by TK Wade
Flopsy nodded. “She’s okay, but she can’t understand anything I’m saying. I was worried she might run away, but so far, she seems content to just sit there. I wonder what her name is.”
Mother turned to leave the tent. “Mister Hooty needs to hear about this. It is very good that she is awake, but there was an incident last night with Fang. That wolf wants to take the child, and we are trying to figure out a way to keep her safe.”
The young rabbit became flustered. “That mean wolf! I won’t let anything happen to her!” She looked back up at the girl and said, “But I wish there was a way to tell you that.” Upon thinking about it, Flopsy had an idea.
*****
Late Morning: Wily was in Donut Park near the border. He was gazing out into the grassy fields. There were not any kids playing there because of the current threat from Fang. Mister Hooty fluttered down to a nearby tree and said to the fox, “Wily, are you busy?”
The fox shrugged. “Why do you care?”
“Because I need your help.”
This surprised Wily. The fox peered up at the owl. “Sorry, but I thought you just said you needed my help.”
“Why are you so surprised?”
Wily scoffed and even chuckled at the owl. “All you ever say to me is that I am going nowhere and that I’m nothing but a troublemaker. The last thing I figured you to do was to ask me for help.”
The owl remained calm. “Wily, look upon this as a chance to prove your worth to this town. I need you to go with Flopsy and guard that human girl. The badgers are too busy guarding the borders, and you are the next in strength to all of them.”
The fox lowered his head. “I’m no match for Fang.”
“You’re better than nothing. The girl has woken up, and I am working on a plan on evacuating her to the nearest human village.”
“How do you even know where one is?”
Mister Hooty sighed at that remark. “Wily, it is one of the perks of being able to fly. Will you help me?”
Wily released an apathetic breath. “Sure, whatever. I’ll watch the stupid girl.”
“Very good. You will take watch during the day, and Snapper will take your place at night. That will give you a chance to go home and rest.”
Wily simply responded, “I’ll head over now, but I still think I am bad for the job.” The fox began to slowly pad away from the owl. Mister Hooty watched him for a bit and then flew back to Oak Pass to plan for the very dangerous trip.
*****
Flopsy peered eagerly over the shoulder of Gumdrop. The mouse was busily drawing on a leaf. The bunny said, “That’s really good.”
Gumdrop commented, “It could be better, but I have never done anything this complicated.”
“Can you go any faster?”
Gumdrop huffed and squeaked, “I am going fast already! Next one will have to be way simpler, but at least the first one should get the point across.”
Wily the fox–who was just lounging at the tent’s doorway–asked, “What are you two gibbering on about anyways?”
Flopsy explained, “Gumdrop is making a picture to tell the human child that we are her friends. She’s putting a lot of work on the first one to avoid confusing her.”
Gumdrop added, “After the first one, we should be able to communicate with simple drawings for the remainder of her visit. It was Flopsy’s idea, and as usual, she is a genius.”
Wily rolled his eyes. “Sounds like a stupid idea to me.”
Gumdrop squeaked, “Done!”
Rabbit and mouse both held up the leaf so that the girl could see. It was a depiction of Flopsy and Gumdrop hugging a happy, poorly-drawn human child with little hearts floating over their heads. The human reached down and took the leaf. She smiled brightly. The message appeared to have been received.
Flopsy hopped. “You did it! Now, give her your pencil and a leaf to speak back.”
Gumdrop complied, and the large girl quickly began scribbling with the tiny pencil and leaf. When she was done, Flopsy and her friend looked at it. The bunny examined, “I see what looks like a house, and that looks kind of like a dinner plate with food on it.”
Gumdrop asked, “Is she hungry?”
“I guess so. I gave her some carrots earlier. I guess I can get Mom to cook up some more food. As far as the house that she drew, I think she is home sick.”
The mouse frowned. “I don’t blame her. I feel really bad for her. Poor thing.”
Wily looked behind him through the tent flap. The sun was beginning to set. The fox released a grumpy sigh and seemed to be waiting for the end of his shift. There was something that he wanted to do.
*****
It was night. Snapper had arrived to take over Wily’s guard duty, and Gumdrop had decided to go home as well. The mouse–for some reason–had been talking the fox’s ears off nearly the whole walk home. It was all about the human girl and how worried she was. It was like she had forgotten who she was even talking to.
The fox looked back at her and finally said, “Isn’t that your house?”
Gumdrop gasped, “It is! I better go to sleep.” She paused. “But didn’t you miss your house back there?”
“Yeah, I guess I was distracted by all your yammering.”
The mouse scrunched up her face. “Well, goodnight. Thanks for helping anyways.”
The fox turned back around and walked back towards his house. Gumdrop entered her house, but just before she had fully closed her front door, she noticed Wily walking back the same way they had been going. She said to herself, “I thought he was going home.” Gumdrop’s curiosity was peaked, and the mouse decided to secretly follow the fox.
Wily stepped outside the borders of Cottontail Pines just past a very thick patch of trees and bushes. He sat there for a moment contemplating things. It was not too long before he heard the voice of Fang, “I was so hoping you would come see me, Wily.” The fox turned his head to the sound of the voice, and he saw the dark form of the wolf make its way into plain view.
