Dreamer’s face reddened, the side of her mouth curling up in a shy grin. “What?”
“You know what I think?”
“Actually, I have a guess,” she said, her smile turning wry, “but you should tell me anyway.”
Snapper waved a hoof at the bank. “Forget that place. I think there’s some great potential here. We’d make a great team, you and I.” He made a grand, silly gesture in the direction of the shopping center. “Doctor Dreamer and Doctor Snapper. You fix the mind, I fix the body. We can bulldoze all those stores and put up a clinic right there.”
Dreamer laughed, leaning close to him. “Oh, right there? You don’t think our chubby pink overlords will mind?”
“Oh, right. OK, how about calling it ‘Chugg’s Day Spa, Counseling, and Cosmetic Surgery?’”
“I think that would be magical,” said a familiar voice. Not Dreamer’s.
Chapter 44
Durdge walked around from the far edge of the fountain bowl, his small, twitchy frame backlit by the lamps in the water. He dropped to the ground and started pacing toward them. Both sheep recoiled.
“Snapper, buddy. It’s really good to see you. When I heard about what happened to Old-Timer, I feared the worst. How have you been?”
Dreamer took a frightened step back. Snapper got in front of her. “Get away from us, Durdge,” he growled. “I’m finished with you.”
The pig kept walking forward. “Hey, I heard you’re at University now. I’m glad you were able to keep it together. A lesser sheep might have let a tragedy like that break him down. So… you’re alright? Going to pursue a career and stay on the straight and narrow from now on?”
“None of your business.”
“Snapper…” Dreamer muttered. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Hey,” Durdge exclaimed, “she’s a hot one. Want to introduce me?” He took another slow step, now almost within arm’s reach of Snapper. “Wait a second, she’s a quarry sheep. That’s noble of you to show her a good time. Not every city sheep will spend time with a lesser breed like that.”
“Durdge, I’m warning you.”
“She’s got lovely eyes, though. Never seen eyes of that color. I’ve heard about it from a friend of mine, though. A pig at the quarry. Should I give him a call?”
People were stopping now to watch the exchange. Dreamer gave Snapper a sharp nudge. “Let’s go. Don’t give him what he wants.” Her voice was unsteady with fear.
Snapper bit down hard on his screaming desire to hurt this pig. “You’re right. He’s not worth it. Let’s go home.” Turning away from Durdge was, up to that point in time, the hardest thing Snapper had ever done.
Dreamer leaned close to him as they walked away from the fountain. “Let’s just get over to the stores and blend back into the crowd. Maybe he’ll leave us alone.”
Snapper realized he was clenching his teeth. “He never does. He’s followed me for years. He’ll never leave me alone.”
“Let’s get back to campus and we’ll talk about it.”
“Hey, Snapper!” Durdge called out. “Look how well you’re doing. I’m glad you learned to control your temper!”
Snapper took a deep breath and refused to look back. They had almost reached the storefronts, where they could blend in among the shoppers and escape.
“I’d hate to see you end up a trophy like your dad!”
Chapter 45
Snapper didn’t even realize he’d broken away from Dreamer and charged across the pavement until his head collided with the pig’s ragged body and drove him into the bronze base of the fountain. Then he was pounding with his skull and front hooves, biting, tearing into the surprisingly light and yielding frame. His temples throbbed in his rage, as if his skull wanted to burst.
Durdge yelped in surprise as Snapper tore open the burlap hide. White stuffing fell out onto the sidewalk, revealing Durdge’s metallic skeleton. The robot’s spindly right arm, a mess of exposed copper wires and plastic gears, tried in vain to fend off the attack. His left arm hung dislocated and useless.
“Snapper?” Durdge pleaded. “Buddy? Why are you doing this?”
Snapper responded by grabbing one of the pointed ears in his teeth and dashing Durdge’s head against the pavement. The shoddy seams popped, the burlap covering fell away, and Snapper saw Durdge’s true head, a sphere of metal and glass. The red light of Durdge’s recording lens focused on Snapper until a hoof strike cracked it.
