Epilogue

`    The grandfather clock rang eleven times. The jikoni was mostly dark, except for a little bit of moonlight trickling into the house from its window. Annette and Collette were sleeping together. Danielle slept near them, with Puffball at her side. Also sleeping were Peg and Spunky, who were in a soft kitanda in the corner kwa the door, sleeping inayofuata to each other with smiles on their faces. In the center of the room were Lady and Tramp, who were fast asleep in one cushy, large, round bed. Upstairs, Jim Dear, Darling, and Junior were sleeping. Everyone was sleeping… except for Scamp! He was standing up in his bed, staring out the window with Angel sleeping kwa his side. He stared out at the bright moon above. Far away, a train horn blared. Scamp smiled. The noise made him excited. He wasn’t ready to go to kitanda yet. Scamp sat down and looked at Angel, happily sleeping. He began to think of exciting adventures they’d have in the morning…
    Then, Scamp heard a small tapping on wood. Scamp jolted up. He looked through the room excitedly, but saw that everyone was sleeping. He sighed, “Rats…”
    But then, Scamp looked out the window. Patch was standing on the window ledge. Scamp sat straight up again, panted excitedly, and hurried to the window. He jumped on the kinyesi kwa the window ledge, which he placed his front paws on. The window was cracked open. He smiled at Patch.
    “Hi Scamp,” Patch told him.
    “Hey Patch!” Scamp smiled. “Slick songesha to get up there,” Scamp pointed to the ledge.
    “Thanks,” Patch smiled. “It looks like your family’s asleep,” Patch smiled.
    “Yeah,” Scamp told him, smiling back.
    “Want to come over?” Patch asked. “We can have some fun together!”
    “Sure!” Scamp answered at once, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “Just let me wake Angel up!”
    Scamp bounded off the window ledge, and ran to Angel, nudging her awake. Angel blinked, “Scamp, I was dreaming…” she whispered happily. But then her eyes fell on Patch, who was still sitting on the window ledge. Her eyes lit up too.
    She and Scamp then shared the kinyesi to the window ledge. “We’ll be there in a bit,” Angel told Patch.
    “See wewe then!” Scamp smiled at Patch.
    Patch smiled, and jumped off the window ledge. Scamp and Angel were about to jump down, then Scamp whispered, “Shh… we might want to keep quiet. It’s past curfew time,” Scamp smirked. "Bedtime at ten o'clock, remember?"
    “Oh yeah, I forgot,” Angel smiled. “We could get into trouble,” she whispered, and they giggled to each other. They then found a patch sitting on the nearby meza, jedwali “Let’s put this here so everyone knows we’re safe,” Angel smiled, placing the patch in the bed.
    The two of them began to walk out, but then, they heard a bit of movement. Looking behind them, they noticed Lady standing up and yawning. She blinked, then saw Scamp and Angel out of bed. They smiled guiltily.
    “Hmm… oh dear… Scamp, Angel? You’re still awake?” Lady asked.
    The two of them gasped, and looked at each other. “Yeah,” Scamp answered simply.
    “Why don’t wewe two go back to bed?” Lady gently suggested.
    “Hey, I know it’s late,” Scamp told Lady. “But Angel and I were going to see Patch.”
    “We know it’s past the curfew,” Angel told Lady. “But don’t worry about us. We were just going to have some fun with him.” Angel explained.
    “You won’t get upset, would wewe Mom?” Scamp asked. “And… wewe won’t tell Jim Dear and Darling?”
    Lady paused. She knew though, that her kids just wanted to have some fun with Patch and she could count on them to return home. “I won’t tell,” Lady smiled. “But I trust that wewe two will be salama and come back home. Of course wewe can see him,” she smiled.
    Scamp and Angel exchanged looks of delight at each other, and with smiles on their faces, they walked over to the doorway.
    “Scamp, would wewe just wait a moment?” Angel asked as they arrived at the doorway.
    “Okay then,” he told Angel. Angel then walked up to her parents, who were still sleeping. She rubbed gently against them, and told them, “Mom… Dad… I’m so happy that you're both here.” Then she looked at them gently, whispered, “I upendo wewe Daddy… Mama…” and kissed them both. Lady then saw Peg slightly lift her head, smile, and wink at Angel when she wasn’t looking.
    Scamp and Angel then slipped through the cracked door. The two of them sat on the rug in front of the stairs kwa the mirror. There was a little bit of light coming through the large, stained glass windows above. Angel and Scamp smiled at each other.
    “Scamp,” Angel told him. “I want to say that… you’re the best boyfriend I could ever have. You've always been there for me no matter what.”
    “Thanks,” Scamp smiled at her back. “I feel the same way,” Scamp told her. “I never had anyone besides my parents and sisters before I met you. We’ve been through so much together."
        Angel then smiled at Scamp. She whispered, “I upendo wewe Tenderfoot,”
    Blushing slightly, Scamp whispered, “I upendo wewe too,” and the two of them, bathed in moonlight and shadows, kissed in the dim light.    
    Just when Scamp and Angel left the kitchen, there was another noise. Turning, Lady saw Danielle jump up from out of bed. She ran through the room, tried chasing her tail, but then, she looked up and saw Lady.
