The Littlest Horse Shop 2

- Return to his Neighborhood -

Tyrel Boelsma

Illustrated by Tyrel Boelsma

Soon to be Edited by Angela Boelsma

©2003 CoolKat Books Inc.

Dedicated to Alisa Boisse, Angela Boelsma,

William and Jeannine Collins, all big fans of Pete!

Also dedicated to you, yes you!

Thank you for taking the time to look at my book!

________________________________________________

Boelsma, Tyrel

The Littlest Horse Shop 2: Return to his Neighborhood/ Tyrel Boelsma

03 04 05 06 - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Edition

Cover designed by Tyrel Boelsma

- PROLOGUE -

Another Store?

Now, you’re probably all going to be wondering what happened to Pete the Lime Green Horse, but do not fret, he will be in this story. However, in order for you to understand this, you’ll have to hear about Franklin first, okay? Good! So, Franklin was a dog, not just any kind of dog, he was a blue dog. He was also an Italian Greyhound with a broken tail. Much like Pete, Franklin owned his own store in Nebraska, but this store was not a horse shop, it was a Supermarket. The name of Franklin’s supermarket was “The Superdedoopermalooper Market,” but the ‘Superdedoopermalooper’ was silent, so really it was pronounced “The Market.” Franklin lived in a dog house a block away from “The Market” so it was easily managed. Franklin was lonely though, he’d never had many friends in Northern Nebraska, because there weren’t many who lived there. Most of his customers were just travelers, but he still managed a pretty good business. Franklin was longing for a change though, any change.

Franklin was a lot like Pete in many ways; he was a rare breed and owned his own store. He and Pete would have been great chums when they were in school. It was too bad for them that they both lived on opposite sides of Nebraska: Pete in the South and Franklin in the North. So, neither of them ever met until the two came together under certain circumstances, circumstances which I’ll tell you about now. So submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society I call this tale: “The Littlest Horse Shop 2: Return to his Neighborhood”

“So, submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I give you…”

- CHAPTER ONE -

The New and Improved Devil

“Franklin sweeps his shop”

The tale begins one day with our new character, Franklin, cleaning the floors of his supermarket; he was listening to the elevator-like music that played quietly over the intercom. A song that had been a favorite of his, by Mozart, came on and he began to dance with the broom he was using. Franklin glided into the Dairy Section and as he swept he checked the expiry dates. Everything was clear until he came upon a bad container of Philadelphia Cream Cheese. There was only one, so Franklin decided to just throw it away. As Franklin reached up to grab the container of Cream Cheese, it exploded! A whirlwind of Cream Cheese spun around Franklin who stood staring quite scared with his hands shielding his eyes. After a few seconds the whirlwind stopped and what was left was the shape of the Devil made out of Cream Cheese.

“Uhh… Who- Who are you?” Franklin asked the creature that was in front of him.

“Oh, a little puppy! Can’t you tell who I am?” The creature asked, “Why, it should be obvious I’m THE DEVIL!!!”

“Oh my!” Franklin shouted, he was very scared as he stuttered out, “Well wh- what do you want with me?”

“Philadelphia Cream Cheese Devil!”

“I need you to deliver a message to Sir Pete the Horse!” It shouted back, “I need you to find him and tell him: I’m back, but this time it won’t be so easy to kill me! I now have the power of Heaven on my side! HA! HA! HA!” It laughed at the poor little dog that stood before him shaking with its broken tail behind its legs.

“Well how- Ah-Hem!” Franklin coughed; he didn’t like the foul smell of fresh Cream Cheese, let alone Cream Cheese that’s gone bad! “How am I to find this –what the devil did you call him? -Peter the Horse?”

“It’s Pete!” the Devil yelled back, “I don’t know his address, but I’ll send you to someone who does! You have a clean slate right? What I mean is- you stick by what you believe in and try to do what’s best, right?”

“Well, I- I try…”

“Good,” the Devil replied.

Franklin stood shaking; he tried to think of everything he’d ever done wrong. The Devil reached its arm back. Franklin looked up and was just about to say, “Why?” when the Devil’s hand flew forward at him.

BAM!

“The Devil Sends Franklin away…”
- CHAPTER TWO -

Ding Dong! Cornelyass Calling!

Franklin awoke, almost instantly, in the softest puppy bed he’d ever felt. “Yawn!” He sighed.

“Hello Franklin,” a powerful voice next to him spoke.

Franklin glanced around the room he was in and realized that he wasn’t in Nebraska anymore. The room appeared to be made entirely out of clouds, there were different colored clouds for some things, but it was, nonetheless, all clouds. Franklin then looked toward where he’d heard the voice. Sitting in a bright-pink cloud chair was a white bearded man who reminded Franklin of Gandalf the White. He immediately understood where he was.

