Foxglove must have gone into emotional shock. He must havecomforted her, and had her sleep someplace away from the park. There is NO REASONwhy he can’t marry her!! NO REASON!!” Gadget then took hold of his arm and led him

back inside.“Chip, I hope you’re right. But now, only Dale can tell us what happened, and he’s goingto need some time before he can tell us.” The sciurid shook his head in denial,“He won’t NEED time!! Foxglove is coming here by sunset, and everything is going to

be perfectly fine for both of them!!” Gadget closed the door, led him to the couch, and sat

him down. She was about to hold him close too, but another knock on the door interrupted her. Everyone perked their ears, looked at the door again, and prayed dearlythat Foxglove would be there. Gadget ran to the door, and opening it, she asked,“Foxy?”“No, my name is Clark Jent. I’m a reporter for the Fur and Feather Journal andPicayune.” Everyone stared at the tall brown ferret, who wore a red shirt and white cap.“I was sent here two days ago to cover a wedding for our social column, a wedding of one—” he pulled out a paper from his right pocket, “Dale Oakmont and one Foxglove— no last name. A chipmunk and a bat, interesting combination. I got to the pond just after you all learned that the bride had been kidnapped by one of your enemies. Our sourcestell us that you Rescue Rangers rescued the bride. Is she and the groom in right now? I’dlike to interview them—” Gadget eyes flashed with sudden anger as she interrupted,“The bride and groom are indisposed right now, Mr. Jent.” Pausing for a moment, sheadded, laying her ears back. “And now that you mention it, so are we.”“Still? Hmm, I thought I had given you guys enough time to recover from the emotionalshock that this incident might have brought. My boss wanted me to come yesterday, but Iasked him to be patient.” Gadget calmed down and raised her ears again, but only for amoment, as Clark continued, “Still, I have a column to fill. Could you ‘fill’ me in on thefacts of the kidnapping and rescue?” When Gadget replied, with low ears again, even shewas surprised to hear her voice somewhat lower,“I could, but I really don’t feel like it right now, Mr. Jent!!”“All right, we’ll skip that. What will happen to the wedding now?” Gadget’s mind went

blank for 1.45 seconds upon hearing this question. She didn’t want to give the presssomething that would make their enemies feel victorious. Thinking for another 6.83seconds, she replied,“The wedding has been postponed, Mr. Jent.”“Really?” he asked casually. “I already knew that. And when is the new ceremony goingto be held?” Gadget had to use every bit of self-control to avoid strangling this mediarepresentative. Her tail stiffened, as she tried not to growl,



“The wedding has been postponed, Mr. Jent. For security reasons, it will be held in anundisclosed place at an undisclosed time, both of which will be disclosed to you one daylater. Good-bye.” The ferret was about to ask another question but before he evenfinished taking his next breath the door was already shut.With angry ears and tail, Gadget went over to the couch and sat next to Chip.

“Postponed?” he asked.“I hope,” she replied.

Dale opened the cupboard and was about to get a candy bar, but then, something withinhim held him back. Or actually, it was something that wasn’t in him anymore. Dale feltconfused for a moment, seeing that he simply couldn’t bring himself to get his favouritefood. With a sigh, he closed the cupboard, opened the refrigerator, and pulled out aneighth of an apple. He sat at the table and practically had to force the food down his ownthroat. His parents, looking at him with unbelievable sadness and with drooped ears andtails, slowly sat in front of him. His mother fearfully began,“Dale? What—what happened?” Dale returned a blank stare, swallowed, and replied with

a sigh,“What was supposed to happen…what…what happened to Grandpa.” His parents’ heartsfinished breaking at this point. Both reached out to hold his paws, pausing his breakfastmomentarily. Pierre said,“Dale, we’re so sorry. But you already know the whole story. You know that you can’tlose hope because it won’t happen—”“Again, yes, I know,” Dale stated, pulling back, lowering his ears. “Not with me, at least.

No sirree, this generation has paid the toll. But Dad,” he looked at Pierre’s eyes, “It canhappen again, with whoever comes after me, and whoever follows him!! It’s never goin’to stop!!” Remembering Chip’s words, Dalee said,“Well, now dear, we don’t know that for sure. For all we know this could stop at anymomen—”“It already did,” interrupted the young tamias.“What?” she asked in confusion, raising her ears, as did Pierre.“I said it already stopped. I finally figured out how to stop this, and I’m puttin’ a stop tothis.” His parents looked at him even more confusedly.“You figured it out?” asked Pierre, with annoyance added to his confusion. “Then whydidn’t you do something before??” Again, Dale looked at his father with the sameseriousness of the tragic night.“Because the Clown, the Goof-up, the Klutz, and the Comedian convinced me not to.”“Dale! Don’t talk about your friends that way!!” exclaimed Dalee, ears stiffened up. Dalelooked at her and sighed,“Mom, I’m talkin’ about ME. For a long time I’ve been all those things. And all thosethings pushed me into doin’ somethin’ I knew would lead to disaster. But I know better now. I’m puttin’ a stop to this. It won’t happen again because I’m gettin’ rid of theClown, the Goof-up, the Klutz, and the Comedian…and it won’t happen again

because…” Dale gritted his incisors for a moment, trying to push back the pain of whathe was going to say, “Because I’m not goin’ through this again.” He just couldn’t look athis parents’ faces now. He stared at the table, trying to make himself eat again.



“Wh—what?” asked Dalee, drooping her ears and beginning to cry again. Dale looked upa trifle and continued,“Mom, Dad, you heard me. I’m not goin’ to pass this torch from hell to anyone, muchless my cub and grandcub. And the only way I can put a stop to this—is if I put a stop tous. Mom, Dad, I’m not goin’ to try again. I’m—” The pain was so intense he nearly

threw up. “I’m—remainin’ single. I—won’t look for anyone else. The only way thiscurse will die is if the Oakmonts die. And I’ve decided to let the curse die with me. Nomore Oakmonts will suffer this pain from hell.” He sat back and sighed, reflecting,“Maybe this will be the smartest thing I’ve ever done, with all the goof-ups I’ve caused— ”Like watching a re-run on TV.An exact copy of his exact thoughts 25 years ago.And not only thoughts, but now, thoughts brought to action: an EXECUTION.A ghost of himself, his father, his grandfather, every single ancestor, all rolled into onetortured ‘MUNK— This last statement caused Pierre to lay his ears back, stiffen his tail, grind his incisors,

sink his claws on the table, stand slowly in an incredible rage, and snarl,“DALE SEGOLEH OAKMONT———!!” Dale almost lowered his ears and shiveredand cowered when he heard his father call him by his full name, but a previous decisionkept his serious look on his face.“Oh, by the way, Dad, I’m gettin’ rid of that name as well.” Pierre enraged even moreand leaned closer to his son.“WHAT?? You mean you’re killing your Mohawk roots before their time as well?? Whynot just kill yourself and us right now??” Dale continued to speak calmly,“No, Dad, I already died. I died the other night. And I should have said ‘I’m changin’ thatname as well’. ‘He who laughs’ simply can’t be a part of me anymore, not after all thedamage he’s caused up to now.” Dale’s parents were speechless again for a moment. So,he took this chance to explain, “Dad, I’m not cuttin’ off my roots. I’m just adjustin’ themto the decision I made. As of today, I’m Dale Hastahah Oakmont.” Dalee gasped, paled,and nearly fainted. Her whole life flashed before her eyes for a moment, or more

precisely, just the day of Dale’s birth, and how instead of crying or whimpering, the cubmade strange noises which almost sounded like laughter. And now, her son was not onlyrejecting the name they had given him, which had proved to be quite prophetic, but hewas now replacing it with its exact opposite. Still shocked and enraged, especially byseeing his wife’s reactions, Pierre snarled again,“But Dale, you can’t change who you are by just changing your name!!” Dale repliedwith a deathly calm,“You’re right, Dad, but I’m changin’ my name because I’m changin’ who I am.” Withveins nearly standing out from his neck fur, Pierre asked,“Well, ‘he who grieves’, just what will you be grieving at?” Dale looked at his parents,then he looked down again, and sighed,“At what else? At the death of the Oakmont line. At the death of Dale and Foxglove. Atthe death of a Goof-up, a Klutz, a Clown—” His heart collapsed within him once more,as his voice cracked:“…at the death of a Comedian…”



Pierre would have beat the tar out of his son, but Dale’s tone of voice and the shock andthe suddenness of a nearly literal death caused him to freeze after he stood. His whole

body trembled as his eyes reddened. Finally, he just leaned over and hugged his son tight,whimpering. Dalee, too, broke down in tears and hugged them both.But Dale didn’t cry, for some reason…

One hour later, a freshly showered sciurid stood outside the front door, looking at the sky,ears up and tail relaxes. No chiropterid tears or scent remained on him now. He stillrefused to talk to the other Rangers, and that was getting just a trifle unnerving for them.But he would tell them, eventually, if they didn’t know about this already. At this point,his parents padded outside and hugged him.“Give us a call whenever you need us,” said Pierre, with sad ears and tail.“I will.”“Oh, Dale, are you sure you won’t come home with us, even for a little while?” sobbedDalee.“I’m sure, mom. I—I’ve got a job here. An important one. I can’t let my feelin’s get in

the way of rescuin’ others. But I will keep in touch. And—I’m sorry you came all theway here for nothin’.” Pierre said,“You—did what you had to do, son.” With that, they kissed him good-bye and climbeddown the tree.And they both knew that they would be the only couple in their part of the forest withoutgrandcubs…

Chap, Nikoma, and Phinehas gave their farewells to the other Rangers and paddedoutside. Their features also expressed their sadness.“Are you sure you’re gonna be all right?”“I’m sure, Chap.”“You’d better. I think Chip’s taking this worse than you are!!”“I’ll talk to him, Nikoma. I’ll talk to all of them. I—have to move on. And, Phinehas, I’msorry you never got to do the ceremony. I’m sure you had somethin’ big in mind, but,maybe you’ll be able to do it with Chip.”“Now, Dale, don’t you keep talking that way. For some reason, I don’t think this wholething is over yet—”“Phinehas, please, just forget the whole thing. It’s over—it’s—over—” Chip’s relativesthen hugged Dale and left.

Cheddarhead and Camembert followed. Their ears and tails were down as well.“Dale, lad, I must say that this is the first divorce I’ve seen that ‘appens afore theweddin’,” said Camembert.“My first time, too,” replied Dale. “I suppose you two know how I feel—”“No, we don’t,” stated Cheddarhead. “We may be divorced, but that was ‘cause of differences that came o’er the years. You—you released the one you loved—because youloved ‘er. We’re sorry, lad.” Monterey’s parents hugged Dale and left.

Midge hopped out and said,“Dale, I’m so sorry about this—”



“I’m sorry you flew all the way over here. And, thanks for your help. I couldn’t haverescued—” The chipmunk choked on this last word and simply hugged the bird.Moments later, they broke. “Keep in touch, will you?”“I will. So long, friend.” With that, the swallowmaid flew off.

Tammy had just kissed Chip good-bye, and for some reason, he did not mind that, andnor did Gadget. She padded outside and looked at Dale. She was about to give her condolences too, but her words disintegrated in her throat. Her eyes welled up, her earsand tail drooped, and she embraced the chipmunk tightly, sobbing on his shoulder.Dale did not cry.He already did that the other night…A few moments later, he said,“Please, Tammy, you really should go home now. Your mom and sister are probablyworried about you.” The teenage squirrelmaid looked at the chipmunk and could onlyreply,“Oh, Dale, I’m so sorry—I’m so sorry—” Abruptly, she released him and ran back home.

Dale sadly saw her run off. From her reactions, one would think she was the one who losta loved one. Looking at the sky one last time, Dale padded back inside.He’d have to stop looking at the sky that way now…

The other Rangers were waiting for him in the living room, so he padded up to them andcasually asked,“Okay, guys, what’s our next case?”Chip then jumped at him and bonked him with the biggest bonk he had ever given him,so big, he actually hurt his left paw in the process. Before Dale could recover, Chipgrabbed his Hawaiian shirt and slammed Dale’s back into the wall.“DALE, WHERE IS FOXGLOVE,” he growled, laying back his ears and stiffening histail. The others were shocked at Chip’s behaviour, but Dale remained calm, as if nothinghad happened.“She’s probably sleepin’ right now. Why?” Looking at him with mad eyes, Chip growled,“I’M GOING TO ASK THIS AGAIN, DALE: WHERE—IS—FOXGLOVE.”“I don’t know, Chip. Now please let go of my shirt.” Chip, suddenly aware of his temper,slowly released his grip, brought his ears up again, relaxed his tail, and asked him morecalmly,“Dale—Dale—what—what happened?” Dale wasn’t sure if he wanted to re-live theevents of the other night. But still, the others deserved to know. They had to know.“Chip, why did you guys leave me here and fly off to rescue Foxglove?” The others weresomewhat surprised at this question, thusly lowering their ears, except for Zipper. Chipreplied,“Um, well, Dale, because you fainted, and we couldn’t wait for you to wake up.”“And?” Chip looked at him as if he were the one being interrogated.“And—and—because she needed help right away—”“And?”“And—because—because—we knew you’d go berserk. We saw things that would havemade you—made you—”“Mess everythin’ up, again?”



“Yes—NO!—I mean—”“It’s okay, Chip, you—you made the right decision. I’m—I’m glad I didn’t see the thingsyou saw. I—could have got everyone killed.” Chip wondered if Dale was reading hismind, particularly in a chapter he didn’t even know existed.“But what about Foxglove?” asked Zipper. Dale took a deep breath and replied,

“Guys, I’m sorry we made you build the new room. And—I’m sorry for all the times Ifooled around and messed things up. It won’t happen again anymore. As for Foxglove— well, guys—I—I let her go.” Shocked beyond explanation, the Rangers looked at himwith slack jaws, ears, and tails. Moments later, Gadget laid her ears back and whimpered,“B—but—why??”“For the same reason you never chose me.” Gadget’s mind, as well as everyone else’s,went blank. Dale explained, “Gadget, it all became clear to me the other night. Youdidn’t choose me, and you were right by not choosin’ me. Foxglove—and you—deservesomeone who won’t faint when you need help, someone who won’t go berserk and putyou in danger, someone who won’t fool around and get bonked on the head over and over and over—” Chip winced here, “—someone without horrible enemies that want to kill

you—or your cubs—and that very much leaves me out of it. Foxglove’s gone to live withthe bats.” The others simply could not believe they were hearing this, and much lesshearing it from Dale. “But don’t feel too bad. I—I’m kinda relieved we all found outabout this before we made a stupid decision. Strange, isn’t it? It was Fat Cat—our enemy—who stopped us from makin’ a HUGE mistake! And—there will be no moremessin’ up by me. No more wisecracks, no more practical jokes, no more goofin’ off, nomore clownin’ around, no more stupid comments, no more jokes, nothin’. The Comedianis dead. From now on, I’m a full-blooded Rescue Ranger. Now, do we have a next case?”Chip stuttered,“Um, well, no, but—”“Then are we goin’ to look for a case?”“N—no. Dale—”“All right, then, excuse me. I’ve got things to do.” With that, he padded back to his room.The others just looked at him pad out to the hallway, and then they looked at each other,stupefied. Moments later, Chip enraged once more and stormed off after his best friend,leaving Monterey, Gadget, and Zipper by themselves.“He—he—let her go—” she sobbed. Monterey could only reply with sad ears and tail,“I—I know, luv. But maybe Dale did somethin’ right for a change. You know the sayin’:If you luv somethin’, let it go…”“If it comes back—it’s yours forever…” she continued. Zipper finished,“And if it doesn’t, it wasn’t yours to begin with—” Gadget looked at her father’s bestfriend with shock, pain, and confusion, and with low ears and tail, threw herself at himand cried.And the only time that she had cried so hard was on the day her father died…

Chip stormed into his room and saw Dale packing all of his comic books and joke booksinto an empty milk carton. Dale turned and asked,“Say, Chip, can I borrow one of your Sureluck Jones novels—?”“DALEWHATINTHE#HELLDOYOU#THINKYOU’RE#DOING!!” Dale looked at his

best friend more than surprised at this outburst,



“I’m packin’ away my comics, do you have a problem with that? Gosh, Chip, I never thought I’d see the day I’d hear you cuss like that——”“THAT’SBECAUSEI’VENEVERBEENSOSHOCKEDATYOUBEFOREDALE,” hegrowled in response, and breathing very audibly. His ears were again against his head,and his tail was as stiff as a board.

“What’swrongwithputtin’awaycomicbooks?” he asked, also beginning to get riled.“DALEWHATAREYOUDOING??” Dale sighed, stood up straight, padded over to him,looked at him in the eye, and replied,“WhatdoesitlooklikeI’mdoin’?I’mburyin’myoldlife.” Calming down somewhat, relaxinghis tail, and raising his ears, Chip asked,“Dale, what—what about Foxy?” Dale sighed again,“She’s better off without me. We realised that the other night.” Chip’s mind simply couldnot register this fact.“Whatdoyoumean‘better’??Youtwowereperfectforeachother!!”“PERFECT??” he spat.“NowTHAT’Saninterestin’wordtodescribemeespeciallywhenit’scomin’fromYOU!!”

Chip stood back a moment and lowered his ears upon hearing this accusation.“AndjustWHATdoyoumeanbythat??” he spat back. Dale looked at him for a moment as pain once again filled his eyes. Finally, he explained,“Do you know what it feels like to be insignificant, Chip?”“Huh?” Dale laid his ears back and explained,“Sure. To see your friends, people you would gladly lay down your life for withouthesitation, to see them cringe when you offer to help them with somethin’. And to haveyour advice, input and thoughts on any topic instantly dismissed as worthless?” Chipsuddenly felt all his blood pool to his foot-paws. He never knew…“You, Chip, on morethan one occasion were ready to be believe that I had lost my mind before you werewillin’ to believe that I was right about somethin’.” Chip suddenly felt a deathblowhimself. “Or Gadget, of all people! Her words are STILL ringin’ in my ears all theseyears later: When we were in South America, tryin’ to find who was stealin’ those cacaotrees, and when I showed you all where the trees were taken, Gadget uttered those cruelwords, ‘Golly! Could Dale be right after all?’ As if the very idea of me bein’ right aboutsomethin’ was utterly unimaginable to her!! I would have expected words like that fromyou, Chip, but not her. That—that was the worst part…” Dale turned away for a moment.Chip was now robbed of all speech. This was certainly something he had never considered. “Actually, no, that wasn’t the worst part,” he continued, turning back to Chip.“The worst was Paris. Chip, even though that nozzle exploded on me, I knew I hadmessed up again. I knew I shouldn’t have tried to get more cream. But all I wanted was alittle slack from you. YOU, being a Detective, should have used your powers of observation to see that the nozzle was faulty from the start. Still, you had every right to

be angry with me, but you didn’t have to say that the Rescue Rangers would be better off without me.”“Well, they wouldn’t be—”“Of course not, Detective. How long did it take you to get out of that sewer?” Onceagain, Chip felt another blow. It was because of the absence Dale’s sensitive nose thatthey took so long in finding their way to the correct storm drain. “But that wasn’t the endof it. I really thought Gadget would have backed me up, with her bein’ so smart and



knowin’ what was wrong with the nozzle. But she called me a Goof-up as well, as didZipper. And did you think I didn’t notice the way she said it? Monty was ‘kinder’, youmight say, by callin’ me a ‘Comic Relief’, but at least he already apologised for that! Andthen you told me to do somethin’ I wouldn’t mess up: sight-seein’. And do you think Ididn’t hear you say that I would learn my lesson if you solved that case by yourselves??”

“Dale, I—”“But do you know what was the truly worst part? Chip, I was cryin’. And how many of you came after me?”Silence.Chip could not say a single word.“Yeah, you’re just barely noticin’ that, aren’t you? Chip, I was one second away fromleavin’ Paris and the Rescue Rangers forever, if that was the thing that would have madeyou happy. Fortunately for you, I got hit on the head right before I went to the trainstation. And sure, later on you apologised, sayin’ that the Rescue Rangers wouldn’t bethe same without me. And you said that you’d never doubt my abilities again. But tellme, Chip, have you doubted my abilities after Paris?” Chip froze again. “Come on, Chip,

I dare you to say NO.” Dale crossed his arms and waited one minute, but his fearlessleader/best friend would not say a word. “And not only you, my best friend, but Zipper,Monty, and GADGET as well!! Boy, how I wanted to speak out. Of course, I couldn't tellher that her words or her lack of faith in me was deeply woundin’, otherwise it wouldhave hurt her feelin’s. Which would have prompted YOU to bonk me on the head for not

being considerate of HER feelin’s!! Am I right, Mister Maplewood??” Despite all hisoutward denial, Chip knew, he knew that those would have been his exact reactions.“I’ve admired you from the first day we met, Chip. When you decided to make arescue/detective organization, I jumped right in. I was your best friend and I wanted tofeel important. But do you think it’s been easy for me bein’ a Rescue Ranger? Here I am,day after day, surrounded by a detective who is equal to or better than Sureluck Jones, aninventor who can build things that baffle science, a legendary adventurer, a fly who canknock you down once he finds your balance point, and here I am, Dale: the Cowardly,Dim-witted Klutz!!”“D-Dale—”“Do you have any idea how small and unimportant I have felt bein’ a part of this group?It often feels that if it wasn’t for occasional bits of dumb luck, my presence would addnothing.”“Now Dale, that’s not—”“Have you ever felt insignificant, Chip?” he interrupted, derailing once again Chip’s trainof thought. Before he could even think about that question, Dale continued, “I think not,

but I have, ALL MY LIFE!! You think you’re so tough and bold, Chip, or any of you for that matter. Try paddin’ in my shoes for just one day and know what if feels like to beworthless. What if Gadget lost her prodigious intellect? Would you start bonkin’ her onthe head if she started doin’ or sayin’ dumb things?” Once more, Chip stood in shock. Hehad never considered that option, not in the least. “What if Monty wasn't big and strong?What if Zipper suddenly started makin’ jokes and wisecracks? What if YOU lost your detective abilities? Imagine these things and know what it’s like to be Dale. What it’s liketo be the Comedian.” Chip was not only robbed of all speech, but of all thought as well.So many things he had taken for granted, so many things he had overlooked, so many



times he, and the others, had hurt Dale without even knowing it. Dale looked away fromhim for a moment, and continued, “Even before we came to the city, it has always beenlike that. You know we’ve not only fought for Gadget, but for other females as well. Andthey all seemed to like you better. And even those who remotely SEEMED to like memore……Chip, I’ve never heard from them again. They talked to me once or twice, and

they’ve never come back.” He then counted off his digits, “Not Clarissa, not Clarice, notChi-Chi, not Lucy, NONE OF THEM EVER CAME BACK!!” Dale fumed to himself for a moment, trying to control his rage. He continued with stiff ears and tail, “If I suddenlyleft, I know now that Gadget would not even think of goin’ after me, just like the time inParis!! She would be another who would simply NOT come back and NEVER giveanother thought about me AGAIN!!”“Nowyoujustholdonthere—”“I’MNOTFINISHEDHERE,” Dale suddenly growled. He paused again, as his throatknotted again, and as his chest pressed against him as well. “But—but then, one finenight, I found myself fallin’ twenty feet off a lamppost, by my stupidity again, what asurprise, and out of nowhere, a bat flew by and saved my life. Not five seconds later she

began flirtin’ with me. Chip, she had never seen me before, she didn’t know me or what Idid, or even my name—IDIDN’TKNOWHERNAME#IT!! And then she started lookin’at me like no female has ever looked at me before. Not Clarissa, not Clarice, not Chi-Chi,not Lucy, much less Gadget had ever looked at me like that. Chip……I was scared todeath of her. Not just because she was a bat and of all the things I thought I knew about

bats……but……” Dale’s paws trembled a trifle, as finally, his actions and thoughts andfeelings coalesced into words, “…but because she thought of me as significant, Chip. Noone’s ever thought of me that way before. Not you, not Gadget, not Monty, not Zipper,not those other females, no one. I had no idea how to react other than to push her away.When she left the first time, I thought I was right, as you were always right: that I wasreally insignificant and she never really meant anythin’ of what she did to me, and thatshe was exactly like all the other females who had even bothered to talk to me. Then— then—” He paused again, as his voice nearly cracked. “Then she came back, Chip.”Dale’s eyes were filled with pain once more. “No one has ever done that to me. She—shewas the first one to ever came back—to me, Chip———she came back to ME. I had noidea what to do. And—and——so I——I got scared all over again. I decided to try to bea good friend and not say anythin’ that would hurt her feelin’s, which I STILL stupidlymessed up again, what a surprise here, and—then I suddenly saw that I’d lost her to aRADIO. You know, I was ABOUT to tell her that she could take her radio back to her home, thinkin’ she would and then she and her radio would never come back and livehappily ever after the end. But———when she got captured———I————I——feltcaptured too, Chip. I didn’t know what was happenin’ to me. Until I looked at her eyes.And then everythin’ fell into place. Finally, I had someone who really, really believed inme. Someone who wouldn’t consider my ideas insignificant or worthless. Someone whogladly accepted my help. Someone who wanted to hear my thoughts and ideas. Someonewho loved the Comedian. I felt important, Chip. I finally thought that after all this time, Iwas really worth somethin’ after all. You thought we were perfect for each other? Well,we thought so too. But—but—” Suddenly Dale stood to Chip’s face and chattered,“Butweweren’t!!Sodon’tyoutellMEanything’aboutbein’PERFECT!!TheComedian’snogoodforherandifhewasthenhewouldn’thavefaintedwhenhereadFatCat’snotewouldhe??YOU



wouldn’thavefaintedright??” Chip pondered for a moment on what would have happenedif Fat Cat had kidnapped Gadget and left him a similar clue. And all he could answer was,“N—no.”“Andyouknewthat.AndyoualsoknewthatIwouldhavegoneberserkandmessedupagainatever

yone’sriskright?”“Well, yes—”“So there you have it. She was wrong about me, and you were right once again. You’vealways been right. The Comedian could never live up to anyone’s expectations. Not hers,not mine, and not yours. That’s why I’m killin’ the Comedian and startin’ again.” Withthat, Dale turned around, relaxed his ears and tail, and padded back to the box. But Chipwasn’t through.“Andyoulethergojustlikethatthen??”Dale stopped.He turned to him again, and slowly replied with a pained voice,“‘Just like that’, you ask?” He padded back to him and continued with tight fists,

clenched incisors, flat ears, and stiff tail, “‘Just like that’??ChipIDIEDthatnight!!AndFoxydiedtoo!!” Turning aside, he raised his paws andreflected, “You know, you just don’t wake up one day and say to yourself, ‘Zowie! Thislooks like a fine day to kill myself and my Significant Other!’ Chip, that was the mosthorrible decision I’ve ever had to make. Now, I’m startin’ over again.” But for somereason Chip still could not understand.“But Dale, why do you think those were perfectly good reasons to let her go? I mean, youhave been getting more serious lately—”“Chip, Fat Cat also saw a chance to get all of us, and he made good use of it. Can youimagine what would have happened if he had got not only Foxy, but also my three cubsand your son?? There’s no way we could get married, not with danger being all aroundus!!” Chip’s features twisted and stiffened at this. With an accusing index digit in front of him, he hissed,“That’stheLAMESTexcuseyou’veevercomeupwithyouIDIOT!!You’rejustsayingthatbecauseyoumadeyourselfbelieveaLIEthatALLofthishappenedbecauseofyoufamily’sso-calledcurse!!” Dale growled back,“Somyparentstoldyouaboutthat.WellI’llhaveyouknowthatyou’reWRONG!!IoncehadtheVERYdimhopeofbeatin’youandwinnin’Gadgetoverandmarryin’her!Andyoucouldverywellseethatnocursewasstoppin’mefromtryin’!!ButwhenIfellinlovewithFoxglovethememoriesof whatmyparentstoldmestartedtohauntme.ButIkepttellin’myselfthatthosewerejustcoincidencesandthattherewasNOWAYitcouldhappentousnotevenwiththeenemieswehavenow!!That’s why—I fainted—whenIsawthenote.Azilliongenerationsofcurses—hitme——INMY INSIGNIFICANT FACE!!”“ButDaleFoxglovewasrescued!!YOUrescuedher!YOUrescuedUS!!AndyouDIDN’Tmessu

p!!YouprovedyourselfmorethanWORTHYofher!!”“IalreadytoldyouwhyIlethergo.And—don’tworryaboutme:Gadget’sallyours— andIwon’tseekanother.” Chip infuriated again when this last phrase reminded him of what Pierre said.“Soyou’regoingtodothehonorsthen?” he asked, crossing his arms.“Huh?Whathonors?”



“You’regoingtodowhatyourfathercouldn’tbringhimselftodo:you’regoingtoremainsingleandlettheOakmontlinedie.”“YouhaveaproblemwiththatMisterMaplewood?”“DALEAREYOUCUH-RAZY??” It was Chip who had his paws in the air now.“IfIwas‘cuh-

razy’IwouldhavemarriedFoxglovealongtimeagoandrightnowIwouldhavesixteencubsnotgivin’theleast#aboutthemormygrandcubsconcernin’thiscurse!!Soyou’rerightChip.Iwilldothehonors.” Dale sighed. “With me, the Oakmont line—andthis curse—comes to an end. It’s about time I finally did somethin’ significant.” Satisfiedwith this, Dale relaxed again and continued packing away his comics. But Chip wouldnot give up so easily. Still with stiff ears and tail, he continued,“Daleyoubrokethelaw.” Dale looked up and shook his head,“Huh?Whatlaw?”“Don’tyouremember?AgentsMulderandScullyplacedFoxgloveunderourcustodyunderYOURcustodyandunderalifesentence!!”“NoChiptheyrecommendedalifesentence.Theyneversaidforhowlongshewouldhavetobewit

hus.AndIthinksheservedhertimewellandsheisnowmorethanabletore-enteranimalsocietydon’tyou?” Chip slowly wiped his face with his left paw.“DaleFoxgloveisALSOaRescueRanger.HerdecisiontoleaveaffectsALLofus!!Whydidn’tyouATLEASTtellusaboutthisbeforesheleft??”“Chip—you—you just had to be there when it happened. She did not abandon us—sheresigned. Just leave her alone.”“Oh?Andwhatwillyoudoifshesuddenlyreturnstohercriminalpast?” Dale stiffened hisfeatures again and growled,“FromwhatshetoldmethatnightIreallydoubtthatwillhappen.ButifitdoesthenIguessI’lljusthavetohelpyouguyshuntherdownanddefeatherwon’tI?” Chip looked at his best friend withtotal incredulity. Not only had he released his ultimate love, but also he would not seek another, and he would treat Foxglove like a criminal if he had to.“DaleYOU’REINSANE!!Andwhat’sallthisaboutacomedianbeingDEAD??” Calmingdown with difficulty, Dale explained,“Chip—ChipIwasinsane—but no more. The Comedian I was is now gone, dead, and

buried. And why aren’t you glad I’m no longer a clown? Isn’t that what you alwayswanted? For me to stop foolin’ around and help you solve cases without messin’ up?Didn’t you say that you thought the Rescue Rangers would be better off without me?Well, surprise. They are better off without the Goof-up, the Clown, and the Comedian.And as of today, the Rescue Rangers are goin’ to improve. Because that is exactly what Iam goin’ to do now: I’m killin’ the Goof-up, the Clown, and the Comedian. Chip, I’msorry for all the times I’ve messed things up because of my clownin’ around. From DayOne I’ve been messin’ up, and I can only guess you haven’t fired me because I’m your

best friend. I abused of your friendship, Chip, and I’ve caused you and the others to sayall those things about me, and I’m terribly sorry I did, and……now that I look back, I seethat you were right……in sayin’ what you said. But I won’t abuse of you friendship, or anyone else’s, anymore. As of now, the Goof-up, the Clown, and the Comedian is dead.”Chip simply could not believe that this was the same happy-go-lucky chipmunk who wasready to get married two days ago— Suddenly, he ran up to him, grabbed his shirt again, and growled,



“ALLRIGHTDITZWHATHAVEYOUDONEWITHDALE??” Dale looked at his bestfriend with low ears and tail and tremendous sadness.“You don’t know how much I wish I was Ditz, Chip. If I was, then the real me wouldhave already escaped from his spaceship and Foxy and I would be havin’ our honeymoonon the actual moon—”

“DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTZZZZZ!!” Dale stiffened again, grabbed Chip’s jacket andchattered,“CHIPI’MNOTDITZ!!ANDIT’SOVER!!FOXGLOVEISGONE!!THECOMEDIANISDEAD!!”Silence.Slowly, they released each other.Their ears came back up again, and their tails relaxed.Breathing deeply, Chip said,“I’m sorry, Dale. I’m sorry for what happened to you—and Foxglove. If you needanything, I’m on the lower bunk.”“Thanks, buddy. I’m glad I can count on you. And—I’m glad Foxglove was the only

friend I lost.” Chip then saw Dale take his last issue of “The Red Badger Of Courage”and place it in the carton, along with his joke books, and his Iron Goose tapes. He thenclosed the carton and placed it neatly in a dark corner of the closet, in a dark corner of hislife.

Neatly?Dale then went to the bookshelf and asked,“So, can I borrow one of your novels?”“Uh, sure, just don’t mess up the order they’re—”“I won’t. And thanks.”“Dale, again, I’m sorry I yelled at you, and for all that I said to you. And—you’re notinsignificant—you never were—never—”“Forget it, pal, it’s all in the past—all—in the past—” Dale then climbed on his bunk and

prepared to read the novel while hanging from his ankles, but just as he reached that position, he blinked and said, “Oh, sorry. Old habit.” He raised himself up, sat on his bed,and began reading.Chip looked at his best friend with low ears and tremendous sadness. Dale had killedhimself. The Comedian was truly dead.And a part of him had just died too, for some insane and unknown reason……and that reason was driving him insane, for it was unknown, and far beyond his owncapacity of logic, analytical thinking, and deductive reasoning, to figure out what itwas…

A FUNERAL PYRE

Gadget tried to keep busy that day by modifying the design of an elevator she had planned on installing in the tree. And that was easier said than done, for even in her workshop she could hear yelling, screaming, and unintelligible chattering coming fromthe chipmunks’ room. Things had quieted down now, almost too quiet. It had beenseveral hours since Dale’s shocking announcement, and Gadget had found herself weeping for him and Foxglove. It was something so sad, so terrible, so shocking, and the



only worse thing she could think of happening was Foxglove being killed. But even so,she knew Dale at least had the advantage of having his friends, and his parents, for support, unlike she did on that awful day…Frustrated by the fact that she no longer had a roommate and confidante and that shecould not find any more flaws in her elevator design, she aggressively rolled up the

blueprints and stuffed them on a shelf. She then decided to build a rodent-sized satellitedish, and as she did so, she realised that for the first time ever her inventions were nothelping her forget.Stiffening her tail, lowering her ears and slamming down a rodent-sized screwdriver onthe table, she did her utmost effort to calm down. No one had been killed, no one wasseriously injured, Fat Cat and his cronies had been defeated once again— So why do I feel as if Dale and Foxglove had died? Why did Dale say that a comedianwas dead? Was he planning on killing himself? He wouldn’t, not after he said he wantedto look for more cases, and if he was going to work, then he would soon be coming back to normal, but then everything wouldn’t be normal without Foxy, which means thateveryone will have to adjust again, which means that the new room will have to be used

for something else, but I don’t know what to do with it, not after Dale and Foxy were planning on using it, and I was so much looking forward to seeing them married and withcubs, and I don’t think I can bring myself to modify the room, but maybe if I ask theothers they would do it for me, but I don’t know if Dale would want to, but then he saidhe was going to be a full blooded Rescue Ranger, without messing things up, so maybehe would, but after all he went through it probably wouldn’t be a good idea— A knock on the door made Gadget jump off her chair.“Um—c—come in,” she stuttered. Dale opened the door and entered the workshop. Hisheart hung heavily again when he remembered that this was the very same place wherehe finally made up his mind to propose to Foxglove.“Are you busy, Gadget?”“Golly, well, no, Dale, I was just trying to work on something but—but—” The musciddidn’t know why she did this, but with low ears and tail, she ran to the sciurid, threw her arms around him, and began crying again. He embraced her too, though he did not cryanymore.“Oh, golly, Dale—I’m so—sorry for you——and Foxy——I’m——sorry——”It was all she could say, for her vocabulary promptly shut down and was replaced by

bitter anguish and sadness for her friend, as if he had passed away.“Gadget, I’m more sorry than anyone could ever be, but I had to do this. And, I have tomove on.” Gadget then looked at his dark eyes and sniffed,“Dale, you would have been a great husband for Foxglove. Was it really necessary to lether go?”“I had to. I don’t want her to get in danger anymore. And I won’t get any of you guys inany more danger than necessary, either.” For ONE fleeting moment, she thought shefinally understood, but that feeling only lasted ONE moment and was replaced again bytotal confusion. All she could ask was,“S-so, a-are you going to be all right?”“I hope so, but first I need to do somethin’. Chip told me you picked up the contract, theveil, and the ring after I fainted, right?”“Y-yes, I did.”



“Good. I—will need them now.”“Why, Dale, what are you go—”“Gadget, please, I need them now.” Gadget, surprised by his ever-increasing seriousness,released him and went to her father’s cabinet. She dialled the combination on the lock,rather clumsily, and opened the drawer. In it was the translator she had built last year, the

one that nearly got Foxglove killed. She tried to blink back tears when she saw it, but itwas no use. She fumbled around the drawer, unable to see clearly, but finally she felt the paper roll, the silk cloth, and the metal ring. Standing up straight, she padded over to her friend and handed them to him.“Thanks, Gadget. Thanks for everythin’.” He was about to leave, but then he turned back to her and said, “Gadget, the other night I finally realised why you never chose me, and— you were right. And—I just want to apologise for competin’ for your attention. I reallydid love you, but—you had your reasons, and they were right.”“Dale—”“I know you didn’t want to hurt me or Chip, but—all you had to do was ask us to stop.We would have stopped—er—I would have, at least. And after all you went through, I

would have understood if you didn’t want a boyfriend just yet. Gadget, I’m sorry aboutyour mom and dad, I’m sorry for hittin’ on you, I’m sorry me and Chip forced you tochoose between us, I’m sorry for the time I faked my injury back in New Zealand, I’msorry for all the times I screwed things up, I’m sorry for makin’ you build the new room,I’m sorry that the weddin’ was called off, and I’m sorry you lost your roommate.” Witheach word that came from him, Gadget was growing more and more confused. Dalelooked at her confused eyes for a moment, and then turned toward the door. But then hestopped again and said over his shoulder,“But, please, you must know somethin’, if you haven’t already figured it out.”“W—what?” Dale sighed,“Gadget, Chip loves you. He really, really does. And—it would mean the world to him if you loved him too. But if you don’t, or if you can’t, then—please tell him that. I don’twant to see him fightin’ for you anymore, especially if he’s goin’ to lose. And if you sayno, he’ll understand. I know I would have…but, at least, give him a chance. He deservesthat, and—you deserve a chance with him, too.” He sighed again, “You’ll make him thehappiest chipmunk on earth if you do, and—I’m sure you’ll be very happy with him aswell.” Gadget didn’t know what to think. True, she may have feelings for one or both of them, and they may have been made even more clear the other night, but right now her thoughts and emotions were short-circuiting each other. Furthermore, her concern rightnow was for her close friend and what he was going to do with the contract in his paw: adocument that plainly told the world that he and Foxglove would love each other forever;the veil: the symbol of a covering which only the husband could remove; and the ring: asymbol of their commitment and unity.“Dale, where are you taking those?” They looked at each other, and from what Gadgetcould interpret, Dale’s eyes, ears, and tail were telling her that two close friends of hishad just died a horrible death.“I’m goin’ to a funeral, and I need to go by myself. Don’t wait up for me. This will be thelast time I deliberately stay up late. Good night.” Dale closed the door and left, leaving

behind a confused mousemaid with only one word in her mind:Funeral?



Funeral, indeed. It was past ten at night, and Dale was standing by himself at the edge of the pond, in the exact same spot where Foxglove was kidnapped three days ago. Just

before he left Headquarters, he made a quick stop in the kitchen to get a safety match.Once outside, he had gathered the willow-leaf canopy and the foxglove wreath that had

been left behind on that fateful evening, and had placed them on the ground. Now, picking up the safety match, he struck it against a stone, and held it high as it fizzled tolife. The stench of sulphur filled his nostrils momentarily, but he held his breath andwaited for a light breeze to clear up the air. Holding the match like a torch, he looked atthe wedding artefacts in front of him.His ears and tail were limp again.This was more difficult than it seemed.It is never easy to say good-bye, especially to a close friend. But this had to be done.He closed his eyes and tossed the match.Hearing the crackle of combustion and feeling the heat increase in front of him, hewondered if this was what Luke Skywalker felt when he set fire to Anakin’s—Darth

Vader’s—body— No.Anakin had died because he rescued his son, and he never promised Luke that he wouldalways be there for him. Furthermore, neither Anakin nor Luke ever fainted in the face of danger. Still, he just couldn’t help but feel a parallel here. It would probably be the lastone too, for he swore to himself that his imagination would never get the best of himagain.

He then turned to his right and picked up the card Fat Cat had left him.“On Your Wedding”A worthy adversary, for if it weren’t for Fat Cat keeping them on their toes, the RescueRangers would probably not be the efficient organisation it is now, AND he andFoxglove would have made the biggest mistake of their lives.“A best friend and a worst enemy at the same time,” he mumbled. But the chipmunk would probably not be so forgiving on their next encounter.He tossed the card in.

He then picked up the wedding contract and unrolled it.I, Dale Segoleh Oakmont, do hereby swear to love Foxglove with all of my heart, soul,and body, to protect her and provide a home for her, to be a husband to her, to be therewhenever she needs me— He failed that test.…I, Foxglove, do hereby swear to love Dale with all my heart, soul, and body, to be awife to him, to comfort him and support him, to be his helpmeet, to honour, obey, andrespect him, to be there whenever he needs me, in all circumstances, from now untildeath do us part…It was settled. She had more than passed, and he had failed miserably.He tossed the contract in.“Good-bye, Segoleh.”



It was common in the old days for people (and animals) to change their names withoutmuch hassle. These days, however, it involved a lot of red tape, so when he had the time,he would go back upstate to make it legal. But as far as he was concerned, it was officialas of now. Having thusly rejected the name that his parents bestowed upon him, Dale

proceeded to acquire his new identity.

He had his new name ready.And from this day forward he would now be known as Dale Hastahah Oakmont.

Picking up the veil, he imagined, for a moment, how it would have looked on Foxglove’shead, and how her face would have filtered through it, and what her face would havelooked like if he had ever got the chance to lift it.He tossed the veil in.“Good-bye, Foxglove.”

His heart burned with the same intensity as the pyre in front of him.His parents’ hearts were broken too, but there was no way out of this. He just hoped that

Chip and Gadget would not have to go through what he and Foxglove went through.They deserved better; after all, they were the brains of this team.

He then took out the ring.A gold ring, originally a link from a gold chain, hammered out and welded just for theoccasion, and fitted with a string so it would hang in front of Foxglove’s heart.And gold doesn’t burn.He then took out his ring.Tying both rings together, he grabbed the string, twirled the rings around until they werea blur, and with all his strength, threw them into the pond.The rings then sank to the bottom of his heart…“Good-bye, my cubs.”

He then turned back to the pyre, and reflected on what had happened.He and Chip had moved to the city looking for adventure as crime-fighters, detectives,and rescuing in general. They had advanced a lot by themselves, and even more under Plato’s tutorship, but the Klordane case was their “graduation”. In that case alone, theyhad travelled to the Arctic Circle and back, and on the way, they met their new friendsand partners, not to mention they fell in love with the same girl. But one fine night, hisclumsiness, and bubble gum, left them all hanging from a lamppost. Dale was the first tofall, but from out of nowhere a female bat swooped down and rescued him. It turned outthat the batmaid had picked him up on her sonar and fallen in love with him at first“hearing”. After that case, Foxglove left but then came back, and she became an officialRanger. So, with Foxglove, the team was more or less complete, each with a specialtalent, and weakness as well. Chip, the leader and mastermind, could use deductivereasoning to figure out most cases. Gadget could probably build a nuclear reactor out of amicrowave oven if she needed to. Monterey could probably beat up ten mice his size atthe same time. Zipper could spy and retrieve information and slip in and out of placestotally unnoticed, and was also well trained in personal combat, with his keen knowledgeof physics and tricks of leverage. Foxglove could practically see in the dark and speak



several languages now. And he, well, he was the wild card, the random factor. He couldset up an attack plan almost instantaneously and most of the time it would work, seeingthat no one, not even him, would be expecting it to go the way it normally went:unpredictably. However, Chip had the misfortune of having a very short temper, and hewas at times unbearably arrogant. Gadget was very naïve and would sometimes lose track

of what she was doing, and she STILL had not recovered from her father’s death.Monterey had his cheese reflex, as well as his rushing into fights. Zipper was too small tocause much damage in case he needed to attack at a large number of enemies. Foxglovewas sometimes obsessed with learning new things, or just plainly, with him. And he,well, he had an imagination on overdrive, he stayed up late, he was easily distracted, helearned slowly sometimes, he had trouble figuring out even the simplest clues, he saidstupid things all the time, but most of all, he fouled things up all the time. But, then,didn’t everyone screw up once in a while too? Chip, as the leader, would sometimesmake wrong decisions, but even with knowing all the facts, that was possible, and it wasnever deliberate. Gadget’s inventions failed most of the time, but technology wasn’t

perfect, and she, too, did not do so deliberately. Monterrey’s reflex was also beyond his

control, and it wasn’t Zipper’s fault that he was so small. Foxglove couldn’t help beingobsessive; she used to be a loner and needed to learn many things the rest learned longago. So, it all came down to him. Whenever he got distracted, it was by his choice.Whenever he stayed up late, it was by his choice. Whenever he fooled around, it was byhis choice.His deliberate choice, and his alone.His fault.Perhaps, an outlet for his feelings of insignificance.But whenever he chose to fool around, the others often found themselves in more danger than necessary, and often they needed to rescue him, besides themselves, too. And evenwith Foxglove, his randomness had decreased, but not totally disappeared. It had levelledoff, sort of speak, but it was still present nonetheless.And it was because of it that he had failed Foxglove and the Rangers.Being a comedian is fun, but it doesn’t come in handy when fightin’ the bad guys. It justgets in the way, and it can bring danger to all of us; it can get us killed. Sure, there aretimes for laughin’, but laughin’ doesn’t help much in solvin’ cases. Clowns anddetectives don’t mix too well.

He picked up the rodent-sized joke book, “1,001 Jokes For All Occasions”. Though hehad others, he chose this one as the symbolic one, the one that would mark the severingof his old profession. He did not bring his comic books, since he planned on selling themlater on, for a good price. Furthermore, he had practically memorised every single jokefrom this book in particular by now.He tossed the book in.“Good-bye, Comedian.”

No more jokes, no more wisecracks, no more stupid comments, nothing.Dale simply couldn’t look at this sight in particular, so he hung his head as the book slowly turned to ashes. The dancing flames played a few tricks on the flower pattern of his shirt, and for a while, Dale examined each and every single flower. Ever since he laid



eyes on this shirt, he knew that it said “Dale”. The Hawaiian theme proclaimed the funlifestyle he practised, and the vivid colours reflected his desire to be noticed, and, if

possible, to make others laugh.Dale pulled off his shirt, and looked at it.Orange and yellow are nice colours, but they can stick out if we need stealth. They can

give us away big time.He tossed his shirt in.“Good-bye, Dale. You were a fun guy to be with, and I will miss you. I really do wishthere was another way, but you simply have no place with the Rescue Rangers anymore.And it’s necessary for this curse to end here and now. I will not put Foxglove in danger,and no grandcub of mine will go through what me and my grandfather went through.” Asthe fire continued to burn, Dale reached down and picked up the other shirt he had

brought here. It was an average T-shirt, no designs, no patterns, just dark grey all over,much like his father’s. It had pockets, but it was doubtful he would need them, for he hadalready decided to leave all unnecessary ballast behind whenever they went out on a case.

No more bubble gum, no more candy, no more junk food, but above all, no more

chocolate.He put on his new shirt.Hastahah.The guys were most certainly going to grind their incisors over this, but there was simplyno other way.His new shirt blended somewhat with his brown fur, and even more so in the dark. Itwouldn’t give them away so easily now. He then turned to the pyre again, andcontemplated it for a while. His gaze then drifted from the flames up to the sky, wherethe parts of his life were being dispersed. He saw the moon above him, and wondered if Foxglove was also looking at the moon.A flashback from the movie “An American Tail” triggered a song within him:

“Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlightSomeone’s thinkin’ of me, and lovin’ me—”

He abruptly stopped himself, quivering momentarily. His imagination almost took controlof him again. True, maybe Foxglove was looking at the moon right now, and maybe shewas thinking about him too. That she loved him more than life itself was something healready knew, for he loved her too, and that’s why he had released her. But all of that wasirrelevant now. The song then went on to say that if love could see them through, thenthey would be together……somewhere out there…But they both knew that in their case in particular, love would actually keep them apart,

protecting Foxglove from harm, and protecting his descendants from a family curse. Andmaybe, somewhere out there, they would meet again, and he would greet Foxglove andher husband and their cubs, and he would feel happy for them because he would knowthat his decision had indeed been the correct one.He then looked down to the pyre again. He really would have to stop looking at the skylike that. And he would have to deal with those movie flashbacks, too. From now on, he



would be a top-notch serious detective and Rescue Ranger. The Comedian, Romeo, andEntertainment Expert were now dead.“…you can’t change who you really are inside…”Monterey, unfortunately, would be proven wrong. Perhaps one can’t change who theyreally are, but circumstances can surely change you.

He continued to gaze at the dying flames, with his heart burning with pain, anger, andsadness.But he did not cry.

Nor did his ears or tail change position.He would not cry anymore, either…

A SEARCH CONTINUES

“…someone’s saying a prayer that we would find one another in that big Somewhere Out—”

Foxglove caught herself singing that song under her breath again. This time, however,she could have sworn that Dale was singing it with her.How she wished she had never seen that movie with him!How she wished at least to have never heard that song!How she wished she could stop herself from dreaming about him EVERY DAY!How she wished those dreams were AT LEAST just a trifle more G-rated!How she wished her parents were here to comfort her in this time of horrible pain!HOW SHE WISHED SHE HAD NEVER BEEN BORN——!!Gasping at this last wish, she broke out of her trance, and tried to re-establish reality.After some careful grooming, Dale’s tears and scent had been removed from herself, butthat had not helped much. Otis, meanwhile, had helped her in looking for bats that hadlost young ones, but that first night did not bring any luck. They had flown to LibertyIsland, and Otis had gone inside the Statue of Liberty to speak with the chiropterids. Shehad perched herself just under the base of the crown, and was waiting for him. She thencontemplated the city, and on how beautiful it looked, and then wished for Dale to behere to see it with her, then she looked at the moon, then she remembered that movie,then she remembered that song— Shaking herself back to here and now, Foxglove wondered how long she would have towait until she was able look at the moon, and sunrises and sunsets, without thinking aboutDale. And just what did that song have to do with them, anyways? In that movie, a

brother and sister were singing it to each other with the hope of finding each other again.Foxglove did not need to find Dale; she knew exactly where he was, or where to wait for him in case he was not there. Also, Dale was definitely not her brother. And an accidentseparated those two, not an attack by a horrible villain. It was also doubtful that any of the other Rangers were “saying a prayer” for them to get back together. Furthermore,neither she nor Dale “wished upon a star” anymore, much less the same one. And theydefinitely did not sleep “underneath the same big sky”. Dale slept under a dark sky, andshe slept under a blue one.So why does that song keep playing inside my HEAD——!!



“Foxglove!!”“Uh, what? Oh, Otis, I didn’t hear you roost.”“Foxglove, are you all right? You were looking at the sky as if you had lost somethingthere.”I did, she sighed. “Um, well, sorry, Otis, I was just nightdreaming again. Did you find out

anything?”“Well, there were five couples and three single mothers in there that say they have lost a pup, but four couples and one mother say they lost a male pup. The other couple saysthey lost a girl, but that was out at sea. The other two mothers told me they lost adaughter, but that it happened five years ago. Too recently, I presume?”“Yes,” she replied, sagging in disappointment. “And those were all the bats that lived inthe statue?”“Yup.”“And none of them know any other bats who lost a girl pup?”“One mother mentioned a sister that lives in Queens, and another told me of someonewho lives in Harlem. Where do you wanna check first?”

“Well, first, I think we should eat. Those moths by the spotlights look rather tasty!!”“Okay. But—Foxy??” She held her breath for a moment. This was the first time he hadcalled her “Foxy”.“Y—yes?”“Are you all right? You seem rather sad, and you haven’t gone back to the park sinceyesterday. Is—is something wrong?” Foxglove had to think fast. Her excuses wererapidly running out of convincing power, and Otis was asking too many questions.“Um—oh—well, you see, I—the others told me to take my time. It’s obvious that they’re

planning a big surprise for me when I get back. And—I miss Dale, that’s all.”“Oh. I see.” Though her last statement was more than true, it was obvious that Otis wasgetting more and more suspicious now. He was about to release himself when Foxglovesaid,“Otis?”“Yes?”“Thanks for your help. I really, really appreciate it.”“You’re welcome. But do you think it really is a good idea not to show yourself to the

bats and having me ask the questions?”“Otis, I don’t want to give anyone false hopes by making them think they have foundtheir daughter. I think it’s better this way.”“Okay, you’re right. Now let’s get those moths before they run out, shall we?” With that,they released themselves and fluttered down to the spotlights. As they did, Foxglovecouldn’t help but notice that Otis’ voice was soft and deep, and that his musculature wasquite evident, and that his membranes were dark, very dark, and that his brown eyes weredeep and expressed friendship to all, and that his sonar sounded very interesting— He’s your brother, he’s your brother, he’s your brother, he’s your brother, he’s your

brother, he’s your brother… she mantraed to herself. She would NOT fall in love again,much less with someone who thought she was engaged to someone else!He’s your brother, he’s your brother, he’s your brother, he’s your brother, he’s your

brother, he’s your brother…



STICKINDEMUD

Dale inhaled deeply and strained to push the large paperweights above his chest. Hecontinued breathing deeply and held them up for nearly one minute. Then, with a deepsigh, he set them back on their rack, having enough a workout for today. He got off the

bench and wiped the sweat from his face. Leaving the gym, he padded out the door, andclawed around the tree for several laps. Then, he entered the hangar and padded towardthe tire that slid down to the main room. He was about to slide down, but then decided totry something new and climb down the underside of it. Again, it was a bit of a strain, butit kept his claws in shape. He jumped off the final curve and saw Chip standing in frontof him.“You know, Chip, maybe Gadget should install rubber pads on the walls of the gym. Thatway we can all work on our climbin’ skills, and maybe Gadget and Monty can become

perfect tree climbers like us.” Chip lowered his ears was about to bonk him for that stupidremark, but then he suddenly realised that the remark was not stupid, and it was not evena remark, but a very well established and serious suggestion that would be for the benefit

of the team.“Uh, sure, Dale, I’ll tell her that,” he replied, raising his ears again and withdrawing hisfist.“Monty isn’t in the bathroom, is he?”“No, no. It’s all yours.” With a nod, the chipmunk with the yellow headband and tank top, white wristbands, and orange shorts, left the living room. Chip, arms crossed, lookedat him leave and simply could not believe it. Three weeks had passed since that tragicnight, and Dale had apparently recovered, though he still would not go into the newroom. Instead, he recommended that it be made into a storage/guest room since he wouldnot be needing it anymore. Other than that, he refused to pad past Gadget’s workshop.But still, he had already read half of his Sureluck Jones novels, and when he wasn’t doingthat or solving cases, he was at the gym, either pumping iron or practising his fencing.

Now, his shoulders were widening, and muscles were beginning to show through his fur,and even where they weren’t, due to the fat layer all sciurids have for hibernating, it wasfairly obvious that he was getting more and more solid. Furthermore, he had not said onesingle stupid comment since that night, and it appeared that Chip was actually waiting for him to do so in order to bonk him. But no, Dale kept his comments short and serious.And only serious. In fact, that was all he said now: serious things. He didn’t tell jokesanymore, not even when they were resting from cases or even on their way to or back from them. Dale did not even laugh anymore.Hastahah.The announcement of his new name was practically the last straw for Chip. Not only hadDale rejected his original personality, but also his original name, and had even imposedon himself a hauntingly new identity, one completely opposite of what his parentsintended.“Dale Hastahah Oakmont”.

No, there was no way Chip, or any of the others, were going to get used to his new name.But it was obvious that the name was imposing itself on Dale. His countenance wasslowly etching itself away from his ever-present smile to Sureluck’s cold stone-face. Histail had not quivered at all these past two weeks, even when they were on their way to



what seemed like an exciting case. Furthermore, all of Dale’s Hawaiian shirts, bermudas,and night shirts were packed away too, and he only wore grey now, and it seemed thatDale was becoming more and more like his father, Pierre. The television had alsoremained dark and silent for three weeks now, and Chip felt surprised at how little TV heand the others actually watched: news programs and an occasional documentary. But

originally, it had been Dale who had most kept the TV company. And now, no movies or cartoons flickered in the small screen. What was unnerving, however, was thatFoxglove’s short-wave radio was also silent now.But still, Dale now kept his part of the room clean and in order, he did his chores withoutquestioning, and he even helped Monterey cook and Gadget with her inventions! He evenhelped Zipper in his stealth and data retrieval abilities, and he was learning a few tricks of stealth and leverage as well. It appeared that this whole incident had transformed Daleinto a serious fightmaster/body-builder/cook/mechanic/stealth expert/detective/RescueRanger. The Slob and the Clown were gone forever. But wasn’t that what he wanted? For Dale to just stop fooling around and get serious when the time called for seriousness?“Be careful of what you wish for, you just might get it.”

Yes, but I never asked him to kill himself!And also Dale was proving himself to be just as intelligent as the others as well. It wasamazing how quickly he learned when he wanted to learn. He could cook by himself, hecould repair the vehicles with little assistance from Gadget now, and he could reciteseveral passages from his novels, as good as he originally did with his comic books…Then everyone noticed that the occasional candy Monterey brought home was piling up.Dale did not eat candy anymore.

The drop that overflowed, however, was three days ago. Gadget came home with anUNWRAPPED candy bar: Hershey’s Milk Chocolate With Almonds.“Hey, Dale, I’ve got you something!” Dale looked up from the novel he was reading onthe couch, and for one instant, his eyes glazed over at the sight of GADGET holding aGIANT bar of CHOCOLATE. Inhaling deeply, he slowly stood, very obviously trying tocontrol his powerful reflex. Padding slowly towards her, he continued breathing deeply,letting the delicious aroma of chocolate, almonds, and Gadget’s scent saturate hisolfactory bulb. Finally, he came up to her, laid his ears back, held his tail still, looked ather eyes, and said, stone faced,“Ummm, thanks, Gadget, I’mmmmm—glad you brought this for mmmmmme—but—— nnnnnnnno thanks. I—I really can’t eat this right now. But why donnnnn’t you share itwith Chip? I donnnnnn’t mmmmmind, realllllllyyyyyyy—” Everyone’s jaw went slack again at Dale’s response. Politely refusing a CANDY BAR brought by GADGET?? Noone had ever thought that feat was possible. Dale had rejected CHOCOLATE!! True, hedrank chocolate once in a while, but rejecting a complete and unwrapped candy bar wastotally unheard of. Dale then padded back to the couch, sat down, turned to her again andsaid,“But thanks again, Gadget,” and continued reading.

In all, Dale was well into his all-too-shocking self-improvement plan, one that would probably have never happened if it wasn’t for Fat Cat, their best incentive for self-



improvement plans. And the bottom line was that Dale was helping the team and they allcould solve cases more efficiently now…Then there was that recent case.Two afternoons ago, when they were in the supermarket, a small male rat came up tothem and told them that his fruit cachés were mysteriously running low. They all went to

investigate, and in the rat’s home, which was within the wall next to the produce section,they searched for clues. The cachés were lined up against the wall; they were mostlyfruits with an occasional lettuce leaf. Dale then immediately sniffed something other thanfruit, and they all saw some hairs on the floor. Chip then pondered on what kind of smallmammals— “Gerbils,” said Dale, “Four of them.”Chip, ever so surprised, had no objection, as no large animal could enter the rat’s home. Itcould have been lizards, but lizards don’t have fur. How Dale smelled the gerbils andestablished their number so quickly was beyond him. True, Dale had a keen sense of smell (which came handy back in New Zealand) but now it seemed that this particular talent of his had been modified ten-fold. Maybe it was because he didn’t focus on

smelling chocolate anymore. Searching for hidden entrances, the Rangers split up. Here,Foxglove would have been of enormous help, for she could have detected hidden crackswithin the dark passages. Finding none, however, the Rangers decided to stay with the ratand hide themselves among the fruit, to see if the gerbils would come back. All weresleepy that night, except Dale, for some reason. At around 11 p.m., Dale sensed that thefruit was shifting. He quickly awakened the others and told them to be quiet. Then, theyall heard it.“Blimey!” whispered Monterey. “Them blokes are stealin’ the fruit right from under us!!” Chip then ordered,“Monty, shove all—!” Dale was way ahead of them, however. One-half second earlier,he shoved aside all the fruits and saw a crack on the plank that was under the fruit. Heand Monterey then pried the wood up and cracked open the entrance of a short tunnel thatlead to an alley. Chip, Gadget, and Zipper immediately jumped down when they heardfoot-paws running away from the scene. Monterey and Dale followed, and the rat waslast. The gerbils had a good head start and were already halfway out of the alley when theRangers left the tunnel. They all ran after them, but much to everyone’s surprise, Dale ranfaster than all of them and was beginning to catch up to the gerbils.There were four of them indeed, one of which was brought down thanks to Gadget’s

plunger harpoon, sending pears rolling all over the sidewalk. The others, except for one,were carrying more pears and apples and were now running faster when they saw their comrade fall. Dale was about ten centimetres away from that particular one, whensuddenly that gerbil whirled around, lowered his ears, and swung an exacto blade at himwith his left paw. Dale stopped immediately and threw his abdomen back, dodging theswing. And before the gerbil could take another swing at him, Dale kicked the blade off his paw. Infuriated, the gerbil threw a punch at Dale with his other paw. This time, Dale

blocked the punch with his left arm, and then threw the hardest right hook he had ever thrown, at the gerbil’s face. If it had been an uppercut, the gerbil would probably have

been knocked right off his foot-paws, but instead, he staggered back a full metre and spatout a few teeth. Dale calmly padded up to him, laid his ears back, grabbed him by hisshirt, and began giving him a series of right hooks. After three of them, the gerbil was



quite clearly unconscious and would have flopped down on the sidewalk, but Dale stillheld him and continued with his punches. He would have continued to do so indefinitely,

but fortunately for the gerbil Chip ran up to Dale and held back his arm— Dale had his ears down and his tail was as stiff as a board, and his countenance was oneof total rage, matched only by the expression he had in Fat Cat’s lair that other night.

