Louis, Molly & the Woodchuck

by Michael Arnold

  Chapter 21

  Before Kelly left Randall’s lab she took a series of pictures and emailed them to her supervisor, and then called the animal control forces. Although the cage was a little smaller than Randall, she forced him into it anyway.

  “You don’t know what you’re doing, lady,” he said.

  “I know exactly what I’m doing,” she retorted as she stunned duh him. Now armed of all the incriminating evidence against Onree, she grabbed his cage from the shelf and dragged it toward the front of the building while promising all the pets that she saw that she would be back for them.

  Louis and Woodchuck, where are you guys?” she yelled, looking in every corner and crevices that she came across. When she turned the corner she saw Edna’s cage empty and the young man and woman.

  “Stop right there, or I will give you one hard electric shot. I would tell you to ask your friend Onree, but he wouldn’t be able to answer. He is asleep.” Kelly sneered. “Louis and Woodchuck, where are you guys? Did you do something with my friends?” Kelly demanded.

  The young man and woman pointed to the aisle beside the door. Then out of the aisle walked CEO Johnson with Louis and the woodchuck in a cage.

  “Mr. Johnson, boy, am I happy to see you… Those two people right there work for…”

  “Of course, I know who they are; two young people that need to be fired because they can’t do anything right,” Mr. Johnson replied. “Find me a cage to put her in, now!” he yelled.

  Kelly’s face changed. “Mr. Johnson, what are you talking about? Put me in a cage?” she asked, horrified.

  “If you don’t want me to hurt this dog and this woodchuck, I suggest you drop that Stun Duh and kick it over to me, now.” Mr. Johnson extended his hand in the aisle and set Louis and Woodchuck’s cage in front of him.

  “Louis and Woodchuck,” Kelly yelled.

  “They will continue to be the Louis and the Woodchuck, if you comply with my commands, Kelly. Slide that Stun Duh over to me now, then bring me Onree and we will have an even trade,” Mr. Johnson yelled.

  “I don’t understand. You, Mr. Johnson, are working with Onree? You are behind all of this?” Kelly asked, sliding the Stun Duh over to Mr. Johnson. Then cautiously walking toward Mr. Johnson, her sensitive self began to tear up. She stopped when she saw the young man and woman come back with the cage.

  “We found one,” the girl said.

  “Good. Too bad I won’t need the two of you, especially since you failed Onree. What services do you think I would have for you two?” Mr. Johnson said then stunned duh the both of them.

  Come on, police, where are you when we need service? Kelly thought, stretching out her right hand in which she held Onree’s cage.

  Mr. Johnson grabbed the cage.

  “I speak on behalf of Louis and me; we’re sorry about this,” Woodchuck said all of a sudden.

  Kelly looked down at the cage and smiled.

  While she was distracted, Mr. Johnson grabbed Kelly’s arm. “If you would have kept your nose out of my business, I wouldn’t have a mess to clean up. Your mess, Ms. Kelly. I have to protect the dogs and cats,” Mr. Johnson said.

  Kelly screamed trying to break away from Mr. Johnson’s grip. It was a waste of time; the man was much stronger than Kelly. “You leave me no choice. If I leave you, you would go tell on me, wouldn’t you?” he yelled, taking a needle filled with the liquid combination out of his coat pocket.

  “No, please don’t, Mr. Johnson. Don’t do it,” Kelly yelled.

  “I have a plan, Louis. I think it might work,” Woodchuck said.

  “You think it might work? This is no time for thinking right now. Kelly is in trouble.”

  “I know it’s going to work! Is that better?” Woodchuck said. “You have a pretty hard head, right?”

  Louis gave him an evil glare. “Dang it, Louis, make me a big enough hole so I can get out of here, then I will let you out and we help Kelly.”

  “Now that sounds like a plan,” Louis replied.

  Louis pounded and pounded, and, on the third attempt, the door of the cage popped open.

  “Sorry about this, Kelly, but I have to do what I have to do,” Mr. Johnson said, leaning over, ready to inject Kelly with the deadly combination.