“You- You’re G-God!” he gasped in delight.

“Well, I’m A God, yes,” he explained, “I’m your God, I suppose would be a better way of saying it. I’m but a mere vision of your God for the afterlife. I am so very sorry about your death, that was really too bad.”

“Oh, well, yeah… God-?” Franklin began.

“Cornelyass Godd!”

“Oh, please, call me Cornelyass,” It replied.

“Oh, I’m sorry C-Cornelyass,” Franklin corrected, “It was the Devil that killed me. He said I was to go and deliver a message to ‘Sir Pete the Horse,’ and told me you’d know where I could find him.”

“Yes, I know, that Lucifer is always trying to get vengeance for some reason or another. I do know Pete, it’s interesting that you two share the same vision of me,” Cornelyass began, “What was his message?”

“Umm, he told me to tell Pete that he, the Devil, had umm- ‘Heavenly Powers’ now and that it wouldn’t be so easy to kill him.”

“What??? ‘Heavenly Powers’? You don’t mean Philadelphia Cream Cheese???” Cornelyass shouted alarmed.

“Yes, there was one that was spoiling in my Super Market… I was going to remove it when-“ Franklin gulped, “He appeared!”

“Okay, well this isn’t good at all. We’ll need to retaliate with Hellion Powers, but what to use?” Cornelyass stopped in a sort of trance, “The Prophecy!”

“Prophecy?” Franklin questioned, “What Prophecy?”

Cornelyass shook his head and got out of the trance, and seemed like he just realized Franklin was there, “Oh- what? Err, nothing, nothing at all,” he said. “Franklin you must go soon! You have to go to Pete, we haven’t much time before-,” again, he stopped himself, “Can you go now?”

Franklin was more alert and scared now, “Yes, yes, anything…”

“Good, you must go down the Stairway to Earth and follow the road till you get to a red shop, its name is Welcome to my Neighborhood, but the neigh is in bold! You have to go there and- the rest Pete will understand!” Franklin was up and ready to go. Cornelyass fastened a shiny red cloak around Franklin. He patted Franklin on the back as he said, “Go now, and with haste young pup!”

“Okay,” Franklin said as he hurried out of the Heaven Hospital. He quickly followed the street signs leading to the Stairway to Earth. When he arrived at the top of them he began his long walk down.

“Franklin the Dog in his New Cloak!”

- CHAPTER THREE -

Along the Path

Halfway down the Stairway, it began to rain. Luckily, Franklin’s cloak was magic and kept him warm and dry. The rain fell all around Franklin as he made his way to the bottom. At the bottom, a heavy fog had appeared from the ground, and, as it continued raining, the sun came out. The sun shone onto the heavy fog making it extremely hard to see for poor little Franklin. Franklin began trudging through the mud and violets that grew along the side of the road, this was going to take him a long time, and he knew it. Every street sign he saw was so hard to read and he was never quite sure if he was going the right way, he sighed.

“Franklin’s Cloak, Protector from Rain!”

Just then, the ground began to shake! An earthquake was Franklin’s first thought, but then he realized it was only coming from the area on which he stood. He quickly moved to the other side of the road and watched the area that was shaking. The pavement of the road began to crack, and out of the cracks came beams of color…

BOOM! A piece of pavement shot off into the distance and in it’s place was a red ray of light that was shining away in the distance.

BOOM! Another piece, this time an orange beam took it’s place.

BOOM! Yellow!

BOOM! GREEN!

BOOM! BLUE!

BOOM! INDIGO!

BOOM! VIOLET!

And together they made a rainbow that shone off in the distance. Out of the hole that the rainbow was coming out of, crawled a very short man who wore a green suit and a green top hat with a shamrock on the front.

“Oh my! Hello there,” Franklin was a little scared as he walked over to the little man.

“MY GOLD!” The tiny man screeched, “Gimme back me GOLD!” With that it began hitting Franklin with a cane it carried.

“A Strange Small Man in Green Accosts Franklin for Gold”

“What the-?” Franklin tried backing away but the man just kept following, “Ouch, cut that out!”

The man kept hitting Franklin. Suddenly a rock flew between the Franklin and the tiny man. A voice from a small section of trees could be heard, “BACK OFF! He doesn’t have your gold. I do!”

The man stepped back and ran into the tiny forest after the voice. Franklin sighed with relief and sat down for a second to rest.

“BOO!” a voice came from over his shoulder.