For one instant, Chip thought he was looking at Pierre, not Dale. He laid his ears back,“Dale, stop it!! He’s out cold! You caught him! He’s not going anywhere, so just let go of him!!” Dale blinked momentarily; the rage in his eyes gradually subsiding. Taking deep

breaths, he lowered the unconscious gerbil to the sidewalk and released the mangledshirt. He then began shaking his right paw.“Boy oh boy, I didn’t know gerbils had such hard faces!!” he said.Or, that was what Chip expected him to say.C’mon, say it, say it!! he thought. But instead, Dale raised his ears and said,“Ouch, sorry, Chip, I guess I got carried away. But don’t worry, I won’t watch boxin’movies anymore.” With that they dragged the mauled gerbil back to the rat’s home.But Chip knew that what he saw had nothing to do with Rocky Balboa, or any movies

whatsoever…Monterey and Zipper, meanwhile, had run/flown in the opposite direction around themarket and met the last two gerbils head-on, and with one swift punch, Montereyknocked one out. Zipper, seeing that the last one was overloaded with apples, simplytripped him, allowing Monterey to nail the gerbil’s face on the sidewalk with his elbow.He then carried them back to the market, while Zipper escorted Gadget, who had alreadytied up the first one. There, they waited for the local small mammal authorities to pick upthe crooks, and went home. That was a simple case, but it was done well. Very well.It would have been great if Dale had not been so aggressive. At most, he only needed two

punches to knock out that gerbil!And again, flying on the Ranger Wing on their way home, everyone had their ears up,“Well, guys, another case solved. Don’t you just love this job?”“It’s tough, Chip, but I love it, right, Monty?”“You bet, Zip, there’s nothin’ like the satisfaction of a job well done.”“And we solved it in one day, too! I didn’t think we’d be able to work so quickly withoutFox—oops, sorry, Dale.”“Forget it, Gadget, I already put that behind me. And I’m glad this case was solvedquickly, too.” A short, serious comment, which caused some ears to droop. Dale did notsmile, as the others usually do when coming home from wrapping up a case. He had notsmiled at all lately. Chip also saw that Dale turned and looked at the sky several times, asif he were looking for something, or someone. And almost as quickly as he turned tolook, he turned away. Perhaps he was trying to break another old habit. But he did notsmile. And at times he would have a distant look in his eyes. Maybe it was that grey shirthe wore now…

But he had to admit, there were no foul-ups whatsoever. The case had been solvedsmoothly through perfect teamwork.Then why do I feel like I’m working with a stranger?



“Penny for your thoughts?” Chip turned to his right and looked at the most beautifulmousemaid in the world for a moment, laid his ears back, lowered his tail, and thenreplied,“Gadget, did Dale scare you two days ago?” Gadget looked into his eyes and replied witha worried tone, ears, and tail,

“Yes, he did. And I don’t know if all of this is making him a better detective.”“It has made him a stick-in-the-mud, that’s what it’s done.”“What?” Chip looked at the hallway again,“Gadget, ever since Foxglove left, have you heard Dale tell a joke, any joke?” Theinventor scanned her memory for a moment, and then replied,“Oh, golly, Chip, now that you mention it, uh, no, no I haven’t.”“Have you heard him laugh, jest, or even chuckle or snort, or even seen him wag his taillately?” Gadget’s face and ears showed more worry as her memory turned up nil for eachof the above categories.“This isn’t healthy, is it?”“I don’t know. Dale is clean now, he does exercise, he helps around more, he’s getting

smarter, he really is becoming a better detective.”“And all he had to do was kill the Comedian and the Clown and the Goof-up. KillSegoleh.” She, too, was shocked at his name change.“Gadget, I don’t know what to do about this. Yes, the team has got better because of him,

but—but—I’m wondering if I wouldn’t mind trading that for the old Dale.”“Even with his goof-ups and getting us into more trouble than necessary?” Chip shook his head and stiffened his features,“I’m just saying that there had to be another way to deal with this. Maybe he didn’t haveto kill the Clown. Maybe—ooooh, there HAD to be another way!! But I can’t think of any other alternatives!”“He did what he had to do. Chip, I miss the Comedian, too, but it was Dale’s decision.And he’s still your best friend.” Waving his paws in frustration, Chip replied,“Gadget, my best friend just lost nine-tenths of his personality. It’s almost as if I don’tknow him anymore. It’s as if Dale had died and now another chipmunk is sleeping on thetop bunk now! Maybe—if he had just pushed back the Comedian, just pushed him back,not killed him—if he had done that, maybe this wouldn’t be eating at me so much.”Gadget was more or less aware of what Chip was going through, after all, Segoleh wasdead and Hastahah had taken his place so another tamias was definitely sleeping on thetop bunk now and that was a situation which was somewhat similar for her when her father died and later on Monterey came along to more or less take his place but of courseit wasn’t exactly what was happening here because it was all in Dale’s head more or lessand who more than anyone would miss Segoleh more than him because she mostcertainly knew what it was like to lose part of oneself but Dale would most probably havean even harder time because he killed himself, basically, unlike what happened to her— Carefully, she took hold of Chip’s right arm with both of her paws.“Chip, I’m sorry for you, but can you imagine what Dale is going through? He needs us,and maybe if we give him support, the Comedian will come back, maybe just a little.” If this had happened under different circumstances, Chip’s heart would be beating right outof his chest. So right now, even Gadget was surprised to see that no reaction came fromChip from her advances. He simply looked at the hallway and replied,



“You’re right, Gadget, but the thing that’s eating me most right now is the fact that hedoesn’t laugh anymore. Comedians aren’t the only ones who laugh. Everyone, not justcomedians, laughs at one point or another, everyone except—”“The clinically depressed?” she asked, tilting her head, almost reading his mind. “Youreally don’t think that Dale is going clinically depressed, do you? He’s just serious all the

time now, he doesn’t look depressed anymore.” Chip ruffled his head fur for a moment,relaxed his tail, and sighed,“Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s just me waiting for him to say something stupid so I can

bonk him. I haven’t bonked him since he came home that day! But still, I can’t help butfeel worried about him.” With that, he slipped out of Gadget’s hold (to her surprise,again), turned on the TV, and stepped on the remote control as he searched for a

particular program. Gadget wondered if the problem was with him at this point. Whydidn’t he respond to her now?“Chip, what are you doing?”“I’m looking for a decent sitcom.”“A sitcom? Why?” Finding none in this particular time slot, Chip turned off the TV and

fell back on the couch, still with low ears. He looked up to her, and replied,“Because every once in a while, I feel the strangest need to laugh at something, to laughat anything—” Chip’s voice faded as he turned again and stared at the black screen.Gadget sat beside him and leaned against him. Chip, again, did not respond in any way…

That afternoon, the Rangers had finished lunch and Dale was cleaning the table whenthey heard a knock at the door.“I’ll get it!” said Monterey, coming out of the kitchen.“That’s all right, Monty,” said Dale, already on his way to the door. “I’ll see who it is.”Dale padded up and opened the do— “DALE, DARLING!!”And a gorgeous female chipmunk embraced him tightly and kissed him square on the…

ALONE (UGH) AGAIN

A gorgeous male chipmunk embraced her tightly and kissed her square on the lips.Without thinking, she lowered her ears and twitched her tail, returned the hug and thekiss, and then they— This was it.The wonderful moment she had waited for since the day she detected him, the ultimateexperience with her life partner, the beautiful consummation of their love for each other,and perhaps they would get a new son or daughter, or both, in the process, and theywould do this only with each other, and no one else, for the rest of their lives— Foxglove awoke with a start.If I dream that dream ONE MORE TIME, I’m going to get a hypnotist and have himERASE Dale from my head!! She tried to catch her breath, amazed at the fact thatsleeping could leave her exhausted. This wouldn’t be so bad if I’d at least dream thewhole thing through and not wake up right in the middle of it! Also, the dream hadawakened her at least one hour before sunset, so she really had not much to do except tryto go back to sleep, but that would be somewhat difficult since she was still shaken up



due to the theme of the dream. And she couldn’t talk to anyone because Otis was not withher anymore.Alone…Their trip to Queens and Harlem was fruitless, and additional leads brought them to NewJersey, and then back to New York and Long Island, and then to the banks of the Hudson

River. She roosted under an awning in an old factory, a little ways from where a male battold them he had lost his daughter, last year, unfortunately. Five nights into their search,Otis got more and more suspicious as to why Foxglove did not fly back to the park toreport her findings to the other Rangers.“Otis, the others probably haven’t got back yet, either,” she told him. “We still have

plenty of time before we have to return.”“Foxy, we have been flying around in a circle and have nearly gone all the way aroundthe park. You have a sad look on your face, and sometimes I hear you say ‘Oh, Dale,don’t leave me’ in your sleep. You are going to fly back to the park, aren’t you?”Foxglove did not reply and continued flying toward the river. “Foxglove?” Suddenlyturning to him, she asked,

“Otis, do you have a missing sister?” Taken back by this sudden interrogation, Otisstuttered,“Uh, well, no, my parents never told me anything about that—”“Do your parents know any bat who lost a daughter?”“Well, I would ask them, but right now they’re in Texas. Foxglove—”“Do you know anyone who lost a daughter or sister?” Otis did not understand whyFoxglove was so agitated.“N-no, Foxglove, I don’t. Look, I know you’re desperate to find any family, but ever since I read your story in the papers I knew you couldn’t be my sister. My family never lost anyone, so I doubt we’re even distant cousins. But please, try to calm down. We’llfind your relatives and then you can go back to Dale—”“OTIS!!” She practically squealed in his ear, for after realising that he was definitely nother relative, she unconsciously drifted closer and closer to his face, spellbound by hisdeep voice/sonar. Upon hearing Dale’s name, the spell was broken. Hovering in front of each other, Otis tried to shake off the ringing in his ear, while Foxglove tried to catch her

breath.“Foxy, what’s wrong?” Foxglove could not hold herself back any longer. Her earsdrooped, and she whimpered,“Otis, Dale and I broke up. I quit the Rescue Rangers and the only thing I have left to dois try to find my family. I was hoping you would be my brother so I would—calmdown—but—but—I’m sorry I yelled at you.” The male verspetilionid looked at her with

pity.“Oh, well, I’m sorry, Foxglove. Is that why you didn’t want to talk to the other guys?”“Yes.” Suddenly suspicious of something else, he asked,“Then why did you decide to talk to me?”“I—I don’t know—you—you’re nice—and—and—han——our friend—I had hoped youwould be my relative—but—I—I—”“Foxglove, I’m sorry. You obviously need some time to recover, but why did you andDale break up?”



“He—he let me go. He didn’t want me to be in danger anymore. He—asked me to livewith the bats now.” Otis finally realised the extent of the situation he was in.“Uh, look, Foxy, if that is what happened to you, then you’re probably very vulnerableright now, and I’m obviously not supposed to be hanging around you alone like this, butit’s also obvious that you need someone to talk to. Why—why don’t you stay here and

rest for a while, and I’ll see what I can do? I’ll bring back more help, I promise.” Withthat, Otis flew away, to his relief, and hers, too, surprisingly. Now, Foxglove had beenalone for three days and it was obvious that nothing else was going to happen here. The

bat that lived here, however, did say that a cousin of his lost a daughter almost twodecades back, in a park, and that she lived somewhere in Boston. That was a long tripfrom New York, but this was her quest now, and she would have to carry it out until shefound her parents, living or dead.And now, she would have to carry it out— Alone…

OLD FLAME, NEW FUEL

…square on the right cheek. Dale, shocked, needed only one second to realise who haddecided to pay a visit. He looked at her face. The chipmunkmaid had tan fur, with lighter tones on her face and neck, a maroon nose, and beautiful lavender eyes. To accentuateher eyes, she wore a long blue dress that was cut to reveal her right leg. Her ears and tailclearly communicated how happy she was to see him. Dale asked,“Clarice?”“Dale, you old dawg, you’ve been pumping up!! And I’m surprised you still remember me, considering your new marital status!”“Huh?” The other Rangers padded up at this point.“‘Ey, pally, who’s yore friend?” asked Monterey. Clarice released Dale while he turnedand said,“Guys, this is Clarice Tamiassara. Chip and me met her several years ago when we stilllived in the forest. She was our ‘first crush’, you might say. She worked at a night-club,the ‘Club Acorn’, but moved on, and so did we.” But as Dale said this, no smile appearedin his face, and his ears and tail remained stationary. True, he was surprised to be visited

by an old friend, and even glad at this point, but the only emotion in his face was that of surprise. Chip was surprised at both Dale’s lack of emotion and this unexpected visit, but

before he could even begin to ponder on either subject, Clarice padded up to him, huggedhim tightly and kissed him— Very deeply indeed.Dale sighed.It had happened again.Another female had come for Chip.He felt a little pain, but he was getting used to that now.Here, however, a strange reaction was triggered on Gadget’s person. Upon seeing thisotherwise unknown—gorgeous—chipmunkmaid, who was obviously an old friend of Chip and Dale (crush??), suddenly appear out of nowhere, grab Chip and practicallyshove her tongue down his throat and cause his ears to lay flat and his tail to vibrate so,every muscle in Gadget’s body tensed, and her paws closed to form pale fists, and her



ears and tail tensed as well. And she herself was wondering what was suddenly takingcontrol of her. Not that she hadn’t seen a kiss like this before, because she had, but

because she was seeing it happen to Chip. It was a very strange feeling, one she could notidentify, for she had never felt it before…Or had she?

It wasn’t anger, for she had no reason to be angry, since this was Chip’s old friend, and because she was obviously more than happy to see him and Dale again. But then, a vaguememory drifted from the darkest recesses of her mind, a memory that sought to connectthe present emotion to a similar one she experienced years ago. Suddenly rememberingherself as a cub, of going to school and coming back from school, of her father taking her to and back from it, and how she saw all the other animals’ parents do likewise, but of only having her father do so, while the others had their fathers and/or mothers to do thattask, the emotions connected. She vividly remembered that feeling now, only that whenshe felt it twelve years ago, she did not know what it was, but it was definitely somethingthat was present in the pit of her stomach, and it was exactly what she was feeling now,twelvefold. She sought frantically for a label, a word, an identity for this emotion, but she

couldn’t find any. She knew there was a word to what she was feeling, but what was it?Could it be— Jealousy?Clarice released Chip, who took thirty seconds to catch his breath again.“Clarice, I see you remember Chip,” stated Dale, matter-of-factly, trying to ignore the

pain again.“Oh, come on, darling, how could I ever forget him? And who are your friends?” Dalethusly did the introductions,“Clarice, this is Gadget Hackwrench, Monterey Jack Colby, and our fellow dipterid:Zipper Lightringer.” Clarice proceeded to shake paws with Dale’s friends, or so theythought. She held out a digit for Zipper and gave him a light kiss on the lips, she shook Monterey’s paw vigorously and kissed his lips, and she gently shook Gadget’s paws andkissed her cheek. Gadget, for some reason, felt like turning her off, like an appliance,somehow. Still, she managed to relax her features“Uh, Clarice!” exclaimed Chip, after catching his breath and getting his tail under control. “I’m—I’m happy too see you again, too!! What brings you all the way here fromVegas?”Vegas? thought Gadget. As in Las Vegas, Nevada, gambling capital of the world?“Oh, well, what else?” she replied, going over to Dale once again, holding his left paw in

both of hers. “I came here to wish my old friend good luck!!”“Good luck in what?” asked Dale, looking at her a trifle confused-like.“Why, good luck in your marriage, of course!!” she replied, squeezing his paw a trifle.“Four weeks ago, I was reading the socials in the Vegas Furries—I always read thesocials, mind you, you never know what they’re going to say about you—when Istumbled across the announcement of my dear old friend Dale, Rescue Ranger, about to

be married!!”“Well, Clarice—”“So I told myself, ‘Self, you just HAVE to go to your friend’s wedding’.”“Clarice—”



“I mean, after all the good times we had back upstate, I just HAD to come and share inyour joy.”“Clarice—”“I mean, Gadget honey, you should have seen the way these two hunks looked at mewhenever I was on stage. So, I just couldn’t believe that dear old Dale had finally landed

himself a girlfriend, and a bat, too!! She must be something really special.”“Well, she is, but—” She then turned to him again and continued,“Oh, Dale, but I’m so sorry I arrived three weeks late. I mean, I pleaded with my agent tolet me off for just two days, but noooooo, he said,” with a mocking low voice, “a contractis a contract, and you have to live up to it,” then with her normal squeaky voice, “and liveup to it I did, that no-good—um, well, you know.” She stiffened her ears and tail here,

but only for a moment. She relaxed them, while Dale tried to explain,“But Clarice—”“I know, I know, Dale, I know exactly what happened,” she continued, softly holding and

patting his left paw.“You do?”

“Well, of course I do, dear! It was all over the animal press three days later!! I’ll tell you,your fiancée must truly love you to have endured that kidnapping. And right before thewedding, too! Oh, Dale, it must have been awful!!”“It was, but—”“And so you postponed the wedding. Hey, I made it on time anyway! But don’t worry, Iwon’t tell anyone about it if you don’t tell my agent where I am right now, ha ha ha!!”She winked an eye at him.“Clarice—”“Say, where is your fiancée, anyway—? OOPS!!” She then whispered, “I’m sorry, guys, Iforgot. She’s a bat, so she’s asleep right now, right?”“Clarice—” She then lowered her ears and tail and slapped her forehead,“Oh, where are my manners?! I keep calling her ‘your fiancée’! Her name is, uh, whatwas her name?” Seeking for a name in her hyperactive brain, she raised one ear andrecited, “Uh, Daisy? Forget-me-not? Magnolia? Rose? Lilly? Buttercup?”“Foxglove.”“Oops! There I go again. So, when are you having the ceremony, toots?” Dale looked atthe others, and then he looked back at his old friend with sadness.“Clarice, I’m sorry, but you came all the way here for nothin’. The weddin’ wasn’t

postponed, it was called off.” Clarice’s joviality was suddenly truncated when she heardthat statement.“C—called off?”“Yes. We—broke up shortly after we rescued her.”“B—broke up?? B—but—why?? From what I read in the socials, you two were perfectfor each other!!”“Clarice, you—just had to be there. And—it was somethin’ I had to do. I’m sorry youcame all the way here for nothin’, but I’m glad to see you again,” though his face showedotherwise. Clarice, being suddenly hit with news so shocking as this, did what every self-respecting female celebrity did in situations like this: She drooped her ears and tail, brokedown in tears, embraced Dale again, and expressed her condolences.



“Oh, Dale—Dale—I’m so sorry for you—!! So—sorry—” Gadget calmed down at this point, her questionable feelings subsiding. Still, for some reason, she thought that thischipmunkmaid was faking it, somehow. Or maybe it was the celebrity atmosphere abouther…

About five minutes later, they were all sitting on the couch, but it appeared that it wasDale who was consoling Clarice.“Clarice, it’s over. Foxglove had to leave, and I’m sorry you never got the chance to meether. I’m sorry for all the trouble you went through to get here, and if there is anythin’ wecan do to make it up to you, well—” Clarice looked up at him and sniffed,“Oh, will you look at me! Here I am, thinking I’m comforting an old friend, and it turnsout he’s comforting ME!! I’m sorry Dale, I really am. But, as long as I’m here, we mightas well catch up from old times. Let’s see, the last time I saw you two was about six yearsago, just before my big break in Atlantic City. What have you guys done in themeantime?” As she dried her tears and raised her ears, Chip explained to her how after

rescuing an injured beaver, he and Dale decided to follow up on a dream they both had of becoming detectives. He told them of their time alone, their time with Plato, how theymet Monterey, Zipper, and Gadget, how they met Foxglove afterwards, and how they hadhelped countless animals and humans all over the world. She, in turn, told them of thecelebrity life that took off from Atlantic City, and how she made the rounds to Orlando,Miami, Austin, Nashville, Hollywood, and finally Las Vegas, where she practically hadevery male animal drooling whenever she went out on stage. “And tell me, Chip, I don’tsuppose you found yourself a dame that could make you drool more than I could?” Chip

blushed a trifle.“Um, well, this job doesn’t leave much time for that, especially since I’m the leader—”“Oh, nonsense, Chipper, if Dale here almost landed himself a wife, I’m sure you can,too.”Hmm. Maybe this chipmunkmaid isn’t so imposing after all, thought Gadget. But thenshe saw that Clarice was batting her LONG eyelashes at Chip. And he, for some reasonagain, was not responding. She had to act quickly.“So, Clarice, are you going back to Las Vegas, then?”“Eventually, yes.” Gadget quietly sighed in relief. “But there’s another reason why Icame to New York.” Gadget’s tension arose again. “My agent brought to my attentionthat there were a few clubs here that wanted me for several nights, AND that somecasting directors were playing the rounds, too. Hey, I might end up in Broadway!! In fact,Dale, tonight at eight, The Nutshell Club is having an open mike comedy night! You canhave everyone rolling on the floor and wetting themselves—”“Uh, sorry, Clarice, but being a Rescue Ranger is kinda hard work, and when we’re notsolvin’ cases, we’re usually lookin’ for them. Besides, I—I don’t do comedy anymore—”“You WHAT??” she chattered, lowering her ears again.“I don’t do comedy anymore. It—it got in the way of the detective business. I had tochange my name, too. I had to drop Segoleh. I’m now Dale Hastahah.” Clarice could not

believe her ears. Never had she heard of such a radical change in name and personality,ever, not with anyone she knew, at least. “And we are kinda busy right now, so—”



“Uh, Clarice!!” exclaimed Chip. “We’d be glad to see you at The Nutshell tonight!! After all that’s happened here, we need a break, AND we could use a laugh or two.” Chiplooked at Dale with anger and disappointment, while Dale looked at Chip with a you-can-lead-a-horse-to-water face, and both had their ears down again. Clarice, meanwhile,recovered a trifle from her previous shock and raised her ears again.

“It’s settled, then!! But Dale, are you sure you don’t want to go on stage? I could save a place for you.”“Clarice, I appreciate your help, but, no thanks, really.” She smirked a trifle at him andreplied,“It’s your loss, then, honey. Well, I’d better be getting to The Nutshell myself. I’ll seeyou all there!!” They stood and she kissed all of them good-bye, making a specialemphasis on Chip, which almost made Gadget’s eyes turn yellow. With that, thegorgeous female chipmunk pranced out the door and left, and for some reason Dale didnot let her out of his sight until the door was closed…

NEW FLAME, OLD FUEL

Foxglove perched herself on a tree just as dawn began. Completely exhausted, she wasamazed at just how far she could fly in twelve hours. She had already left New York State, and was well into Connecticut. She would sleep here and continue in the evening,hoping to spend the next day in Massachusetts. Fortunately for her, there were plenty of insects and moths to eat, and no bat predators had come to her encounter. This night shehad eaten FIVE luna moths, but for some reason, they did not taste THAT good anymore.That was more than surprising for her; she KNEW they were luna moths, and she KNEWthey were tasty, but they didn’t taste THAT good anymore. Maybe they were from adifferent strain…She would wonder about that later. Right now, she needed to find a safe place to sleep for the day. Flying off again, she heard up ahead a redwood with a thick top, and a few holesin its trunk. She flew toward it, but then she heard behind her,“Foxglove!!” And it wasn’t a normal animal voice, it was spoken in ultrasound, by TWOcreatures. She turned and hovered, and echosounded at them in fear as she heard OTIScoming toward her. She calmed down, however, when she heard another chiropteridcoming behind him, a female. Catching up, Otis panted,“Foxglove! I thought you were still in New York! We’ve been echosounding all over thisflight path for you!!” For some reason, Foxglove was glad that he was sounding like a big

brother,“Sorry, Otis, it’s just that you were gone for three nights, and I thought you weren’tcoming back, so I decided to fly to Boston alone.”“You’re lucky you didn’t meet any owls on the way! It’s a dangerous trip as it is, and wewere worried sick about you!” Foxglove’s ears drooped at this reprimand from her “brother”, who then corrected his tone of voice, “Oh, sorry, Foxy. I didn’t mean—”“Um, y—you’re right, Otis,” she stated. “I shouldn’t be flying on my own. I—I’m sorry.”Feeling more than awkward, Otis just echosounded at her. He noticed that her pinkish-

brown fur sounded soft, and her eyes were the most beautiful blue, and her sonar was— “Uh, Foxglove!! I’d like you to meet my cousin, Feyyanna. Feyyanna, this is my friend,Foxglove, former Rescue Ranger.” Foxglove scanned the female. She, too, was a grey



batmaid, though her eyes were hazel, and her ears were slightly more triangular. Therewas an air of friendship about her, similar to Otis’.“Pleased to meet you,” said Foxglove.“Semm heyer. Cossin Otis tells meh yew loss yewr boyefrenn’?” Foxglove wassomewhat surprised to hear a slow Texan accent, and she was even more surprised when

she realised that although it sounded funny, she did not feel like laughing, chuckling, or even smiling.“Well, not exactly lost, Feyyanna, it’s more like we broke up.”“Oh, Ah’m sorreh ‘bout thayat, Foxey!! Now, mah cossin heyer tells meh yew’re lookin’for yore perrints?”“Yes. I’m on my way to Boston, and now that I think about it, I’m gonna need your help.”“What we’re gonna need now is a good day’s rest!” said Otis. “We almost faintedhalfway on the trip here! Foxy, I didn’t know you could fly so far for so long!”“Uh, thanks, Otis, I didn’t know that either. Look, we can sleep in that redwood, andcontinue tonight. How do you feel about that?”

“Sounns fahn to meh. An’ Ah could yewse a ress, too!” With that, the three pipistrellsflew to the redwood, perched on a high branch, and fell asleep, with Feyyanna sleeping between the other two, allowing Foxglove to relax even further.

The following night, as they were almost to the Massachusetts state line, Otis was flyingabout ten meters ahead of the two batmaids, letting them have a female-to-female talk.“So, you’re from Texas?” asked Foxglove.“Yup. Mah fammele juss moved a coppel months bayack. Too menny ‘sheyells’ werecommin’ neer the cayev, yew knewe.” Both batmaids winced at this statement, for nochiropterid ever associated with an armadillo or even spoke its name out loud. So, theywere labelled “shells”. Foxglove continued,“I met one of them in a field some time ago. Well, more like I heard it. He didn’t see me,

but I think he knew I was there. I flew away as fast as I could. Horrible, evil creaturesthey are!!” Feyyanna then decided to change the subject.“Oh, ‘nough ‘bout thayat! Teyell meh, whayat was yore boyefrenn’ lahk?” Foxglovesighed. She REALLY didn’t want to talk about this, but Feyyanna’s eyes and thefriendship and sympathy they expressed were getting to her.“Dale was a chipmunk.”“A WHAYAT?”“A rodent. A chipmunk. He was the best sounding hunk I ever heard. I know you’resurprised, but when I first heard him, I completely lost myself to him. You would have,too. And he didn’t look that bad either! He was handsome, brave, funny, strong, loving,helpful, spontaneous—but somewhat fickle and hesitant—and just a tad shy and clumsy.I had to wait two years before he asked me to marry him, and right before the ceremony, Iwas kidnapped by an evil cat. My other Ranger friends tried to save me, but they werecaptured, too. When all seemed lost, Dale came and rescued all of us, and—and— realised that with our line of work, getting married was the worst thing we could do. Healso realised that he had too many faults to be a good husband and father, so he let mego.”



“Oh, Ah’m sorreh, Foxey! Otis tol’ meh yew had gonn threw summthin’ horrebbel, butnut lakk thiyis!!”“I know. It was horrible. I wouldn’t wish that on any ‘shell’, either.” Feyyanna wasshocked at this statement. What Foxglove went through must have been something rightout of Hades itself. “So now, all I have left to do is find my family. I hope I find them.”

“Whayat well yew dew eff theye’re deid?” Foxglove echosounded at her for a moment,and replied,“I guess I’ll live like any other bat, I suppose. Sleep during the day, eat during the night,have a few friends, avoid owls and other predators, just be an average batmaid.”“But whayat ‘bout YORE fammeleh? Ah mean, well yew eyver fannd a mayte aggin’?”The ex-girlfriend echosounded ahead and thought, No way, while replying,“I don’t know, Feyyanna. Right now, I simply don’t know.”Feyyanna knew, however.For she, too, had noticed the way Foxglove echosounded at Otis whenever he flewdirectly in front of her…

A NEW HOPE AND OLD FRIENDSThey finally arrived in Boston, ten nights after the tragedy. After asking for directions tothe local chiropterids, they flew toward a pine next to a colonial church. Perchingthemselves on a branch, they echosounded at a hole in the trunk. They had no need toknock or call out, for the occupant emerged three seconds later. The occupantechosounded at the three pipistrells and asked,“May I help you?” Foxglove swallowed quite audibly and replied,“G-good evening. Is your name Janice?” The middle-aged bat echosounded at the youngone and replied,“Yes, it is.”“Uh, ma’am, we’re doing an investigation—searching for a parent—did you lose adaughter in a park approximately twenty years ago?” Janice turned to Foxglove again,only this time she echosounded more carefully and looked closer at her as well. Her fur was almost her exact shade, though her facial contours were rather dissimilar. Her heartfluttered as painful memories flashed through her head.“E-eighteen years ago—I—was flying in a park—near the coast—in Staten Island——itwas evening—I was carrying my daughter—my husband was next to me——an owl ladyattacked—I dodged as best as I could—my husband tried to defend me—the owl lady hitme in my wing———I dropped my daughter——my husband was killed——I fell——

blacked out——I echosounded for my daughter———and never found her——I alwaysthought the owl lady killed her—unless——unless——is your name Leticia?”Leticia.Could that be her real name?“I—I don’t know, Janice. I never knew my mother—or father—or my real name—I callmyself Foxglove—” Janice opened her blue eyes really wide and perked her ears up asmuch as she could while echosounding at her madly, and asked,“Foxglove? Are you—are you—my—my daughter?” Here, Foxglove wanted to squealYES, but held back with a tremendous amount of effort, as she needed to ask one morequestion. So, she replied,



“I—I—I DON’T KNOW!! Er—excuse me—” she slowly shook her head back intorationality and continued, “Janice—do you—know ANY other bat couple who has lost adaughter this way?” Janice sagged at this last question. A moment later, she echosoundedat her again and replied,“Foxglove, I know six couples who have lost a daughter the way I did. It seems that owl

lady was waiting in ambush in that park, attacking whatever chiropterid she saw. We allleft Staten Island and settled here, those that survived, that is.”“Survived?” her ears perked.“One couple and their daughter were killed in one evening. Or, that’s what I heard. Iknow for sure that the parents died, but now that you’re here—well—it’s possible thattheir daughter may have survived—somehow.” Foxglove continued struggling in atremendous effort to remain calm.“Janice—how—how many are left?”“There’s me, a male bat, and three couples. I know were they live.” Foxglove’s hopeswere now quadrupled. THREE full sets of parents, a single mother, and a single father tochoose from!!

“Janice—can—can you take us to them??”“Well, I would, but I need to know who your friends are, first.”“Oh! I’m sorry!! This is Otis, and his cousin Feyyanna. They’re helping me with theinvestigation. Janice, I hope that either you or the others are my parents. I REALLY needto find them.”“I hope you’re my daughter, too, Foxglove. Now come, the day is young!!” With that, thefour chiropterids began making their rounds around Boston.

Around 3 a.m., eleven verspetilionids were perched on a willow in a park. Foxglovelooked and echosounded at them individually. There was Janice, the single mother,Marcus, the single father, Richard and Rosie, Dusk and Dawn, and Curtis and Grace. Allof them had grey fur, except for Curtis, who was grey-brown, and all had brown eyes,save for Dawn, who had green eyes, and Richard, who had them hazel. Marcus, however,had similar facial features as Foxglove’s.“Well, Foxy, I guess you can now take your pick!” jested Otis. All the other chiropteridslaughed, except for Foxglove, who did not even smile. Seeing this, the bats settled downto an uncomfortable silence. Foxglove began,“So, all of you lost a daughter eighteen years ago?”“Seventeen years,” said Richard.“Eighteen years,” said Dawn.“Nineteen years,” said Curtis.“All are in my ‘age range’, then. And all of you lost her in a park?”“Yes, sure, yeah,” they replied. Now came the unfortunate process of elimination.“Did your daughters have blue eyes?”“Yes,” they all replied in unison, surprising each other. Foxglove blinked at this.“How can that be? The only one here with blue eyes is Janice!”“True,” replied Marcus, “but I guess that comes because you may have had at least onegrandparent with blue eyes.” This wasn’t getting Foxglove anywhere. All the progressshe had made had brought her to a complete standstill. But maybe if she forced herself toremember—



“What were your daughters’ names?” she asked.“Leticia,” replied Janice.“Irene,” replied Marcus.“Dawn,” replied Dusk.“Aurora,” replied Rosie.

“Alicia,” replied Grace. Foxglove closed her eyes and pressed Rewind on her memory.Rewind, rewind, rewind, rewind, back to the park, back to hanging on to her mother,remember the scents, remember the sounds, remember the voices, remember the names,remember, remember, remember…Remember—“Leticia”? Remember—“Irene”? Remember—“Dawn”? Remember— “Aurora”? Remember—“Alicia”?Her entire body trembled with frustration as her memory refused to reveal that one

particular word, or even the scent. She then covered her head with her wings andgrowled,“AAAARRGGGHHHHH!! I CAN’T REMEMBER!!” Gasping, she felt surprised atherself when she realised that even though she felt like crying at this point, her lachrymal

glands appeared to have taken a Sabbatical.“Well, isn’t there any other way of finding out who you belong to?” asked Richard.“I doubt it,” replied Otis. “It seems the only way we can find out is through a DNA test.But don’t feel too bad, Foxglove. I mean, you have found more friends—”“WHAT DID YOU SAY??” she suddenly exclaimed. A somewhat shocked and confusedmale pipistrell replied,“Uh—well, I said that you do have plenty of friends for suppo—”“BEFORE THAT!!”“That you shouldn’t feel too bad because—”“BEFORE THAT!!” Foxglove was practically shrieking now and her tail was twitching.“That the only way we can find out is through a DNA test?”“YES!! Oh, Otis, I could just—!!” Foxglove suddenly found herself with her wingswrapped around Otis and her lips very close to his. Upon realising this, she instantlysnatched herself away from him. Her ears would have drooped if wasn’t hanging upside-down, but she wasn’t blushing, however, for some reason…“Uh, sorry, Otis, I don’t know what came over me. I—it won’t happen again. I—I’msorry.” The male replied rather sheepishly,“Uh, sure, Foxy, whatever. I’ll—I’ll try not to be so close to you now. But—a DNA test?I mean, it can figure out who you belong to, but how are we going to get humans to doone of those on all of you? It’s not as if they actually have the time for us, you know—”“No, Otis, humans will not perform the test on us. I know exactly who can perform thetests, and they live right nearby, too!!”“Ann who, prayye teyell, arr theeyes pursonns?” asked Feyyanna.

“Guys, I would like you to meet Sparky and Buzz. Sparky, Buzz, these are my friendsOtis, Feyyanna, Janice, Marcus, Dusk, Dawn, Curtis, Grace, Richard, and Rosie. Therodents and the chiropterids greeted each other.It was dawn by the time the flock reached the campus of MIT. Once there, Foxglove ledthe others to a building in particular. Flying down to its base, they crept through a rodententrance and flew toward a lab. They had found the lab rat and the guinea pig fast asleep



in their cages, but it wasn’t too long until they awakened. It also wasn’t too long untilCurtis discovered the reason why the male rat was called “Sparky”. After seeing andechosounding at Curtis’ fur standing on end and the rest of him begin to smoulder momentarily, the other pipistrells decided to greet him with a simple wave of their wings.“Sparky and Buzz are friends of the Rangers,” explained Foxglove. “They met them

sometime before they met me, and we’ve—they’ve exchanged letters now and then.”“I’ll say,” remarked Buzz. “Chip wrote a while back and invited us to Dale’s wedding, but we were simply too busy to attend.” Sparky added,“Yeah. We were stuck in a series of experiments that we simply couldn’t get out of. Bythe way, Foxglove, whom was Dale getting married to?”“NEVER MIND!!” she squealed. Then, she said in a kinder, embarrassed voice, and withdrooped ears, “Oh, sorry, Sparky. Uh, the wedding is not important now.” The other chiropterids felt rather shocked at her last statement. “Guys, what we need for you to dois a DNA test. We need to know if my DNA matches that of any of these bats. We—needto know if they are related to me, somehow.” Sparky looked at his guinea pig friend for amoment, and then asked him,

“Well, Buzz, are you up to this?”“Hey, it’s not like we haven’t done this before.”“And how long will this take?” asked Grace. Buzz replied,“Well, the individual test doesn’t take as long as it does on humans, because of the fewer number of chromosomes. Since there is quite a number of you, it could take some time,

but not if we start right now. The humans don’t have any tests programmed at the DNAlab today.” Foxglove echosounded at the other bats with pleading and excitement, andthey echosounded back at her with approval. She then turned back to the rodents andexclaimed, with her tail twitching (but still with no smile on her face),“Well, then, let’s get started!! The sooner we begin, the sooner—yaaaawwwnn—excuseme—we can sleep today!!”With that, the rodents led the chiropterids to the DNA lab…

DEATH OF A DREAM

Dale turned from the door and looked at Chip. He was about to chatter at him, but then hesaid calmly,“Um, sorry, Chip. Perhaps we do need a break.” Chip, too was about to begin speakingwith a high volume, but Dale’s tone muted him.“Yeah, Dale, I’m sorry too. You—you don’t have to go up on stage tonight. It looks likeyou still need a little time to—”“No, I don’t, Chip. Look, I miss Foxy, but she’s gone and she won’t be back. I alreadymoved on, and the Comedian was left behind, too. I may not tell jokes anymore, but—

perhaps—I could use a laugh or two…” He trailed off as he padded back to his room,oblivious of the four sighs of relief that were breathed in the living room. So, it finallyseemed that Dale was about to get back to his old fun-loving self again. Could it be thatthings would actually be getting back to normal?“Wow, six years?” asked Chip to himself. “It seems more like four decades since we lastsaw Clarice! It will be nice to see her up on stage again—whoa!!” Upon hearing thatname again, Gadget suddenly laid her ears back, stiffened her tail, grabbed Chip’s left



paw, and dragged him to her workshop. Zipper looked at Monterey quizzically, to whichhe replied,“Don’t look now, mate, but I think Gadget’s eyes jus’ turned from blue to green!!”“Oh, great, that’s all we need now. ANOTHER soap opera in this house!!”

In the workshop, a jealous mousemaid and a confused chipmunk had just arrived, withthe mousemaid slamming the door shut.“Gadget, what’s wrong?” asked the confused chipmunk. The jealous mousemaid releasedhim, looked at his eyes, and asked,“Chip, how do you feel about Clarice?” Chip looked at her for a moment with slightsuspicion. What had come over her now? He replied,“Clarice? Well, she’s an old friend! She doesn’t seem to have changed much since welast saw her. It looks like she’s still quite a flirt—”“From the way she kissed you?”“Well, she’s like that.”“And what did you think about that?”

“About what?”“The kiss.” Chip turned slightly, lowered his ears a trifle, and stuttered,“Um, well, gee, it—it was unexpected, but she’s like that with everybody—”“Did you like it?” she insisted. Chip then saw that something was obviously botheringher,“Gadget, why are you asking me this? It looks as if you don’t like Clarice too much.”Gadget turned and shook her head,“Oh—golly, Chip, I—I know she’s an old friend, but—but I don’t know her, and shesuddenly waltzes in here and kisses everyone——I——I—felt like dismantling her!!”Chip stood back at this.“Dismantling? Why?”“Because——because——she—she kissed you.”“Gadget, she kissed everyone.”“The way she kissed you. Chip, I may be naïve, but I’m not blind. Did you and Clariceever have—a—a—re—relationship??” Chip simply could not figure out why Gadget wasasking him this. Also, the look in her eyes showed pain, as well as a touch of anger,and—and— Jealousy?“Gadget, Dale and me met Clarice seven years ago back upstate. We were—a bit reckless

back then. It was obvious that we both had feelings for her, but I really doubt she had anyfeelings for either of us. She—she toyed with us, for a while, but she never fully gaveherself to either of us, or anyone for that matter. I would have liked to have a relationshipwith her, but looking back now, I can see that she was just a flirt, to us, to everyone. Shedoesn’t mean any harm, that’s just the way she is.” He turned and continued, “I may havehad feelings for her, especially during spring—but not anymore.” He turned back to her,“She’s still my friend, mind you, but I—I—” He padded up to her, looked into her

beautiful china blue eyes, and stated, “Gadget, I don’t love her, I’m not in love with her,not anymore, if that’s what you’re asking.” With that, Gadget sighed as her fit of jealousysubsided. She raised her ears, relaxed her tail, turned, padded back to her chair, and satdown. Chip, however, turned the tables and continued, still with low ears, “Now,



Gadget—why? Why? What—what came over you that you had to ask me all of this?”Gadget slowly turned to face him, waited a moment, laid her ears down again, andreplied,“Chip, I’m—I’m sorry I questioned you like that. It’s just that I—that I—had never feltso jealous before.”

“Jealous? Of what?” Gadget sighed, stood up, and padded back toward him.“Chip, three weeks ago, when Fat Cat was about to kill us all, and when you offered your life in order to save the rest of us, I—I suddenly realised—some things—some—— feelings I had——feelings—I had—for you. So, when Clarice came in here and kissedyou, I felt—I felt as if she was—was—stealing—from—from——me, Chip—stealing— you—from me.” The sciurid sighed and turned away. Pain was now developing in hischest now. His tail drooped. “It became clear to me the night of the kidnapping, Chip, butonly now did I actually see the whole picture. Also—also—the day Dale came back, wehad a little talk. He told me some things—which confirmed what I felt just now.” Chip

perked his ears up and looked at her rather surprised now,“Things? What things did he tell you?” Gadget took a deep breath and tried to reply,

“He told me—he told me—that—that—that you loved me—Chip Maplewood.” Thetamias turned away again in unexplainable pain, as his ears drooped again. “Is—is thattrue?” she insisted. “Chip, do you love me?” When the tamias turned to reply, the muscould not understand why the same pain she saw in Dale’s eyes were now in Chip’s.“Yes,” he replied, with a very pained voice. And as he continued, he turned away again.“From the moment I saw you take off your helmet when we first met you, I have lovedyou more than you could ever imagine, Gadget Hackwrench.”“Oh, Chip—” Gadget extended her arms and was about to embrace him, but for someinsane reason, the sciurid dodged her embrace, confusing the murid again. She looked athim quizzically, and was able to utter only one word in response to this action,“W-what?” With a pained sigh, Chip looked out the window, and asked,“Did he tell you anything else?” Now Gadget was on the receiving end of theinterrogation. She stumbled,“He—he told me that it would mean the world to you if I loved you back——that hedidn’t want to see you fighting for me anymore——that I should at least give you achance—that you deserved a chance—and that I deserved a chance with you, too—andthat if I loved you I would make you the happiest chipmunk on earth—and that I would

be very happy with you, too—” Her voice trailed off as he slowly padded toward thewindow. Confusion of infinite proportions was coming over her now. She padded up tohim and held his left paw, “Uh, Chip, I—I’ve been thinking about what Dale said, and— and with what happened today, I—I r—really want to give you a chance—to give us achance. To make both of us happy.” Still Chip would not turn toward her. Instead, helooked down now. So, she padded around him, held both of his paws, and continued,“Chip, really, I—I—guess that all this time I had also loved you, but I didn’t know thatuntil recently—” He felt cold, very cold. And he still would not look at her. “Chip, isn’tthis what you also wanted? For me to love you back?” Still there was no response fromhim, his pained eyes showed that he was thinking about something else. “Chip, what’swrong with you??” she asked, beginning to get annoyed, both at her confusion and hislack of response, “Don’t you want me to love you? Why are you so cold all of thesudden?” The sciurid then looked up at her, and replied softly,



“Gadget, do you really think that I haven’t noticed your advances?” The murid looked athim, somewhat surprised, perking up her ears a trifle. Chip chuckled ever so slightly andexplained, “And did you also know that if your had told me this three weeks ago, I would

be over the moon?” The mousemaid’s expression changed from surprised to surprisedand more-confused-than-a-crashed-computer’s-memory. “Gadget, I hate to tell you this,

but—Dale also had a talk with me.” He turned away and looked at the floor once again,much to Gadget’s frustration. “Didn’t you hear it?” he asked.“Well, yes, but you guys yell so fast we can’t understand a word you say.” Chip sighed,“Well, among other things, Dale told me that—that I—that we—have hurt him.”“Hurt him?” The mousemaid was not going to accept that easily, unless Chip was onlyreferring to himself— “Gadget, you’ve never considered Dale to be very intelligent, have you?” Now that wasdefinitely a monkey wrench for her. Her ears lowered.“Well, um, uh, I, er, not—too intelligent, I suppose—”“Gadget, for a long time, all of us have thought of him as stupid, as a clown. I mean, whoof us hasn’t cringed when he has offered to help us?” This last question was enough to

drain all of her blood to her foot-paws,“B-but Chip, when he has helped us, things—um—”“Get screwed up, by his clumsiness, I know. But not all the time. I—we have pushedhim—typecast him to the role of Clown and Klutz. For a long time he’s been trying to go

beyond that, to truly be serious when things needed to be—and still we rejected all inputfrom him. We automatically rejected every comment, clue, and reasonable doubt thatcame from him and labelled it as worthless. Gadget, it has gone far beyond bonking.We’ve made him feel worthless and insignificant. There were many times when hewanted to protest against us, even against you, Gadget, but he chose not to do so. Hedidn’t want to hurt you. He never wanted to hurt anyone. All he ever wanted was to makeothers feel better. And when Foxglove came along, he finally had an outlet; he finally hadsomeone who believed in him, something we failed to do.” To Gadget, it seemed as if ameaningless blueprint was suddenly acquiring meaning, but in this case, it was a veryscary meaning. Her mind suddenly flashed back to Brazil, and then to France, with everysingle word she said to Dale playing back loud and clear.Golly, could Dale be right after all?Well, if you believe the theory that everything happens for a reason, then it wasn’t your fault. Technically, however, you’re—a Goof-up.She suddenly realised that she had hurt someone she cared about. She had deliberatelycaused PAIN to someone else, something she swore she would never do, not after all the

pain she went through. She even took steps to avoid pain herself, and made sure thatneither Chip nor Dale got broken hearts from her, either. And now, her invention, whichshe thought would work with no problems, had suddenly exploded in her face.She had become a monster.And this monster had hurt a loved one.And what was worse, she was practically the last one to know about it.Her ears at tail drooped more.Her eyes began to sting.“But even then, he—he found out many things about himself which he knew would be adanger to both him and Foxglove. And—a-also, in that talk, Dale asked me a question, a



hypothetical question, and I haven’t been able to get that question out of my mind for the past three weeks.” Gadget shakily took one step forward,“W-what did he ask you?” Chip looked up for a moment, turned to her again, andcontinued,“Dale was—explaining to me—why I made the right decision in leaving him behind. He

fainted on his wife, Gadget, and though it wasn’t his fault, he can’t ever forgive himself for doing that, and he also realised that his foul-ups would be lethal to all of us now, andto his wife and cubs. But then he went on to explain the other reasons why he could never marry Foxglove; he mentioned his ‘family curse’—and then he mentioned our enemies.Gadget, Fat Cat saw a chance to get all of us, and he made as best use of that situation ashe could.” He looked down as his paws trembled momentarily; the torturing questionsurfacing from his memory banks. He looked at Gadget again, and trembled with stiff ears, tail, and clenched incisors, “And then he asked me, ‘Can you imagine what wouldhave happened if he had got not only Foxy, but also my three cubs and your son??’” Thetwo rodents looked at each other, in complete silence. Gadget’s mind raced as shevisualised that situation, momentarily forgetting her own actions against Dale: Fat Cat

kidnapping Foxglove, along with Dale’s three cubs, and—and— Her son.What would her reaction have been in that situation?“Dale then said, ‘There’s no way we could get married, not with danger being all aroundus!!’ So, Gadget, I’ve—I’ve been giving—us—some thought, and—and I kept thinkingof how our families would be raised, and—and—I came—to the conclusion that this isreally not the right environment to raise a family.”“Chip, how can you say that—!!” also stiffening her ears and tail“GADGET!!” he chattered. Calming down for a moment, he continued, “D-dear Gadget—I don’t want my cubs to stay up late at night wondering if their parents aregoing to come home or not!! And what’s more, I certainly don’t want my cubs to beANYONE’S target!!”“But Chip, it doesn’t have to be like that!! We don’t always have to be Rescue Rangers— !!” The sciurid’s tail relaxed, but his ears remained drooped.“Gadget, if you wish to move on and have a family of your own—well—I can’t stop you.I love you and I want you to be happy. But I can’t let my emotions come in the way of fighting crime. The Rangers have helped many animals and humans; we just can’t endthat!”“Chip, there are plenty of policemen out there with families of their own! Even FBI andCIA agents have cubs—er—children too, you know!! Chip, why are you afraid? We’veall made mistakes, but it doesn’t have to be as Dale thinks it will be!! Please! Let’s giveus a chance, at least!!”“Gadget, you don’t know how much I’ve been wanting to accept that, but I’ve beenthinking everything over as best as I could, and—and I can’t come up with anything other than the fact that we just can’t raise a family here! There’s no way it can be done whilekeeping them safe from our enemies! I don’t want me or my cubs to go through whatDale and Foxglove went through—do you??”“Chip, you know I wouldn’t wish that on our worst enemy. But even if it does happen,Chip, they won’t be alone. Foxglove had us to help her, and even when we failed, therewas Dale and his new friends. Chip, we have plenty of enemies, but I think that our



friends outnumber them. Our family will never be alone, not even in the times of danger!But please, Chip, give us a chance. Give yourself a chance!!” She then padded up to him,took his paws in hers again, lowered her ears and tail, and stated with all of her heart,mind, and body,“Chip Maplewood—I love you, too.” Chip’s countenance acquired even more pain. His

jaw quivered for an instant. He was far from being the happiest chipmunk on earth.His tail wasn’t moving.“Gadget, you don’t know how much I’ve wished that you would have told me that threeweeks ago. But—I’ve made my decision, and—and—in our times of danger, I don’t wantyou to worry about me more than you would worry about Zipper. It just wouldn’t be fair to you—or him—or me. I can see now that it wasn’t fair to Dale or Foxglove. And I canalso see that with our line of work, I can’t have the relationship I so desperately longed tohave with you—nor with anyone—without placing you in additional danger than the restare in, as Dale did with Foxy.” He sighed with immense pain, and concluded, “I am goingto write to my parents and tell them that I simply cannot give them grandcubs—that Inever can now. I do wish that there was some other way to deal with this, but there isn’t.

Dear Gadget, I love you with all my heart, but our love can never become what we wantit to be. It’s better if we leave things as they are—as—as they were before. It was wrongfor us—for me—to try to change them. I’m sorry, Gadget. I’m sorry for competing for your attention, and for all the times I bothered you and made you uncomfortable becauseof it, and for forcing you to choose between Dale and me. And I assure you that it willnever happen again. Gadget, I love you, and I’m sorry.” With the same pain Dale hadthree weeks ago, he softly kissed her forehead, released her paws, and padded toward thedoor. Suddenly, a monster stiffened her ears and tail and growled,“I’LL KILL DALE FOR THIS!!”“He already beat you to that,” he replied quietly, turning toward her as he opened thedoor. “But don’t worry, he doesn’t hold anything against you, or any of us. Now, I think we should get ready to leave. I’ll see you later.” He closed the door and left, leaving

behind the dream he had longed for three years now, leaving it behind forever…Gadget, meanwhile, suddenly realised what she had just declared.The monster wanted to KILL.The feelings she thought she had reserved for the bad guys had suddenly been transferredto someone she cared about.She had hurt Dale.And Chip.She slowly padded to the table, trying to sort out what she felt and why she felt it, tryingto figure out why this invention failed— She saw a small mirror tile on the table.In it, she saw a monster.A monster that wanted to KILL.In an attempt to separate herself from the monster, she grabbed the tile and threw it to thewall, where it shattered and fell to the floor, but now, on the floor, there were a hundredmonsters where there was only one before.All manner of logic and calculation shut down at this point. She slowly backed up fromthe monsters until she reached a corner of her workshop, and there, she collapsed to asitting position, drooping her ears, tightly hugging her legs, and wrapping her tail around



herself, trying to isolate and protect herself from the monster, from that which wanted tohurt her loved ones— From this monster named Gadget Hackwrench.She began crying again, without reason, thought, or analysis…Much the same way a little mousemaid cried when her father died, several years ago…

She just cried, cried, and cried like never before……that afternoon, two more hearts had just been disintegrated…

DESESPERADA

Foxglove drooped her ears and tail, read the printouts for the NTH time, and thencrumpled them up before throwing them aside. With total anger, disappointment, rage,and grief, she turned away from the bats, the rat, and the guinea pig.“Foxy, I’m sorry,” said the rat, beginning to approach her. “But that five percent matchon each sample simply means that they are verspetilionids just like you!!” The infuriated

batmaid covered her head with her wings, as if she were trying to shut off all sound from

this know-it-all-while-being-absent-minded rat. She was a bat, however, so it didn’twork. “None of them even come close to being a cousin ten times removed!! They justare not related to you in any way other than the fact that they are bats!!” Foxgloveremained with her head covered, so Sparky decided to give up. He turned to the other chiropterids and said,“So, I suppose all of you are disappointed, too?” The others also had sad ears and tails.Janice replied, crying,“More than you can imagine, Sparky. Foxglove, you don’t know how much we wishedyou were our daughter, but even with this failure, you have proven to us that all of our daughters are truly dead! Foxy—you—you gave us peace—after twenty years, Foxy, wefinally have peace—knowing that our daughters are resting.” Buzz added,“I suppose this means that you were the daughter of the couple that died. Foxglove, I’msorry—” Suddenly, she turned and pleaded,“Did you know them?? Did ANY of you know them??” The other chiropterids just stoodin total silence, a silence that to a bat was akin to being dead. “Their NAMES,” sheinsisted. “Did anyone know their NAMES, their LAST NAMES, at least??”Silence.“PLEASE!!” she growled. “Did ANYONE echosound at them?? Smelled them?? Or LOOKED at them, at least??” Here, Dawn took a deep breath, trying to sort out her memories. She padded up to Foxglove, and began,“It was the same evening in which we lost our daughter. We can’t remember themexactly, Foxglove, but all we heard was an owl lady swooping down on a bat couple,with the mother dropping her daughter just as the owl lady captured her and her husband.The owl lady was too swift, so our warnings were too late. The owl lady landed on a

building, but this was only to deposit her prey. We immediately flew down to try torescue the infant but then the owl lady came in and attacked us. We were able to dodgeher, but then she made a swoop and knocked my daughter off me. When we levelled off,I heard her dive and grab something, and we heard her carry off our daughter andsomeone whom we thought was the other infant. The bats had—your fur colour, Isuppose—they—kinda sounded and smelled like you, though we can’t remember exactly



now. All we can remember is detecting a couple and their cub. We never knew their names. Foxy, we’re sorry, but your parents are truly dead. You don’t know how s—”“No!!” she blurted. “Uh, no,” she repeated, trying to sound more polite, “please, don’tfeel sorry for me. I mean, I gave you peace when you found out your daughters weretruly dead, so—I guess—I guess—I now have peace knowing that my parents are dead

and that I will never see or hear them again and that I will never know my real name,ever. But—but please, don’t feel bad about me. I’m sorry I made you go through all thistrouble for nothing. Dusk, Dawn, thanks for saving my life.” She then hugged the batcouple. Releasing them, she sighed, “I-I guess I should be going now. Well, it was nicemeeting you—”“Foxglove, please don’t talk that way!” exclaimed Janice, mother-like. “We did getsomething out of all of this, we got the truth, even though it’s painful. And you gotsomething else: you got plenty of friends now. You can stay here in Boston and we’ll beyour friends and—and—family, if you want—”Foxglove shuddered.“Go and live with the other bats………Find your family!! Find your past!!………You

may like it better over there—you may like them better—than me.”And now she was feeling terrified when she realised she was actually beginning to feel better. She was actually getting over DALE.The gorgeous tamias was now heading toward the darkest recesses of her memory…And what was worse, she realised that Dale had been right in letting her go.“Foxglove, it’s not the end of the world,” said Otis. “Look, you’ve been through hell, andwhile none of us can share the pain you felt, there’s no reason why you should not startsomething new.” Feyyanna added,“Thayat’s raght!! Ah mean, eff yew heyelpt udders ess a Reskew Rainger, yew kinnstiyill heyelp udders!! Ah mean, yew juss heyelpt awll uff theyese bayats fannd peece!!”Marcus continued,“She’s right. And you do know the phrase, ‘Happy are the peacemakers’—” The look andechosounding Foxglove gave him made Markus’ blood freeze. She may have given them

peace, but she certainly did not look or sound happy. Otis then added,“Look, Foxglove, now that your search has ended you need to start a new one, one whichwill enable you to help yourself as well as others.”“But I don’t know what to do now!!” she exclaimed.“Well,” said Curtis. “Other than detective work, what else can you do?” Foxglovethought for a moment, and replied,“I—I suppose I can do anything any other bat can do: see in the dark, use echolocation— ”“Yew kinn allso flaye kwite a disstensse!” added Feyyanna with a smile, perking her earsup a trifle. Foxglove calmed down, but she didn’t smile back. She replied as-a-matter-of-factly,“Well, yes, I can. My time with the Rangers got me in shape—and—” Her memoryclicked in. “I also speak some Laotian, and some Spanish now.”“You speak Spanish??” asked Sparky, incredulously, perking up his ears. “Where did youlearn that??”“Gadget gave me a short-wave radio—” Her throat tightened as painful memories came

back. She tried to recover, “I—uh—I learned other languages through—foreign



broadcasts. I—may be a bit rusty since—since—I haven’t heard—the short-wave for sometime now—a lot has happened to me—lately—I suppose—” Sparky smiled,“Oh, I don’t know about that! One of the scientists here is from Florida, and he brought atape with Spanish music. And much as I’ve tried to translate it myself, I just can’t seemto get the hang of foreign languages. Now, I’m dying to know what some of those songs

are saying, because the music is rather lively. Do you think you can help with that,Foxglove?” The batmaid thought for a moment and replied,“I’ll try, but I don’t guarantee that I’ll be able to get it all, Sparky.”“All right then!! The tape and player is in the next room. Follow me!” The bats thuslyfollowed the rat and guinea pig. As they scampered/flew to the next room, Otis toldFoxglove,“If you speak good Spanish and Laotian, maybe you can learn other languages as well.You could become an interpreter!”“Well, I was beginning to learn some French and German so I could help the Rangers—Iwas on my way of becoming their linguistics engineer—when—everything happened.”“Don’t feel bad about that. You can still be a top linguist and help others through that.

That could be your new quest now.” Foxglove raised her ears, echosounded at hishandsome face, and was lost in it for a moment, before she replied,“Thanks, Otis. Thank you for everything.” And neither seemed to mind being somewhatcloser to each other— “Here it is!!” exclaimed Buzz. The mammals gathered around the small tape player onthe table as Sparky inserted a tape and pressed play. A song was ending, apparently onedealing with electricity, but it sounded more like a jingle. All the bats winced andcovered their ears, however, but neither Sparky nor Buzz knew why. Dusk then paddedup and turned the volume down to a comfortable level, bringing the rodents to a suddenreckoning,“Oh, sorry, guys.” They then heard the DJ say,“Este es Equis Hache Ene Ele, ciento cuatro punto ocho mega hertz, en frecuenciamodulada. Y ahora, aquí está Martha Sánchez.” Everyone looked/echosounded atFoxglove, expectant-like. Suddenly realising what she was supposed to be doing, she

perked up her ears and translated,“Um, this is—uh—he gave the station ID, on FM, I think—and, here’s—uh—he namedthe performer, I think. Oh, Sparky, I told you I was a bit rusty!”“Well, Foxy, don’t feel bad about this. It will all come back to you! And if you need to,we’ll just rewind and play the song over in case you get stuck on some parts.” he replied,smiling.But again, she did not smile back.Even Sparky was beginning to wonder what had come over this batmaid.Then, the song began. It was a rather lively rhythm, or lively at least, to people that werefeeling more than blue, though it had just a touch of mellowness. The main instrumentappeared to be a flute, but Foxglove’s keen ears and her experience with listening toDale’s music told her that the sound was synthesised. Then, a woman began to sing inSpanish, in a near rap-style. Also, she was pronouncing her Z’s and soft C’s like “th”,characteristic of an Iberian accent nonetheless:

“Ho, yeah!



