On Monday September 6, two days after the opening rugby match of the season of the North East State and College Canine Rugby competition, 5 members of the team that won that match wondered the streets of New Haven in search for an old friend and enemy.
The leaders of this plan, Tramp and his son Scamp, were at the helm and their counterparts, Mooch, Scratchy and Sparky, reluctantly followed on behind them. The two mongrels and the sheepdog did not feel so confident in encountering their old obnoxious Junkyard leader because when they were in, his orders for the clan were that each individuals trouble is their own and no one looks out for anyone but themselves. But Scamp's care for his friends inspired them and therefore they left the Junkyard to begin a new life. Besides, even though they went along with the rules, their hearts were always in the right place and they never really wanted to see each other take a fall because of their negligence. That would be an extremely tough burden to carry for the rest of your life. Sparky thought.
"Are you sure that you know what you're doing, 'kay?" Mooch, slightly nervous, asked the younger schnauzer. "I don't know if this is safe."
"Just trust us on this." Scamp assured. "Once we find him, we'll corner him so that he cannot get away and then we'll use this leash to put around his neck and clip the buckle onto something to secure him into position." He notioned to the leash that was hanging around his neck like a scarf; which was one of the leashes that his owners Jim Dear and Darling used to walk them every now and then. "Then once he is tied up like a prisoner we will talk to and reason with him. It will be all civilized and everything. We are not going to harm him; we are going to help him."
"Scamp is right." Tramp added. "You all know that I used to train Buster to be a top class stray. I taught him since he was just a pup, and he also looked up to me as a father figure, so he trusted me. We both know each other very well, and as his trainer I can give him just a little more help. He needs it."
"But why would you want him on our team?" Sparky asked.
"Because, first of all, he is the fittest and most commited canine I have ever known." Tramp replied. "He would always be willing to try something that was offered to him and would never hold back. Whether it was overcoming the tough obstacles of the streets or testing the endurance of his body, he would almost always succeed. So looking at his 'resume', his qualifications could earn him a spot as a Navy SEAL dog; and I really mean that. Secondly, he knows how to tackle another dog because I have seen him do it in a fight; and he defends himself with speed and agility in that if another dog attacks him, he counters the attack or dodges it with his swift movements. So his speed and tackling ability could come in very handy in both offense and defense in rugby. He could sidestep a defender or palm him or her off when he has the ball, and he could lay some hard tackles on them when defending. But bottom line: With all his experience he could be the perfect player for the game."
The Ex-JD's exchanged glances at each other as the veteran stray finished, and they seemed to agree with what he was saying.
"I suppose you're right, Tramp." Scratchy said. "Yes, he is unbelievably fit and I during the time that I was in the Junkyard I don't ever remember any dog getting the better of him in a fight."
"Yeah, not even Sparky when he challenged him to a wrestle with a hat, 'Kay?!" Mooch said in amusement. "Buster flicked him into a chimney pipe when he tried, remember?"
"Oh, yeah; and he looked like the black knight!" Scratchy laughed.
"How about a Mongrel/Labrador hybrid: A 'Mongrador'?" Scamp put in. The others all laughed when he said this. Even Sparky found it amusing, even though the experience of being caked with soot seemed embarrassing for him at the time.
"Very clever, Scamp." He therefore remarked. "I like it."
"But, anyway," Tramp continued, getting back on point. "once we find him and get him bound, let's all be friendly and reason with him the best we can. Then we'll offer to let him join the team; just offer, not force. We all have freedom of choice in life. So it will only be fair to let him make his own decision, otherwise we will be attempting to run his life for him and he will end up hating us even more. Let's all show our loyalty and help out an old friend."
"Hear, hear!" Scamp responded. The Ex-JD's knew that this made perfect sense and they showed their favor by nodding.
But just behind them, two familiar voices sounded the exact same thing that Scamp had just said:
"Yes! Hear, hear!"
The two schanuzers and their counterparts turned around in suprise and spotted the remaining members of the once-Junkyard-clan; Afghan hound Ruby and French bulldog Francois; walking towards them. Tramp and Scamp looked at each other for a few seconds in exchange of thoughts to one another before focusing their eyes back on them. Mooch, Scratchy and Sparky did likewise.
"Hey, you two." Tramp remarked when they came close. "I assume you heard about our plan."