“ACK!” Franklin jumped up and whirled around to find a little lady dressed in green just like the man who’d just, minutes ago, been beating him. Franklin raised his front paws in front of his face and yelled, “I don’t have your gold!”

“Oh relax child!” the little woman started, “First off I’m a lady, meaning I’m smart, not like that sod that was just beating you. I keep me money in a bank not at the end of a stupid rainbow, there’s no security and interest at the end of a rainbow. HA! HA! That bloke’ll be in there for hours looking for a voice,” She sat down and began laughing so hard she began to cry.

“Another tiny person in green…”

Franklin was confused, “A voice?”

“HA! HA! Yeah, I have a very special talent of throwing me voice and the fool always falls for it,” She stopped and looked questionably at Franklin who was staring at her, “What’s the matter ain’t you ever seen leprechauns before?”

“OH!” Franklin shouted, “LEPRACHAUNS! I wasn’t quite sure what you were.”

“Well yeah, of course we’re leprechauns; we fit the stereotype don’t we? Well the men do at least, not like us ladies, we’re sensible.”

“Well I suppose that man does fit the stereotype,” Franklin began, “Thank you so much for saving me, but I must be on my way,” he nodded and began walking away.

“NO WAIT!” she yelled back at him. Franklin stopped, “Can I come with you? I’m going to be waiting for my husband for a long time and it gets boring if I stay here.”

“Husband? He’s your husband?” Franklin was confused.

“Yeah, He’s an idiot, but I love ‘im,” she started, “So what do you say? Can I come with you? I’d say you owe me that much.”

Franklin thought for a second then said, “Okay, but we have to hurry, come on we need to go down this path till we get to a red shop called ‘Welcome to My Neighborhood’.”

“I know that place, they’ve got great deals on Horse Radishes there, I shop there every time the rainbow portal opens up, follow me,” She shouted as she lead the way down the path.”

- CHAPTER FOUR -

Sir Pete the Horse

It only took about 15 minutes for the two of them to make their way to the red shop. As they walked toward it Franklin read the sign, “Welcome to my Neighborhood,” and then he chuckled, “That’s cute, the ‘neigh’ is in bold.” They reached the door and on it was a sign that read, “OPEN – COME ON IN.”

The lady leprechaun pushed the door open and two little bells clanged. The two of them walked in. “Welcome to my shop, I’ll be with you in a moment,” a voice from behind a shelf shouted politely.

“Alright then Pete,” the lady leprechaun shouted.

A green horses head popped out from behind a shelf, “Sheila? Is that you?” it yelled and then darted over to the little lady, “How are you? I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

“A Green Head, Pete’s, peaks around a shelf…”

“Sheila?” Franklin asked.

“Yeah, that’s me name don’t wear it out!”

“Still working on becoming a nurse? Saving your money so you don’t just have to help that hubby of yours?” Pete asked.

“A nurse?” Franklin asked.

“It’s been my dream for ever, and of course I’m still working on it. I’ll be helping the public in no time. I still volunteer,” She told Pete with a wink.

“Well I think that’s great. Who’s this?” Pete asked as he glanced over at Franklin.

“This is ah- Actually, I don’t know your name little pup,” Sheila realized embarrassed.

“Hi, I’m Franklin,” he began, “and I assume you’re Sir Pete the Horse?”

“That’s correct, was that a good guess or has Sheila been talking about me a lot?”

“Oh Pete,” Sheila flirted back.

“No, I was sent here by Cornelyass!” Franklin announced, “The Devil killed me and told me to give you a message.”

Pete stopped, “The Prophecy! He- Has- Heavenly Powers, doesn’t he?”

Franklin nodded sadly.

“Pete is shocked by ‘The Prophecy’, whatever that is…”

“The Devil is back? Oh no!” Sheila shouted.

Pete shook his head, “That means we don’t have long before he tries to resurrect the demon which once plagued Joan Osbourne! And who knows who it’ll go to this time! No! We must strike back with Hellion Powers! Even if the prophecy-,” Pete looked at Franklin worried.

“There it is again, what is this ‘prophecy’?” Franklin was confused.

“We can’t worry about it now! We have to find Hellion Powers!” Pete yelled.

“What are Hellion Powers?” Frankin and Sheila questioned awkwardly.

“The opposite of good,” Pete said, “What form of Heavenly Powers does the devil have?”

Franklin looked grossed out as he said, “Philadelphia Cream Cheese.”

“Eww!” Sheila and Pete shouted.

After a bit of thinking, Pete exclaimed, “I’ve got it! We need a Vinegar Blaster it’ll blow him awa-,” Pete stopped.

Franklin looked up at him again and understood that he was thinking about this “prophecy” again. “Pete, please tell me about the prophecy.”