Ho, ho, ho———!Soy una mujer normal,Una rosa blanca de metal.” Foxglove stumbled as her vocabulary tried to come in syncwith the Latin beat,“I’m—uh—a normal woman—a white rose of metal—? Um—”

“Pero en este amanecer,”“But in this—er—dawn—”“El dolor me vuelve de papel.” Now that line did not make sense, at first,“The pain turns me into paper?” But nevertheless, something began forming inFoxglove’s chest again.

“Camino bajo el sol.”“I-I walk under the sun—”“Pero es invierno en mi corazón.”“But it’s—um—winter in my heart—?” Something began forming in her throat as well.“Así estoy yo:”

“Th-that’s how I am—”“¡Desesperada!”“—Desperate—um, a desperate one—er, woman—” The rest stood stone still, notnecessarily to hear the music or its translation.“Porque nuestro amor,”“Be-because our love—” Her ears and tail drooped again.“Es una esmeralda que un ladrón—robó.”“Is-is an emerald that a thief——um—stole—” Her voice cracked here.“¡Desesperada!”“D-desperate—woman—” Something about this song was pulling something from withinher, something painful…“Porque ya no sé,”“Because I don’t know anym—” Her last word was cut off. She couldn’t seem totranslate fast enough.“Donde están mis sueños ni por qué se fue.”“W-where my dreams are nor why—why he left—” But still, identifiable emotions weredefinitely surfacing now.“No tengo a donde ir.”“I-I have nowhere to go—” All right, who wrote this song, anyway??“¡Sin ti!”“Without you—” She seemed to almost shiver here.“Sólo puedo repetir:”“I can only repeat—”“¡Desesperada!” This word required no further translation. It was now slowly sinking into Sparky and Buzz that something was not completely right around here. Maybe if theylet the song play on they would be able to figure it out…

“¡Pero tengo que seguir!”“But I have to go on—” She suddenly straightened up, as her vocabulary was now fullyon line, driven by both memory and emotion.



“Queda mucha vida por vivir…”“There’s a lot of life left to live—” Dale’s words drifted into her memory again,“¡En mí!”“In-in me—” Don’t go back to your old life. Start a new one…“¡Oh-ooh! ¡Y de pronto llegará!” She stumbled a trifle, as the performer suddenly cut off

the phrase,“And—and suddenly—um—something will arrive—”“Un amor que no se marchará…”“A—a love that will never march—I mean—will not leave—” Otis wasn’t sure if shestumbled because of grammar or pain.“¡Jamás!”“——N-never—” He suddenly held his breath.“Seré feliz con él.”“I will be happy with him—” Foxglove appeared to be echosounding at him, but she hada rather distant look in her eyes.“Y en su mirada yo me perderé.”

“And I will be lost in his gaze—” Otis became nervous as he realised she wasechosounding and GAZING into his eyes now.“Y no estaré:”“And I won’t be—” He lowered his ears a trifle.“¡Desesperada!” He wasn’t too sure what she was thinking now. What was more, hewasn’t too sure he wanted to find out.

“Porque nuestro amor,” The chorus repeated with back-ups hooh’ing softly, and thistime, she translated without faltering.“Because our love—” Her gaze and echo was distant again, looking and echosoundingtoward the past, toward what had brought her to this point.“¡Es una esmeralda que un ladrón—robó!”“Is an emerald that a thief stole—” It had been Fat Cat’s fault. They all knew that now.“¡Sí, sí, sí—Desesperada!” There was no need to add all the “yes’s”, but Foxglove knewwhat she had turned into now:“Desperate woman—”“Porque ya no sé,”“Because I don’t know—” Though it was perfectly logical at the time, it suddenly did notmake sense now:“Donde están mis sueños ni por qué—se fue.”“Where my dreams or why he left—” Why he left you. Why you left him. Why he let yougo.“¡No tengo a donde ir!” Foxglove suddenly realised she had no true destination in life,“I have nowhere to go—”“¡Sin ti!” The ooh’s became more insistent, as well as Foxglove’s pain.“Without you—”“Sólo puedo repetir:”“I can only repeat—” She was without Dale, and had now become what this songdeclared,



“¡De-ses-pe-ra-da!” The main instruments then hushed, leaving only the drums toaccompany the performer, making the lyrics even clearer,

“Pero tengo que salir.”“Uh, but I have to get out?” She stumbled again, as this new verse suddenly introduced

Spanish colloquialisms,“¡Tengo que escapar al fin de ti…!”“Um—I have to escape finally from—from you—” Escape from Dale? Could that have

been what he wanted all along?“¡De mí!”“F-from me—?” Or, escape from herself?“¡Oh, sí! Y dejar la oscuridad,”“And—and leave the darkness—” Whether nocturnal, or of a dark and obscure life, fromwhich Dale had rescued her…“Sepultada en la profundidad…”“Buried in the depth—”

“¡Del mar!”“O-of the sea—” This was what the others recommended. What Dale wanted. To buryher old life…“Camino bajo el sol,”“I walk under the sun—” Under the sun and under the earth as well, at night…“Pero es invierno en mi corazón.”“But it’s winter in my heart—” Forever winter, forever cold, the warmth of love stolenfrom her like an emerald stolen by a feline thief…“Así estoy yo:”“That’s how I am—” Now, and forever:“¡Desesperada!” Janice echosounded at her, again. Maybe, just maybe if she let the resthelp her—

“Porque nuestro amor,” Now the performers eeh’ed and ooh’ed, but Foxglove hadunfortunately committed the chorus to her permanent memory,“Because our love—” It was more than clear now.“¡Es una esmeralda que un ladrón—robó!”“Is an emerald that a thief stole—” Rescued, and yet stolen…“¡Sí, sí, sí—Desesperada!” Even the performer was beginning to sound desperate.“Desperate woman—!!” At this point, her breathing pattern began to falter. The pain was

building up to unbearable levels.“Porque ya no sé,”“Because I don’t know—” Feyyanna and Janice began approaching her, but they weren’ttoo sure what to do now, whether to let the song continue or to stop it immediately— “Donde están mis sueños ni por qué—se fue.”“Where my dreams nor why he left—” She would never know, ever.“¡Oh! ¡Oh! ¡Oh—Desesperada!” Her wings were now curling into tight balls.



“¡Porque nuestro amor!” The other performers insisted with the eeh’s, as did Foxglovewhen she translated the chorus again, as her output was now coming from her heart andnot her head.“Because our love—” Her voice began acquiring a desperate tone as well.“¡Es una esmeralda que un ladrón—robó!”

“Is an emerald that a thief stole—” And she was speaking through clenched teeth as well.“¡¡Sí—Deeeeeseeeeespeeeeeraaaaaaaadaaaaaa!!” It almost seemed as if the performer was publicly declaring Foxglove’s condition, like a “kick me” sign pasted on her back for all to see and hear. She couldn’t bring herself to say that term again. But the performer insisted, in what Foxglove could only interpret as being a degrading label, an insult, aridicule, a mockery of her situation,“¡¡De-SEEEES-pe-ra-da!!”“Desperate wom—” Foxglove suddenly took off and flew out a window. Otis andFeyyanna took off after her one second later, leaving the others behind. Then, the rest of the chiropterids flew out the window as well, leaving behind the rat and the guinea pigwith their tape player, as the performer faded out,

“Hoooooooooooooooh— ¡¡Woo hoo…!! Yea-yea-yea-yea…”“Was it something I said?” asked Sparky.

Fly, fly, fly, fly as far as you can, as fast as you can, away from that accursed mocker,from that accursed song, from that accursed place, from the pain, from the one who leftyou because he loved you, just fly, fly, fly, and never go back, never speak to anyoneagain, to never feel pain again, to never again be a desesperada— “Foxglove, wait!!”Fly; away from the handsome one who just COULDN’T be your brother, fly, to never fall in love again, to never retrieve that stolen emerald— But, even though the black hole and the hexagonal knot came back, she could not willherself to cry, for some reason.“FOXY!!” Suddenly, she heard Otis on her right, panting. “WILL YOU STOP FOR AMOMENT??”“Otis, please, just leave me alone!! I’m sorry I bothered you all!! I won’t bother anyoneagain!! But just go home!!”“What?—pant, pant—I thought you were already doing that!!”“Huh?”“Why are YOU going home, then??” he screeched.“I’M NOT!!” she screeched back.“Then why the hell are you flying back to New York??” Suddenly, Foxglove hovered,ears up, making Otis overshoot her. She echosounded all around her, and realised thatthis was indeed the flight path that led back to New York City. As to why she was doingthat, she did not have the foggiest idea. The other verspetilionids then caught up to her,also panting.“I think I’m getting old,” gasped Curtis.“No—gasp—she’s juss a Reskew Ranger. She kin flayye reelly fass—gasp—yewknewe.” When Otis came back, Foxglove lowered her head and ears and apologised,“Uh, sorry guys, I didn’t mean to fly out on you like that. It’s just that—that—”



“Say no more,” said Dusk. “We should have stopped that song before it began.”“Foxy, we’re sorry about your parents, and about what happened to you. But please,you’ve got to put more control on yourself,” said Janice.“Now, then, why were you flying back to New York? Were you headed for the UN sosoon?” asked Grace.

“The what?”“The UN,” explained Otis. “United Nations. A place where interpreters are highlyvalued?”“Uh, well, I don’t know. I just took off, I didn’t know where I was going, but—”“Hey, wait a minute!” exclaimed Richard. “If you’re an interpreter, and if you’re headedfor the UN, then you could be of great use to the Rescue Aid Society!!” Foxglove wincedwhen she heard the word “Rescue”,“Huh?” Richard explained,“The RAS is an organisation that helps animals all over the world from natural disasters,illegal hunting, you name it. I have a ferret friend who joined last year, and he told methat they are always looking for interpreters. Perhaps you’d want to check out that

place?” Foxglove just hovered, as her emotions began storming within her again. Herewere new friends, offering her a new life, a life free from danger, a life that Dale wantedher to have— So she would be happy— The strange thing was that even though everything was falling into place now, she wasFAR from feeling happy.In fact, she felt unbelievably scared:Dale had been right.“Foxy, if you want to, Feyyanna and me will take you back to New York and look for theRAS. But we only ask of you that you don’t isolate yourself. We’ll help you start a newlife. We’ll be your family now.” Foxglove echosounded at Otis for a moment, andreplied,“O—okay, Otis. You can come. I suppose I need to stop being a loner again. Thanks.”Otis smiled,“You’re welcome. But could you fly a little slower this time, maybe?” Foxglove didn’treply. Instead, she appeared to be lost in something she was echosounding at…

THE NUTSHELL

The nightclub was under a fancy restaurant in Broadway. It was spacious, with a dancefloor surrounded with about 30 rodent-sized tables, all facing a large stage. There wassome space for a small orchestra on the back part of the stage, just in front of the bluecurtain. Most of the tables were occupied, with animals of various species: mice,hedgehogs, chipmunks, squirrels, guinea pigs, gerbils, ferrets, birds, and an occasionalChihuahua dog. The front door opened, and two chipmunks, two mice, and a fly entered.The maitre’d, a well-dressed mouse, padded up to them,“The Rescue Rangers, I believe?” They nodded, silently. “Yes. Miss Tamiassara reservedyour table up front. Follow me.” As the murid led the Rangers to their table, they lookedaround the club, admiring it. However, by the expression on their faces and by their limptails and sagging ears, they didn’t appear to be very happy to be there. Chip appeared to



be in pain; Gadget appeared to be angry, sad, and pained at something, or someone;Monterey appeared worried about something, or someone, or some others; Zipper appeared to be worried about Monterey; and Dale was simply stone-faced. They sat attheir table, in an unhealthy silence.Chip could not believe that earlier today he had blown off the chance of a lifetime to have

a lifetime with Gadget, even after she pleaded with him. But it had been the logical thingto do, no matter the amount of horrible pain…Gadget could not believe that Chip had rejected her nor could she believe that she and theothers had hurt Dale in such a horrible way, so horrible, that she had no idea how to bringherself to apologise to him and much less make amends with him especially now that hehad acquired a new personality…Monterey could not believe that the new soap opera had affected the mousemaid he hadsworn to protect, not to mention the chipmunk he knew she loved. He could not believehow the simple death of a “Comic Relief” had affected all of them so deeply…Zipper could not believe how the entire team seemed to be falling apart right in front of his eyes, like one of Gadget’s no-problem inventions. It was as if someone had pulled out

a proverbial stone that no one knew held the entire structure together until it fell to pieces…Dale could not believe they were here. All he wanted to do was to oblige Clarice byattending tonight, and then just get out of here, out of this place that at one time he wouldhave gladly enjoyed, but now it was a place that was completely alien to his new

personality…Forty-five seconds later, the celebrity chipmunkmaid, still in her light blue dress, joinedthem,“Hey, guys!” she exclaimed, “Did someone die and not tell me? Why all the long faces?”Chip replied,“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing, Clarice. We just had a slow day.”“Well, don’t you worry, sugar. We’ve got some ten comedians waiting backstage, andwith luck, they’ll have you laughing in no time!”“Luck?” asked Zipper.“She means that they’re amateurs,” explained Dale, coldly. Clarice then blinkedseductively at him,“Well, maybe we would have a pro if a certain chipmunk would just change his mind—”Dale just looked at her, almost robot-like. Clarice felt uneasy now, and she sat back onher chair. For the first time, a male did NOT respond to her advances. “Uh, sorry, Dale. Iwas just hoping—um, never mind.” She was saved by the lights, however, as theydimmed and a spotlight shone on centre stage. A male squirrel, wearing a black jacket,

padded up from stage left to a rodent-sized mike stand (the mike was a clip-on typefastened to a Tinker-Toy wheel and stick), and declared,“Welcome, males and females, mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, once again toThe Nutshell! Tonight, as you know, is Comedy Night, and we’ve decided to make it anOpen Mike night, though this mike looks somewhat closed here, ahem—” A rim shotdeclared that last phrase to be a joke, though some animals in the audience moaned at it.“But really, folks, we have a great evening planned out for everyone—I just hope our

plans don’t backfire—rim shot, moaning and we have lined up a great cast of the bestamateur comedians in town—if there is such a thing—rim shot, more moaning. Ha, geez,







“Okay, Clarice, I’ll do this as a favour to you. But remember, I haven’t played the bass ina long time.”“All right, wait a minute!!” exclaimed Gadget. “Dale, since when do you play bass??You’re not going to dance, are you? Hey, where are you going?” The sciurids stood andleft, except for Chip,

“Gadget, it’s a long story. We’ll tell you later.” With that, the last chipmunk left, leaving behind two mice and a fly unbelievably confused. On stage, a male shrew padded up onthe drums, and a male squirrel took one trumpet. A few moments later, the emcee paddedin from stage left and announced,“Well, sorry, folks, for that facsimile of ‘comedy’. But don’t worry, we have a back-up

plan. We have a very special surprise guest with us, who in turn has two very specialguests with her. So, males and females, won’t you welcome with me, from Las Vegas,

Nevada: CLARICE!!” The applause was much louder now, with whistle calls, as Claricecurved her way from stage right up to the microphone, while Chip and Dale entered

behind her and took their positions.“Thanks, sugar, and thank you, you lovely mammals and such. I’m glad to be back here

in the Big Apple, because I came to see two very special friends of mine, and I’m suresome of you know them, in good terms, I hope. Would you welcome with me, on piano,from upstate New York, Chip Maplewood!!” The spotlight then shone on Chip, who wassitting at the rodent-sized grand piano on the left side of the stage. He nervously wavedhis left paw to the audience. “And would you also welcome with me, on bass, also fromupstate New York, Dale Oakmont!!” She didn’t dare pronounce his new middle name.The light now shone on Dale, standing next to the piano, and holding a bass made from a

pencil and a matchbox. The only expression on his face was a let’s-get-this-over-withone, as he also waved to the audience. Clarice continued, “So now, we’re going to

perform a song for you, one that the three of us played a long time ago back on another night-club, a song that brings back to me a lot of pleasant memories, not just of myfriends, but also of our wonderful state of New York. Okay, guys, hit it!!”The lights dimmed and the audience hushed. The other Rangers had no idea what toexpect, so it was more than obvious that Gadget was shocked when she heard Chip begin

playing a soft 50’s jazz song. As it had happened six years ago, Clarice began padding provocatively on the stage, and sang,

“My-y destinyyy—!!Is to be in love wi-ith you—doo-doo-doooo, doo-doo-doo!” Gadget’s temper rose at thisline, as her ears and tail showed, but sort of levelled off when she saw her looking atDale, who for some reason did not respond.“Makes no difference what you say-y or do—hello, Big Boy!” she cooed at Dale, on theside. Dale, however, just looked at her, straight eared, stone faced and stone tailed.Clarice stood shocked for an instant, lowering her ears a trifle. This was something thatdid not happen six years ago. Almost instantly, she recovered and continued,“I must stay in love wi-ith you, doo-doo-doooo-doooo, doo-doo!” She turned to Chip asshe sang this, but he, too, did not respond. Something was wrong here. She would have totake more drastic measures.



“That’s my de-estiny—!!” She sat on the piano, swinging her legs. Plenty of males in theaudience were whistling at her, but it seemed that Chip and Dale were too concentratedon their instruments.“Is to be with you,Can't come true, doo-doo doooo-doooo, doo-doo-doo!” It seemed that the song was right.

Well, she could fall in love with either of them, but they weren’t responding. She got off the piano and leaned closer to Dale,“I belong to you both heart and soul,” And all of me as well, honey, she thought, with her ears down and tail quivering.“With a love beyond control.” Dale looked coldly at her once again. She seemed to befighting against an ice wall. Quickly recovering again, she continued, a trifle slower,“They say nothing is sure!Even the sea runs dry!” She padded over behind the piano and pulled out a small rosefrom a vase.“Yes sir, hah!” Padding back, she looked Dale over, but couldn’t find any pockets on hisshirt. She would have studied his physiology in general, but she had a song to sing.

“One, one thing is sure,” She finally settled on placing the rose on Chip’s jacket pocket,causing Gadget to squirm again.“Love like mine,” But again, he did not respond.“Can never die—” It can’t die, she thought, to one chipmunk in particular. You know thatI’ll always love you.There was a moment’s icy pause.Chip, ears and tail stiff, was nearly growling at Dale because of his coldness.And he was just about to jump off the piano stool and give him a very large knucklesandwich— Clarice suddenly looked at him, ears and tail down.She was pleading with him, with both of them. She knew they were both about to fightagain, but this time it wouldn’t be over her…Chip exhaled to himself, deciding to calm down, for now. He then swept his paws on the

piano as he did six years ago, while Clarice continued a trifle nervously, lookinglongingly into Chip’s eyes,“Tha-at’s wha-aaatEvery love has to be, doo-doo-doooo, doo-doo-doo!” Chip, once again was not returningher insinuations. What was wrong with these ‘munks, anyways?“You are everything in life to me.” You are, you truly are!”“You are my destiny!” And that’s why I came back!! The song speeded up now, andChip ran his paws through the piano, in a lively instrumental.“That’s right!” she exclaimed, trying to liven up the song a trifle. She raised her earsagain and even swung her hips and tail a trifle at the beat of the song, smiling nervously.Again, the males did not respond.“Hide—in our destiny!You are everything to me!You are my destiny!” Again she gazed into Dale’s eyes, only to be met by an icyreflection. This would have been enough to make her forget her lines, but fortunately for her, here was where the main instrumental kicked in. Chip ran his paws faster on the

piano, pulling forth an aggressive sequence.



Dale, eyes on his bass, played that exact same sequence.Chip returned with another complex sequence, and Dale repeated it again. Chip, however,noticed that Dale was not exactly happy about playing with Clarice again. In fact, Dale’scountenance was stone like, unmoving; his performance: mechanical. There was nofeeling, no interpretation, no emotion, no soul; just a mechanical mimicry. His eyes

simply shifted back and forth from the piano to his own instrument.Angered by yet another example of character assassination, Chip laid his ears back,stiffened his tail, and countered with an aggressive sequence, almost smashing his pawson the keys. Dale, unfazed, repeated the sequence like a CD player. Chip was about tointerrupt the song altogether to give Dale a good bonk, but then the rest of the band

joined the song and Clarice padded up to the chipmunks.Like she did so many years before, she gave a small kiss to both of them, giving themtheir cue and attempting to calm them down again. Chip snapped out of his silent fury,and Clarice sat on the piano again. Now Chip turned to Dale, pitched his voice lower, andsang with a scowl,“Little girl,

You’re the one girl for me!” And Dale countered, also with a low pitch, and alsoreturning the stiff features and scowl,“Little girl,You’re as sweet as can be!” Then they both sang together, scowling at each other,“Just a glance at you made love from the start!And oh, what a thrill came into my heart!” Gadget, meanwhile, was not sure what tomake of this. Seeing Clarice kiss the chipmunks again brought more questionablefeelings out from within her. That, combined with what the males were singing, wasalmost enough to make her turn red. However, Chip’s expression calmed her down eventhough it was obvious that he was not paying much attention to the lyrics and that he wasquite angered at Dale’s performance, who sang excellently but with no emotionwhatsoever. Then, Clarice sang, in an attempt to regain control of the song,“Little boy,With your cute little ways—” She tickled Chip’s chin for a bit, infuriating Gadget evenmore, but Chip still didn’t respond. He was still angry. Clarice then turned to Dale,“I am yoursFor the rest of my days.” She played with his headfur for a moment, but his cold stareremained in his eyes. At this point, however, Chip noticed that Dale’s expression hadshifted ever so slightly. He was still stone-faced, but his stone-face was looking, almoststaring, at Clarice. Clarice jumped off the piano and placed her arms around both of themas best as she could. Both felt cold, but more so Dale. All three sciurids then concluded,“And this great big worldWill be divine, little girl!!I’ll be livin’ in a whirl—with the love you’re givin’!!” Which, of course, was not the caseright now. Both males had rejected love twice now. Now came the big finish,“Little girl-little girl-little girl!!When you’re mine,All miiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!!” And the song ended. The three were in a group hug, but neither attempted to kiss her now, adding to her shock and disappointment that she displayedthrough her tail and ears. Chip, however, was ready to give Dale a good bonk, but for



some reason, it just didn’t seem to fully rise out of him now. Maybe it was his owncoldness. The audience, meanwhile, stood on its foot-paws to give them a well-deservedround of applause. The other Rangers stood and applauded moments later, more out of surprise than out of actual reward for the performance…

DEAD INSTINCTS

They were kissing again, kissing and embracing very passionately, with both tails in a blur again. This was what she always wanted, and now she had her chance one moretime, to let her nose fill itself with his musky scent, to feel his soft fur on her wingmembranes, to have their muzzles together, to finally consummate their love for eachother— Something was different.Something was nagging her, way back in her subconscious mind; one item which waskeeping her from fully enjoying herself with her husband. But what? After all, they weretogether, and they would always be together—

Her nose then caught something odd. Dale, for some reason, didn’t smell so woody at this point. It seemed that her own scent had combined with his, somehow, creating a thirdscent while cancelling Dale’s altogether. This new scent reminded her of something, of some one, totally different. It was a trifle like her own scent, only it was deeper, stronger,more musky— She broke off the kiss to stare into the deep and gorgeous ebony eyes of— OTIS!!Foxglove gasped into consciousness.She, Feyyanna, Otis, and Richard and Rosie had finally arrived back in New York City.They were roosting on a tall pine, with the couple hanging from a separate branch. Theother three were hanging on another branch, keeping a respectful distance from eachother, and with Feyyanna between the two.Foxglove rubbed her face for a moment, trying to understand why her dreams hadchanged so suddenly. True, Otis was quite handsome, but she had already decided thatshe would not fall in love with him, or anyone else. However, it appeared that her subconscious mind had decided otherwise. She was love-starved, after all. But perhaps, if she could try a little harder and consider him a brother, then maybe these dreams wouldfinally stop…Richard and Rosie had awakened, for she could hear them speaking. She did notechosound at them, due to politeness, but could still see and hear them fairly well.“Slept well, Hazeleyes?”“You know I always have sweet dreams when I’m next to you, Rose.”“Yeah? Well, just how sweet are those dreams of yours, Ricky?”“Not as sweet as the real thing I have in front of my ears, Rosinna.” Foxglove wasovercome by a wave of jealousy when she heard this. That was something she wouldnever have, ever. Love was apparently reserved for some sort of elite group, a selectgroup that she was part of once, but because of love itself, she was painfully expelledfrom such group.“Ooh, you called me ‘Rosinna’. Are you sure that this is the right time and place for thesethings?” Tails swished at this point.



“Well, I know it’s not fall, but with you around, who needs the seasons?”“Oh, I love it when you talk out of instinct!”“Well, you know I don’t need instincts for this.”“I’ll show you instincts, you bat!” More jealousy, anger, sadness, and frustration cameover Foxglove as she continued hearing this, bringing sweet yet painful memories back

again. Oh, how she loved Dale, how she loved the way he embraced her, the way hekissed her, the way he spoke, the way his whole body sounded, the way he tenderly heldher wing with his paw, the way he laughed, the way he joked around, the way he helpedfight crime…Her emotions were abruptly truncated, however, when she heard Rosie, eyes and earslocked with her husband’s, take his right wing in both of hers, craftily extend histhumbclaw…And kiss it.Another memory flashed into Foxglove’s mind, one of two years ago, of her criminaldays, one of shortly after she fell in love with a certain rodent whom her boss wanted todestroy…

She heard herself pleading with Winifred, begging her to let her retrieve the moon rock from the Rescue Rangers, so the witch wouldn’t hurt Dale————or the others— “I’ll get it for you, Winifred!! Just don’t hurt him——uh——them!!”“All right sweetie,” she replied, while stroking Foxglove’s chin, “you go get it for me.”“I won’t fail you!”And then, she kissed the witch’s thumb.

She never understood why she did that. She always thought it was perhaps a subliminalsuggestion on Winifred’s part, perhaps a salute that was custom made for their particular organisation. Since she associated that particular gesture with her evil days, Foxglovedecided to ignore that impulse whenever she was around Dale. That had worked quitewell, and sometime during their first winter together that impulse disappeared altogether,“freeing” her from the last link she thought she had with the witch and her criminal past,enabling her to further concentrate on Dale.But now, she suddenly saw that kissing someone’s thumb had nothing to do with whoyour employer was.It was a chiropterid instinct.A gesture of submission.Could things have turned out differently if she had done that with Dale? Would he stillhave let her go? Would she still be with him if she had not suppressed—killed her instincts?The other pipistrells awakened; their yawns breaking the married couple out of their romantic moment. Richard and Rosie flew toward the young ones and Otis asked,“You sure you don’t need to sleep any longer?”“Well, no,” replied Richard. “But I thought you needed to. After all, we weren’t the oneshuffing and puffing on the last mile!”“Hey, it’s not my fault Foxglove flies so fast!!” Foxglove thought she would blush at this,

but for some reason, she didn’t.“Geepers, cossin, Ah thought yew wood hayav alreddy got yewsed tew thayat!”



“Well, maybe I haven’t eaten that much lately!!”“Say, guys, why don’t we get something to eat, then?” asked Rosie.“But wait,” said Foxglove, “Shouldn’t we be getting to the RAS now?” Richard replied,“Oh, don’t worry Foxy, they operate twenty-four hours a day. Their sessions usually goon all night, and I think that they do it in shifts. When a REAL emergency does arise,

they pull out all the stops and hardly anyone goes back to sleep until the problem issolved, or so I’ve heard. We’ll get there soon enough.”“All right. Come on, guys, let’s go feed.”“Wait, Foxy,” said Otis. “ We are all kinda tired, and I was kinda hoping to restsomewhere else. In a place where maybe we could get some drinks and insects that areactually cooked?”“Yew meen a resst’rannt?” asked Feyyanna.“Hey!” exclaimed Rosie, “Rick, do you remember that place we went to before Aurorawas born?” The pipistrell looked at his wife and asked,“Do you think it’s still open, honey? They had great grasshoppers, but it’s been nearlytwo decades.”

“Well, we could at least go check. And if it’s not there, well, there are other places inBroadway.”“What would I do without you—” he cooed. Taking a moment to themselves, the

pipistrell couple embraced and simply looked at each other’s eyes and locked their sonar on each other. Suddenly hearing a shift in the breathing pattern of a certain batmaid,however, caused them to suddenly break.“Oh, sorry about that, Foxy,” said Richard, a trifle sheepishly. “We got carried away for amoment. We didn’t mean to—”“Uh, it’s okay, Richard. I—I—don’t mind that at all.” She quickly tried to change thesubject, “Now, what’s the name of this restaurant you mentioned?”“Well, I hope it’s still called The…”

I’LL BE WATCHING YOU

The tamii rejoined the other Rangers at the table.“Well, what did you think, guys?” asked Clarice. Gadget, still shocked and with low ears,tried to answer,“Dale—Chip—you—you—you were——”“That was great!!” buzzed Zipper.“Too right!! You blokes jus’ stole the whole show, ‘ere!”“Hey, what can I say, that song was a hit back at Club Acorn,” said Chip.“Yes, it was an excellent song.” Dale’s almost robotic tone popped everyone’s bubbleagain. They all looked at the red-nosed chipmunk for a moment, incredulous of hisemotional immobility.“Dale, are you all right?” asked Chip.“Never better, why?” he replied mechanically.“Don’t tell me you’re feeling fine, stupid!! I know that something’s wrong with you, andHAS been wrong with you ever since you came—”“Chip!!” Clarice interrupted his temper, for Dale’s sake. “Still the same old hothead, Isee?” she mocked, lowering her ears and stiffening her tail. “Please, just back off from



this, will you?” Chip, stunned at Clarice’s statements, was suddenly speechless. But thenhe noticed a certain look on her face, one that she did long ago, one that he suddenlyremembered as meaning, “I’ll handle this.” Both then relaxed their tails, but Clarice kepther ears down. She then turned to Dale and said, “You know, Dale, the night’s stillyoung, and we are in need for more entertainment.”

“Clarice, I told you, I cannot and I will not go up there and tell jok—”“I’m not asking you to tell jokes!! Perhaps we could do another number?” Dale thoughtfor a while, and replied with sad ears and tail,“I—I don’t think so.”“Oh, please, Dale! You know that you loved being up there and being the life of the

party.”“That—that was the old Dale—”“Old, schmold!!” she scolded. “Dale, could please go up there and do another number,

just for me?”“You mean by myself? Clarice, you—you’re askin’ too much. I just simply can’t do thatanymore. I’m a little rust—” She put her paw on his paw and said,

“Dale, you just played bass better than any other animal I’ve heard. Don’t tell me you’rerusty, because you’re not. But, please, as a Rescue Ranger, rescue this night. Do anumber for the night, for me, please.” Her tail quivered a trifle. Dale looked into her blueeyes and replied,“You mean you just want me to go up there and play a song straight off the top of myhead? Clarice, I’m——I’m not random anymore——” Clarice lowered her tail now. Shefelt as if he had just told him that her best friend was dead. Not random? But randomnesswas an integral part of his personality! What on earth had come over this chipmunk? Didthis have to do with Hastahah—?Dale, however, was giving in, for some reason. Something about Clarice’s eyes wasgetting to him, finally; it was something he wanted, something he had once but was gonenow, something he needed…“Um, all right,” he said, raising his ears, but still with cryogenic speech, “But I’m onlydoin’ this as a favour to you.” With that, he went up on stage again. He then grabbed the

bass and went to speak with the band members for a moment. The mouse looked backstage and called someone, and moments later a ground-squirrelmaid took her placeat a rodent-sized electronic keyboard. Clarice, meanwhile, had motioned the emcee tocome to her table, and she whispered briefly with him. With a nod, the emcee padded upto the stage, where Dale looked at him, and gave him a nod. He was ready. The audiencehushed as the emcee made the introduction,“Ladies and gentlemen, for another musical number, here’s Dale Oakmont!” Padding upto microphone again, Dale waited for the polite applause to die, and explained,“Okay, this is a totally improvised number, because this is the only song I know in whichthe lead vocalist is also the bass player. I’m doin’ this song as a request for the lovelyClarice over here, so I hope you enjoy it. Please bear with me; this song is completely off the top of my head. Uh—well, I heard it once a long time ago, and for some reason it

popped up in my head recently and I haven’t been able to get it outta there—so I guessthis will help kill it once and for all.”Chip did not like the tone of the word “kill”, as his ears and tail showed.



With a shrug, Dale turned around and went to talk to the band again. One minute later, he padded up to the microphone, and began…

“Are you sure they serve good grasshoppers here?” asked Foxglove, turning to the others before opening the door.

“Positive,” replied Rosie. “And I hope they still have good music, too! Hey, the band isstarting to play. Let’s hurry!!”

Foxglove was the first to enter The Nutshell, just as the lights shut off.It wasn’t any problem for her, since she was a bat.The problem began when the spotlight lit a certain bass player on the stage.She saw the performer.She echosounded at the performer.Pierre? she thought. He’s still in town? And he plays bass here?The song began.Chip’s heart stopped when he suddenly identified the song Dale was playing.

There was NO WAY that song could have just come off the top of Dale’s head.The other verspetilionids entered and met a Foxglove who stood frozen when she realisedwho she was looking, and echosounding at.It was Dale, all right, and yet, it was not Dale. His echo was different, a trifle louder andclearer, more defined, indicating that he was more solid than when she last heard him.His shirt was also smaller, tighter, and not as loose as the one she had heard before. But itwas his face, his face which was different, yet the same. She couldn’t pinpoint what itwas, and it was doubtful she would, because she was too far away from him. Dale,meanwhile, could not see who was near the entrance because of all the spotlights shiningon him, nor could he smell her because the air conditioning was coming from the stage,thus his scent was also torturing the batmaid.With the introductory instrumental finished, Dale began:

“Every breath you take,” His voice was low, coarse, pained…“And every move you make,” Chip, with stiff features, was frozen as well when herealised that his best friend would now be very literally pouring his heart out with thissong.“Every bond you break,” Foxglove winced at this, and drooped her ears and tail.“Every step you take,I’ll be watchin’ you.” Chip wanted to strangle whoever was working the lights at thismoment, because they were being turned on and off around Dale, casting macabreshadows across his face in various angles. It almost seemed that the whole place hadturned black and white. Dale, meanwhile, plucked on the bass mechanically for amoment, and continued,

“Every single day,” Upon seeing Chip’s reactions, Monterey, Zipper, Gadget, and Claricewere shocked as well, as their features showed. They would have been even moreshocked if they had bothered to turn around and see who else was frozen in place.“And every word you say,” Her voice, how he loved her voice…“Every game you play,” She loved his games as well…



“Every night you stay,” The nights, how they loved the nights…“I’ll be watchin’ you.” When he said that last line, Dale looked straight ahead, straightinto Foxglove’s eyes. He couldn’t see her, but it seemed to her that he was staring intothe deepest part of her soul. He chorused:

“Oh, can’t you see—” Yes, she could see and hear him quite perfectly.“You belong to me?” Yes, she belonged to him, and she always would. Though he hadreleased her, she would always be his.“How my poor heart achesWith every step you take!” Yes, he was in pain. Chip knew that. Foxglove knew that.Clarice knew that. The other Rangers knew that. Dale, on the other paw, was not feeling asingle thing as he sang this. He was just another CD player.

“Every move you make,” Wherever she went.“And every vow you break,” OUCH!!“Every smile you fake,” No, she had not smiled, not since the night she left. But if she

did, she knew it would be fake.“Every claim you stake,I’ll be watchin’ you.” Chip felt as if he was going to scream. He hoped against hope thatDale would not sing what he knew was coming next, that Dale would condense the songand skip the next segment, that he would improvise and switch to the techno version of this song— Don’t sing the bridge, don’t sing the bridge, SKIP THE BRIDGE, PLEASE, SKIP THEBRIDGE, # IT!!A beautiful electric guitar chord introduced the bridge.

NOOOOOOOOOO!!Dale stiffened his ears and tail, and his countenance turned into that of pained anger as hesang into his friends’ souls:

“Since you’ve gone I’ve been lost without a trace!” The Comedian was lost. Lost forever.“I dream at night; I can only see your face!” He, too, had dreams about her, but he wouldnot admit that to anyone. Not now, anyways.“I look around, but it’s you I can’t replace!” Clarice winced at this. She knew he still hadfeelings for Foxglove, and now, even though he was technically fair game, he seemed sofar away, so distant, so out of her reach— “I feel so cold and I long for your embrace!” Foxglove wanted to jump on stage and wrapher warm wings around him again, so he wouldn’t feel cold anymore. She would explodeif she did not do that. But she did not move. She could not move, not a single muscle— “I keep cryin’: ‘baby, baby, please—’!!” A tear then formed in Gadget’s eye. Oh, Dale,you still love her, you are still crying out to her…Dale raised his ears and relaxed his tail, and turned his attention back to his bass, as he

played another instrumental sequence, while the other performers did soft oo’s in beat tothe music. All that was going through Dale’s mind was the sequence of notes that he hadto pull from his instrument. The melody, the rhythm, the lyrics, the key, and nothing else.He was truly a furred CD player. Foxglove, meanwhile, began trembling. She knew he

played the bass, but this was the first time she actually heard him perform in front of an



audience. It was also the first time she had seen him pour his heart out in this manner.She knew he wanted her back, and she wanted to come back to him, but now, they bothknew why it could never happen. They could never get back together……because they loved each other.

“O can’t you see— You belong to me?How my poor heart achesWith every step you take!” It seemed that all of the Rangers had black holes in their hearts now. They were feeling his pain, the pain that he could not express but that wasdeep within him, and which was now surfacing in this song. The other chiropterids,meanwhile, did not know what to make of this. Otis took a while to recognise Dale, andeven longer to hear Foxglove’s reactions to this performance, and then he, too, stoodfrozen. This was something which was definitely out of his wings at the moment. Dalethen repeated the second verse,

“Every move you make,” Every move you make, Cute Stuff…“And every vow you break,” Every v—v——— “Every smile you fake,” If you ever fake a smile…“Every claim you stake,” All the cases you solve…“I’ll be watchin’ you.” Dale, I’ll be watching you… Dale looked into her eyes one moretime.

“Every move you make,Every step you take,I’ll be watchin’ you.” Dale, I’ll always be watching you, in my dreams, I will alwayswatch you… The other performers then softly chorused as Dale concluded,

“I’ll be watchin’ you—”

“Every breath you take,Every move you make,Every bond you break—” And together:

“Every step you take.”“I’ll be watching you. ” Dale———

“Every single day,Every word you say,Every game you play,

Every night you stay—”“I’ll be watching you.” Dale—my Dale——I’ll always love you——now and forever—

“Every move you make,Every vow you break,



Every smile you fake,

Every claim you stake—”“I’ll be watching you.” Her brain then ordered her eyes to cry. But she couldn’t. Her lachrymal glands had been shut off ever since that horrible night…

“Every single day,Every word you say—”“Oo—” Though it was momentaneous, that high-pitched moan sent shivers througheveryone’s spines, not because it was off-key (it was actually done excellently), but

because it was the closest Dale would come to actually crying. Foxglove shivered most of all, because it sounded oh so beautiful, and suddenly it was gone, gone forever, andimprinted forever in her brain to torture her soul forever…“Every game you play,

Every night you stay—”

“I’ll be watching you.” Her heart was collapsing in her chest: the pain, the pain, the pain…

“Every breath you take,Every move you make,Every bond you break,

Every step you take—”“I’ll be watching you.” Feyyanna padded up to Foxglove and put a sympathetic wingaround her shoulders. Foxglove winced. I’ll——I’ll be watch—watching——


Every night you stay—”“I’ll be watching you.” D——Dale———

“Every move you make,Every vow you break,Every smile you fake,

Every claim you stake—”“I’ll be watching you.” ———C-Cute Stuff———


Every night you stay—”



“I’ll be watching you.” ———watching y———

“Every breath you take,Every move you make—”“Oo—”

This was more than she could take. She whirled around and bolted out the door, nearlyknocking over the other bats in the process. They immediately straightened up and flewright after her, while at the same time, the performer ended his song and the entireaudience stood and cheered, except for two chipmunks, two mice, and a fly…

A SECOND CHANCE

Dale took his seat with the others again. They just looked at him, with low ears and tails,and with their hearts in their throats, speechless, immobile, and oblivious to the cheeringand clapping around them. Dale took a sip of his apple juice, and sighed in exhaustion ashe sat back in his chair. He closed his eyes for a moment, and then looked at the others.

He finally noticed the look on their faces, and their low ears,“What?” he asked. Clarice stuttered,“Uh, Dale, that was—that was—uh, great!!” Dale looked at her for a moment, and thenhe looked back at the others, sensing something was amiss.“Is somethin’ wrong, guys?” Monterey was the first to raise his ears and break out of thespell.“Well—no—nothin’ Dale! You jus’ kinda caught us off guard with that song. We didn’tknow you could sing solo that well!”“Thanks Monty, but again, it just came off the top of my head. I hope I didn’t mess upany part of—”“No,” said Chip, incredulously. “You—you didn’t mess up. You played excellently. Uh,Dale, um, why exactly did you choose that song?” Dale looked at his friend again andrepeated,“Chip, I told you, that song came right off the top of my head. Since I hadn’t actuallyheard it in quite a while, I was afraid I would mess up with the lyrics or melody. But, itseems that everyone liked it—except you guys.” The Rangers finally snapped out of their spell.“Oh—no——D—Dale, it was great!” exclaimed Gadget. Zipper buzzed his agreement aswell. All ears and tails relaxed once more.“Well, guys, I’m glad you liked it, then. And, since this night has been most thoroughlyrescued, I believe our job here is over. Clarice, thanks for the lovely evenin’.” He shook her paw. “And again, I’m sorry you came all the way here for nothin’. Good night. Allright, guys, let’s go.” His emotionless words seemed to hypnotise them somehow, and sothey all stood to leave.“Yes. G—good night, Clarice——and thanks for visiting—” said a stunned Chip. Therest also bid her farewell, and they all headed for the door. Clarice lowered her ears asshe saw her friends about to disappear from her life one more time—

No.She would not allow that to happen again. She immediately stood and ran up to them.



“Uh, Dale, could you stay here for a minute? I need to talk to you.” The Rangers turnedand looked at the celebrity rodent. She looked back at them and added, “It’s all right,guys, he’ll be right with you. This won’t take long.” With the spell diminished, Chip said,“Uh, okay, Clarice. Good night.” He then kissed her goodnight. Following this example,Monterey and Zipper did the same.

“It was nice meetin’ you, Miss Clarice.”“Same here,” buzzed Zipper.Gadget hesitated.Finally, she decided to stop being so jealous and shook Clarice’s paw.“Good night.” With that, the Rangers left the nightclub. Dale and Clarice padded back totheir table and sat down again. And for a while, they just looked at each other; Dalelooked at her with emotionless eyes, while she looked at him with a yearning. Finally, shespoke,“Dale, I’m sorry about what happened to your wedding, and your fiancée.”“Don’t be, Clarice. It wasn’t your fault.” For a moment, Clarice felt like shaking somefeelings into this ‘munk, as his robotic tone was driving her nuts. But then, he continued

with a sigh, “Clarice, I’ve always wondered about somethin’.”“What?”“Well, back at Club Acorn, why did you send a card to both of us?” She also sighed, as

pain then came to her face now,“Dale, I——I just wanted to see you two fight over me——you two——were the onlyones that ever did.”“What?” he asked, quite in shock. She stuttered,“You—you two were the only ones that cared for me so much that you were willing tofight each other for me.” The male almost had a stunned look creep onto his face.“We——we were?” She explained,“When I was ten, my father left home, and he never came back. My mother blamed mefor that, for some reason. I was in——a bad situation at home. I sought refuge in thespotlight, and when we met—well—you were the only ones who actually loved me.”Dale thought he felt compassion for this soul now, so he replied,“Clarice, I’m sorry to hear that. But that’s in the past now. And didn’t you say that younow have every single male droolin’ for you?” She shook her head, drooped her ears andtail, and looked down as memories rushed through her head,“When—when my career took off and I left New York, I—I saw the male reaction. Theywanted me, sure, but they didn’t love me. And——and all this time, I’ve had memoriesof you two—but even more memories of——of you, Dale.” He appeared to be surprisedat this bit of information.

No way.Then he frowned, stiffened his ears and tail, and scolded,“No!Idon’tbelievethat!Notonebit!IsawthewayyoukissedChipandthewayyouwerelookin’athimjustnowsodon’tgotellin’meotherwise—!!” She held her paws up, trying to calm himdown.“No, Dale, no——” As more memories surfaced, she took hold of his paws, “You see,Dale, when—when I read in the papers that you were about to get married—my heart

broke. I came here thinking that you were still taken——that Foxglove was still withyou.” Pain was added to her words as it accumulated in her throat, “That’s why I hugged



you and kissed Chip——when I kissed Chip—I was pretending he was you—” Her tailquivered slightly aga—

No. No female had ever come back for him other than Foxglove, and it was certainly NOTgoing to happen again, not after all he had just gone through:

“Don’tgivemethat!!” he chattered, ignoring the tears she produced at this point.“IKNOWthewholetruthnow!!ItALLbecamecleartomerecently!ChipwasALWAYSthebetter-lookingone—!!”“Dale——!!” The pain in her words was sufficient to stop him cold. “It—it was my timeaway when I realised that I wanted you——that I had true feelings for you and you only!!Look, I know you’ve been through hell, and so I don’t want to get you on the rebound,

but——but please, don’t be afraid to love again!” Dale calmed down at this.Could it be true? Could another female have come back just for him, again?He looked down for a moment, also drooping his ears and tail, almost as if he wereashamed of himself, and then he softly said,“Clarice—I’m—I’m not the same chipmunk you knew. I’ve changed—a lot—especially

after everythin’ that happened. I’m a Rescue Ranger now, and after what happened withFoxglove, I——I had to kill the Comedian—that’s why I couldn’t go up on stage. Please,Clarice, it——it’s not worth it. That’s why I let go of Foxy——that’s—why I won’t seek another—again——” One more time, Dale pulverised another heart. And what wasworse, he knew he had done it again. Clarice’s eyes flashed in pain and anger as her verysoul was dashed to pieces, AGAIN. Ears and tail sagged, and tears poured from thesudden burst. Knowing what he had done, he continued, “Uh. See? I’ve hurt you now!That’s all I’ve ever done to EVERYONE——!! I’ve—I’ve been hurtin’ others for solong——it has always been my fault——Clarice, I’m—I’m so sorry——I didn’t want tohurt you——or Foxglove——or anyone——everyone’s better off if they didn’t love me.The pain isn’t worth it, Clarice, so please do yourself a favour:” He looked into her eyes,and pleaded with every fibre of his being, “Please don’t love me. I’m not worth it. I’llonly hurt you if you do. And what’s worse, you could get killed. Foxglove——andDale——were killed because of me.” Confusion seemed to slap Clarice’s face at this

point, as she could not comprehend what he had just declared. Fuming and trembling, shereplied,“It’s your choice, then!! But—but in the meantime, here’s something that could be yours,if you would only try.” She then looked deeply into his pained eyes, gently held his headin her paws, drew him closer, and kissed him.For one brief and shining moment, Dale felt something, something that was lost and wasnow found again, yet incomplete. His tail and ears twitched, but only momentarily. Thefeeling was there, but it was different, different paws, different scent, different fur…And then he stopped feeling anything.She, however, was completely lost in it, her ears perked up and her tail in a blur, as shecould only remember all the times they had back at the other club. Her mind alsoexplored what could be, what could happen, what could— She broke off when she suddenly realised he was not reacting in ANY way. His heartbeatdid not even speed up. He was just looking at her, as if she were some distant memory.This was now the first time a male did NOT react to her advances of this kind. He was



too far-gone in his own pain, too far away from her; he was beyond her reach, and wouldalways be— “So, you’re a Rescue Ranger now, Hastahah?!” she asked, quite angered, her ears and tailstiffening again. “Then I’ll do something for the Rescue Rangers, then!” She then leanedover and whispered in his ear…

ANOTHER SECOND CHANCE

Fly, fly, fly, fly away, away from the chipmunk who loved you, from the song that was poured from his soul and that was now tormenting yours, away from that nightclub, awayfrom this city, from this life— “FOXGLOVE!!”Away from the one who took his place in your dreams, away from pain, from love, fromeverything and everyone— This time, however, Otis was angry enough to actually catch up with her. He flew aboveher, and grabbed her shoulders with his foot-paws. She was immediately destabilised, and

both fluttered down to a rooftop, landing rather hard and tumbling in the process. As Otisangrily regained his footing, he looked at the batmaid with stiff ears and tail and scolded,“Just—just what the hell do you think you’re doing??” Foxglove stood, echosounded athim, and tried to reply,“Otis——Otis I’m s—” As she said this, however, she padded up to him, wrapped her wings around him, and kissed him, doing so without any hint of rational thought. Otis,naturally, was completely shocked by this. Even though it was something that he actuallywanted to do, way in the back of his head, this was certainly not the way he had it

planned. Foxglove, meanwhile, had her mind and tail racing the 100-metre dash, and her ears were laid back a trifle. She tried to grasp the memories that were cascading down her mind, trying to grab something that would make the pain go away, that would perhapsmake her sleep better at days, and then she caught the memory of Dale kissing her—no—

——no——it was slipping away, something was pulling that memory from her mind andtearing it to shreds, something did not add up, the scent was not the same, the fur was notthe same, the wings were not the same— Wings?“Dale——”Her rational thought was yanked back on-line as she realised what she was doing. Sheopened her eyes, and when she saw and heard Otis’ face, she immediately broke andstaggered away, with limp tail and ears again. Otis echosounded at her, and his anger faded when he heard her facial expression, and relaxed his ears and tail.“No—no, Foxy, I’m not Dale. I’ll never be Dale. There’s no way I can replace him—”“Otis—Otis——I’m——I’m sorry——!” she stuttered, covering her muzzle with her wings, trying to anchor her confused mind to any kind of rational thought. “I——I didn’tmean——to do that—!! I——I——” She covered her entire head with her wings, andturned away from him. His voice was soft, too soft, almost as if she was actually

beginning to like that voice, beginning to like him—— He, however, was taking more pity on her now.“Foxy, please, you can’t solve this problem by running away! I know this is tough for you, but that’s why you need to roost with the bats again! If you run away, you will







her mind, she knew that the soreness, the pain had begun creeping in just after that tragicnight, and that it was fading in and out of all her joints, not just her shoulders. Sheignored it, at first, but every time the pain came back, it was just a trifle stronger…

A BROKEN SPIRIT DRIETH THE BONES

Rat Capone, a short and fat and well dressed rat, stood next to his thugs; ArnoldMousenegger, a very large and well built mouse, who was holding a large bag; and Sugar Ray Lizard, a thin reptile that could punch very fast and very hard. One metre in front of them stood four mean-looking hamsters, one of which had a bag as well. The group wasstanding in an badly lit parking lot, well away from any lights that would reveal their

presence. Still, both groups knew who each other was, since they could smell the stenchof each other rather well, and that caused them to stiffen their features. They paddedcloser, closing the gap between them.“You’ve got the stuff, yes?” asked Capone, with his gangster accent.“It’s all here,” replied one hamster. “Ready for distribution.”

“And to be handed out, too?” asked the not-too-bright mega-mus.“Just switch bags, will ya, Al?” asked the lizard, slightly annoyed. With a nod, Arnoldand the hamster were about to exchange bags when suddenly a piercing shout rang out,“DROP IT!! YOU’RE SURROUNDED!!”“#!!” growled Capone. “We’ve been—” His expletive was cut off when he suddenly sawSugar Ray go down, with a plunger dart in his face.“RESCUE RANGERS AWAY!!” cried the good guys.“The ‘Refuse Strangers’?? How did they find us??” asked the rat. Arnold was about toanswer him, but he suddenly found Dale standing in front of him. With lightning speed,the sciurid clasped both of his paws together and swung them as hard as he could on themurid’s jaw. A resounding crack rang through the parking lot, and Arnold fell to the

pavement, hard. Before the other hamsters could scatter, Monterey grabbed two of them by their heads and smashed them together, knocking them out. Another carefully aimed plunger dart knocked out the third hamster.“The last one’s yours, Zipper!!” cried Gadget, seeing the fourth hamster running to thestreet.“Aye aye!!” Zipper then grabbed the drug bag that one hamster dropped, flew up into theair, and with expert aim, dropped it on the last hamster. Chip, meanwhile, had planned ontaking Capone himself, but Capone was busy speaking with Dale about the way he hadknocked out Arnold so quickly.“Hey, see, where’dya learn to punch like that??” Another crack rang out, and the gangster was the last to fall.“I read it somewhere,” replied Dale, coldly, while shaking his right fist. For a moment,Chip almost felt cheated out of all the “fun”. He had expected Dale to take longer withArnold, but his awesome speed left him empty-pawed. Still, he couldn’t help but feel

proud of his team. They had carried out their plan to the letter, and had done it so quicklythat the enemy practically had no reaction time at all.Blitzkrieg.“Great work, guys!!” he exclaimed, perking up his ears and moving his tail a trifle, asMonterey brought the fourth hamster back. As they assembled the fallen crooks, and had



the animal police emerge and gather them up, Chip saw that Dale was still shaking hisfists in pain. In fact, Dale actually winced when he moved one paw to his shoulder.“Dale, are you all right?” he asked.“I think so. But I might have hit Arnold too hard; even my shoulders have started toache.” Gadget padded up to him,

“Are you sure, Dale? Perhaps the angle in which you swung that punch was not correctlyaligned with your centre of gravity—”“Maybe, but—but—why is my elbow hurtin’ now?” And as he wondered this, the othersgradually began noticing something else. Pain was slowly emerging in their joints aswell.“That’s odd,” said Chip, rubbing his left wrist. “I didn’t hit anyone and I’m hurting, too!Say, Zipper, did any of the drug leak out just now?” The small mammal police, severalmice and rats, were inspecting the bag. In it were small white packages, all tightly sealedin plastic.“I doubt that,” replied Zipper. “But maybe the bag itself got some on it as the drug was

being packaged?”

“Well, whate’er it is, I doubt it’s ‘ealthy for us,” said Monterey, rubbing his neck andlaying his ears back. “Maybe we could use an asp’rin or two?” Chip was about to agree, but then he looked at his best friend, or what was left of him, again. He seemed to be inmore pain than the others, for his ears were low and he was rubbing his elbows,shoulders, and wrists, wincing all the time. This wasn’t normal, not even for traces of drug which supposedly made you feel good.“Guys, when was the last time we’ve had our checkups?” asked the Detective, alsolowering his ears.“Five months, two weeks, and four days ago,” replied the Mechanic, mechanically, butwith low ears as well. Chip looked at her, almost amused. Yes, he loved that about her,

but he knew that it would never be his now. “Except for Dale, who had it one month andsix days ago, right before his wed—”“Thank you, Gadget, we know that,” interrupted Chip. “Dale, perhaps you should see adoctor again.”“Perhaps I should,” he agreed, mechanically again, still trying to rub his right wrist.“Perhaps we all should,” buzzed Zipper, alighting on Monterey’s shoulder, as his wing

joints began feeling a trifle sore as well. So, when the animal police took away the drugdealers and gangsters, the Rescue Rangers padded back to the Ranger Wing, and all of them were getting worried about Dale, since he appeared to have trouble padding now,and his fists were now opening and closing with pain as well.

Dale was the last one to get the tests done. Chip wondered why Doctor Qandlier hadordered more tests for him, after all, they all had the same symptoms: sore joints now andthen. Finally, the examination room door opened, and two rodents exited. The other Rangers stood in the waiting room and looked at the middle-aged chipmunk, waiting for his verdict. The doctor looked at the Rangers and said,“It appears that all of you have developed a mild form of arthritis. It’s quite rare, seeinghow young you all are. I was expecting it to appear on your large murid friend here, butnot until some ten years from now. Still, it’s nothing serious. A few mild medicationsshould correct the problem.”



“Was it caused by any type of chemical poisonin’?” asked Dale.“No. It actually appears to be a chemical imbalance. I suggest you all check your dietsand see if they’re balanced. Dale, could you please take these prescriptions to the

pharmacy? They’ll give you all the medication you and your friends will need.” Dalemechanically took the paper from the doctor’s paw and padded away to another area of

the medical centre. As he rounded a corner, Doctor Qandlier turned to the other Rangersand stated coldly,“Your friend is dying.” The suddenness of it caused the others to simply look at him.Slowly, their brains caught grasp of what the doctor said. Dale, their friend, teammate,detective, Rescue Ranger, was—was——dying?“Wait, how can this be?” buzzed Zipper, incredulous. “He seemed to be quite healthy, hedoes exercise, he has a great performance record on all our recent cases—” Chipinterrupted,“Wait a minute, what about the medical tests he took before the wedding? Doctor, didyou find out he had some terminal disease, and did he swear you to secrecy?” A suddenstream of logical reasoning burst forth from the Detective, “Of course! With him being so

reckless, it’s what he must have done!! Deciding to go through with the wedding anyway,and then telling Foxglove and the rest of us later on!! And it was during the kidnappingwhen he finally realised the insanity of it all! That’s why he called it off!! That’s——”“I’m afraid your winged friend is correct, Chip. Dale is quite healthy.” Chip did a doubletake on the physician, with his deductive reasoning suddenly truncated. Confusion creptin again, as they all tried to sort out the two conflicting diagnosises.“But, if he’s quite healthy, then how can he be dying?” asked Gadget. The doctor sighed,“I’m afraid that Dale’s problem is more psychological than physical.”“Huh?” asked the Rangers.“Have you heard the story of how a wild rabbit, if captured and kept in captivity, can willitself to die if it’s not released?” Monterey quietly gasped at this question. He turnedsombre as he painfully remembered a certain incident, and there would be no stretchingof the truth this time. His ears and tail now sagged,“Y—yes. I ‘ave. In fact, I’ve seen it ‘appen. Once I tried to free a bunny that was cagedin a farm. ‘E was goin’ mighty quick, and I tried to free ‘im, but I couldn’t get the blastedcage open. I told the bloke to ‘ang on, and I left to look for somethin’ to open the cagewith. When I came back, I was too late.”“I believe Dale’s problem is similar: For some reason, he is willing himself to die,subconsciously, at least. The initial tests brought different results than the rest of you, andthat’s why I ordered the additional tests. All of them point to the same thing: his body isslowly deteriorating. Arthritis is just the first symptom. If this continues, his hearing andeyesight will follow, then his voice and sense of smell.” Finally, they were hit fully withunderstanding. Some ears and tails sagged, and some others stiffened,“NO!!” chattered Chip.“Not me pally!!”“Dale!!”“This is illogical!!” Doctor Qandlier just sighed. In his profession, detaching oneself emotionally from the patients was vital for his own survival. This was not the first timehe had diagnosed such an outcome, nor would it be the last. He ignored their outburstsand calmly asked,



“Has Dale been through any traumatic psychological experiences lately?” The Rangerssuddenly calmed down, as they knew all too well the answer to that question. And Chiphad to answer it. His ears and tail sagged,“Y—yes. Last month, he called off his wedding, after his fiancée was kidnapped. She leftshortly after that—”

“I was wondering why Foxglove wasn’t with you. The papers didn’t say much of whathappened, so I thought that all of you had overcome that incident. I’m afraid, then, thatthe problem is beyond my reach. Unfortunately, I only deal with cuts and bruises andheadaches and broken bones and such. I urge you to take him to a psycholo—”“What we need is a second opinion, ‘doctor’!!” growled the Aussie, with stiff ears andtail. “Dale doesn’t need a shrink right now!!” This was also not the first time hisdiagnosis was questioned, so the doctor remained calm.“Whatever it is you wish to do, do it quickly. He is deteriorating even as we speak.”“Wait, shouldn’t we tell him about this?” asked Gadget.“He’ll most likely deny the problem. Whatever is hurting him, he must get someone tohelp him deal with it, immediately…”

MORE DRYING AS WELL

“I don’t understand how this is going to help my arthritis, Doctor,” said Foxglove. Shewas at a psychologist’s office, but instead of lying down on the couch, she was hangingfrom a bar on the wall, conveniently placed for chiropterid patients. The doctor, a middle-aged grey squirrel lady named Johanna, sat on a chair in front of her.“It will be of help, don’t worry,” she assured, as she prepared her notepad and pencil.“Now, just relax and answer truthfully. How do you feel right now?”“Now? Well—fine—I guess——”“You’re working as an interpreter at the UN. Is that where you’ve always wanted towork?” Foxglove sighed,“Well———no, I guess not…”“Really? Why not?”“Well, I suppose it’s better for me to be there that just do nothing but catch insects atnight.” The sciurus wrote something down and asked again,“Foxglove, weren’t you a Rescue Ranger? Why did you leave them?” The pipistrellhesitated, and nearly choked on her reply,“I——I had to leave…”“Really? Why? Weren’t you going to marry Dale? It was in all the papers.”“The papers didn’t say everything, Doctor,” she growled, ears and tail stiffening. Johannaraised an eyebrow and continued,“I read that you were kidnapped that night, but you were also rescued. What elsehappened?” Foxglove began hurting again.“That night———Dale finally saw the light——he—suddenly realised he wasn’t the

best for me. So, he let me go. I had to leave the Rescue Rangers because of that. There’sno way that I would have been able to live with him and know we’d never———beanything…” Johanna paused. She was dealing with a broken heart.“Foxglove, I’m sorry for what happened. Now, have you ever wished your life weredifferent from what it is now?” The batmaid shivered and replied through her teeth,





long-range plans, she has lost all will to live; she’s like a zombie, almost. The only reasonwhy she hasn’t committed suicide is because she knows that it will hurt her ex-fiancée.I’m sorry that I have to confirm what the physician diagnosed: she is slowlydeteriorating.“Cain’t shey bey heyellped?” asked Feyyanna, anxiously.