"Two right, our fine leader." Francois replied. "And we would like to help you out. I think we have a few little things to say to Buster ourselves."
"But we can also add a few extra numbers to your squad if you need backup to capture Buster." Ruby added.
"Good thinking." Scamp replied. "This way we will have the whole Ex-Junkyard Clan as leverage. Then we can ALL reason with Buster and hopefully it will convince him to accept our friendship."
"All the better addition to the operation." Tramp replied. "Now let's get going. I am picking up his scent."
Tramp led the pack as he sniffed the ground while walking to pick up Buster's location. They walked through several alleyways before Tramp suddenly stopped his troops on the corner of the entrance to one. He gestured a 'quiet' signal to them because he felt positive that Buster was in this alley at this very moment; and he wanted everyone to remain silent and get ready to begin their operation before Buster would notice any suspicious activity and make a move.
"Okay," Tramp whispered to his pack. "He is here. Now, do not let him know that you are here just yet. We have to surprise him. He might try to run away if we all enter on him at one place at one time. One of us has to go up to him first and see how he reacts. Most likely he might want to retaliate or escape us. If that is the case, we must all intervene immediately; from different locations so that we create a 'cage' to not leave any gaps for him to escape through; and back him into the corner so that he cannot make any such move. Then we will hold him to the ground and get the collar and leash on him and hook the leash handle onto either one of the planks of wood in the fence or something else useful in the alleyway, such as a tap. Then he will remain held and we can talk to him from there."
"Alright, then." Scamp spoke up in a likewise whisper. "I volunteer to face him first. He and I have some unfinished business to take care of." He sounded very determined when he said this.
"You are truly positive zat you want to do this, Scamp?" Francois asked.
"I am not afraid of him because I believe that somewhere inside, his heart is still there. He had no intention of hurting me when I wanted to become a street dog and he was willing to teach me all the tricks; as well as the rest of you guys;..." He gestured towards the Ex-JD's with an appreciative smile. "...and he was never really willing to go as far as to kill someone who turned against him. so I know that he will not produce anything too nasty. Besides, you all have my back."
"That is right." Sparky then responded in agreement. "We have the numbers against him, so he will not be able to escape."
"Yes. Oh, and by the way..." Something precautionary came up in Scamp's mind, and he shuddered slightly at the thought of a nasty experience with it. "Keep an eye out for the dogcatcher's van. They are still continuously driving around town and we could still be suspected targets as they kept chasing us around for ages when we were on the streets."
"But we shouldn't be worried about them so much now because we are all licenced." Ruby responded.
"Yes, but Buster is not." Scamp continued. "If they catch him, he will be impounded and we may never see him again. We can't let that happen. If they do end up coming, we have to do whatever it takes to ensure Buster is safe from the wrong hands. This will be another way of proving our loyalty to him so that he will further gain our trust."
Everyone else looked at each other briefly and then nodded in agreement as they found that Scamp's point was very valid.
"Just keep this in mind, all the same. This may not happen but one can never be too prepared for the worst case scenario."
"I couldn't have said it better myself, whirlwind." Tramp replied in deep agreeement at his son's proposed precautionary action.
"Okay. Let's do it." Scamp said. "Ruby and Francois; you two stay on this side and back me up. Dad; you, Scratchy, Sparky and Mooch take the other alley and follow that around to get to the back fence of this alley and enter from there once I give you the signal. It will be a three-time whistle. Got it?"
The team nodded and the older schnauzer, the sheepdog and the two mongrels made their move to get to the access route to the back fence, while Ruby and Francois stayed in the corner.
"Good luck, my friend." Francois whispered to the young schnauzer.
"Be careful." Ruby added.
"Promise." Scamp confirmed. "Alright, here goes."
He began to walk from the shades of the corner to the open light of the alley; and as suspected, he saw a big muscular brown Doberman hybrid searching for scraps in the garbage with his back turned. Scamp could only see his hind legs and rump clearly, but knew that this was Buster because his Rotweiler build was easy to recognise and there was no other dog he had seen with similar external features. As he walked up slowly to him, he was sure that Buster might turn around at any minute and jump in shock and suprise, and then he might do something nasty. But even so, Scamp was not afraid of that and he decided to speak before Buster could make a move and possibly surprise him. Well, here we go. Scamp thought. Let's pray that everything goes to plan.
"Hey, Buster, old pal." Scamp spoke up in the friendliest tone possible but also with charm and humor. "How is pickings?"