“Help me!” Durdge called out. “This sheep is attacking me for no reason!”
None of the sheep in the crowd of onlookers dared to move or say anything. Even Dreamer stood rooted to the spot in disbelief.
Something massive hit Snapper from the side and he landed painfully on his shoulder on the sidewalk. He heard an enraged growl and smelled hot, rancid breath as the heavy guard dog bore down on him.
A second and third dog reached the scene. Snapper screamed as teeth plunged into his back and side. The three dogs dragged Snapper’s unresisting body away from the crumpled wreck that no longer resembled Durdge.
“Arrest him!” Durdge shrieked. “Take him to the Megatropolis! We have a place for sheep who dare to lay a hand on the pigs who provide for them!”
Curling up in agony as he slid along the concrete, Snapper overheard the murmurs of the horrified sheep that had witnessed the event.
“Unbelievable.”
“What are they teaching over at University nowadays?”
“You never attack a pig.”
“No one should presume to take things into his own hands.”
Chapter 46
Snapper had no idea how long he was in the smelly holding cell. He did not know who had slapped gauze and bandages over the bite marks in his back, but he had the presence of mind to avoid mending his wounds to prevent drawing attention to his ability.
The barred door of the cell swung open and banged into the cinderblock wall. Two hulking bulldogs strode in, followed by an old white porker with a black spot over one eye. His enormous body teetered on his tiny legs.
The pig’s sagging scowl nearly disappeared into the folds of its second and third chins. “Name,” he said, sounding like he had a mouthful of gravel.
“Snapper.”
“This way.” The pig started walking down the hall and the two dogs shoved Snapper after him.
“What time is it?” Snapper asked as evenly as he could.
“Dawn,” the old hog growled over his shoulder.
“We headed to the chopping block?”
“No. Courtroom.”
“Going through the motions of due process before you disappear people, huh?”
The dogs slammed him into the wall. The pig sauntered up to Snapper and put his stubby snout close to the sheep’s face.
“We’re having a hearing,” he snarled, “because you’re a minor. For the severity of your crime, you should be thankful you’re even getting that. You think you’re a clever little sheep, but I’ve heard all that before. Delinquents like you have a tendency of ending up right back here once they’re grown. And we’re not nearly so accommodating then.”
The pig smiled, satisfied with himself. He nodded to the dogs, who released Snapper. They walked on in silence.
To calm his nerves, Snapper focused on the satisfaction he had felt in finally causing Durdge some pain.
If Durdge even feels pain at all, he realized. It occurred to him that Dreamer was right. By attacking the little robot pig, he had given him exactly what he wanted. The satisfaction slipped away, replaced with more guilt and shame.
What will Dreamer think? Where is she?
He wondered if he would have been able to keep his anger in check if he hadn’t been so shaken and upset by the images Dreamer had accidentally placed in his head. Even now, the terrible scene came to him against his will.
Those green eyes in that fat pig head, smiling down at her while he cut her. That has to be the one that Caper was telling me about, the one in charge at the q
uarry.
Snapper felt a lump forming in his throat.
The same eyes as the pig that killed Dad.
He searched his memory and the ones given by Dreamer. No one had mentioned that pig by name.
It doesn’t matter, Snapper thought. One of two things will happen here. Either they cut me open for a blood sacrifice to Toxid right now, or I find this green-eyed pig and kill him.
He remembered the promise Caper had asked of him on Old-Timer’s behalf, not to seek revenge. But this isn’t revenge. We won’t be safe and free until this pig is gone.
The four of them reached the end of the hall. The old hog pushed open a wooden double door leading into a modest courtroom. The only people in the room were a fat, old boar at the judge’s podium and a little pink pig at the witness stand. The two dogs led Snapper to the front.
“Court is now in session,” the white pig called out as he closed the double door.
Chapter 47
“Calling the case of The People of Megatropolis v. Snapper. Let’s hear from the prosecution first,” the judge grumbled.