“Like I said, that will happen only if she accepts our help. She suggested I hypnotise her to have her forget her ex-fiancée, but that will only make her forget the cause of the problem.” She sighed, as she looked back at her office where Foxglove was sleeping.“The only way we can save her is if we give her a specific reason to live. The presentsituation she placed herself in is simply to—pardon the term—kill time. It has no real

purpose in her life save that of not wanting to remain idle. And if she was idle, thenchances are that she would already be dead. She would have died of a broken heart,literally.”“So what do we do?” asked Richard.“Well, she’s suppressed many emotions since the time of the break-up. They’re eating ather. We all must try to bring them forth again, and, if possible, have someone who will

help her let go of Dale.”“Let go? As in finding her another boyfriend?” asked Rosie.“If possible, yes.” Otis felt a trifle nervous, as his ears sagged a trifle,“But—but, she refused to seek another mate! She told us that! If she needed a family,then haven’t we done enough?”“You know a brother is not the same as a boyfriend. And all of you have done a great jobin taking care of her, but it’s the emotions that she ‘killed’ which are causing this

problem. Again, her present family hasn’t exactly filled in the void, you all have morelike——‘stalled’ her, if you wish to call it that. The break-up was so devastating for her that it triggered the deterioration. If we’re to stop it, then we must somehow either reconcile her with her ex-fiancée, or have them ‘re-do’ the break-up and have them parton friendlier terms.”“Bring her back to Dale?” asked Richard. “But she refuses to hear—er—see him again!”“Mebeh eff we toll hur sheye’s dayen’—”“Well, she’s going through tons of denial, so I doubt that would help. This is a verycomplex syndrome, but as with some other cases I’ve had, it’s best if it’s dealt with at thesource. She must speak with Dale again.” Otis remained quiet. At first, he knew Foxglovewas taken, and he considered Dale to be the luckiest male alive. When he heard of the

break-up, he knew Foxglove was fair game, but he didn’t want to take advantage of her when she was emotionally vulnerable. He tried to help her, and he took her in as hissister. Yes, he wanted more, but now he wasn’t sure. They could bring her back to Daleand risk both of them getting back together, or maybe they would part on friendlier terms,and then they would be able to re-arrange their relationship. And yet, that would bealmost like taking her from Dale. His mind raced with the possibilities: give her up toDale, have Dale convince her to have him, or watch her die, if she refused to do either.What could he do? What should he do? Echosounding back at the office, he tightened hiswings in front of him in silent frustration, as well as his ears and tail. He had to make achoice, a very difficult one, and he was running out of time…

MOST DEFINITELY DEAD



It had been several days since the comediless night at The Nutshell. Dale put his rapier (actually, a customised sewing needle) back in its case, and removed his white fencingsuit. As he put on his grey shirt again, he once more felt that pain in his shoulders. Hetried to ignore it as he put everything back in the closet, but it seemed that the more he

ignored it, the more it intensified. He looked at the clock again, lowered his ears, andsighed.Time to take his medicine again.He sorely padded to his cabinet, took the medicine bottle (originally a contact lens vial),and removed a pill. Then, he left his room and went to the kitchen to get some water.When they say eight hours, they mean eight hours, he thought, as he filled his glass.Good thin’ this is extra strength. He popped the pill and drank up. When he finished, hedecided to go outside. As he did, he wondered why he had to take more medication thanthe others did. Maybe it was due to all the incidents that had happened to him: besides

being in jungles and foreign countries as well as space travel, his record included gettingzapped by witches and aliens, coming in contact with meteorites that could have been

radioactive, being immersed in sewer water, eating chocolate that had been left out in the jungle for days— Yes, he was paying for his goof-ups now. But it was a good thing that Foxglove was nothere to pay with him, after all, she would have never done what he always did. That wasanother reason why he let her go.Padding along the runway, he jumped on an adjacent branch, and laid down.He would have to say that there were times in which he felt immortal. Pretending he wassome red-clad superhero, or even being an elastic superhero, but now, the truth of hisown mortality had finally become clear to him. He had goofed up one time too many, andnow his body was taking it, and taking it hard, beginning with the time he fainted onFoxglove. Fortunately, he did not have a terminal disease, as Doctor Qandlier told him.He was simply resenting all the abuse he put on himself. In time, he would recover, andhe would be a better chipmunk. Now, he would just have to sit there and take hismedicine like a good cub.He felt odd for a moment, as he realised that he was actually glad that Foxglove was nothere to see him like this. She deserved much better…

…much better than how he saw himself yesterday. All morning long he had constant painin his joints, only slightly minimised by his medication. He was more or less able to putthe pain out of his mind as he and the other Rangers searched for yet another lost puppy.The little boy had left the picture of his beloved pet at the police station, and the Rangershad once again taken it for reference. Starting from the boy’s home, near the HudsonRiver, he quickly identified the pup’s scent, and guided Gadget with the Ranger Skate.Monterey was also with them, and Chip was above them with the Ranger Wing. Theydrove/flew along the shore upstream, obviously the pup had been overcome withcuriosity and had wanted to explore the world. Finding the pup was no problem; he wasstuck inside a small broken pipe, having tried to follow a moth into it. Chip landed andtogether they all pulled him out, with a large amount of effort, as the puppy was aLabrador on the chubby side. As they tumbled along the riverbank, Dale felt that sharp

pain in his joints once again, causing his ears to droop again. When they all stood and



shook the sand off themselves, Dale painfully padded aside and stuck his paw in hismouth. He dug into his right cheek pouch, and pulled out a small plastic bag, which hadhis pills in it. He was about to take his medication, and the rest were preparing to take the

pup home, when the wind shifted, bringing a very acrid scent to everyone’s nostrils.Smoke.

“Looks like someone’s burning trash,” said Gadget. “Or at least burning some plastic.”Dale was about to comment that he also smelled burning pinewood, paper, rubber, andsome old milk cartons, with some traces of hair or fur, but a honk from a bugleinterrupted him. No, it wasn’t a bugle, it was a horn which sounded when one pressed therubber bulb on its end. And it was a mini-horn, one custom-made for rodents. The onlyrodent they knew who carried such an instrument was— The male middle-aged mouse had brown fur and white headfur. He wore a tattered greytrenchcoat over a long brown shirt, a green scarf around his neck, an old black top hat onhis ruffled headfur, and old grey fingerless gloves on his paws. His ears were low and histail was stiff. He ran over the bank, honking his mini-horn furiously.“MOUSEO!!” exclaimed the Rescue Rangers, as he ran up to them—

Dale noticed that Gadget’s old friend smelled like smoke himself.That, and he saw wisps of smoke coming from Mouseo’s ruffled headfur.The deaf-mute mouse then stuck his digits into his mouth and whistled furiously whilelaying his ears all the way back, after which he pointed frantically in the direction he had

just run from. The Rangers looked up, and saw a pillar of black, white, and grey smoke billowing behind the riverbank.FIRE!The Rangers and the Labrador pup ran over the bank and saw that the smoke was comingfrom within an alley. If they didn’t know better, human garbage had been set on fire.Unfortunately, human garbage is where most homeless rodents and other small mammalsgathered to try to make a living. As the Rangers, Mouseo, and the pup ran toward thealley, they saw several rodents stagger out of it, coughing profusely. Some had smokeemanating from themselves, and still others had badly singed fur and clothing. Mouseocontinued whistling furiously and pointing at the source of the smoke: several burningwooden crates stacked against the side of a building.From the way he was whistling, the Rangers knew that there were more animals inside.Without thinking, Dale popped his pills and swallowed, while he, Chip, and Montereyran to the crates. Gadget and Zipper stayed behind. Zipper, because the heat wouldinstantly melt his wings; and Gadget, because she was suddenly studying some pipesalong the opposite wall.Inside the crates, the smoke made everyone’s eyes water, as well as causing instantheadaches, with the pain stinging right behind their eyes, and causing all ears to lay low.The odd thing was that the medication didn’t seem to have any effect on the pain Dalehad in his joints.In fact, it seemed to be getting worse.He had no time to think about that now. They had to search for any animals in here.Using his shirt to cover his snout, while Chip used his fedora and Monterey used hishelmet, they squinted through the smoke, searching for any more victims, and runningthrough what seemed to be a maze of extremely improvised halls and doorways.



Dale turned into a makeshift room, and nearly ran out again due to the unbearable heatthat the flames generated on one side.The reason he didn’t was because he saw someone inside.Huddled in the far corner, right in front of the flames, was a chipmunk cub. Above thecrackle of the flames Dale could just hear it sobbing and coughing. Ignoring his own

pain, he dashed into the room, reached the cub, and bent down to pick it up, shielding itwith his own body.“COUGH!!—it’s ok!!—COUGH!!—we’re here for you—COUGH!!—!!”“Daddy?” asked the young one. Dale had no time to reply. He picked up the cub, heldhim tightly against him, and stood.Well, that was what he tried to do.As he straightened up, a horrible explosion of pain shot through every joint in his body,including his entire vertebral column.Dale crumpled to the floor, numbed by the arthritis pain and the acrid smoke.He tried to blink himself back to consciousness. He simply could not just lie there andwait for the pain to subside. He looked up, and saw that now the ceiling was on fire.

“DALE!!” he heard Chip chatter. Dale had no other choice. He began rolling painfully onthe floor, with the cub, hoping to make it to the door.A burning plank fell.And it fell right beside his right thigh.Dale nearly chattered from the pain, but he shifted himself and managed to painfully rollaway faster.“DALE!!”He was in the hallway now. He tried to stand, but his knees refused to obey his commandand protested with horrible pain, sending him to the floor again. The wall next to himthen burst into flames.

No. He couldn’t die like this. He had to do something to save this cub— This cub, that may have been his, that may have been the same one who would havestayed up at night wondering if his father was going to come home tonight— This cub who had called him “Daddy”.The wall fell on them.Dale rolled over, shielding the cub with his body, hoping it would survive, and that thecurse from hell would die with him once and for all— The wood hit his back, but much to his surprise, it was dripping with water now. It stillfelt a little warm, but the temperature was bearable. Slowly, he came to realise that water was being sprayed all over the area, and all over himself and the cub. Moments later, thewood was lifted off himself and the cub— “Crikeys! Dale, pally, what ‘appened to ye??” Dale looked up and saw a somewhatsinged and very worried Monterey Jack above him. He was about to reply, but all hecould come up with was a horrifying cough— Then darkness fell on him.The rest later told him that he had fainted from the smoke, and had taken him and someother animals to the hospital, and after that the pup was returned to his home. Parts of hisfur were very badly singed, but his hide only received first-degree burns. The cub wasn’t

badly injured, either. In fact, it was because of him that the cub didn’t die. And it was because of Gadget and her quick thinking and Zipper and his leverage tactics that he



didn’t die. They managed to disconnect the water pipe and aim it at the crates just intime, with the help of the Labrador pup, too. Plenty of minor injuries, including onMonterey and Chip, with all the animals they pulled out, but they had managed to rescueall of Mouseo’s friends, who, of course, were tremendously grateful to them, butespecially to him, because he had managed to rescue the chipmunk cub.

# it, he didn’t rescue the cub, Gadget and Zipper did! They sprayed the water just intime!! And why didn’t Mouseo bother to take any of the credit? After all, he saw theRanger Wing and had managed to run to it to get help before the crates completely

burned down. Gadget seemed to think that Mouseo did deserve some credit, which is whyshe had asked him to come to Headquarters so she could teach him formal sign language.That way, Mouseo would not have to resort to crude pantomime in case he needed tocommunicate complex messages. Mouseo, in fact, had left an hour earlier, and before hedid, he managed to tell him,“I—am—very—grateful—to you—and the—Rangers—for—being—there—right—ontime—but more—to you—Dale—for—saving—that—cub—in the—nick—of—time”Why couldn’t the others realise that he had nearly killed himself and the cub? Why

couldn’t the others realise that even with the Comedian being so far gone now, he hadcrumpled to the floor like an autumn leaf—!!AGAIN.Once more, he had failed as a Rescue Ranger.Technically, he didn’t goof up, but his goof-ups were indirectly involved.His previous life was taking a very heavy toll on him. Now he needed to take evenstronger medicine and take it easy for the next few days.It was a good thing Segoleh had been killed earlier, otherwise Segoleh would have killedhim yesterday.And it was also a good thing that Foxglove had not seen him yesterday, either. Even withthe Comedian gone, he still was paying very severely for his previous mistakes. Shedeserved so much better than that…

Idly, he began scraping some singed fur off himself. He would have continued meditatingon yesterday’s events when heard Zipper’s buzz approaching, along with Monterey’sheavy pawsteps. They both joined him on the branch.“‘Ad a good workout today, mate?”“Yes. I had to take it slow, like the doctor said. If Chip and Gadget don’t come back withanother case, I’ll just rest here a bit more. I don’t know why, but I’ve been feelin’ verytired lately. Must be all that medication…not just what happened yesterday, though if youwant me to help you with lunch, I could—”“Nah, that’s all right, pally. Say, would you like to go inside and watch some tube? After all, if we’re goin’ to relax, we might as well enjoy ourselves. I ‘ear there’s a new sitcom

premierin’ tonight—”“No thanks, Monty, I think I’ll pass that.” Dale’s monotone speech was just about to setoff the Aussie’s temper, from the looks of his ears and tail. Zipper quickly intervened,“And there is also a new cartoon premiering after it. Wanna watch it?”“Oh, come on guys, it’s a nice day, why can’t we relax out here? After all, it’s not healthyto watch too much TV——I——I learned that the hard way——” Dale drifted off for amoment, but Zipper asked again,





“I—I guess I have to say that it was right after you came back, with the discussion wehad—”“And when was the last time you bonked me?” Chip stopped breathing for a moment. Heresumed, with low ears,“It was also when you came back.” Dale kept quiet again for a moment, and then

explained,“Don’t you get it, guys? All our major foul-ups ended when I killed the Comedian! TheClown was harmin’ the team, he was placin’ us, placin’ Foxy in more danger than wascalled for; he was killin’ us!! Now he’s gone, and as much as I miss him, he can’t and hewon’t be back——EVER!!”“But pally, shouldn’t you and Foxy at least try and get back together, maybe jus’ asfrien—?”“NO!!” he chattered, with angry ears and tail again, causing all others to lower their earsa trifle. “SHE left, and SHE must come back, otherwise it’s clear that she never wantedme in the first place and that she’s found someone else!! And I will NOT court her or anyone anymore!! Mister Maplewood, Miss Hackwrench, Mister Colby, Mister

Lightringer, this conversation is OVER and I will NOT speak of it, with you OR with noshrink, EVER AGAIN!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?? EVER!!” With that, the riledtamias painfully stormed back into the tree, leaving outside a very shocked, afraid, and

pained chipmunk, two mice, and a fly…

THE LAST MATCHMAKERS

Chip opened the door to the kitchen as he was about to go back into the living room. Atthat moment, Gadget had planned on entering the kitchen, so their eyes met. When theylooked at each other, however, all they saw was sadness and anger, expressed in ears andtails. They both knew what they wanted, and they both knew that it would never happennow, ever. And they both knew whose decision it had been for that. They unlocked their gaze one moment later, and went by their way. Just as Chip left the kitchen, he heard thedoor knocking, so he went to answer. When he opened the door, a gorgeous femalechipmunk kissed him square on the right cheek, with her tail quivering again. However,Chip noticed that it was a very light kiss this time, not anything like what he received theother day— “Hello, sugar,” said Clarice, now clad in a long light-orange dress. Her voice was sweetand cheery. “Is Dale here?”“Sure. Come in and sit down, and I’ll go get him.” Clarice entered and Chip closed thedoor. He led her to the couch and she sat down, and then he went to look for Dale. As heentered the hallway, he noticed that there was a light on at the very end. He paddedtoward the storage room, which was originally supposed to be the Oakmonts’ room. Thedoor was open, so he entered and was very much surprised to find Dale inside. He was

just standing there, ears straight, among all the stacked boxes and bags, looking at thewindow, apparently lost in thought. Apparently, because one moment later, he turned andsaw a very surprised Chip behind him, who asked,“Dale, what are you doing in here? I thought you never wanted to come in—”“Well, Chip, I was rememberin’ a suggestion the psychologist gave me, and I decided tofollow it and face my trauma again. I guess it was about time I stopped actin’ stupid and



just come in here. This is just a room now. It could have been Foxy’s and mine, but it’snot. Still, it makes a great storage room, doesn’t it? We’ve needed one for a whilenow…” He trailed off again. Chip’s reaction at this statement would have been one of

bonking, but for some reason, it was just not in him now. Also, he was more concernedwith something else that Dale said. He lowered his ears,

“Dale, you haven’t been acting stupid. We all understood if you did not want to come inhere. We all know how difficult it was for you—”“Yes, it was. And—thanks for understandin’. But I suppose I also have to stop thinkin’ of what happened—or what could have been…” That was easier said than done, and they

both knew that. And in order to do so, Dale needed to get his mind off this and on tosomething else:“Dale, someone’s here to see you.”“I know. Clarice is here.” Chip stood back for a moment.“H-how did you know that?” Dale turned fully and replied,“I can smell her perfume a mile away.” Here, Chip expected Dale to say that with asmile, but again, he did not smile. And again, it simply wasn’t in him anymore to even try

bonking him— Fear then pounced on him again as he saw Dale pad with difficulty past him and into thehallway. He was practically limping! He was dying…

Clarice looked up when she heard Dale shuffling.“Hello, sugar!” she greeted jovially, ears up and tail quivering.“Hello, Clarice,” he said, mechanically again, bursting her bubble once more, as her earslaid flat and her tail stopped moving. “What brings you here?” Clarice almost felt likeslapping him silly, but she controlled herself.“Um, well, Dale, I’m performing again tonight, and I was wondering if you and your friends would like to come?”“I’ll have to check with my boss.” Dale then turned and looked at Chip, who was now

behind him, “Mr. Maplewood, do we have any cases tonight?” Chip was a trifle shockedwhen his best friend addressed him so formally. Dale was dying, and he was already deadat the same time. As for his question, Chip wanted to go and look for Foxglove— Dale was not looking at him.Dale was looking at Clarice again.And she was looking straight back at him— Did Dale’s tail twitch just now?“Well, no Dale, we don’t have any cases tonight. Unless Clarice can give us another tip?”She blinked for a moment, and replied,“What? Oh—um, no, Chip, I haven’t heard of any more trades going down.” Dale thenasked,“Clarice, how did you know about the trade Capone was going to do? I mean—you don’tuse drugs, do you?” A coy smile came on her face, bringing her ears up again, as shereplied,“You know I wouldn’t touch that stuff with a ten-foot pole, darling, but unfortunatelythere are plenty of creepy mammals who’ll offer anything to anyone who’s loaded like Iam. Also, being a celebrity does unfortunately bring you in contact with the animalunderworld. You wouldn’t believe the stuff I heard—just heard, mind you—back in





way around. And he knew now that Foxglove would never be his. Dale and Foxglovewere meant to be together, or, at least, they were supposed to be good friends.“The psychologist suggested that those two should try to reconcile, or at least part onfriendlier terms. Were you told the same thing?”“Almost,” replied Chip. “But Dale refuses to go back to her, or find someone else!”

“Foxy’s refused as well. What do we do now?” Chip covered his eyes and tried to think.Think, think, think— “Wait here,” he said. He then dashed back inside…

“And this is the storage room. Originally this was supposed to be Foxy and mine’s, but— we had a change of plans. Still, I’m glad we made good use of it.” Clarice was torn

between being with the most handsome chipmunk in the world and hearing the mostmonotone description of a detective agency. She wanted to kiss him and slap some senseinto him at the same time. Hmm, that might work— “Dale,” she said, trying to sound as comforting as possible, “I’m sorry for everything thathappened. You didn’t deserve—”

“Clarice,” he interrupted. He was actually beginning to think that he did deserve it, after all the goof-ups he did, “Don’t be sorry. It wasn’t your fault. And—it’s over—and it’llnever happen again.” Compassion and tenderness then filled Clarice’s eyes, and shedrooped her ears and tail,“Dale, darling, please don’t say that. I understand if it was hell for both of you, but— you’re cheating yourself out of something wonderful! The pain—comes with it—Iknow—but it’s better than not loving at all—” Dale then looked into her eyes, with painshowing in his eyes, ears, and tail again,“Clarice, I know what you’re implyin’, and I do want to love. And I’ll always love Foxy,Gadget, and you, but—I can’t—it’s for the sake of the Rescue Rangers—and futuregenerations.” Confusion now jumped on her face.“What?” Dale sighed,“It’s a long story. But what happened to me—and Foxy—is not the first time that it’shappened to someone from my family. The Oakmonts are under a curse, and it must be

broken now. Maybe you don’t believe in curses or that type of stuff, but we’ve hadcontact with the supernatural side of things. Trust me, I know what I’m talkin’ about.”Clarice was about to ask something else when Chip entered.“Clarice, we’d love to go to The Nutshell tonight…”

Dale, Monterey, and Zipper were sitting by themselves at a table in front of the stage.“Looks like Gadget found plenty of things to fix backstage,” said Dale, “they’re suretakin’ their time.” Monterey kept glancing at the door, and appeared to be a tad nervous.“Ah, you know Gadget, mate. She wants everythin’ workin’ just fine or she won’t be ableto sleep at night. And you know Chipper’s ‘urrying ‘er along.”

Backstage, Gadget was working on the sound set-up, but that was not the main reasonwhy she was there. She, Chip, and Clarice were waiting, and discussing the plan.“You’ve got the lyrics?” asked Chip, with nervous ears and tail.“Right here.” Clarice handed him a folded paper, which he opened and read. One minutelater, Clarice asked him, also with nervous ears and tail, “And that is going to bring them



back together?” She couldn’t help but feel afraid. When Chip told her that Dale wasdying, she immediately offered to help him in anyway possible.“Music is powerful,” he explained. “Foxglove was here when Dale sang his song, andaccording to Otis, she almost jumped at him. If you can coax them the right way, throughmusic, they may either reconcile, or at least be friends again.” Clarice was quite torn by

this plan. The only way she could save the love of her life was to sing a song that wouldmake him fall in love again—with someone else. And she more than anyone knew the power of music, so it had been up to her to choose the one song that would be perfect for the occasion. Then again, there was the chance that they would simply be just friendsagain, and then she would give him, just him, another song she had already chosen— “All set,” said Gadget, coming up to them. “The air conditioning is aimed at a right anglerelative to Dale’s position and Foxglove’s path to his table. He shouldn’t be able to detecther until the last moment. Also, your sound system is now 23.43 more efficient. The restof the band is ready as well.”“Good,” said Chip, with his tail twitching nervously. “Otis should be here any momentnow.”

Monterey and Zipper kept glancing at the door. With all the animals that were paddingabout, it was a trifle difficult to identify who was entering and exiting. Male squirrelentering, nope. Female chinchilla exiting, nope. Male mouse entering with female shrew,nope— “Monty, are you expectin’ someone?”“Uh? What? Oh, no, Dale, I’m jus’—um—I thought I saw me Pop come in ‘ere.” Zipper slapped his face when he heard that response.“I thought your dad was in Alaska right now.”“Well—um—like I said, I thought ‘e came—”Two chiropterids, male and female, entering.Monterey nodded at Zipper, who then flew off backstage.“He got impatient, too?” asked Dale. “What’s goin’ on?”“Nothin’, mate. ‘e prob’ly jus’ went to see what was the ‘old-up.”

“Are you okay, sis?” asked Otis, with nervous ears and tail himself, unlike his sister.“Well, I’m a bit nervous. This place didn’t exactly give me a great first impression. Still,the doctor said I had to face my fears, right?”“Yes. And remember, this is just a restaurant. That a bad thing happened here, well, so itdid, but we shouldn’t let that stop us from getting some great grasshoppers!”“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Um, Otis, why do you keep padding backwards in front of me and blocking my sonar?”“I am? Uhh—” Otis turned for a moment to give the place a quick scan. Then, he heardMonterey just in front of him. He then suddenly stopped and whirled Foxglove around soher back was toward Dale’s table.“What?” she asked, quite annoyed. Otis pretended to scan in front of him, when he wasactually nodding to Monterey.

“Monty, where are you goin’ now?” asked Dale. The Aussie kept glancing back and forthfrom Otis to the stage. He replied with nervous ears and tail,



“Uh, the little mouse’s room. Be right back.” Monterey then made a hasty exit to the backstage door, just as the lights dimmed again.Hey, the bathroom isn’t that way! thought Dale.

“They’re here,” said Zipper, as he flew into the backstage area, followed shortly by

Monterey.“Excellent. Gadget, prepare the lights!” replied Chip. “Clarice, get ready!”

“Otis!!” she hissed.“Um, sorry, sis, I thought I heard a ‘shell’ in front of us. But never mind. Our table isright here. Er…excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom.” Otis was slowly leadingFoxglove to Dale’s table without letting her scan it. He whirled her again and sat her down on Dale’s left before she could figure out what was happening, and then he ran off

backstage.Foxglove was about to protest, when her sonar detected a disturbingly familiar arm and

paw resting on the table.

Dale was about to tell the couple that suddenly appeared behind him that this table wasalready taken, when he suddenly sniffed a disturbingly familiar scent emanating from hisleft.They both froze again, while their hearts raced.Sitting a mere two centimetres from each other, was the love of each other’s lives.So close, and so far away.Both of them desperately wanted to embrace each other and press their muzzles together,

but every muscle in their bodies was locked in place. They couldn’t even turn to look ateach other, but instead kept on staring straight ahead to the stage, because they knew thatif they looked at each other they would lose control, much the same way Dale lost itwhen he finally brought himself to look at her eyes on that wonderful night one year ago— All they could do now was breathe slowly and deeply, letting each other’s scents fill their olfactory bulbs and invoke memories, pleasant and painful, happy and sad, wonderful andtragic— But all ears and tails remained immobile.Finally, it was the male who spoke.“H-hello—Miss Foxglove…” he stuttered.OUCH!! thought the female. That was the second time he had addressed her in thatmanner. And that politeness was hurting her more than he could ever imagine. His voicewas still hoarse, pained, monotone, devoid of life————dead?“Hello——Mr. Oakmont.” She couldn’t bring herself to say his name to his face. Shecouldn’t even bring herself to wave her wing at him, much less coax him with her longeyelashes. Dale, meanwhile, also noticed that Foxglove sounded tired, almost as if shewas about to sleep. He decided to snap out of whatever was pushing him down, and triedagain,“Uh…hi, Foxy. Whatcha been up to?”“Oh, you know…stuff.” It was the exact same greeting they used when Foxglove came

back to the tree last year. But back then, it was spontaneous, coy, even somewhatembarrassing for Dale, but now, it was cold, mechanical, pained, lifeless—dead…





“This mountain I must climbFeels like the world upon my shoulders.” Both winced at this. Their shoulders did feelheavy.“Through the clouds I see love shine.” For everyone else, maybe. But not for them. Theyhad already decided.

“It keeps me warm as life grows colder.” Once again, a memory slapped their faces, amemory of what Foxglove told Dale last year in that steeple. Pain once again filled their hearts and throats, and their ears and tails reflected that. Clarice continued,

“In my life!There’s been heartache and pain!” And it was true, Clarice had also felt what they felt.“I don’t knowIf I can face it again!” Actually, she could. And both Dale and Foxglove knew that they,could, too. But they had already decided…“Can’t stop now! I’ve travelled so far,” From Las Vegas, from a life of obscurity, from alife of clowning around—

“To change-this-lone-ly life——” But their lives had already changed! And for the better,too…right? Lonely? Maybe—maybe— The rest of the performers chorused with Clarice:

“I want to know what love is!” Odd, they already knew what it was, and knew so perfectly.“I want you to show me——!!” Dale stiffened again. Was she referring to Foxgloveshowing him her love, or herself showing him her love, or him showing either of them?“I want to feel what love is!” Clarice was now staring at Dale again, who actually beganto sweat at this point. Foxglove, meanwhile, was reminded of the last words that she saidto Dale before she left. To feel her love for him…“I know you can show me——!!” Foxglove suddenly noticed that Clarice was staring atthe love of her life. For a moment, she felt like—doing something to her—but—but sheknew she couldn’t. Dale was no longer hers. She had no right to feel jealous. Clariceended the chorus with a calculated moan,“Heyyoohhh…!!…oooo—” The music continued, and the couple on the front tablelooked/echosounded down at their arm/wing for a moment. Their hearts were getting“holey” again. Clarice glanced at them, and continued,

“I’m gonna take a little time,A little time to look around me.” They had taken time to look as well. Not much hadturned up, except some annoying arthritis. The back-up singers oo’ed for a moment, andClarice continued,“I’ve got nowhere left to hide.” No. They couldn’t hide from each other, as much as theytried.“It looks like love has finally found me.” They stiffened again. Were they truly meant to

be together? Were they just kidding each other by letting each other go? Or—was Claricereferring to herself and Dale? Or Foxglove and Otis?

“In—my—life!” She was more insistent now,



“There’s been heartache and pain!” On all three of them now. Unbearable pain again…“I don’t knowIf I can face it again!” They couldn’t. It was too horrible, too painful to even bedescribed…“Can’t stop now! I’ve travelled so far,

To change-this-lone-ly life——” To change your life, Darling. To change it for good, tomake you feel love, from whoever you choose! Dale and Foxglove continuedlooking/echosounding at the table, as the song chorused again.

“I want to know what love is!” Foxy, I do want us to get back together…“I want you to show me——!!” Cute Stuff, please, show me that you still loveme…somehow…please…“I want to feel what love is!” Foxy, I want to feel your love again…“I know you can show me—!!” Dale, I want you in my wings again, but—but— Claricethen pitched her voice higher, and stiffened her ears and tail, still insisting,

“I want to know what love is!” Odd, she thought, they aren’t moving at all.“I want you to show me——!!” Something’s wrong. They aren’t even looking at me!“And I wanna feel,” she added.“I want to feel what love is—!” She extended a paw to them and cried,“I know—!!”“I know you can show meee———!!” Still nothing. This would require drastic measures.Clarice continued,

“Let’s talk about love:” She removed the microphone from its stand again, and paddedoff the stage while the singers chorused without her,“I want to know what love is!” She placed a paw on their table and sang,“Love that you feel innnnside—” Yes. The pain in their chests was a sign of true love.And they would always feel it, because they had decided…“I want you to show me——!!” Still nothing. She padded around them, near Foxglove,knowing that the next line would be sarcastic.“I’m feeling so much love!” More like tension, she thought, moving behind them.“I want to feel what love is!” Dale closed his eyes for a moment, and for an instant, hesaw the batmaid of his dreams. No. He would never be worthy of her. Especially now.“Ooh, you just can’t hide!” I can’t hide from you, Cute Stuff. Your sonar profile isalways in my ears! You’re always with me, and it’s driving me crazy!“I know you can show meee————!!” Clarice moved to another table, apparentlygiving the patrons a good show. She called out,

“Haaaaaah…wo!!” and joined the singers again,“I want to know what love is!” Dale and Foxglove were breathing faster, not being ableto get enough of each other’s scents. This song would have to stop soon.“Let’s talk about love…!…ohhh…” added the male canary. Talk. Yes, they needed totalk.“I know you can show me—!” Show? Show how sick they’ve got? To finally show eachother why they can’t get back together, even if they tried? Clarice continued,



“I wanna feel…” She let the singers continue while she continued pushing,“I want to feel what love is!” Dale, Foxglove, can’t you see what we’re trying to do here?“And I wanna feel it too— And I know, and I know—” We’re trying to save your LIVES, consarn it!! She joined thelast line,

“I know you can show me—!” The gopher suddenly added,“Coming back for you—!!” A male mouse squeaked,“YEAAAAAHHH!!” This sudden burst caused Dale and Foxglove to shiver. It was

pressing at them, pushing them to initiate some sort of discussion, to talk of somethingthat needed to be put to rest—buried—once and for all— “Ohhh…” sighed Clarice, as she went back on stage again. The singers chorused alone asshe set herself up again.

“I want to know what love is!” She chattered at them,“I wanna know-ow-ow!!” She was in pain as well. Pained in seeing two wonderfulmammals in such a depressing act of self-destruction. She let the others continue,

“I want you to show me—!” One last chance,“And I wanna know, I wanna know, I wanna know—!” Dale, Foxglove, don’t you wantfulfilment? Don’t you want to LIVE? Please, I beg of you, just look up at each other!!“I want to feel what love is!” the others chimed. This isn’t working! They’re alreadydead!“And I wanna feel———!”“I know you can show me—!”

The music faded, and stopped. Dale and Foxglove would have sighed with relief, but thetension was still there. Their breathing patterns were slowing down, but all their muscleswere still locked in place. Clarice looked at them,“We’ll take a little break now. Be right back.” The performers left to stage right, andClarice went to talk to the other Rangers. She drooped her ears and tail and cried,“Chip, Gadget, I’m sorry! It didn’t work! They—”“They’re just fine,” said Otis. “Throughout the song, I heard them shuffling just a little

bit. You got to them, trust me.”“We were worried there for a minute, too,” added Zipper. “But Otis kept an ear open onthem.”“Hey! They are starting to talk again!” he whispered.“Do you want me to sing another song? Just to coax them a little more?”“Not yet,” said Chip. “We’ll let this sink in for a minute.”

The chiropterid and the rodent were still looking/echosounding at the table, with black holes in their chests once more. Their ears were up, but stiff, as were their tails. The songhad got to them, and it was time for them to talk, whether they liked it or not. The

batmaid began, though not by conscious choice.“Dale—” her voice cracked again, “I’ve—I’ve missed you…”“I—suppose I’ve missed you as well, Foxy.” She had trouble continuing,“Dale—I—I—keep—dreaming about you———about us——you know…” He stiffenedfor a moment.



“Well, Foxy, um, every night, uh, I have the same dream with you as well.” A small pause as Foxglove realised just how much he was going through as well.“It’s driving you crazy, isn’t it?”“I—I try not to let it get to me. After all, you’re livin’ with the bats now, right?”“Y—yes.”

“Have—um, you found any of your family?” She took a breath, and replied,“No. All of my family is dead. And no animal knows what their names were.”“Oh, sorry to hear that.” For some reason, yet another part of Dale died at this point.Since Foxglove never knew her parents, she never knew her last name. He wanted her tohave his name, a precious gift that would be given to her the moment she said “I do”, butnow, she was forever rootless. His name would never be hers now. And while Foxgloveknew Dale meant what he said, it held no comforting value whatsoever. Maybe it was theway he was speaking— “How did your parents take this?” she asked.“In shock. But it was Chip who took it the hardest, but he’s calmed down now.” Bothremained quiet for a while, wishing to know what to say next. Dale then decided to

apologise, “Foxy, I’m—”“It’s all right, Dale,” she interrupted. “You—you made the right decision. I have foundthe bats again, and they helped me find a job as an interpreter. I’m—I’m out of danger,like you wanted.” Dale sighed in slight relief. His parting wish had been fulfilled, but at avery high cost: their lives. Then, he decided to get to the bottom of this present

predicament,“Did the bats set you up for this?”“Yes.”“The guys were in it too, I suppose. They care about us, but—but—they just don’tknow…” Another pause, as the horrible memory ran through their heads again.“Dale…” she trailed off.“Yes?”“Dale—you play the bass wonderfully.” It took only one moment for him to realise whatshe was talking about.“You—you were here the other night? But—how did you know—”“I didn’t. My, um, friends brought me here, and I entered just as you started singing.”Dale sat quietly now, looking at the table, ashamed of himself.“I—I didn’t see you. I’m s—”“Don’t be. It was a beautiful song. And—what have you been up to?” Dale sighed,“The usual. We’ve been fightin’ crime and solvin’ cases—”“I also noticed you’ve been pumping up.” True, from what her sonar was able to pick upthe other night, and by the way she was madly echosounding at his left arm, she hadnoticed.“Y-yes, I have. I’ve changed—plenty of things after you left. I—I’m no longer a Goof-up.” Yes, the Goof-up was dead, as was the Comedian and the Clown. But there wassomething else he needed to tell her, and he wasn’t sure how to break it to her. “Um,Foxy?”“Yes?”“Remember all those cases I told you about, when I went to outer space—twice—and Iate all that chocolate in the jungle——when I nearly drowned in a sewer——when I



found that meteorite——and the times I got zapped by Freddie and some aliens?” As far as she was concerned, he was the hero of all those cases. But now, she had the feelingthat something else came along with being a hero.“Y-yes…”“Well, um, I think that all of that is catchin’ up to me now.” Foxglove’s heart skipped a

beat. She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out.But something inside her pushed her to ask,“Dale—are—are you all right?” He sighed,“N-no. I—haven’t been feelin’ too well lately—I thought it was because I quit all thegoofin’-up, but—the doctor didn’t think so. I’m havin’ trouble workin’ out. But it’snothin’ serious.” Foxglove sighed in relief. At least he didn’t develop a terminal diseaseor anything. “Foxy?”“Y-yes?”“It-it’s not serious,” he insisted, “but—I’m glad you weren’t here to see me like that, withall my medication. You—wouldn’t have liked it. You—you’re much better off bein’where you are. I—I know now—that—that we made the right choice.”

A pipistrell stiffened backstage.“Well, Dale, if it makes any difference, I haven’t been feeling too well either, I suppose. Ikinda get sore when I fly. I suppose—” she choked for a moment, “—I suppose that youwouldn’t have liked to hear—er—see me like that, either.” He was suddenly gripped withterror. She was sick, too? It may not have been his fault, but seeing her ill, that—that— “Will you be okay?” he asked.“Yes, I think—” They hushed again. Supposedly, it was adding up.“Foxy, I really do want to feel you lovin’ me, but—not in this condition. It’s not fair toyou.” She winced at this, and so did Otis. They were breaking up again.“It’s not fair to you either,” she replied. “I suppose it was better that we called it off

before this came on to us.”“Foxy, I want the best for you. I’m not the best, and I’ll never be. I’ll just have to stick tomy job now, and do what I can. I—we—I think we did right.” She thought for a moment,wanting to cry. But she couldn’t cry.“You were perfect for me, Dale, but—you know yourself better—I guess. I know I’m not

perfect either, so I guess it wouldn’t have been fair to you, either.” Silence again.Foxglove, you were the most perfect female in this universe! She echosounded at theceiling, and also looked at it with pained eyes. “You did right, Dale. Don’t hate yourself

because of it.” He looked up a trifle, and replied,“I don’t. I—just had to kill the Clown that was hurtin’ us all. It wasn’t easy, but—theteam is better off without him. And—I know you are too.” What? He killed the Clown?The Comedian? The one who made her laugh all those times? Did another part of herself die just now?“You killed the ‘Clown’?”“I had to. Everythin’ he ever did only caused trouble for us—for you. I quit all the jokesand stupid comments and the foolin’ around. The Clown, the Comedian, and the Goof-upare dead. Segoleh is dead. I changed my name to Dale Hastahah Oakmont.” Thechiropterid winced, and even gasped slightly upon hearing about the new personality, of which neither she nor the Dale she fell in love with had a part of. Half of herself suddenlyvanished into thin air, half of herself was suddenly DEAD— “I’ve studied cookin’,



mechanics, stealth, and detection, and—I’ve become better, I think, but—even if youwere still with us, you’d still be in grave danger. I don’t want you to live like that. Youdeserve a lot more than what I could give you.” The batmaid shivered. He was letting her go again.“Dale, I—” For a moment, as she tried to recover, she thought she heard her life flash

before her ears, as if she was actually dying— No.She was alive; maybe not so well, but alive. And as he had let her go, she now needed tolet him go, so he could live as well. She stumbled, “—thank you for thinking of me likethat. And—on my own—I’ve developed my language talents a bit more. You helpedme—” another crack, “—by setting me free.” It seemed that all their blood drained fromtheir torsos at this point as they shivered again. It all sounded so logical, and yet— “Foxy, I was hopin’ very much that you would find someone of your family. You’ve seenhow Gadget gets every time she thinks of her parents. I—really—really—didn’t want thatto happen to you anymore. I——I wanted you to have my parents for your own, so youwouldn’t have to talk to tombstones like Gadget——erm, have you done that?” She

sighed,“No. But now that you mention it, I might, just as soon as I find out where my parent’sgraves are. But it’s not all that bad, Dale. I’ve been adopted by——another family—— and—I now have a brother and sister—sort of.” Dale sighed in relief. She had foundsomething better.“Enjoy your new life and your new family, Foxy. You deserve to. You helped us for awhile, and now you can live life free of danger.” She wanted to kiss him so badly, butthat robotic tone of his was practically repelling her, not to mention that new name…“Keep rescuing others, Dale. Keep working out. You are very valuable to the Rangers.You are a great friend.”“Let me know if you find someone else. I’ll be happy if you love someone who can giveyou all you deserve.” Dale, no one could give me more than you!“I’ll let you know. And—thanks, Dale—for everything. ” This was it. The finalconclusion. All was settled, and there were no doubts about it. It was perfectly logical.And Dale’s chest was about to implode with every word Foxglove said. They sat quietlyagain, and a few moments later, the batmaid pondered,“They would have made a lovely couple, don’t you think?”“Chip and Gadget?”“Dale and Foxglove.” The sciurid sighed. Once more his mind explored what could have

been.“Yes,” he replied. “They would have been a wonderful couple. They had a lot goin’ for them———well, she did, at least. He constantly felt worthless and insignificant. He felthe could do very little as a Rescue Ranger—until she came along. She believed in him,she came back to him, and he got his confidence back, even to the point of wantin’ todevelop both the Detective and the Comedian. But if he had done that, it would have

brought to them very—very bad things later on.”“She loved the Comedian, and else everything about himself, whether it dealt with theRangers or not. He also helped her confidence by believing in her, and helping her leavea life of crime, and by finally returning her love. She wanted to also be a Detective and



Comedian, to be one with him—sigh—it’s so sad they had to die.” Another bat and achipmunkmaid froze in fear.“They were good mammals. They always tried to help others. We’ll always miss them—

—but now—we must move on.” They hushed one more time, and a minute later,Foxglove concluded,

“Dale, thanks for everything. Thanks for loving me, and rescuing me. Thanks for takingme back, and—and—thanks—for setting me free.” He sighed again, and also concluded,“Thanks for lovin’ me. Thanks for comin’ back. Thanks for understandin’. Thanks for nothatin’ me or gettin’ angry with me. And thanks—for helpin’ me see what was wrong withme.” She did not reply for a moment, but finally, the chiropterid slowly stood. Her jointsached again, for some reason. The medication must be wearing off.“Thanks—Dale—and—and—good-bye.”The black holes suddenly disappeared.And both the rodent and the chiropterid stopped feeling anything, good or bad.Otis and Clarice didn’t know whether to cheer or cry or to wag or stiffen their tails or toraise or lower their ears. They appeared to have parted again on friendly terms, but it just

looked and sounded so horrible watching and hearing them part like that.“Good-bye, Foxglove,” was all he could say. With difficulty, the batmaid left the club,leaving the chipmunk by himself. Backstage, two chipmunks, two mice, a fly, and a batdid not know if they had succeeded or failed…

ANOTHER FUNERAL

“A funeral?” asked Richard. “Are you sure you want to do this?”“Richard, Gadget’s parents had their funeral. Maybe an owl ate my parents, but they atleast deserve some sort of ceremony. Please? Let me just say good-bye to them. I never did, and——that may just be what has been eating at me all this time.” Otis shook hishead,“But Foxy, that owl lady might still be in that park!”“Or she might be dead. It’s been twenty years, you know. Either way, it doesn’t matter now. We’ll go during the day.” If Otis didn’t know better, he could swear that this was

practically a suicide mission. Foxglove’s reactions at The Nutshell several days ago werevery unsettling, even if she and Dale had parted on friendlier terms. Now she wanted todo this. It seemed natural, to attend a funeral, and yet so suicidal to have it near a placewhere a known predator lived. Perhaps they shouldn’t go alone. Perhaps this might beanother opportunity to do something about her and Dale— “Foxy, are you sure you don’t want to bring the Rescue Rangers along? After all the timethey spent with you, they may want to say something on behalf of your parents—”“No, Otis,” she replied firmly. “The Rangers and I have parted our ways. This is not their world anymore. This is ours now. They never knew my parents, and neither did I, so thisis something I must do myself, with your help, of course.”“Do you want me and Richard to keep our distance?” asked Rosie. “If that’s the way youfeel, we don’t want to interfere with anything.”“No, no, it’s okay, Rosie. You two and the other elder bats are the closest thing to parentsthat I’ve ever had, so it’s okay if you come along.” It was true. This was more or lesswhat Dale wanted: her finding someone else. And she had found others who loved her.







ears up, his tail was stiff, and he was unusually silent. The sunset was over, but he stilllooking toward the west. Or, that was were he was facing, for he had a blank look in hiseyes. Then, his breathing became more laboured. Something began pressing in his chestagain, but he couldn’t tell what it was. He slowly began to turn back to Zipper, and as hedid, his fur began ruffling. Zipper became quite scared at this, because he knew it wasn’t

the wind that was causing Dale’s fur to stand on end.“Dale? Is something wrong?” Dale brought up his right paw to his chest. Something wascausing him unbelievable pain, something within him was sensing— DANGER.Something then began ringing in his brain. Not in his ears, but within his head, his verysoul. Something was trying to bring back a memory, a deja-vue. He had sensed this

before, but where?Suddenly Foxglove’s voice came to mind. Her voice, her sweet, soft voice, her voicewhich at many times he could never hear because it was in ultrasound mode— And he never heard it?Or did he think he had never heard her sonar?

Or, perhaps, not in his ears, but—but—inside him?Had he got that close to her that he could actually sense her sonar? No, this was ridiculous. He had never heard it, nor did he ever know when she was usingit. Furthermore, he had no idea where she was, though he knew perfectly well that theringing was coming from the left of the sinking sun, southwest to be exact, and even if hedid know where she was, she would be too far away for him to hear her anyway— Huh? What? Where did that reckoning of direction come from? Where—where— He hunched over a little bit, as the pain increased. And though he tried to fight it, hecould not deny that the following was repeating itself in his head,PING PING PING PIIIIIIIIING PIIIIIIIIING PIIIIIIIIING PING PING PINGPIIIIIIIIING PIIIIIIIIING PIIIIIIIIING PING PING PING PIIIIIIIIING PIIIIIIIIINGPIIIIIIIIING—

Nor could he deny that what was sounding in his head was the International Morse CodeSOS signal.Zipper was panicking by now,“Dale!! Do you need a doctor?? Is something wrong with—”“GeteveryoneontheRangerPlaneandfollowme!!” he finally burst, unable to containhimself any longer.“I’lltaketheRangerWing!!Somethin’swrongandsomeone’sintrouble!!HURRY!!” Thetamias then painfully ran to the hangar, as the wind picked up more speed and beganswaying larger branches, and as dark clouds moved in above Rescue Ranger Headquarters…

NIGHT OF THE STRIGIDÆ

A flock of verspetilionids circled a park on the southwest area of New York City, StatenIsland, again. It was still some time before sunset, but they still echosounded at the wholearea several times, searching for any predators. It was a rather unusual flock of bats, sincethey were carrying daisies, magnolias, tulips, and foxgloves on their foot-paws, losing afew petals to the west wind that was beginning to pick up.



“This was the park?” asked Foxglove.“Positive,” replied Richard. “The trees have changed a bit, but the buildings and statueshaven’t. Also, the foxglove plant is still right there, Foxglove.” He pointed to a large

plant that was near the centre of the park. With the area clear of predators, Otis,Foxglove, Feyyanna, Richard, and Rosie landed next to the vine, which had long strands

of purple flowers hanging from it. Still, all of them kept a wary ear open for trouble, andit was of no surprise that all of them remained rather scared. Rosie held her husbandclose, as painful memories came to them now. But this was the way Foxglove wanted theceremony done. And it shouldn’t take long, or so they hoped. They took their flowers,and padded next to the plant. It wasn’t a tombstone, but it was still the next best thing,since it was directly above it that Foxglove’s parents lost their lives.Foxglove echosounded at the plant. As hard as she tried, she simply couldn’t bring this

plant to match any memory in her head. Was this the right foxglove? Did she even havethe right bats? Then again, how many other bat couples had lost a cub this way? Butagain, she was there as a result of the process of elimination, not necessarily because of irrefutable evidence. That, or her parents had abandoned her.

She shivered as she considered that option, remembering the fake letter Fat Cat sent her.It was a possibility, and yet, all the chiropterids she had interviewed had led her to this.Maybe some of them had lied to her. Maybe…She quickly put that thought out of her mind. She preferred to have parents who weremercilessly killed than parents who mercilessly abandoned her. She nodded at Richard,who lowered his ears a trifle, and began,“Fellow chiropterids, we are gathered here to bid farewell to a husband and wife who

perished here. They were unknown, and yet known, for they both now live through thelife of Foxglove. We can only hope that both of them were as loving and caring as their daughter. Both were brave, and both knew the meaning of love, for they both joined their lives together to create another, and they both gave their lives to save it. May they rest in

peace. Foxglove, do you want to add something?” Foxglove padded up to the plant. Shehad to admit she felt silly talking to a vine, but it was better than nothing. After this, shewould take Richard and Rosie’s offer, and leave Dale her note. Her ears drooped a trifleas she began,“Mom, Dad, I miss you. I wish I could have known you just a little bit better. I hopeyou’d be proud of me now, because I gave myself my own name, and I survived on myown for a while. I—also—took the wrong path for a while—but only because I neededfriends—and then—then I met the most handsome mammal on this planet, and—and— after a brief battle with my former boss, I renounced evil and joined him and his friends,the Rescue Rangers. During my time with them, I helped and rescued many people andanimals—and—and also learned what true love was. Dale—he was my fiancée—lovedme so much that he did not want to hear—er—see me get hurt, so he let me go.” She

paused. For a moment, it appeared as if she was going to cry, but again, she couldn’t.Otis, meanwhile, kept echosounding at all around him. They weren’t taking long, but itsure felt like it. “I then searched for you, and I found you here. Now, my new bat friendsgot me a job as an interpreter at the Rescue Aid Society, so I still help other animals and

people. I—I got adopted by a brother and sister, sort of. I’m living with the bats now, asyou probably did, so—I guess I’m doing okay. I have a touch of arthritis, but it’s nothingserious,” she lied, and she knew it. “Mom, Dad, you—weren’t the only ones who



perished here at the talons of an owl. Others have suffered too, but in my search for you, Iwas able to give them peace, even though their daughters died. I—I suppose you would

be proud of me and of what I’ve done. Mom, Dad—thanks for saving my life. I—reallywish you could be with me—and I miss you.” She put her foxgloves on the plant, andconcluded, “Good-bye, Mom and Dad.” The others then padded up and placed their

flowers on the vine as well. To add the final seal, each chiropterid picked up a few pebbles and placed them under the foxglove. Foxglove stood back at this, and the finalityof it at last sunk in.Her parents were dead.And in a way, so was she.The batmaid then turned and left her previous life forever.The others turned and followed her, and padded away from the plant. They weren’t inany real hurry, after all, the park wasn’t that big, and New Jersey wasn’t that far away.Wings flapped.All five bats suddenly looked up, and echosounded at the entire sky, stiffening their earsand tails

A pigeon flew by some distance from them, not an owl. Besides, sunset was barely beginning. Owls were nocturnal, after all. No, the flapping didn’t come from that precise direction, and it wasn’t that loud, either.Instead, it was actually barely audible.Instinctively, the flock took off and sped toward the safety of the main city.More flapping was heard, very soft, TOO soft, and closer.They all madly echosounded all around them, trying to locate the source of the flapping,

but they couldn’t hear or see anything.Were owl feathers too soft to effectively give a sonar echo? Did they actually absorbultrasonic sound waves?But even if they did, they would be able to detect a “hole” in the return signal, indicatingthat nothing was there, and yet they would know when the “nothing” had moved.Then again, that would only work if that “nothing” was backed up by something solid,like a building or a tree, or even the ground.All suddenly echosounded at the darkening sky above them.Still nothing.They were barely able to detect the thick clouds, but even if the sky was completely clear,and if an owl was coming at them directly from where the sun was, they would still beable to hear the beak and talons, which would be very difficult for any bird of prey tohide.They heard neither a beak nor talons.So they were all right now. Though the sky was now rapidly being covered with stormclouds, they were almost at the edge of the park. They were safe now.Flapping was heard behind them.Suddenly turning around, they saw/heard—

Nothing.Sighing in relief, they levelled off and exited the— “STRIGIDÆ!!”Directly in front of them was the largest owl they had ever heard, diving straight towardthem. A humongous brown female owl, with iridescent brown eyes, a razor sharp grey-



brown beak that resembled a staple puller, and brown-grey feet with black daggers at theend of each toe.Squealing their lungs out, the pipistrells tried to disperse, but the owl lady flew tooquickly for them, even for her size. She forced them back into the park by flying in rapidcircles above, below, and around them, herding them like cattle. As she did so, she also

moved them further and further to the centre of park— Is this how my parents died?Feyyanna then began screeching as loud as she could, in ultrasound,“SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOS—”“What are you doing??” screeched Foxglove, also in ultrasound.“Cawllin’ fer HEYELP!! Whayat doss et SANND lakk Ah’m DOENN??”“But we’re in the middle of the park!! There are no bats here now, and any bat outsidethe park would still be asleep or too far away to hear us!!”“Yew gatt a BEDDAR ayedeya??” All the chiropterids then began screeching SOS invarious ultrasound frequencies, but Foxglove screeched the following,“Code 936!! Code 936!! Any units respond to ultrasound alarm 936!! Track ultrasonic

SOS signals to a park in East Staten Island!! Code 936!! Code 936!!”“What’s all that?!” asked Otis.“They give all RAS members a emergency code list! I just hope they find us!!”“What do you mean ‘find us’?? Doesn’t anyone of the RAS know you’re here?”“Um—no—not really—it never occurred to me to say anything to them!!”“What?? You mean we’re all alone here??”“I doubt any small mammal would want to be near an owl!!”“Oh, #!” cursed Feyyanna. The bats then continued screeching their SOS calls, when theowl lady screeched again,“STRIGIDÆ!!” interrupting them momentarily, causing them to lower their ears back atrifle. They all echosounded at her for a moment, in complete terror. She held them in a

position directly above the centre of the park, having them hover between her round-ups.“It’s best if you keep flying, ‘cause you’ll taste better that way!! HA HA HA!!” she

jested. Her paused, low, guttural voice resonated in dangerous vibrations within them.Was this the same owl lady who killed my parents? The same one who killed all thoseother bats?“Who are you!!” screeched Foxglove, finally, in a frequency the owl lady could hear, andwith defiant ears and tail. The owl lady slowed down her round-ups, but kept her eye onthe batmaid,“My name is STRIGIDÆ, LADY AND GUARDIAN OF THIS PARK!! No pigeon,crow, sparrow, or swallow dares to cross my domain, much less IMITATORS likeYOU!!” That last comment threw them off for a moment.“What do you mean, ‘imitators’??” asked Rosie, also with stiffening ears and tail.“You are IMITATORS!! WHERE are your feathers?? WHERE are your beaks?? Youleathered mice MOCK the true avians!!” Foxglove protested,“We’re BATS!! We were born this way!! We’re no imitators!!”“You mock the TRUE birds!!” she insisted. “You use leather instead of feathers, you arecovered with HAIR, you make NO NESTS, you are PHONEYS!! Now, you DAREtrespass my domain, and for that you shall DIE!!” She continued circling them, hootingin triumph.



“We’re mammals!! Of course we have no feathers or beaks!!” replied Foxglove. “Butwhat makes you think we’re an insult to avians??” Strigidæ suddenly hovered in front of Foxglove, and looked into her eyes. The fact that she had somehow learned to hover wasscary enough, as her ears and tail showed, but even more so was looking at one’s ownreflection in her hateful eyes, and hearing her sinister voice right in one’s soul,

“You EAT the food of other birds!! You all eat BUGS, and leave none for the TRUE birds—!!”“Hey, not ALL birds eat bugs, do YOU??” asked Otis, also with defiant ears and tail,trying to get Strigidæ’s attention away from Foxglove. Richard added,“We only eat bugs at night, when the rest of the birds are sleeping!! And those that areawake are YOUR kind, the meat eaters!! We steal food from NO ONE—!!” The bubosuddenly moved next to him, and with an incredibly fast wing slap, sent the pipistrellfluttering helplessly to the ground.“RICHARD!!” squealed Rosie, as she and the rest flew down, as the owl lady apparentlyallowed them to. Richard was able to recover just before hitting the ground, butnevertheless he landed quite hard. Rosie landed next to him and held him, while the

others remained hovering above the couple.“Don’t interrupt me again, you insolent VAMPIRE!!” All the chiropterids winced at thisinsult, as the strigiform continued flying in circles. “My job is to rid this world of

parasites like YOU!! You are MICE!! And you KNOW that I love mice, and the fact thatyou have wings just makes the hunt a lot more interesting!! It’s been a while since I’vehad such a delicious looking buffet like YOU!! A HA HA HA HA HA!!” The bubocontinued flying around them, hooting sinisterly. All the pipistrells were scared to deathnow, with low ears and tails, not knowing what to do. Richard slowly stood, with a wingto his head, having recovered a bit more. Then, Feyyanna’s ears and tail perked up, as sheremembered something she had heard back in Texas: Strigidæ was rounding them likecattle, but since there was only one of her, she hoped, then they just might be able to— Speaking in ultrasound again, she said,“Awl raght! Ayt the kewnt uff threeye, evvreywann flaye OPP enn sepp’rettdureckshuns!!” The bats then hovered, bracing themselves, with Richard and Rosie

beginning to hover a few moments later. Feyyanna waited until Strigidæ made ahorizontal sweep, leaving the sky free. “Wann…tewe…………THREEYE!!” Suddenly,the five chiropterids shot upward in five separate directions and spread out. Thestrigiform was completely incensed by this,“NOOOOO!! STRIGIDAAAAÆEEEEEEEEEE!!” and she flew after the bat nearest toher: Otis.Otis turned around and heard the owl lady speeding straight toward him. Panicking andlaying his ears back, he flapped his wings as fast as he could, but Strigidæ was catchingup.Is this what a moth feels like? he thought. But just before Strigidæ sank her talons intoOtis’ back, he remembered a trick that some moths played on him. Suddenly, Otis dovein an underloop, causing Strigidæ to overshoot him. The owl lady was distracted for amoment, having suddenly lost her prey. She then began pulling up to start another attack,when suddenly she saw in front of her— A tree.



Hooting in rage, the owl lady painfully pulled up higher, trying to avoid the trunk, atleast, and hoping she would get through the branches. Closing her eyes and pulling her wings in, she shot through them all right, but with plenty of scraping and bruising.Emerging from the treetop like a cannonball, with some feathers, leaves and twigstrailing behind her, the avian extended her wings again and glided for a moment, trying to

shake away some of the pain from her head. Then, she opened her eyes, reddened withrage, turned, and saw Otis again.“STRIGIDAAAAAÆEEEEEEEE!!” she hooted again, beginning another dive, a muchfaster one. Otis heard her and began zigzagging around the park, trying to slow her down

by moving near trees, bushes, vines, fences, and some statues. But Strigidæ knew the park well. It was her park, after all. Once again she was going to sink her talons into Otis’ back— —when Foxglove suddenly flew in front of both of them, and aided by her tailmembrane, hurled a scoop of dirt straight into the owl lady’s eyes. Strigidæ hooted in

pain. She couldn’t see, she couldn’t hover, and she couldn’t land. All she had left to dowas fly up and up in circles, trying to shake the dirt off her eyes and head. Otis perked up

his ears and echosounded at Foxglove for a moment, and then asked, in surprisedultrasound,“Where did you learn to do that??”“From a movie I saw with Dale once! Now let’s get outta here!!”“Pick up more ammo!!” screeched Rosie. “One shot won’t hold her back for long!!” The

pipistrells thusly swooped to the ground, picked up dirt in their tail membranes, and shottoward the edge of the park. Richard was lagging, however, due to his injury and due tothe ever increasing wind. Strigidæ, meanwhile, above the centre of the park, havingshaken most of the dirt from her eyes, tried to focus on the verspetilionids below her. Shesaw them approaching the edge of her domain, but she focused mainly on the one whothrew the dirt: Foxglove. Knowing when to hold her tongue, the strigid silently dove inright toward her.Though an owl’s feathers are designed to have the owl fly with stealth, Foxglove and theother chiropterids were still able to hear the sound of the dive behind them above thewind, which was howling through the trees now. Foxglove waited a moment, preparing tothrow the dirt again. She then turned—

—and the owl lady was not there.“Huh? Where did she go?” she asked. The other bats also turned around, and did not seenor hear Strigidæ anywhere. Echosounding madly again, they scanned the whole area,

but she simply was not in their sonar range. They turned back again— “STRIGIDAAAAAÆEEEEEEEE!!”And the owl lady in front of them threw STONES.Foxglove took a direct hit on her right shoulder.Otis took a direct hit on his head.Rosie took a direct hit on her left side.Feyyanna was able to dodge the stones, but not without slamming into Richard, who wason her right.All the verspetilionids dropped their payloads, and fluttered painfully to the cement. Theywere all bleeding save for Feyyanna and Richard.



