And another update!
Thanks Count, thanks Java! I really appreciate the encouragement! This part features a phone call from a certain amphibian.
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“Oh, I don’t feel right about this at all.”
Gonzo nodded in sympathetic agreement from the backseat, though Fozzie couldn’t see it. The bear had started the engine but made no attempt to start driving. The trio sat hunched in miserable companionship until Rizzo cleared his throat.
“Uh, maybe we should get going. I don’t like the way that security guard is staring at us… or his cat.” The cat in question, an orange-striped tabby, was watching Rizzo intently, looking as hungry as a cat could.
Fozzie sighed unhappily. “Yeah, Rizzo’s right. We should go.”
Another heavy silence fell upon them until Rizzo spoke up yet again.
“Um… Fozzie… you’re driving.” The bear blinked. “Well, more to the point, you’re not driving.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” He looked around sheepishly before putting the car in gear.
Gonzo turned to look up at the ugly, yet efficient building where they’d left Piggy. He kept his eyes on it until Fozzie made a right turn and it disappeared from view. He was startled to find Rizzo watching him uneasily when he turned around.
“Hey, pal. How’re you doing?”
Gonzo merely shrugged and looked away.
“C’mon, don’t worry. She’ll be up and driving us crazy in no time.”
Gonzo said nothing, hoping Rizzo would understand he didn’t much feel like talking at the moment.
No dice.
“If it’s any consolation, you smell like a burnt carpet.”
In spite of himself, Gonzo smiled. “Don’t try to cheer me up, Rizzo.”
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As messengers invariably were, Gonzo, Fozzie and Rizzo were mobbed on returning to the Muppet boarding house. It would have been overwhelming if they weren’t so accustomed to the chaos. Admittedly, they were usually among the mobbers rather than the mobbees.
“Wah!” Fozzie exclaimed in surprise as he was engulfed by questions from all and sundry. Gonzo was subjected to the overload and little Rizzo, easily overlooked when he so chose, made it nearly inside the building before his fellow rats spotted, and subsequently cornered him.
“Whoa, whoa! Hang on a minute, will ya?” Gonzo waved wildly trying to bring some order to the situation… but order really wasn’t his strong suit and they ignored his efforts. Realizing the futility of it, he started responding to those closest to him, trusting that word would spread, by osmosis if in no other way.
Fozzie too had given in to the mad rush and Rizzo had completely disappeared from his sight. Gradually they maneuvered their way into the foyer. Gonzo reported rapid-fire on Piggy’s condition, the trip to the hospital, and the hospital food they found therein, but he refused to speculate on the show and whether she would be recovered enough to perform. He was nearly certain of the answer, but he didn’t want to blurt it out to the myriad faces before him. Rowlf had managed to make his way into Gonzo’s field of vision, gesturing that they needed to talk. Gonzo tried to make his way over, but a flutter of wings distracted him.
“Camilla!” She flew into his arms and he pulled her to his chest in a crushing hug. “Oh honey, I’m so glad to see you!”
Her loving greeting did much to restore his confidence and he burrowed his face into her soft feathers, letting some of his tension ebb away at last. They held each other for a minute before Camilla finally drew back to look him over.
“No, no, don’t worry.” He responded to the softly clucked question. “It’s okay. They’re letting her come home tomorrow morning if everything checks out.”
Camilla clucked again, suspiciously and Gonzo nodded firmly. “Yes, I’m fine. I don’t think she’s mad at me.”
“Bawk?”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t as hard as they usually are. She was pretty out of it when she swung.” Gonzo tried not to sound too disappointed.
His on-again girlfriend wasn’t fooled for a minute.
“I’m glad she’s gonna be okay, Camilla, but she wasn’t really acting like herself. I didn’t want to leave her but-”
A heavy paw landed on his shoulder. “Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve got a certain frog waiting on the phone and this dog has no idea what to tell him.”
Gonzo stared at Rowlf in surprise. “Kermit’s on the phone, now?”
The pianist shrugged. “Sounds like our little green buddy to me, and judging by the way he ran upstairs, Fozzie doesn’t want be the one to explain things to Kermit.”
Gonzo winced. “Piggy doesn’t want him to know about this. She’s pretty upset. I don’t want to make things worse.” He looked anxiously at Rowlf. “But I don’t wanna lie to Kermit.”
“Well, somebody’s gotta talk to him and if you wanna keep Piggy’s secret, you better get to the phone before they figure out who’s on the line.”
Gonzo glanced wistfully up the stairs where Fozzie had sought refuge. He sighed and turned towards the phone… just as Pepe was picking it up.
“Allo? Yes, who is this, okay, because I have to make a very important phone call to Denise right now and I don’t have any time to waste on you… unless of course you is a beautiful womans-”
He dashed to the phone like he’d been shot out of a cannon, again, and knocked Pepe away from the phone. “Hello? Kermit?”
“Just because you took the pig out of commission does not mean that you need to take over with the hitting, hokay.”
Gonzo cringed and quickly moved away from the protesting prawn.
“Gonzo?”
“Uh, yeah, the one and only.”