  “Oh no you don’t, you leave her alone right this minute,” Louis yelled, taking a huge bite off Mr. Johnson’s leg. He screamed in pain and dropped the lethal injection on the floor.

  “Hold him, Louis, hold him steady.” Woodchuck ran up Mr. Johnson’s pant leg then up the right side of his shirt. He balanced himself on the top of Mr. Johnson chest, and with his hind legs he threw a punch at him.

  “Haven’t your momma ever taught you how to treat women?” Louis demanded.

  “Get this crazy animal off me,” Mr. Johnson shouted while managing to break away from Louis and knocking the woodchuck off him.

  Kelly, who had been tossed to the ground when Mr. Johnson had been bitten, tried to regain her strength. The blow to her head caused her to lay there without pushing herself to get up.

  Mr. Johnson had some running room. He saw the back door and ran toward it. “Ha-ha-ha, I out-smarted you crazy animals,” he yelled when he reached the door. He would almost have made a grand escape since he was so far ahead of Louis, but a flying cage caught Mr. Johnson and knocked him to the ground.

  Louis and Woodchuck looked in the direction of where the cage came from.

  Woodchuck peeked around the corner.

  “Come on, Woodchuck, he is out. Let’s drag him to the front and check on Kelly,” Louis said.

  Outside, Hawk and Worm detained four more of Onree’s workers. They had fallen in a mud hole behind the warehouse, trying to run away from Hawk and Worm.

  “Worm, we have to get back to the back of the warehouse and check on them. They should be coming out soon,” Hawk said.

  “Kelly, Kelly, are you okay?” Woodchuck asked.

  Kelly was sitting up now but she was in a daze.

  “What did you do to her, you stupid man?” Woodchuck asked, kicking Mr. Johnson several times.

  “Hold your horses, Woodchuck; kicking him isn’t going to snap Kelly out of this.”

  “You have a better plan, Louis?”

  “Yes I do,” Louis replied. Then, with a long, wet tongue, he began licking Kelly’s face. It took several licks before she shook herself out of her daze. She saw Louis and Woodchuck.

  “Louis and Woodchuck.”

  “Yes, that’s us,” Louis replied.

  “Hi!”

  “She’s alive! She’s alive,” Woodchuck yelled, jumping in Kelly’s arms.

  “Yes, I am alive.” Kelly held Woodchuck in her arms and rubbed him on his tummy and caressed Louis on his head.

  Five minutes later the animal control police and ambulance arrived on the scene.

  Linda came too. “Oh my God, Kelly, are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine but there are some pets here that are not.”

  Kelly, Louis and the woodchuck walked to show the authorized personnel where the animals were. But first they took Mr. Johnson, Onree, and Randall and placed them outside until a vehicle big enough to haul the three of them arrived.

  Several hours later, when Kelly and her two friends returned to the shelter they rushed to where Molly was. Her skin felt hot. She was nursing a fever.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Kelly asked.

  Louis and Woodchuck gathered around her. Everyone in the back didn’t want to tell Kelly of Molly’s fate.

  “Hi, Molly,” Kelly said, picking her up and holding her in her arms.

  “Hi, Kelly, did you get the bad guys?”

  “Yes, Molly, we got the bad guys and your friends were of great help. Without them it would not have happen,” Kelly replied. “How are you feeling, Molly?”

  “To be honest, not so good. I’m dying, Kelly. They said there is nothing they can do for me. I have an internal infection that is spreading fr
om my legs and it’s moving up to my head. Once it gets there, I will sleep forever and sleep isn’t that bad,” Molly whispered.

  “You are going to be fine, Molly, no one…”

  “It’s okay, Kelly. You don’t have to say anything. I am willing to accept what is coming. But what I didn’t tell you all is that I knew of my condition a long time ago. That’s why my owners got rid of me. I know that’s the reason now. I knew my illness would get worse as time went on,” Molly whispered. “I was taking medication that my owners gave me. I loved that medicine, Kelly. It was so good it tasted like pop-tart candy.”

  Many of the workers looked in from the doorway but none of them went past the door. Kelly turned to them. She didn’t know if she should yell at them for telling Molly there wasn’t anything they could do for her or just have a mental breakdown for everything that happened within the last several hours.

