Chapter 26—Family Feud

There was silence after Patch’s decision. Puffball just shook his head at Patch and opened his mouth. He then walked over to Patch, and shouted, “You little spoiled brat! Your family cares for anda so much...and you’re just staying with a couple of anak anjing anda only met a couple days back!”
“You wouldn’t understand,” Patch told Puffball. “I know that my parents cinta us as their children, but Scamp and malaikat cinta me for who I am.”
Pongo and Perdita whispered to each other. Then, Perdita nodded. She and Pongo then whispered to Lady and Tramp. Then, at last, Pongo told Patch, “See anda son.”
And with those words, the parents left the yard, accompanied oleh Puffball, Lucky, and Penny.
“They left us?” Scamp asked, confused.
“They can’t be gone yet,” malaikat told Scamp.
malaikat was right. The parents and the anak anjing that stood with them stood outside the gate. “I don’t understand,” Lady cried softly. “Why are they this stubborn, anyway? Oh, I feel awful… what have I done wrong? They must hate me…”
“They’ll understand some day,” Perdita told Lady consolingly. “They just don’t know what it’s like to be a parent.”
“But I just want to keep them safe,” Lady cried. “And bring them back to our loving home.”
“Pidge, there might not be anything we can do,” Tramp sighed. “It looks like they really hate us. Maybe we should let them go.”
    Then, Lady sighed. “Tramp,” she told him, looking at him intensely. “I… think anda just don’t want to tell them.”
    Tramp shook his head, and smiled. “You win,” Tramp told Lady uncomfortably. “But… I don’t want to talk about it. anda see, er… I don’t want to hurt anda about my past. And, uh, malaikat would never forgive me if I told her… I don’t even know if I told anda everything, Pidge.”
    “Tramp,” Pongo told him. “You better tell the truth.”
    Perdita looked at Lady worriedly. Lady opened her mouth, but then, she smiled at Tramp. “Tramp, you’ve proven that you’re faithful to me for months now,” she told him brightly. “And I…well, I’ll stand with anda no matter what anda say.”
“Lucky, Penny,” Perdita asked.
“Yes Mother?” Penny asked.
“Watch over the other anak anjing for us,” Perdita told her. “And make sure they don’t leave.”
“Right,” Lucky told Perdita, and he and Penny walked back into the yard.
“What about me?” Puffball asked. “Shouldn’t I watch them too?”
“Not yet,” Pongo answered. He then paused, before spluttering “Perdy, we didn’t tell Patch about Lucky,” Perdita explained to Pongo.
“I was afraid of that,” Perdita told him. “But we just couldn’t explain in front of him…”
“We have to mention it,” Pongo told Perdita, who agreed.
“Hey Puffball,” Tramp interrupted. “Where’s Peg? Weren’t anda two going together to the yard?”
“She went off looking with me, but she told me she had some something else to do,” Puffball explained.
“Maybe anda should go look for Peg, and make sure she’s safe,” Pongo recommended, but then there was some growling.
“Oh no,” Puffball exclaimed. He gasped… “I have to get in! It sounds like they’re trying to escape!”
Puffball hurried in to the yard. Then, the parents were alone.
“Pidge,” Tramp told Lady. “I’ll tell… but if I did, malaikat might never forgive me.”
“She’s probably assuming the worst of anda anyway,” Lady told Tramp. “You have nothing to lose… tell her. And I will always stand with you.”
“So, ready to go?” Pongo asked. The other parents agreed.
Then, the parents walked into the yard. Scamp, Angel, and Patch were trying to dig a hole to escape. Penny, Lucky, and Puffball, meanwhile, were trying to drag them back. Danielle stood alone, unable to make a decision.
“Let us go!” Scamp shouted, digging while Lucky tried kicking dirt back into Scamp’s hole, pushing Patch back in the process.
“Never!” Puffball exclaimed, biting Angel’s tail as she scratched him on the nose.
The parents returned, and then Pongo, and Perdita walked up to Patch.
“Lucky, Patch, Puffball, let go of them!” Pongo shouted.
“Puffball, anda tell the others what to do,” Tramp told Puffball.
“Oh yeah, right,” Puffball told Tramp. “Come on guys,” Puffball told Lucky and Penny, and the three of them wandered off. The four runaway anak anjing returned under the couch.
“You’re back,” Patch told them. “Look, I told you. I cinta for anda saving our lives and raising us. But… anda don’t cinta us as individuals. anda just cinta us as part of the ninety-nine puppies.”
“I need to tell anda something… promise to never tell this to Lucky, okay?” Pongo asked.
“Well, all right,” Patch answered. “But anda think I’m going to see Lucky again. You’re assuming you’ll take me home.”
“We're not assuming anything. It's just we didn’t respond to how anda felt about Lucky,” Perdita told Patch. “We couldn’t with Lucky standing right oleh us. But we can tell anda now. We’re very worried about Lucky,” Perdita explained.
“Yeah,” Pongo added. “We named him Lucky because on his first day, we thought that he died. But he ended up surviving against the odds. Since that day, we’ve always been worried about him. anda might not have seen him on that day…”
“I’ve seen him!” Patch declared. “You carried him halaman awal all the time!”
“So, yes anda have,” Pongo responded. “Lucky suffered from the cold and fatigue greater than any other puppy. He’s pretty frail, and we had to help him out. If we didn’t help Lucky, he would’ve not been able to make it. anda thought it was favoring Lucky, but really, we were keeping him alive and healthy because he needed the most help.”
“We cinta anda so much,” Perdita told Patch. “And we don’t have a favorit kid… because all of anda are so different. Don’t tell any of them this, but none of your brothers and sisters have your spunk and determination.”