Pete looked down at Franklin with pity in his eyes, “Oh, it isn’t the time; I can’t be dwelling on foolish prophecies anyways. We have to hurry and get a Vinegar Blaster. I know a guy that can help us!” Pete motioned the two to follow behind him, “Come on, we’ve gotta head north! We’ll be able to get the Vinegar Blaster on the way!”

Franklin and Sheila followed Pete out of the store. Pete flipped the sign to say “Closed” and locked the door.

“Come on! There’s no time to waste,” Pete yelled.

With that they began their walk up the dirt road.

“The three begin to travel up the dirt road…”
- CHAPTER FIVE -

Into the Woods

Sheila rode on Pete’s back as they traveled. They would have used Pete’s yellow wings, but unfortunately Franklin wasn’t able to sit on Pete’s back. They were fine with walking, besides, the journey was nice.

“So, Pete,” Sheila began, “Who’s this guy you know with a vinegar gun?”

“It’s a Vinegar Blaster,” Pete corrected, “and his name is Jake. We go way back, he works in the woods coming up. He deals with the secret service, so I’m sure he can fashion us a Vinegar Blaster.”

“The Secret Service???” Franklin gasped; he’d been a fan of James Bond movies for years, “Wow!”

They traveled along the roads and finally made it to the woods that Pete spoke of, they were cold, dark, and had a kind of damp feeling to them. When they asked Pete about the wet feeling he replied, “These wood were grown around a swamp, legend has it that it used to be den to the gang of a thousand mice.”

“What’d they do?” Franklin and Sheila both asked, they were kind of scared.

“Oh, they used to steal things and people and hold them ransom for a fee,” Pete answered, “But that was a long time ago, I doubt they’re still around.”

As they traveled it began to get dark and they began to get very tired. They decided they’d better get some shut eye. So they all went to sleep on the cool and comfortable ground.

“The three sleep on the damp, but comfortable, ground...”

“HISSSSSSSHAAAWWW!!!”

“A loud noise rings through the woods!”

A loud noise awoke the three; it was around five in the morning and cold. “What was that???” Franklin shouted.

“It sounded like a scream!” Sheila yelled. She was scared and very alert.

“COME ON!” Pete shouted. Sheila jumped onto his back.

Pete and Franklin began to run in the direction of the sound they’d heard.15 minutes later, they were standing outside a rutty-looking shack on the edge of a swamp. “This is Jake’s house!” Pete shouted. Something on the door caught his eye, “Is that a note?”

The three of them walked over to the door. The object was a letter and holding it up was a beautiful dagger engraved with a mouse on its handle. Pete pulled the dagger out of the door and took the letter off of it. He opened it and read aloud:

“Dear Travelers,

We have your friend; he’s locked in a cage in our den located on the opposite side of this swamp. If you ever want to see him again, be there by 9am or else!

Signed,

A Thousand Mice!”

On a closer look the paper was signed by all One Thousand of them too, that is, they dabbed their paw-print on the letter.

“Oh my Cornelyass!” Pete shouted, “Well I guess we’ll have to detour to rescue Jake.”

“Jake’s Shack in the Woods… is that a note with a mouse dagger in it?”

“Of course we will!” Shouted Franklin excitedly, “I always wanted an adventure like this.”

“I feel guilty saying it, but me too,” Sheila said ashamed to be happy that they had to rescue Jake.

“Okay! Let’s go with haste! We have to save him, get the vinegar blaster, and defeat the Devil before it’s too late!”

“OKAY!” Franklin and Sheila shouted.

The three of them began to follow the water’s edge of the swamp.

- CHAPTER SIX -

Den of A Thousand!

The air seemed to get less wet as they journeyed closer to the other side of the swamp. They traveled with haste knowing they had to otherwise they’d have another fiasco like the one with Joan (See the 1^st Littlest Horse Shop).

It took the three of them about 20 minutes to make their way to the other side and, sure enough, there was a sign labeled “Den of A Thousand Mice! – Beware!” The sign also pointed to a stairway that appeared to lead underneath the swamp. A strong odor, like stew or soup, was coming from below and the sounds of music were playing loudly, so loud that it vibrated the ground beneath the traveler’s feet.

“Den of A Thousand Mice – Beware!”

They followed the stairs and found themselves in a cave that looked like it was made by ogres. The room was like a crude-looking hall and all over it were drunken mice. They all stopped and stared. One of them, bigger than them all, walked over, then he spoke in a deep Cockney accent, “The name’s Ben. You ‘em travelers? The ones ‘oose fren’ we gots up ‘n them thar’ cage?”

