The Yggyssey by Daniel Pinkwater Page B

at the same moment that Chase was the only one who could possibly tell us how to get back from wherever we were. As we ran across the huge meadow, we were realizing that it was not out in the country but was some kind of park set in the middle of a city. All around the meadow part of it was shrubbery and trees, and outside it were streets. We could see the tops of buildings and houses over the treetops in some places.
    "If Chase gets out of here and into the city, how are we going to ever catch up with her?" Seamus said, puffing as he ran.
    "Good question," I said, also puffing.
    We were getting close to the edge of the park. We could see buses, cars, and people walking through the trees. There was no sign of a little black ghostly rabbit.
    "Know what it is?" Neddie asked. We had stopped running and were standing bent over, our hands on our knees, breathing hard.
    "No, what?" I asked.
    "We're lost," Neddie said.
    There was a low fence around the park, easy enough to climb over—and there we were, on a busy city street. Everything looked nearly normal. Nearly. There were people walking along, cars, buses, and taxicabs running, shops and apartment buildings. What was not quite normal was subtle. For example, doors are usually rectangular, but in this city, they never were—they were round, usually, sometimes oval. Same thing with windows—the ones in this city were not the window shapes we were used to seeing.
    The clothes people had on were regular clothes, but just a little different from what you'd see on people in Los Angeles—not different colors, but different shades of colors. And there was something different about the light: it was just a tinge more orange than the light we had seen all our lives. When you're lost, ask a policeman—everybody knows that. Here came two of them, strolling along side by side.
    "You kids look a little lost," one of the policemen said. "Anything we can do?"
    The policemen had nice soft brown eyes and long, intelligent noses. Their fur was a rich golden-brownish color, and they had silky-looking floppy ears.
    "The policemen are Labrador retrievers," Neddie whispered.
    "Nonsense," Seamus whispered. "Labrador retrievers are about twenty-two inches at the shoulder. These policemen are much taller than that."
    "Seriously, kids," the policeman said. "You look a little disoriented. Are you in any sort of trouble?"
    Then one of the policemen whispered to the other, "Wait! That kid! Can it be? Is it him?" He was looking at Neddie.
    Both policemen took out cards. The cards had a picture on them. They looked at the cards and they looked at Neddie. Then they looked at the cards again. "Is that him in the picture?"
    "It isn't anyone else!"
    "Yaaay for us! We got him!"
    "Would you mind telling us your name?" one of the Labrador retriever policemen asked.
    "It's Neddie," Neddie said.
    "Well, I'll be an uncle's monkey," the policeman said.
"It is him! Neddie, we're going to have to ask you to come with us."
    "Come with you?" Neddie asked. "Why?"
    "We'll explain everything to you when we get downtown," the policeman said. Each of the policemen took Neddie by an elbow. "Just come along peacefully," they said.
    "You're taking Neddie away?"
    "We have to. We have his picture. We've been looking for him."
    "But he didn't do anything. We just arrived here!"
    "Of course he didn't. Of course you did."
    "But what about us? Can we come along?"
    "Sorry, kids. We don't have any instructions about you coming along."
    "But we're lost!"
    "If you're lost, ask a policeman—that is, ask another policeman. We have to take Neddie in now."
    "At least tell us where we are."
    "You are in New Yapyap City. Have a nice day."

CHAPTER 39

Neddie!
    "Neddie! They took Neddie away!" I said.
    "Took him
in.
They said they were taking him
in,
" Seamus Finn said.
    "We don't know where they took him," I said.
    "They said they were taking him downtown," Seamus said.
    "And we don't even know which way downtown is," I