“I can play your games, too!!” hooted Strigidæ, flying down to them. Feyyanna, Richard,and Rosie fell in a heap, with Foxglove and Otis some ways to their right, due to a suddengust. Strigidæ then walked up to Otis, picked him up with her talons, and flung him to the

pile. She then walked up to Foxglove and did the same. All the bats laid there, half-conscious, unable to even lick their wounds. Walking victoriously toward the mammals

with an arrogant swagger, and with the wind sinisterly ruffling her feathers, the avianhooted,“You really think I’m stupid, don’t you? You really think I’m some sort of deranged fowlwho is completely CRAZY?? You think I’m UNREASONING?? UNINTELLIGENT??Completely incapable of learning ANYTHING because of my supposed INSANITY??”she paused for a moment, letting some thunder rumble dramatically in the distance. “I ama GUARDIAN!! I GUARD this park!! I guard it from PARASITES!! And now I canFEAST!!” She grabbed Foxglove again, looked at her hungrily, and opened her razor sharp beak, ready to cut her head off.However, since she had picked up Foxglove, she had removed the obstacle that washolding Feyyanna down. She was the least hurt of them, and when she echosounded up

and heard the owl lady about to eat her sister, she did what any self-respecting lovingrelative would do: she laid her ears back, and suddenly jumped on Strigidæ, slapping her wings on her face, and squealing insanely. This caused Strigidæ to drop Foxglove, butmoments later she whacked Feyyanna to the cement, nearly knocking her out.“Okay, you want to be first?? FINE!!” She grabbed Feyyanna now, and was about to biteher—

—when this time, a net fell over her.“RESCUE RANGERS AWAAAYYYY!!” chattered a chipmunk above them, withanother sciurid, two murids, and a muscid yelling the same thing a short distance behindhim.The bats were too stunned to hear the noisy Ranger Wing and Ranger Plane above them,added to the fact that the wind was practically drowning all sound now. And the owl ladywas too concentrated on her prey to even notice the aircraft behind her.“………Dale………” moaned Foxglove, opening her eyes and looking and echosoundingup at her Rescuer, her Comedian, her Goof-up, her Clown, her Klutz, her love, her onlyone.How Dale was able to find them was something he would never know. All he knew wasthat someone was in trouble, in DEEP trouble, and that Foxglove was possibly that one. Itwas almost as if the pain in his chest served as a homing device that led them to this park in Staten Island. And he knew that the pain had something to do with it, for a sharp painshot through his right shoulder just moments before they arrived, even though nothinghad actually hit him there. Or maybe some debris was blown in his direction and hedidn’t notice it until after it hit him. Or, perhaps, he was being guided by ultrasonicsensing abilities he didn’t know he had, or even perhaps by an Unseen Hand. Butwhatever the means, he had found her, and her new “family”, as he deduced the others to

be.The others on the Ranger Plane became totally scared when Zipper told them that Dalehad taken the Ranger Wing and headed southwest. They had no idea where they weregoing or why, so all they could do was hope that Dale had not snapped. Gadget wasactually considering jumping over to the Ranger Wing and disabling it, forcing Dale to



land, but the increasing wind and the thunder in the distance made that idea sound not toogood. She was about to launch grapplers to the Wing when they arrived at the park.“It’s Foxglove!!” chattered Chip, above the wind. “I don’t know how, but Dale foundFoxglove!!” Hope was again raised in the Rangers, hope that maybe this would settle theComedian Issue once and for all, hope that maybe all of this would help Dale and

Foxglove see what they had done to themselves— “And it looks like she and ‘er bat friends need ‘elp!!” added Monterey. Zipper soundedhis bugle call, and they all yelled the Rescue Ranger battlecry, with stiff ears and tails allaround.Both aircraft landed on opposite sides of the chiropterids, and the Rangers jumped out tohelp them. The strigiform hooted in rage and tore at the net that was holding her. Zipper then grabbed a rope and began tying the owl lady with it. Chip, Gadget, and Montereyran to get the pipistrells on the planes, and Dale was about to do the same, but he noticedthat the bubo was tearing though the net now. So, he jumped back on the Ranger Wing,loaded the back gun, and fired a plunger harpoon straight into the owl lady’s right eye.He grabbed the rope and ran toward her, preparing to wrap it around her as well. Strigidæ

hooted in rage as suddenly half of her vision was cut off.“Miserable mice!! I WILL EAT YOU ALL!!” She continued struggling and tearing at thenet and ropes, when Gadget called out,“Dale, Zipper, get out of the way!!” They all turned and saw Gadget having turnedaround the Ranger Plane, pointing it at the owl lady. Dale and Zipper ran to one side, andGadget pulled down a lever. Another net shot from the nose of the Ranger Plane and fellon Strigidæ. Struggling to poke her head out of both nets, she hooted,“YOU’LL BE SORRY YOU MESSED WITH STRIGIDÆ!!” Suction cups don’t stick too well to feathers, but it was surprising to Strigidæ that the plunger would not come off.She gave it a really hard yank, and nearly pulled her eye out. She saw feathers stuck tothe glue on the plunger, incensing her even further. When the strigid did manage to pullher head through the net, Richard, Rosie, and Otis were already on the Ranger Plane,licking their wounds, with Gadget hastily dressing them. Chip and Dale then picked upFeyyanna while Monterey picked up Foxglove, who was having trouble licking her

bleeding shoulder, and they took them to the Ranger Wing. This was going to be a tightfit, and they would need time to take off, because both aircraft were almost overloaded.Monterey began dressing the bats’ wounds while Gadget and Dale activated the motors.Strigidæ continued to tear through the nets and ropes, but by the time she was halfwayfree, both planes were on the air, heading back to the Rangers’ Tree. Since the Ranger Plane had a balloon and carried only five passengers, it was able to fly higher than theRanger Wing. Gadget still remained behind Dale, however, just to make sure he didn’t go

berserk again. But it seemed that they were all safe now. The pain was gone, practically.Dale struggled to keep the Ranger Wing level with all the wind gusting around him, andhe was just about to clear the park—

—when he saw Clarice below him, running into the park.“………Clarice………” he gasped, fear gripping him once more.“STRIGIDAAAAAÆEEEEEEEE!!”All turned and saw/heard Strigidæ, with pieces of torn net and rope around her neck andtalons, flying straight toward them, and making a dive for the heavier Ranger Wing.Gadget looked below her—



“Oh, no!” she cried, finally seeing the chipmunkmaid. “CLARICE!!” On the ground,Clarice heard Strigidæ’s battlecry. She looked up and saw both planes, and the owl ladyas well. Instinct set in and she immediately lowered her ears and tail, whirled around, anddashed back to the edge of the park, on all fours. On the Ranger Wing, Zipper moved tothe gun and fired the last of the nets back at Strigidæ, but the owl lady saw them coming.

And just as she dodged the nets, lightning flashed, enabling her to see another animal below her, running to the edge of the park.“AH!! MORE RODENTS!!” she hooted in delight. So she changed her trajectory andmade a straight dive for Clarice. When Dale saw this, he wanted to scream, butsomething jammed the scream in his throat. Zipper knew he could not fire another dartwithout risking hitting Clarice. Dale knew that too, so his paws were tied as well. Gadgetknew that as well, but she also knew that the owl lady didn’t know that she had incredibleaim. Just as Strigidæ was about to clamp her talons on Clarice, grappler jaws closed on

both of her wings, destabilising her. The strigiform hooted in pain and pulled at the ropesand tried to climb, destabilising the Ranger Plane, but not before one of her talons swipedClarice’s back, tearing her dark blue blouse and nearly tearing her backbone as well. Her

light blue skirt remained intact, fortunately. The chipmunkmaid stumbled and fell, rollinga few times before finally stopping next to a bush, unable to move due to the pain andshock. Gadget fought to keep the craft level, but the owl lady was too strong, and themousemaid felt the plane beginning to spin. This time, however, there was no bubblegum to interfere with the grappler controls. She yanked on a lever, and the ropes let the

plane loose. But she couldn’t regain control. All the occupants of the Ranger Planescreamed as it plunged downward. The ropes wrapped themselves around the owl lady’swings, causing her to fall as well. The wind tossed the Ranger Plane into a bush, poppingthe balloon and effectively rendering it useless, while Strigidæ fell on the dirt about onemetre away from Clarice.“………Gadget………” said Chip, with the name nearly choking in his throat. Dale thenturned and landed the Ranger Wing between Clarice and the downed Ranger Plane. He

jumped out and ran toward the downed chipmunkmaid. Monterey and Zipper jumped/flew off and ran to the Ranger Plane. Just before Chip jumped off, he told the batmaids,“Foxglove, you and your friend stay here! We’ll get the others, and prepare for a tightfit!” Dale, meanwhile, had reached Clarice. Her blouse had a big tear on the back, and hecould see the scratch on her hide bleeding now. It wasn’t too deep, but it looked very

painful, and it made him lay his ears back.“Clarice! Can you get up??” She looked at him for a moment, unable to raise her ears or tail, and replied,“Well, darling, it looks like that’s something I have to do, doesn’t it?” Wincing, sheslowly stood, as Dale steadied her. Foxglove looked and echosounded at this action. Shesaw and heard Dale gently leading Clarice to the Wing, and as her ears drooped, shesuddenly realised that she no longer felt jealous. Or, more correctly put, she no longer feltanything. Her emotions were gone now, save the instinctive one of fear and terror

because of the owl la— “STRIGIDAAAAAÆEEEEEEEE!!” Just as Dale and Clarice were about to get on theRanger Wing, the owl lady hooted again, and she charged at them. Dale then picked upClarice in his arms, and ran off to a bush with her chattering in pain, leaving Foxglove





“Andjusthowpraytellwereyouabletotrackusdownifyouwereundergroundandwewerethreehundredfeetintheair??” Clarice looked angrily into his eyes and explained,“WellifyoumustknowitkindahelpedthatyouwereonlyflyinginonedirectionANDIjusthappenedtosurfaceontherightdrainsattherighttimestomakesureyouwerestillflyingtowardthisplacebutIkindalostyouwhenyouwerecomingdownbutit’snotasifyourplaneisinvisibletoallotherani

malsandjustsoyou’llknowIhaveafriendwho’sapaparazzidefectorandshetaughtmeeverythingsheknewpreciselytofightBACKthepaparazzis!!” Dale’s face took a stunned take for amoment, but only for a moment.“Andjustwhythe#didyoucomehere??ThisisaverydangerousmissionasitisandwealmostfinisheduntilYOUcamealong!!Wecan’tevengetbandagestowrapyouupnow!!” chattered anangry and deceased Comedian.“WellIWASgoingtoinviteyoutoanothernightattheclubbutifyoureallywanttoknowtherealreasonwhyItrackedyoudownisbecauseallIwantedwastobewithYOUstoooopiiiiiiid!!” Dalereeled at that statement, and even laid his ears back.She had come back.And come back to HIM.

THREE TIMES.Because she truly loved him, as Foxglove did.She risked life and limb to be with him, also the same way Foxglove did. Why couldn’tANYONE realise that if they continued to love him they would get tremendously hurt, or worse!!Foxglove, meanwhile, had heard enough chipmunk chatter before, so she was able todecipher the previous conversation. Clarice’s last statement, however, almost brought

jealousy out from her again, and her last insult actually made her feel like defending her male somehow. But again, she knew Dale was no longer her male. Clarice was more

beautiful than she was. Clarice was a chipmunk. Clarice was what Dale needed. Claricewas the one Dale needed to find. Dale had found someone else, or more exactly, someoneelse had found Dale. Their previous life was now truly over. Once this was all over, shewould give him her note, tonight, if possible. Dale needed Clarice— She was now letting go of Dale— “STRIGIDAAAAAÆEEEEEEEE!!” The owl lady was halfway through. “No plant hasever stopped The Guardian from her dinner!! STRIGI—OOOOOOOFFFFFFFFF!!” Her

battlecry was abruptly cut off, for her talons were suddenly knocked from underneath her,and she now lay on her right side.“That’s ‘cause Monterey Jack Colby was not around to stop ye!!” squeaked the Aussie

behind the owl lady, holding a piece of wing from the Ranger Wing, with his ears laid back and his tail tensed. Zipper then began buzzing all around the owl lady’s face, tryingto get her more distracted and disoriented. Strigidæ then swung her wings all around her,

but she could not swat that annoying fly. Over at the Ranger Plane, Gadget was lookingat what her father’s best friend was doing. She then turned back to the verspetilionids andtried to help Otis stand, but a quick calculation made her realise she would take too long.“Chip! Dale! I need help over here!” she squeaked, trying to make herself heard abovethe storm.“Yore frenn’s cawlenn fur heyelp!” relayed Feyyanna. Chip had to think fast.“Claricefromwhatstormdraindidyouenter?!”





“Send ærial recovery units and medical teams for rodents and chiropterids!! We’re beingattacked by a deranged—!”“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!” Clarice’s chattering scream suddenly interruptedFoxglove. The chipmunkmaid, of course, did not hear what the bats were saying, so shewas looking at the others who were coming, and then she saw Strigidæ suddenly turn and

fly straight toward them. With her scream, however, all the mammalslooked/echosounded up and saw/heard the avian above them, and about to swoop downon the second group. All ears and tails laid low and stiff now. Right then, however, a

piece of Ranger Wing wing slammed on Strigidæ’s head, causing her to fall again. Thegroup scattered just before she hit the ground, and she tumbled several times beforestopping, face down, and with her head bleeding. The group immediately reassembledand continued toward the drain. Strigidæ turned, however, and looked back at Monterey,who now grabbed another piece of wing. The owl lady slowly stood; her rage now totallyout of control. Her final choice was this fat mouse.“Okay, fatso, you asked for it!!” and she began walking toward him, spreading her wingsand clacking her beak, with flashes of lightning all around her. But the gusts didn’t seem

to even budge her, not even with her spread wings.“Go a’ead and try it!!” growled Monterey, still with stiff ears and tail. “I once wress’ledwith an African vulture back in Zimbabwe, and I left that bloke featherless!!”“Vultures are GARBAGE COLLECTORS!” she hooted. “I am a GUARDIAN, I AMSTRIGIDÆEEEEE!!”“And I’m ‘Monterey’ Jack Colby, Rescue Ranger!! RESCUE RANGERS AWAY!!”“And I’m Zipper Lightringer, Rescue Ranger!! RESCUE RANGERS AWAY!!” Themammal, the insect, and the avian slowly walked/padded toward each other. At the drain,Chip chattered,“Monty can’t handle that owl lady by himself!! Dale, you and I will go help him,everyone else stay here! Let’s go, Dale!!” As the rodents left, Rosie, with perked up ears,had apparently made contact with another chiropterid in the distance and was speaking inultrasound,“YES, we’re in trouble!!……Fly over here NOW!!……YES, there’s an owl over here,why do you THINK we’re in trouble??” More thunder interrupted her, causing all theverspetilionids to wince and cover their ears. “Get all the help you can, including amedical team!!………NO, WE DON’T HAVE NO TEN # MINUTES!!” She exclaimed,stiffening her ears and tail. She then turned to Foxglove and calmly explained, “I supposethat bats in general aren’t as well organised as the RAS!”Monterey rolled up his sleeves, and Strigidæ jumped, ready to pounce on him. At thatmoment, Chip laid his ears back and fired a plunger, hitting Strigidæ square on her tail.The owl lady’s eyes widened like never before, and she also hooted in a very high pitch.Just as she came down, she covered her tail with her wings, and was about to turn to seewho had done to her this humiliating act. That was all the distraction Monterey needed,so he swung the piece of wing, and knocked the wind out of her. The owl lady doubledover with an immense “OOF”, and Monterey swung again, whacking her face with acrack that was heard even with all the howling wind and booming thunder. The bubo fellon her side, with a cracked beak.“Monty, run!!” chattered Dale.



“Our job ‘ere’s over, mate,” he told Zipper. “Let’s skidaddle!” He dropped the wing, andran to the sewer with the others.Strigidæ slowly came to her senses, as she felt a few heavy raindrops fall on her body.She turned, and had trouble focusing on her dinner, which was running off toward thesidewalk. She had been defeated by MICE, by RODENTS, by PARASITES, by her

PREY, by what she only knew as FOOD. FOOD had outsmarted her and overcome her,and now, she was left on the ground, out of breath, out of strength, and now, out in therain.The rodents and chiropterids slowly climbed down the sewer opening, and the dipteridsimply flew down, just as the rain began. The injured ones had great difficulty in this, soit was sometime before they were all inside and limping next to the foul-smelling river ontheir right. When Monterey finally placed Gadget down next to the rest, everyone

breathed sighs of relief and relaxed their ears and tails, if not just downright droopedthem. The owl lady was defeated, and though they were heavily injured, they were stillalive. Gadget, after discreetly licking herself, had torn what was left of her sleeve andused it as a makeshift bandage on her arm, so her bleeding was stopped. She and

Feyyanna then took Clarice aside and tended to her injury with bandages she’d hastilysnatched up from what was left of the Ranger Wing. Since this required removing her blouse, the males politely turned away and hushed their sonar. Not that it would havemattered, because suddenly a heavy downpour began, echoing and resonating all over thesewer, along with the immensely loud thunder, which had the chiropterids wincing andcovering their ears again. The others also did what they could to groom their ownwounds. A few painful minutes later, Clarice pulled her torn blouse over herself again,

but kept her left paw pressed on the bandage on her back. She then looked at the others,and she too felt relief, along with fatigue. Chip then looked at her and asked, a trifleloudly,“Well, you know your way around these parts! Which way do we go now?!”“Downstream!” she replied, slowly padding up to Dale and leaning on him for support.Too tired to even speak, they all slowly began limping to where Clarice was leadingthem, back to safety. Foxglove noticed again that Dale was holding her steady, much thesame way Feyyanna was steadying her, and that he had his own paw over her injury aswell. No jealousy overcame her now, because she knew Clarice was more injured thanshe was. She was about to comment on something, when the downpour intensified. The

pounding of raindrops and the continuous thunder made the pipistrells feel uneasy because downpours of this kind were very noisy to them, and it was very difficult to tuneout the ultrasound noise along with the electrical explosions, so they avoided flying inthis type of weather. They slowly continued on their way through the sewer, and it wasn’ttoo long before the rodents began feeling uneasy as well. Something wasn’t totally right.They all looked/echosounded around the darkness about them. The tunnel resonatedeerily from the heavy rain and thunder and the splashing of the water coming down intoit, and the river beside them flowing faster and faster and with more and more water— Suddenly all the bats uncovered their ears, stiffened them, and screeched,“WHAAAAATT??”“What what?!” asked Clarice, turning to them in alarm. Richard then relayed what theywere hearing in ultrasound,



“Code 304!! Code 304!! This is Underground Unit Five sounding a 304!! ALL units clear the sewers IMMEDIATELY!! Major cloudburst in progress, flash flood warnings aresounding out from upstream!! All units clear the sewers NOW!! Code 304!! Code 304!!”Ears were laid back and tails stiffened again.“We’ve got to get outta here!!” chattered Chip. They looked and echosounded all around

them, but all the exits were practically waterfalls now. Gadget made another quick calculation, and squeaked,“From the intake and absorption rates, this tunnel will be flooded in four minutes and49.5 seconds, unless the rain suddenly stops, which is highly unlikely, since cloudburstsgenerally last—!!”“A side tunnel!” moaned Otis, waving a heavy wing to an opening up ahead. “I don’thear water coming down as heavily from there!” Clarice chattered,“That’s because that’s the drain that picks up runoff from the middle of the park!! If wego in there, we’ll emerge back in the park with that crazy owl lady!!”“We can’t go any other way!” chattered Dale.“Too right!! But even so, I left ol’ Striggy out of commission out there! And e’en if she

did recover, she must ‘ave looked for shelter already!!” added Monterey.“We have no choice!” chattered Chip. “We have to get out through there!!” With whatlittle strength they had left, the group shuffled faster to the side tunnel, and made their way to the first drain as fast as they could. When they got there, a waterfall was alreadyforming, so Monterey climbed up first to help the others. When he emerged, he lookedaround for the owl lady. All he could see was gusting grey rain all around, soaking him tohis hide, whipping and pushing down his ears and tail. It was dark now, and the park lights were on, but that didn’t help much, even with the lightning flashes. It was a trifledifficult to breathe with all the humidity and all the rain whipping and splashing back upto him, but he figured that if he couldn’t see, hear, or smell the owl lady, the owl ladywould not see, hear, or smell him, though he wasn’t sure in which part of the park he wassince he couldn’t see the remains of planes anywhere. Finally, he called down,“All clear, mates!!” Zipper flew out first and had to perch himself on Monterey’sshoulder. Being a fly, the rain hit him hardest, and he felt it almost like boulderssmashing on him, so Monterey’s head and leather helmet helped shield him somewhat. Itwas very difficult to get Gadget, Clarice and the bats out; they were practicallyswimming up a waterfall. But with Chip and Dale hoisting them up in a relay, and withMonterey pulling them outside, it was accomplished, finally. Chip and Dale were the lastones out just as the main sewer overflowed, and by this time everyone was drenched, andall had limp ears and tails.“We’d better get home fast or we’ll get hypothermia!” squeaked Gadget, trying to makeherself heard above the cloudburst.“Other bats called in and said they would help us!” screeched Rosie. “I just hope they’reable to detect us!” They weren’t that far from another sidewalk, so they padded toward itas quickly as their fatigued and injured bodies allowed, with Clarice and Dale in the leadagain, all remaining close in order to counterbalance the occasional wind gusts. As theydid, Foxglove echosounded all around, trying to get her bearings, but she couldn’t hear or smell anything specific because of the unbelievably heavy wind, rain and thunder. Shethen took a deep breath and screeched her lungs out in ultrasound, causing the other chiropterids to wince a trifle.



“Hey! Yew doen’ hayave tew YEYELL!!”“But the owl lady could still be out here!! All I was trying to do was make aechosounding!”“Foxy, NONE of us can hear a thing with this storm!!” screeched Richard. “And if wecan’t hear, neither can that owl lady, IF she’s still out here!” So, they continued to limp

and struggle toward the sidewalk. The verspetilionids still tried to echosound their way, itwas an instinct, but all they got was “static”. Finally, they were at the sidewalk. Theystopped there, trying to figure out how to cross the street and the rivers that ran along itsedges. Finally, Chip chattered,“All right, this is what we’ll do! We’ll need everyone to grab hold of everyone else, andwe’ll have to make a dash to the other side, as quickly as we can! I know we’re all tiredand hurt, but we can’t relax until we find shelter!! All I ask is that you give it all just onemore time, and then we’re home free!! There’s no traffic right now, so I don’t think we’llget interrupted!! I’m going to see where the water is narrowest!!” Chip turned and paddedto the edge of the sidewalk— “STRIGIDAAAAAÆEEEEEEEE!!” For one brief moment, Chip wondered how the owl

lady that swooped in front of him was able to fly, not only with wet feathers, but alsowith all the rain weighing her down as well, not to mention all the wind— Reflexively, Chip fell back and was able to dodge Strigidæ, almost. Almost, because onetalon did made a deep gash on his right thigh, causing him to chatter in excruciating pain.“………Chip………” squeaked Gadget, almost inaudibly. Chip also hit the back of hishead on the sidewalk, and that caused him to drop the plunger-harpoon.“Gotta fly—” moaned Richard. Strigidæ then hovered a bit, and prepared to move herself

back on Chip so she could sink her talons into his body— Richard suddenly kicked Strigidæ’s face, stunning her again. As she backed down,Richard grabbed the lapels of Chip’s jacket and tried to ascend as another gust blew, butthe avian slapped down on him again, smashing both mammals on the cement. The owllady opened one foot and— A stone bounced off her skull, and then another. Strigidæ turned and saw Rosie bendingdown to pick up another missile with one wing while pressing the bandage on her sidewith the other. She decided to fly after her. When Rosie heard her, however, she was alsoabout to take off, but just as Strigidæ spread her wings, another plunger dart stuck to her face. This time, it was Dale who had picked up the plunger-harpoon when the owl ladyhad been distracted. As Strigidæ struggled to pull the final plunger off her cracked beak,Dale tossed his empty weapon to Clarice, charged at Strigidæ, and gave another double-

paw blow on the owl lady’s face, nearly knocking her over. Taking this as their cue,Monterey and Zipper also charged the strigiform. As Zipper tried to poke Strigidæ’s eyes,Monterey squeaked,“Gadget luv! Get everyone outta ‘ere NOW!!” The mousemaid had no time to ponder onthe sacrifice her three friends were doing, though her chest connected with her throat atthis point. As the two rodents and the dipterid continued beating up the owl lady, Gadget,Feyyanna, and Rosie helped Chip and Richard stand, while Foxglove helped her adopted

brother. Shuffling as fast as they could, they were about to jump off the sidewalk— Strigidæ finally yanked off the plunger dart when she saw her prey escaping yet again.“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! STRIGIDAAAAAÆEEEEEEEE!!” she hooted. A back-wing sent Dale reeling behind the owl lady. An incredibly fast double wing combo punch



sent Monterey and Zipper to a puddle one metre from her. Dale, however, jumped back on her and sank his incisors on her left wing. The bubo hooted in pain, and withunbelievable rage, gave another wing punch right on the tamias’ red nose. With feathersand blood in both his mouth and nose, Dale fell off the owl lady, nearly knocked out aswell as horrible pain seared through his snout and upper jaw. Chip, meanwhile, had

recovered just enough to see this last action. He saw his best friend on the ground, andthe blood on his face and the fact that Dale’s nose appeared to have shifted a bit remindedhim once again of Rocky Balboa. He almost expected Dale to say with a slurred voice,“Yo Mick—she broke my nose—how’s it look?” And he would reply, with a gruff voice,“Ahh, it’s an improvement.”But no.

Neither Chip nor anyone else would ever hear any movie quotes from Dale ever again.Strigidæ turned and was about to kill Dale right there and no one could do a thing to stopher— The plunger-harpoon smashed itself on her head, causing even more bleeding. Theweapon shattered and the pieces fell off the avian down to the sidewalk. Dale stopped

looking at his now slightly crooked and bleeding nose when he heard,“Hey, you STOOPID owl!!” Strigidæ slowly turned, and saw Clarice standing in front of her, with her injured back to the park, struggling to keep her balance with the suddengusts blowing around her. “YES, I’m talking to YOU, you miserable vulture!!” Her earsand tail were as stiff as steel. The sciurid then kicked water at the strigid, sending wavesof pain up her own back. Strigidæ was now so infuriated that any hint of logicalreasoning was now completely replaced by pure rage and predatory instinct at this point.Clarice continued her insults as she backed off into the park, “Why don’t you come andget ME now?? Come ON!! You think you’re so BAD?? Just TRY to eat me now!!” Shekept on kicking water at Strigidæ, and as she padded off the cement and into the mud, shereached down and threw some mud at the owl lady as well, trying to ignore her horrible

pain without much success. “Come and get me, you buzzard!! Everyone tells me I look delicious, why don’t you find out for yourself??” Clarice thought she saw other animalson the other side of the street, but the rain was still too heavy to make them out. Shedidn’t have time to, either. Dale, meanwhile, couldn’t believe his ears. Clarice wastaunting the owl lady away from him and was practically killing herself in order to savehis life— This had gone far enough.He would make sure he did not receive this kind of attention, or affection, anymore. He

painfully stood and— “STRIGIDAAAAAÆEEEEEEEE!!”The owl lady took off once again.Clarice laid her ears back, turned and ran on all fours as fast as she could, no matter hownumbingly painful it was to her. She was running toward a hole in the base of a treeahead of her, but Strigidæ was too swift. Since Clarice kept glancing behind her, sheknew when to lay flat on the mud, right when Strigidæ passed over her. Immediately,Clarice turned and ran again to another tree, away from Dale. The avian turned as welland made another dive. Once more she opened her talons and was ready to sink them intothis chipmunkmaid—



Otis suddenly flew across her and swooped Clarice off the ground. Why he had suddenlydecided to do this was something he would never know. But fuelled by panic for Dale’sfriend and rage against this lunatic avian, Otis decided to ignore his head injury, his limpears and tail, the unbearably heavy rain, the wind gusts, the lightning, his flailing head

bandage, and his own safety to try to save her. Her sudden weight almost knocked him

unconscious, as he felt his brain was almost yanked to his foot-paws. And with the rain,he was now carrying some four times as much payload than he had ever carried before,and all the wind made his flying very erratic. Clarice was nearly knocked out as well, ashis sudden yank sent a huge shock of pain all down her back. Strigidæ, naturally, turnedagainst Otis again, and this time, nothing was going to stop her.Dale saw all of this happen in just a few seconds, and for that time, which to him was aneternity, he felt completely helpless. His leader was down, all the personnel was almostout of commission as well, and he himself was barely conscious and had run out of ideas.Foxglove, meanwhile, had also heard her adopted brother do this crazy stunt, whichalmost reminded her of Dale’s old antics. She knew Otis could not fly fast enough toreach any kind of safety, much less with Clarice hanging below him, as well as all the

rain weighing him down, and she, too, was out of ideas.“………Otis………”

Dale suddenly turned and looked at her.She turned and saw him, too, and heard him as well.They were standing right next to each other.And they looked/echosounded into each other’s eyes— And saw/heard—

Nothing.The spark within them was gone.Dead.Even their handsome/beautiful features appeared to have died, too. All they saw andheard was drooped ears and tails, matted fur, bleeding injuries, cracked bones, andsunken and glazed eyes.Their scents had also been altered by the rain, not to mention the adrenaline and the firststages of hypothermia.The woody/nutty/bubble-gummy/chocolaty scent was dead.The night-misty scent was dead.She saw, heard, and smelled a wet and wounded chipmunk.He saw and smelled a wet and wounded batmaid.And nothing else.Dale was dead.Foxglove was dead.It was all over.

And then, from out of the grave, the tiniest spark lit up in Dale’s eyes.Their friends needed help NOW.And that spark surfaced through a memory that had been suppressed in the deepest anddarkest corner of Dale’s mind. A memory that he considered cubbish, as well asdangerous, since it originally came from the random mind of a random Goof-up; from a



plan that was made unexpectedly and instantaneously, and hence, hazardous toeveryone’s health, despite the fact that it had actually worked in defeating evil before.But there was no other choice now. They had to save Otis and Clarice.With a dramatic lightning flash and wind gust, the faintest spark of randomness ailed asDale painfully spat out some blood, stiffened his ears and tail, and sinisterly repeated

himself,“Now it’s time to play HARDBALL.”

Otis couldn’t fly fast enough, much less in a straight line. He was out of energy, his bandage had fallen off, his wings felt as if they were going to fall off, his consciousnesswas unstable, his head felt like it was going to explode, and unless a miracle happenedright now, he and Clarice would fall, if the owl lady didn’t catch them first. When heheard Strigidæ right above him, he braced for the end. The bubo slowly closed her talonsaround the pipistrell, but she was only able to slightly gash his sides. A chipmunk suddenly fell on the owl lady’s neck, and though he couldn’t get a chokehold, the way hewas hanging on was destabilising her. Furthermore, another bat, with very stiff ears and

tail, was somehow flapping around her wings, creating air pockets and making her loseher lift, and was very much succeeding where the wind had failed. Otis and Claricealmost fell, but he continued flying, trying to reach a bush or a tree. He then heard,“Hang on!! We’re coming!!” in ultrasound, though very weakly because of all the windand rain and thunder. He echosounded up, and was barely able to detect morechiropterids heading his way. Though he was now bleeding from his sides, he caught hissecond wind and flew erratically toward the edge of the park.“STRIGIDAAAAAÆEEEEEEEE!!” With one final burst of energy, Strigidæ shotupward, shaking Dale off her back. Her wet feathers were too slippery, but he thensuddenly grabbed a piece of rope that was still tangled around the owl lady. The strigidfelt the yank, but it only took one nip from her beak for the sciurid to fall again. Foxglovewas quick enough to catch him before he accelerated too much.“Now what?” she asked, trying to keep her ears from drooping, and trying to ignore theunbelievable pain in her shoulder, which increased as she continued moving it; the

bandage having long fallen off as well. The rain kept pushing her down, along withDale’s heavier muscles, and with all the wind gusts she had to draw strength from who-knows-where just to hold her position. Dale then looked up and saw Strigidæ stillclimbing, obviously about to make one final dive for Otis and Clarice: the coup-de-grace.“Climb!!” he painfully chattered, spitting out more blood and shaking the rain from hiseyes, also trying to keep his ears up. “Climb, climb, CLIMB!!”Strigidæ difficultly reached the desired height of her dive, and looked down. A lightningflash showed that the other bat and chipmunk were gone, and all that was left was thefirst bat and chipmunk, who were descending and headed for a tree.Her rage was now totally beyond measure.She started her dive.A lightning flash enabled Otis to see her, and another gust helped him make an about-face, to try to shake her off.Too late, Strigidæ was already locked on her target. She turned as well, and her diveaccelerated.



As she closed her talons over Otis again, her hoot of triumph, her battlecry, rang abovethe storm,“STRIGID————!!”Foxglove had dived on her as well, almost mirroring the owl lady’s attack angle.Right before the batmaid collided, she made a summersault and flung the chipmunk

toward the owl lady.Dale then raised his arms, and right as he came down on Strigidæ, he smashed his elbowson the back of her neck.And as Foxglove turned back around again, she made a double-kick right on Strigidæ’shead, right when Dale hit her, effectively breaking the owl lady’s neck, and cutting off her battlecry.Strigidæ flapped her wings awkwardly, but Dale was grabbing on to her again, by theneck. She was out of control and falling fast, she couldn’t lift her head, she couldn’tglide, she couldn’t slow down, she fell, fell, fell— The shock of the kick sent Foxglove reeling as well, and she, too, fluttered to the ground,though not as fast as the owl lady.

Dale was hanging on for dear life, though he knew it was futile. He would die with theowl lady, but at least his friends were safe, and no one would have to be hurt in anyway because of him anymore— —because the curse would die with him, finally.Strigidæ fell.Dale fell.Foxglove fell.Otis fell.Clarice fell.And darkness fell on all of them…

THE DEAD AND DYING

The pounding of heavy rain, weighing down all ears and tails…The roar of heavy rain as well…The howling of the wind…The random flash of lightning that filtered through heavy eyelids…The crack of thunder above…The scent of water and mud below…The feel of mud and wet fur all over…The taste of dirt, water, feathers, and blood…The shivering as hypothermia continued to set in…And the feeling of PAIN…So much, in fact, that they could feel every single raindrop smashing painfully on their

bodies, as well as the resounding booms of the thunderclaps, not to mention eachinvoluntary muscle twitch as their bodies quivered.Dale, Foxglove, Otis, and Clarice slowly opened their misted eyes.Dale raised his sore head a little, painfully spitting out some feathers, mud and bloodfrom his mouth.



Foxglove coughed out some water, sending shocks through her right shoulder and fiveother joints as well.Otis’ consciousness faded in and out for a moment, before finally settling in.Clarice would have normally liked cool water over her injury, but right now, the heavyraindrops were getting very annoying.

Slowly and with great pain, all turned and looked/echosounded at the owl lady, who waslit by yet another flash of lightning.She was with her feet up in the air, her wings at her sides, and her head quite plastered onthe cement, with rainwater washing away the blood that was coming out of it. Strigidæ’sright foot twitched momentarily, and then it went limp.The Great Strigidæ, Lady and Guardian Of The Park, was dead.She had fallen headfirst on the cement path, near the edge, and Dale had been throwndown to the mud next to the cement. He slowly stood, with his ribs grinding within him,as well as all his muscles protesting, and with the rain washing away the mud and bloodfrom his body. He fought as he tried not to moan, aside from trying to keep hisconsciousness on line as well.

Foxglove had fallen on the cement next to the owl lady. She could only use her left wingto stand now, though her chest muscles were now completely powerless. Her rightshoulder, left wrist, both knees, left ankle, and neck screamed messages of injury to her

brain.Otis had fallen with Clarice some distance away, but still on the cement path. He slowly

bent over and licked his sides for a moment, and stood, also with his pectorals out of commission. He almost fell back down as a sudden dizziness overpowered him. Hefought it, and almost lost, and then focused on the chipmunkmaid next to him.Clarice now had scraped knees and right elbow. Her back was very much killing her, or at least assaulting her. She too, stood, with Otis’ help.And all looked/echosounded at their deed.Dale and Foxglove, panting exhaustedly, looked and echosounded at each other, and feltashamed. The Husband and Wife would have never deliberately killed another creature,even to save another. Both were truly dead.But even with the Comedian and the Clown gone, they realised, danger was still allaround them…Otis painfully padded toward Dale and Clarice toward Foxglove, with more wind gustsnearly knocking them over. The others were coming behind them now; all with limp earsand tails, all being slowed down by increasing arthritis and the onset of hypothermia andall the wind, and all were completely incredulous as to what had happened.Otis wasn’t too sure of what to make of this. This was certainly not the first time he hadseen and heard death, but it was the first time he had seen and heard someone impose it.And the fact that it had been the sister he loved was a trifle more than what he couldfathom.Clarice had plenty of moments in her life in which she actually felt like killing someone,

but she had kept enough sense to always hold herself back. And because she knew thatthe chipmunk she loved was a crime fighter, she had previously tried to convince herself that this came with the job: killing the bad guys as a last resort. She had seen plenty of movies to support that theory, but now, seeing it actually happen in front of her had lefther totally numb. The male she had fallen in love with was capable and willing to take



another life, in the name of justice, or survival, at least. She did not know what she feltabout Dale anymore, or so she thought.Chip was speechless. The Comedian he knew would have never done this. If so, then theComedian died back at Fat Cat’s lair, when Dale threatened Fat Cat that he would killhim if he tried anything else against Foxglove. He knew, he finally knew, that the Goof-

up and Klutz and Clown and Comedian they all knew and loved was gone forever, withthis final action throwing the switch, signing the death certificate, and sealing the tomb.He looked at the most beautiful mus in the world again, who happened to be supportinghim because of his massive leg injury. Her beautiful headfur still looked beautiful evenwhen it hung in soaked strands. Her ears were still cute even though they hung limp onthe sides of her head. Her pained blue eyes were as loveable as ever. The eyes looked

back at him.Gadget never considered killing as a logical option, not even as a final one, even whenshe herself felt such fury and it was possible that they, that she may have pushed Daleinto doing this, after all they pain that they, that she caused him besides the fact that theowl lady tried to kill them all but she must have had her reasons as illogical as they may

have been, in which case they could have sent a larger team here and subdued her somehow and then taken her to a mental institution or some place where she could behelped, or detained, at least, and if they couldn’t then there had to be another way butnow it was too late because a life was lost so all of them could live and she couldn’t doanything about it and what pained her most of all was that this was the life that she hadchosen, this is what it meant to be a Rescue Ranger, this was the life that awaited her family— She looked at the most handsome tamias in the world.He was right.There was NO WAY she wanted her cubs to live through this.Monterey, with a swollen and bleeding face, came up holding Zipper on his shoulder,who now sported a small crack on his right facial exoskeleton. And both could not

believe that Dale actually had it in him to do something like this. This was somethingthey expected from RamDale, a pre-fabricated personality, but never from Dale’s ownheart. But he had killed the Entertainment Expert, and the Goof-up, and the Klutz, andthe Clown, and the Comedian.Hastahah had killed Segoleh.This was just a culmination of all the previous executions. Dale was most definitely dead.Feyyanna, Richard, and Rosie came up last, with all bandages gone now. They, too, sawand heard what happened, and they didn’t know how to feel. Seeing and hearingFoxglove suddenly taking off with Dale hanging from her foot-paws, despite her injuryand the heavy rain, was shocking enough, but this………this…The pipistrell couple wondered if they should feel proud now that all of the other chiropterid families who were killed by this owl lady were finally avenged, by a daughter of a victim, nonetheless. But they didn’t feel happy.They felt scared.Would other owls hear of this and try to take vengeance on them now?As they all approached the dead owl lady, some mice of an RAS medical team ran upfrom behind them, as well as another flock of bats.



Dale painfully padded off the mud and back on the cement, and limped toward Otis,wincing as several ribs ground together within him, highlighting the pain in his upper snout. Foxglove limped toward Clarice, with her right wing hanging uselessly at her side.Otis saw and heard a muddy and bloody chipmunk, with sunken eyes and cheeks thatalmost reminded him of a skull.

Clarice knew Foxglove was beautiful, but now, she looked too much like some charactersin some horror flicks she saw a while back…“Otis, please take care of Foxy! She’s very special, and she’s great and everythin’,

perhaps——you deserve her more than me!” Even speaking was incredibly painful for Dale now, with his upper jaw almost numb from the horrible pain. And his voice wasslow, hoarse, almost as if he were speaking from beyond the grave. The rain, wind, andthunder weren’t helping much, either. Otis took a moment to register what Dale said, andtook another moment to reply,“Dale, don’t say that! You two just risked your lives to save us! That—is sayingsomething!” They had to speak loud enough to make themselves heard above the rain,

but even their vocal strength was rapidly fading.

“I know! But I can’t take her back, not now, not ever! It’s all over between us! It’s allgone now!”“Dale, you need to get back together!! You will die if you don’t!! And she will, too!!”Otis almost fainted from his exertions.“Otis, I died the night she was kidnapped! I’m not Dale Segoleh anymore, I’m DaleHastahah!” The bat wasn’t too sure what the chipmunk meant by that, but he knew that itcouldn’t be anything good. Meanwhile, the batmaid finally met the chipmunkmaid.“You’re Foxglove?! Pleased to meet you, honey!” she was finally able to say, despite the

present circumstances, as she tried to stop her body from quivering.“And you’re Clarice!” she replied, also quivering. “I hear you’re a good friend of Dale’s!Please don’t think of me as rude, but I can’t shake your paw right now! All my joints arekilling me, just like the rest of my body!”“Foxglove, don’t talk that way! I’m sure you will recover if you and Dale just—!”“Clarice, we can’t get back together! It’s too late now! You, however, seem like someonehe could like very very much!” The chipmunkmaid sighed,“Foxy, I love Dale too, yes, but I also know when someone loves him more than I ever could! You need each other, Foxy!!”“We need-ED each other, but it’s all over now! We’ve changed too much to even try toget back together—we—realised that the other night! And tonight—well—we wereconfirmed of that!!”“Because you killed the owl lady?!”“Because we killed a living creature, Clarice! I have never felt so much anger at oneanimal—ever! She——she did kill my parents—but it wasn’t just that! Even when shethreatened to kill us, I never wanted to kill her, until everything just started happening sofast and—and——that’s when I knew—that Foxglove was dead!” Clarice had to think fast. She had to save them both from self-destruction, but what— “Say Foxglove, if I could get you two back together, will you promise me to be good tohim?!”“Clarice, it can’t happen! We’ve already talked, and——it’s impossible!”“But have you tried all the options?!”



“What else could we try?! There’s no way we can resurrect our old selves now!” Claricesighed. She lowered her voice so only Foxglove could hear her. It still didn’t matter,

because all the present weather was drowning them out to the point that even Otis couldnot hear them. Also, all throats were getting hoarse from all the yelling. Even their

beautiful and soothing voices had been destroyed.

“Have you tried………?!” Foxglove echosounded at her, uneasy.“No—! But—how can that work if it didn’t work on me before?!”“We’ll try a different approach! And if it fails, I myself will pay for your funerals, your REAL funerals! You two are dying NOW, and only YOU TWO can save each other!” Itfinally hit her. Foxglove felt like crying again, but this time, she knew why she couldn’tcry. This time, the rain appeared to help a bit, as it washed her eyes, along with everyoneelse’s. The faintest spark in her eyes now lit up, still ailing, though. Her ears twitched a

bit as they tried to perk up,“Clarice, I love him so much—I want him back! What you suggest may be very far fetched, but—but——Clarice, I’m dying! We’re both dying! Please, help us!” Thechipmunkmaid smiled.

“Wait, then, until we recover a bit! You’ll need to get ALL of your strength back in order to do this!!” They all turned and limped back to the others, and no one knew if they werequivering from nervousness, fear, hypothermia, sudden imbalance brought by the wind,or all of the above.Dale and Foxglove crossed paths one more time.They looked/echosounded at each other as they did.Sadness.Despair.Hopelessness.Death.And yet, one glimmer of faith, of hope against hope, within one certain chiropterid…The groups parted, with Richard, Rosie, Foxglove, Feyyanna, and Otis padding towardthe other bats, and Clarice and the Rescue Rangers padding toward the RAS medicalteam.And both groups parted their ways and painfully padded out of the park, with arthritiscoming back on them with a vengeance as it was highlighted by the hypothermal shivers,as the rain continued to pour down on them…

THE DEAD AND DYING: SWANSONG

Dale was one more time in The Nutshell. He was sitting at a table right in front of thestage, with a thimble and a bottle of walnut extract in front of him (the bottle having beenoriginally part of a small spice rack for humans). And he appeared to be rather depressedabout something. It wasn’t the fact that his upper torso still had a brace to keep his ribsimmobilised (though his dark grey shirt was concealing it well), or that he had a strangelooking brace on his snout. The fact was that he had been practically dragged to come tothis place again, at the insistence of all of his friends. His only companion at this timewas a pink-orange nightingale who wore a lavender Chinese shirt with matching hat.“Not enjoyeeng youah-serf, ahh you?” asked Chirp Sing, with his high pitched voice, andslow and paused Chinese accent.



“Not much to enjoy, if you knew myself as much as I did,” he replied coldly, staring intospace. The pain in speaking had left a few weeks back, but it was still just a trifleuncomfortable.“You ahh-a-steer upset about that—eenceedent weeth the owr rady, Friend Dayre?” Therodent hushed for a moment, ignored the mispronunciation of his name, looked away

from the paseriform, and replied,“I—suppose I am. But I’m more upset because you came here expectin’ a weddin’, and— well, we couldn’t give you one. Chirp, I’m sorry you came all the way here for nothin’.”“Werr, I’r just ret you-a-know that on my way heah, I deed heah the news of the—

postponed weddeeng. And ‘or’ the moah reason I deed-a-hurry. When Friend Cheep tordme what happened, I just couldn’t reave weethout—herping a friend fihst.”“Thanks, Chirp, but—I’m afraid there’s nothin’ you can do to help. The weddin’s off, meand Foxy broke up, we’re feelin’ very miserable right now, and—you’re stuck in themiddle of it. And—of course, there’s the owl lady.” Chirp sighed.“Rook, I know you-a-feer upset, but no one’s—brameeng you.” Dale just downedanother thimbleful. “Even the New Yohk—Streegeefoahm Councir ees not-a-brameeng

you. Deedn’t Friend Cheep ter you?” Dale sighed,“Yes, he told me.”“I mean, you’ahh practeecary a—heero to the Councir. Streegeedæ was an owr radyweeth-a-tweested views—concehneeng predatohs and prey, and she even attacked othahowrs foh—deesagreeing weeth hah. After hah—expursion from the Councir, she hadowrs foh-a-enemees!” The chipmunk put his thimble down,“Look, Chirp, I heard all of her background, and I even got a Thank You letter from theStrigiform Council, but it still doesn’t make me feel better.” The nightingale leanedcloser and insisted,“Friend Dayre, the owr rady was a menace to both—predatah and prey. She ate onry half of what she-a-caught, wheech eencruded othah owrs! She was-a-eensane!”“Then we should have helped her, somehow!!” exclaimed the mammal, flashing angryand slightly glazed eyes at the avian. “We should have rescued her from herself!! We— we—I failed as a Rescue Ranger———again.” The luscinia replied calmly,“You weh’en’t the-a-onry one goeeng against the owr rady, Friend Dayr. And you deed-a-manage to rescue Friend Foxgrov, and the othahs as wer. Pe’haps you deed-a-notrescue ‘or’ of them, but you do-a-know now that Streegeedæ was—beyond herp. Andyou arso know of how—much troubre she caused at the—Eensteetution een Arbany.”The tamias looked down for a moment. Even with all the information Chip managed tofind out about Strigidæ, it still was not enough to comfort him,“I shouldn’t have killed her. I didn’t want to. I mean, am I the only one who regrets this?”“Eet seems that the othahs—regret thees as wer. And the Streegeeform Councir eesn’texactry haveeng a—pahty ovah thees, Friend Dayre. But, accoahdeeng to them, youdeed-a-predatohs, prey, and the States of—New Yohk and New Jehsey a pubric sehvice.And you deedn’t exactry—huht theah pride, eithah, because eet-a-deed take—ten prey tokeer a predatah. Friend Dayre, eet was she who—eensurted the Streegeeforms’ honoh,

by-a-hah wohds and actions, and by-a-takeeng the Streegeedæ name for hah-serf.” Chirpcocked his head and pondered out loud for a moment, “Then again, weeth a name rike‘Ima’, I am-a-not suhprised she—decided to change eet—” Dale shivered when theconcept of “name change” was thrust in his face again.



“Chirp, please,” he said, rather sternly, and looking at him likewise.“Sahry.” They both hushed for a moment, as Dale poured himself another thimble andlooked blankly into space again. Chirp spoke again, “Theah ees-a-sometheeng erse,eesn’t eet?” The mammal said nothing. “Friend Dayre, an ord Chinese—provahb saysthat-a-rejecteeng rovv can be—hazahdous to youah hearth.” Oh, great, here we go again,

“So can being a klutz, Chirp. I can’t put Foxy or the Rangers through that anymore.Didn’t the others tell you why I did what I did?” With urgency in his eyes, the avianreplied,“But Friend Dayre, you deedn’t-a-mess up thees time! You deed-a-what you had to doto—save youah friends, weethout fooring around. Eet may-a-have been a rast resoht, andI’m-a-cehtainry not—happy about eet, but you-a-rescued youah friends!”“Sure, but I’ve never had to do that at the expense of another life before, have I?!”“Friend Dayre, thees-a-was onry one—event!”“No! Don’t you get it? I was about to do it the night Foxy and I broke up!! I’m—I’m amonster. I can’t have someone I love be in constant danger. That’s why I let her go, andwhy I killed the Klutz and the Comedian—and Segoleh.” Chirp Sing remembered what

he thought about himself before he met Dale. This was certainly something he couldrelate to.“No one’s—proud of what-a-happened. But even now that-a-you’ve queet being a— Krutz and a Comeedeean, dangah nevah reft you, oh hah. Dangah weer—arways be-a-weeth you, and hah as wer. I mean, do you-a-know how much--dangah I went through

just to-a-get heah?”“Chirp, I know that. But that’s not the only reason I did what I did. I’m also afraid of what will happen to my cub and grandcub—later on—”“You—worry about the futah weethout-a-knoweeng what eet ees, Friend Dayre?“Trust me, Chirp, I know the future. And—I know you went through a lot yourself, butwhat’s upsettin’ me right now is that you did it all for nothin’—kinda like me and Foxy.”“Oh, I-a-don’t know. I came to—see a weddeeng, and that’s what I am-a-goeeng to see

befoah I reave.”“If you’re referrin’ to me and Foxglove, you’re in for a disappointment. Chirp, nothin’can get us back together. Not even love. I mean, I love her to death, but there’s just noway that it can happen.” He looked blankly into the distance, “Not now, not ever.”“Then why deed-a-youah friends—breeng you heah?”“Because they’re goin’ to try one last time to get us back together, and they took advantage of you happenin’ to arrive at this very convenient moment to try to convinceme as well to get back with her. And it’s not goin’ to work because me and Foxy alreadydecided.” This sciurid seemed to be a trifle smarter than the last time the turdid saw him.“Rea-ree? Ah you-a-suah Friend Foxgrov ees-a-not goeeng to—try anytheeng?” Dalelooked down a trifle,“Nothin’ she tries will work. Nothin’ has, and nothin’ will.”“Then-a-maybe you’ah een foh a—suhprise, Friend Dayre.” Dale said nothing…

Just inside on stage right, Foxglove stood quietly by herself, scanning the stage. Severalweeks had passed since that horrible night, and most of that time they had spent it in thehospital. That was the worst Fourth of July she had ever been in. She was hoping that thisyear would be the first Fourth of July with her husband. She had hoped of having a huge



outdoor celebration as well. Instead, she had to spend it indoors; and what was worse, her new friends also spent it indoors so they could be with her, to “comfort” her in theserough times. No, she did not need comfort. All it did was hurt others and rob them of their precious time. They had been released only two days ago, with her sore throat goneand her pectorals back on line, but her joints still ached quite a bit, and her ears would

still not perk up. It would be a while before she would fly again, as her right shoulder, leftwrist, and both knees were still wrapped with bandages, though her neck was free of braces thanks to the chiropractor. But then, she wasn’t sure if she would fly again. Shehad finally realised that both she and Dale were deteriorating fast and sinking more andmore into depression. And even with all the medication, she knew that their time was

beginning to run out. Now, this last attempt to win back the love of her life was all shehad left. It all seemed so impossible, even though she had read the lyrics and rehearsedthe song over and over. They were very intense, but would it be enough to get throughDale?“Ready?” asked Clarice, coming up behind her. For a moment, Foxglove was startled

because she did not hear her until the last moment.

“Huh? What? Um, yes, I think…”“Hey, Foxy, don’t worry. You rehearsed the song excellently. You’re going to be great!”Foxglove looked and echosounded into her eyes and asked,“Well, you and the others sing great, too. But Clarice, are you sure this is going towork?” Clarice gently placed her right paw on her uninjured shoulder. Her eyes welledup a bit, her ears drooped, and her tail twitched as she replied,“Foxy, I know it’s going to work—because—because—I was going to sing that song toDale, and the backup one in case the first one failed. But you love and need Dale morethan I ever could. That’s why I gave these songs to you.” Foxglove scanned her newfriend, and sighed,“Thank you, Clarice. Whether this works or not, thank you. If it works, wonderful, if not,well, I won’t be surprised. But still, thank you.” Clarice felt a touch of panic atFoxglove’s fatalism. Fortunately for her, Chip padded up, slowly, because his right thighwas still bandaged,“Foxy, we’re doing this for you and Dale. You need this. Please don’t lose hope.” Shelooked and echosounded back at the stage (her eyes also slightly glazed), and looked andechosounded at the most handsome chipmunk in the world. Pain began forming onceagain inside her chest. In all the rehearsals she and the others did this past week, sheseemed so lifeless when she sang the song, even with all the others backing her up,including Clarice. Maybe it was because they had done some of the rehearsals at thehospital. But with all the changes both she and Dale had gone through, she truly doubtedif this was going to affect him in any way. She then turned to Richard, Rosie, Otis, andFeyyanna, who were also backstage, as well as the other Rangers. All ears were up andall tails were twitching.“We’yere awl heyer fer yew, Sess.”“Too right! Whatever ‘appens, we’re right behind ye, lass!”“If it almost worked on you, it will work on him,” added Otis.“Dale’s in for a big treat!” buzzed Zipper “Hey, I wish this song had come out when I was dating Rosie!” said Richard.



“And with the orchestrations we prepared, it should work with no p—” Everyone gaspedagain, all ears fell, and all tails stopped moving. This time, Gadget was quick enough tohold her tongue. She blushed a trifle, and corrected herself, “I mean: ‘without incident’.”Everyone sighed in relief, bringing all ears back up again.“Just go out there, and sing right to his heart. We know you’ll get him,” added Rosie.

Foxglove echosounded at them all for a moment, and replied disturbingly weakly,“Thanks. Thank you all.” She then turned and echosounded at the audience, and sighed…

The emcee came up from stage left again, and as he did, the turdid said,“I’r reave you—arone with-a-youah thoughts foh now,” and he stood and hopped away,leaving the sciurid by himself. Dale wasn’t too sure what Chirp meant by this, nor was heenthusiastic enough to find out. The emcee announced with low ears and tail, and aslightly serious tone,“Hello, once again, all you males and females, to The Nutshell. Tonight, we have a veryspecial number for you. The lovely Clarice Tamiassara is with us one more time, after anear-death encounter, I might add.” The audience hushed and laid their ears and tails low

with this serious surprise. “But, I’m glad to say that she’s all right and she’s back with usto delight us once again with her wonderful voice.” The audience, though not all of it,cheered and clapped at this announcement. “Personally, I’m thankful that she’s fine

because not only did I almost lose a performer, but a good friend as well. She hassomething special planned for us tonight, and I’m not sure what it is because she refusedto tell even me! So, here she is one more time, the lovely……Clarice!!” The malesquirrel helped the chipmunkmaid pad slowly up from stage right, for her back was still atrifle sore. Her white dress concealed very well her back injury, though, and her fur hadgrown back a bit on her knees and elbows. Her ears were a trifle down, and her tailwasn’t moving. As the squirrel gave her an affectionate hug, the audience greeted her with a thunderous applause, for they were also glad that she was still alive. All clappedand whistled, except for one rodent in particular. A few minutes later, the applause faded,the emcee padded off stage left, and Clarice spoke, also with a serious tone,“Thank you, thank you so much for wanting me back. I’ll tell you, a few weeks ago, Iwas planning yet another night here and I went to invite some friends—and I almost

became owl food—” the audience went dead silent again, and all ears and tails were laidlow “—if it weren’t for some wonderful and close friends who risked their lives to savenot only mine, but of other mammals as well. So, before we begin, I want to thank withall my heart the ones who rescued me and five other mammals. I give you: The RescueRangers,” She looked toward stage right and called them out one by one, “ChipMaplewood……” He slowly padded up to the spotlight as the audience cheeredthunderously. His leg was still in pain. “Gadget Hackwrench……” Her new coveralls hidher bandaged left arm, but her joints still had a hint of arthritis. A few wolf calls rang out,

but she didn’t blush, for some reason. “‘Monterey’ Jack Colby……” His right cheek sported a large bandage. “Zipper Lightringer……” Though too small to be noticed,Zipper had stitches on his facial exoskeleton. And his wing joints pained him a bit aswell. Upon seeing their dressed injuries, the audience expressed their gratitude louder andlouder, as the Rangers sorely padded/flew onto the stage, with all ears down and all tailsdragging as well.. Clarice continued, hushing the audience again, “There is one moreRescue Ranger who saved me that night, but he received very heavy injuries and can’t





It started with a drum intro, followed by a piano instrumental by Chip, with Monterey providing a few effects now and then, and with the bass also providing body to the intro.The rhythm was somewhat Latin, but again, it was very mellow, sad almost. They all

began together, except for Foxglove, who for some reason could not find the strength tosing, for a moment,

“Mornings alone—” Falling asleep alone in the morning, for her; awakening alone in themorning, for him…“Oh-wo—” moaned Foxglove, sending shivers up Dale’s spine, as well as hers. The restcontinued,“When you come homeI breathe a little faster.” Dale remembered the night she came back. He had been morethan nervous. True, she always made his lungs and heart accelerate. Foxglove took a deep

breath and plunged herself into the song,“Every time we’re togetheee—oh-wo!!” She surprised herself by suddenly moaning. Shequickly straightened up and perked her ears a trifle,

“It’d never be the same—!” No, it would never be. The others repeated,“It’d never be the same—” The knot in her throat was forming again. She continued,“If you’re not hereee!” Here, with me! Dale stiffened his ears and tail again. Of course itwould never be the same! Nothing would ever be the same again, not after all thathappened!“How can you stay away—” Their chests began aching one more time. Me? Foxy, Ithought you had stayed away… The rest repeated again,“How can you stay—” And together,“—away so long?” Foxy—it’s—it’s not easy, I tell you— There was a slight pause whileFoxglove caught her breath. This was more exhausting than what she thought it would be.“Why can’t we stay togetheee————oh—oo!” She was beginning to trail each linewith a moan she couldn’t control. Dale, I need to know!“Just give me a reason, give me a reason!” Huh? Didn’t I already do that? Didn’t wealready decide?

