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

Chapter 6

Snoopy, Ernie, and Easy ran up the stairs to Squeaky Toy Tower, just as the rain started pouring down. From his seat by the Window, Walter watched debris flying through the wind, and raindrops pounding the glass, and said, "Nothing's going to be taking off or landing 'til this storm clears."

"Not even a blimp?", Snoopy asked.

"Especially not a blimp", Walter answered. "You should know that better than me. You fly those things. Speaking of which, where is the blimp?"

Snoopy pointed out the window. Walter squinted through the darkness, and said, "Oh my Dog! Anybody aboard?"

"Tasha and Shasta!", Snoopy said. "They were on board when Puddles tried to steal the blimp. For some reason, when the wind blew it away, the blimp went straight up. We think one of them must have got caight on the elevator wheel."

"Can you get them down?", Easy asked.

"All we can do is try", Walter said. "Is the radio on?"

"It was when I left the control car", Snoopy said.

Walter grabbed the microphone, and said, "Badyear one, this is Squeaky Toy Tower. Do you read? Over."

Only static. He tried again, but to no avail. Walter shrugged, and said, "It's probably the weather. Look at that lightning."

After a thunderclap, Snoopy said, "Maybe they don't know you're calling them. Let me try."

Snoopy grabbed the microphone, and said, "Badyear one, this is Squeaky Toy Tower. Tasha or Shasta, if you can hear me, get those headsets on, now!"

High above the field, Tasha and Shasta were hanging on to the control panel, trying to keep from falling out the open door.  Suddenly, Tasha thought she heard someone call their names, far off, and very faintly, but she could hear "Tasha."

Shasta heard it, too. Quickly, she looked up, and realized the sound was coming from the headset. But she couldn't reach it without letting go. She turned to Tasha, and said, "Can you reach those earphones?"

Tasha swatted the air with her paws, then found some firm footing, and jumped up onto the control panel. She grabbed the headset, put it on, and said, "Snoopy?"

Down on the ground, they all cheered. Snoopy looked skyward, and said, "Are you two okay?"

Through the phones, a static-laden voice said, "No. Shasta is hanging on, and can't reach the controls."

"Okay, listen carefully. Just before the blimp went up, did you move that big metal wheel next to the pilot's seat?"

"I didn't mean to. My paw got caught, and I spun it by accident."

Easy breathed a sigh of relief. "Great. Now all they have to do is spin the wheel back......."

"It's not that simple", Walter said.

"Why not? I saw Snoopy do it a zillion times."

"Because the blimp was moving through the air", Ernie said.

"It still is", Easy said.

Walter shook his head. "It's moving with the air, not through it. It's drifting, like a boat with the motor turned off. The rudder and elevator won't work, unless the blimp is moving faster than the wind."

"Ooh", Easy said. "What'll we do?"

"Tasha, listen to me", Snoopy said. "Look over to the left hand side of the panel. Do you see the two big black handles sticking up?"

"Yeah. I'm scared."

"It's okay, just do what I tell you, and we'll bring the blimp down together. First, push both handles forward, slowly. When the engines start to spin, throttle up to speed, and slowly spin the elevator wheel forward. As the speed of the blimp increases, you should level out. Got it?"

"I think so."

"Okay, start the engines!"

They all looked skyward.

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

Chapter 5

Francine was last to reach the top of the mast. By now, the breeze had turned into a gust, and it was growing stronger. They could still see Sarge coming down the field, and were scrambling for ideas.

Puddles looked up at the snoot of the blimp, and said, "I've got it. With this wind, there'll be so much confusion, all we have to do is pull the pin, cut the blimp free, then slide down these snoot lines, and run into the little house down there on the bottom, where they fly it from."

"That's crazy", Ernestine said. "The three of us handle this big thing?"

"It doesn't weigh anything", Puddles said. "It's full of helium. You know, that stuff that you inhale when you want to talk funny."

Down below, the dachsie ground crew was heading for cover as the thunder roared and the lightning flashed. Inside the control car, Tasha was still sitting in the pilot's seat, looking up at her brother's nameplate on the control panel. Beside the seat was a large metal wheel, positioned parallel to the centerline of the blimp. Tahsa toyed with it, and said, "Is this the steering wheel?"

