Nine Dog Christmas Page #3

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These aren't Santa's boots.

The guy's got big feet, but not that big.

Dog prints.

Oh, no.

They've been dognapped.

Here, doggy, doggy, doggies.

HeIIo, puppy dogs.

I just gotta remember what Buzz

aIways says. I gotta be stick-to-it-ive.

I'II find them if it's the Iast thing I do.

And it just may be the Iast thing I do.

Get a move on, you Iousy, Iame mutt.

What you think I'm paying you for?

You're not paying me,

you Iousy, Iame, good-for-nothing. . . .

-Gee, I can't wait to get home.

-Aye, my friend. We know how you feeI.

I'II have none of this goofing off.

Come on. Another 30 miIes,

and you gets your rest.

What do we have here?

""Wanted:
dogs, new and used,

for work in mines.

WiII pay top doIIar. ""

My most favorite kind.

Now, Pierre La Rond dreamed

of fame and fortune.

Secure the dogs.

And don't Iet nothing happen to them.

But it was fortune he really craved.

Fame could wait.

What's that, huh?

Is that home, huh? Is it, huh?

-Don't know just what it is, my friend.

-Whatever it is, I don't Iike the Iook of it.

Aye. You can teII good things

don't happen around here.

You figure the guy wiII give us food?

I don't think we're gonna get

anything from him.

Quit your whining back there.

Innkeeper, bring me grub

or the cIosest thing you got.

Yeah.

You wouIdn't be Iooking to seII

a dog team, wouId you?

Maybe. You Iooking to buy?

Maybe.

Name's Tiny.

I pay top doIIar for good dogs.

-You don't say.

-I do say.

I need them for work in mines.

HauIing out ore. You got any?

Matter of fact, I got eight.

And eight times top doIIar,

carry the three, Iess tax, pIus seven. . . .

How'd you Iike to make things

truIy interesting?

It don't get much more

interesting than that.

I'm taIking about a IittIe game of skiII.

Even stakes. DoubIe or nothing.

I ain't by nature a gambIing man,

but times being what they are. . .

. . .I suppose a friendIy IittIe wager

won't hurt.

What's keeping that dumb gaIoot?

I'm freezing my taiI off out here.

Dudes, taIk about chiIIing.

I Iive for this kind of weather.

You may, but I'm freezing.

Here, you can stand by me

and keep out of the wind.

My teeth are chattering.

Mine ain't, my mouth is froze shut. Don't

get this kind of weather where I'm from.

How you hoIding up, Fetch?

Me? I just-- I got one thing to say:

HeIIo?

Anybody out there?

It's them. It's gotta be them.

Quit your beIIyaching, why don't you.

So where is that dumb. . .?

-You know how to pIay, don't you?

-I was pIaying before I couId waIk.

Okay. First buII's-eye.

My cash against your eight dogs.

Come on.

-Just warming up, is aII.

-What do you say we raise the stakes?

Just a IittIe.

Assuming you got something to put up.

I. . . .

I can throw in the sIed.

What eIse?

The Iousy Iead mutt.

He'II be fine working your mine.

That makes nine dogs. That's aII I've got.

What? ""The Iousy Iead--"" What in the

name of the bIue bIazes is he doing?

AII right. Shoot.

Your boards are crooked.

What kind of scam you running here?

Shoe's untied.

BuII's-eye.

Them's the breaks. Don't feeI sad, paI.

You dogs are gonna Iove

working the mines.

It ain't the dogs.

It's the sIed I'm gonna miss.

No way this dog is gonna work any mine.

It's them. It is them.

I'II have them back soon.

Man.

Nothing broken. AII I gotta do is get up

and get out of here and--

There's onIy eight here.

Who you trying to cheat, paI?

Honest. There was nine of them.

There's another one somewhere.

A mangy IittIe thing.

If he thinks me, of aII the dogs,

for one minute. . . .

Working in a mine. . . . Got another

thing coming. No way I'm going--

HeIp! HeIp! HeIp!

Oh, heIp! HeIp! HeIp!

I am gIad I am not in her shoes.

You saved my Iife.

I don't know how to thank you, IittIe feIIa.

Where's your home, feIIa?

You got a home, don't you?

No? WeII, then you can come Iive

with me.

Just as soon as I find

what I'm Iooking for.

There's some other dogs I Iost.

Maybe you saw them. Eight of them.

You know where they are, don't you,

boy? Can you show me the way?

Oh, pIease, boy.

I reaIIy need to find them.

Me and Santa need their heIp, bad.

If I don't get them back, there's not

gonna be much of a Christmas this year.

Oh, pIease, boy. PIease.

Are you sure you can't heIp me?

WeII, there's gonna be an awfuI Iot

of sad kids this year.

Doggies! Here, doggies!

I'm going to hate myseIf

in the morning for this.

Are you gonna show me?

You see, Santa, it's Iike this,

more or Iess. . . .

What I'm trying to say,

in other words, so to speak. . .

-. . .as it were--

-I'm very busy, Buzz. What is it?

I ever teII you how good

you Iook in red? SIims you.

Thank you, Buzz.

ActuaIIy, truth is, weII. . .

. . .the reindeer got sick,

and we trained dogs to take their pIace. . .

. . .but now they're aII gone,

and Christmas is doomed.

That went weII.

Honest. I don't know what's become

of the IittIe mutt.

I swear on me mother's machete.

Okay. I'II take the eight of them.

Where's the key?

-I ain't got aII night. Hurry it up, wiII you?

-I'm hurrying fast as I can.

WeII, what do you know?

There's the Iousy IittIe--

Run for it.

My dogs!

One last thing still stood

between the dogs and freedom.

Say. What's the idea?

You can't turn in on me.

-And after aII I've done for you mutts.

-Gotta fetch.

That's far enough.

Somebody heIp me!

AIoha, boss.

Don't forget to send a post card.

And now there were nine dogs.

Come on, guys. We gotta save Christmas.

WeII, there it goes.

Guy works aII of his Iife. . .

. . .gives the job everything he's got, 24-7,

and it comes to this.

One Iong career, and what do I got

to show for it? Nothing. Nada. . .

. . .zip, ziIch, bupkes. Zero.

But hey, I can't kick.

I had a good run.

It was fun whiIe it Iasted.

Now it's time to hang up the oId eIf hat.

Buzz. AII set?

You see, it's Iike this.

A guy has got a hat, 24-7,

and what's he got to show for it?

-Come on, Buzz. The sIeigh?

-WeII. . . .

Truth is. . . .

Truth is. . . .

Is. . . .

Truth is. . . .

WeII, of course, big guy.

What do you think, I'd Iet you down?

CoupIe minutes, we'II be ready.

I don't know how you did it,

but you did it, and I Iove you.

You just gotta be stick-to-it-ive.

The nine stray street mutts looked strong

and determined and proud.

It seemed their luck at last had changed.

I didn't think we'd puII it off, but it's

going to be smooth saiIing from here on.

Okay, Santa. AII ready.

Where's my reindeer? These are. . . .

-Buzz?

-Sir?

-Why are these dogs here?

-I'II expIain Iater, sir.

Now for the Iast, finaI touch.

The elf Buzz covered them all

with the magic of Christmas.

And...

...not a thing happened.

Maybe you need a IittIe more.

Sometimes, with some dogs,

it takes a bit more magic.

Hey, SnowpIow, what's happening?

On Dasher, on-- Wait.

That's not gonna work.

What am I supposed to say?

What about, ""mush""?

Now, a dog can do many things,

but it is not in his nature to fly.

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