Kermit gave a friendly chuckle. “I seem to remember you saying that before. I’ll get you to catch me up on all the goings-on in a minute there Gonzo, but first tell me, did I hear Pepe say something about Piggy?” His jaw fell open in dismay as his mind reeled. “Is she causing problems again?” There was good-natured exasperation in the frog’s voice.
“What?! Er, I mean, no, of course not, Kermit, not at all. Why would you think there’s a problem with Piggy?” Gonzo closed his eyes regretfully as Kermit leapt on his words.
“’Cause she’s Piggy, Gonzo; she’s always doing something. It’s just a matter of finding out what she’s after. Besides, I know she was disappointed about missing the trip.” An element of concern entered his voice. “You sound funny. Is there something wrong?”
“No! No, no, no, no. Kermit, Piggy doesn’t want you to worry about a thing while you’re gone. She’s not giving us a hard time, honest.” Fozzie reappeared, slinking cautiously over to the phone. Gonzo waved reassuringly as he tried to organize his thoughts. “So, um, how’s the tour going? Where are you now?”
“Oh, well I’m still in Paris. It’s lovely this time of year… uh, don’t mention that to Piggy, would you? There’s no point in making things harder after all.”
“Right, right. My lips are sealed.” It would have been easier to talk to Kermit if Fozzie wasn’t mugging puzzled reactions to everything he said. “Hang on a minute, Kermit.” He slapped a hand over the receiver and hissed, “Unless you want to do this, could ya just give me a minute?”
Alarmed at the idea of talking to his best friend at the moment, Fozzie scampered away, remaining close enough however, to keep an eye on him. Other Muppets began sending curious glances his way, wondering about the phone call Pepe was complaining about.
“Hey there again. So, the tour?”
“I had a television interview today, followed by a quick rundown for one of the big magazines here. It’s a good thing people speak English, otherwise I’d be in over my head. Tomorrow morning I’m gonna be on one of those morning shows, “Bon Matin, Paris” or something.”
“Uh huh.” Gonzo tried his level best to communicate through charades that perhaps Fozzie should dissuade the onlookers, or at the very least, remind them not to mention Piggy, but the bear didn’t understand. Fortunately, Rowlf and Scooter were doing just that and Fozzie soon caught on.
“Actually, that show’s today, rather than tomorrow. Boy, it’s late. Anyway, how’d the rehearsal go today? Is everyone ready for tomorrow?”
Dutifully, Gonzo gave a quick rundown on the rehearsals, reassuring Kermit that things were unusually usual. “I think it’ll be fine, really. I mean, we’ll muddle through somehow, right?”
“Sure, we always do. I have full confidence in you guys. I can hear the gang back there. Hey, could you put me on speaker phone? I want to say hi to everyone.”
“Uh, are you sure you’re not too tired for that? It’s pretty late where you are.”
“Gonzo,” Kermit chided, “Of course I’m sure. It’ll only take a minute. I miss you guys. Put them on.”
Once again, Gonzo covered the receiver. “Gather ‘round guys, Kermit wants to say hi.” In a lower voice he added, “and not a word about Piggy.”
Gonzo hit the speaker button and Kermit’s mellow voice filled the air. As it turned out, they needn’t have worried about letting anything slip about the accident. The rush of voices tumbling over each other in excitement precluded any chance of the frog’s understanding anything anyone said. After a few minutes, and a quick ‘I have complete faith in you,’ pep talk for the upcoming show Gonzo switched off the speaker phone to say goodbye to Kermit.
“Hey, Gonzo, could you put Piggy on for a minute? I don’t want her to feel like I’m ignoring her.”
Blind panic gripped him for an instant. “Piggy? You want to talk to Piggy?”
Utter and complete silence fell in the room for the first time since they’d returned. Muppets leaving stopped and waited to see what would happen.
“Uh… sorry Kermit, Piggy’s… resting right now, so you know, she can’t come to the phone. Well, not that she can’t come… but, she’s sleeping, and I don’t want to disturb her.”
The room held a collective breath.
Kermit was quiet for a moment, and then replied, “Well, I don’t imagine she’d mind too much being woke up for this.” He sounded a little embarrassed. “Besides which, she’ll probably give you a harder time of it if you don’t wake her. I dunno when I’ll be able to call next.”
“Ah, I really don’t want to wake her. She said something about getting forty winks of beauty sleep and uh, you know how she is about that.”
Floyd laughed abruptly, “Miss Porker’s gonna need more winks than that if she wants to be beautiful.” Scattered, guilty laughter echoed behind Gonzo.
“Did you hear that, Kermit?”
“I heard it. Floyd’s lucky she didn’t.” Kermit sighed a little. “Alright then, give her my best when you tell her I called. Make sure you tell her that, or she’ll kill me when I get back. I’ll be home as soon as I can be.”
A few parting words and Gonzo hung up the phone. He turned away from the wall to face the expectant crowd, most of whom didn’t understand why they were hiding things from their leader.
“Did he buy it?” Scooter asked. A sea of heads swiveled to the young voice then back to Gonzo.
“We bought some time anyway. Piggy’ll be around the next time, and then she can figure out what to tell Kermit.”
Fozzie wrung his furry hands nervously. “I hope she leaves us out of it.”
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