THE SUPER SPOTTY RESCUE

 

Spring was nearing its end as the summer sun dawned over the Dearly Farm. The loud announcement of the broken morning was made by the Rooster, whose call echoed across the fields and around the barns and the house. Cows, sheep, chickens and pigs yawned awake, bustling into activity whilst waiting for either Roger, Anita or Nanny to come by and serve them their breakfast. Meanwhile, the Dalmatian puppies remained snoozing.

 

Pongo and Perdita emerged from the house with their pets, heading to the big, red barn where their ninety-nine puppies slept. As was routine, the parents nuzzled them awake, creating a rippling effect across the sea of spots until they were all roused, alert and eager to get their breakfast.

 

Nanny served them their specially-ordered dog food from a line of huge troughs outside, before they were left to play around the farm, their parents relaxing and watching over their games from the porch of the house.

 

Axel was one of the last puppies to leave the trough, heading over to a hollow, fallen tree trunk with the intention of spending the morning alone to chase the bugs. He did not dislike his siblings- only found them overwhelming at times. However, it wasn’t long before he bumped noses with one of his brothers: Hickory.

 

“Oh! Hullo, Axel!” Hickory exclaimed. ”What are you doing?

 

“Hi, Hickory; just chasing bugs,” Axel replied.

 

“Same here!” Hickory cried with excitement. “It’s my favourite thing to do- shall we do it together?”

 

“Actually, Hick...”

 

“Or we could go and visit the new chicks at the hen-house!” Hickory interrupted with eagerness. “I hear they only hatched yesterday.”

 

“Well... alright,” Axel resisted. “But just a quick visit.”

 

The two pups raced each other to the hen-house, almost knocking a duck off her feet and colliding with several other puppies who were doing their own races. Axel was a little faster than Hickory, only because Hickory had a knack for tripping over his own paws.

 

“They’re spotty!” Hickory exclaimed when they first saw the newly-hatched chicks. “Just like us!”

 

“Us hens call them speckled, actually,” the mother hen informed them as she passed, checking on each of the chicks in passing.

 

One of Axel and Hickory’s liver-spotted sisters was already sat amongst the squeaking chicks, delicately pawing at them and giggling.

 

“Berry!” Axel called over to her, making her jump slightly. He trotted over and sat next to her.

 

“They’re so inquisitive,” Berry said happily. “And still a little bit shy.”

 

Axel licked her affectionately- she had basically just described herself. Being as shy as she was, Axel couldn’t help but feel particularly protective over her. Additionally, Berry always felt rather safer around him, especially since he was a little bit larger than her.

 

Hickory bounded through the huddle of chicks then flopped onto his side, letting the little balls of fluff jump all over him and laughing at their ticklish feet.

 

“You’re such a goon, Hickory,” Berry giggled.

 

After playing with the chicks for a majority of the morning, Axel, Hickory and Berry raced back to the yard upon the lunch bell. They gobbled up the kibble amongst their siblings then proceeded to laze around in the meadow so as to let their meal go down.

 

Suddenly, Axel heard his name being called and stood to watch as his brother, Chunk, came racing towards the trio, looking both flustered and concerned.

 

“What’s wrong, Chunk?” Axel asked him as he came to a skidding halt.

 

“The... chicks,” Chunk panted. “From the... henhouse... they’re missing!”

 

“Missing?” Hickory cried.

 

“The mother hen... she reckons that they were kidnapped.” Chunk informed.

 

"We should get over there,” Axe; decided.

 

Axel, Hickory, Berry and Chunk ran all the way to the henhouse where the mother hen’s wails could be heard well before they reached the surrounding fence. Anita was stood there with Nanny already, attempting to calm the anxious chickens and fathoming over the missing chicks.

 

“Please, Mrs Hen,” Berry said gently to the mother hen. “Where was the last place you saw your chicks?”

