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Chapter

16

Fun

in the Sun

          Ah, I loved

summer more than anything. I loved it more than Joseph's bagels, more than

seeing a bully look at me like a hunter that can't hunt its rabbit in a meadow,

and more than a cub with a chocolate birthday cake the size of Mrs. Flint and Rhode

Island!

          "Lord, it is

hot!" I moaned alongside Lancie and James.

It had to be a million degrees

outside and hot as the sun inside James' place. The Mr. and Mrs. were out doing

some shopping at the marketplace and told us to keep an eye on Annabelle while

they were gone.

Unfortunately, she was

complaining more about the scorching heat than the three of us were. James did

his best to keep her calm, me and Lancie the raccoon were stooped in the

kitchen chairs, tails resting on the floor, arms flailing to our sides, and

tongues panting heavily.

For being made of brick and wood, this feels like a metal

furnace!

I thought tiredly. Me fur felt sticky, and I started using me tail to cool

meself like a Chinese fan.

"I'm hot, Jamie! I'm

hot, Jamie! Jamie!" the young human girl whined while jumping on the floor.

"I'm thirsty!"

Don' worry, Annabelle.

Mama and Papa are getting things to cool us down right now. Don't worry," James

cooed and calmed her down. He motioned fer her to go play in her room with her

dolly, and James used one of his eyes to watch her while his other lazily

looked back at us on the chair. "Do you both remember when I met ya two in

January, and it was really cold?"

I nodded. "And it were

colder than the Presser Lessor's heart, and I were freezing to death?" I asked

with a panting chuckle. James and Lancie wordlessly agreed and I giggled while

wiping me brow. "Yeah, I'm missing that already..." I stuck me tongue out, and

panting fer about several seconds, or was it several minutes? I didn't know or

care fer me sanity's sake.

"Why do you do that

anyway?" James asked after a while.

Me and Lance's ears

perked up at James across the table. "Huh?" Lance asked with confusion. "What

was that, Jamie?"

"Why do you do that?"

he asked again, this time pointing at us. "Why do you stick your tongues out

like that?"

"We pant to cool

ourselves down James," Lance spoke while panting his tongue out in between.

"Didn't ya learn that all these months here?"

James shrugged weakly,

and wiped his forehead again. "I was busy with other things," he said lowly.

"Like running from bullies and...studying." Me and Lancie chuckled at his lie.

However, I perked me

ears and turned to James at the bullying part. "Minus Gavin now, thanks to me

James," I grinned with a swishing tail. "Don't worry about him now. He's good."

I hoped. Ever since me and Gavin were chased by his former goons, the 'yote's

laid low fer a while, so I didn't know if we were friends or not.  

James was about to say

something, but he just laid back and sighed heavily at the heat. Lord, why are ya mocking me and me friends? I

thought while looking up.

The human boy across

from me and the raccoon wiped his brow and breathed out. "I always thought it

were for comic relief?" James said with a chuckle.

I giggled like a ninny,

soon saying, "Nah that's also when we're after a pretty vixen, James."

The three of us laughed

at that fer a while, and went back to moaning about the heat and trying to find

ways to survive Mother Nature's angry wrath.

Finally, Laura and Mr.

Lawton came back with groceries in their hands and news as great as when they invented

cookies. They saw a vendor down the street selling ice cream sodas at a shop.

That caused me, James, and Lancie to jump from our seats and beg Laura fer

money as she prepared fer lunch.

"Can we get ourselves

some cream sodas, Mommy?" James asked with closed hands and an iccocent look

that'd compete with mine. "Mommy?"

Laura turned to us

expressionless, staring as Mr. Lawton said across the room, "What's the magic

word, James?"

"Please, Mommy? We're

so hot here..." James asked again.

"And starving Mrs.

Lawton," Lancie added with a wag of his bushy tail.

Laura sighed and

reached into a nearby jar on the shelf. "One soda costs a dime, so you get

thirty cents," she was about to hand the coins to our shaking paws, but pulled

back to add another dime, "and you'll be getting another one for Annabelle."

She handed it to us, and we happily hugged Laura generously.

As I got to the door, I

slyly placed me dime into me right pocket and innocently turned to Laura. "Uh,

Mrs. Lawton?" I asked in a sad voice. "I lost me dime, so can I have another?"

Laura turned to me and

smiled. "Sure Peter," the human woman graciously nodded and twirled her back at

me, "when you pay Mr. Joseph Kinnick's bakery tab first."

I gasped at her

statement with a curled tail, and folded me ears in defeat before stomping

outta the apartment to join me friends outside.

Like this morning,

fursons and humans were doing their best to stay outta the light, relishing

under shade and when a cloud passed by the sun. A few wolf kits whined and

dragged their tails around with their mother about the ear, and a couple tigers

and mixed foxes in worker's clothes puffed alongside a carriage.

"I'm so thirsty me

throat is turning into the Grand Canyon, mother!" one of the cubs pulled at his

mum's dress. "Mother, I'm thirsty."

"Quiet, Justin..." the

she-wolf mumbled while panting in the heat. "Mummy is too hot to argue now, so

please keep it down."

          It weren't

so good fer the humans we saw either in the neighborhood. One man was so hot

that he came outta a nearby street sweaty and wet as a swimmer in the dirty

Hudson, and another darker-skinned one fainted with two sacks of grain on his

shoulders.