The little pink pig at the witness stand hauled a lopsided metal sphere onto the podium. A single cracked glass lens adorned the front.
Snapper gasped. That’s Durdge’s head.
The robotic eye, still lit with the red glow of the recording lens inside, swiveled to look at Snapper.
The little pig draped the burlap “skin” over the head. A hole in the mask fit around the glass eye. Durdge once again had ears, a left button eye, and a snout. The effect of the doll-like pig head sitting on the podium did not put anyone at ease.
“State your name and occupation,” the judge deadpanned.
“My name is Durdge,” came the weak voice, tinged with a static whine. “I am the official Megatropolis liaison with the sheep of Fleece City. Some would call me the mouthpiece of pig-kind.”
“Can you describe to us the events of last night?”
“Your Honor, I was doing my usual outreach, speaking to the sheep of the city and doing my best to keep them mindful of the debt they owe to the pigs in general and the Chugg Corporation in particular.”
Every pig in the room nodded appreciatively.
“But I seem to have done something to offend one particular sheep, because, as you can see, I did not make it to the end of the night in one piece. I was viciously attacked.”
“Can you identify the sheep responsible?”
“That sheep right there. Snapper.”
“Care to speculate on any motive for this assault?”
“The very thought makes me sick, Your Honor. I’ve taken a personal interest in his development since he was small. I brought him gifts on his birthday and I monitored his performance in school. You see, he was raised by the Trampler, a belligerent in the Great War, and I feared Snapper might grow up… maladjusted. So I took it upon myself to make sure he stayed on a good path. And this is how my kindness has been repaid. He ought to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, up to and including the death penalty.”
The judge nodded slowly. “Anything to say for yourself?”
Snapper stood with anger. “Actually, yes.”
“Actually, no.”
Every head in the room turned to the source of the intruding voice, the great tawny owl who had let himself in. Caper’s feathers stood on end, his amber eyes alight with wrath.
“And who are you, bird, to barge into this courtroom?” the white pig snapped.
“I am this boy’s legal guardian,” the owl said. He shoved a court summons in the pig’s face. “And I am appalled that you thought you could get away with proceeding with this mockery of a trial before my arrival. I will be presenting his defense and he will not be saying a single word.” Caper shot Snapper a withering glare.
“Stand down, Warden, he’s right,” the judge said, sinking in his seat. “We were going to hear his defense and proceed with sentencing. Assaulting a pig constitutes high treason and carries the penalty of death. State your case so we can get on with it.”
Caper scoffed. “Snapper is a graduate of This Little Piggy Primary School and an undergraduate at University. Don’t you think he would be aware of this very basic law? I propose, Your Honor, that you consider the circumstances. Snapper is still grieving the sudden and tragic loss of his father. A father who, I might add, took him out of the city and moved him into a secluded country home out in the plains. Can you imagine growing up socially isolated, interacting with no one except a deranged war veteran ram?”
Snapper stared at Caper in disbelief.
“This young sheep has no reason for a personal vendetta against Durdge. It is my belief, rather, that Snapper is suicidal.”
Durdge gave a mechanical sputter. The judge blinked.
Caper gave a stern nod. “Snapper knows full well of the death penalty. He is confused, angry, adolescent, orphaned, and unbalanced. He attacked Durdge in order to be arrested, beaten, and finally killed on the altar to Toxid. Classic attention-seeking behavior with delusions of martyrdom. A very curable condition.”
The judge sighed. “You believe Snapper is not a lost cause?”
“Absolutely not. Given proper intensive treatment, he will emerge as a productive member of society.”
The judge cocked an eyebrow at Snapper. “Then this boy gets one chance. Next time we will skip trial altogether and move straight to sentencing—minor or not.”
“That’s very fair of you,” Caper said evenly. “Are we free to go?”
The judge scribbled on a notepad, tore off the sheet, and handed it to Caper. “Dismissed.”
Durdge’s angry howling and indecipherable metallic spluttering echoed behind them even after they had departed the courtroom.