"I don't think so", Shasta said. "It's in a funny place if it is."

"But there isn't any steering wheel in front, isn't that where it should be?"

"Usually." Just then, a gust of wind knocked the blimp slightly to one side. 

Up on the mast, the rain was pouring down. Fearing that the mast might be struck by lightning, Puddles reached up and grabbed the pin. "Get ready!", she yelled. Puddles then pulled the pin. As she did so, a huge gust of wind blew over the field, and before she could grab the snoot lines, the blimp had broken free, and was sailing away in the wind.

Tasha had her paw on the wheel, when a gust caught the blimp under the nose, knocking her from the seat. The wheel started spinning like a top. And the nose of the blimp rose high in the air. Tasha and Shasta hung on, and they quickly realized the tail of the blimp was off the ground, and the whole airship was going straight up.

On the ground, Snoopy and Ernie saw the blimp rise, and before they could grab the lines, it was out of their reach. Snoopy pointed to Sarge, who was busy rounding up the usual suspects, and said, "Have Sarge get a chopper airborne, I'll meet them."

"They won't be able to get that close in this weather."

"Well, we better do something fast, because if they keep climbing, all the air'll bleed out of the ballonets, and they'll be on pure helium."

"Until they rise high enough for the helium to start bleeding out."

They both looked up at the blimp flying away, and started thinking. Just then, Snoopy's phone rang. 

"Hello? Shiloh? Where are you? Grounded? You buzzed the tower again, didn't you? So you want Shasta to fly for you this afternoon? Well, that's gonna be a little difficult............"

WHN is FINALLY HOME!!!!!

WHN has decided that she needed to be home with us for proper TLC.  And so Dad brought her home half an hour ago.  She is in a lot of pain, and is bloated - both worse than after her surgery two weeks ago.  But she is coping and we have her under lock and paws- all 12 of them!  

Thank you for the POTP BLogville!
 

WHN Healing Nicely

WHN had surgery today, and she came through it with flying colors (mostly black and blue). She should be coming home sometime tomorrow. Thanks to all of Blogville for your support

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

Chapter 4

"Blogville tower, this is Camel three zero zero, requesting flyby, over!"
"Negative Camel three zero zero, the pattern is full!"
Shiloh smiled and said, "That sounds like Baxter! Time to Buzz the tower!" 
He swooped down, and gunned up the engine.

Down in Blogville Airport, Baxter was sitting beside the control tower window, showing his stuffed mallard all the different types of planes coming in, and munching on his snackilicious gummi worms. 
They watched a small twin-engine airliner descending, and Baxter held up Duck-Duck, and said, "Look, there's a DC-3."

Suddenly, they heard a loud engine, coming closer, and closer. Baxter looked up, saw a green biplane, and said, "And that plane coming towards us is a Sopwith Camel.........Coming towards us?!! Hit the deck!" He then grabbed Duck-Duck, and dove to the ground, spilling his snackilicious gummi worms all over the floor. Angrily, he bit into Duck-Duck, and growled.

The small biplane was about to crash through the window, when it very suddenly swerved upward and went into a steep climb. Over the radio, Baxter heard a voice say, "Hey little buddy! Remember your old pal Shiloh?"

Baxter growled again.

By now, the Badyear Blimp had landed, and Shasta and Tasha had just climbed up into the control car to wait for Snoopy, who was still discussing the game with Easy. 

Tasha gazed in awe at the digital electronic control panel, sat in the pilot seat, and said, "What do all these things do?"

Shasta squinted at the panel, and said, "Those are the radar screens, and here's the anemometer, that tells wind speed, and that's the altimeter, that tells how high you are, see, it says zero right now. And those are the engine throttles........."

At that moment, up at the nose, Puddles, Francine, and Ernestine were looking up at the mooring mast. Francine saw the ladder, and said, "I'm not going up there."

"Me either", said Ernestine.

"You guys are such puppies", Puddles said, climbing up the ladder.

