The Wild Blue, Black, and Tan Yonder (not necessarily in that order)

Chapter 2

Snoopy spun around, and yelled, “Tasha! And Shasta! Is Shiloh here too?”

“Shiloh took off right before you came in”, Shasta said. “Snoopy, we have a problem.”

“Do tell.”

Shasta related the story. Snoopy, though sympathetic, shook his snoot, and said, “I wish I could help, but I can only take the blimp where Badyear tells me to. And today they told me to take it to the pawball stadium. But after the game, we'll be coming back here to give tours, if you want to see the Blimp.”

“Can we fly it?”, Tasha asked, hopefully.

Again, snoopy shook his snoot. “You need a license to fly the blimp.”

“Shasta has a license.”

“Afraid that won't cut it”, Snoopy said. “You need a lighter-than-air endorsement on your license to fly a blimp.”

“What's that?”, asked Tasha.

“Something that takes a lot longer than an hour to get”, Shasta said. “Which is all we have.”

“And dad won't let us near a train unless he's with us”, Snoopy said.

Suddenly, they heard a loud engine, and it was heading straight for them. A few seconds later, surrounded by a huge dust cloud, came a sausage-shaped vehicle, driven by a ginger-colored dachsie, who had one paw out the window, and was panting (dare I say like a dog?).

As the strange-looking vehicle approached, they could see what looked like a big plastic bag in her paw, which was covered with orange powder. When the vehicle passed them by, she threw the bag on the ground, and sped off into the distance.

A few hacks and coughs later, Shasta said, “Who was that? And what was she driving?”

Snoopy looked at the bag, and said, “Well, considering she was eating Cheetos, and driving a Wienermobile, I'd say that was puddles.”\

“She stole the Wienermobile again?”, Tasha said. “And if Puddles stole the Wienermobile, she probably brought her two partners in crime.”

Shasta's eyes opened wide. “You mean.........”

“Francine and Ernestine!”, Snoopy and Tasha said in unison.

Snoopy and Tasha had guessed correctly. About a mile down the service road, Puddles noticed the fuel gauge was nearing “E”, and she was unsure of what to do when “E” stopped standing for “Enough”.

Up ahead, she could see the big grey blimp hooked to the mooring mast, and she had an idea. Bringing the Weinermobile to an abrupt stop, she woke up Francine and Ernestine, and said, “We need to ditch the wheels for some propellers.”

All three jumped out of the Wienermobile, and low crawled across the field.

Back at the terminal, Snoopy boarded the crew bus, and they headed back to the blimp. A few seconds later, Tasha and Shasta heard a loud siren.

A police car came racing down the road,with the lights flashing. It rolled to a stop in front of them, and the window rolled down. From behind the wheel, a blue-uniformed German Shepard tipped his hat, and said , “Afternoon, ladies.”

Shasta said, “Hello, Sarge. Looking for the Wienermobile?”

“You got that right.” He then noticed the Cheetos bag on the ground, and said, “And I got them for littering, too. Which way did they go?”

Shasta and Tasha pointed down the road. Sarge tipped his hat again, and said, “Thanks, ladies.” He switched the siren back on, and sped away. Once he was out of sight, Tasha said, “What about the air show?”

Shasta watched the blimp taxi down the field, and said, “I'm thinking.”