Buster's head jerked up quickly from the ground in surprise at the familiar voice and spun around to catch a glimpse of his former 'street student', and he jumped again when he did. But then he settled down and looked on in anger at Scamp, seemingly furious at him for beatraying the trust and teachings that Buster had once given to him; but also for supposedly stealing 'his girl' from him and performing the junkyard pile trick that got him trapped in it.
"Do mine eyes decieve me?!" Buster, with incorrect grammar, quietly exclaimed. "If it isn't the little 'old-school father' wannabe. What a rather pleasant surprise (!) I didn't think I would ever see your face on these streets again!"
"And I thought that I would never see YOUR face again." Scamp replied, not fazed by Buster's mind games. "I didn't want to at first, but I changed my mind."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Buster asked in confusion.
"There is something that I need to say to you, Buster. There are a few things that you must know."
"'Must'?" Buster, still feeling angered, asked in disbelief. "How is it that a treacherous mutt like you; who gave everything he ever dreamed of away and threw all my street-wise lessons into the garbage; can hope to teach me something that I 'must' know? You are even more mixed up than I thought."
"Listen, Buster." Scamp responded, trying to keep as composed and as gentle as possible to show his friendliness to his former once-assumed mentor. "I am not here to hurt you and I have no intention whatsoever of seeking retribution for what you did to me or my father. You may think that after you walked out on your mentor and locked me in the pound, I, or maybe some of the others, would be trying to pay you back. Well, think again."
Buster opened his mouth slightly in surprise and tilted his head to one side to show further confusion with it.
"But since you might not want to lend me your ears because of what you might be thinking or feeling on the inside; be it possibly revenge; I am going to make sure that you do."
And before Buster could respond, Scamp immediately whistled three times. Soon after he did, Ruby and Francois appeared from around the corner of the alley and walked towards Scamp. This caught Buster by surprise and shock but also off guard; because Mooch, Sparky, Scratchy, and Tramp then jumped from the other side of the fence at the back of the alley and landed on this side of it; and then they immediately grabbed Buster by various parts of his body and held him to the concrete surface of the ground.
"What are you all doing?!" Buster yelled as he was struggling to get out of their tight grasp. "Let me go, right now!"
"The leash!" Scamp commanded to Ruby, who was holding it in her paw. She quickly handed it to him and Scamp rushed over to a tap and tied the leash handle in a knot to it, leaving the clip at the other end free. He then took off his own blue collar from around his neck, went over to a bound Buster, and forced the collar over his head and around HIS neck.
"Alright, get him over to the tap!" Tramp commanded to the dogs holding their former Junkyard leader. They dragged him over to the secured leash while still holding him tight to make sure that he couldn't easily wriggled out of the bind. As strong and as fit as Buster was, it was not enough against a leverage of four against one.
"Scamp, get the clip and put it on the collar!" Tramp commanded to his son. Scamp Immediately grabbed the clip and hooked it on to the small iron ring of the collar around Buster's neck. He then went to check that it was on securley enough before giving the signal to his gang to let Buster go.
"Alright, it's on good. let him go." He confirmed.
The two mongrels, sheepdog and older schnauzer released their grip on Buster's legs. As soon as they did, Buster stood on his legs and began frantically moving about in all directions to try and escape, but the leash held firm as well as the tap that it was tied to and he could not get anywhere. He would even choke lightly when he went forwards as the collar 'hugged' against the front of his neck and partially blocked his windpipe.
"Woah, woah!" Tramp, noticing Buster struggling, calmly said in a friendly tone. "Slow down there, old pal."
"What is this mind game that you are playing with me?!" Buster yelled, slowing down his struggles as he knew that he was trapped. "You must all be crazy coming back after me. First you all walk out on me and then you come back to me even if I said that you were not allowed to! Why are you doing this?"
"Because, as I said before, we have no intention of hurting you and we have something that we have to say to you." Scamp replied, also keeping his composure.
"'We'?" Buster asked.
"Yes; all of us." He gestured to the whole Ex-Junkyard gang.
"Well, if you all want to say something to me, why go to extreme measures and force me into a trap?"