Suddenly, they heard a siren, and spied Sarge driving down the field. Francine looked up the ladder, and said, "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Let's go", Ernestine yelled. 

They all scrambled up the mooring mast.

Sunday!

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

Chapter 3

As the Badyear Blimp lifted into the air, Sarge was driving up to the Weinermobile in his pawlice cruiser.

Skidding to a stop, he hopped out, and said, “All right in there, I got you cornered. Throw out the Cheetos, and come out with your paws up!”

Nothing happened. Sarge jumped out of the cruiser, approached the wiener-shaped vehicle, and said, “You three are in a heap of trouble. Grand theft auto, shoplifting, speeding, disturbing the peace, littering, and unauthorized use of a trademark! Now, out!”

Tasha watched the blimp fly overhead, and said, “What time is your train?”

Shasta checked her paw watch. “'Bout three more hours.”

“How long is the game?”

“'Bout two hours, but the blimp is due back before the last quarter. So we should get an hour to ride. Don't take it so hard. Shiloh will be back late tonight. We can all go to the Pugs' Ahoy when we get back.”

Tearfully, Tasha looked skyward, and said, “I know.”

High above Squeaky Toy Stadium, Snoopy looked out the front window of the blimp, and shielded his eyes as they momentarily headed into the sun. A few seconds later, Easy heard something in his headset, tapped Snoopy on the shoulder, and said, “They're doing the coin toss now, we'll need to descend so I can get the shot with the blimp cam.”

“Copy that”, Snoopy said. “Hang on, we're going in.”

Snoopy pushed the wheel forward, and watched his altimeter fall. Easy looked through the viewfinder, and said, “About twenty more feet, and I'll have the shot............fifteen...........ten.........got it. Hover here for the next few minutes.”

“Copy that.”

Snoopy throttled down on the engines, then reversed them to hold his position. Easy kept his eye in the viewfinder, and said, “How's the wind speed?”

“Nearly calm.”

“Hold her right here, I'm going for the shot.”

Sarge crept up to the driver side door of the Wienermobile, and yanked it open. He then jumped inside, and said, “End of the line, ladies!”

Silence. He looked around the Cheetos bag-littered cab, but saw no signs of fur. Disgusted, he stepped back out into the sunlight, threw his hat to the ground, and said, “Son of a-”

Abruptly, he stopped, and noticed something on the ground. Paw prints. Three sets of paw prints. And they led in the direction of the airfiled.

Running back to the cruiser, he grabbed the radio mic, and said, “Sierra Tango three five to dispatch, I want an all paws bulletin out on three suspects, all female dachsies. First one is red smooth-furred female, answers to Puddles. Second is black and tan long fur, answers to name of Francine. Third is red long fur, and answers to Ernestine. All three were last seen heading west on airport service road in stolen Wienermobile. Stolen vehicle has been located at end of service road, all suspects have fled scene. May be planning to skip town. Be advised we may need to notify the FBI, the TSA, the State Police, and Oscar Meyer!”

At the other side of the airfield, Ernestine peeked out through a slit in the door of the old blimp hangar, and said, “It looks like the coast is clear.”

“That won't last”, Francine said. “With that pawball game going on, everybody is going to be looking for the Wienermobile. We might as well steal Santa Paws' sleigh on Christmas Eve.”

“Hey it wasn't my idea to steal the Weinermobile”, Ernestine said. “We know who to thank for that, don't we.”

Angrily, they glared at Puddles. Undaunted, she said, “That's why I did it. Nobody expects us to do something that stupid.........uh, let me rephrase that. Nobody thinks we'd steal the Weinermobile with everybody looking.”

“You also didn't make sure we had enough gas”, Ernestine said. “And now that we're at the airport, we're really in trouble. There's a fence around the whole perimeter, and every way out is guarded. How are we going to get out?”

“There's only one way”, Puddles said.

“What's that?”, Francine asked.

“Oh my dog!” Ernestine said. “She's looking straight up.”

“Oh no”, Francine said. “We are not stealing a plane.”

“Not a plane”, Puddles said. “But you're getting warmer.”

FFI: How they were

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/02/rorate-exclusive-video-of-franciscans.html