Pete spoke up, he wasn’t frightened, having dealt with many weird folks, “Yes we are, and we’ve come to claim him!”

“Oh you ‘ave? ‘ave you?” The big one spoke again, “an’ you got the money to buy ‘em back?”

“Well, no, we don’t, but we’re not leaving without him!” Pete spoke bravely. Franklin and Sheila were shaking with fear, but did their best to hide it.

The entire room lifted in an uproar of laughter. “An’ you an’ that ‘ittle pupp-ay gunna stop us are ya?”

“Ben, the biggest of the mice!”

“W- Well if we must, I guess we will. I don’t see any other way around it,” Pete stood tall and proud.

The entire room of mice stood now; they were silent and angry looking, they were really ready to battle. “Well ‘en I guess this is gunna be a ba’le ‘en! Ain’t no other way ‘round it is ‘ere?” He bellowed out an evil laugh.

Pete still remained tall and ready for the beating of a life-time. As long as he tried, he knew he’d be fine. After all, this was to save a dear friend to Pete. Franklin slowly stood and was ready to fight (or try) too.

“STOP!” A voice bellowed out into the room. Everyone stopped and looked over to where it’d come. It was Sheila; she was now on top of a table and quite upset. “Fine, you guys win! I hate to see war, so I’ll pay the fee! Do you take MasterCard?”

“’s taken everywhere ain’ it?” Ben yelled, “And whas this fine laties name?”

“The name’s Sheila and I’m only doing the respectable thing. Only doing what you yourself aren’t brave enough to do-,”

“NOW! NOW! Jus’ you wait one second there! We’re only in this ‘ere business because we need money! We’re trying to start up a house-cleaning business, but…” Ben mumbled something under his breath.

“But what? I can’t help you if you won’t let me,” Sheila was now interested in the mice’s problems.

“We’re… We’re…” He kept trying but couldn’t find the courage.

Finally one of the smaller mice stood up and yelled, “We’re the Den of A Thousand Mice, and we’re- We’re Alcoholics!”

With that, the entire room let out a sad bellow. “You see, we jus’ can’t stop… Every time we get money from the ransoms we just –this is tough to say- we just blow it on the juice…” Ben said and started to cry.

“Well, we’ll just have to set up an AA group for you all. My husband used to be an alcoholic, but we worked through it together. Now! First off, my friends here need you to let their friend go, then I’ll stay and help you all work through this. It’s my calling!”

The mice agreed and lead Pete and Franklin up to the second floor of the den. There, in a small cage, was a green snake. As soon as the snake saw Pete it smiled and yelled to him, “Thank you, Pete!”

“Jake the Snake locked in a cage!”

Pete nodded, “It wasn’t all my doing Jake, the true hero is downstairs.”

Pete and Franklin decided to stay for a quick bite to eat; after all, they hadn’t eaten a thing yet. So they stayed and ate the delicious stew that the mice made. After they’d eaten Sheila led them out to say good-bye.

Jake thanked Sheila for saving him, she said he was welcome and thanked him back.

Sheila, who wasn’t a stereo-typical “Lady”, was having trouble thinking of what to say. She kicked at the dirt a bit nervously. She then spoke, “Than-,” She stopped. “I just-,” She stopped again. She opened her mouth a third time, but Pete stopped her.

“Shh… I know what you want to say. I’m sure both Franklin and I do,” Pete said, “And, you’re welcome…”

“I- Thanks…” She hugged Pete, then Franklin, and finished with, “Good-Bye…”

Franklin and Pete said, “Good-bye,” they cried, but weren’t sad. They were just happy to be able to help Sheila. Sheila watched Pete, Franklin, and Jake as they headed off down the swamp-side toward Jake’s house. She then headed downstairs; her dreams of being a nurse were coming true, in a way.

“Sheila waves good-bye to her friends!”

- CHAPTER SEVEN -

Jake the Snake

The three of them arrived at Jake’s house about 15 minutes later. Along the way, Pete told Jake what they required to beat the Cream-Cheese Devil. Jake understood and as soon as they arrived he began work on it. While he worked on the Vinegar Blaster, Pete and Franklin decided to rest up; because, when the blaster was done, they’d leave for Franklin’s Market, and you need to be rested up for something big like that! Pete had trouble sleeping though, he couldn’t stop thinking about the stupid prophecy that he knew. But he asked himself, “What could go wrong? Everything’s gone right so far, so, why should things go bad now?” After that, Pete got to sleep easier and had a little less worries.

“Pete and Franklin rest up for their journey…”

“WAKE UP! IT’S FINISHED!”