Chapter 48
“Snapper.” Caper sighed, rubbing his eyes. “I cannot begin to express how angry and disappointed I am. Last night you spit in the face of your father’s sacrifice.”
They were alone in Caper’s office, standing by the locked door. Half a dozen psychology and law books had been pulled off the back shelf and lay open on the professor’s desk.
Snapper tried to get a grip on his nerves. “You didn’t hear the things Durdge said last night. He insulted my dad and made fun of his death. It was too much. You would have done the same.”
“No. I would have known that he was trying to bait me. Everything that happened went exactly the way he wanted until I arrived. He was leading you to slaughter and you fell for it. Do you understand now?”
Snapper hung his head. “I figured that out.”
“Well, you’ve been through enough. The last thing you need is more lecturing. I’m sure you got plenty of that from those pigs. But Snapper, I’ve got to do something to show you how serious this is. You have shown that you are not ready to re-enter society. A mature sheep manages to navigate this world without lashing out. Even your father never attacked a pig after the War.”
“I get it.”
“You will. I have a court order to put you on medication. You won’t enjoy it, but I think you’ll agree with me that it is better than becoming a blood sacrifice. And maybe you will learn something.”
“Alright.”
“I am forbidding you from returning to Fleece City until the treatment cycle is completed. At the very least, you need to stay out of sight until things cool down. Again.”
“Fine.”
“No more contact with Ponder and Mauler as long as they are in hiding. That’s a whole other realm of potential trouble that we don’t need.”
Snapper sighed, not surprised. Finally, he let out the question he had been sitting on since leaving the courthouse. “Where is Dreamer?”
Caper squeezed his eyes shut, as if remembering something very troubling. “Safe in her dormitory. Probably not getting any sleep because of you, just like me.” The owl paused, his eyes still closed. “I noticed you failed to keep your remarkable gift a secret from her or Swifter. You’re making a bad habit of drawing exactly the
kind of attention your father didn’t want.”
Snapper winced.
After a long minute, Caper opened his eyes, staring ahead in utter exasperation. “But I’m far too tired to say anything about that for the moment. Now, get out of here and get cleaned up. And for the Goddess’s sake, close those cuts on your back. We have class in ninety minutes.”
✽✽✽
FADE IN:
EXT. A LONELY SIDEWALK.
A hand-drawn animated SAD SHEEP with blue fleece walks dejectedly.
VOICEOVER
Feeling low? Blue? Sad? Mad? Feeling like life isn’t giving you a fair shake? These feelings are perfectly natural in the hustle and bustle of city life. It’s easy to find yourself feeling like you have no control, or that everyone is out to get you.
The Sad Sheep runs into a yellow GLAD SHEEP standing in his path. The Glad Sheep greets the Sad Sheep with a cheerful wave. The Sad Sheep sighs and frowns.
VOICEOVER
That’s why the folks over at Chugg Pharmaceuticals have brought you… VEXYLAM.
The Glad Sheep holds up a bottle of prescription medication. He tosses a pill in his mouth and gives the viewer a big smile. He tosses one to the Sad Sheep. With a POP, the Sad Sheep’s fleece turns yellow and he gets a big smile too.
VOICEOVER
Talk to your doctor about VEXYLAM. This mood stabilizer can help you get rid of those unwanted thoughts, so you can get back to what matters.
The two GLAD SHEEP walk together off the sidewalk and into a doorway. Above the door is a sign with the logo for CHUGG NATIONAL BANK & TRUST.
FADE to WHITE SCREEN.
CHARLIE CHUGG appears in the center of view, giving a thumbs-up and smile.
CHARLIE CHUGG
If you’re not perfectly happy, take VEXYLAM. I endorse this message. You can trust me—am I Charlie Chugg, or not?
FADE OUT.
✽✽✽
Chapter 49
Dreamer blinked slowly, staring at the mug of coffee she’d gotten with lunch to ward off her headache. She sat in the dining hall with an untouched bowl of oats, waiting for her afternoon classes to start so she could get her mind off of this.
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