~~~

It was as dark as the night before when they got to Dog Lee’s school, with a few sinister-looking clouds hovering overhead to give the place a more dystopian[1] feel.

Of course, that was counter-balanced [or enhanced depending on how you feel about officers of the law] slightly by the four police cars parked outside Dog Lee’s front door. The three heroes quickly crossed the road, went into the nearest entrance to the park and stopped near a dense clump of Ueno trees.

‘I don’t like the look of this…’ whispered Zade, keeping most of his body hidden behind the tree.

‘They’re not looking for us,’ said Luco, climbing up onto a nearby bench to get a better view.

‘Shouldn’t we just go home?’

‘No way, we just got here.’

‘It’s cold…’

‘Cold? You come from Raaaaaa, second coldest country in Kaatlandō. You’re not cold.’

Zade grunted, zipping up his jacket a little more. ‘Cha Cha?’

‘We haven’t confirmed if Wu Dog Yan’s in there yet.’

‘Why would she be in there?’

‘Because she likes Dog Lee…and is his student.’

‘But Dog Lee’s not there.’

‘We don’t know that yet,’ said Luco, jumping back in. ‘Not for sure.’

‘Luco…he’s been kidnapped.’

‘He might’ve been grabbed by those thugs and…nuut kaata…maybe they took him back inside his school. Panicked when they got him, went around Bambamboo Park then came back and hid him in a cupboard or something. Or that was their plan all along. Keep him where the cops would never check. Maybe. Nuut kaata. It’s not impossible.’

Cha Cha and Zade looked at each other then at the four police cars outside Dog Lee’s school.

‘Or he’s not inside,’ Luco continued, scratching his neck, ‘and really has been kidnapped and…Wu Dog Yan is in there now looking for clues, just like us.’

‘We’re not looking for clues, the police are. We’re hiding behind a tree.’

Luco picked up a small acorn and pulled off some of the pines. ‘Zade, your negativity is beginning to grade…’

‘Grate,’ said Cha Cha under her breath.

‘If you don’t wanna stay, go. If you’re staying, stop whining.’

Zade looked at the police cars again, imagining the headlights as vicious eyes. ‘I just don’t like being so close to the cops, that’s all.’

‘They don’t know we’re here, relax.’

‘Not yet.’

There was a sudden, faint whoosh sound nearby, followed by a distant shriek.

Zade turned and scanned the park behind them for the source of the noise. It was hard to see anything. There were open spaces, and large clumps of forest, but the lights only followed the sides of the path so most of the park was cast in darkness and shadow. Maybe darkness and shadow were the same thing. Zade didn’t know. He turned back to ask the others what they thought the noise was, but realised they hadn’t noticed at all and were in fact still staring at the façade of Dog Lee’s school opposite.

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There was another whoosh sound and then another cry, this one slightly different, as if another person had been struck.

‘Guys, are you not hearing this?’

‘What?’

‘There’s a weird noise over there…in the park.’

‘The whoosh thing?’ asked Luco, only half turning.

‘The crying thing?’ added Cha Cha, managing a little better, her face giving a quick scan of the nearby shadowed canopy.

‘So, you did hear it.’

‘Ka, I thought it was you,’ said Luco, eyes back on the school.

‘Me too.’

‘What…why would I do that?’

‘A new form of complaining. Complaining in tiger noises. Complaining with wind instead of words. Complaining to wear us both down and make us tired enough to go back home. Nuut Kaata.’

Zade looked back again at the dark shapes pretending to be trees. That perhaps were trees. ‘Look, someone could be in trouble over there. Maybe we should check it out.’

‘I thought you wanted to go home…’

‘I do, but I can’t just stand here if people are being attacked.’

‘You’re so subtle, Zade,’ said Cha Cha, patting him on the leg. ‘We know you just wanna get away from the cops over there…’

‘Nuut, not true.’

‘…even if it means you have to go somewhere dark and creepy where people end up murdered.’

‘I won’t go that far. Just to the trees.’

‘Wah, didn’t you say that whole side of the park was dangerous?’

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘You did, last night. And everyone knows it’s true anyway, even me, and I’ve only been here once.’

Zade grumbled a little, but didn’t form any words. Cha Cha was right, that side of the park was quite dangerous, even for a tiger. After all, fur wasn’t bulletproof. Or stab-proof. But still…probably safer than lurking near cop cars.

‘I’m staying here,’ said Luco, surprisingly not folding his arms.

‘Me too,’ echoed[2] Cha Cha, one hand gripping the park railing as if it were chained to the thing.

‘There. Two beats one, even if you are super sized.’

‘Sorry, Zade-ism.’

‘Don’t apologise to him, it’s weird.’

‘Sorry. Can’t help it.’

‘Well, I’m going to check it out,’ said Zade, upgrading his grumble to a growl, but keeping it low enough that the cops wouldn’t hear. ‘Even if I do have to go alone.’

‘Good luck,’ said Luco, more than a little caustic.

‘Don’t use your nails,’ added Cha Cha, pure autopilot.

‘And don’t kill anyone.’

‘Ka, no killing. If you get into trouble, just run.’

Luco swatted the air with a paw. ‘Don’t run, it’s cowardly…’

‘Run if they run, fight if they fight…’

‘That doesn’t make any sense,’ mumbled Zade, looking back at the shadows…where there was, statistically, a murder every two point three days.

Right on cue, another whoosh noise sailed out from the trees, followed by two faint cries.

‘Grr, that is quite annoying,’ said Luco, not turning around.

‘Like someone whistling in your ear,’noted Cha Cha.

‘If you do find whoever’s making that noise, Zade, tell them to keep it down a bit.’

‘What if it’s Dog Lee?’ asked Zade, crouching down to Luco’s height. ‘Or the people who kidnapped him?’

Luco spun round fast, jumping a little when he saw how close Zade was, eking out a weak pokkah then glaring suspiciously over at the trees. ‘Satfu…’

‘They could be moving him somewhere, under cover of darkness, when the cops are busy at his school.’

‘I didn’t think of that.’

‘Or maybe he’s escaped from them and is trying to get to safety. Hoping that someone will hear his cries and come to help.’

‘Ka…you might be right.’

‘If Dog Lee’s there, Wu Dog Yan might be there too,’ whispered Cha Cha, letting go of the railing. ‘Looking for him…’

‘Could be…’ said Zade, glancing at the police cars. ‘Makes more sense than either of them being back at the school.’

‘Wah, what are we waiting for? Let’s get over there.’ Luco jumped up onto Zade’s shoulders and patted on his neck, while Cha Cha tucked in behind them, making a few superficial attempts at sniffing the air.

‘I’m not a horse,’ protested Zade, awkwardly shifting his shoulders, but not enough to dislodge the passenger.

‘Stop moaning, start galloping,’ replied Luco, lightly slapping him on the ear. ‘Follow the whoosh sound, go!’

‘Still not a horse,’ mumbled Zade, reluctantly moving off in the direction of the shadow-coated trees.

Or the murder zone, as the fear part of his brain insisted, making the inevitable shift from cop danger to miscellaneous.

Gods, this pokkah city.

~~~

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[1] A nightmare future where everyone has to work for A***** and every movie is a commercial for the next one.

[2] Can it be an echo if she’s saying different words from what Luco said? I don’t know…