"Because you might not have wanted to pay attention considering you now hate us all because you thought that we turned our backs on you; so we had to use force." Tramp responded; now taking first charge at speaking to his former student. "I am sorry but we had no choice. The thing is, Buster, you are seriously jumping to conclusion on things. It is not what it seems. I am speaking to you as your teacher and trainer here. There are a few things that I should have mentioned to you before I left the streets, and for your good you need to listen in. So how about we make a deal: We will let you go on the condition that you let us speak to you AND we then make you a generous offer; which you might like, just quietly." Tramp grinned lightly when he said this to show some dignity towards the Doberman/Rotweiler hybrid.
Buster suddenly stopped fighting the entrapment and stood still in deep anticipation when he heard these words. He began to ponder about his initial thought on Tramp betraying him if he was being offered something generous by him instead.
"What...what offer?" Buster eagily asked in hope.
"We will get to that, but first you need to listen to our advice." Tramp replied. "Then after we are done, we will let you go. From there we will leave you alone and you will be free to make your own decision. We promise that we will not bother you again after this."
"Hear, hear! Yes, we promise. Promise. We promise. We swear. Totally and honestly." Came the individual replies from the other canines. Tramp grinned and winked his eye at them all before turning back around to Buster.
"And we are not trying to con you or anything like that." He assured. "This is not a trick and I swear that you can trust us. Deal?"
Buster thought that this all sounded very fair, and from then he began to lessen his initiative about Tramp being his enemy. So he decided to oblige.
"Okay, then. Fair enough. Go ahead and fire away."
"Good dog." Tramp replied. He then began to speak his advice. "Now, Buster, when we first met, you were just a little pup abandoned on the streets without anyone to look after you. Do you remember that?"
"Yes." Buster replied, feeling slightly saddened as he was thinking back on those memories of being lonely.
"And I felt for you. So I took you in and trained you to tackle the streets. I continued to train you until you were fully grown. And when you grew big and strong, I realized how fit and commited you had become through several years of working like you were in the military. I swear I have never met another dog who worked as hard as you ever did, and I was so impressed that I knew that you were bound to be my possible successor following the day when I might have to step down as a leader. Or you could have become a leader in your own right or way."
"He did." Sparky added. "He became the leader of the Junkyard after you left, Tramp. You left him with that honor."
"That's right." Tramp responded, turning his head and eyes from the grey mongrel back to the bound Doberman/Rotweiler. "After I decided to move on from the Junkyard and go as a lone roadside stray, I let you take over. I did that because you were the fittest and most willing member of the group and of all the tests that I put you through over the years you would never back down from any of them. You also had plenty of courage and you would not be afraid to defend yourself against other threatening strays. So for that very reason I knew that you were next in line to be a commander. Not only that, but because we did so much together through that time, I realized how much your friendship had meant to me. You, Buster, were like a son and a brother to me."
Buster's eyes widened lightly and his mouth opened in suprise when Tramp said this. He had never heard it before.
"And I really mean that. The thing is that I had lost my owner too soon, and the canine who trained me to tackle the streets; Rocky; was also taken away from me early by a paralysis tick. So I felt that I had lost my family twice, and I kind of fell on hard times; until I found you, Buster. Through all that we went through together, you were not just a student in my eyes: You became another part of my family, and your presence helped me to endure the hard times that I went through and attempt to enjoy life more. So it was for that other reason that I rewarded you with the leadership after I left to go solo. I gave it to you because of your hard work and brotherhood."
Tramp had never told this to Buster up until now, and Buster became lost for words as his once-role-model's true showing of mateship made his emotions grip him hard. But at the same time he also felt the irony of Tramp leaving him for 'life on a leash', as some strays described it; and he was eager to get it off of his chest.
"Well, then, if that is true, why did you leave me?" He asked, still lightly fuming inside but trying hard not to express it.
Tramp knew that he would ask this question, and the 'veteran' schnauzer knew that it was not going to be a simple answer, so he decided to narrow it down as best as he could.
"The thing is, Buster, that there comes a time is the life of every living creature on this earth, human or animal, where we have to make difficult yet important decisions. Each decision that we make determines the difference between the right direction to travel, where it brings out the best in ourselves and our lives; and the wrong direction, where we lose ourselves completely and our lives are in danger. But only we, ourselves, can chose our own fate. We can all be taught well, but in the end it is our decision as to what we do with our lives. It is only fair that everyone has free will. If anyone tries to hold us back from living the way we want, we will all be fighting constantly until we almost destroy each other. So in your case, my friend, I gave you guidance but I did not want to, at any time, want to force you into anything. I cared about you and I wanted you to have what you wanted to have. You chose your path and I respect that. In the end I just wanted to make sure that you were happy. As for my case, meeting this beautiful and sensible house dog made me discover the meaning of love. I learned that life is never fully complete without it. It brings out the best in us and helps us to understand why the world works. It works because those who live in peace and harmony with one another will be free of fear and embrace the goodness of life."
