Taterskin & The Eco Defenders: Book 2, Chapter 23
Book 2 ("Tell It to Future Generations"), Chapter 23 of 56
CHAPTER 23
So as not to be too conspicuous, the CM and the more exotic animals remained in the carriage house, while the three humans, equipped with Doolittles — and my family and Marmalade — went out recruiting. Having Marmalade along was significant, for two reasons: When the other animals saw not only our four pups but also a house Cat along with Rovette and me, they were curious and a bit disarmed. The second reason it was significant was because it was the first time Marmalade had been willing to leave Stripes’ side for more than a few minutes.
Before going further afield, we got to talking to some Squirrels right below the carriage house, by a creek. We told them about our plans. They were glad to hear of it, although they were not aware of any Squirrel ‘Guinea Pigs.’ They were, indeed, aware of what went on in the torture chamber (as they also referred to it), because a Dog named Aileen Mavourneen had recently escaped. She was frantic because her puppy Robin was still inside. She would not have abandoned him, but she thought her only way of saving him was to take the chance to escape while she could, sound the alarm, and seek help.
This increased our sense of urgency — to save Aileen’s puppy, we had to move quickly. I went to locate Albert. My sense of smell, which is said to be tens of thousands of times better than a human’s, allowed me to find him quickly. Humans usually need to see someone before they recognize them, and their vision isn’t normally anything to brag about, either, but I can spot where someone is even when they’re miles away — if I am familiar with their individual scent.
The odors of souls are like signatures to me. Everyone’s odor is unique. Humans probably wouldn’t want to be able to smell as well we Dogs can, because they are easily offended by certain aromas. Smells don’t bother me, though. I find them interesting is all. Anyway, I lost no time luxuriating in the myriad smells in the area: food cooking, people working and playing, the various aromas of trees and flowers, and so forth — I went straight to Albert as soon as I detected him, and explained the situation.
“OK,” he said, “Tell all the small animals you can locate to spread the word: ‘Meet at the laboratory — ’”
“You mean the torture chamber, right?” I asked for confirmation.
“Yes, the torture chamber. Meet at the torture chamber tomorrow at dawn. We cannot allow another day of ‘experiments’ to be conducted.”
“Got it,” I said, and ran back at full speed. I heard (I have extra-good hearing, too — that’s not boasting, it’s simply the facts) Albert also quickly relay the information I had given him to Alexis, impressing on her the urgency of our relief mission.
I found out later that Alexis and Falcona and Terri had then flown off to the fields and meadows on the outskirts of Hartford to round up as many volunteers as they could, too.
Our recruitment drive lasted far into the night. The humans went home, as they have neither the night vision nor the stamina that we do, but we animals scoured the area, rounding up volunteer after volunteer. Finally, we went home for a quick nap a little before the appointed time to meet at the torture chamber. We felt we had reached our goal and would indeed have a million paws — 250,000 animals — ready and raring to go in the morning, to invade the torture chamber as Ooga played doorman and let us in.
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