Hide and Go Seek
Larry carefully hid Robin on a shelf below the counter where customers couldn't see. He heard the door open and looked up to see Doc and Junior Hopper walking in.
"Good evening, sirs!" he said. "Can I help you?"
"No," Doc said sharply, leaning heavily on his cane as he marched through the store. "We're just LOOKING!"
"Well, let me know if you need anything," Larry said, struggling to maintain his ever-cheerful-salesman persona. He had heard the young frog's conversation, he had seen what was on the side of the truck, and he had put enough clues together to know that this frog needed to get as far away from these man as possible. So he examined the rack of maps behind him, selected one, and paid for it. When the Hoppers weren't looking, he bent down behind the counter and handed the map to Robin.
"I figured you could use one of these," he whispered. "I'll let you know when they're gone."
"Thank you," Robin whispered.
Larry stood up. Was there anything else he could do for the frog? He picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hi Mom... Yep, everything's fine. Ah, could you put Rick on the phone?... Thanks... Hey Rick, it's Larry... I'm good, how are you?... Oh that's good. Listen, I was wondering if you could stop by the store... yeah... And bring, um," he lowered his voice a little, glancing at the men in the back of the store. "Bring your old bicycle... yeah, that one... I'll explain when you get here... Thanks... see you soon, then. Bye-bye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Pennsylvania Avenue, with two houses, that's $450, Sam," Scooter said as he consulted a card.
Sam sighed as he sorted through his multi-colored bills, trying to come up with the necessary money.
Ring ring
Scooter picked up the phone. "Hello, Muppet Theater."
"Scooter, it's Kermit. I just hung up with Robin.
Scooter took a sharp intake of breath. "And? Where is he?"
"He's in Denver," Kermit said.
"So pass it along to the authorities, okay?"
"Right away, boss!" Scooter said. He heard a click on the other end and hung up. "Robin's in Denver," he told Sam. Then he picked up the phone again and started to dial. "I'll tell the Ranger station and the police, so they know, too. And then I guess we'll get back to the game."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So Robin's in Denver, now?" Fozzie asked when Kermit hung up.
"That's right," Kermit said. "He got a ride from a deer for a lot of today, I guess."
"A dear what?" Rowlf asked.
"I think he meant the otha' kinda deer, Rowlf," Rizzo said.
"How would he get a ride with a deer?" Miss Piggy asked.
Kermit hesitated. He hadn't really thought about it. "I don't know," he said.
"It sounds like fun," Gonzo said.
Kermit's face fell and he turned in his seat to look at the Whatever. Robin was doing something that Gonzo thought sounded like fun? Maybe he needed to be even more worried than he was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Alright, everybody out for some good nutritious nourishment!" Dr. Teeth announced.
The Electric Mayhem unboarded the bus.
"Hey, man, I gotta take Animal for a walk," Floyd said, firmly gripping Animal's chain in his hands.
"WALK! WALK!" Animal shouted.
"He doesn't take too kindly to confinement," Floyd explained, feeling the chain slipping from his hands. "Alright, Animal, let's go..."
Dr. Teeth chuckled a little. "No worries, Floyd. I'll just go on in and order us some grub."
Janice spotted a pay phone and said, "Like, I'll go and call Kermit. Maybe he's like, heard from Robin now."
So Dr. Teeth and Zoot went in the restaurant, Floyd took Animal for a walk, and Janice strolled over to the pay phone and dropped in a couple of quarters.
"Like, hi Kermit, it's Janice," She said when the frog picked up.
"Oh hi Janice. Robin's in Denver now.
"Denver?" She said. "Like, how did he get
there?"
"He got a ride with a deer," Kermit said.
Janice hesitated. "...Like, a dear what?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Junior watched his father rummage through a bin of green socks. He shook his head and turned to the young man behind the register.
"Have you seen a frog?" he asked.
"What kind of frog?" Larry asked. "We have some frog key chains over here..."
"No, I mean a
real frog," Junior said.
"A real frog?" Larry said, pretending to be confused. "Oh, do you mean
stuffed frogs? We have some of those, too. They're on sale this week, actually..."
"No, a REAL frog!" Junior said, flustered. "You know, it hops around and says ribbit?"
"Oh, one of THOSE!" Larry said.
"Yes, one of those!" Junior said. "Have you seen any?"
"We have just what you're looking for, sir, right here..." Larry pulled out a basked full of plastic frogs. He took one out, wound it up, and placed it on the counter.
The plastic frog took two mechanical hops, made a noise that sounded vaguely like a ribbit, and took another hop.
Junior rolled his eyes. "Never mind," he said.
"Come on, Junior," Doc said as he headed for the door. Junior followed him. Once outside, they got into the truck and started to buckle up.
"He's hiding in that store somewhere," Doc said. "I can smell it."
Junior gave his father a strange look. "Papa?" he said. He took the plastic frog he had just shoplifted out of his pocket, yanked off the legs, and handed them to Doc. "Have some frog legs," he said. He put the key in the ignition, started the truck, and drove off.
Inside the store, Larry bent down behind the counter to see that Robin was having some difficulty trying to stifle his laughter. Larry picked the young frog up and placed him on the counter.
"That was close," Robin said. Larry just shook his head.