Through shocking good luck and some really rather admirable coordination, the pair of pint-size pooches managed to make it about halfway to their destination before realizing that ‘halfway’ was the total extent of their knowledge on how to find either of the Pet Set locations that they were seeking. They couldn’t call Mister Migs about it, since then he would know that they had taken the truck themselves instead of waiting for the humans to handle it, so they just guessed on where to go. One wrong guess led to another, and an hour later they found themselves driving down a lonely country road, well and truly lost.
“Oh dear, oh dear,” fretted Elli, and then gasped, “Emmi! Look!”
“Bit hard from down here,” replied Emmi, who was still working the gas, which was running low to top off all their other problems.
“Stop the car, Emmi!” Elli shouted, and Emmi lifted her weight off the gas pedal and applied it to the brakes.
“There’s a dog waving to us, out in that wheat field there!” said Elli, pointing out the window with her paw as Emmi jumped up into the driver’s seat to have a look for herself.
“We could ask him for directions!”
“Exactly!”
The dog was far off in the field, but he was trotting up to the truck quite swiftly. He looked to be a large breed, something along the lines of a German Shepherd or Border Collie, though he was all-over gray.
“Why Emmi, I do believe he’s a Mister Migs customer!” said Elli, “Look, he’s got a Migrubbie bandana around his neck!”
“Why Elli, he does indeed! I do believe you may be right!”
“Sir, sir!” called Elli as the dog reached the road, “We’re lost! We need to get to Piedmont and Briarcliff! We have a truck full of seriously cool dog gear that needs delivering!”
“Yeees, I’m familiar with Mister Migs,” said the big gray dog. He was wolfish-looking and lean with a long snout and yellow eyes. “I got this bandana from them a few months ago…had to trade my lunch for it, but it was worth it! I’d love to get my paws on some more goodies from ‘em…”
“You can!” Elli told him, “As soon as we get these goodies to The Pet Set stores, you can go buy them there!”
“Or,” the dog grinned up at her, and he had an awful lot of very sharp teeth, “I could just take all of your Migrubbies and MigDivas and Mig-Everything right here.”
“What?” said Elli, and no sooner had the words left her little dog lips than the great gray dog had leaped up from the pavement and through the open window of the car! Immediately, he grabbed both the little dogs and hurled them out, then stepped on the gas and sped off down the road!
Luckily, he had thrown them with such force that they flew over the hard pavement entirely, and landed in the much softer wheat field.
“You know what, Elli,” said Emmi as they lay, dazed and confused among the golden stalks, “I don’t think he was a dog.”
“What?”
“He was a coyote.”