    “Woah, you’re up late, Mom!” Danielle gasped in surprise.
    Lady smiled at her. “Yes,” she told her. “I guess I’m up too late myself.”
    “I want to go out,” Danielle told Lady excitedly. Puffball was also waking up. “Puffball and I want to go out for some steak!”
    Puffball told Lady, “I know where to go. It’s this delicious steak, mnofu place in town. Dani and I will be back soon,” he told Lady.
    “Can we go?” Danielle told Lady.
    “Yes,” Lady whispered. “But wait just a moment.” She knew that Scamp and Angel were still in the house, and that it would be best for Danielle and Puffball to wait. The two of them looked confusedly at Lady.
    “Why should we wait?” Danielle asked curiously.
    “You two will understand soon,” Lady told Danielle and Puffball gently. Then, Lady heard the sound of the front dog door click. “You two can leave now,” Lady told Danielle and Puffball. The two of them then happily bounded out of the house. Lady prepared to go to sleep again, but then she saw Tramp sit up. He smiled, “Pidge, you’re awake!"
Tramp looked and saw the vacant beds. "Where is everyone?" he asked.
"They've gone out," Lady explained simply.
    “Okay Pidge," Tramp told her. Then he smiled at Lady. "Hey, since our kids are leaving, why don’t we go out ourselves?” Tramp asked.
    Lady smiled gently at Tramp. “All right then,” she whispered. “If we’ll be back kwa morning,” she told Tramp. “Jim Dear and Darling need us. So do our puppies."
    “Of course we will Pidge,” Tramp smiled.
    Meanwhile, Scamp and Angel were crossing the street, where they saw Patch, waiting for them.
    “Hi Scamp, Angel,” Patch told them. “I’m so happy wewe came! Did wewe have to sneak past the parents?”
    “Mom woke up,” Scamp told Patch. “But she let us come out anyway.”
    Patch smiled. “I think they’re all beginning to understand us,” he told Scamp and Angel, who nodded in agreement.
    Patch strolled on the tiles of his porch, investigating it. “I like the new house. It’s smaller than what we’re used to at home, but there’s still plenty of stuff to do in it. They already got a TV fixed up.”
    “We want to see your home,” Scamp told Patch excitedly. “Your old one.”
    “Oh, that one,” Patch told Scamp. “It’s at a farm.”
    “Rats,” Scamp muttered, crestfallen. “It sounds so boring.”
    “We can do stuff there though when we’re on the trip there though,” Patch explained. “I heard about this big house miles away from the farm. It looks like it belongs here.” ***
    “I wonder what that could be,” Angel smiled curiously.
    “Look!” Scamp declared excitedly. Green flashes of light circled above them.
    “Yay, fireflies!” Angel cheered. “Let’s have some fun chasing them...”
    “Then we can explore! I have a lot to see in these streets,” Patch exclaimed.
    “Let’s do it!” Scamp suggested. Angel and Patch delightedly agreed, and the three of them jumped down the street, chasing fireflies.
    “Hey, I got one!” Scamp declared happily, his mouth filled with green light.
    Angel and Patch laughed as Scamp spat it out, then the three of them scurried further down the street.
    Lady and Tramp were sitting on the front step. They were watching Scamp and Angel talk with Patch for a while on their front step. Lady saw them leave the street. She wasn’t worried though, for she knew that they’d come back.
    Just then, the door across the mitaani, mtaa opened. Pongo and Perdita slipped out of their door and walked onto their front step. They looked happily at Patch with Scamp and Angel, and then crossed the mitaani, mtaa to jiunge Lady and Tramp.
    “I’m so glad,” Perdita told Lady. “Patch was so bored before he met your kids.”
    “It looks like he’s really having fun for the first time in his life,” Pongo told Tramp happily, watching Patch catch a firefly. “I’m so glad my pets bought a house here.”
    “This really is a wonderful place to live,” Lady told Pongo and Perdita gently.
    “You’re right, dearie,” came a soft voice behind them. “It’s the perfect place to raise our little ones.”
    Lady turned and saw Peg and Spunky jiunge them on the front step.
    “They look like real pals,” Spunky told the others happily. “They look like they’re having so much fun together!”
    “Angel must be so happy!” Peg quietly exclaimed. “She sure has grown a lot. She’s dealt with such a hard life so well. I’m just so proud of her!”
    “Patch has grown too,” Pongo told them proudly. “He’s come a long way from watching Thunderbolt on TV. He’s done things I never dreamed of!”
    “And so has Scamp,” Tramp finished. “He’s gotten to be even braver and cleverer than I thought!”
    Tramp then sniffed the air, and smiled. “Hey! I smell some nice, juicy spaghetti, tambi just waiting for all of us at Tony’s! Let’s all go there to celebrate your reunion!” Tramp told Peg and Spunky.
    “Sure!” Spunky told Tramp brightly. “How about it, Peg?”
    “That would be wonderful!” Peg whispered excitedly.
    Lady, Perdita, and Pongo also nodded. Lady, Perdita, and Peg rubbed affectionately against their husbands, then kissed them. Then the three couples happily ran off in the other direction from their kids, anticipating their beautiful bella notte together.