“I remember that hari when anda wanted to maul that villain on Thunderbolt,” Pongo laughed. You’re special to us, Patch, as an individual, not just as one of the ninety-nine.”
“I’m still not going,” Patch told them flatly. “Scamp and malaikat need me.”
Perdita sighed. She looked at Pongo worriedly. “Oh Pongo, what will we do?” she asked.
“Scamp, Angel,” Lady told them, hurrying to the couch. They and Danielle looked at Lady. She looked back at the gate before continuing, “I… I felt miserable when anda two ran away. And Danielle…I didn’t actually see anda leave, but I feel horrible seeing anda out now.”
“Yeah right,” malaikat scoffed. “You two don’t care for us.”
“We do,” Lady told her. “Why else would I run away? anda know that I wouldn’t run away from Jim Dear and Darling unless I felt I had to. Right now, Junior is probably crying because he misses me. Jim Dear and Darling must be feeling awful right now… and I had to leave my other children in the care of Jock and Trusty…”
“Yeah,” Danielle laughed. “And Aunt Sarah.”
“Aunt Sarah?” Lady asked, nervously.
“Yeah,” Danielle told Lady. “And she threatened to chain me because I mencuri some food.”
Lady gasped, and sighed. “Oh… I’m so sorry… I had no idea,” Lady told Danielle consolingly. “She did that to me too.”
Danielle looked up at Lady. “She did?”
Lady nodded. “You know those Siamese cats?”
“Yeah!” Danielle blustered. “They framed me.”
“Well, they framed me too,” Lady told me. “They made a mess and I took the blame. Aunt Sarah muzzled me up… and that’s how I ran away and met Tramp,” Lady explained.
“Oh… so anda didn’t make them come home, did anda mom?” Danielle asked.
Lady shook her head. “It’s my fault though…I should’ve told Jock and Trusty about how horrible Aunt Sarah and those kucing are…”
She paused, then continued, “Look, I care for anda all,” Lady explained.
“Yeah,” Scamp scoffed. “If we do what anda say.”
“And what do anda mean oleh that?” Lady asked.
“You want us to act like you!” Scamp told Lady. “You’ve tried to make us all little versions of yourself!” Scamp laughed. “And you’re doing a good job. Two of them are akting just as prissy as you. And anda won’t cinta us until we all act just like you!”
“But of course I do!” Lady told Scamp, crushed. “I… I don’t know where anda got that idea.”
“By living with anda guys,” Scamp told Lady breathlessly. “Every day, anda always try to teach us manners. As though we want to learn! And anda kept us cooped up there because anda want to be cooped up!”
“Well, I would like anda to have manners,” Lady told Scamp. “But… I won’t force anda to. And I would still cinta anda even if anda didn’t. Tramp didn’t have any manners himself,” Lady told Scamp. “And well, he’s not exactly a gentleman, is he?” she laughed. “But I still cinta him anyways. And if I am confining you, it’s only to keep anda safe. anda should know oleh now that the streets are very dangerous; when I met…”
“But listen to me!” Scamp interrupted.“You never do. I don’t want to learn any lebih manners! And I don’t want to be part of your confining family anymore! I’m tired of… of being pampered and cuddled and treated like I’m a bulan old!”
“But you’re still just a pup,” Lady told Scamp sadly. “I couldn’t possibly…”
“Yes anda could!” Scamp shouted. “Treat me for who I am!”
“Oh Scamp… I try to, but I just want to keep anda safe… look what happened here?” Lady asked sadly. “You got caught.”
“But we escaped,” Scamp countered.
“But anda nearly died,” Lady argued.
“Look Mom, we can take care of ourselves,” Scamp told her. “You didn’t need to worry and baby us, and anda don’t need to now.”
Lady sighed. “Maybe… anda guys can take care of yourselves. But no matter what anda might think, I really do cinta all of anda for who anda are,” Lady told the puppies.
“Well, maybe anda do,” malaikat scoffed. “But even if anda do, what about your husband?”
“Hey, Scamp, Angel, Danielle,” Tramp told them. “As your father…”
“I’m not your daughter!” malaikat told Tramp. “Mama told me all about my dad. And he’s nothing like you!”
Then, malaikat walked out from under the couch, and yelled, “You’re just a lying, heartbreaking jerk! I’m sick of everything you’ve done! anda broke my Mom’s heart!”
“Yeah!” Scamp added in, also leaving the couch. “All my life, I’ve had to deal with nothing else but lies from you! First anda told me anda were a housedog all your life. Then anda promised me we could have fun together and take me out. And then anda lied to me all about your romantic past. Every hari it’s lies, lies, lies!” Scamp shouted. He and malaikat then returned to going under the couch.
“Hey, come on, I’m sorry,” Tramp explained. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t take anda out… it’s just that… well, your Mom didn’t trust me. She’d never let me out!”
“No, I probably wouldn’t have,” Lady explained sadly. “I was worried for him. I was afraid of losing him for good. But if I’ve learned one thing on this trip, it’s that your father really does care for me after all. He cares for anda too. No one can take your place in his heart.”
“Look, if anda guys come home… we’ll leave open the door for anda to make your own choices. anda guys have proven to us anda can take care of yourselves. But… come home, where anda have a family that loves you…” Tramp began.
“You didn’t even listen to what malaikat berkata before!” Scamp shouted.
“Yeah, you’re not my family!” malaikat snapped toward Tramp. “No one in my family would treat my mother like anda did!”
Lady looked at Tramp intensely. Tramp sighed. The time had come to reveal everything.