“‘Cause—” And together,“I——I——don’t wanna say it!” Say “it”? Say “what”?”I don’t wanna find another way.Make it through the day without youuu——” Dale sighed. True, he himself was runningout of ideas of spending his time without her.“I——I——I can’t resist!” Cute Stuff, I can’t resist your echo! She also wondered howany female could resist him, especially Gadget and Clarice.“Trying to find exactly what I miss.” Actually, they knew that. They missed everythingabout each other.“It’s just another day without youuu——” Another day, another week, another month.And it was getting to the point of depression and physical deterioration. Foxglove addedangrily, laying her ears a trifle,“It’s just another dayyy, ooh!!” She pitched her voice a trifle higher as they continuedwith the next verse,



“Making the time!” Her voice made Dale shiver again. She hushed for a moment to catchher breath, so the rest continued without her,“Find the right lines—” She caught up with them as she leaned a bit on the mike stand,“To make you stay foreveeer——” Trying to say something that will make you take me

back, Darling! Please understand that! She continued alone,

“What do I have to tell youuu——oo?” Foxy, we’ve talked about that.“I’m just trying to hold on to somethin—” Suddenly, her throat knot choked out that lastword, so the rest continued,“Trying to hold on to something good.” On the best I’ve found, on you, Dale!! She sang,“Oh-oo—!! Give us a chance to make it—” He looked down, as his hexagonal trachealknot came back as well. As I gave Chip and Gadget the chance, and they blew it, like wedid… The others repeated,“Give us a chance—” And together,“—to make it!” Clarice noticed that Foxglove was leaning on the stand. Something waswrong here.“Oh, no, no!!” she added, shaking her head. And her breathing difficulty was becoming

more and more obvious.“—Wanna hold on togetheee——oh—oo!!” Her exertions were getting stronger andstronger, and draining more and more energy from her. It was getting more and moredifficult to keep her ears up and her tail stiff. Once more, the black holes emerged. Dale,all I want is one more chance with you!!“I’m not that strong, I’m not that strong!” Please, consider that, Cute Stuff! You may beable to take this, but I can’t!! All sang together,

“I——I——don’t wanna say it!” Foxy, I don’t want to say it, either!“I don’t wanna find another way,” Chip’s ears perked up as he also noticed Foxglove’sunusual exertions.“Make it through the day without youuu——” Dale, I’ve come to the end of my rope.Please help me!!“No-wo,” she added. Dale’s breathing also intensified with the black hole in his chest. Itwas clear that she wanted to come back, to him, again, and all he had to do was accepther. But that seemed so far out of his reach now…“I——I——I can’t resist!” Who couldn’t resist someone like her? Especially when shewas so helpless now…“Trying to find exactly what I miss.” Chip turned to Gadget, and was about to signal her to stand by to stop the song, but he stiffened when he looked at her.“It’s just another day without youuu——” Gadget was singing beautifully, but she hadher ears back and her tail stiff, and the angriest expression aimed at him. Both didn’tnotice Foxglove moan again,“No-oh!!” Chip did another instrumental, with his eyes fixed on Gadget. She was alsosinging this song to him! She wanted him back as well! But—would it work, even after all they discussed? Suddenly, Chip turned back to Foxglove as he heard her moan at ahigher pitch,

“Oh-oo-oh, oh-oo-oh-oo-oh!!” Chip continued for a moment, and he looked back atGadget. She was still looking at him angrily, but when he shook his head in the batmaid’s



direction, the mousemaid looked up at her. Her ears perked up, and her expression turnedto one of inquiry, and then Foxglove moaned again,“Oooooo————!!—whyyy—can’t you stay foreveee———ooohhh—oh??” Inside,Foxglove was crying her soul out, and Dale was doing so, too. Dale—please— “Just give me a reason—!” Her ears and tail stiffened as she suddenly thrust out her left

wing and held up one demanding (and trembling) index wing digit at her rodent andscreeched,“—JUST GIVE ME ONE REASON!!” Foxy—I’ve—I’ve—run—out of—reasons— Dale wasn’t too sure if he sniffed at this point. But his eyes were completely dry. Andglazing more and more…

“‘CAUSE I——————!!” Foxglove suddenly found herself throwing her head back with her fists and eyes tightly shut, ears and tail drooped, and moaning, wailing, wantingto cry, because she could not come out of that note. The pain was too intense for her. Andthis was the only way she could scream now, the only way her soul could call for help.The rest continued with the chorus,

“I——I——don’t wanna say it!” Gadget looked at the others. Something was definitelywrong.“——I———ohhhh—ooo—!!” Foxglove shivered for a moment, and she would havecollapsed if she suddenly did not grab the stand again. Her heartbeat was skyrocketing,and even Otis could hear it above the music. She hushed once more.“I don’t wanna find another way—” Monterey straightened up when he realised what washappening. He turned to Clarice. Foxglove sang, with trembling wings,“Ho-oh-right away—!!” and stopped again. Dale, too had unnatural cardiac rhythms atthis point.“Make it through the day without youuu——” Otis turned to the others, unknowing of what to do. Foxglove insisted,“Don’t wanna make it through the day——NO!!” She couldn’t continue with the nextline. As the others sang, Clarice grabbed her microphone and slowly padded up behindher.“I——I——I can’t resist!” Clarice put a paw on Foxglove’s shoulder, and almost gasped.She felt cold…“Maybe? No—!” It was all Foxglove could say, and again the others continued alone. For a moment, Dale thought he was shivering as well…“Trying to find exactly what I miss.” Foxglove could only turn slightly and nod atClarice. She had to go on. She needed to go on, but the chorus could not express her truefeelings…“It’s just another day without youuu—” Each word was pressing more and more into thecouple. Chip and Gadget forgot their own problems and kept their eyes on the batmaid.“Noo-iii—oh-iii—iii—yea!!” she moaned. She couldn’t express herself any other way.

No known language could convey what her soul was trying to scream…

“I——I——don’t wanna say it!” Foxglove was ignoring the chorus altogether andsimply answering each line with a cry from her soul. All the performers looked at eachother, with their eyes and ears questioning their next move. Dale, meanwhile, couldn’teven blink.



“N-n-no-right away-no—!!” Dale——Cute Stuff—— She hushed again, and leaned hardon the stand. She was almost hyperventilating.“I don’t wanna find another way.” Enough of this. Clarice turned to the band andsignalled that this was the final verse.“Make it through the day without youuu——” Furthermore, Clarice and the other

Rangers were also feeling pain, as well as FEAR, as their ears and tails showed…“N-nooo——woa—!! Noo-woa—!!” Clarice suddenly turned back to Foxglove,frightened at her wails.“I——”“Noo-woa—!!” Her throat was on the verge of collapsing.“I——”“Noo-woa—!!” She couldn’t say anything else. Her soul was literally pouring out of her,escaping her, almost.“I can’t resist!” The song began to fade, but the pain didn’t. Panic gripped everyone’shearts at this point.“Noo-woa—!!” Dale wanted to wail with her, but he was frozen in place by unbelievable

PAIN…“Trying to find exactly what I miss.”“ohhh—oo——yeah—” Foxglove slowly blinked. It was over now.“It’s just another day without you…” And the song finally stopped, with the audiencecheering and hollering like never before, all except one, whose chest was moving in avery unnatural rhythm.

Clarice dashed toward Foxglove, and flattened her ears and gasped when she saw her face. The batmaid was in a pain felt by no other chiropterid. Her eyes were glazing over,her jaw and wings were quivering, her ears and tail were sagging, she was breathingerratically— “Excuse us, we’re going to take a little break.” Clarice was barely heard above theapplause. The other Rangers quickly padded to Foxglove and helped take her

backstage…

Dale tried to sigh, but his breathing would not return to normal, nor would his ears andtail relax. The luscinia’s eyes widened when he returned to the tamias’s table. He quicklyhopped to his side,“Friend Dayre, ah you-a-‘or’ right?” The chipmunk trembled as he tried to pour himself another thimble. His ears wouldn’t rise up again, and his tail was incredibly stiff.“Chirp—I’m—I’m okay—I think—” The pain in his joints was coming back with avengeance, and the nightingale had to help him with the bottle. “Um—great song, don’tyou think—?” Chirp had to think fast.“Friend Dayre, deed-a-you not see what—she was-a-tryeeng to do? She was-a-tryeengto—”“I KNOW THAT!!” he chattered.Yes, he did.It had suddenly dawned on him that Foxglove had COME BACK TO HIM, AGAIN— Taking a deep breath, he continued, “Ermm—sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you.”“Friend Dayre—”



“Chirp—I know she wants me back. I want her back! I want so much to marry her!” Thesciurid actually felt like crying, but his lachrymal glands would not obey him, and hewondered why. “But—I can’t! If not because of the immediate danger, then because of the danger to our cubs—to our grandcubs, who will go through this pain again and againand again!!” The turdid stiffened. His throat knotted as well as memories flashed on him

now,“Friend Dayre, Friend Cheep arso tord me of what-a-you—bereeeve to be a cuhse. Ees— ees eet-a-true? Ah you—cuhsed?” The chipmunk slowly turned to the nightingale, whoshivered when he saw his reflection in the mist,“I’m cursed. My father is cursed. My grandfather is cursed. ALL Oakmonts are cursed.And unlike you, it wasn’t because of a plot to overthrow a monarchy! There is no cover-up here! No watered-down opium to cause hallucinations!! No mechanical rooms!! Nowakin’-up-and-it-was-all-a-dream-because-everythin’s-back-to-normal!! Chirp, this issomethin’ that began before the white man came here!! And I don’t want Foxy or mycubs to be a part of that!!” Chirp took a moment to let that sink in, and then he replied,

“Friend Dayre, beleeeve eet oh not, I was-a-cuhsed as well. I was-a-cuhsed weeth— haveeng a preencess who-a-decrahed me cuhsed, and-a-made every seengle—effoht to prove eet. I-a-fert so cuhsed that eet-a-caused me to fry away—straeeght eento theHeemaraya!! Friend Dayre, I-a-wanted to run, to—escape from-a-thees vehy rife!! Eesthat the—way you-a-feer now??” The avian’s tone had acquired an unusual sternnessabout it, making the mammal calm down a trifle.“N-no. I want to live. I want—I want to continue rescuin’ others. My job’s important! Idon’t want to kill myself, but it was the Comedian—it was Segoleh who had to die!”“Friend Dayre, eef you-a-fert so—cuhsed that you-a-keered the Comedeean, then eet-a-ees of no—suhprise that you-a-keered an owr, noh should eet-a-suhprise you thatyou’ah—keereeng youah-serf—and-a-Friend Foxgrov as wer!” For a moment, Dale feltlike removing this bird’s beak from his head. Chirp felt scared for a moment when he sawDale’s facial expression, but he forced himself to continue in the most serious tone hecould muster, “You-a-rescued me when I wanted to—keer myserf. You-a-proved that Iwasn’t cuhsed. Now, I’ve-a-come to—repay the favoh. You-a-saved my rife, now I— must save youahs. Eef-a-you want to or not, eet—doesn’t mattah. What-a-mattahs nowees my honoh, and I-a-won’t—eensurt my own honoh by—just standeeng heah and-a-watcheeng you—and Friend Foxgrov die. I weer—arso prove you ah not-a-cuhsed.”“You’re too late for that, Chirp. The proof came the night we were to be married. It camethe night my parent’s were to be married. It came the night my GRANDPARENTS wereto be married!!” Chirp got angry now. He straightened out and stated,“Then the-a-onry way that—proof can be annured ees-a-eef I act—agaeenst eet. And the-a-onry way I can do that ees—eef I-a-succeed in getteeng you two married. Youah‘cuhse’ can-a-onry be—broken eef-a-you defy the past and-a-come togethah. And I am-a-goeeng to—make you do so.” The luscinia stood to his full height and puffed his chestout as he said this. The tamias looked up at him, ears down, and asked defiantly…

As quickly as they could, Clarice and the Rangers sat Foxglove down on the nearestavailable chair. The batmaid was breathing in a distressingly heavy manner, and she wasgripping her chest, causing the other chiropterids to gather around her as well.



“Back off!!” roared Monterey. “She needs air ‘ere, lads!!” They backed off, ears and tailslow, slightly scared of him.“Um, Foxy, you—er—you sang better than you did at the rehearsals!!” chuckled Clarice,rather nervously. “But you didn’t have to sing it exactly the way you heard the origi—”“Clarice! Is there a doctor here?” asked Zipper, in near panic. The chipmunkmaid’s brain

almost locked up trying to figure out a way to help.“Um…a doctor? Er…um…there’s a first aid kit at the office—““Shedoesn’tneedafirstaidkitsheneedsadoctorClarice!!” chattered Chip, with flattened earsand stiff tail. All present were shocked at his outburst, but most shocked were Gadget andChip himself. He tried to recover, “Uh…sorry, Clarice. But Foxglove needs a doctor!”Calming down a trifle, Clarice replied,“Sorry, guys, but nightclubs don’t require registered doctors in order to operate! We’llhave to take her to the hospital—!”“Did————did it——work——??” All looked at Foxglove, who had somehowmanaged to gasp that statement. Gadget laid her ears and tail down and sighed,“Sorry, Foxy, but it didn’t work—”

“I don’t know about that,” interrupted Otis. “I think you got to Dale somehow. I can hear his breathing and heartbeat from here!” Chip had enough of this musical attempt to savehis friends, so he decided to resort to radical measures,“I’m going to get the nearest justice of the peace and have him marry these two even if Ihave to———!!”“———No———” gasped the batmaid, interrupting him. “Cl—Clarice——I—let’stry—one more time—!” All looked at the batmaid, incredulously.“What’ya mean ‘again’? Foxy, yer in no condition to continue!!” scolded Monterey, withstiff ears and tail. With her eyes glazing fast, Foxglove raised her ears a trifle, andreplied,“I’ll be the——judge of that!! If—this fails——then it’s all over——just——one— more—chance!!” All hesitated. Hearing this, Foxglove tried to breathe deeply, trying toregain her composure. Slowly and painfully, she stood again. “Clarice—Chip—Gadget— guys, I—I really want to try again—I know I can do this—I don’t want to leave withouthaving tried it all——And if it doesn’t, then it’s—it’s all over—for both of us.” She

breathed heavily as she turned to the stage. This would be her final assault. But then, for some reason, she let her ears and tail droop, turned to Clarice, and hugged her. Then, sheturned to Gadget and did the same, and to Chip, to Monterey, to Zipper, to Otis, toFeyyanna, to Richard, and finally to Rosie. She stated,“Guys, if this works, then we’ll be fine. If not, then I guess—I guess—that it was anhonour being a Rescue Ranger—and having all of you as friends and family—thank youall——thanks——Otis, Feyyanna, you’re the best brother and sister one could ever have—!” If Chip didn’t know better, he could swear she was saying good-bye not only tothe Rangers, but to the other bats as well. He turned to Clarice, who turned to Otis, whoturned and looked from stage right out to the audience. A certain avian gave him a signal.“That’s the signal,” he told them. Foxglove then stood resolutely and echosounded at thestage with the most serious expression she could muster, ears at attention, tail stiffened,and breathing angrily, almost growling, even.This was it.Just one more time.



She was going to give him her ultimatum.She would either get through the heart of her male, or die trying, which was a distinct

possibility now.Time for Plan B.Seeing that she would not be dissuaded, Clarice looked over to stage left and made eye

contact with the emcee.She nodded.He nodded, and turned to the light controls…

“…and what, pray tell, are you going do to make us do so?” Chirp Sing said nothing.Instead, he looked to the stage, made a slight bow, and moved his right wing in a circular manner. The nightingale took one final look at the chipmunk, and was about to hop off again— “Chirp, I enjoyed havin’ you for a friend. I’m glad we were able to rescue you. Have asafe trip back, and take care of the emperor, will ya?” Chirp knew more than perfectlythat this was his final good-bye. With a tear in his eye, he replied,

“Then I-a-have done ‘or’ that I—could do. My job heah ees-a-feeneeshed. My—honohees-a-safe—” Unexpectedly, the avian suddenly turned and hugged the mammal, crying.“Th-thank you, Friend Dayre—foh evehytheeng—!!” Chirp Sing then hopped away asfast as he could. The chipmunk wondered why the nightingale broke down in tears whenhe had just wished him a safe trip back. He knew Chirp would not be staying for long,anyway. There would be no wedding, ever. He continued pondering on what else wouldnever be again: no more goof-ups, no more foul-ups, no more late night movies, no moreclowning around, no more practical jokes, no more jokes, period, no more laughs—

No more smiles?He suddenly remembered their first night here, when the others told a spontaneous jokeand he did not laugh at it, even though he had gone that night to have a laugh. Why didn’the laugh? Why couldn’t he laugh? Why couldn’t he cry? Sure, the break-up wasdevastating, but that didn’t exactly bring him to the point of clinical depression— Depression.That’s what he had!!The doctors’ original diagnosis was incorrect. All he had to do was change hismedication, and he would be fine. If Foxy was also like this, as she told him, then she,too, would be fine with the new medication. It was all so simple!Dale’s ears perked up a trifle as he downed another shot of walnut extract. True, he wasmost definitely depressed, but now, it seemed that he would eventually get used to thisdepression, and it appeared that Foxglove would get used to it as well. And, of course, thenew medication would help them both get used to it. This nonsense that they were bothdying was precisely that: nonsense. All that was happening was that they were stillrecovering from their night with Strigidæ, or Ima, or whatever her name was, and theyhad a chemical imbalance that was easily remedied. In fact, it was probably time to takehis arthritis medication again, because his joints were acting up again. But still, this wasthe life he had chosen, and all Foxglove had to do was find someone else who could keepher out of danger in order to get out of her depression; to finally get her out of this life of danger in which he nearly buried her in.The lights dimmed.



The spotlight then shone on Chip, who was at the piano again, with his ears down. He began playing a slow and very depressing sequence.Oh, great, thought Dale. That’s all I need now! More depressing music!Chip continued with that sequence, playing it over and over and over, letting it sink in. Atthe fourth repetition, he looked up to stage left, and nodded as if giving a cue. Another

spotlight then shone on Otis, also with drooped ears, who began,

“Turn around—” And yet another spotlight shone on a droop-eared Foxglove, whosuddenly added with the most angry expression on her face,“Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you’re never coming round—” Her voicewas low, hoarse…“Turn around—” She raised her head a trifle, brought her left wing to her face and sang,“Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears—”Though technically, she had not cried since the break up. Maybe she was referring to her soul crying on the inside, weeping, moaning, mourning…“Turn around—”

“Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by— ” Dale shuddered again and let his ears and tail droop. True, they were both still young,so maybe she referred to the Fourth of July, or the year she spent away from him.“Turn around—” She slowly extended her right wing toward him,“Every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes—!”She was pleading with him. Dale, your eyes used to give me comfort. What happened tothem? The male mouse entered with his guitar as Otis added,“Turn around, Bright Eyes—!”“Every now and then I fall apart—!” More like all the time. She fell apart whenever shethought or dreamed of him.“Turn around, Bright Eyes—!”“Every now and then I fall apart—!” Foxy, I fall apart whenever—

BOOM!!“Turn around—” Everyone in the club jerked slightly when the rat lady and the gopher suddenly entered with the drums and bass, and someone back stage added a thunder effect, complete with flash. Dale almost clawed some shavings off his table.“Oo—oo—” The rest, also with low ears and tails, backed up Foxglove as she insisted,“Every now and then I get a little bit restless—” This was the first time spring fever hadlasted through the summer for Foxglove.“Oo—oo—”“—and I dream of something wild—” Yes, they both dreamed that. And that was all theyhad of each other, and though they wanted to, they couldn’t let go of it. Another thunderclap pounded at their black holes.“Turn around—”“Oo—oo—”“Every now and then I get a little bit helpless—” She held a trembling wing toward himagain,“Oo—oo—” and held it close to her chest again,







Gadget could only hope that she would at least get through to the sciurid she loved withall her heart and soul and she knew now beyond the shadow of any doubt which could besubstantiated by a reason that she loved him because she could feel the pressure in her chest and throat every time she looked at him and smelled at him and heard his voice andnow even more so that she was singing to him what little she had of this song to herself

because she certainly did not want to steal the show from Foxglove and the real purposehere was to bring Dale and Foxglove together and hopefully to finally bring herself tostraighten things out with Dale and it wouldn’t hurt if another couple got together on theside and it really wouldn’t take much to bring them together because their problemsweren’t as pressing—

She shook herself to the here and now as the entire stage sang,“Turn around, Bright Eyes!!” And another thunderclap rang out. Dale still would notmove his head.“Turn around, Bright Eyes!!” they repeated, and yet another thunderclap. Foxglovegrowled to herself as she echosounded at her spirit/mind/body’s desire. She poised

herself for the next verse, the one she knew would get to him, for she had read the lyricsover and over and over, and if this would not get to him, she would just turn aroundherself, leave the club, and find Fat Cat. This would be either her moment of glory andtriumph, or of disgrace and defeat. Either way…

…this was her finest hour……and just possibly, her last hour as well…

Otis continued with his pressing command,“Turn around—”“Oo—” The rest oo’ed and ah’ed as Foxglove hissed away each line into Dale’s heart, asshe reflected,“Every now and then I know you’ll never be the boy—”“Ah—”“—you always wanted to be.” And she had come to accept that as well. If nothing else,she would take him back, Goof-up, Klutz, Clown, Comedian, Segoleh, or not, for she,too, would never achieve her dreams.“Turn around—” Dale, too, knew that. As much as he tried, he would never live up toher. He would never be the husband she needed, even with his radical change, not withthis curse hanging on to him. He wasn’t worthy of her love, of no one’s love.“Oo—” She suddenly pleaded with both wings at him,“But every now and then I know you’ll always be the only boy—” Huh? thought Otis.“Ah—” Foxglove pointed at herself,“—who wanted me the way that I am—!!” Dale, you accepted me, especially after I leftFreddy! You loved me for me, as I did for you!!“Turn around—” Otis’ heart finished breaking here. He was officially on the sidelinesnow. So all he had left to do was stand there and cheer them on. He would recover,someday…“Ah—” Now came the key line, the culmination of her effort, the coup-de-grace. Shetook a deep breath, and screeched,



“EVERY- NOW-AND-THEN-I-

KNOW-THERE’S- NO-ONE-IN-THE-UNIVERSE—”“Ah—”“—AS-MAGICAL-AND-

WONDROUS-AS-YOU—!!” NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! His face almostscowled, but his features were also losing energy. He refused to accept that, because heknew she was wrong, and he had proof to counter that opinion. If she could only realisethat!!“Turn around—” No one, Cute Stuff!! No one, not Otis, not Chip, NO ONE!! Dale, youare so magical and wondrous and perfect, PLEASE let me love you!!“Ah—” Foxy, why—why do you think that of me, after all I made you and the others gothrough?? For a moment, Dale thought he felt a tear form in his left eye.“Every now and then I know there’s nothing any better—!!” NOTHING AND NOONE!! ONLY YOU, DALE, ONLY YOU!!“Ah—”“—there’s nothing that I just wouldn’t do!!” To bring you back, to be one with you, Dale,I’ll DIE if you don’t, and you will, too!!“Turn around, Bright Eyes—!!” Turn around, # it!! thought Otis. Foxglove squealed,“EVERY NOW AND THEN I FALL APART—!!” It seemed that the music was liftingher, making her feel light-headed. Or maybe the medication was wearing off again.“Turn around, Bright Eyes—!!” Chip and Gadget suddenly looked at Clarice, who hadstiff ears and tail, and was glaring at them and pointing in Foxglove’s direction.“Every now and then I fall apart—!!” They both looked at the pipistrell, who was nowsinging with a disturbing effort again, and their features also expressed FEAR. All

backed her up as she chorused,

“Oo———”“And I need you now tonight!!” Foxy, I—I need you tonight— Clarice and Gadgetrepeated,“And I need you—” and all three again,“And I need you more than ever!” Foxy, I can’t go on without you!!“Oo———”





“But now I’m only falling apart.” Gadget had to help her on this line again. She lookedover at Foxglove, trying to deduce her condition. Foxglove continued painfully, with her eyes closed,“Nothing I can do, a total eclipse of the heart.” Remember when Mick said—— sometimes he would fight so hard——that he was thinking that he broke something

inside——and was going to die, and that’s when he said the angels were pulling onhim— Dale wasn’t sure how that line went, but he knew something had broken insidehim just now, and he had the feeling the same thing happened to Foxglove, and onlysupernatural beings were holding them up now. The batmaid raised her head a trifle,“Once upon a time there was light in my life,” Odd, she couldn’t see the light. Gadgethelped her again,“But now there’s only love in the dark. The mousemaid perked her ears up and looked atthe chipmunk on the piano, almost asking for a plan. She, Clarice, and Foxglove took ithome,“Nothing I can say, a total eclipse of the heaaaart—” The batmaid was now visiblygasping, stirring up soft murmurs among the audience now. Still she continued with the

others,“A total eclipse of the heaaart——” She stumbled as she tried to straighten,“A total eclipse of the heaaart——” No, no more. The chipmunk did not turn around, noteven to look at her. Dale had flatly refused her one more time. Foxglove released thestand, letting it topple to its upright position. She then turned and nearly fell over the

piano, generating even more murmurs. Odd, why didn’t she hear this thing? Something— something had given way inside her, and it was hurting her more than anything now.The rest looked/echosounded at her, quite frightened, with their tails low and ears laid

back, as she turned and bumped into the piano. Chip continued with a soft instrumental,as a soft breeze blew again.

“Turn around, Bright Eyes.” sang Clarice, as she looked the batmaid over. Foxglovestumbled her way past them. She had a cat to find. Which way was the exit, again?Maybe it was in the direction of the breeze…“Turn around, Bright Eyes——turn arooound.” As Foxglove left through stage right,Chip stood and was about to leave the piano when he suddenly saw Monterey’s pawmotioning him to stop, and then point to the audience. As he sat back down and turned,Clarice continued,“Ooo-oo-hoo—oo—!” The other chipmunk was finally moving. Dale painfully stood up,eliciting still more murmurs from the audience. Odd, where did all his strength go? Whycouldn’t he lift his ears?“Aha, aha!” sang Clarice. Gadget then held her paw up toward stage right, signalling toZipper and the other bats to stay where they were and not go after Foxglove. All their ears straightened up again, and all tails relaxed as well.“Aha, aha—hooo——ooh!—ho——” As the song faded out, Dale bumped into a table,looking for the stage door. He then stumbled into the wall and fumbled his paws alongside it, looking for the doorknob. Perhaps he had one too many shots of walnut extract.But why were the lights so dim here?The rest on the stage looked/echosounded at him, wondering if this plan had finallyworked.



And neither Dale nor Foxglove heard the deafening applause that the audience suddenlygave…

DEATH OF A COMEDIAN……AND AN INTERPRETER

Foxglove perked her ears up as she thought she heard the rain again. But then again, shewasn’t sure that it was rain. Odd, her sonar wasn’t echoing correctly from the objects inthis place. She echosounded louder. Still not much echo. And—and—why couldn’t shehear herself? She blinked several times, but there was no light in this room, either— Ouch!Her hip bumped on something sharp, maybe the corner of a table. Instinctively she heldher wings out in front of her, trying to find her way to the exit, to find Fat Cat and feedherself to him, even force-feed herself if she had to. Strange, she couldn’t see, hear, or smell too well.

Dale tripped and fell on something, maybe a cable or a chair, he wasn’t sure. The lights

were apparently out in this part of the club and he couldn’t see a thing, and he caught thescent of the metal a split second too late. He thought he heard something come from theroom ahead of him, but the noise was very dim, and as much as he tried to get closer to it,it seemed that it was moving further and further away. And he wasn’t sure if Foxglovecame this way, either, for though her scent lingered, it was too weak to get a definiteheading. This was certainly a stupid place to settle things once and for all. If Foxglovewas deliberately playing hard-to-get right now, he would find her and give her a piece of his newly-expanded mind. Not only had they already talked about this, but they had alsosettled it once and for all. Why Foxglove chose to insist was beyond him. Therefore, hewould have to resort to extreme measures to make sure that Foxglove would never lovehim again. He painfully shivered as he considered the options for accomplishing that.Their love for each other was causing them immense pain, and placing them, and others,in danger, so he had to stop loving her, and make her stop loving him. And one optionthat he was definitely considering was to hurt her, emotionally at first:Insulting her.And if that didn’t work…He honestly did not want to resort to slapping her, or much less going for greater physicalinjury. True, they were both still recovering from their injuries, so adding injury uponinjury was certainly something he refused to do, especially to someone he cared about.But he loved her so much that he was willing to make her hate him so she would be safefrom harm, and if he had to resort to that, well, it would only prove that Dale SegolehOakmont was truly dead.And Dale Segoleh Oakmont would not have died from suicide……but from a broken heart…He would never understand love.And he didn’t need to now, either.In fact, he was beginning to hate it now.He painfully pressed on and stumbled through the door.



Foxglove thought she heard something behind her. She turned and echosounded, but noecho returned. She turned around again, but an immense burst of pain shot through her

joints, causing her to stumble and fall. She tried to sit, but all of her joints, includingthose of her ribs, began to painfully stiffen again. Her ears and tail fell once more, as her energy levels dropped more and more. Where were her pills, again? And then, her heart

accelerated again, adding to the pain. She began to breathe erratically. Finally, she panicked, and cried out…

“…Foxglove…” Dale almost choked. The knot in his throat was pressing so hard that itwas impossible for him to chatter now. All he could generate was a hoarse whisper. As hecontinued, he stumbled over a chair, and fell on his face. He tried to stand, but his jointsrefused to obey. Not only that, but they were attacking him back. He, too, was hit withunbelievable pain all over his body, and his heartbeat and lungs went berserk as well. Hisears and tail lost all energy as well. He was in trouble, AGAIN…

“…Dale…” The batmaid gasped. She had forcefully screeched with all her might, and

could barely hear herself. She had to find help. She was dying… Now that Dale had his nose pressed to the floor, he caught Foxglove’s scent again. But itwas still very weak, as if she had passed several days ago. Was this floor scent-proof? He

painfully dragged himself in the direction his nose led him.

All of Foxglove’s strength, even her emergency reserve strength, her last microgram of adrenaline, was gone. Even the small amounts she used for turning, moving her wingtips,twitching her ears and tail, or even for speaking, were nearly gone as well. But shecouldn’t stop and rest. She had to find Dale, Chip, anyone. She painfully took a deep

breath, and screeched with all she had left,“……help……” Someone, anyone. But no one could hear her. In fact, it seemed as if someone had whispered that word from behind a thick window, someone with another voice…

Dale pressed on. The floor was becoming less and less distinct now. He needed a fullsecond to make his brain realise that his paw had touched the floor because it would notdescend any further. And Foxglove’s scent was rapidly evaporating.“……Chip……” It was his last resort. But if he could barely hear himself, then there wasno way that his best friend would hear him and rescue him from this, as he had done somany annoying times before. Panic and unbelievable fear enveloped him once more— Panic and fear that he thought had left him the night of the pyre.Panic and fear that he thought he had killed with Segoleh.Panic and fear that had gripped the heart of the Comedian countless times before.Panic and fear that caused so many foul-ups on his part.Panic and fear that caused him to faint when his wife needed him mostPanic and fear that nearly killed Foxglove, his friends, and himself…Panic and fear that he thought had died along with the Clown were back with aVENGEANCE, gripping the heart of the Fightmaster/Body-Builder/Cook/Mechanic/Stealth Expert/Detective/Rescue Ranger.





“…………Foxglove…………”

The unexpectedly improvised acoustic dome formed by her wing finally brought thatsound to her ears. DALE!! But her ears would not perk up again. They were too cold.

Dale was inhaling as hard as he could, but all the air was scentless, DEAD.

“………………Dale………………”

He didn’t know if he heard his name being called out from within a dream or from beyond the grave, for he couldn’t lift his ears anymore. But at the same time the soundreached them, a suspended scent particle triggered one fading nerve in his olfactory bulb.FOXGLOVE!!And then he barely felt something touch his back, something light, thin, leathery, andCOLD. With pain now beyond measure, he stiffly brought himself to a sitting position.Foxglove could barely feel him. And what she could feel was tremendously cold.

Dale moved himself next to her. He reached out, trying to feel her wing, but all he feltwas cold leather. He turned his paw a little, and brushed it on Foxglove’s snout. Heshivered.Foxglove shivered as she felt and sniffed Dale’s cold paw. Life was so unfair. She knewher loved one was right next to her, but even in her final moments she was denied to seeor hear him. His touch was freezing, almost nonexistent. His scent was weak.Dale had run out of strength, as well as ideas. So he was next to Foxglove, but he, too,was denied actual sensory contact, save that of a fading touch and a fading scent.It was all over.Foxglove began gasping erratically as her body fought its imminent final shutdown.Dale, too, gasped in an uneven rhythm as his body convulsed in the death throes.Both were gasping so hard that neither could say anything. They were denied a finalGood-bye, a final I Love You, a final Hug, a final Kiss, a final Touch, a final Sniff, afinal Echo, a final Look.Dale’s life flashed before his eyes. He saw his early life in the forest, his first meetingwith Chip, their times in school, their constant battles over females, their meeting with anangry white duck, their rescue of a beaver, their move to New York, their meeting withPlato, their first case, the night at the drive-in, his meeting with Foxglove, his initialreactions, her sudden departure, his failed attempts to win Gadget over, all the painfulwords and actions done to him, Foxglove’s return, her kidnapping, falling in love withher, their times together, the tragic night, all that brought him to this point— Foxglove’s life flashed/resounded before her eyes/ears. She saw/heard herself hanging onto something soft and furry, a sudden blow, a moment in a bush, flying aimlesslythroughout the state, trying to find a place to fit in, an encounter with a snake, her meeting with Winifred, the first time she heard Dale, his initial rejection, her pain anddesperation, her time in the steeple, her hesitant return, her theft and her kidnapping,when Dale finally fell for her, their year together, his proposal, the night with Fat Cat, thehorrible break-up, her time away, all that brought her to this point— And then, once again, something strange happened to Foxglove.This time, it was with a definite deja-vue.



With death now imminent, words formed in her mind as well as her heart once more,words which she suddenly remembered reciting alone, heavily injured, in a cage, in anabandoned office, one year ago, words that she had never heard nor read nor spoken

before then, words that held no clear meaning to her, words that were in a language shehad yet to learn, and yet, words that she knew would prepare her for Beyond.

Suddenly receiving a final surge of strength, her ears and tail perked up as she preparedto recite in an “A Elbereth Gilthoniel!” fashion— The deja-vue suddenly stopped when she heard Dale suddenly perk his ears and gaspfirst,

“Modeh—‘ani lefanekha——HaShem———‘Eloqay v’Eloqei———‘Avotay—— sherefu’ati umiytati———veyadekha—!” It was certainly not the same words she recitedlast year, but she was surprised once more when she heard herself add,“Yehi——ratzon—m—millefanekha shetrappe’eini—————refu’ah——sh— sheleimah—!!” Dale continued, surprising himself by how easily the words flowed, withonly minor stuttering from his part,

“——Ve’im——‘amut———” they both shivered for some reason here, “——t-t— tehei’—miytati——khapparah——!!———‘al kol—ch——chata’im————— ‘avonot—————!!” It was almost as if they themselves were silent, and someone elsewas speaking from Beyond, through them. They were hearing each other as if from agreat distance, and yet each word came loud and clear. Foxglove trembled,“—————Ufesha’im——sh——she——shechata’ti——!!—veshe’aviti——!——— veshepasha’ti———lefanekha——!!” They couldn’t even say their final words in adignified manner. Dale gasped,“———Vetein chelqi——!!—veGan ‘Eden—————!!——vezakkeini—l-l—le’olamhaba’—!——hatzafunlatzaddiqim———!!” And finally, Foxglove cried out,

“‘Al cheit’——!!——shechata’nu———!!——lefanekha be’ones————!!— uveratzon——!!” Dale added, with this final surge suddenly fading out,“————Ve’al——————cheit’————————shechata’nu—————— lefanekha———————b’immutz———————————h-h-h-h-h——halev——

——————ha———————lev—————————————ha—————— ——————le————————————————” His ears and tail fell limp onelast time. He began gasping and convulsing weakly, unable to continue. Foxglove’sfeatures also fell as she, too, faded out,“——————————‘Al——————cheit’——————————‘al————

———cheit’——————sh————shechata’nu—————le———le——lefane— —kha—————————le———————fa———————ne———————— —————————”

Neither was surprised that they were denied yet again, denied of finishing their finalwords. Foxglove also began gasping and convulsing more and more weakly. Their gaspswere shallow, their convulsions reduced to minor twitches, their eyes finally completelycovered with the death-mist.And yet, among all that was denied to them, two glimmers of comfort remained.





BAQASHATKHEM ‘USHERAH, BEVAQASHAH LESHAMMESHAHBECHOKHMAH—

Suddenly, the rodent and the chiropterid gasped, flipping their ears up and snapping their eyes open.

They were sitting together on the floor, in a large and very well lit room, which was filledwith small light bulbs of different shapes and colours, lighting fixtures, and mounts of several types, but mostly for stage lighting. There were also several small-mammal-sizedguitars, keyboards, and other instruments. A chair had fallen on its side some distancefrom them.They turned and looked/echosounded at each other, with utmost confusion and fright intheir eyes.

Neither was quite sure Who had said those final words, much less what they meant. Butwhen they realised who they both were and why they were here—

Foxglove was about to plead with him to take her back— Dale was about to tell her off once and for all—

But then, they suddenly hugged each other, laid back their ears—

And cried.

They cried, cried, and cried, crying like they had never cried before, thoroughlydampening each other’s left cheek and shoulder.Crying all the tears that had been held back since their parting:Crying because of the pain of their broken hearts.Crying because they had missed each other.Crying because of all the physical pain they had felt.Crying because of all the rejection they had received, from each other, and from their friends.Crying because Foxglove’s parents were killed.Crying because Dale had pulverised yet another heart.Crying because a living creature had died because of them.Crying because the songs they sang were beautiful.Crying because all the efforts to get back together had been futile.Crying because they had no idea what had just happened and they were incredibly scared.Crying because they both knew that they would never get back together, never to becomeHusband and Wife.Crying even more intensely than they had the night Dale let her go.Crying for what seemed like an eternity…

And then, something began forming deep within their abdomens.Slowly, at first.They both ignored it from the start, but it gradually increased in intensity.



A light tickling? No, a definite tickling.Odd, no one was tickling each other at this point.But the tickling intensified, more and more and more and MORE and MORE.It then became a definite bubbling, which arose from the pit of their bellies, and it

increased more and more, rising up their torsos and into their heads, making them think they were both going to explode— For no apparent reason, the tamias and the pipistrell began to laugh.

Not only that, but they began laughing almost as hard as they were crying a moment ago.Laughing so hard, in fact, that they both began to sweat from their abdominal exertions.Still in a tight embrace, they continued their spontaneous hilarity, but the laughter was sointense that their arms/wings actually weakened in their grip, transferring all energy totheir diaphragms.And yet, it seemed to them that as they continued laughing, their strength actually began

building up again, with all the pain slowly fading away.Foxglove didn’t know what she was laughing at, nor what she found so funny. Then

again, she had never heard Dale laugh so hard or so loud. And he sounded so funny whenhe laughed!! And also, he had got stronger, as she felt him embrace her tighter than whatshe remembered.Dale did not remember seeing or hearing anything funny today, or for the last months,either. But here he was, laughing, and enjoying it, and Foxglove was laughing as well.Maybe it was the way she sounded when she laughed that was causing him to laugh so.

Not that he minded, because he liked hearing her laugh.They kept laughing and bouncing and shaking on each other, and their eyes now criedtears of laughter. Both wondered if this was going to make them lose control of other corporal functions…And after what seemed like an eternity of hilarity, they calmed down to soft giggles,which still shook them a trifle. They released each other, and sat back again.It was here that Foxglove noticed something. All the previous pain she felt, in her joints,in her chest, in her throat, was now gone. She could see, hear, and echosound clearly, andher ears and tail moved without hassle. She was a trifle sore from all the laughter, but, shefelt…fine, for some reason.What was more, it seemed that the brace Dale had on his snout had fallen off. She heardthe echo of the brace on the floor……and her right shoulder was perfectly fine, too…Dale could breathe deeply and freely now. All his joints moved with ease. He couldwiggle his ears and quiver his tail again. He brought one paw to his chest, and pressedlightly. His ribs no longer hurt— His chest brace was gone.His eyes and his other paw informed that his snout brace was also gone, and that his nosewas straight again, and that it no longer hurt, either.He did a double take on the floor, and saw that his snout and chest braces were there,among all the bandages he was wearing a few minutes ago.He looked over at Foxglove, and, she too, was bandage free.Her bandages were beside her as well.That was enough to get him slightly scared again, and he laid his ears back.



Finally, he spoke, and was surprised to hear himself speak quite clearly and normally, if just a trifle nervously,“Foxy, w-w-what happened?” The batmaid felt in the clouds again as her loved one’svoice fill her ears again, as she heard him say her name, without impediment. Still, shehad to reply, also with slightly frightened ears,

“I———I don’t know, Dale——and——I’m not sure I actually want to know.” Hey, her voice worked in all frequencies again! The chipmunk also felt a trifle light-headed whenhe heard her voice again. He sniffed and giggled a trifle, trying unsuccessfully to soundserious,“Foxy—he he!—um—did we just die and come back again?” The verspetilionid thoughtfor a moment, trying to come up with any type of explanation of the previous experience.She, too, sniffed and giggled, wiping some sweat and tears from her face with her newlyrestored right wing,“Dale—Cute Stuff—I———mwhe he he he!——I think——we did——but if we came

back———kha!——if we were brought back——it must have been for a very goodreason——ha ha!—ahem!” The sciurid chuckled a trifle, still trying to get serious.

Maybe pure and flat-out seriousness wasn’t an integral part of him anymore.“And——ha ha!———what reason would that be??” The expression on his face was acomical mix of slight fright, bewilderment, relief, and joy. He also wiped some tears andsweat off his face, contorting it slightly. Foxglove almost broke up in laughter again.“I’m——I’m——har har har!——not sure——” They looked/echosounded at eachother’s eyes again. They breathed deeply again, savouring each other’s restored scents.Too confused to speak, they raised their ears and just looked/echosounded at each other,seeing/hearing relief and love in their eye reflections/facial echo.“Dale——I——I can’t live without you——literally!!” she finally declared, as seriouslyas she could, but still unable to remove the smile from her face. Dale just looked at her.That statement had been proven to its maximum extent, and he knew that. He also knewthat it was also the same on his side of things. But before he could reply, Foxglove didsomething to further increase his confusion. With both of her wings, she took hold of hisright paw, and brought it close to her face. With her newly restored nimbleness on her wingtips, she carefully extended all his digits, and took hold of his thumb. Dale wascareful to loosen up his arm and paw so she could do this, but he couldn’t help but feel

just slightly apprehensive of what she was doing.And then, Foxglove lowered her head, laid her ears back, closed her eyes……and kissed Dale’s thumb.He shivered, but not because of any previous sickness.Foxglove looked up at him again, raising her ears and quivering her tail, smiling, with her eyes glistening, waiting for his response to her newly restored instinct.He wasn’t sure of what to respond to this action. He wasn’t sure if he still wanted to blowher off now. He wasn’t sure if that kiss felt good or just plain weird. He wasn’t sure if hewanted to give her the biggest kiss ever, on her lips, of course.He wasn’t sure of anything now.So instead, he just embraced her tightly again, without fearing for cracked ribs now. Hisears were at full attention, and his tail was now a complete blur. And he wasn’t sure if hewanted this moment to end— “…and if you only hold me tight, we’ll be holding on forever…”





“Dead?” asked Gadget, almost panicking. That wasn’t what the rest were thinking, seeing just how deep the bats’ blushing was going and how low their ears and tail were getting.Chip looked at Monterey. The mouse had been through a lot, and he had seen a lot, andhe was certainly not proud of some decisions he had made. Considering thecircumstances, it was a possibility. Chip wondered if Dale could actually lose control of

himself like that, especially after what Foxglove sang to him. It was a suggestive song,after all, and both were desperate as well. It was wrong, yes, and certainly not justifiable,with all the values they had been raised on. But just maybe it was possible— “Laughing,” Richard told Gadget. “The band heard laughing.” She thought for a moment,and asked,“But why would Dale and Foxglove be laughing? They’re both in a very seriouscondition.” Richard blinked at her, and then turned to Chip. The chipmunk just shook hishead. “Are you sure the band heard them laughing?” asked the mousemaid. Beforeanyone could reply, the audience began murmuring again, and the murmur quickly roseinto yet another round of deafening applause and cheering. The others turned toward thestage door and saw/heard—

A chipmunk and a batmaid, covered in sweat, paw in wing, ears up, tails quivering,smiling, and waving at them.Oh dear…“Laughing,” repeated Gadget, with everything becoming clear to her now, as her earslowered and her face blushed. Yes, she also disapproved of it, and while she certainlywasn’t trying to justify it, Foxglove’s moral upbringing wasn’t very well defined, to her at least, and who knows what else she did during her absence. It was wrong, a mistake,

but it had been done, unfortunately.The rodents, dipterid, chiropterids, and paseriform stood andshuffled/padded/flew/hopped toward the couple— Something wasn’t right.Chip took a very close look at the couple.If he recalled correctly, all of them had a recent run-in with an owl, which left them veryheavily injured.Hence, all of the Rescue Rangers, and those they rescued, went to the hospital for treatment of their injuries.Their injuries were quite serious, especially with Dale and Foxglove, for they had several

broken bones and a considerable number of dislocated joints.Hence, when they arrived here earlier, all of them had bandages taped to their fur, or wrapped around them, in one place or another.But these two had more reminders than all of them combined— Had.They had reminders.That is, they used to have reminders— “Dale, what happened to your snout brace?”“And all your bandages?” added Otis. Dale looked at Chip with the most sincerelyignorant expression he had ever made. He took a deep breath, waited a moment, andreplied,“Chip, when I find out the answer to your question—I will answer it……all I can tell youright now is that somethin’ happened to us back there that we can’t explain. And——



we’re not sure if we want to understand and explain it just yet. I mean, as Rangers, we’veencountered a few things which we never could explain, and whatever happened to us—

—well, I guess it fits into that category. All we know is that all the pain is gone, all thearthritis is gone, and all our injuries are gone. And we don’t know how or why.” Chiplooked back at him. He was never one who simply let mysteries just be. The tone Dale

was speaking in, however, was making him think otherwise. But there was another queryconcerning them.“Dale, what were you two doing back there?” Dale looked at Foxglove, and then back athis best friend.“Laughin’.” Maybe it was because Dale was smiling for the first time in months that Chipwas getting tremendously suspicious.“And crying,” added Foxglove, wiping another tear and causing everyone’s suspicionlevels to stop.“Crying?” asked Zipper. It was then when they finally noticed their matted facial fur.Richard and Rosie then padded up to them, and sniffed carefully, yet discreetly. With arelieved sigh, they turned back to the others and said,

“It’s ok. That’s all they did. Laugh and cry.”“Of course we did!!” said Dale, rather annoyed, laying his ears back and stiffening histail. “What else did you think we did back there?” Chip stuttered, with ashamed ears andtail,“Well, Dale——with what that last song said——and you two were taking so long—— and the band told us they heard———and you’re all sweaty——well——sorry if wethought otherwise.”“Well, Chip, don’t worry. We won’t spoil anything for us anymore. All we did was laughand cry,” said Foxglove.“And die,” added Dale, quite naturally, eliciting raised ears and eyebrows from thelisteners.“And resurrect,” added Foxglove, also in a natural tone, confusing them still more.“Resurrect?” asked Monterey.“In more ways than one,” replied Dale. “Somethin’ happened back there, and we’re notquite sure what, but it made us—it made me realise—that I have been foolin’ myself allalong.” Monterey asked,“You don’t mean—”“Yup. But first I want to thank all of you for what ya’ll did. Clarice, I know you set upthe songs, and we can’t thank you enough. Thank you all, for helpin’ us. Now then—”Dale then turned to Foxglove, who was more than surprised to see and hear him get downon one knee, take hold of her now painless right wing, and ask one more time, and thistime without hesitation, doubt, or with the volume or pitch fading out,“Foxglove, do you think maybe you’d mind very much if you kinda sorta maybe justmarried me a little bit?”The batmaid inhaled like never before and was so shocked and overjoyed at this questionthat for a moment she actually forgot how to speak. But she had to control herself. Shehad to control her response!!“I————I—————I———DON’T—————KNOW————————!!” shefinally shook, pulling her wings away from the chipmunk, folding them to her chest, andturning away from him, contorting her face so she wouldn’t squeal her acceptance. She



also had to forcefully stiffen her ears and tail. This shocked Dale to infinite levels, as wellas everyone else. Dale looked at her incredulously, with his jaw sagging, ears drooped,and tail frozen again, and tried to ask while pointing around awkwardly,“B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-but wh-wh-wh-wh-why?? A-a-a-a-a-a-after all we——you——back there——!!” Foxglove growled, trying not to smile,

“I——I fell in love with a Comedian!! And from all I’ve heard, that Comedian is dead!!”She humphed slightly, turning fully away from him, quivering a trifle. Dale looked at her for a moment, calmed down, raised his ears, quivered his tail, and slowly stood, with themost determined expression on his face.“Is he now,” he growled sinisterly, sending shivers through her body. “Take a seat then,Interpreter.” Foxglove didn’t know whether to feel scared or excited, or both, with thattone of voice he was using, so she hastily did as she was told, with the others following.For a moment, the other Rangers felt just a twinge of jealousy at the couple. They wereable to move with grace and nimbleness, while the rest were still plagued with thatannoying arthritis. Dale then padded toward the stage. The squirrel emcee was standing

just below the stage, watching them from a distance, and then he saw the chipmunk pad

toward him. Dale padded up, looked at him in the eye, and asked with a dangerously lowvoice,“GIVE ME……A MICROPHONE……NOW.” His voice was so low that the emceethought he was listening to a lion. He nodded in fright, laid his ears and tail back, swirled,and tumbled onto the stage, searching for the requested equipment. He finally grabbedone that was on the floor, and he stood and turned to hand it to the tamias— Dale was suddenly next to him, causing the sciurus to gasp in fright.“THANKS,” he growled, slowly taking the mike from the squirrel’s paws. He then turnedtoward the audience and was about to say something, but then he turned to his rightagain.The squirrel was still there, frozen in place.The chipmunk scowled at him and ordered,“YOU CAN GET OFF NOW.” A frightened sciurus hastily made his way off the stage.Dale turned to the audience once more, and he saw the Rangers, the bats, Clarice, andChirp Sing at their tables now. The rest of the audience was now turning toward him aswell. He was about to say something, but there was something wrong, somethingmissing, and he couldn’t figure out what it was.Suddenly, Monterey stood and hollered,“Hey, mate! If yer goin’ to do this, yer goin’ to need this!!” The murid then pulledsomething from his jacket and tossed it at the chipmunk onstage. It was— “Monty, what were you doing with Dale’s Hawaiian shirt?” asked Zipper. The mouselooked at his best friend and replied,“Jus’ followin’ Chipper’s advice. It always pays to be prepared.”“And how long did you have that shirt with you?” asked Chip.“Let’s jus’ say from the day the Comedian left. I always knew that ‘e would come back one day. Never lost faith. You can’t change who you really are. You never can, mates.”The mouse sat again, with raised ears and a satisfied smile.“Thanks, Monty!!” chattered Dale. He fumbled with his old shirt and the microphone for a moment. Foxglove, meanwhile, had her ears straight up, her tail in a blur, and her heartracing once more as lascivious thoughts rushed through her brain. Dale was going to



STRIP in front of EVERYONE?? Her hopes were dashed when she heard Dale pad up tothe emcee and say,“Hold this for a moment, please,” while handing him the microphone. He then padded off stage left, and padded behind the curtain. Several moments later, the emcee heard fromstage right,

“Well, what are you waiting for?! Introduce me!!” The squirrel was shaken from hisfright-trance and returned to emcee mode again. He perked his ears up and tail up, jumped to the stage, ran toward stage right, spoke with Dale for a moment, and then heturned back to the audience. The lights dimmed and the stage lights turned on him oncemore,“Males and females, it’s The Nutshell’s honour to present our next number! He’s aComedian, native of New York, and just recently come back from the dead—I mean— retirement! Will you all welcome with me, Mister Dale Segoleh Oakmont!!” Chip’s earsrelaxed as he sighed in immense relief when he heard Dale’s original middle name. Hestood and applauded, and the rest did the same, as Dale, now wearing his trademark shirt,

padded out on stage. He was holding his grey shirt with his right paw, and he took the

microphone from the emcee with his left. He shifted a bit, because with all his larger muscles this shirt felt just a trifle small. He then turned toward his loved one, whirled hisright arm a few times, and tossed his grey shirt toward her. Foxglove caught it andclutched it to herself, as if it were a treasure. She inhaled his scent deeply for a moment,and then turned her attention back to the stage, to the Comedian, to her Comedian.The applause died, and the Comedian began speaking, or at least that’s what everyoneelse thought he was doing. His mouth was moving, but no one could hear a sound he wasmaking. Foxglove and all the other bats present strained their ears trying to capture whathe was trying to say. And he appeared to be saying something very interesting, becausehe was gesturing towards her and waving his arms and moving his ears and tail all over the place and making all sorts of expressions and even laughing. Strange, even with a

broken microphone, they would at least be able to hear some sort of whispering— Dale looked at the confused audience, and began looking confused himself. He glanced athis microphone for a moment, tapped it, but no sound came out of it. Finally, he turned tostage left and hollered,“HEY, COULD YOU GET ME ANOTHER MIKE? I CAN’T EVEN HEAR MYSELFWITH THIS ONE!!” Practically everyone jumped at his outburst, especially the bats.And they all laughed at his little practical joke. The emcee himself sat back down becausehe was about to get him another microphone. Dale continued, with happy ears and tail,“Just kiddin’. Good evenin’, everyone, as you just heard, my name is Dale SegolehOakmont—” He waited for a moment, looking at the audience a bit confused-like. “No,I’m not the evil twin brother of the guy Clarice introduced a while back!!” It was mostlyhis way of speaking that was eliciting laughter from the audience. “Yes, you all saw me

before, I had all the braces and bandages on myself, and now I don’t, and if you want toknow what happened, please tell me as soon as you find out??” He said that with the most

pleading puppy-dog expression that was so comical and yet so tender that Foxglovedidn’t know whether to laugh or try to eat him. Dale raised his ears again, “So, Clariceintroduced me a while back, and I apologise for not standin’ up, and I hope that this‘stand up’ makes up for that. Anyways, I’m a Rescue Ranger, Fightmaster, Body-Builder,Cook, Mechanic, Stealth Expert, Detective, Entertainment Expert, Clown, Klutz, Goof-



up, Comedian, Romeo, and hopefully, a Fiancée,” he looked longingly at Foxglove,“Though not necessarily in that or-der,” he added. “But right now I think I’ll stick withthe Comedian bit, after all, when have any of you seen a body-builder tell a joke while hewas liftin’ ten kilograms above his head?” The audience laughed at this query. “I mean,can you just imagine:” Dale put the mike on its stand, hunched down, laid his ears back,

stiffened his tail, and “lifted” an invisible dumbbell. He did all his movements correctly,with his cheek pouches puffing out almost to his shoulders, and his face turning red aswell. The audience, naturally, took it all right in. When Dale “jerked” and moved “under”the invisible bar, he slowly brought himself upright, teetered to the mike, and spoke witha very strained voice,“Why——————did—————the chicken————cross————the road—??”He was getting guffaws now, and even some screams as he swung and “threw” theinvisible dumbbell to the audience. He sighed a bit, raised his ears again, relaxed his tail,and continued,“You know, maybe those guys who were here a few weeks ago should have gone to thegym and brought their equipment here.” This was rewarded by laughs and applause as

well. The Comedian took the mike from the stand and said, “Anyways, I want toapologise for not comin’ up here that night, but I was very dead at that time——” He paused and let the confusion sink in for a moment. “And if you don’t believe me just ask my friends over here—but now, let me tell you a bit about myself. I like watchin’ TV andreading comic books——wow, I’m your top-notch detective, aren’t I?” Even Chip had tolaugh at this one. “I love chocolate——wow, now that really shows, doesn’t it?” heasked, showing his slim profile to all. Foxglove laughed and wanted to take that profilefor herself NOW. “And now I’m also a Stealth Expert. I was just solving a crime on ‘DonHo’.” The audience guffawed again, and he continued, “Yes, loud Hawaiian shirts are thelatest trend in camouflage fashion, ladies and gentlemen!!” He had to wait a trifle for theaudience to settle down. “I’m into the art of fencin’—I make fences—” Pause for laughter, continue, “No, not really. Fencin’, as in…” He pulled out an invisible rapier andswung it angrily while chattering, “FENCE!! FENCE!! FENCE!! GATE!! DOOR!!BELL!!” Foxglove could just cry. Dale put away his invisible rapier neatly back in itsinvisible sheath. “I’m a Rescue Ranger, and I tell you, puttin’ all those rescues on therange gets pretty tirin’ after a while—” He began singing for no reason,“Home, home on the range,Where the rescuin’ rodents all play-y—” He hunched, laid his ears back, and gave astrained take as his voice cracked, causing some spit-takes in the audience. He raised hisears again. “I’m also a klutz. Yes, I’m a klutz. We went through ten sets of dishes the lasttime I insisted on cookin’—um—” Time yourself, time yourself, “So basically, with allmy talents, I can make you laugh while scaring a cub with my rainbow wig as I get a pie I

just cooked and smash it on my face while I break open a door with my sword to repair the lock later and trip over the door to give CPR to the guy who was in the closet chokin’himself without him even knowin’ it was me and I tell you what he had for dinner twoweeks ago and recommend a good movie and then go and get married—you know, whata deal here—” Chip had his ears down and his tail was a blur and was laughing andlaughing and laughing— “But enough about me, let me tell you now about my roommate and fearless leader, ChipMaplewood!” Dale looked at him as he said his name almost gossip-like.



And Chip suddenly perked his ears up, held his tail still, and stopped laughing.“Yes, you all saw him up here earlier, and you’re goin’ to see him again. Chip, could youstand up, please—” Chip was about to oblige him, but then Dale quickly said, “Oh, no— waittaminute, I forgot you had a little problem here, sorry, you don’t have to stand up.”He then turned to the rest of the audience and explained, “You see, he’s afraid that if he

stands up and everyone sees him, some of you might have the sudden urge to sing…”Dale then gave a perfect rendition of the theme of “Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom”, a fragment, at least.Funny. That was actually funny! thought Chip, as he lowered his ears and quivered histail again and laughed at himself.“He’s no archaeologist, but he has found plenty of treasures over the years—namely—— me.” Chip just laughed and shook his head. “He has a very interestin’ personality, I meanwhere else can you find Sureluck Jones, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and Sergeant Slaughter all rolled into one?” Chip kept it coming. “But really, folks, I really admire this guy. He’smy best friend, after all. He’s got me out of plenty of jams—and jellies—andmarmalades—and syrups—and—” Dale stopped for a moment, perking his ears up, as if

he had just heard something really weird. “Wow, that’s the first time I hear 500 stomachsrumble at the same time!” The audience kept it going, too. “Anyways, Chip and me go back a long way, as Clarice can tell you. And another reason I admire him is that after we both very much harassed a duck for a year or two, Chip suddenly said, ‘Hey, let’s form adetective/rescue agency!’ I mean, WHAT AN INSPIRATION that must have been,really——!!” Chip was laughing so hard his fedora almost fell off his head. “But hey,don’t ever get him mad, or he’ll bonk you on the head—and you can bonk him back, buthe won’t feel anythin’ because he has that fedora of his glued to his head and so it actslike a helmet, um—” Still more guffaws. Chip was laughing so hard now that he didn’tnotice the pain in his thigh and joints start to fade. “So let’s hear it for Chip Maplewood,males and females!!” Dale paused a moment to put the mike on the stand and clap at his

best friend, who simply laughed and waved a paw at him, and then wiped a tear from hiseye.“But now, let’s move on to another dear friend of mine, whom you also saw earlier,Gadget Hackwrench. Gadget, please do all the guys here a favour and stand up.”Blushing a trifle nervously, and with bashful ears and tail, Gadget stood, waved, and sat

back down. There were a few wolf calls, but Dale continued, ears down and tail stiff,hushing them, “Hey, SHHHHH!! That’s my friend you’re whistlin’ to!” He put on aslightly annoyed expression and added, “She’s no dog, she’s a MOUSE, man! But really,I had my whistlin’ days with her as well. And I’ll never forget the first time we met. Shewas actually about to kill us because she thought we were THE ULTIMATEINCARNATION OF THE MOST EVIL BEINGS YOU COULD FATHOM:” he spokesinisterly, with low ears and tail, rubbing his paws. Pause for effect:“Salesmen.”For the first time in her life, Gadget realised the absurdity of her behaviour. So, she hadno logical response to this. She could only lay her ears back and laugh. And as she did,she took hold of Chip’s paw. Dale raised his ears again. “And for a long time Chip andme were trying to woo her——hey, doesn’t that sound weird? ‘Woo’? Who came up withthat word? Did someone at the Royal English Academy suddenly say,” he then laid hisears and tail down again and tried to speak with a British accent, “I sayy, I have the



pehfect wohd that will mean ‘to troi to win summeone’s affactions.’ ‘And whot is it?’‘Woo.’ ‘Woo, jolly, that’s pehhhfect, wot!!’” Pause for laughter, raise ears and tail,continue, with normal voice. “So we were tryin’ to—‘woo’ her, and I’ll tell you, she is avery complex mouse. She’ll take a socket wrench over flowers and chocolates ANYday!” He looked at Gadget, and she was laughing and blushing like never before. Pause

for effect, give confused take, continue. “I’ll tell you, she can fix anythin’, build anythin’,install anythin’—hey, she can even program a VCR! Man, you can program your VCR and everyone thinks you’re an alien or somethin’—hey, the FBI wanted to capture her JUST FOR THAT REASON, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?? YOU’D THINK THEYWOULD KNOW HOW TO PROGRAM THEIR VCR’S!!” Gadget couldn’t help but feel

better by laughing at that horrible experience she had a while back. “Just don’t ask her tocook, or everythin’ will taste like machine oil, um—”“Hey!” she called out, in mock anger, as the audience laughed.“Sorry, Gadget. Well, the FBI actually wanted her for another stupid reason which wasn’ther fault at all, but that’s not important now.”

No, it wasn’t.

And it would never be again.Gadget was finally free from that.

Thanks to the COMEDIAN.