Pete and Franklin darted up; they felt refreshed from their good sleep. They each rubbed their eyes and looked at Jake standing before them. He was holding up an object that looked like 2 metal Super-Soaker 2000s. It was- WAIT A MINUTE, HOLDING??? On closer inspection, it was seen that Jake the snake had invented a set of Mechanical Arms so that he could work easier. Jake the Snake was the type that’d be called “geek” or “nerd” in school, and was proud of it. He was eager to see Franklin and Pete test out his art work. “Go on, Try it!” He said excitedly as he pushed his glasses up to prevent them from falling off his face.

Pete and Franklin shot a bit out on the ground and were scolded, “No!” Jake yelled and pointed to a target that he’d set up, “use that!”

“Jake the Snake proudly shows off the Vinegar Blasters!”

So the two of them practiced a bit and found that they had great aim, each having grown up with Super-Soakers.

“I think we should head out pretty soon,” Pete started, “I’m sorry we can’t stay longer, but-.”

Jake stood before them, grinning like a 5 year-old child. Pete and Franklin looked at each other curiously. Jake spoke, “There’s just one more thing,” he said as he slithered over to his desk, “I took the liberty of making you two each walkie-talkies, with a built-in tracker, and these special goggles that pick up evil signals around you.”

“My word!” Pete shouted, “You outdo yourself every time I see you Jake.”

Franklin threw on his goggles and tested out his walkie-talkie then exclaimed, “Wow! Thanks!”

Jake bowed “thank-you” to them.

Pete patted him on the head and Jake shouted, “Now go shoot the cream cheese off that Devil!”

Pete and Franklin laughed and readied themselves to go. Five Minutes later they were out the door and headed north toward Franklin’s Supermarket.

- CHAPTER EIGHT -

Fight for the Right!

Northern Nebraska, Pete and Franklin’s destination, was just on the other side of the woods, they were less than 30 minutes away. They walked and walked passing by the peaceful trees and, surprisingly, they didn’t bump into anything evil. They safely made it through the rest of the woods. They climbed up the last hill and looked over upon Northern Nebraska.

“Oh my Cornelyass!” They both shouted, for what they stared upon wasn’t a pretty sight.

The Devil’s evil had spread over the entire Northern region, there were creatures all over covered in sludge and gunk. There were baddies beating up nice innocent creatures. Baddies, by the way, are evil creatures that look like tiny Devils. It was a disgusting wasteland. A war was breaking out between good and evil. “We’ve gotta stop this!” Pete shouted, “We have to get rid of the Devil, otherwise, life may never be the same again!”

“Baddies abuse the innocent!”

The two of them readied themselves by strapping on their goggles and guns. They then turned to look at each other, “Don’t go for any of the creatures along the way, we can’t help them until we take out the Devil!” Pete ordered.

Franklin nodded, and with that they darted down the hill into the Northern Region. As they ran along they split into separate paths as to increase their chances of success. Franklin dodged the baddies he saw through his goggles along the way. He ducked underneath their legs being as tiny as he was. Pete was dodging too, but he jumped over the baddies, having practiced a lot on his free time. Occasionally baddies would get in front of them and they’d have to head-butt them, but, for the most part, it was as simple as avoiding them.

Pete was the first to arrive in front of the Superdedoopermalooper Market, he stayed outside, but looked through the windows to see what was going on. The Cream Cheese Devil could be seen at the back of the store, many baddies were gathered around his feet, it seemed like they were being born. Pete ducked down and snuck over to the shipping side of the store. There were baddies slowly coming out of the location where the shipping trucks usually show up.

“Blue-Dog, this is Green-Horse, can you read me? Over,” Pete asked into his walkie-talkie.

“Yeah, I’m on my way, I’m just making my way through a big crowd now, over,” Franklin answered.

“Okay, good. It seems that the Devil has converted your store into a factory of Baddies, they’re being created very quickly, over,” Pete warned, he made sure not to be seen through any of the windows.

“Okay, I’m almost there, don’t go in without me, this is going to be tough, over,” Franklin ordered to Pete.

“Okay, just hurry-,” but before Pete could finish, he saw Franklin running down the street toward him.

Franklin came to a skid as he reached Pete’s feet. He huffed, “I- I’m here,” and saluted Pete.

Pete winked and the two went up to the windows to look in. Inside, the Devil was whipping several of the baddies and shouting at them, “I want the HORSE!” he shouted with another crack of his whip, “When I don’t get what I want I get MAAAAADD!!!” and when he shouted ‘mad’ he repeatedly whipped the baddies. “Now, you stupid fools had better find him or-,”

“The Devil whips the Baddies for not doing what he wants…”

A tiny baddie ran in and up to the Devil, interrupting him. The Devil leaned down and the tiny baddie whispered something in his ear. “Oh really?” the Devil exclaimed, “This little guy says we have guests.”