  Kelly then thought about the animals that were retrieved from the warehouse. They would be arriving soon and that would be another problem that she would have to deal with, if some of those animals had been injected. Kelly eased herself down on the ground. Molly was cuffed in her arms. Louis and Woodchuck came closer.

  “Molly, oh, Molly, you saved my life when I was drinking the Fruity Juicy. This is not fair. Louis always gets on me for crying but this time I can’t help it. I love you, Molly,” Woodchuck said.

  “I love you too, Woodchuck.” Molly stretched her paw out. Woodchuck embraced her lightly.

  “Molly, you didn’t just save the woodchuck’s life, you save my life as well. If it hadn’t been for you when Edna was hurting me, I wouldn’t be here today. It is because of you I made it, Molly. Your friendship made me respect and honor my old friendship with Woodchuck. If it was anyway possible that I could take your place, I would, without a doubt,” Louis said, joining in the hug, while the woodchuck wiped Louis’s tears from his face.

  Kelly leaned down on the three of them very lightly.

  “Kelly, could you do me a favor, please?” Molly whispered. Her voice cracked. The more she talked, the more her words became slower and slower and were almost down to a murmuring purr.

  “Yes, of course, Molly, anything you want.”

  “I am getting really, really hot. I think the fever is getting worse.”

  “I can get you some medication. It will ease the…”

  “Kelly…” The word “Kelly” came out in a hoarse mumble.

  “Yes, Molly?”

  “If you don’t mind, please, no more medication. I told those doctors I don’t want any more of that medication, it makes me feel bad and it doesn’t taste like candy anymore. But if you could, do you mind taking me outside so I can see the bright sun and feel the cool air of the beautiful winter on my body?”

  Now Kelly was choked up. “Yes, yes I can, Molly.”

  The shelter personnel watched as Kelly held Molly close to her body while Louis and Woodchuck followed her outside.

  “I think right here the sun is the brightest and the wind is pretty high here too,” Kelly said.

  “Could you lay me there please, Kelly, in the grass?”

  Kelly did as Molly requested.

  “Oh my, the air feels so good. Guys, you can come and join me if you like.” They sat there with Molly and although the cold was a task to handle for Kelly, for Louis and the woodchuck it felt like a summer breeze that day. Within a few seconds, Molly’s eyes began to close and her legs turned with her body in a fetal position.

  “I love you all, and I believe in you, Kelly, and I believe in you, Woodchuck, and I believe in you, Louis. Goodbye.”

  “Molly, please don’t go. Stay with us,” Woodchuck said.

  Louis turned away while Kelly bowed down and kissed her little face.

  “She’s gone, guys. Come on, we have to go back in,” Kelly said, wiping her face. Then from out of the sky the three of them could hear something.

  “What is that I hear; a song?” Kelly asked. “Do you guys hear that?”

  Louis and the groundhog listened.

  “Yes, I hear a song,” Woodchuck replied. “And it’s saying: joy, joy.”

  They turned to where the song came from and out the lining of the sky came a bird; not a bird that any of them were accustomed to seeing, but the bird Molly had seen. The bird whistled with the power of the song and with the air in its wings. It was flying at great speed when it got closer.

  “Joy, joy, joy, joy…!”

  “It’s coming this way,” Kelly yelled.

  The bird landed onto the ground silently. Then, suddenly, Molly, then Kelly, Louis and Woodchuck were in mid air.

  “Oh no, what’s going on?” Louis asked.

  “I don’t know, but it feels good,” Woodchuck yelled.

  Kelly smiled then the three of them came back to the ground while Molly was still in midair.

  “Welcome to the Valley of the Flowers.”

  They peered down. Under their feet there was a purple path and on each side of it was a variety of different colored flowers.

  Molly began to turn in midair in a rainbow of lights, then brightness and a glow of assorted daffodil flowers covered her.

  “Oh wow, those flowers and that light are changing her,” Kelly yelled.

  Suddenly the flowers began to bring her down. They laid her on the purple road at her friends’ feet. They peered at her.