These powerful words were, again, like nothing that Buster had ever heard before. He had not even understood what love meant. But in the way that the older schnauzer had just put it, he was beginning to realize that Tramp's brotherhood towards him was somehow connected with that term in a way.
"So it was for that very reason that she became so important to me." Tramp continued. "If not for her, I would have never felt fully complete. I always thought that the street life was full of amusement and fun; which, you would think, is everything that any street dog can ever ask for; but after meeting Pidge, I knew then that we all need someone to look after and care for us so that we fulfill our lives. No matter how we choose to live, It is important to embrace the love so that we enjoy life more." He then decided to attempt to relieve Buster of his envy: "I know you might hate me after I left you, but you really do not have to feel that way, my friend. Just because I fell in love does not mean that I don't like you any less. I still admire you because of your 'brotherly love' that we shared and the fact that you became exceptional in your street survival skills. So our friendship was important to us and I never wanted to let it go. To this day your are still my friend despite what you did to my son. He and I are willing to forgive you."
"That's right, dad." Scamp responded, stepping forwards to speak to his former street teacher. "What is in the past is in the past and we have now put that behind us. You have also got to leave your worries behind you, Buster. If you focus too much on the bad things that might have happened in the past, you will not able to focus properly on the future. You have to cherish the good memories of the past and let the not-so-great times fade away to have any such chance of enjoying the forthcoming years of life. Years of carrying continuous hatred and distrust because of one changing moment will make you despise most others around you and then they will, in turn, despise you and then you will not have any friends or family to look out for you. You will just become a 'lone wolf' left to fend for himself for the rest of his life. After you had someone look after you when you were growing up, you were not like that. He was there when you really needed him and he helped you to survive. Do you think that you would be where you are to this day if not for a dog who taught you the essentials and gave you a life? More than that; he was like family to you. By giving you what he did, he became the family that you never had. Bottom line; he became someone you LOVED. When you think about it, parenthood and brotherhood equals family, and family equals love. Do you see what I mean?"
Buster wore a shocked expression on his face and his pupils aimed slightly downwards as he was thinking deep. He had never heard so many wise words in all of his life; let alone in such short time; and so he didn't know how to respond. He was beginning to realise the wrongness of his misjudgement of Tramp and the brainwashing of his son if they were giving him so much good advice, and he was feeling quite sick inside because of it.
"It's a lot of information, I know." Scamp continued, noticing Buster stuck in his thoughts; trying to process everything that was said to him. "But here is the conclusion: We are going to forgive you and let you continue to live your life the way you want to live it. Live as a stray for the rest of your life if you desire or go and live with a human. The choice is yours. But never forget that none of us hate you at all and we still care."
Buster, with his eyes looking at the ground as he was thinking again, thought about it for a minute. He then lifted his head up and looked at the old and young schnauzer and nodded a confirmation.
But before another word could be said, the sound of a vehicles' engine came to the ears of Scratchy, who was on the lookout on the street near the alley. He then saw a yellow van turning around the corner three blokes away from where he was, and he knew immediately by the sound and appearance of the van that it was the enemy of the roadside strays: the dogcatcher. Therefore he immediately alerted his clan:
"The dogcatcher's van is coming this way! Hide yourselves, quickly!"
The others sprung into action the moment they heard him and went to hide in certain places within the alley; including behind storage boxes or inside the bins. Except Scratchy went to the front of a nearby cafe and sat near the door to make it look like he belonged to the shop's owners. And Scamp and Tramp had to firstly get Buster out of his 'confinement', so the young schnauzer unclipped the leash buckle from his own collar around Buster's neck to set him free.
"Oh, no; not again!" Buster slightly panicked at the thought of the dogcatcher as he was being unbound.
"Don't worry, Buster." Scamp said. "We are not going to let them take you away. Just hide behind this wooden board and do not let yourself be seen. Even if you are, they will not take you because you have my license around your neck to fool them into believing that you are a house dog." He gestured towards the collar.