“But really, folks, she’s a very sweet girl who is very intelligent and smells like crazyglue, axle grease, and strawberry jelly——”“Golly, Chip, do I really?”“S-s-s-sorry, Gadget, I———PA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!”“Hey, Gadget, don’t worry, I know someone who won’t trade that scent for ANYTHIN’in the world!! Uh, oh, I’d better stop with her, or she’ll get mad. And you don’t want tosee her mad, folks. Because if you get her mad, she won’t bonk you.” Pause for the punchline. “She’ll tie you up to a rocket, launch it, and have it drag your tail all over the houseuntil you BEG the police to take you to prison—amazin’, isn’t it?” Gadget also cried, anddidn’t notice the pain fading away, either. “Let’s hear it for Gadget Hackwrench, malesand females!!” The audience applauded, and Dale padded off the stage and over toGadget, laid his ears back, hugged her, and kissed her cheek. Foxglove heard that, andoddly enough, she did not feel jealous, though Dale’s tail was wagging again. She knewDale was simply being a true friend. Gadget then held Dale’s paws, lowered her ears andtail, looked into his eyes and cried,“Dale, I’m sorry for not taking your input seriously, and for thinking of it as worthless.I’m sorry for making you feel worthless and insignificant, and for not letting you be thedetective you tried to be, and…and…for calling you a Goof-up back in Paris. Pleaseforgive me.”“Forgive us, added Chip.“All of us,” added Zipper. Dale replied,“Gadget, guys, I forgave you a long time ago.” He was about to go back, but she held his

paws firmly, and still kept her ears back and tail down.“Dale, I mean it! I never wanted to hurt you! I never knew that those things I said were so

painful to you!”



“I—I know—but in many cases, you, and all of you guys—were—were right—”“No, Dale! From now on, ALL input from you will be considered the same way weconsider everyone else’s! And—Dale—all you had to do was tell us—tell me: ‘Gadget,you must know that what you just said about me has caused considerable emotionalinjury on my person.’ Dale, you would not have hurt my feelings at all, and I would have

immediately apologised and tried to make amends with you. You were alwaysconsiderate of my feelings, and I should have been considerate of yours. I would haveeven let you bonk me if I thought I needed it!”“Really?” asked Chip and Dale.“Yes. And if Chip would have then thought that you were being inconsiderate of me and

bonked you, I would have bonked him twice as hard!” She then looked at her lovesinisterly, causing Chip to shiver and lower his features. She then looked back at Dale.“Dale, again, forgive me for hurting you. If I ever do it again, please tell me right away.”Dale smiled.“That goes double for me,” added Monterey. “Specially the bonkin’ part.”“Triple for me,” added Zipper.

Chip concluded, “And because I very much started it, a quadruple for me.” Dale smiledand said,“Guys, Gadget, you’re forgiven. Thanks.” They hugged, and Dale kissed Gadget’sforehead. Again, Foxglove did not feel jealous because as Dale bounced back to thestage, they all sat down and Gadget took hold of Chip’s paw again. Dale skipped back tothe stage and continued,“Sorry for the delay, folks, we were just fixin’ a few things there. But now let me tell youabout my other friend, ‘Monterey’ Jack Colby. Monty, could you stand, please?”Monterey obliged, and he was applauded. He sat down again. “And from his name, youcan probably guess what his favourite food is——broccoli—no, I mean—” Pause for laughter, give “mistaken” take, continue. “Monty is our resident cook and former globetrotter, and MAN does he love cheese!” He then turned to the mouse and explained,with ears down, tail stiff, and a “stern” tone, “Monty, please! You do know there areother types of food out there other than cheese!! I mean folks, Monterey Jack is the onlymouse I know who can make cheese out of roast beef, isn’t that incredible?” Pause for “response”, continue. “Here, Monty, I’ll show you—” He took the microphone again,

padded to stage right, pulled out a thimble covered with a lid from behind the wall, and padded toward Monterey, pointing the thimble at him.“Look here, these are cashews:” He popped open the thimble, and multicoloured spring-loaded snakes shot at the murid, causing him to lay his ears down, stiffen his tail, yelp,and almost fall back with his chair. The audience nearly wet themselves in unison.“Wasn’t that fun,” asked Dale, monotone, ears up, tail still, and with a completelystraight face. Monterey laughed and laughed and laughed. Dale padded pack to the stageand continued,“Ah, you gotta love that Monterey Jack. And you know folks, before I met Chip and

became a Rescue Ranger, I’ve always wanted to see the world, like Monty has. But Icould never afford it—like Monty. And what always got to me was that whenever Iwatched biographies of people on TV or readin’ about them, was that that has never stopped anyone else, right Monty? In fact, it’s when they can least afford it that theyreally start travelin’. I mean, it’s like, ‘Alone, broke, and destitute, AND HE





gave even more wolf calls, causing her to blush all the blushes that had been repressed aswell. Dale just looked at her for a minute…“……Luceeeeeeeeeelle……”And then he suddenly shook himself back to the present, trying hard to keep his ears upand tail still, amidst the sudden guffaws from the audience, Clarice, the bats, Chirp Sing,

the Rescue Rangers, and his fiancée. Both he and Foxglove were blushing like never before. “Um, sorry about that, she kinda distracted me—but in a nice way. So—let metell you about Foxglove. She chose that name for herself because she didn’t like ‘Orchid’very much—” Pause, “And there’s no way she wanted to go through life constantlyspelling out to everyone the name: ‘Chry’—‘Chrysan’—‘Chrysan’—” Pause, braceyourself, deliver, “‘Chry-san-tha-na-ne-ne-mu-mun-um-anum—” He said that last wordwith deliberate mumbling and fading and low ears, as well as with a very exaggeratedconfused take, which the audience liked. “Or somethin’ like that,” he finished amonglight laughs. “Now some of you may be wonderin’ if Foxy, a bat, actually works withZipper, a fly. And just let me tell you: they do. Zipper, could you fly next to Foxy for amoment?” The dipterid did so, and alighted on the chiropterid’s shoulder. “There, you

see? A fly and a bat workin’ together! She has never looked at him funny or nothin’,they’re great friends, believe me. Thank you, Zipper.” Foxglove even gave Zipper a smallkiss on the cheek before he sat on the table again. Dale then perked up his ears, looked atFoxglove strangely all of the sudden, and commented, “Gee, Foxy, I could hear your stomach growl all the way over here! Man!” Pause, wait for those two to stop guffawing,continue. “Like most lovely females, she’s a bit shy, so shy, that she began flirtin’ withme within ten seconds of seein’—er, hearin’ me—” Pause again. “And why did she startflirtin’ with me all of the sudden? Well, I guess it has to do with how we met. I wasfallin’ from the top of a lamppost and she suddenly swooped me up, savin’ my life, andapparently she liked what she heard. And I’ll tell you, if when you’re covered with

bubble gum and smell like pizza with plenty of garlic AND candy AND are fallin’ downfrom twenty feet in the air AND screamin’ your lungs out, you then SOUND so nice to afemale that she suddenly falls in love with you no questions asked—” Pause, let it sink in,let them laugh— Dale looked at her again. Gosh, those eyes were beautiful. And they would only befocused on him now, forever and ever.“Well,” he continued, a trifle tenderly, “who wouldn’t want to love her back?” Thecouple looked/echosounded at each other, blocking out the audience, their friends, thedistance between them— “Let’s hear it for Foxglove, males and females!!” Once more, the audience cheered. Dalewas then locked into eye contact again, and this time, he could not resist. He put the mikeaway again, pranced off the stage, bounced to his love, ears down and tail in a blur,hugged her tightly, and gave her a light kiss on her lips. Foxglove was almost burstingwith passion now, as her ears and tail showed. She didn’t want his lips to leave hers, shedidn’t want his arms to let go of her— …we’ll be holding on forever…Her struggle to contain herself would have been lost if she had not kept in mind that theyweren’t married yet and that they were in front of an audience. Dale released her, andreluctantly, she let him go…for now, with her lips ablaze. As Dale turned and padded





thunderstorm AND if she’s already screamin’ her heart out at somethin’—” Pause, holdit.And their night with Strigidæ was forever placed behind them with that joke. Continue.“We also have NO idea of what the cubs will look like. I suppose I’ll be feedin’ my cub

by throwin’ acorns at him while he’s flyin’—” Pause. Yes, it was going to be new, and

scary. But Foxglove wanted it. If it was with Dale, she would take whatever was in storefor her.“Anyways, my folks are okay with this, though I know that there will be some chipmunksand bats out there who’re gonna make a fuss out of all this—they’re goin’ to take all our

pictures and make them into fuss-balls, here—” Pause. “But hey, it’s not as if I’mmarryin’ an elephant, gimme a break here—” Pause, wait for clapping, continue. “Animalsociety is a lot like human society: SICK.” Lower ears and tail, give “sick” take, pauseagain, raise ears and tail. “I mean, both are crime ridden, both are filled with extremists,

both have mad scientists, both have lunatics, both have chocolate, and both have lunaticstryin’ to take over the world by usin’ chocolate—” Confused take, pause. The audiencewas putty in his paws now.

“As Rescue Rangers, we’ve met the WEIRDEST of bad guys, human and animal. SOweird, that we have to get just as weird to defeat them. We met this cat who wanted to getrid of all the dogs in Paris, so to beat him, I had to pretend to be a terrorist—” Confusedtake again, pause. “Another time this mad scientist wanted to steal things by usin’ hi-techcarpets. We foiled him by scarin’ a bunch of snobby humans in a party—” Pause. “But a

particular bad guy has given us a lot of work, he’s a cat, and one time he tried to steal anexpensive statue and we foiled him by basically dressin’ up as females, here—” Foxglovelaughed hysterically here. She had no idea how Dale would look like in a dress, so asvarious images formed in her mind, she nearly fell off her chair.“So this cat obviously doesn’t like us, and he even tried to stop me from marryin’ Foxyhere———and he almost did—” Pause. The audience got quiet all of the sudden. “Well,I think it was because he didn’t like the bat—ch of cookies we sent him—” Pause again,wait for sudden laughter, continue. “I mean, I thought we used the right bat—ter, here—”Pause again, “And, when I found out that he had actually kidnapped Foxy, I passed out—

—I needed to recharge my bat—teries!” Dale smiled. He smiled at this incident now, andkept his ears and tail up as well. It was forever placed behind him. It would never haunthim or Foxglove again. “So when I woke up, I decided to gather a bunch of bats to helpme rescue her——we formed a bat—talion!!” Pause. This time Otis almost fell off hischair. And the pain in his body melted away as well. Clarice, who was also laughing likenever before, was also gradually relieved of all her bodily pain as well. “So Otis here andI went to the nearest circus.” Pause, smile. “Ah, I can tell you all know what’s comin’ upnext: We went to the circus to gather all the acro—bats!!” Lower ears and tail, give “bad

joke” take, wait for amused moans, raise ears and tail, continue. “And I prepared them for the bat—tle!!” Pause. He took a deep breath. Making people laugh was the greatestfeeling of all, for now, at least… “And as we flew in, I lead them with my bat—on!!”Twirl invisible baton while pausing again. Finding idiosyncrasies and absurdities intraumatic events, for him to laugh at, to laugh at danger, to laugh at evil, to laugh at evilones, to laugh at curses, very much restored his strength, his confidence; it helped him tosee mistakes and correct them. No Rescue Ranger, Fightmaster, Body-Builder, Cook,Mechanic, Stealth Expert, Detective, or even Fiancée or Romeo could do that for him.



Only the Entertainment Expert.Only the Goof-up.Only the Klutz.Only the Clown.

Only the COMEDIAN.

“And so, we got to his hide-out, but some hide-out, everyone knows where it is—” Pause,“And we defeated him by spittin’ on him—and he hated being spit on by a whole flock of

bats———so he went batty!!” Pause one more time. He looked back at his table oncemore. Otis and all of the Rescue Rangers were laughing like never before, laughing at anincident which was once a matter of life and death, and now they were laughing at it,mocking it, defying it, daring it to happen again, daring it to challenge them once again,

because never again would they be caught off guard as it happened to them so long agonow.

That was his doing.His achievement.His moment of glory and triumph.His finest hour…

The hour of the COMEDIAN…

The Comedian then calmed down a trifle, as he looked once again into Foxglove’s eyes.“Actually——no. The cat didn’t go batty.” Pause, wait for silence. “The only one whowent batty that night——” Pause once again, lower ears, quiver tail, fall into her eyes,“—was me. I went batty over her——and——I said some—stupid stuff that night—— and we both kinda died——and Foxy, I hope you can forgive for faintin’ on you, and for what I did and said that night, because I never thought it would turn out so horrible for

both of us—” In an instant, the batmaid, with matching ears and tail, was suddenly nextto the chipmunk, giving him a very sudden and very deep kiss, which of course made theaudience woo and clap. The pipistrell broke off for a moment, and whispered,“Dale, you never fainted on me. You never said anything bad to me. You never didanything bad to me. You did nothing wrong, and I have nothing to forgive. Please forgiveme for falling for Fat Cat’s trick!!” Dale’s response to that was to return the kiss just asintensely as she did it, eliciting more woos and clapping.“I forgive you,” he whispered, after he pulled away a trifle. Foxglove then felt releasedfrom the incident, finally, as if a burden was lifted off her shoulders. But then, sherealised that she had to say it too, in order for Dale to become free of the incident as well.“And I forgive you.” He too, felt lighter as well. And now, the kidnapping was truly

placed behind them and buried forever. Foxglove then let go of him and fluttered back toher seat. It took Dale a few seconds to recover among the clapping and chuckling amongthe audience.“Um, so as I was sayin’, we both kinda died——but we were brought back, and I finallyknow why. And I’m still batty over her, and I always will be, and I don’t understand why



any other male would not go batty over her.” Otis just smiled inwardly at this. He wouldhave, if he had been allowed, but he knew when to back down. He would get his mateeventually, but Foxglove was not the one. He had already come to terms with that.“Because if she did all she did tonight just to win me back, well———Foxy, you won.And I don’t care what anyone says——but I love you.” The chipmunk and bat just

looked/echosounded at each other, smiling, as the audience stood and cheered once more.“Dale, I love you,” she said.And for some reason, Dale heard her above all the applause.“Thank you all!! You can go to the bathroom now!! Good night!!” The applause andlaughter intensified again as Dale did a little Vaudeville dance, complete with waving hisinvisible hat, while humming its respective comedic musical conclusion. He then took a

bow, “hit” his head on the microphone stand, “staggered” a bit, and teetered off the stage.And once more, he embraced his bat lady, his loved one, his wife.

That was the final proof.Segoleh had indeed been resurrected.

Monterey, still clapping, padded next to Gadget, and repeated,“‘If you luv somethin’, let it go…”“If it comes back, it’s yours forever…” she continued, smiling and clapping as well.Zipper finished,“And ever and ever and ever…” It took a while for the applause to fade, and when it did,Chip asked him,“Dale, where did all of that come from?” The Comedian looked at the Detective, andreplied,“I don’t know, Chip. It all came off from the top of my head.” Then he looked back atFoxglove and added, “Kinda makes you wonder what else is in there, right, Honey?”Foxglove just echosounded into his eyes, wanting, wanting, wanting— Dale then released her again, much to her disappointment,“Just a moment, Foxy, I have to do somethin’ right now.” True. Now that the Comedianhad been fully restored, there was one final thing to do. He padded over to Chip, andsmiled. Chip smiled back, ears up and tail quivering, as Dale’s were, happy and relievedthat his best friend was now very much back from the dead. They hugged, naturally,though Chip was a trifle surprised as he felt him more solid, and that his arms were a lotstronger, too. They released each other, then Dale looked at him in the eye, and stated,“Chip, I want to thank you again for all you did tonight. You’re our leader, and I knowyou led the others in tonight’s battle plan.”“Um, well, thanks Dale. We couldn’t have done it without the others, however. But it’sgreat to have you back.”“Anyways, I just want to tell you, from the bottom of my heart, and I truly mean this, thatI think that you and the Rescue Rangers are all washed up.” The Rangers, the bats,Clarice, and Chirp Sing hushed at this blatant statement. Ears were lowered again andtails were held still. Chip looked at his best friend blankly for a moment, wondering if heheard right.“Dale, w-why would you say that?” he asked, with confusion and concern. Dale triedagain,



“Chip, I said that you and the Rangers are all washed up!” Why Dale was smiling,holding his ears high, and quivering his tail at this theory was beyond Chip’s ability tounderstand. And why would he say that, after everything that happened tonight had just

proven the opposite?“Dale, what are you talking about?” Dale thought for a moment, and tried a different

approach,“Chip, you’re stupid.” Chip blinked at him. That wasn’t true, either, even with all thesincerity Dale was using.“Huh?”“I said you’re stupid,” he insisted. Chip thought for a moment, and replied,“No, I’m not,” as logically as he could. Dale lowered his ears and tail and wiped his facein momentary frustration, looked at Chip again, and suddenly slapped the back of hishead, knocking off his fedora. Everyone was more than surprised at this, and even moreso was Chip, who could not figure out what Dale was doing, wincing as his fedora fell.He looked at his best friend in total bewilderment— Suddenly, something was triggered within him.

Dale’s insane grin, his insane chuckle, his insane ears, his insane tail, his insane insult,his insane gesture— A reflex, a trademark action that had been suppressed, killed, was trying to surface, toresurrect— Chip’s left arm twitched for a moment, and even tingled, as if it had been asleep and now

blood was circulating again through it.His left paw closed to form a fist.Chip smiled.He then jumped up and BONKED Dale on his head.And both their tails quivered again, as their ears came to attention.Odd, his head feels harder…Dale blinked at the bonk, but chuckled nonetheless,“Chip, you’re stupid!!” And Chip bonked him again, this time with laughter. The others

began chuckling, too, even Foxglove, who was about to give Chip a piece of her mind for “harassing” her husband if Dale hadn’t laughed.“The Rangers are all washed up!!” insisted Dale. Another bonk, with heartier laughter.“You’re stoopid!!” This time Chip pounced on Dale, and both began to wrestle. Gadgetand Foxglove immediately looked over, but then they saw that they had nothing to worryabout. This scuffle was nothing like they had seen, because now both chipmunks weresmiling, and laughing, and were wagging their tails, and had their ears up, besideshollering in their indecipherable chatter. Chip was surprised at just how solid and flexibleDale had suddenly become. And he was even more surprised that no part of his own bodywas complaining of any previous injury from their night with Strigidæ, or from arthritis

pain…Just then two bouncers, two very large prairie dogs, ran up to see what the fight wasabout. Gadget and Foxglove stopped them with pleading paws and wings.“Wait!! It’s okay!” said the mousemaid. “They’re always like this!”“Yeah!” added the batmaid. “They’re not fighting, they’re having a—‘spiriteddiscussion’!” Dale had told her about these bouts they had, so it was all she could comeup with at the moment.



“They won’t bother the patrons, mates,” added Monterey. “We’ll just tell them to keep itdown.” The prairie dogs looked at each other.“It’s okay, guys. They won’t cause trouble,” said Clarice, padding up to them. “Now begood sports and get back to the entrance, please.” The bouncers looked at each other again, shrugged, and left. Some three minutes later, the sciurids finally stopped. Dale

stood, and held out a paw to help his best friend. Chip gladly took it, stood, and huggedhis best friend once more. Then, he looked at him, lowered his ears and tail, and said,“Dale, thanks. You don’t know how much I missed doing that. And now I want to saythat——you’re not stupid. You never were. Like Gadget said, we’re all sorry for not

believing or wanting your input and for making you feel insignificant. Because you’re notinsignificant. You’re just as smart as I am, maybe even smarter, it’s just that you havedifferent information than I do. I could never make others laugh as you can, I could never find humour in serious things the way you did. And—for all the times I bonked you andtreated you like a clown——Dale———I’m sorry.” Dale looked back at him, also withlow ears and tail, and replied,“Don’t be. I acted like a clown many times when I should have been serious. But this

whole thing has made me learn a lot of stuff from you, from all of you guys. I understandyou better now, and now I understand why you reacted the way you did to all my inputand comments. I know how to do my job now. I’ll——try to keep the Comedian and theDetective separated now——”“Don’t. Be as you always were——just——be more careful——and just try to not get usinto more trouble than what I get you into.”“I will. And don’t worry about the bonkin’, I know I deserved it. And I know now thatthey also help you relieve stress!! So if you ever feel like bonkin’ me, just go ahead. Andmaybe I’ll say somethin’ stupid as well. You might even laugh.” Chip smiled and raisedhis features again,“Thanks, buddy. I can always count on you.” Dale smiled back and also raised hisfeatures, and then he turned to Foxglove to say something— BONK!!Foxglove laughed. Dale winced, but he smiled anyways as he turned back,“See? You can be funny! But I’ll get you for that, Detective.”“I’m counting on it, Comedian,” he replied, still smiling. Dale patted down his headfur for a moment, turned back to Foxglove, but then she asked,“Wait a minute, Cute Stuff. What about our enemies? How will our family deal withthem?” The Comedian thought for a moment, and replied,“Like I told Fat Cat, if he messes with you, I’ll kill him, even if I have to make him dielaughin’. As for the rest, well, if they get me mad, they’ll be sorry. But its not just usthey’ll mess with. They’ll have to deal with all of us Rangers, and if that’s still too muchfor us to handle, we’ll get all of our families, and the bat-tallion again if we need to. Wecan beat them, Foxy. They’ll never catch us off guard again. And I won’t put you indanger anymore; I know I can do that now. Of course, there will always be danger, butyou can be safe from them, all of us can. We’ll always be together, and we’ll facewhatever danger comes at us—together. And I don’t care how much security we have to

put at the weddin’, but we’re gettin’ married, and they are NOT goin’ to stop us!”“And what about your ‘family curse’?” she asked.



“We’ve broken Sir Colby’s curse, and Chirp Sing’s curse as well. And since my cursesaid that I’d never be able to marry my original fiancée, I—I—I think we broke that oneas well, if you’re still willin’ to go through the weddin’ again. And speakin’ of that, um,where were we—? Oh, yes. Ahem:” Once more, Dale got down on one knee, took Foxglove’s right wing, and asked, this time even more insisting, “Foxglove, do you think

maybe you’d mind very much if you kinda sorta maybe just married me a little bit??”Foxglove kept echosounding at his gorgeous dark brown eyes, which sparkled with newlife and joy, his face echoing in the most beautiful resonance she had ever heard, and hissmile bringing wonderful sound patterns to her ears. Matching Dale’s features, her earswere fully alert and her tail was a blur, and her heart was beating in her head again, shewas so happy that the Comedian had asked her this— “I————STILL————DON’T KNOW!!” Once again, she snatched her wing awayfrom her beloved, and turned her back on him as well, halting her tail movement.Everyone else’s jaws went slack as Dale sagged and his tail froze again,“Huh? Why not? I just showed you that the Comedian is alive and well!!” Foxgloveturned slightly to echosound at him and look at him angrily/coyly out of the corner of her

eye,“You may have come up with that from the top of your head, Comedian, but I know thatyou’ve wanted to do that for a long time now! I know that you had that more or less

planned!! You did that inside your head many times, and that’s why it came right off!!But even you know that comedy needs a battle plan, like detective work!! I heard youtiming yourself, and carefully choosing your words!! And it was hilarious, yes, but

predictable, even though I had never heard it before!!” Dale looked up at her, ears down,with a genuine confused take on his face.“But that’s comedy! That’s how a true Comedian works! We’re predictable to ourselves,or to a trained listener like you—what is it that you want from me?” The bat turnedaround again, gave him the most sinister look she could conjure, grabbed him by his shirtcollar, pulled him up so their noses were touching, and growled,“The Comedian was predictable. I fell in love with someone who was RANDOM. Showme RANDOM——and then we’ll talk, COMEDIAN.” Panic and fear almost took hold of Dale’s heart again when Foxglove did this. His mind went blank for a moment, as henearly fell into her royal blue eyes again. He felt himself melting under her sinister gazeand sinister voice, and he was about to kiss her— Suddenly, he straightened up, ears up, and tail quivering again.“You want RANDOM, INTERPRETER??” he asked, also quite sinisterly. The batmaidreleased him, trying to keep her ears up and maintain her sinister take without muchsuccess,“I DEMAND RANDOM, CHIPMUNK.” Dale returned a sinister and determined look again.“THEN RANDOM IS WHAT YOU WILL GET, BAT.” Foxglove shivered again. Sheliked shivering under his influence. Dale suddenly turned to Clarice and growled,“DOES THIS PLACE HAVE A DANCE FLOOR.” Clarice, with her tail down and earslaid back, like everyone else, needed eight seconds to snap out of the trance brought in byall this sinisterness.“Um, y-yes, Dale, this club h-has a d-dance floor—”



“CLEAR THE DANCE FLOOR.” The chipmunkmaid looked back at him in total fear.Finally, she stuttered,“I-I can’t do-do that, Dale, you’ll h-have to ask—” Suddenly Dale turned to the emcee,who was still next to the stage, and repeated his command,“CLEAR THE DANCE FLOOR.” Once again, the squirrel lowered his ears and tail and

froze in place. The sinister chipmunk stomped over to him and repeated in his face,“I SAID CLEAR THE DANCE FLOOR, NOW.” Trembling, the squirrel stumbled onthe stage, took the microphone, and stuttered,“Um, males and females, c-clear the dance floor, um, please. I know this isn’t d-dancenight—but we’re under——um—extraordinary circumstances here——” A trifleconfusedly, and reluctantly, the patrons in the area just in front of the stage left their tables while the club assistants came to remove the tables and chairs. Dale then turned tothe emcee once again and asked,“WHERE DO YOU KEEP THE MUSIC.” The emcee, completely scared out of his wits,

pointed a trembling index digit toward the far wall in front of the stage. Dale saw adiscman hooked up to a console, which was hooked up to the sound system. A CD rack

was to its left.“THANKS.” Dale then turned back to Foxglove, and locked sinister eyes with her as thefloor was cleared. They both stood motionless, almost daring each other to blink— “HA! You blinked!” cried Foxglove, laughing a trifle. Dale, unfazed, waited until the lastguinea pig removed the last table, leaving the multicoloured tile floor clean and open.Then, he took Foxglove by her wing again, led her to the centre of the floor, and lookedat her in the eye. All other eyes and ears were locked on them as he said,“YOU WANT RANDOM? I’LL GIVE YOU RANDOM.”…she loved shivering now…He left Foxglove on the centre, and ran to the CD rack. He opened it, closed his eyes, andswept his right paw along the discs back and forth a few times, before grabbing one.A randomly selected CD.Still with his eyes closed, he took the disc out and lifted it over his head with both paws.Opening his eyes now, he padded over to the discman. Since he had both paws full, heleaned over and searched for the “open” button. Finding it, he stepped on it. Since he wasstill leaning over, however, as the top popped open, it hit him on the nose, though notwith enough force to break it again. The audience laughed for a bit as Dale staggeredaround again, ears and tail down, unable to rub his nose, with the CD he was holding over his head. Then, he shook his head, raised his ears and tail, and looked back at thediscman.He closed his eyes.He put the disc in.He closed the top again.He opened his eyes again.He pressed POWER.He turned and faced the batmaid again, rubbing his itchy nose.“……Luceeeeeeeeeelle……” he whispered sinisterly, ears pointed at her.She loved shivering under his sinister gaze and sinister voice.And then, Dale padded back a bit, and pressed another button on the discman with hisright foot-paw, while still looking toward his loved one.









“Yes, we were born……” Very quickly, he moved his paws to his hips, then in front of him, then he turned them over, then crossed his arms, then he moved his hips back andforth— “Dee-dee-dee diddly—!”

“Born……” He moved his paws to his shoulders, then in front of him, then he turnedthem over, then placed them back on his hips, then he moved his hips back and forth— “Dee-dee-dee diddly—!”“Born……” The macarena?“BORN TO BE ALIV—” And Foxglove wanted those hips for herself RIGHT N—

“Yes, we were born—!” Dale then moved right next to her again, placed his paws behindhim, and began stomping around her: Danzón.“Dee-dee-dee diddly—!”“Born—!” Foxglove echosounded at him for a moment. He shifted his head a bit:“Dee-dee-dee diddly—!” Come on!!

“Born to be alive!” A trifle reluctantly, Foxglove copied Dale’s position and also beganstomping around him. She wondered if she would be able to keep up with him.“BORN TO BE ALIVE.” Now you’ve got it!! Okay, so far so g—

“Yes, we were born……” Suddenly Dale grabbed her right wing with his left paw, placedhis right paw on her left hip, touched her left cheek with his right cheek, and did thetango.“Dee-dee-dee diddly—!”“Born……” She was startled, naturally, but it didn’t take her long to adjust to hismovements, and she flowed back and forth with him.“Dee-dee-dee diddly—!” She shivered as his fur bristled with hers, practically generatingsparks from the static electricity and their growing passion.“Born……” They suddenly stopped and looked/echosounded at each other as a hardguitar chord rang out— “BORN TO BE ALIVE.” The song went into yet another instrumental, so Dale andFoxglove decided to continue with the tango. Watching from the sidelines, along witheveryone else, Chip couldn’t help but feel envious of the moves Dale was making, withall the pain he had on his— Huh?He noticed that he was tapping his right foot-paw to the beat of the song, pain free.He stomped.

Nothing.The pain was gone.And…it had been gone, he realised, before he wrestled with Dale…He suddenly noticed someone was holding his left paw— And the arm that was connected to the paw that was holding his was also moving to the

beat.He looked into Gadget’s eyes.He smiled.He chattered above the music,





“Born……” Foxglove was completely in the clouds again. She was dancing the nightaway with her male, and no one would try to stop her.“Dee-dee-dee diddly—!”“Born……” And who ever did, they would regret it for the rest of him/her/its life.“BORN TO BE ALIV—” This night was their night, now and forever.

“Yes, we were born—!” Dale then hooked his right arm with her right wing, and skippedaround her in circles, this time, in a country/square dance style.“Dee-dee-dee diddly—!”“Born—!” He unhooked and did the same with the left arm/wing.“Dee-dee-dee diddly—!”“Born to be alive!” Bow to the left, bow to the right.“BORN TO BE ALIVE.” Fists in hips, pad to the right, pad to the left.

“Yes, we were born……” For no reason at all, Dale started hitting her shoulder with hisshoulder, not too hard, though. He was slam dancing, moderately, of course.

“Dee-dee-dee diddly—!”“Born……” More than slamming, they were bouncing into each other “Dee-dee-dee diddly—!”“Born……” And from their smiles, straight ears, and blurry tails, everyone knew theywere enjoying it. Another hard guitar chord rang out, but this time Foxglove was ready.She suddenly grabbed Dale’s shoulders, brought his face to her face, and said, with theexact same baritone voice of the performer:“BORN TO BE ALIVE.” Now it was Dale’s turn to shiver. He knew Foxglove had notlip-synched that last line. As another instrumental played and those two continued slamdancing, another tamias and pipistrell were watching/echosounding from the sidelines.They were both happy for them, and yet, sad.“Isn’t it nice that they got back together?!” chattered Clarice.“Yeah!” screeched Otis back, with a definite sigh. “Some couples have ALL the luck!!”Clarice then looked at him coyly and asked,“Interesting point, sugar! And are you feeling lucky right now?!” Otis suddenlyechosounded at her. He thought he had saved her life simply because it was something hehad to do, but now he wasn’t sure.“I don’t know, why do you ask?!”“I was wondering if you’re doing anything tonight, tall, dark, and mysterious?!” Otis

blushed.“Well, I was going to eat more insects, but I suppose I can change plans!! Would youcare to dance?!”“I thought you’d never ask!!” Otis and Clarice then entered the dance floor, but beforethey realised that all their pain was gone as well, they had to quickly step out again,

because the other chipmunk and bat were practically using up the whole floor. Thechorus began again,

“Born!” Dale then put his arm around her shoulder, gave a half-kick, and then a full kick.In no time, Foxglove was also doing the Can-can.“Dee-dee-dee diddly, dee-dee-dee diddly—!”



“Born to be alive!” First to one side of the floor, and then to the other side.“BORN TO BE ALIVE.” Kick, kick, kick, kick! This was FUN!!

“Yes, we were born……” Foxglove was stunned yet again when Dale grabbed her wingsand started spinning her all over the place: Swing.

“Dee-dee-dee diddly—!”“Born……” He grabbed her hips and threw her up in the air. She did a graceful spin, withher wings over her head, and came down on Dale’s waiting paws.“Dee-dee-dee diddly—!” Dale had made her fly— “Born……” Dale spun her again, but as the guitar gave that hard chord again, he woundher back up again, making her wrap her wings around herself and then wrapping his armaround her, basically pinning her wings down. She was slightly frightened being in this

position, and even more so when her face stopped right next to Dale’s— “BORN TO BE ALIVE.” Dale didn’t lip-synch this time, either. Foxglove couldn’tmove, but before she could give him a kiss that would make both of them lose control,Dale “unwound” her again, as a final instrumental played. They stood in front of each

other and crazily waved their arms and wings. Dale then grabbed her wing again, spunher around himself, and then he made her do a little hop, which enabled him to swing her on his left side, and then on his right side— Oh no, the tunnel, the tunnel, he was going to do the TUNNEL!! Keep your mouth shut,keep your mouth SHUT, focus on the music, the music, the MUSIC——!!

Not that she could have heard anything besides the music, because as Dale spread his legsand swung her between them, his arms and her wings pretty much covered everything.

“Born!” Dale switched back to disco again, only this time he had a partner.“Dee-dee-dee diddly, dee-dee-dee diddly—!” Once again, he began pointing up anddown and moving his hips.“Born to be alive!” Foxglove basically mirrored all his movements, and now it was histurn to be transfixed by her hips.“BORN TO BE ALIVE.” And those hips would be his now, forever and ever.“Yes, we were born……” They both spun in place.“Dee-dee-dee diddly—!”“Born……” And they took hold of each other one more time and spun together.“Dee-dee-dee diddly—!”“Born……” The music faded out, and the emcee decided to press POWER on the CDagain. Dale and Foxglove slowed down and finally stopped, with him holding her as she

bent back, with her wings spread above her. The audience ROARED, and this time, bothof them were caught up in it, rising, rising, rising to the clouds, with each other, forever and ever. After a while, they straightened out, and embraced. Both were panting, and theywere totally spent, but in each other’s arms/wings.They were exhausted and had their ears down, of course, but being in each other’sarms/wings, tails in a blur, and feeling each other’s hearts flutter in unison, and breathingdeeply and taking in each other’s scents, a wonderful sense of relief came over them, arelief from all the pain and tension that they had gone through the past few months.Relief.They just felt such calm, comforting, soothing, wonderful relief…





looked/echosounded back at each other’s eyes, and laughed again. They turned to theemcee and asked at the same time,“What’s for dinner?” And they and the audience laughed, cried, and cheered again, for along time that night…

A MERRY HEART DOETH GOOD…

An elder chipmunk looked out his office window for a moment, ears up and tail still,gathering his thoughts, assembling them, trying to put them in a logical and rationalorder. It wasn’t exactly easy for him in this particular moment, not after all he had justdiagnosed. He then turned from the window and padded over to a mini-tape recorder, hismedical log, opened the deck, inserted a new tape, closed the deck, pressed RECORD,and looked back out the window.“Medical log: one nine nine eight zero seven three zero point one five four five. I amfinding extreme difficulty trying to record these events in a clinically ordered way.Perhaps it’s because what happened to these patients is beyond the scope of current

medical science——and language.“The events involve six patients: Chip Maplewood, male chipmunk; Dale Oakmont, malechipmunk; Gadget Hackwrench, female mouse; Jack Colby, male mouse; Zipper Lightringer, male fly; and Foxglove, female bat.“These first five are regular patients of mine, the ‘Rescue Rangers’, a detective and crimefighting organisation, with Foxglove having joined last year. Their work many timesinvolves them having to travel overseas, and in those times they come for vaccines andcheckups, before and after their journeys. Their mileage and destinations have broughtthem in contact with plenty of exotic pathogens, but our preventive measures have

protected them from a great deal of diseases.“Or so I thought. Three months ago, they came in for an unscheduled check-up, and their tests revealed a mild case of arthritis. Additional tests, however, showed that Dale wasexperiencing gradual physical deterioration, a classic case of an animal willing himself todie. I prescribed immediate psychiatric therapy for him, which he took, apparently. Later tests showed inconclusive results, except of an increase in arthritic symptoms. When theycame in last week, however—” Doctor Qandlier stopped as he remembered watching theRescue Rangers practically “dance” into his office.“In this profession, when one sees recovery, one sees it coming gradually, as when adisease gradually sets in. The moment I saw my patients again—” The chipmunk turnedto his office door. This was certainly difficult to explain. “Something——had happenedto them——something radical. From a simple glance, one could see no traces of arthritis,and——there was——a——I don’t know how else to put this: a ‘radiance’ in their faces,like when someone wins the lottery. In their previous visit, I was aware that they hadsymptoms of clinical depression, especially Dale, but now——their faces shone— especially Dale’s, and that of his fiancée, Foxglove. They came in for the exact sametests, and——” The tamias sat down at his desk, picking up the Rangers’ medical folders,looking at them in confusion, and laying his ears back. “And all the results turned outnegative. Not a gradual decrease in symptoms, but a total absence of symptoms, almostas if the initial tests had been wrong, or as if these were a completely different set of

patients who came in. I ordered the tests to be taken again, and I still got the same results.



I had never seen such a radical remission of arthritis, and what was even more odd,Dale’s deterioration had not only stopped, but it had actually——reversed. He seemed— younger, so full of energy and life, and not only him, but the rest of them, too. Even Jack appeared to be ten years younger, and a bit thinner, and with clear arteries, and with a lowcholesterol count, too, despite all the cheese he eats…” The rodent then took Dale’s file,

and opened it.“And to make matters more confusing, two weeks ago they were admitted to the ER of Staten Island Veterinary Hospital, after a run-in with an owl. The hospital’s recordsshowed that Dale had three cracked ribs and upper maxillary, Foxglove had a second-degree separation of the right shoulder, and the others had multiple injuries as well. Whenthey came in for their check-up, I was expecting them to still have their casts and

braces——” He took the hospital’s record and read it again, for the NTH time. He hadseen too many of them to identify a fake one a mile away, but if this was fake, whywould the Rangers want to fake it?“And they didn’t. The x-rays showed that Dale’s fractures had knitted fully, somethingwhich takes at least three to four weeks, and it took two weeks for him, or one night, as

he claims.” Dale’s x-rays were already filed away, but he glanced toward the cabinet inawe anyways. “Either two x-rays of two different chipmunks have been mixed up——no.I saw the hospital’s x-rays, and they confirmed the original diagnosis. I just talked on the

phone with the doctor who was on call that night, and she verified what all the hospital’srecords had shown. She herself took the x-rays and set the casts and braces. Shesupervised the Rangers’ treatment. She is on her way here with the original plates andrecords to———try to figure out what happened. Maybe she’ll have better luck than me.“And there were witnesses of the Rangers’ injuries. The Rangers themselves have a highdegree of credibility, so if we add clinical records and eyewitnesses and we put themagainst what I am holding in front of me—— “Also defying my clinical explanation is that these tests show that their defence systemshave——strengthened, somehow. The only way I know that this can happen is when onereceives a booster shot of a specific vaccine, but these tests show——not only anincrease in antibody count———of all their antibodies——but the antibodies themselvesappear to have been———enhanced. That is the only word that I can use. The only waythis could have happened is if someone had given them a booster shot of all their antibody stock, separately, but that still doesn’t explain the enhancement of their antibodies. Medically speaking, that is an excellent thing, because they won’t have toworry about disease for a long time now, either local or exotic, and I even doubt they’lldevelop a cold.” The sciurid then closed Dale’s file, but continued to look at it, ears andtail still down, trying to find an explanation, one that would satisfy his medical reasoningand logic.“None of the drugs I prescribed could have done what I saw. No combination can do so,no known drug, but they told me that they never came in contact with any strangesubstances lately. Even the psychiatric therapy I prescribed can only do so much.Foxglove did say that they also took some ‘musical’ therapy, and while I know that theright music can relax the body and mind and relieve stress, that still doesn’t explain theknitting or antibody enhancement. Dale then asked me if I believed the adage of ‘laughter is the best medicine’. I told him that laughter had been shown to release endorphins, butthose make the body ‘feel’ better and help its metabolism, they don’t fight disease itself,





if any, had been washed away by the rain or swept away by the park keepers. And of course, the body had been buried in an unmarked grave long ago.Shivers rippled through the spines of the ones who had been here that horrible night…Dale then smelled something. He looked over to a nearby bush, and saw something under it.

“Excuse me a moment,” he told his fiancée. He released Foxglove, and padded towardthe bush. Reaching down, he picked up a brown owl feather. Practically undetectable by bats, but even with all the rain and heat, Dale was able to smell it.He looked up, not at the blue-red sky, but to a particular spot in the sky, right above thespot on the cement.He shivered again.Padding back toward the rest, he placed the feather on the spot where Strigidæ died.The bat couples embraced each other, as did the engaged couple. Phinehas padded up,“We’re here to mourn the passing of living creature, one that while evil, was a livingcreature anyways. While her crimes were of untold horror, and left many childless and

parentless, and caused untold pain to those present, she met an end which in no way

resembled justice, even poetic justice. And just as no creature deserved to die the way shekilled, no creature deserves to die the way she was killed. If she deserved capital punishment, she was denied of the chance to challenge it and defend herself accordingly.May she rest in peace.” Phinehas then looked at the bat couples, who padded up and said,“Leticia,” said Janice.“Irene,” said Marcus.“Dawn,” said Dusk.“Aurora,” said Rosie.“Alicia,” said Grace.“None of them, we hope,” added Janice, “hate you, Strigidæ. We don’t hate youanymore, either. What you did was terrible, but—you were a predator, and you wereacting on instinct. True, evil twisted your instincts. You took the wrong path. But wedon’t hate you. We’re not angry with you. We just feel sorry for you and are sad that your life had to end this way. As Foxglove came to us and gave us peace, we now put you torest, we put you behind us, and we give you peace. Good-bye, Strigidæ.” The bats padded

back. The elder chipmunk then looked at Dale, who then padded up and stuttered,“Um—Miss Strigidæ, as Miss Janice said—neither me nor Foxglove hate you or are madwith you now, either. We’re——not sure why we did what we did——it was kinda donein the spur of the moment——and—and we were defendin’ ourselves——we just wantedto survive——but—but——we just hope you forgive us for hatin’ you and——killin’you. We ourselves were dead at the time, so——we just ask for forgiveness, as we nowforgive you. We don’t approve of what you did; we just forgive you. Good-bye, MissStrigidæ.” Dale then padded off the cement again, picked up a pebble, and placed it ontop of the feather. The rest of the chiropterids, rodents, and dipterid did the same, and afew moments later there was a small pile of pebbles on top of the feather. It was a humbleyet grim monument to all the sadness and horror that this whole park had seen. But now,all of that was over. There was irreparable loss, yes, but all those affected had now cometo terms with it and had moved on. Still, there was one more thing left to do.



The mammals and insect then padded back to the vehicles, and they all then flew/drove ashort distance from that spot, to the place where a particular vine with purple flowers wasgrowing. The animals padded/flew toward it, and one more time, Phinehas spoke,“We’re now gathered here to say our final farewells to Leticia, Irene, Dawn, Aurora,Alicia, Tyndal, Anna, and Foxglove’s parents. It was in this place where they perished so

cruelly by a deranged predator. Leticia, Irene, Dawn, Aurora, and Alicia were beautiful batlings, only beginning to live. Tyndal was a father with a brave and noble heart, and didnot hesitate to sacrifice his own life to save that of his wife, even though his daughter

perished with him. Anna was also a brave bat lady, who did all she could to protect her husband and daughter, but she, too, perished with her daughter. But Foxglove’s parentswere truly one of a kind, for they both gave their lives to save their daughter, who is withus today. None deserved this tragic end, so may they rest in peace.” The elder backeddown, and it was the bats’ turn to speak again. Janice began,“Tyndal, Leticia, I really miss you two. For a long time I hoped that you, Leti, would still

be alive——but I’ve moved on now. I really do wish you could have stayed with me; youwould have been great friends with Foxglove and the Rangers. Tyndal, honey, I’ll never

forget the day we met, nor anything about you. Thanks for saving my life. You were the best husband ever, and I’ll miss everything about you. Tyndal, Leticia, good-bye.”“Anna, Irene, I miss you, too,” said Marcus. “I really don’t have much to sayexcept…rest well. You two deserve to rest, after all you did for me. I hope you don’tmind me moving on. Anna, Irene, good-bye.” Dawn padded up,“Dawny, Daddy and I miss you a bunch. We’ve met plenty of bats who would have beengreat friends——we just wish you could have met them. They’re amazing animals,and……and they gave us peace, by telling us the truth about you. Dawny, we kept uphopes right up to the end…so…we need to move on. Good-bye, Dawn.”“Bye, Dawn,” added Dusk. “We hope the place where you are now is filled withhappiness.” The couple padded back, and the next one moved up.“Aury, we hope you don’t mind, but we kinda took another daughter for our own,”explained Richard. “Nothing legal, it’s just kind of a mutual agreement. You would have

been great sisters with Foxglove, and the brother and sister she took in. We hope you’renot angry with her for giving us peace. Your mother and I have always thought of you,

but…we, too, must move on. Aurora, good-bye.”“So long, Aury, we’ll always miss you,” said Rosie. Curtis then padded up and added,“Alicia, you were a beautiful gift which was snatched away from us. We always wantedyou back, but when Foxglove told us the truth, well, we had no choice but to move on. Ionly ask that you be happy for her. She is a Peacemaker; she gave us peace after twentyyears. She will be happy now with her husband and with the Rescue Rangers. We hopeyou’re happy wherever you may be. Good-bye, dear Alicia.”“Mommy and Daddy will never forget you,” concluded Grace. “So long, my baby.” Thelast couple padded back from the vine. Now, it was Foxglove’s turn again. With Daleholding her wing, they padded up to the foxglove, and she said once again,“Mom? Dad? It’s me again. We talked a while back, but a lot has happened to me, and Ineed to talk to you again.“I hope you forgive me for letting others share this place, but they, too, lost their familylike I did.



“Anyways, I told you all about Dale, the most handsome male on this planet.” Dalesmiled and blushed again, “I told you of how he loved me so much he let me go becausehe didn’t want to see me get hurt—but a lot happened since that night. It—it took—anencounter with the owl who killed you—and almost killed us—to make us realise that wewere wrong about many things. I did what I could—with the help of plenty of friends—to

get him back—and he took me back.” The batmaid smiled. “He’s my fiancée again!We’ll be getting married later today, and I wanted to let you know that. I—really wishyou could have met him. You would have loved having him in the family.” Sheechosounded at her mate. “He’s a wonderful male, strong, brave, funny, and random. Ilove him more than I thought possible, and even though he’s a chipmunk, I know youwould have approved of this. You should have seen him at this night-club…” Her voicefaded as she remembered that wonderful night when he took her back. “Um, he alsofights crime, and I do too. We’re all part of the Rescue Rangers now, one big happyfamily. Not only are Otis and Feyyanna my new brother and sister, but I also see Chip,Gadget, Monty, and Zipper as brothers and sisters, even though they aren’t bats. I wish Icould give them all a huge hug at the same time and tell them how much I love them,

how my life is now complete——even though you’re not in it anymore. I really wish youcould have been here to hear it all and take part in this—but I, too, must move on. I’llalways miss you. Mom, Dad, good-bye.” Dale then stammered,“Um, Mister and Missus—um—Bat—you have a wonderful daughter here. I also wish Icould have met you so I could congratulate you on a job well done, even if you only did alittle bit. You did do just enough to set her on the right way, and she was able tostraighten herself out when things went wrong. I—I love her with all my heart, and Iknow she loves me too, after all she’s been through and all she’s done to get myattention. You should have seen what she did in order to win me back! And——I’m sorryfor dumpin’ her before, but you can rest assured that I’ll never leave her again, ever. Hey,I also wish you could have met my parents!! You would have had a blast with them! I— um—also hope you don’t mind me givin’ her my last name because we just don’t knowyours. But—I guess this is how things will be, bummer, isn’t it? Um—Mom, Dad, we’regoin’ to get married now—so all I have left to say is—good-bye, and thanks.” Oncemore, the animals gathered another pile of pebbles under the vine. With that job done,Dale then proceeded to take a strand from the vine, cut it, and craftily make a smallwreath. He then turned to his mate, and placed it on her head.Foxglove smiled again.“A perfect fit, Cute Stuff!” she giggled happily, twitching her tail a trifle, and perking upher ears, as he did so too. And she continued being happy, despite the funeral service. Shecontinued being happy even when Dale removed the wreath, to be later placed on again atthe ceremony. She continued being happy as they all turned and padded/flew back to thevehicles, and left this park and all its sad and dark memories.She continued being happy because she was a Peacemaker; she had given peace to thosewho needed it; she had brought herself and the others to make peace with their past, andnow she, and all the rest, were happy, and she herself would be more than happy becausethis was going to be the happiest night of her life.And Dale was happy.As his parents.And Clarice.



And Otis and Feyyanna.And all the other bats and parents.And the Rescue Rangers.Despite any circumstance, even when sadness and grief came in, the Peacemakers wouldalways be happy…

DEATH OF A CURSE

A crowd had gathered, a huge crowd, much bigger than the one which assembled severalmonths ago. They weren’t assembled near the pond, however, they were now below theRangers’ tree. And it seemed that this time the crowd included every single animal whomthe Rescue Rangers had helped, practically every representative of the small mammal

press, and every animal which had been at The Nutshell that amazing night. Even theamateur comedians who had performed the other night were present, as well as plentyfrom the professional comedic circuit. Dr. Qandlier was there with his wife, as well asDr. Johanna, and Dr. Jay, an elderly cardinal lady. Also present were many members

from the RAS, and the UN, including a certain elderly mouse couple: the male from theUnited States, and the female from Hungary…Midge had returned as well, with Chirp Sing beside her, and this time Sparky and Buzzwere there, too. Canina LeFur was there, at Clarice’s insistence. Naturally, Tammy, Bink,Mrs. Hazelnut, and Gadget’s long time car racing friend, Melody, had showed up, andthere was no way Clarice was going to miss out on this, either. Many of Chip and Dale’srelatives and old friends from upstate were there, too. Even Tom, the mechanical cat, andButch the bulldog, were there, as was Quennie and her entire hive. Besides wanting totake part in Dale and Foxglove’s happiness, they were also part of Security, though it wasdoubtful that any of the Rangers’ enemies would try to interrupt things once again. Chipand Gadget had insisted on having a private ceremony, but Dale and Foxglove insisted onletting the whole world know about this. Dale even insisted that Gadget announce it tothe press one week before. She was shocked, naturally, but then she realised that it wastheir way of telling her that the previous mishap was not her fault at all. And if it had

been— They had forgiven her.Gadget had also been freed from her past, for she, too, had now made peace with it.Though she would always miss her father, she, too, had moved on, and that was quiteobvious from the way she was looking at Chip now…And, she thought, as long as everyone else had decided to pull out all the stops, shedecided to find her old friend, Harpo Mouseo, rent a tuxedo for him, and bring him to theceremony as well.The crowd was split by the wide aisle, at the front of which was a temporary stage, whichappeared to have some bulky material on it, but it was covered by brown cloth andornamental flowers. At the other end was Dale, the Rescue Rangers, Chirp Sing, Pierre,the bridesmaids, and Tom and Butch. The males, except for Tom and Butch, were in

black tuxedoes and the females in light blue dresses, including Gadget.“Ready?” asked Chip. Dale sighed resolutely, eyed the stage, stood up straight,straightened his ears, twitched his tail, and said,





“Covenant of Matrimony, between Dale Segoleh Oakmont, and Foxglove of New York.I, Dale Segoleh Oakmont, do henceforth take Foxglove for my wife, and I will love her with all of my heart, soul, and body, and I will protect her and provide a home andidentity for her, I will be a husband to her, I will be there whenever she needs me…” AsPhinehas read the elaborate document, Dale and Foxglove lost themselves in each other’s

eyes/ears. They had redrawn the contract, and turned it into something better: a covenant,and they both knew perfectly well what it included. It just needed to be made public.“…I, Foxglove of New York, do henceforth take Dale for my husband, and I will lovehim with all my heart, soul, and body, and I will be a wife to him, and I will comfort himand support him, and I will be his helpmeet, honouring, obeying, and respecting him,

being there whenever he needs me, in all circumstances, from now until death do us part…” It was going to be wonderful, just wonderful. Several extremely long minuteslater, Phinehas finished reading the contract, rolled it up again, and gave it to Foxglove.Then, he asked,“The rings, please,” said Phinehas. From out of the crowd, Bink came up, carrying asmall cushion in front of her. She bounced up to Chip, who took out one ring, and then

she went to Gadget, who took the other ring., and then bounced back to her seat. Bink’s joviality caused a few chuckles from those present, but she didn’t mind. Chip then gavehis ring to Dale, and Gadget gave her ring to Foxglove.For some reason, Monterey’s heart skipped a beat, a tear formed in his eye, and yet hisface shone like never before.Mission accomplished.However, the ring that Dale held had been resized to serve a different purpose. SinceFoxglove had no “ring digits” as Dale did, they had originally planned on putting her ringon a string so it would hang from her neck. Now, however, Dale took Foxglove’s leftwing, extended it carefully, took hold of her thumbclaw, and placed the tiny ring on it,while saying,“With this ring, I thee wed.” Slyly, he quickly bent down and gave her thumbclaw aquick kiss, his ears back and his tail in a blur. Foxglove nearly lost control over herself again, but she calmed down when she heard the crowd snickering.Just a little longer!! She then took the ring from Gadget, and nimbly placed it on Dale’sleft middle digit.“With this ring—” And for no reason at all, Foxglove fainted and fell flat on the stage. Of course, Dale gasped and his ears and tail fell limp, as did the audience, but just as heturned to Chip for help, he noticed that he fell also, along with Monterey, Zipper, Otis,and Pierre, dropping the booth as well, and it now lay on the stage with them. ThenGadget, Tammy, and some of the bridesmaids fainted one by one as well. Horrified, heturned to Phinehas, but he, too, tipped over and fell unconscious. Whirling toward theaudience, he saw Otis, all the bats, and Chip’s parents drop to the ground as well. Andthen— A tell-tale giggle from Foxglove caused him to freeze.Bink fell over, but not before giggling as well.Clarice smiled, raised a paw to her head, and gracefully fell down, followed by Canina.Tom and Butch did as well, and pretty soon the rest of the audience got in on the joke aswell. Dale just stood there, arms crossed and tapping his foot-paw, stiff ears and tailagain, with a mock-angry expression on his face.



“This is really funny, guys!!” Moments later, the entire audience was on the floor, givinga few bouts of laughter. Dale then looked at his wife, who was lying gracefully on thestage, and he whispered, “Oh, I’m goin’ to get you goooooood……” With that, heswayed a bit, rolled up his eyeballs, and toppled right over her. She squealed, but aninstant before Dale collapsed on her, he extended his arms and stopped himself by

placing his forepaws on both sides of her head.“—I THEE WED!!” she screeched, causing him to laugh hysterically. He then rolledover, lying next to her, with his eyes crossed and his tongue lolling out. With the jokeover, all those on the floor picked themselves up and patted down their ruffled fur andclothing. Having settled down, Foxglove kissed Dale’s thumb once more, nearly causinghim to lose control of his tail and emotions, as well as his hormones. He shivered for amoment, and upon seeing that, Phinehas adjusted his tuxedo and said,“Uh oh, I’d better hurry up and make this legal,” and of course the audience chuckledagain. “Now then…” Phinehas cleared his throat, and began reciting the Beireishit Bara’(the first chapter of the book of Genesis). At the end of the First Day, he said, “Vayehi‘ereb, vayehi voqer yom echad” (And the evening and the morning were on day one), and

the crowd repeated,“Vayehi ‘ereb, vayehi voqer yom echad!” And he said it once more,“Vayehi ‘ereb, vayehi voqer yom echad.” He went on to the second day, and theyrepeated the last line again, except that they ended with yom sheny, day two. This wenton, with yom shaloshy, third day, and yom arba’yi, fourth day. Day Five, however, wasrecited by Foxglove, with everyone repeating the last line, yom chameshy. Day Six wasrecited by Dale, yom shishy. The entire crowd then recited Day Seven, the Vayekhullu(Thus were finished…), and now Phinehas repeated it after them—

…and behold, it was very good…

And it was over.

Dale and Foxglove were now officially married!

“You may now kiss the bride.”

Both looked/echosounded at each other, incredulous of what they had just done.Foxglove finally had a last name!Dale, the eternal Klutz, Clown and Comedian, now had a mate for life!”

“Um, you may now kiss the bride.”

But what was more, the Oakmont curse had finally been broken.And Pierre and Dalee padded over to each other, embraced tightly, and began to weep for

joy.The curse was DEAD, at long last.

“Dale? You can kiss her now.” The audience began laughing again.



For a moment they just stood there, looking/echosounding at each other’s eyes,wondering if what had just happened was for real, or if it was a figment of someone’simagination.

“Hey, are you listening to me? Kiss her!!” The laughter increased.

Hormones skyrocketed on both of them to such levels that both were actually frozen in place.

“WILLYOUSMACKHERALREADYORDOWEHAVETOGLUEYOURLIPSTOGETHERSOWECANGETONWITHIT??” chattered the elder, eliciting guffaws from those

present, finally snapping the couple out of their shock. With their eyes full of love, truelove, passion, tenderness, relief, joy, peace, and an incredible yearning, they embraced,and kissed like never before, both tails in a blur, and ears laid back. The crowd erupted ina thunderous bout of applause and cheering, and began throwing rice, nuts, candy,cashews, acorns, walnuts, corn, and even wheat, at the couple but they were so caught up

in their kiss that they never noticed. In fact, after a while, all of the traditional food wasspent and they were still kissing and causing quite a strong breeze with their tails.Phinehas raised an eyebrow, and then he looked at Monterey, who then turned and lookedat Chip, who smiled and shrugged and then turned to Pierre, who simply smiled andshook his head.“I taught him everythin’ he knows,” he chuckled, as did his wife. After some time, thecouple showed no signs of coming up for air, so the canopy holders decided to drop thecurtain and give the couple a moment of privacy. Some annoying minutes later the couplestill had not broken. So, one of the comedians in the audience, Mortimer, got up andthrew a stick of a particular type of red-wrapped bubble gum, and began singing a

particular song. The rest of the comedians present laughed when they heard the song, andthey, too, joined in, and soon the rest of the audience was also laughing again and singingthe eternal jingle:

“…so kiss a little longer,Stay close a little longer,Longer with Big Red!

The Big Red freshness lasts right through.And your fresh breath goes on and on,While you chew!

So say good-bye a little longer!And smile a little longer.With the great long lasting freshnessOf Big Red!!”

Finally, the couple emerged from beneath the canopy, gasping and chuckling at theimprovised commercial.“……Luceeeeeeeeeelle……!!” they both gasped.



“Uh, sorry about that, folks,” gasped Dale, blushing along with Foxglove, both trying to bring rational thought back on line, their ears up, and their tails to a standstill. “Hey, if you’re not married, find yourself someone. You’re missin’ out on plenty…” He said thatlast word with his trademark sinisterness, causing his wife to shiver again, and she

playfully shoved him. “Hey, just ‘wait a little longer’!” he whispered, chuckling. “I’m not

goin’ anywhere!” Phinehas then padded up to him and gave him the microphone. Dalespoke,“Okay, can everyone hear me now? Good. Well, Chip, Monty, Zipper, Dad, Chirp,Phinehas, thanks for all your help, you can sit down now.” The escorts thusly placed thecanopy away and padded off. Foxglove raised an eyebrow,“Honey, what’s going on?” Dale smiled,“Somethin’ special. You can go ahead and sit too, Foxy. It’s a surprise.” With murmursfrom the audience, all the participants left the stage and stood at the front of the crowd.Dale spoke again, “Okay, everyone try to sit wherever you can.” And they did. “This issomethin’ special I wanted to do for Foxy. You see folks, those of you who were in The

Nutshell the night we got back together know that Foxy sang two songs to me that really

got to me. So, Foxy, as we prepared the weddin’, I talked to Clarice a bit—secretly—andshe kinda helped me whip somethin’ up for you.” Foxglove’s heart jumped, as did her tailand ears, and she kept on smiling at him. “Clarice, guys, you can come up now.” In theaudience, a certain chipmunkmaid smiled, stood, and padded onto the stage, followed byher band, and Chip. The band, however, only included the shrew, the rat, and thecanaries. “She helped me choose this song for you, and when I heard it, I knew that itsaid everythin’ I felt about you. I practised this a lot, so I hope this comes out right.” The

band then removed the flowers and the brown cloth and uncovered their instruments.Chip took his place on one keyboard, beside the female shrew. “And I hope this makes upfor the other song I sang a while back. Foxy, this is from the bottom of my heart:” Theaudience hushed as the performers powered up their tools, and the song began.Chip began a simple keyboard instrumental, assisted by the shrew lady. It was a slowromantic song, and after a few bars, Dale lowered his ears and tail, and began,

“It must have been cold there in my shadow,To never have sunlight on your face.” Foxglove sat back, stunned, ears and tail down.She had been under his shadow for a long time, and she had passed very dark days, evenfor a nocturnal mammal.“You were content to let me shine—that’s your way—” Yes, she was so unselfish, andwilling to let him make whatever decision he felt necessary, even if it was unbearably

painful.“You always walked a step behind…” Always, always in the dark, secretly echosoundingat him, and at one point even left behind, but no more. She would now be beside him,forever.

