Chapter 14—Electric Dread

    Cruella stood in front of the puppies, smiling at them with a leer. “So,” she stated to them. “Tried to get out already? Very clever of you… but this time, Du won’t get away. Not one of those blasted cops is here to look for me! So Du have no chance of getting away!”
    Patch nudged Scamp and whispered, “Hey… what about that crack in the wall?”
    “Good idea!” Scamp whispered with a nod.
    They passed the message to the others, who nodded, and then, Cruella continued, “Don’t leave! You’ll serve a great purpose! You’ll be part of my luscious, furry….what!”
    Cruella turned, and she noticed the Welpen escaping through the crack in the wall. “Grr… I knew I shouldn’t have paid so much for this house,” Cruella growled. But she then added to herself, “Maybe it can still prove its worth.”
The Welpen proceeded to enter the grounds of Cruella’s house. They immediately noticed that the front yard was huge with large, open grassy spaces.
    “Where’s the exit?” Lucky asked.
    “Over there,” Angel – Jäger der Finsternis answered, and she indicated toward a hitch in the fence.
    They all arrived to the exit, but when they got there, they gasped. The fence was enormous!
    “Woah,” Scamp gasped. “I thought Jim Dear’s was big… now this!”
    “We have to get out somehow though,” Patch answered.
    “Yes,” Angel – Jäger der Finsternis whispered.
    “Here, let me try,” Patch stated. “I’ll take a running start and try to break a hole in the fence.”
    Scamp stated, “This is one big fence… let me see how strong it is…” Scamp batted the fence, but then squealed, “Ouch!”
    “What?” Penny asked, alarmed.
    “This fence shocked me!” Scamp exclaimed.
    “Patch, stop it!” Penny squealed.
    “Why?” he asked.
    “The fence is dangerous!” Angel – Jäger der Finsternis told him.
    Patch groaned. “Of course… she would put up a killer fence.”
    Cruella, meanwhile, came outside, and she looked simply delighted, lifting her arms up in the air. “Having fun trying to get out?” she asked, cackling energetically. “Oh, but it’s not that easy,” she explained excitedly. “The fence is electrically powered so there is no way Du can get out! And if Du try, do Du know what that means? It means you’ll be ready to be part of my furry coat, a-ha-ha-ha-ha! Does anyone want to volunteer to be fence-fried?”
    “There has to be a power switch,” Lucky exclaimed.
    Patch gasped, “Lucky, it’s a good thing Du watch so much TV! Gosh, you’re right!”
    Scamp and Angel – Jäger der Finsternis looked confused, and Patch explained, “Electric things turn on and off with a switch. So there must be a switch…”
    “That can turn off the fence!” Lucky excitedly finished.
    “So, who wants to turn off the fence?” Penny asked.
    Cruella, meanwhile, was still rambling on happily, and seemed to be waiting for the Welpen to run into the fence again. Scamp then stated, “I’ll do it! I’ve tried to break out of another fence before.”
    “There’s the switch,” Angel – Jäger der Finsternis indicated, toward a red button near the center of the fence.
    “Well, let’s try it,” Patch stated, and Scamp nodded. He took a deep breath, and then ran to the right, back to the house…
    “Come back!” Cruella squealed. “I’m warning Du now. Come back!”
    Scamp ignored her, turned, and lunged at the red switch… he hit the control, but missed the button. Cruella though, walked over to where Scamp was, lying on the floor. He prepared to try again.
    “Oh, Du want to touch the red button!” Cruella stated nastily. “Do Du want some help?”
    “No!” Angel – Jäger der Finsternis squealed to Scamp. “Stop her, Scamp!”
    But Cruella pushed the red button, and the fence began to make a buzzing noise.
    “All this does is increase the fence’s power,” Cruella stated smugly. “You fools! The only button that will turn the fence off is in my bedroom! You’re causing a lot of problems! Get in oder else!” Cruella demanded.
    She then brought out some treats and put them on the front step of her house. “Here puppies… here puppies… the food’s right there. Get inside.”
    “It’s poisoned…” Patch whispered. “Remember how she sagte “spike” the food?”
    “Oh yeah,” Penny told them. “Let’s not eat.”
    “Why did Du have to take the ham sandwich?” Lucky complained to Scamp hungrily. “I’m hungry, I want some food!”
    Despite the fact that all the Welpen besides Scamp have not eaten since they met Cruella, none of the Welpen moved to their bowls, and Cruella got outraged. She screamed, “Get inside oder I’ll kill Du all this instant with my bare hands!”
    Having no choice, the Welpen reluctantly went inside. “Good, good!” she exclaimed. She then re-opened the living room door, where the garbage can was still tipped over, and then she yelled at Jasper and Horace, as they watched television, featuring a Zeigen of imprisoned cops.
    “Jasper! Horace!” Cruella squealed.
    They turned to see her angrily walking over to them. “What is it now, Miss?” Horace asked.
    “You blundering idiots! The Welpen nearly escaped from your watch!” Cruella squealed.
    “Blimey!” Jasper stated. “But how?”
    “I don’t know… but kill them as soon as I get my weapon in the mail! Including the ones that aren’t spotted! We can make additional bundle off their coats!”
    “All right, Ma’am, all right,” Horace stated. “We’ll do them soon.”
    “Very well,” Cruella added. “It would be best to lock them up.”
    Horace and Jasper restrained the Welpen as Cruella came back with a large cage. “Put them in here!” she ordered. “And lock it tightly, do Du understand! Put it upstairs in the small bedroom. And lock the door!” she exclaimed.
    “Okay, Ma’am,” Jasper stated, and then he lifted the cage up the stairs, rattling the Welpen in carelessly. He opened up the door, and stated, “There Du go. Have fun waiting! The skinning will be coming soon!”
    And then he shut the door again.
    “Well, Du know what we have to do next,” Patch whispered.
    The others gulped. They all knew that they would have to do next, but not one of them wanted to talk about it. It would be a task too close to Cruella for comfort.