Our human companion was

complaining as well, almost too well.

"I'm so hot it feels like I'm inside a furnace..." James complained behind us.

          Lancie and I

looked at each other and smirked at James. "Yer not the one with fur on ya,

James," we spoke at once with chuckles.

          James wiped

his brow of sweat. "Shut up," he moaned as we kept walking.

          At last, we

made it to the vendor selling the ice cream. Along a busy intersection was a

young wolf with mangy fur, next to him a large ice box and an assortment of

things to make ice cream sodas, such as cones, milk, and toppings galore. As me

hope went up to cooling down, it fell to the earth like a dead bird at seeing how

long the line was. It had to stretch about a mile.

          The vendor

turned to us while handing a soda to the next customer. "Wait in line, boys!"

the smug wolf looked at our human friend with a grimace and mumbled at James,

"Ya too pinkie."

          As me went

down the line, I turned to a frowning James. "Flea-ridden mongrel," he mumbled,

then whispered to me, "No offense to you Peter."

I grinned. "None taken,

Jamie." Me tail wagged at how my little human was growing up with his own

opinion.

          We finally

got to the end of the line (after walking another two minutes down the road,

then waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.

And waited until me tail hurt wagging! "Can ya hurry up, fellas?" I

called out to the wolf down the line. "Me grandkits are having grandkits while

me clothes are turning into antiques!"

Everyone in line laughed at me

joke, but the wolf gave me a stare hard enough to turn me into a stone statue.

So we waited, and waited, and waited. By the time me, James, and Lancie got in

front, our fur would be burned to a crisp!

          I turned to

me friends and got their attention. "I got meself an idea friends, to make the

line shorter" I whispered with a grin. I handed me dime to Lance and said, "Be

sure to buy me one Lancie, or I'll be madder than a rattlesnake."

          "Sure thing,

Peter."

          I jumped

outta line (to everyone's sweaty surprise) and made a run fer the other end of

the street, to the side with the most amount of fursons scurrying around. When

everyone from the long line turned back to face the vendor, and I leaned back

against a nearby street building around the corner, I shouted at the top of me

voice and with all me might...

          "Coppers!"

          With the

snap of me fingers, half of the street and line were running outta the place

like the cotties plagued the cobblestone roads. I couldn't help but giggle like

a ninny again until me sides hurt and I were lying on the hot ground with a flicking

tail. By the time I composed meself, I looked 'round the corner to see me

impressive work.

          "Wait! Wait,

stop!"

          Gone.

Everyone, including the vendor, was as gone as a criminal after hearing that

the police were coming. Me jaw dropped like a heavy stone, and me tail curled

up when I saw the looks on James and Lance's faces.

          "Eh he he..."

I laughed nervously. I really messed up this time, and the scowl across Lance's

muzzle didn't help either, nor did James. "Well, gimme credit fer making sure

we weren't being swindled by a robber, right?"

          "Peter you

idiot," James tried to growl, but couldn't as a human. "Now how are we gonna

get cooled down in this heat?!"

          Still

feeling the sun pound on me noggin' like a nun's yardstick, I weakly shrugged.

"I dunno Jamie," I gasped, "but yer voice is starting to crack."

          "I ain't

worried about my throat, Peter; I'm worried about Annabelle when she finds out

she can't get an ice cream soda."

          We all

shuddered at the thought of imagining Annabelle's tantrum. The little girl once

got into a tantrum fer losing her dolly a week ago, and Lord knew what she'd

say now. She'd probably cry loud enough fer people in New Jersey to hear us.

          I folded me

ears and turned to James and Lance with a twitching tail. "I said I was sorry

guys," I whined. "Anything I can do?"

          With a wipe

of his brows, James grinned and whispered something into the raccoon sweltering

next to him. Lancie's eyes widened, and they looked at me funny. "Say Lance, do

you think chasing after Peter will cool us down?" he asked.

          "Let's try

James," Lancie grinned.

          I froze. "Aw

donkey-mutts!"

          I turned the

other direction and ran fer the hills with the raccoon and human boy behind me.

Actually, the hills were Five Points and it got me wondering why everyone liked chasing me?!

          At first, I expected

this to go on forever like the last time I got chased, but a wonderful surprise

appeared outta an alleyway. And by surprise, I mean a miracle better than an

ice cream soda as massive as me luck!

          .Some

brilliant loon broke a water hydrant cap down the street and making the place

rain cool, heavenly water everywhere, with kits and cubs laughing and dancing

around it like Indians.

          At the

sight, I felt me knees weak as I clasped me paws together.

          "Peter are

ya alright?" James noticed me gesture. "Ya hurt yer knees?"

          I craned me

neck and happily shook me muzzle while laughing like a lunatic. "Nah, I'm

thanking the Lord!" I laughed before jumping up and running fer it. "Race ya

two!"

          "No fair,

Peter!"

          "Peter, wait

up!"

          At long

last, the three of us cooled down and bathed our fur in water. We splashed at

other cubs, other cubs threw water at our muzzles, the rest of the block arrive

along with Annabelle, and I got meself an extra dime in me pocket.

          "Peter

dear," Laura called far away, "may I have that ten cents back?"