grunt. “I wonder why someone wants to frame our musher. He never did anything to anyone.”
But then, Blitz shook his head. “It’s not a poem,” he said. “It’s a riddle.”
“A riddle?”
“Yeah. If anything, the letter’s going to tell us where the mail is hidden; not how they planned to steal it.”
“What’s your point,” Gill asked, getting impatient yet again.
Blitz coughed, and his legs twitched, almost kicking Haywire in the face. “Sorry,” he said. “I can’t help it.”
Haywire moved away from Blitz’s leg.
Ambyr repeated the translated verse again. “Listen, as the beginning holds the key to the mail...”
All four dogs sat in awkward silence for a couple minutes, staring blankly in the air. Each of them were trying to figure out what the riddle was referring to the beginning of.
Just then, something snapped in all four of the dogs’ minds at the exact same time. A brilliant light hovered over their heads in a sudden jolt of shock and realization.
“LEMMIE SEE THAT LETTER!!!” They all shouted at once. All of them made a swipe for the letter, but Gill caught it first. They each crammed their heads to see as Gill pointed with his paw to beginning letter of each verse.
(Take this time to scroll back, and see if you can’t figure out the location as to where the mail is hidden for yourself. :D )
“S...A...W...”
“Oh, my heavens,” Ambyr whispered.
“M...I....L...L.”
They all looked at one another. “THE SAW MILL!!!!!!!!”
Gill, Ambyr, and Haywire bolted for the old, abandoned saw mill down the road, Ambyr just felt like kicking herself for not looking in a place like this sooner. As if sensing her thoughts, Gill gave a rasp laugh.
“It never occurred to you idiots to search a place like this first?”
“Hey, can it, fuzzy. You could’ve done a little more investigating yourself,” Haywire replied sternly. Ambyr winced. She knew Haywire could withstand being called any name except an idiot. “We were the ones that found the letter, remember?”
“Oh, goodie for you,” Gill said. “So you two aren’t completely worthless.”
Haywire felt like jumping Gill, but stopped as they ground their paws in the ground, and halted in front of the old saw mill.
It hadn’t changed much since Haywire and Ambyr had last been in it – which was both a good and a bad thing. “Do you think it’s still haunted?” Haywire whispered to Ambyr.
“Oh, please. You were the only one haunting it, remember?”
“...Oh, yeah.”
“Come on,” Gill growled at the mill. “Let’s get whoever’s inside.” He started running for the door, but Ambyr pulled his tail back in her mouth.
“First off, you don’t know who’s inside. They could be armed. Second, you rush in there, and you could foil our chances of catching the burglars if they get away.”
“So what do you suggest we do,” Gill snapped.
“We go in quietly,” Haywire said. “Try to make as less noise as possible.”
Gill scowled. “Speak for yourself, you Motormouth.” He started to quietly edge closer towards the door.
“Birdbrain,” Haywire muttered under his breath. He looked over at Ambyr, who had her tongue sticking out of her mouth. The taste of Gill’s tail still clung in her mouth, and she looked around desperately for something to wipe it off on. That’s when she caught sight of Haywire.
“You do, and you die,” He said with a smile.
Ambyr rolled her eyes at him, then withdrew his tongue.
Gill pushed the door open (which was boarded up after Ambyr, Haywire, and Blitz crashed through it the last time). It creaked and moaned as it slid back, sending a small cloud of sawdust to come raining down. Gill coughed. “Well, are you two scardeycats coming or what?”
“Why does that have such a familiar ring to it,” Haywire sighed. Nonetheless, the two stepped through the doorway, and lightly closed it behind them.
“Well...where is it,” Gill said..
“Try looking. You might find something,” came Ambyr’s sarcastic voice.
“Oh, be quiet, before someone hears you.”
“Someone,” Haywire said, his eyes frantically darting around. “Or something?”
The two other dogs shook their heads.
It took roughly half an hour for the dogs to search the upstairs (Since Haywire insisted they all stick together). Once it was fully scanned, the downstairs wouldn’t be too much of a problem. It was only ten minutes before they all stopped dead in their tracks, and looked at what was laid out in front of them.
“Check it out,” Gill said. “There it is.”