With that, the Devil pointed his hand at the wall that Pete and Franklin were outside of, BAM! The wall crumbled down, leaving Pete and Franklin exposed. “NOW!” Pete yelled and the two of them readied their guns. They shot and… Nothing.

The Devil laughed, “Oh poor little fools forgot to re-fill their little guns? HA!”

Six baddies got up and flew at both Pete and Franklin. They ducked and managed to avoid a hit. The six baddies got up, they glared and charged again. As they dodged them again, Franklin shouted, “To isle 7,” They began charging along toward the isle.

“No you don’t!” the Devil shouted. He sent six more baddies to guard the isle.

Pete and Franklin would have to fight this time. Pete began using his Karate moves on the group and Franklin picked up a broom and fought with that. These baddies were smart and strong. When the two of them had it down to three Baddies left to kill, Pete took over and Franklin ran to get the Vinegar. He reached the part of the isle just as the Devil sent six more baddies toward him. There was one in the group that was bigger than the rest and carried an upside down crucifix as a sword. Franklin grabbed two bottles of vinegar and tossed them toward Pete. “Think fast,” he shouted.

“A Big Baddie fighting with an upside down crucifix…”

Pete looked over and saw Franklin begin his fight with the other six. Then he remembered:

“When darkness gains some light,

In the middle of your fight,

There’ll be 666,

Then a crucifix,

Then blue will face its deadly plight,”

“Franklin, NO!” Pete shouted.

Franklin looked over at Pete and winked, he was finally having the adventure he’d always wanted. Franklin turned back to the battle just as the crucifix was coming at him. Blood landed on the ground. Everything seemed to slow down for Pete as he ran toward Franklin. Pete got to him, grabbed Franklin’s broom and frantically beat the three Baddies still alive. When he’d gotten rid of them, he leaned down and picked up Franklin. Franklin was still alive, but was loosing blood. He coughed and looked Pete in the eyes. Pete lifted the dog’s paw from the wound and began to cry, it was really bad. “Pete, I knew what the prophecy was. I knew this would be the end, but it’s okay. I-,” he coughed again, “You are such a great hero Pete. I’m just glad I got to go on a real adventure. It was a real adventure, right Pete?”

Through his tears Pete nodded. The Puppy smiled at him and died.

“Franklin… Dead…?”

Pete cleared a shelf of Tomato sauce and laid the body onto it. He wiped his eyes and stood. Anger filled his eyes. He heard something around the corner, and quickly loaded the gun with vinegar. He strapped on his goggles and looked in the direction of the noise. It was just more baddies coming to fight him.

Pete didn’t want to waste any more time with the baddies, he was going to end this all now. He spread his wings and flew up above all the shelves; he looked around for the Devil.

BOOM!

A blast shot right next to Pete and he looked in the direction. Coming straight at him was another blast; Pete dodged it, and began shooting in its direction. The Devil was quick! Pete saw another blast flying at him, this time it hit his tail. Pete’s eyes flared in the direction. The next blast came, and instead of just dodging it, Pete flew over toward it and began to chase the Devil around the store. He shot at the Devil and hit his shoulder. The part of the Devil that Pete hit turned blue. The Devil glanced down at it and realized what was going on; Pete was rotting his outer layer.

“Pete, ready for revenge, chases the Devil…”

The Devil quickened his pace as he traveled through the isles, he was quick, but couldn’t fly. The two of them reached the produce section of the store and the Devil raced to the Horse Radishes. As he gathered some, Pete shot him two more times. The Devil laughed as he surged life into the Horse Radishes; they sprouted wings and flew at Pete. The Horse Radishes were strong and bit at Pete’s fur. He swatted at them, but found the only way to get rid of them was to whirl around quickly and send them flying into the nearby walls or shelves. Pete did so and managed to kill them all; but, in all his haste, the Devil had managed to hide. Pete looked left, then right, all around him, and the Devil was nowhere in sight. Pete turned on his goggles and immediately locked onto the Devil behind a display of Mandarin Oranges.

Pete swooped down and knocked over all the boxes. There was the Devil, helpless and weak crawling around in hundreds of oranges. He looked up at Pete and nodded his retreat, he wasn’t going to win, and he knew it. Pete readied his gun, and fired off the rest onto the devil. The cheese turned to blue, and then disappeared. The Devil was his natural red again. Pete then asked, “Why? You knew the end of the prophecy. ‘When darkness appears to have won, green will conquer using wings as yellow as the sun.’ The dog did nothing bad. EVER! And you… you thought you’d try and defy what you, yourself, wrote! Shame on you Satan! He was my friend! And you murdered him!”