 

“They were running around the henhouse,” she sniffled. “And then they were just... gone!” She began wailing again and Axel promptly went to sniff around the henhouse for clues, with Chunk close on his heels whilst Hickory and Berry attempted to comfort the distressed hen.

 

“Look,” Chunk pointed with his paw. “The tracks end back here.”

 

Sure enough, the dainty tracks of the now missing chicks ended around the back of the henhouse, next to the surrounding fence.

 

“They must have been taken out through here,” Axel concluded.

 

“Then let’s go.” Chunk pushed his way through the fence and Axe; barked over to Berry and Hickory to follow.

 

Immediately, Chunk caught on to an alien scent as the four puppies tumbled through the overgrown grass and weeds that was outside the perimeter line for the Dearly Farm. And, as he sniffed more intensely, a hinted whiff of the chicks was on the same trail.

 

“They’re definitely in this direction,” Chunk called back to the others. “But we’re almost near the road, so we have to hurry!”

 

“Do you think they’ll be driven away, then?” Hickory inquired of his brother.

 

“Most certainly,” Berry confirmed. “They’ve most likely been stolen to be sold on far away.”

 

As the road came into their sights, Axel barked a warning.

 

“There!” he whispered sharply. “Quickly, everyone; into that bush!”

 

The four puppies clambered into the bush and climbed their way through before peering out the other end of it. They were looking up at a dirty, white van that had been parked carelessly on the side of the road, almost as if it had been abandoned. The back doors were wide open and inside, the Dalmatians could see an odd collection of farm animals stowed inside, contained in some rusting wired cages.

 

Sheep, goats, rooster, rabbits, pigs and chickens were all stacked up on top of one another, looking particularly miserable. And right at the front, by the open doors, were...

 

The missing chicks!

 

“Look out!” Berry hissed. Two men had just appeared from around the front of the can; they were smudged with mud and had the odd straw of hay hanging from their clothes. One was bald whilst the other had long enough hair to tie back into a ponytail.

 

“Is that all the farms from this area?” the bald one asked as he looked into the van.

 

“Yes,” the long-haired man replied. “We’ll take this lot to the market tomorrow, then move ten miles West to steal animals from that area.”

 

“Good,” the bald man nodded. “Let’s get going, then.”

 

From the bushes, Axel had been thinking quickly. Primarily, he had noticed that the locks on the cages were only sliding bolts and secondly, both of the men had limps and didn’t look as if they could move all that quickly. Just before the long-haired man had gone to reach for one of the can doors in order to shut its, he had a plan in motion and was running along the bush-line with Chunk.

 

The two puppies then ran out into the middle of the road and started barking.

 

The men whipped around, spotting the puppies supposedly playing in the road.

 

“Can we sell sheepdogs at this market?” the long-haired one asked.

 

“Sure, but they aren’t sheepdogs. Are they?” the bald one said.

 

“Of course they are!” the long-haired one claimed. “Just look at their spots.”

 

“Alright- let’s catch ‘em.”

 

As the two men crept towards the apparently unsuspecting puppies, Berry and Hickory slipped behind them and into the van. They quietened the animals and started unbolting the cages as quickly and as silently as they were able.

 

Axel and Chunk moved up the road gradually, luring the men further and further away from the van. When they got too close, they dodged and ran around their legs, making it a game. The men grew more and more agitated by the minute.

 

All of the stolen animals from the van were free from their cages and were now jumping down from the van one at a time, so as to remain quiet. Berry then directed them through the gap in the fence, telling them to follow the trail back to the Dearly Farm where they would later be returned to their own farms.

 

Suddenly, one of the sheep tripped and crashed out of the van, drawing the attention of the two men.

 

“Hey!” the bald one shouted. “Stop!”

 

“Get back in the van!” the long-haired one chimed in. They turned away from Axel and Chunk and hobbled back towards the van, no longer interested in the puppies they had thought were sheepdogs and planned to capture.

 

“Run for it!” Axel called to Berry and Hickory, beginning to run towards

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