In plain sight, stowed away in a dusty corner, were three bags bundled at the top and thrown carelessly to the side. Ambyr looked around suspiciously. “This is much too easy. Where are the burglars? I wanted to feel bones crunching today.”
“Sssh,” Gill hissed. He went over and prodded at the three bags. Haywire did so too. He got down and sniffed at one of them.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “This is the mail alright...but...why does it smell like...tuna?”
Gill glowered at him.
“Give it a rest. You can’t smell it because you’ve gotten used to it. But there’s clearly the smell of tuna on these bags.”
Ambyr and Haywire both stared at Gill questioningly.
“Don’t you dare,” Gill shot evilly at them. “I don’t give a bull moose’s booger for your mail. What would I want with it anyway? I have nothing against your musher!”
“Musher,” Haywire said with Blitz’s thoughtful voice. He repeated the word a few more times to himself. “Musher...musher...musher...” Suddenly, he slammed his paws angrily on the floor with such force, it even made Gill and Ambyr jump back in alarm. “THAT’S IT!! My goodness, why couldn’t any of us see it sooner?” He turned to Ambyr. “Do you still have the letter?”
Ambyr nodded and produced it, laying it out on the floor in front of Haywire.
“’Merry be the date / In dawning the sun comes up late / Lest it somehow finds its way home’.”
“What?” Gill asked urgently. “What is it?”
Haywire looked up. “This whole...scheme...it has nothing whatsoever to do with the mail at all!!”
“What’re you talking about?” Ambyr said.
Haywire shook his head and smiled. “What’s that? I know and figured out something Ambyr didn’t? Wow...” He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “Hang on a second...lemmie savor this moment....Aaaah.”
“Alright, what is it?” Ambyr snapped at him.
Haywire opened his eyes, still grinning. “I know who stole the mail.”
“Oh, happy day,” Gill retorted. “So who is it? And how do we find them?”
“Patience, mutt, patience,” Haywire said, as if he were talking to a newborn pup. “Right now, the burglar isn’t here. But he will be returning in a while. I know he will.” He looked over at the other two. “We need to hide before someone sees us. I have a plan. Come on!”
And before any of the other two could object, Haywire had stuffed them into cramped hiding places throughout the room, making sure they all had a clear view of the mailbags.
“He’ll be coming back,” Haywire called from his hiding place. “And we’ll be ready for him!”
Ready, indeed. Three whole hours had passed, and no one had yet entered the room. Ambyr sneezed at a pile of dust that had collected on her nose, and Gill suddenly snarled furiously at Haywire.
“What is this,” he demanded. “Three hours. THREE WHOLE HOURS, and no one’s so much as breathed on this stupid old saw mill. I say we take the bags over to the police, and let it be their problem.”
“And what about Mr. Drago?”
“Pssh. I don’t care about your musher. All I care about is getting these bags off my chest, so I won’t have you fruit flies hovering around me!”
“Haywire,” Ambyr said. “Are you certain you know what you’re doing?”
“Positive.”
“And this is coming from the dumbest excuse for a dog I know,” Gill shouted. “You still haven’t even told us who it is, you know.” He stood up at Haywire. “So now’s the moment of truth, Haywire. Tell us who it is!”
“Are you insane? Get back down before someone comes in and sees you!”
“NO ONE’S COMING!” Gill exploded. “No one has for the past three hours, and no one ever will. Don’t try to get away with it. Now say it!!”
At this point, Haywire was willing to do just about anything to shut Gill up. “Alright, alright,” he said. “Just keep it down.”
“DON’T TELL ME TO KEEP IT DOWN!!”
“Chill out,” Ambyr snapped.
“DON’T TELL ME TO CHILL OUT!!”
“Someone’s coming.”
“DON’T TELL ME SOMEONE’S COMING!!”
Suddenly, Ambyr darted from her hiding place. She angrily clamped Gill’s muzzle shut, and pushed him back in his own hiding place.
“I said someone’s coming, you lunatic,” she hissed at him. “Get in here, shut the heck up, and don’t you dare come out until I say you can!”
“I don’t take orders from –”
Ambyr snarled at him, and Gill reduced his outburst to a glare.
Footsteps could be heard as they echoed down the corridor. Ambyr literally teleported back to her spot, and Haywire whined for everyone to stay absolutely still and quiet as
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completely off guard. Good job!