Changing Paths-A Paw Patrol Story

Chapter Two

Ryder slid down the fireman's pole into the garage, where he kept his ATV. Marshall was the first to slide down the chute to his vehicle, followed by Chase and, lastly, Dom.

Dom didn't have a vehicle yet because Ryder had been too busy with other things and hadn't gotten to it. Dom didn't hold it against Ryder tho. He loved his new owner.

Dom rode with Chase. Chase had taught Dom how to drive the cruiser, but Dom still needed a bit of practice. The last time, he crashed into the pups' pool. He thought he would get in trouble, but Chase just laughed and stated that his car needed a wash anyway. Dom was so happy to be part of the team.

Ryder, Marshall, Chase, and Dom arrived at the cliff a few minutes after leaving the Lookout. The trees grew away from the edge, so it made sense why Skye didn't get called on the mission. She wouldn't have been able to get her helicopter close to them. They parked the vehicles and looked over the edge. At first, they couldn't see anything but broken parts of the cliff.

"See if you can see them," Ryder said.

After a minute, Dom found them. "Over here," he said. The others walked over to where Dom was and looked over the side of the cliff. The three deer huddled together, away from the edge, trying not to fall.

"Good job, Dom," Ryder complimented. "Chase, get down there."

Chase nodded. He ran over to his cop cruiser and barked out his winch. The bone-shaped hook popped out from the front of the vehicle. Chase grabbed it with his mouth and took it to Ryder, who took the winch and attached it to Chase's pup pack.

Dom's gut churned. "Are you sure that's safe?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah," Marshall said. "There was this one time when a semi-truck went halfway over the side of the bridge . . ."

"Marshall," Chase interrupted.

Marshall laughed awkwardly. "Hehe, sorry." He leaned over and whispered into Dom's ear. "It was so cool." Chase must've heard because he smiled and shook his head slowly.

"Are you ready, Chase?" Ryder asked.

"Yes, sir," Chase said. He looked over the side of the cliff, took a deep breath, and jumped.

Dom ran over to the edge of the cliff. Chase was slowly walking down to the deer family. When he got close enough, Chase whispered something that Dom couldn't make out. The youngest fawn looked at its family and cautiously walked over to Chase. Chase strapped the baby deer into the harness.

Chase looked up and nodded. Dom got what he was trying to say. He looked at Marshall, who was in the driver's seat. "Pull him up," Dom shouted. Marshall pressed a button on the dashboard, and the winch began to retract. It continued to wrap up until Chase's head appeared over the side of the cliff.

"Special delivery," Chase exclaimed. "One baby fawn."

Dom and Ryder got closer to Chase. Ryder unbuckled the harness from around the deer and hauled him up. Dom pulled Ryder from the shirt to ensure that he wouldn't fall over the edge from the weight of the deer.

Ryder held the deer in his arms. "There you go, little guy," he said as he carefully placed it on the ground. "You're safe now." Ryder looked at Marshall. "Marshall, come and give him a check-up."

"On it," Marshall said as he jumped out of the driver seat of Chase's cruiser and ran towards the deer.

"I'll be back in a minute with another," Chase said. His head disappeared behind the rocks. Dom watched as Chase walked down the side of the cliff and hooked the waist around another deer. He looked up at Dom and nodded.

"Marsh . . ." Dom started before he realized that Marshall was still tending the baby deer. "Ryder, Chase is ready to be pulled up."

"Okay," Ryder said, "but I have to be here and help bring the deer up. Get in the driver's seat and press the to retract the winch and bring them up."

"Uh, I . . ." Dom didn't know if he could do it. He hasn't done it before. Dom looked down at Chase. Chase had a confused look on his face as if he was wondering why the winch wasn't retracting. Dom knew that Chase was counting on him.

He ran over to the vehicle and jumped in. There were a lot of buttons on the dashboard, most of which Dom didn't know what they did. "Ryder, how do I do it?" Dom asked.

"There should be a green button with a picture of a winch somewhere," Ryder explained. "Press it once to retract it and then press it again to stop it."

Dom looked around and eventually found the button. He tapped it, and the winch began to retract. Once Chase's head appeared, Dom pressed it again, stopping the machinery. Dom jumped out of the seat and went to help Ryder pull the deer up. Once the fawn was on secure ground, Marshall ensured it was not injured.

"Thanks for your help, Dom," Ryder said.

"Thanks for giving me a chance," Dom replied.

"One more to go," Chase said as he went back down.

Dom walked back into the driver's seat and sat down. Ryder watched over the side of the cliff for Chase. After a minute, Ryder signaled to Dom. Dom pressed the button, and the wire began to retract.

The wire retracted until Chase's and the deer's heads appeared over the side of the cliffs. Chase was on the deer's back since it was much bigger than him. Judging from the large antlers on its head, the deer was the male. He looked around as if searching for the others. When he saw them, the deer bellowed loudly. The other two deers did the same in response, standing on their two hind legs.

"Woah," Marshall said as he stepped out of the way to avoid getting trampled.

Dom jumped out of his vehicle and ran towards Marshall. He barked, and a mechanism popped out of his pup pack. Dom caught it in his mouth and kept running. As he ran, the piece of equipment extended from both sides until he had a pup-sized hockey stick in his mouth.

Dom got in front of the deer, holding the hockey stick as best as he was able to with his paws. He put it in front of the deers, trying to calm it down. The deer tried to move around it, but Dom held it in front of them. After seeing that they wouldn't get past him, they settled down. Their eyes were still set on the male.

Once Ryder removed the harness off the male deer, Chase got off, and Ryder led the male to its family. Chase was taking off the winch as Dom walked up.

"Great job, Dom," Chase said.

"I did a great job?" Dom asked. "You were the one hanging from the side of a cliff."

"But I couldn't have done it without you," Chase continued. "So, thanks."

"No worries, Chase. We're just doing our job."

"Now, isn't that the truth."

"Dom," Ryder called. Dom turned his head to see Ryder holding his hockey stick in his hands. "Can't leave this on the ground."

Dom chuckled nervously. "Yeah, sorry," Dom said. He walked over to pick up his hockey stick. "Thanks."

That was when everything began to go wrong. The raccoon got into the driver seat of Marshall's ambulance and sounded the siren with its tail. The sound scared the raccoon away, but it also spooked the deer. The deer ran off in the opposite direction. They passed close to Chase. Chase was standing where the part of the cliff broke down, and apparently, it wasn't very stable. More of the cliff slid off the mountain. Chase was on top of the rock as it toppled over the side. He didn't have the winch attached to his pup pack anymore, so he fell with the rocks.

"Chase!" Ryder, Marshall, and Dom said at the same time.