  “Molly?” Kelly said. Louis and Woodchuck peeked from behind Molly. Kelly bent down and began to caress her fur. “We love you, Molly, with all of our hearts, and as long as we live, Louis, the woodchuck and I will forever be an advocate for every pet in the world.”

  The one tear that fell from Kelly’s eye dropped onto Molly’s face. Kelly got up and as the three of them were about to turn and walk away, words were spoken; words of strength, power and love.

  “I love you too, guys.”

  They turned only to see Molly standing where she had laid dying minutes before. They ran to her. “You are alive,” Kelly yelled.

  “Louis, Molly is alive, she is alive.”

  Not only was there excitement from Kelly, Louis and the woodchuck, but it seemed that joy and happiness had reached the entire Valley of the Flowers.

  Thank you for my friends and thank you for not leaving me, Molly thought. Then she saw the coyote in the distance holding a red flower. He smiled.

  A little surprised to see him, Molly returned the smile.

  THE END

  Epilogue

  Molly was one hundred percent free of any infection and, to add to that, she was stronger and more vibrant than ever, but the animals that were coming from Onree’s warehouse weren’t.

  Molly told Kelly of the remedy that was going to be needed to cure those animals that had been injected with the mixture of green blood and embalming fluid. “You need to have red flowers,” she said.

  It took over fifty red flowers that were, of course, picked by Hawk and Worm, and turned into red liquid to heal Sam and those injected animals. Under Kelly’s care and love, all of the animals recovered.

  Meanwhile, Onree, Randall, Mr. Johnson, the young man and woman, and the four men that Hawk and Worm captured were all put away for their crimes against the animals and what they had done to Kelly.

  As for Edna and her obsession, she was also apprehended for cruelty against an animal and incarcerated for several months.

  And last, but certainly not least, the animal control police, together with a number of organizations looking after the protection of animals, searched and seized all the Stun Duh pens that had been sold to the people in the neighborhood of the mall. Kelly exhaled a sigh of relief when she heard that practically every Stun Duh sold in and around the city, including those that had been sold on the internet had been returned and destroyed.

  With the shelter being probably returned into State hands since Mr. Johnson had relinquished his ownership, Kelly didn’t shy away from her speech that would be televised a week after th
e incident.

  “Pets have meant the world to me since I was a little girl and now that I am a nineteen-year old woman, they still mean the world to me.

  “What was done to these pets was inhumane. And if it had not been for my friends, Louis, Molly and the woodchuck and my two bird friends, Hawk and Worm, stopping the madman who caused harm to these pets would never have happened,” Kelly said. “So to the State, City or whatever board is going to take over what is my second home, please allow us to protect the animals that have no rights, please!”

  Everyone clapped and thought her speech was superb, so superb that the co-owner, Mrs. Jane Floyd – Mr. Johnson’s ex-wife – paid Kelly a visit at her second home, while she was giving one of the pets a bath, and made her part-owner of the shelter.

  “I want to work with you to ensure that your vision for all pets around the world comes to pass, Kelly.”

  Hawk and Worm had a job of transporting injured or lost animals and were also appointed guard birds of the shelter.

  “Ugh…, I think this is pretty cool!” Worm said, while sitting on a branch of the tree outside the animal shelter. “Will we be going on, ugh…, a break soon? I have a taste for some groundhog meat today!”

  Louis, Molly and the woodchuck ended up living with Kelly and her dad in her brand new house. Molly went to the shelter with Kelly most of the time to help as much as she could.

  As for Louis and the woodchuck, some things would never change.

  “Louis, since when did you start eating grapes?”

  “Since Kelly said I could have them. Do you have a problem with that?”

  “Yes, I do, but for right now I am going to let it slide. But I am warning you, you have to go to sleep and when you do, it’s over. And I don’t want to hear you crying for Molly and Kelly either, you fur ball!”

  “What did you call me?”

  “A fur ball. Or didn’t you hear me?”

  “I’ll show you a fur ball, you pig!”

  “Help, Molly, Kelly! Someone, anybody help me!”