"But you have to remember not to let yourself get seen at all, Scamp." His father added. "You have no collar right now and that will be an obvious sign to them."
"Got it, dad." Scamp replied, then turned his eyes on Buster again. "Now go and hide!"
Buster saw reason to his safety with a collar and he nodded and hid himself quickly without even trying to think any further. The two schnauzers then hid themselves in two open trash cans.
The engine-powered van approached the cafe, a block away from the alley where the dogs were hiding, and the driver noticed a brown mongrel sitting out in front of it. He slowed down and observed Scratchy for 'a sign of clearance'. He noticed the collar and license around his neck and that he was sitting comfortably satisfied outside the cafe. Scratchy even wore a slight grin to show it.
"He's no problem." The driver said. "He must be owned by the cafe people. All good."
With that said, he turned his head back to the road and accelerated to get back to the normal speed limit. He drove past the alley and did not turn his head to observe what was there as he seemed fooled by Scratchy's 'zone clearance'; meaning that the area appeared to have no other dogs in sight and the dog catcher did not need to inspect the area for suspicious activity.
So Scratchy watched as the van slowly got further and further away and he waited until it turned around a corner to give the signal that it was okay to come out.
"It's gone now; all clear." Scratchy said aloud to his hidden comrades.
As soon as they heard the word, they all came out from behind the storage boxes and bins. After Buster came out of his hiding spot, he was feeling slightly shocked but also amazed that his former Junkyard clan, idol and student had just saved him after everything that he had done to them. He remembered that when he was in the Junkyard, he made the motto: 'It's every dog for himself/herself'; so he was not expecting anyone to help him. But after what just happened, he now realized that those in his former gang were not exactly what he expected them to be: They were generous and considerate. So Buster began showing some admiration.
"Well, lucky escape, eh, old pal?" Tramp asked Buster.
"Yeah." Buster replied in suprise and awe. "You all saved my life, despite all of our differences. That was a very noble thing for you to do."
"Because we are not like you used to be, Buster." Scamp replied. "We all care very much about each other as well as our friends. Again, it is that feeling of family connection that we share and it means a lot to us. It is what keeps us alive. Never forget that."
"I would also like to add, Buster,..." Ruby immediately intervened, wanting to add to that point. "...that even though you made the rule that it was every dog for himself or herself in the Junkyard, we still looked up to you because you taught us all the tricks and helped us to survive; so we did, after all, want to help you in return for what you did for us."
"And zat is why we helped you just now." Francois added.
"It is our way of saying thank you for all your help, 'kay?" Mooch then said.
"Yeah, thank you for giving us a chance to survive, Buster." Sparky then put in.
"For the fact that we were left to fend for ourselves after leaving our canine families, you showed us the way." Scratchy finished.
Buster, mouth open in awe, nodded in deep thought at these flattering and heartwarming statements. He was even amazed that his own Ex-Junkyard clan had just stood up for him as well as Tramp and his son. He also could not get out of his mind how wise, noble and intelligent his former student had become since Scamp's puppy days in the Junkyard, so that also seemed admirable to him.
He then remembered that they had also come to offer him something, so he spoke his mind:
"By the way, you also mentioned that you had an offer for me."
"Yes, yes! thanks for the reminder." Scamp immediately replied as this brought his attention back to the other thing that they had come to speak to Buster about. "Dad, Scratchy, Sparky and I recently joined a local rugby club. We are playing in the North East State and College Canine Rugby competition and the season only just started. We are opening up an invitation for you to join us."
"What is rugby?" Buster asked.
"A very physical and intense sport. It's a little bit like gridiron but quite different. It demands skills in speed and agility, endurance and army standard fitness. If you combine the military, wrestling and athletics, then you get this. So it is quite a challenge, but at the same time there is so much intensity that it is an exciting sport to play. It is a lot of fun and I think that it might be something up your 'alley'. Ha ha; get what I am saying?" He laughed at the pun joke that he just made. Some of the others chuckled as well, and even Buster liked it as he brought a smile and he did likewise.
"But in all seriousness," Scamp continued, "You would enjoy playing this game. It's slick."
"That's right, son." Tramp then responded, keeping his eyes fixed on Buster. "And the other thing is, Buster, that when you were with me, you were always willing to undertake any challenge that I threw at you. Whenever I put you to a test, you would always say yes; no matter how difficult each one would be; and you passed them all within time. That proved to me how determined and commited you really were, and I am not lying when I say that I was so impressed with you."