The Devil looked up at Pete and glared, “I tried to defy it? Was it really only me? You knew the prophecy and abandoned it too. You thought, ‘things are going all right!’ Well now look at us! I only do things like this because of my bad reputation!”

Pete looked down, he was ashamed. He had just denied the prophecy the entire time. Was this partly his fault too? He had been warned. “But-,” Pete began, “No! No ‘buts’ I should have listened. I- I’m sorry Franklin. I thought I was strong enough, it was irresponsible.”

“I- I did too. I- I wish I hadn’t done it.” The Devil began, “I just got so fed up with my terrible choices of the past that I- I thought I could never change, because that’s how people treat me…”

Pete understood now why the Devil had done it. He’d just felt misunderstood. Pete looked at the Devil and asked, “Are you ready?”

The Devil nodded and Pete picked him up. They flew out of the store and over to the Stairway to Heaven. Up they went, and directly to Cornelyass’ Castle. The receptionist let them through.

They walked into Cornelyass’ Throne Room and he was waiting. He looked upon Pete and smiled, “Thank you, Pete, for apprehending this- this monster!”

The Devil looked down at his feet. Cornelyass glared at the Devil. He was about to flog the Devil when Pete stopped him, “STOP!” Pete yelled, “If that is the punishment for someone guilty, then flog me too!”

“The Devil looks sadly down at his feet…”

Cornelyass looked at Pete confused, “But Pete-.”

“No!” Pete shouted, “I also think that you are guilty too. For all these years we’ve shunned this creature, called him evil, never once allowing him a chance to redeem himself. Well, I have to say, people can change! What would you have done? Had you been called evil for so long? He only did what we wanted him to…”

Cornelyass was angered, but understanding, “Wanted? I’m sorry Pete, but this isn’t what I wanted. I wanted peace, but he only ever messed that up!”

“And when did you last check up on him? Are you so sure that he’s only ever done evil? I’m sorry Cornelyass, but I think we should forget the past and start thinking about the future!”

Cornelyass looked down. He understood what Pete said. And though he hated it, he admitted that he shouldn’t be so hard on his children.

Pete left Cornelyass’ Castle with the Devil and Cornelyass discussing the current situation.

There was one more place Pete had to go, the Heaven Hospital. Pete went to the receptionist’s desk and asked for the room of Franklin the Blue Dog. He went straight up and sat by his bed. Two days later Franklin opened his eyes, he saw Pete. Pete smiled and said, “Hi...”

“Pete waits by Franklin’s bed for him to wake up…”
- EPILOGUE -

Fin

Cornelyass decided to allow the Devil to live in Heaven as long as he agreed to go to meetings that were like AA, but designed to help addicts of evil. It would be a difficult task, but not too difficult with the newest nurse on the Heaven staff, Sheila! She was hired on staff by Cornelyass himself, due to her excellent work with the AA in the den of A Thousand Mice. Sheila and her husband still reside in Heaven.

“The Devil’s slow steps to recovery…”

Jake the Snake is still working for the Secret Service and has recently added this occasion to his huge resume. Many of his products are going public with great success! Especially the snake arms, those are selling like mad. He’s is now a hero among geeks and nerds.

“Jake the Snake proves ‘Geeks-R-Cool’”

And what became of Franklin? Franklin was allowed to leave Heaven and return to Nebraska. Since his Supermarket was trashed, he and Pete joined forces. Franklin moved his Dog house a block away from Welcome to my Neighborhood, but the neigh was in bold. He and Pete both work their fair amounts, business is still booming!

“Franklin’s House’s new location…”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tyrel James Boelsma lives in Chilliwack, B.C. with his mother, Yvonne, father, Mike, and sister, Angela. Tyrel enjoys reading, writing, drawing, singing, and acting. Tyrel wrote the first “Littlest Horse Shop” in grade eight when he didn’t feel like writing, and his teacher said, “Write SOMETHING!” Tyrel shared the orginal story with his friends and they laughed. He carried it on to write 9 more, this became “The Littlest Horse Shop: Welcome to my Neighborhood.” Tyrel has continues writing the series and plans to stop when he reaches 13 in total.

JOIN PETE AGAIN IN HIS NEXT ADVENTURE: “The Littlest Horse Shop 3: Quest for the Yellow Wings”

Pete the Horse decides to take a journey into New York to one day. While in New York a terrible accident happens and Pete loses his yellow wings. Pete must journey back to Nebraska and reclaim his wings, can he do it? Find out in: “The Littlest Horse Shop 3: Quest for the Yellow Wings”