“So I was the one with all the glory,” Even with the Comedian dead, all the other Dalesshone, albeit without her.“While you were the one with all the strength.” And she never received any glory, buthad to draw strength from who-knows-where to get through every night without him.





“You’re ev’rythin’, ev’rythin’—!!—I wish I could be!!” Oh, Dale————DALE—— —— “Oooh, and I—!!——I can fly higher than an eagle!!” Dale——I——I never knew—— never——— “‘Cause you are The Wiiiiiiind Beneath My Wings.” Foxglove had no more words. No

one had ever spoken, much less sang, so highly of her before. She even felt soundeserving of him now, so humbled, yet so exalted…

“Oh, Wind Beneath My Wings,” he called to her, and commanded,“Flyyy—flyyyyyy———fly away!!” Fly, with him, forever and ever.“You let me fly so high.” To unknown places, scary, exciting, but an adventure anyways.The adventure of a lifetime together…“Oh, flyyy—flyyyyyy———!!” She felt as if she was flying, so light-headed, soaringthrough space beside him, with a love that transcended all known boundaries…“So high against the sky! So high I almost touch the sky—” The drums and bass hushed,and the song quieted. But I’ll never reach it as high as you have, Foxy. And all I can say

now is:He held the microphone, and said, teary eyed,“Thank you, thank you, thank God for you,The Wind Beneath My Wings.”

The song ended.“Thank you, my Wife,” he added.The audience roared.Foxglove suddenly flew to the stage and grabbed her husband, sobbing,“No, Dale, no!! Thank you!! Thank YOU!! Thank God for YOU!! Dale, YOU’RE TheWind Beneath My Wings!! Oh, Dale, thank you!! Thank————you———” Thetamias nearly toppled over from the force with which the pipistrell pounced on him, buthe held her tightly as she sobbed, and he sobbed as well, only without any pain this time.Their ears were low and their tails were a blur again. Of course, at the sight of this,

practically everyone in the audience shed tears as well.This was true joy.Dale wanted to say something to his wife to calm her down, but no words would coalescein his brain. Maybe none were needed at this point. All he could do was hold her and lether feel his love for her as they shared heartbeats and tail swishing together again.After a while, they calmed down a little, and Foxglove echosounded up at him now, earsstraight. She sniffed a bit, smiled, and asked,“Um, Cute Stuff, could you kinda sit down now, too?” He looked at her for a moment,and then asked,“Why?”“sniff—Well, um, I—kinda talked to Clarice too. I didn’t know you were going to sing tome, so I asked her to help me find a song for you, too—” The couple then turned andlooked at the chipmunkmaid, who then wiped a tear and smiled,“Hey, I wasn’t about to spill the beans for either of you! Besides, we all like nicesurprises, don’t we?” Everyone laughed as Dale looked back at his wife. He smiled, andwhispered,



“Okay. This had better be good!” With that, he put the microphone on the stand and padded off the stage.And now Foxglove had the full right to echosound— “SHHHHHHH!!” hissed Rosie, and then she mock-scolded in ultrasound, with her taildown and ears laid back, “You don’t have to do that in PUBLIC!!”

“Oh, like that’s ever stopped you,” quipped her husband. She playfully shoved him andgave him a sinister smile. Dale looked at them mouthing each other, but he was unable tohear what they were saying. Foxglove blushed a trifle, and then said to her confusedmate,“Uh, never mind, Honey, I’ll explain later.” As she spoke, Clarice gave a signal, and therest of the band came up the stage now, but for some reason, she padded down, andGadget padded up. Dale’s ears perked up and his tail quivered. “But like I said, I alsospoke with Clarice, and she helped me with this song which says everything I feel aboutyou. It probably won’t be as good as the one you sang, but, if you thought my other twosongs were great, well,” then she imitated Feyyanna, “yew ain’t herd nuthin’ yeyet!” Allchuckled at this little Texan reference, but then hushed as Foxglove’s song began.

Now, Chip and the shrew lady played a sound on the keyboard that sounded a bit like aflute. Again, it was slow, but very romantic. Foxglove turned her back to Dale, looked upto infinity, and began,

“Every night in my dreams,I see you, I feel you.” Whoa, boy…“That is how I know you…go on.” Well, they had already talked about their dreams. Butthose wouldn’t be necessary now.“Far across the distance,And spaces between us,You have come to show you…go on.” From beyond their broken hearts, and even from

beyond death’s door. And both of them would go on. Foxglove chorused,

“Near, far, wherever you are,” She turned a trifle, and was now looking at her love fromthe corner of her left eye.“I believe that-the heart does…go oooon.” The heart, the soul, the spirit always goes on,even when the body dies. But these two bodies would go on for a long time now…“Once more, you opened the door.” The door to his heart, which he had shut so painfullyso long ago.“And you’re here in my heart and,” She held her wing to her heart.“My heart will go on and on.” She, too had shut the door at first, but now that they bothhad entered, the door would close again. No one else would enter, not friends, not family.Only Dale and Foxglove. She continued, again with the drums and bass accentuating,

“Love can touch us one time,” Albeit, with pain. She turned a bit more, giving Dale aview of her profile.“And last for a lifetime.And never let go till…we’re gone.” But they both knew that that point would be long incoming, and now they would both go together in their journey toward Beyond. Here,Gadget padded behind her and backed her up,



“Love was when I loved you,” And as was expected, Gadget was glancing at Chip,smiling. Chip felt he would burst into flames from the way she was staring at him. Hisears lowered, and his tail moved out of control.“One true time—I hooold to—” Chip looked down at Clarice, who just looked at Gadget,and gave her an approving wink. Foxglove continued by herself,

“In my life we’ll always…go on.” And we’ll go on together, my love. Foxglove turned a bit more.

“Near, far, wherever you are,” Here, across the state, across the ocean, above the stars…“I believe that-the heart does…go oooon.” Foxy, I believe too—” The rest discreetlyrepeated,“The heart does go on—” And Foxglove continued,“Once more, you opened the door.” For you, Foxy, only for you.“And you’re—” Gadget backed her up again, smiling at her love,“Here in my heart, and—” Chip blushed.“My heart will go on and oooon…………hmmmmmmm……” Foxglove now faced Dale

fully. If before her soul had cried out in agony, now it would cry out in triumph. She letthe instrumental play, then she took a deep breath, balled up her wings again, and criedonce more,

“Youuuuuuu’re heeeeeeere!! There’s noooothing I fear!!” Nothing. Not any enemy, or even death now.“And I knooow—” Gadget came in once again,“—Know that my heart will…”“Go ooooon.” Dale, thank you for going with me forever. She and Gadget took a deep

breath and called out again,“Weeee’ll stay!!” We can now stay together, Chip, now that you gave us a chance— Foxglove cried,“Foreeeever this way!!” Together, forever, always…“You are safe—” Gadget brought one paw to her chest and looked tenderly at her tamias,“—Safe in my heart and—” And hushed, as Foxglove took it home,“My heart will go on and oooooon……” It will never fail you again, my love, not evenwhen we die. She then gave a very long and tender conclusion,“Ooooooo————oooooooooooo————————” The audience roared once again.Dale jumped up, embraced her, and planted a very tender kiss on her lips, causing ears tolay back and tails to blur again. Yes, this new life would go on because he let her comein.Gadget, meanwhile, left her microphone and padded to the keyboard, where she placed alight kiss on Chip’s ear. Chip, of course, nearly melted.“Thanks,” she whispered above the roar. And all Chip could do was blush, lower his ears,and swish his tail like never before. Yes, it would barely be the start, but it would be astart, nonetheless.Meanwhile, the applause continued as Dale and Foxglove separated. Dale looked at theaudience for a moment, raised his ears, and then he spread his paws out toward her,cueing the audience to applaud her now. They did, with a renewed intensity. Dale thenspread his paws out to the performers, and the audience cheered them now. He then



spread his paws to Clarice, and she, too, was credited. Dale hesitated for a moment, andthen he suddenly gestured to himself. The audience laughed, of course, but still gave himhis credit. Dale hesitated again, gave an insane smile, and gestured at the bass. Theaudience, now fully aware of the joke, cheered the loudest at this point…

And the celebration continued through the night. The couple decided to hold off their consummation for a little longer and hold the reception right there and then. And it would be the most unforgettable reception in history. The parents, who had travelled back to New York for the wedding, and everyone else who had not been at The Nutshell the nightDale and Foxglove were reconciled, were treated to an encore presentation of the “BornTo Be Alive” dance number which Dale had pulled out right from the top of his head. Of course, the couple refused to rehearse the moves, as it had been randomly choreographedonce, and so it was again. And this time, they even added a conga line. Of course, Pierreand Dalee had no idea that their son could contort his body in so many ways…And Pierre actually felt a little jealous, but he was happy nonetheless.Later, the couple cut the wedding cake, which was as tall as they were. After the knife

was put away, Dale held Foxglove’s wing. They wagged their tails, looked/echosoundedat each other sinisterly one more time, turned to the cake, lowered their ears, opened their jaws REALLY wide (fully exhibiting Dale’s incisors and Foxglove’s fangs), and took two mercilessly HUGE bites from the cake.Straightening up, they looked at each other.Once more, the audience laughed.As did the couple, obviously laughing at each other’s icing-decorated faces, but Foxglovewas laughing the hardest because Dale had his cheek pouches so full of cake and icingthat it looked as if he was going to explode, added to the fact that he decided to cross hiseyes at this point.Toad face?They spit a few bits of icing at each other in a sudden burst of laughter, but neither of them minded that. Of course, they cleaned up, eating as much of the cake that was onthemselves as they could. And as what was left of the cake was cut and passed around,along with the rest of the food, the couple and the other Rangers went to make the roundsof greeting their guests, who gave them their gifts and their congratulations, with straightears and swishing tails all around..

First and foremost, Dale and Foxglove went to greet their closest friends and teammates.“Interestin’ joke you pulled, Chip. I must say, you got me really good.” said Dale.“Well, you’re not the only funny one around here, Dale.”“Of course not. Foxy’s funny, Gadget’s funny, Monty’s funny, and Zipper’s funny.” Dalelooked mischievously at his best friend for a moment, who then gave him yet another

bonk. But of course, he didn’t mind. He hugged his “brother” and then turned to theothers,“Gadget, Monty, Zipper, thanks for everythin’. You’re wonderful friends.”“And family, as far as I’m concerned,” added Foxglove. “You all have done so much for us—for me—after all that I did before—well, thanks guys. And thanks, Gadget, for mynew short wave radio!”



“Aw, it was nothing, Foxy. I had always regretted that I had never been able to make itdigital and that kinda kept nagging me in the back of my head and so I decided to give ita try anyways but then you left so I was kinda left with no reason to try it but I stillwanted to even though I couldn’t bring myself to do it but the ideas kept running in myhead so by the time you came back I knew exactly what to do and here it is!” Foxglove

looked one more time at the now slightly larger radio, with its new LCD screen anddigital controls, smiled, and hugged her “sister”. Dale continued,“And Gadget, it’s great that you and Chip finally got together. You both are in for a realtreat!” Gadget lowered her ears and tail and blushed,“Thanks, Dale. But we would have never got together if it wasn’t for you, not that wewanted you and Foxy to break up in the first place in order for us to come together,

because if that’s the case then we didn’t get together because of that and it was also because Chip didn’t want to even after all we discussed and after he told me of all that Idid to you without even knowing it and it was so unselfish of him not to want me to gothrough any of the pain you two went through even though I wouldn’t mind risking the

pain since I love him so much and now I know that I truly love him but again it wasn’t

because you two broke up in the first place because if that was to happen in order for usto come together then we would have gladly sacrificed—” Chip silenced her with a softkiss on her lips,“We get the point, Gadget,” he explained, lowering his ears, blurring his tail, and makingher blush even more.“‘Ey, pally, watch yourself,” huffed Monterey. “I promised ‘er father I would look after ‘er and—”“We know, Monty, we know,” said Foxglove. “And you will always be on Chip’s case tomake sure he behaves himself. Monty, you’re so caring and strong. You——you’ve keptfaith long after everyone else gave it up. We can’t thank you enough for it.”“And thanks to you and Zipper for fishin’ out our wedding rings! Monty, I don’t knowwhether to hug you for the gift or sock you a big one for spyin’ on me like that.”Monterey just smiled and gave both of them a smotheringly big hug.“‘Ey, you an’ Zip ain’t the only ones who learned stealth, right, Zip?”“You think no one noticed you leaving in the middle of the night with all that stuff, Dale?And we could have stopped you from lighting that fire, but we knew you were doingwhat you thought was for the best for all of us. Still, you two got a better canopy,contract, and veil, didn’t you?!” Dale coughed a bit as Monterey released him. When hegot his breath back, he smiled immensely at his friends.“We got better everythin’ now—COUGH!! Thanks guys, thank you all.” The couplehugged them all and moved on to the next of kin:

“Son, we’re so proud of you,” sniffed Pierre, ears up and his tail in a blur. In fact, alltamii ears were up and all their tails were in a blur as well. “I just wish your grandfather could be here to see this curse finally broken.” Dale sniffed as well,“Me too, dad.” Dalee ran up and hugged her son as tightly as she could.“Oh, Dale, that was so wonderful!! I know that now you’ll be a wonderful husband!!”“No doubt he will,” said Foxglove, very tenderly.“Dale, that was awesome!” exclaimed Chap, hugging them both.



“And so romantic, too!” added Nikoma, also adding to the embracing list. The newcouple was about to answer— “And it was about time, too!” added another middle-aged chipmunk lady, with a reddish-maroon nose, padding up to them. She was followed by a male chipmunk who had a

black nose, and two chipmunk cubs, with black noses as well. Once again, their ears and

tails expressed their happiness. Dale looked at them, and smiled,“Chattie, James, it’s so nice to see you again!” The couples hugged, and Foxglove asked,“Let’s see, Chattie, you’re Dalee’s cousin?”“Yes. And this is my husband James, and my two cubs, Dale’s ‘nephews’, Zip and Zap.”“Hi, Dale, thanks for inviting us,” said James.“Hi Uncle Dale!! Hi Auntie Foxglove!!” piped the cubs, as they ran to hug the newcouple. The bat lady stood back at that statement. She was already an aunt now!!“Zowie!! You two are sure gettin’ big now!!” True. The cubs were at least fivemillimetres taller than the last time Chip or Dale saw them. Chattie said,“They sure are. They’re quite a pawful! I just hope whatever cubs you have are just a bitmore calm than these two!”

“And that you don’t fall asleep again when you have to baby sit them,” added James,chuckling a trifle.“You what?” asked Foxglove.“You’re never goin’ to stop rubbin’ that in, are you?” asked Dale lowering his ears andtail. “Well, let me tell you that I’m new and improved! I can baby sit any cub now! Hey, I

baby sat a GORILLA once!” Zip and Zap ooh’ed at this.“And he did, too,” said Chip. Chattie concluded,“Well, in that case, Foxglove, let me tell you that you’ve got yourself one heck of ahusband now. We wish for you two to be happy always.”“Thanks,” they replied.“Baby sat a gorilla? I have to see that to believe it!” called out an elderly voice. Ears

perked up again. They all turned and Nikoma said,“Chippy! I thought I smelled you here!”“Cousin Chet!” exclaimed Chip. “You made it, and the cubs, too!”“Cousin?” asked Foxglove. Except for his face, Chet was completely grey, as was theelder female, and both had glasses on black noses. Chippy’s trademark beret was gone,

but her furpin was not. Dale explained to Foxglove,“Well, he’s actually Nikoma’s uncle, so we both used to call him ‘uncle’, but we decidedto do him a favour and call him ‘cousin’ so he wouldn’t feel so old.”“Hey!” he protested, lowering his ears and tail for a moment.“And those—” referring to two tan-furred cubs who padded up now, the male with near-spiked headfur, and the female with black headfur and a pink bow on her head, “—areSam and Sue. They’re his nephews, but he adopted them since their parents were killed.They call us ‘cousins’ as well. And the handsome young mouse here—” A tan-furredyoung mouse, wearing rather large and thick glasses, just slightly older than the cubs,

padded up, blushing a trifle and with shy ears and tail. “—is Elwood. Chet adopted himas well. Granny Chippy is actually my mom’s aunt, but me and Chip took her in as a

joint-grandmother.” Foxglove smirked at him a trifle and asked,



“Why can’t you have a normal family tree like everyone else?” causing everyone to laughmomentarily. “Not that I mind,” she quickly added, “after all, I’m part of it now!” After Chippy hugged the new couple, Chet did the same,“Dale, Foxglove, congratulations!!”“Hey, we did our best,” he replied. “And I see you’re doin’ a good job with those three!”

“A good job?” asked Chippy, also lowering her ears and tail for a moment. “Young‘munk, Chet would have gone crazy if I hadn’t come and helped him out now and then!”“Hey!” Chippy continued,“And with all those new computer things Elwood’s coming up with, it’s a miracle we cankeep up! Now, what’s all this about you baby sitting a gorilla?”“OOH! Tell us!! Tell us!!” exclaimed the four cubs now, ears up and with their tails in aneven faster blur. Elwood, however, stood by a bit, smiling, ears up. His facial expressioncommunicated that he did believe Dale. Dale just looked at the cubs and replied,“Okay, but since it’s a long story, I’ll have to tell it to you some other time. Can you

promise me you will come and visit us later so I can tell it to you, AND tell you manyother stories?”

“YES!!” they all chattered. Foxglove smiled once again, and asked the cubs,“So, are you two learning computers?”“Yeah!” replied Sue. “I even beat Sam in 3-D pinball last night!!” Ears were lowered andtails stiffened.“Did not!”“Did too!!”“Did—!!” The young mouse padded up and covered both of their mouths.“She did, but only by 50 points. These two are picking up everything I know! CousinDale, Cousin Foxglove, congratulations, and thanks once again for the rescue.”“Thank you for letting us rescue you,” said Gadget. The rodents then proceeded to hugthe new family member.

They then came to Phinehas again, who hugged the new couple. His ears were up and histail quivered, but just a trifle slower than the younger ones.“Thanks, Phinehas, for everythin’, and for not losing hope, either,” said Dale.“Well, young ‘munk, I just knew that things weren’t over just yet. And now I know thatthey won’t be for a long time to come. Foxy, welcome to the world of rodents.” The batlady giggled a bit and replied,“Thanks, Phinehas, and thanks so much for the ceremony. If you ever need anything, youknow where we are.” The elder rodent smiled.“Well, when one gets to be my age, he doesn’t need much, save for some good food, asoft bed, and young ones to hear tales of old. Can you help with any of that?” Bothlowered their ears and tails and blushed, and Dale replied,“We can help you with the first two, but for the last one, well, we’ll all have to be patient,right dear?” Foxglove cuddled him as she thought of the future.“It will be wonderful, Cute Stuff, it will be just wonderful.”

Now it was the turn of Foxglove’s adopted family, who also had their ears up and tailstwitching. Richard and Rosie wrapped their wings around her and Dale.“Congratulations, Daughter, you were stunning!” Richard said. Foxglove nearly wept,



“Thanks, Mom and Dad!” Rosie added,“And thanks for taking us in. Aurora was the only family we had, but now, we havecousins and uncles and nieces and nephews!”“Me too!” sniffed Foxglove. Rosie continued,“Aurora would have just loved you. But even with all that happened, we know that she

would not have minded this, not at all. Foxy, we’ve never felt happier. Foxy, Dale,welcome to the colony, and to the world of chiropterids!” They hugged again, and nowFeyyanna came up to hug her sister.“Yew medd meye a biyit jellus thur, Sesstur.”“Jealous? Why?” Feyyanna lowered her ears and tail and sighed,“Weyell, yew hayav thu luvv uff yer laff. Yew knew whayat yew wunttidd, and yewsnicht iyit!” Foxglove echosounded at her kindly and replied, also with low ears and tail,“I know your time will come too, Sis. Someone will snatch you up like I first did withDale. He will look into your eyes, echosound at you all over, and you will echosound athim back, and you will never want to hear another sound other than his profile. It willhappen, it really will.” Feyyanna wiped a tear.

“O gosh, Sess, thayanks!!” And they embraced tightly again. “And yew tew, Brudder!!”She hugged Dale now, who then replied,“Thank you, Feyyanna, for taking care of her. Thank you, Sister.” Ears and tails wereraised again. Foxglove then came to Otis, and he told her,“You’ll always be my sister.” She just kept radiating joy,“And you my brother. But don’t lose hope, Otis. Like Feyyanna, I feel that one day soonyou will meet someone who’ll let you fall in love with her.” Otis turned to Clarice, whowas standing next to him.“Um, I think I already have,” and he blushed a trifle, as did Clarice, lowering their earsand tails once more. Dale stood back a trifle, looking at them suspiciously.“What?? You two—?” Clarice replied,“Well, I figured: if you two could do it, why can’t we?”“Well, that’s interesting,” said Foxglove. “I take it you won’t be returning to Las Vegassoon?” The chipmunkmaid looked at the young bat beside her, smiled, and replied,“Hmmmm, no. I seem to be having good luck here in The Big Apple, with all thosenightclubs calling me up, not to mention all the…great audiences I seem to be havinglately.” She looked lovingly at the male bat beside her. She then leaned over and kissedhim lightly, with very happy ears and tail.“Viva Las Vegas—I MEAN—!!—and since we both, well, work at night, I think we’ll beable to manage this,” he stumbled, smiling at her, also moving his tail, and wrapping hisright wing around the chipmunkmaid. She suddenly turned to him, stiffened her ears andtail, and chattered angrily,“Whatdoyoumean‘think’Ithoughtyousaidwehaditmadewithbothofusbeingnocturnalwhat’sthedealhereareyouhavingdoubtsallofthesuddenwhyisitthateverytimeItrunaroundIgetuglysurprisesfromyouandwipethatsmileoffyourfaceI’mbeingtotallyserioushereandifyoudon’ttakethatsmileoffyourfaceI’mgoingtosmackitoff—!!”“CAN IT!!” Otis was rescued from this chattering by none other than Canina LeFur.Clarice jumped at her bark and immediately hushed. “I had a feeling you were going torough someone up tonight, like you always did in Vegas!”“Awlwayess?” asked Feyyanna. The dog lady replied,



“It’s a long story. Otis honey, keep your guard up with her. And never, ever, get on her nerves!!”“Oh, why did I have to invite you to this wedding?” chattered Clarice, looking up at her.“Because we’re great friends who go back from your break in Atlantic City and youknow that the Rescue Rangers helped me out twice and even saved my life, right,

Montecarlos?” Monterey grumbled again. “And we’ve both helped out each other withour agents and we’ve seen each other’s performances and we love each other like goodsisters and so you know that you wouldn’t want me to miss this for the world and—”“ALL RIGHT!! YOU WIN!!”“You’re friends with Canina?” asked Foxglove.“Yup. She was the one who inspired me to work in show biz in the first place!! I’vereally, really admired her for years and years and years and—”“Aw, thanks,” said Canina, blushing a trifle, and with her ears and tail behavingaccordingly.“—years and years and years and—”“Thank you, Clarice, it’s okay.”

“—years and years and years and—”“We get the point.”“—years and years and years and mmmmmmmmmmmfffffffffff!!” Canina laid down andshoved her tail in Clarice’s mouth as she turned and told the couple,“Well, Dale, I’m really happy for you and Foxglove. My best wishes for both of you, andif you ever need money, just ask.”“Thanks, Canina,” they both said. Meanwhile, Clarice had finally removed the tail fromher mouth, and when she did, Dale asked her, chuckling,“So, Clarice, I take it that you will be all right now?” After spitting out some dog hairs,she regained her composure, raised her ears and tail again, and replied,“Ptooey—Ahem! Yes. After we’re finished here, Otis here is going to give me a night onthe town, right, Honey?”“Yup. You’re going to hear—er, see this city like you’ve never heard—er, seen it before,from a bat’s point of hearing—er, view.” Foxglove snickered and said,“Well, Clarice, it looks like you found yourself someone great after all!”“That goes double for you, Foxy. Congratulations.” Both bats and chipmunks huggedeach other— “And Foxy, try to get him to visit his parents more often, will ya?” asked Dalee.“Hey, don’t forget, you’re my parents too now!” she replied.“And what are we? Gnat wings?” asked Richard, jokingly. Foxglove echosounded at thetwo elderly couples, and all the elder bats she met in Boston, and all the elder chipmunks.Just last year, she was a rootless orphan. Now, she had a husband, one “big sister”(Gadget), one “little sister” (Feyyanna), two “big brothers” (Chip and Otis), one “little

brother” (Zipper), five “uncles” (Monterey, Marcus, Dusk, Curtis, and James), four “aunts” (Janice, Dawn, Grace, and Chattie), by default, one “grandfather” (Cheddarhead);two “grandmothers” (Camembert and Chippy); one “nephew” (Zip); one “niece” (Zap),three “cousins” (Sam, Sue, and Elwood); two “mothers” (Rosie and Dalee), and two“fathers” (Richard and Pierre)!! And all the love that was emanating from her newfamily, as well as herself, made her feel like squealing for joy, almost. She padded to her

bat parents, and said,



“Dad, Mom, it’s all right. You can come visit anytime you want, and we’ll do what wecan to visit you.” Then, she turned to her chipmunk parents and added, “Mom, Dad, Iknow Dale’s been a naughty boy for not even trying to go and visit you.” She thentweaked Dale’s ear a bit, causing him to wince and giggle simultaneously, but his tail in a

blur again. “Shame on you!” she chided, but with her sinister tone once again. “I’ll carry

him all the way to your tree if I need to, but we know I won’t have to take such desperatemeasures, will I, Cute Stuff?” Her husband smiled sheepishly again and replied,“I hope not. But you know how gruelling our schedule is, Foxy. And don’t worry, Mom,I’ll try to visit at least once a month. And I’ll drag Chip along as well, right, Chip? Whenwas the last time YOU went back upstate?” Ears and tail were lowered.“Hey, we were talking about you, not me.”“Go ahead and drag him along,” said Chap. “You have our permission to drag thisworkaholic back to his roots whenever you feel necessary.”“DAD!!” Foxglove laughed and then gave each member of her new family a big hug…

“Congratulations, you two,” said Tammy, hugging them, her ears straight and her tail

twitching all over.“Thanks, Tammy. And thanks for all you’ve done for us as well,” replied Dale.“And for all you’ve done for her,” added Mrs. Hazelnut, also with a jerky tail. “Thanksfor letting all of us be a part of this.”“Hey, can you throw your wreath, or bouquet, or whatever you’re going to throw, in mydirection?” asked the hormonal teenager.“Oo, Tammy’s in love, Tammy’s in love,” sang Bink.“And so’s Chip. And Gadget,” added Dale, a trifle seriously. “Tammy, you do knowthat.” To which she crossed her arms, lowered her ears, raised her tail above her head,and replied defiantly,“Hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?” Dale and Foxglove didn’t know if she meant to saythis with double meaning, but they blushed anyway, with their corresponding ear/tailaction.“Tammy’s in love, Tammy’s in love—”“Well, I am and you’re not!” she interrupted. Bink was unfazed. She turned to Dale andasked with nervous ears and tail,“Mister Dale can I marry you when I grow up?” The tamias looked at his wife, then back at the young sciurus, and replied,“Why would you want to do that, Bink?” Her ears perked up,“Because you sing nice and you dance nice and you are very funny Mister Dale and youcan teach me how to dance and sing and be all funny!” All present chuckled a bit. Dale

picked her up and replied,“Well, I don’t know if Foxy will let me.” Bink then gave Foxglove the ultimate puppy-face, lowered her ears, held her tail still, and begged,“Oh PLEEZE PLEEEZE PLEEEZE PLEEEZE PLEEZE—” Foxglove put a wingtip onher lips, smiled, and replied,“Well, I don’t know if you need to marry Dale for that, Bink. You’re already veryfunny!”“And if you come visit us, I can teach you how to dance and sing now! You don’t have towait to grow up to learn!”



“Oh THANK YOU Mister Dale!!” Bink then gave Dale a BIG hug and exclaimed, earsup and tail in a frenzy again, “Mommy, Tammy! Mister Dale’s going to teach me how tosing and dance and be more funny!!” She was practically bouncing on Dale, so he put her down as she continued bouncing in front of her mother and sister. Meanwhile, Foxglovelooked tenderly at her husband,

“You’re going to be a wonderful father, Dale.” The chipmunk smiled a trifle nervously,lowered his ears and tail, and replied,“I—I sure hope so. It’s goin’ to be very tough for me—I just—hope I do it rig—”Foxglove suddenly hugged him and whispered,“You will, Cute Stuff. You will.”

They then came to a certain peach furred/black headfurred mousemaid.“Melody, I’m glad you could make it this time,” said Dale.“So am I,” she replied, ears and tail down. “I’m so sorry I missed your last invitation, butI was in Paris—”“Don’t apologise,” interrupted Foxglove. “It’s not as if you actually missed us the first

time.”The mousemaid smiled, “Well, I’m still sorry for what happened to you. And thanks for letting me be part of all this. It really is wonderful to see you two get together this way.”“Thanks, Melody.” The mousemaid then turned to— “And thank you, Gadget, for doing the impossible to find me!!” Gadget lowered her earsand tail again and blushed,“Well, thanks, but I do want to tell you how sorry I am for losing track of you—” Melodyhugged her before she began another rant,“Don’t be, it’s my fault, too. I’ll send telegrams and carrier pigeons until we both can getsome e-mail. Then we’ll talk over and over and be great friends again, like the old days.And MAN do we have a lot to catch up on! I see you’ve finally found someone!” TheMechanic smiled, and her tail twitched,“Yes. We’re just starting, but I have the feeling it will be great and everything.” The Car-racer stood back a moment and exclaimed,“Ho boy. I’m going to reschedule all my races until I get the entire gist! Um, can I stayhere for the night?”“You already asked us that, and yes you can,” replied Gadget. Melody made a confusedtake, smiled, raised her ears again, and just hugged the married couple and all her oldfriends…

“Hey, Dale, do you like your new rubber gloves?” asked Sparky, with expectant ears andtail. Dale fidgeted for a bit until he finally had the orange gloves on his paws. Once thatwas done, he looked at the mouse, and was finally able to shake paws with him withoutgetting shocked.“A perfect fit, Sparky!” he said. “Thanks!”“And do you like your rubber wing covers, Foxglove?” asked Buzz, also with expectantfeatures. Gadget was placing the orange devices on Foxglove’s wings. While a bit tacky,they did come in handy when greeting these two. “I came up with the concept myself, Ithink.” The lab rat added,



“Yeah, and it’s great to finally attend a wedding when we missed the last one—uh, Dale,who got married last time?” Dale looked at his wife for a moment, and smiled again.“Sparky, Buzz, you can honestly forget about that weddin’. Just do us a favour and trynot to forget this one, okay?”“Well, to be honest with you, Dale, as easily as we forget things, you two gave a show

we’ll have a very hard time forgetting. And thanks for the ride, too.”“They’d have forgotten where they were going if it wasn’t for us!!” whispered Chip.Foxglove, of course, heard him, but she said nothing. With her new rubber wing covers,she hugged both lab rodents, and said,“You’re welcome. And thanks for all your help. Thanks for helping me give peace to mynew friends.” The rat lowered his ears and tail, scratched his head, generating a fewsparks, and asked,“Uh, we did that?”

Queenie was just a trifle apprehensive in greeting a predator, even if that predator justhappened to be the new wife of a good friend of hers. Still, she and her hive couldn’t help

but feel that way, after all, there were plenty of bats in the crowd. The chiropterids,naturally, had already known about this, and they, of course, had agreed to suppress their instincts for tonight. Also, Zipper’s insistence (and the promise that he would wear a tux),helped convince the queen bee.“Dale, Foxglove, I offer my sincerest congratulations in your marriage. May you alwayshave the best nectar, may you never encounter wasps, and may you never go to Africa.”The couple wasn’t too sure what this blessing exactly meant (and the Rangers werealready in Africa once), but they smiled anyways.“Um, thanks, Your Majesty,” replied Dale. “And thank you so much for comin’.”“And for the security,” added his wife. “You and your hive gave us all of a BIG peace of mind. Your Majesty, thanks for putting aside old enmities and for being a part of this.You have a wonderful heart.”“That she does,” buzzed Zipper, blushing slightly. The monarch turned to him andreplied,“And Zipper, thanks for giving me a personal invitation. I really enjoyed the ceremony. Itsort of reminded me of my own responsibility to the hive, and—” The bombus hesitatedfor a moment, but quickly recovered and continued. “—and of some—personal situationsI need to attend to. Being a queen is hard work, and it doesn’t leave much time for your own needs. However, with all that I saw tonight, I can honestly say that you two haveconvinced me to do something about what is rightfully mine—or at least of what is myright to attempt to do.” The couple wasn’t fully understanding what her formal speechwas trying to convey, but from the way Zipper was blushing they kind of got the idea.“Also, my hive presents to you this litre of honey.” Several hundred bees buzzed in,carrying a plastic jar filled with the golden liquid. “Considering that sweet tooth youhave, Dale, this should last you for the night.” The couple and the insects laughed at theunsuspected joke. “Hey, even royalty can be funny,” she stated, very dignified. “Andalso, we would like to present to you this:” More worker bees flew in, carrying somethingrather large which was covered with a blue cloth. The bees set the gift on the ground, andas they flew off, they removed the cloth. It was— “ZOWIE!!”





The homeless mouse was barely recognisable. His ears were up, his headfur was neatly brushed back, his top hat had been replaced with a new one, and his rented tuxedo madehim sparkle, almost.“Whoa, Mouseo, you are stunning!” exclaimed Dale. The mouse pulled out his mini-hornand honked it, nodding his head. Foxglove winced for a moment at the sound, but kept

smiling anyway. Mouseo noticed that, so he immediately put the horn away, lowered hisears and tail, and began speaking in sign language, slowly. Since this was a languageFoxglove had yet to learn, Dale translated for her,“‘Sorry—Foxglove—I—keep—forgettin’—that—your—ears—are—very—sensitive— unlike—mine—and—I—keep—forgettin’—to use—sign language—and not—

pantomime—congratulations—to you—both’.” The pipistrell stood in front of the musand spoke as clearly as she could,“Thanks, Mouseo, and it’s okay. I know that we both live in two completely differentworlds, but I also know that you’re now learning new stuff. I know how difficult that can

be at times. And I want you to know that I’ll always consider you a friend and I’ll helpyou in any way I can.” Mouseo raised his ears and tail and smiled.

“‘Thanks—Foxy—the—others—have—already—helped—me—a lot—especially— Gadget—she’s—really—grillin’—me—every—day—with—this’.”“And the fact that you already read lips very well is an achievement by itself, so I knowthat you’ll soon have this mastered,” added the mousemaid. “And thanks for coming,Mouseo.”“‘More—like—thanks—for—draggin’—me—here—but—now—I—know—that—I— wouldn’t—have—missed—this—for—the—world—not—with—all—the—great— food’” All present laughed. “‘And—thanks—for—helpin’—me—find—that—speech— therapy—centre—I—know—that—soon—I’ll—be—able—to speak—though—I— won’t—hear—myself—Dale—Chip—I—know—Foxy—and—Gadget—are—now— spoken—for—but————’” The mouse hesitated before continuing. Then, he loweredhis ears and tail and gestured toward the females, asking for permission. The maleslooked at the females, and all said,“Sure.” With that, Mouseo smothered Gadget and Foxglove with kisses, his trademark greeting for females…

“Well, Foxglove, this a great gain for you, but a big loss for the RAS. I’m going to missyou.”“Well, maybe not that big, Kyle. It’s not as if I’m leaving you guys forever. You knowyou can always come here in case you need anything.” The middle-aged brown-furredvole raised his ears and tail, smiled at the couple, and sighed,“Foxglove, you’re the best interpreter we’ve had in a long time. Not only that, but you’vealso been a great friend. Dale, congratulations. You really have it made with her now.”“Thanks, Kyle. And thanks for givin’ her a place to rest. You helped her when sheneeded it most.”“Anything for a great employee. And I hope you like the gifts the RAS gave you.”“Well, we haven’t opened them yet, and this little lady is kinda in a hurry, but I’m surewe’ll love them,” said Dale.



“You’d better, dahlink! Ve helped pick them out!” At the sound of the Hungarian accent,Foxglove turned and hugged the elderly mouse couple, the male with grey fur, and thefemale with white fur, again, all with happy ears and tails.“Oh, thanks for coming, guys!” exclaimed the bat lady.“Yeah!” added Dale. “And thanks for helping Phinehas with the ceremony, and for all the

gifts. Bernard, Bianca, you’re one of a kind.”“Thanks, Dale,” replied Bernard. “The same goes for you. Though I don’t know if Iwould have been able to handle what you went through to get her back.”“You’ve forgotten Australia again, dahlink?”“Oh, yeah, right.” Bianca continued,“And I don’t get it. Vat do you mean by both of us beink one of a kind? If there are twoof us, vouldn’t that make us two of a kind?” Foxglove giggled.“Ambassadors,” quipped Kyle…

“Well, Dale, it was about time,” said the male chipmunk. He had brown fur and a black nose, and was rather tall and a trifle muscular. He still wore his trademark white suit and

glasses. The female chipmunk was a trifle shorter, with brown and tan fur, blue eyes, anda maroon nose. Dale did the introductions again.“Foxy, this is Chester, and his wife, Chi-Chi.” Foxglove greeted the chipmunk couple.“They’re old friends, and he’s a former rival as well.”“Rival?” she asked, stiffening her tail and laying her ears back a trifle.“Sure,” replied Chi-Chi. “Chip, Dale, Cyril, and Chester here had their eyes on me awhile back. I tell you, it was a tough decision, but I know I made the right one bychoosing Chester here, right honey?” The male perked his ears, blurred his tail andsmiled at his mate.“Well, I don’t know,” replied Foxglove, echosounding at her mate. “I’m sure Chester here has many fine qualities, but you’ve never heard a sonar profile like Dale’s. I won’tsay that you made the wrong choice, but—thanks for not choosing Dale.” Chester thenspoke,“Dale, I must say that I’ve been wrong about you all this time. From this, I can see thatyou’ve helped a lot of animals, and that a beautiful female has done the impossible tohave you for a mate. I guess I’m lucky I married Chi-Chi before all of this, otherwise shewould have snatched you up in an instant!”“And I would have fought you for him,” added Foxglove, smiling, but seriouslynonetheless, as her ears and tail displayed. Chi-Chi stood back, also with low ears andtail.“Wow, really?”“Hey, she’s not jokin’,” replied Dale. “You didn’t see her at The Nutshell, did you? Shedid everythin’ she could to win me over, and she won. And I could never be happier now.And I also hope that you two are happy as well.”“We are, Dale, and thanks for remaining friends with us. Congratulations to you both.”Dale then proceeded to shake Chester’s paw, but when he did, Chester’s fur stood on endas a buzzer rang out. Chester suddenly snatched his sore paw away, tail and ears stiff, andDale showed his wife the paw buzzer, his ears up and his tail in a blur.“It’s Elwood’s gift. And I always wanted to do that.” Both couples laughed, and huggedcorrectly this time, without the buzzer…



Another chipmunk couple padded to the newlyweds. This time, the male was verymuscular, and the female had brown fur, brown eyes, and a black nose, and wearing awhite bow on her head.“Foxy, this is Cyril and Lucy, also friends from upstate, and also a former rival.”

Foxglove echosounded suspiciously at her husband, with ears and tail emphasising her mood.“You mean you chased her as well? Dale, have you been a naughty boy?” Lucy laughed,quivering her tail.“No, Foxy, he, Cyril, and Chip always behaved themselves, even though they were alittle frisky sometimes. And they, too, were tough choices. I almost chose Dale, too, but Inever followed through. Still, I know you won’t be disappointed with him.” Foxgloveechosounded dreamily at her new husband, and replied,“You bet I won’t,” also with dreamy ears and tail. Cyril then told Dale,“You have surprised me as well, Dale. I never thought you would ever find someone, andhere you are, with the love of your life. Congratulations, you two. May you be happy as

Lucy and me are.”“Thanks, Cyril. Say, are you still afraid of bulls?” The other male smirked at him andlowered his ears.“Very funny. I’ll have you know that after that incident I decided to learn mechanics!”“And he’s got smarter, too!” added Lucy. “Not to mention a lot stronger!” She kneadedhis right biceps, as Cyril sighed and lowered his tail now,“And—and—I must say—that after that incident with the bull, I lost Chi-Chi, and I gotlonely. All my money couldn’t help me there. So after you and Chip left to form theRangers, I decided to make a change too. I quit being a snob and tried to help others, likeyou are. And along the way, this little lady came along.” Cyril then hugged his wife, whocuddled him, causing both sets of ears and tails to show happiness again. “I now helpfund the RAS, and I’ll also have you know that you won’t have to worry about thisceremony. I talked to Canina, Chester, and Clarice, and we are all picking up the tab for the whole thing. It—it’s the least I can do to make amends with you.” The new coupledropped their jaws, ears, and tails when they heard this.“W-w-w-ow, Cyril, I-I-I—erm—thanks,” stuttered Dale.“Also, if the Rescue Rangers need additional funding, especially with Gadget’sinventions, don’t hesitate to call me. And congratulations.” Completely speechless, thecouples hugged again…

“Wow, you’re a mixed couple too?” asked Foxglove, with excited features.“Yup,” replied Clarissa. “And like you, we don’t care what the neighbours say or think,right honey?” The chipmunk lady hugged tightly her husband, a male squirrel. She alsohad brown and tan fur, a maroon nose, and blue eyes. And he had grey fur, brown eyes,and was a trifle thin. Their features also expressed happiness and contentment.“Exactly. So don’t let anyone get to you,” he replied.“I suppose Gerry is also an old rival?” asked Foxglove, lowering her ears and tail again.“Well, not totally. But like the others, he’s a good friend now. It was just Chip and mewho fought over Clarissa.” The bat lady then crossed her wings, laid her ears as far back as they could go, stiffened her tail, and tapped her foot-paw.





“Uh—gasp—thanks, Cheddarhead!!” wheezed Dale.“And—gasp—you too, Katie!!” Both continued gasping for a little longer, and after theygot their normal breathing patterns back, Cheddarhead asked them,“Dale, Foxy, we would now like to do a little ceremony of our own, to show our ‘appiness for ye.” Dale looked at them, ears down, a trifle worriedly,

“Uh, this wouldn’t have anythin’ to do with huggin’, would it?”“Naw, ye won’t have to do anythin’ but relax and hold on to each other. We’ll do all thework.” Dale and Foxglove looked/echosounded at each other, shrugged, held each other,and said,“Well, okay. What is it?” Before either of them knew what was happening, the two mice

picked up the couple, held them between them, and with a considerable effort (due toDale’s heavier muscles), threw both of them up in the air, catching them, of course, asthey came down. Foxglove squealed, more out of surprise than out of fright, since Dalewas holding her tightly and she couldn’t instinctively spread her wings as she felt herself coming down. Dale, of course, just laughed at the whole thing, as did all the guests.Cheddarhead and Camembert did this several times, eliciting cheers and happy tails and

ears from everyone each time Dale and Foxglove were thrown.Everyone seemed happy, thanks to the Peacemakers, who had now brought peace to a broken couple…

And so, the reception continued. As the couple recovered from the rough housing andwent on greeting the remainder of their guests, a certain ultrasound signal causedFoxglove to perk up her ears. She and Dale stopped for a moment, and then she turnedand echosounded at the darkness beyond the reception area.Just barely visible, but quite audible, two humans, a male and a female, were standingnearby. They had stood there throughout the ceremony, witnessing for the first time whatno human had ever seen before. The male had what appeared to be a microphone, and hewas pointing it at Foxglove. Both he and the female had headphones, and between themicrophone and headphones was Gadget’s Translator, which had been lent to them for tonight. No recording device was attached to it, however. And it would be discreetly

placed back next to the tree once this whole thing was over.This night was for them only, and not for anyone else, especially no government agency.And the fun in keeping secrets, especially such a great one as this, was the simple factthat they both knew something that the rest of the world didn’t, well, the human world, atleast.Both waved at the couple.The couple waved back.“Thank you, Fox and Dana,” said Foxglove, with happy ears and tail.

And FINALLY, it came time for the couple to leave on their well-earned honeymoon.Monterey and Zipper flew the re-built pre-luggage-loaded Ranger Wing from out of thehangar and had it hover above the crowd, who politely parted and allowed it to land.Monterey and Zipper jumped off, but didn’t turn off the motors. Ears up and tails in a

blur, Dale then picked up his wife, jumped onto the wing, and gently placed her on her seat. He then sat down, revved up the motors, and the aircraft slowly ascended. After it



had reached a height of about two metres, it suddenly hovered. Foxglove stood, removedher veil and wreath/bouquet, closed her eyes, hushed her sonar, and threw the item away.It moved erratically, at first, due to the turbulence caused by the propellers.And it descended…Slowly…

The crowd hushed and tensed, calculating the landing spot, moving in semi-synchronywith the wreath…A sudden breeze suddenly gripped the wreath and brought it down right on…Zipper!!All laughed, and he naturally blushed at this, but even more so did Queenie…The Ranger Wing then began to move, and the crowd shouted their farewells to thecouple.“Have fun, guys!!” chattered Chip. “And don’t get into trouble!!” And yet, he, and all theRangers as well, were crying, with sad ears and tails to match.The Ranger Wing ascended, flew off into the night, and disappeared from sight andsound.

Chip sighed.“You ‘aven’t lost ‘im, mate,” said Monterey, patting Chip’s shoulder. “‘E’ll always beyore friend.” Chip wiped a tear, and replied,“I—I—know. It’s just that he’s already gone so far into what I’ve only dreamed about,and after the way I—we—treated him like a clown for so long, well—I’m happy for him,yes, and I know that nothing will ever be the same between us—it’s just that—well— he—um—‘grew up’, I guess. Maybe that’s why I’m burning, not for him, but for myself.All the stuff that he and Foxy went through, and now I’m facing it—well—” Chipcontrolled himself before he burst into tears. “We’d better clean this place up before the

park attendants come—” Gadget suddenly hugged him and kissed his furry lips. Thoughhis ears laid back and his tail quivered, as did hers, he was a trifle confused at this suddengesture, so she explained,“Thanks, Chip, for caring so much for him. Now, are we still on for that date Fridaynight?” Chip raised his ears and smiled,“Only if we don’t have any cases, which I’m sure you’ll make sure of, then you bet,Gadget.” Chip then kissed his new love, and both looked up toward infinity, toward whatseemed like an unreachable goal. But if Dale and Foxglove had made it, with wind andtide against them, then maybe, just maybe, they would be able to reach it too.“Gadget, what about Zipper and Monty now?” he asked. The mousemaid turned and sawZipper next to Queenie and Monterey next to Mrs. Hazelnut.“They seem to be in good paws, don’t you think?” Chip looked at his team-mates, sighed,smiled and looked into her eyes.“I love you. And I can only hope to love you as much as Dale loves Foxglove. And— forgive me for rejecting you. I—”“I love you,” she interrupted, touching his lips with her index digit, which still smelled a

bit of machine oil, causing his tail to twitch faster. “I thought I would never love again,not after all that happened to me, and after all the wrong things I did to you and Dale, butyou proved me wrong, Chip. I found true love in you. Don’t be sorry for your rejection. Iknow you did it because you truly loved me. This will work out, Chip. For us, and for the





The Female: “So I’ll tell you something:” She now flew under him, upside down, her sonar resonating wildly within his chest.Both: “This could be love!! Because—” Dale zoomed off again, headed south. But hewasn’t scared anymore. In fact, his tail was quivering, and his ears were straight.“I’ve—had…the time of my life!! No, I never felt this way before!” He tried to lose her

in a cloud, but clouds were no match for sonar.“Yes, I swear…it’s so true! And I owe it all to youuuu—!!” They arrived at St. Louis,spun all around The Arch, and now zoomed westward.As fast as he was flying (unknowing how his glider was generating its own thrust), hecould just not fly any faster than her. In fact, she caught up with him again. She flewunder him, upside down again, really close, and softly caressed his cheeks with her wingtips. Dale nearly swooned and his tail blurred while his ears fell back, but a brightsparkle jolted him conscious again. On Foxglove’s left wing, in her thumb claw, she waswearing a gold ring. Suddenly glancing at his own left paw, he noticed his ring as well.He forgot that they were both married!SO WHY THE HECK WAS HE FLEEING FROM HER NOW??

The Male: “Hey, baby!” It was all perfectly legal now! Foxglove seemed to sense hisreckoning, from the way he began looking at her, ears up now, and wagging his tail.The Female: “With my body and soul I want you more than you’ll ever know.” And now,he was chasing her, headed for San Francisco.The Male: “So we’ll—just let it go, don’t be afraid—to loose control, no…” Theyarrived, and flew under the Golden Gate bridge, accelerating even more as they movedover the Pacific Ocean.The Female: “Yes, I know what’s on your mind when you say, ‘Stay with me tonight’!!”It almost seemed as if they had reached supersonic speeds as they headed for Hawaii.The Male: “Stay with me!” And as he flew behind her, he finally realised why she likedto fly behind him.

The Male: “And remember!!” But they didn’t stop at Hawaii.“You’re the one thing—” Flying faster than any bat or chipmunk had flown before, theymoved on toward Japan.The Female: “I can’t get enough of!” She began teasing him, allowing him to just barelyreach her, and then accelerating again. Finally, they arrived at Tokyo.The Male: “So I’ll tell you something:” There, they saw/heard Godzilla, who was, asusual, eating the city, AGAIN. They slowed down, flew in front of her, and waved.Both: “This could be love!!” And she stopped eating a building for a moment, smiled,waved back, and resumed her rampage as those two flew off. Suddenly Godzilla did adouble take at them, and blushed, for some reason…“Because—!!—I’ve—” Suddenly Foxglove reached light-speed, and warped up intoouter space.The Female: “—had the—” Dale was unfazed. From out of nowhere, ion enginesextended from the glider’s wings, ignited, and he warped off after her.Both: “—had…the time of my life!! No, I never felt this way before—!” He was soonright behind her, and they zoomed past Mars, dodging a thousand asteroids a momentlater, like Han Solo did in the Millennium Falcon.



“Yes, I swear—” Only this time, being the pursuer, he didn’t bump into anything.The Male: “Yes, I swear!” They left the Asteroid Belt, and headed for Jupiter.Both: “It’s so true! And I owe it all to you!” The zoomed all around the Jovian moons,and even through the ring around the planet.“‘Cause I’ve—had…the time of my life! And I’ve searched through every open door—”

And they almost bumped into the spacecraft Galileo. They stopped for a moment.The Female: “Every step we take!” They looked/echosounded at each other for amoment, smiled…Both: “Till I’ve found…the truth!! And I owe it all to you!” …moved in front of the

probe’s camera, and made the wildest faces at it, possibly giving an astronomer a heartattack back on Earth.They left the spacecraft alone, and resumed their pursuit. And it seemed that someonewas playing a saxophone at this point. Foxglove glanced back a moment, and gave himyet another sinister GAZE.Ho boy.They headed toward the volcanic moon, Io, and Dale was now right behind her. Suddenly

Foxglove dipped, pulled her wings in, and dove straight into a volcano, splashing black sulphur all over the area. Dale, still unfazed, dove in right after her, causing a bigger splash.From the outside, Io appeared to have just swallowed two mammals. But then, itsvolcanic activity began increasing. All its volcanoes began shooting more and more black sulphur, and then even more and more sulphur, and then the sulphur began erupting in

black heart shapes, and then red heart shapes, which now shot off into space at greatspeed, and the eruptions increased even more, and that sight would confound astronomersfor centuries, and just when it seemed that Io was going to shatter— Dale and Foxglove shot off from another volcano on the opposite side— The music slowed down again, to a romantic pace.

The Male: “Now, I’ve…”The Female: “I’ve…”The Male: “…had…the time of my life…” They were now side by side, in the glider,Dale on the left, Foxglove on the right.The Female: “Ooo…” They were holding each other with one wing/paw, and the other wing/paw was on the glider’s control bar, and they were looking at each other with moretenderness than ever before.The Male: “…no, I never felt this way before—” It was a glider built for two, all of thesudden…The Female: “Never felt this way!” They were both sweating, and seemed to be veryexhausted, for some reason, as their tails barely twitched, and their ears were laid back,

but they still looked very happy.The Male: “Yes, I swear……it’s so true……and I owe it all to you!!” They now headed

back.The music sped up again.

Both: “I’ve—”The Female: “—IIIIIII’VE————!!”



Both: “—had…the time of my life!! No, I never felt this way before—!” They zigzaggedthrough the asteroid belt a-la Han Solo, again, and they enjoyed that very much.The Female: “Never felt this way!”Both: “Yes, I swear—it’s so true!!” They left the Asteroid Belt, and moved back to Marsagain.

The Male: “It’s so true, YEAH!” There, they stopped to admire the red planet,looked/echosounded at each other, and kissed deeply.Both: “And I owe it all to you!” They now flew back to Earth. On the way, they sawDitz’s spaceship. So, they moved in front of it, and waved hi again.The Female: “Oo———!!” Ditz and his companions, of course, waved back, but just assoon as the couple flew off, they did a double take at them, lost sight of where they weregoing, and smashed the ship into Deimos, one of Mars’ moons. They weren’t hurt, justvery, very, ticked off at their own clumsiness. They just sat in the bridge, pseudopodia intheir chins, fuming at themselves.

Both: “‘Cause I’ve—!”

The Male: “I’VE—!!”Both: “—had—” Now Dale and Foxglove were approaching the moon.The Female: “—HAD—!!”Both: “The time of my life!” The sight/sound of the moon was so romantic and

breathtaking that they paused for another space kiss, their tails wagging again.The Male: “Had the time of my life!!”Both: “And I’ve searched through every open door.” They were very happy. Thusly, theyflew back to Earth, and lost themselves in the great blue planet.The Male: “You do it to me, baby!”The Female: “Oo-hoo———!!”“¿Señor Okkmont?”The music faded out.Both: “Till I’ve found…”The Male: “The truth!!”“¿Señor Okkmont?”Both: “The truth!!”The Male: “Aahh--and I—!!”Both: “And I owe it all to you…!”“¿Señor Okkmont?”Both: “‘Cause I’ve—!”

“¿Señor Okkmont?”Slowly, reality faded in. Dale and Foxglove, ears laid back, were still looking andechosounding at each other and wagging their tails the same way they were doing so inthe glider, but he was carrying her in his arms now. They weren’t in outer space, or in ahang glider, but indoors, in the hall of a small-mammal hotel, to be exact. They werestanding right next to the entrance of their suite— “¿Señor Okkmont?” Finally, they “awakened”, perking up their ears and quieting their tails. Beside them was a young male black-furred ring-tailed coatimundi, a bellhop, whowas wondering if something was wrong. They suddenly glanced at him, with slight





“Um, Foxy, I’m Dale Segoleh Oakmont, your husband, see?” He waved his ringed digitfor her to see and hear. Foxglove’s expression did not change. “Foxy, what’s wrong?” heasked, with near-panicky concern. Foxglove replied, on the brink of tears,“Are—are you for real?” Dale just looked at her for a moment. He thought to himself,looked back at her again, and replied,

“Well, from the last time I checked, yes. But I’ll check again.” He pinched his armslightly, wincing. “Ouch. See, I’m real, I think. What, did you think I was a cartoon or somethin’? Foxy, what’s wrong?” The bat lady now cried openly, drooping her ears andtail,“Oh, please, please be real!!” Dale got even more confused. “Even if you’re a cartoon,

please be a real cartoon!” Dale came closer and held her wing.“Darlin’, you’re scarin’ me. What are you talkin’ about?” Ashamed, Foxglove loweredher head, but Dale gently raised it back up and looked at her eyes. Suddenly, fright cameon his face now. “Um—uh, d-don’t tell me you’re—uh—s-scared,” he shivered. The batlady shook her head.“N-no, it’s not that, but I am scared that—that this will all just be a dream—” She

sobbed, “Oh, Dale, it’s just that—I’ve had so many dreams about you—about us beingtogether like this—and—and I’ve always awakened right on the best part! Now thatwe’re here, in the perfect place with the perfect mate—Dale, this feels like Heaven— and—and—it’s just too good to be true! Dale—I’m—I’m afraid—that I’m going to wakeup again—and—and—you’ll disappear———sob——and—none of this will have beenfor real————!!” Foxglove threw her wings around him and sobbed into his chest.Dale knew that sooner or later they would have marital problems, but the marriagecounsellor never mentioned this. So all he could do was hold her and try to comfort her as

best as he could. And all he could come up with was,“Um, Foxy, I don’t know if this will make you feel better—but—I told you that I’ve hadmy share of dreams as well—and—I’ve also woken up on the best part.” He then pushedher back slightly, and looked into her eyes, swishing his tail a trifle, but still keeping hisears down. “Foxy, I don’t want you to go through that again. If none of this is for real— then—then—you’d better wake up now, and not later on. You deserve better than this.”Foxglove just bit her lip slightly, hesitating. “Foxy, please, if it is a dream, you won’t loseanythin’ this time. Please, do it.” Reluctantly, Foxglove released him. She held her wingsin front of her, and brought her right wing to her mouth. Since she couldn’t pinch verywell, she was going to bite herself. Trembling, she opened her mouth, placed her thumbclaw between her fangs, and bit down, gently at first.Then, harder.And harder.And— “OUCH!!” She suddenly shut her eyes and hushed her sonar. She didn’t want to face thefrustration of reality and unfulfilment again.“Who are you?”Oh no.“Who are you?” insisted the voice. But then, she recognised the voice. It was Dale’svoice. But, were they still in the hotel? Or were they back in New York, with her sleepingnext to a chipmunk who had never met her before?Slowly, she opened her eyes, and quietly echosounded again.







“He’d give up all his comforts—!!—sleep out in the rain—” They remembered the rainynight she came back, and the night she left. Craftily, she placed her wings on the Kiss,and broke off the tip, causing Dale to perk up his ears. Then she reached down, and

picked up one moth.“If she said that’s the way—it ought to be.” And then she practically floated up to Dale.

“Heyyy, ah—”“Oooo—————”“When a man loves a woman—!—yeah.” At this point, Dale was wondering if everything that was going through his mind was moral, or even legal.“I give you everything I’ve got! Ho, oh—” But then, he looked at Foxglove’s ring.“Trying to hold on—to your precious love.” Then, he looked at his ring.“Baby! Baby, please don’t treat me bad!!” This was perfectly moral.This was perfectly legal.All of their friends and relatives knew where they were and what they were doing—well,they had a general idea, at least.

And they all had sanctioned it and given them their blessing.This was the perfect time.This was the perfect place.It was time for MORE…

“Oooo—————”“When a man loves a woman!!” Looking at her with glazed eyes, he saw her come up tohim, and she placed the moth on his right paw.“Deep down in his soooul,” Then she moved his right paw over her shoulder, and put her left wing, which had the Kiss piece, around his shoulder.“She can bring him—such misery.” And what a horrible misery it was, but it was in the

past now. Gently, she put the Kiss in his mouth.“If she is playing him for a fool—!—he’s the last one to know.” Not that she would ever

play him like that, either. Following her lead, he placed the moth in her mouth.“Loving eyes—can never see.” Both would only see/hear good in each other, now andforever. Both were suddenly overtaken by a rush brought about by the wonderful flavour of their favourite foods, causing them to become very light-headed and to nearly faint.And both were practically drowning in pheromones now.

“Yes, when a man LOVES a woman!!” And then, they looked/echosounded at eachother’s eyes.“I know exactly how he feels.” A slight pause, as in each other’s eyes, they saw/heardeach other.

“‘Cause baby!!” They saw/heard their souls within each other.“Baaaaaaaaby——yyy————!!” They were now part of each other, body, mind, andspirit.They saw/heard passion.They saw/heard love.They saw/heard peace.



They saw/heard joy.They saw/heard kindness.They saw/heard tenderness.They saw/heard laughter.They saw/heard humour.

They saw/heard strength.They saw/heard expectancy.And due to the circumstances, they saw/heard extreme eagerness as well.

“When a man loves a woman!!” Having eaten their mouthfuls, she turned slightly, heldhis paw to her face, and kissed his thumb again. She then placed both wings around him,and he placed both arms around her. Tails blurred, and ears were laid back.“Wo—” And they kissed.“When a man loves a woman!!” It was sweet.“Yea-yea!” It was chocolaty.“When a man loves a woman!!” It was only the beginning.

“When a MAN!” Camera truck out of the suite through closed venetian blinds, truck higher and higher, first showing the small mammal hotel wing, then the human hotelitself.“When-a-MAN!” Truck out still higher, now showing the hotel zone.“When a man loves a woman!!” Truck out still higher, now showing the Cancún bayarea.

Fly, fly, fly, fly away, with the one you promised to love forever, fly to unreachableheights with him, the Wind Beneath Your Wings, to unknown places, to unchartedworlds, to have new, wonderful, exciting, and scary adventures with him, to go throughdanger together, to love him from now through eternity, to be a part of him, to have him

be a part of you, to feel both the pleasure and pain of love, to go where no bat or chipmunk have ever gone before, to bring forth new life, to stand by each other, fly, fly,fly away, with him, forever and ever…

“Hoooooooo——————!!” Truck out still higher, now showing the mainland, the bayarea, Isla Mujeres, and the Caribbean Sea.

Fly, fly, fly, fly away…

“…oh, Dale…”

It was only the beginning…



Date post:	31-May-2018
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Death of a Comedian

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