"You were?" Buster asked, very flattered by the remark.
"Absolutely. So that is why I am laying down yet another test for you: Play rugby with us at Amity RFC and have some more fun. From all of your streetwise experience, it will come in very handy for rugby. Like street survival, there will be a lot of hard yards to put in for both physical and mental preparation to play the game, but I know that you can handle that fine because your willingness can get you anywhere. So what say you?"
I actually think that this is a pretty fair offer. Buster thought. Tramp is right: I WAS very commited to street survival tests and I did succeed them and became a top class stray. That is probably why he left me the honors of leading the Junkyard dogs after he left. And now he is offering another test, only this could be the beginning of something else; something better, maybe. And after they just saved me from being impounded and stood up for me, they showed their true friendly colours and that they were true to their reasonings with me. So it would seem foolish not to take up this fine offer.
"Well, after what you just did for me;" Buster therefore replied. "and the truth about my willingness to any challenge, how could I say no to this? It's a deal. I am in."
"Really?" Scamp responded in excitement.
"Yes, really." Buster replied.
The other Ex-JD's looked at each other in satisfactory grins. They were very pleased that Buster had obliged but also happy for him.
"It looks like his heart just got healed." Ruby whispered to Francois.
"We did what we could." He replied. "Zat is what true respectable dogs do: We help out zose in desperate need."
"Hear, hear." She then replied.
"Excellent, old pal." Tramp then replied to Buster's response. "You will be a valuable asset to the team and I am sure that the coach will let you in when he sees your skills, I know it. Now, we train on Tuesday and Thursday nights at 6:00 till 8:00 p.m. The games are on Saturday at midday, home or away. Come tomorrow and one of our assistant coaches will show and test you the fundamental skills of the game. If you do well enough, they might place you into the vacant spot on the roster; which was opened up after one of our players got injured and sadly ended his season."
"Oh, I am sorry to hear about that." Buster replied sympathetically before immediately changing back to the training details. "Okay then, but what if I don't make the team?"
"Then you will still be given the opportunity to try out again next year; but I seriously believe that they will let you in because even if you don't entirely perfect all the skills, they will keep training you to get better each session so that you eventually do. We made a deal with them that you would remain in the non-playing list until you get better through personal training, and once you are ready, then they will give you a game. Knowing your fast learning ability, I know that you will get on sooner than expected."
"If you say so." Buster replied. "Alright. I'll come tomorrow and give it a go. I hope that it will be as fun as you say it is."
"If you thought that the street life was fun, this, in my opinion, is much better." Sparky said. "It is also an environment that gives even the most underclass individuals an opportunity to rise above themselves."
"To prove that they are better than what they think they are." Scratchy added. "But you will find that out later in time."
Buster looked on curiously and gave that analogy some thought about what playing the game could do for him.
"In the meantime, we will see you tomorrow night." Scamp finished, signaling to everyone bar Buster that it was time to go. "I'll just remove this collar for you, by the way." He grabbed his own collar from around Buster's neck and slipped it slowly off him before slipping back onto his own neck. "Sorry again that we had to force a bind on you."
"It's alright. I understand now." Buster replied, feeling inside somewhat pleased that they did.
They all began to walk towards the open entrance to the alley. "Keep well, Buster."
"You too." Buster replied. "All of you. See you then."
Scamp nodded and smiled at him before turning around to join the Ex-JD pack in leaving the alley.
"Oh, and by the way;..." Buster, feeling grateful at what was done for him, called after them. Everyone turned around after the Doberman/Rotweiler hybrid spoke and looked at him again.
"...thank you." He quietly replied, showing great appreciation in his voice.
They all took this in and smiled at him again for a few seconds before nodding him off and continue walking. As soon as they were out of sight, Buster sat there alone in his alleyway and pondered hard at what had just occurred between him and his former 'boss' and 'employees'.
They sure have a lot of guts to forgive me and then save me from certain danger after what I did or didn't do to and for them. They sure have become very unique. It makes me wonder about how one or more individuals have so much of that power.
There was only so much that Buster could think about right now before a potential exciting opportunity would await him the very next day.
To be continued...
All characters belong to Walt Disney and I fully respect the regulations against copyright violations.
BlackJack16.
(c) June, 2013.