Wily answered sheepishly, “Hey.”
The wolf began slowly walking around the smaller fox, “I suppose you have heard of Mister Hooty’s outright rejection of my offer. It is a sad state of affairs, isn’t it?”
“I guess.”
“But you and me, we can be friends, yes?”
The fox looked up into Fang’s eyes. “Have you spoken with… with my family?”
The wolf seemed delighted at the inquiry. “Oh, yes! I am still on very good terms with your lovely family back at Foxtail Glen. It is unfortunate that… well, I am sad to say that they still rather dislike you. I can’t very well see them taking you back. Very sad. Very sad. That is… unless…”
The fox perked up. “Unless what?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Come on, tell me! You can do something, right?”
I suppose I could have a little chat with them and possibly convince them of your newfound nature, that is… if you had a newfound nature.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I am with the reasonable understanding that Mister Hooty plans to evacuate the human girl to one of the towns beyond the Great Forest. All I need from you is their intended direction. I will hide and wait at their entry point, and take the girl for myself despite all their opposition. And you will be able to return to Foxtail Glen with renewed honor.”
Wily cringed at those words despite his attempt to keep a straight face. “You… you are going to eat her?”
Fang began to chuckle. He placed a paw around the fox and pulled him to his side. “Come now, Wily. I know how miserable it is for you to live in this place. All these silly little animals must be driving you out of your mind. An act like this would surely grant you a chance to leave this place. This is what you want; just admit it.”
The fox nodded as he gazed back to the ground. “I want to go back home. I want to be respected again.”
Fang smiled. “Then the choice has already been made, yes?”
“I’ll find out and tell you tomorrow night.”
“Good little foxy.”
Wily made his way back into Cottontail Pines. As wolf and fox separated, only Gumdrop was left in the middle. A rush of surprise and anger flowed through her, and she knew what she had to do.
*****
Early morning: Mister Hooty had been awake most of the night. Although this was fairly normal for an owl, it was not something that he in particular was used to. When he became the leader of Cottontail Pines, he had adjusted his schedule to be like the day-time animals who lived there. The problem was that the incident with the human girl had been keeping him awake as he designed a plan to get her to a more suitable village.
He was just nodding off when none other than Wily shouted up to him from the base of his tree. “Hey!”
The owl nearly fell over from the startling shout. He peered down at Wily with a serious gaze. “Wily, isn’t it time for your shift at Flopsy’s house?”
The fox bore a guilty expression but only for a moment. “I-I was just coming to check on the plans. You know, to get the girl out of here.”
Mister Hooty fluttered down to the ground before Wily. “What has you so concerned with her?”
Wily became defensive. “I’m not concerned! I just don’t think she should be hanging around here is all! I want her to leave.”
To Wily, it seemed like Mister Hooty might know something, but it was unclear. The owl asked, “Do you know why I let you into Cottontail Pines so many years ago?”
The fox scoffed like he was about to say something witty; however, all that came out was, “I dunno.”
“I let you stay here because you were a fox in need. You were crushed by whatever happened to you back at Foxtail Glen. In a way, you were injured just like that girl. Now, I am aware that you dislike living here, and that is probably why you always act up. But the truth is I see a bit more in you. The fact that you have lived here so long is something of an achievement in itself.”
Wily scoffed yet again. “What are you saying?”
Mister Hooty leaned in and eyed the fox intensely. “I’m saying that–for now–I trust you. I see you as a fox that will do what is right when the time comes.”
Wily quivered at the words and could not think of anything to say to that. Mister Hooty then asked, “What in particular did you want to know of my plans, Wily?”
“I… uh… I just wanted to know which direction you were taking the girl–you know, for security reasons. Not that I want to help, but… since you asked me to.”
The owl was deathly quiet for some moments. He finally said, “She will be evacuated from the south-west of Cottontail Pines early tomorrow morning. I look forward to seeing you there, Wily.”
Wily turned and began walking towards Flopsy’s house. “Sure. Whatever.”
*****
Back at the tent, the floor was scattered with drawing leaves as all sorts of conversations had taken place. Gumdrop had crawled up to the human girl’s shoulders and was frantically brushing her hair. “She’s got to look good when she gets back to her people.”
Flopsy agreed, “Falling down like that put her hair in so many knots. It’s good that she will let you do this for her. Have you heard anything from Blacky?”
The mouse replied, “Goober is nursing him back to health. He’s making him a bunch of healthy snacks out of carrots and beets. I heard Blacky has been yelling the whole time about having to eat all that stuff.”
Flopsy giggled. “Well, that’s what he gets.”
Snapper–who had been standing guard–felt a tap on his back. He saw Wily and allowed him to take his place. Gumdrop saw the fox and immediately scowled.
Flopsy smiled at the fox and said, “Thanks for coming again, Wily. Not much longer now.”
The fox sat down and sighed. “So, I guess by the mess you found a way to talk to her?”
“Yeah, she is really friendly too. We never could figure out her name though.”
Wily looked up at the human girl who seemed to be staring back with curiosity. He had never really examined her the previous day. Other than her size and lack of fur, there was a certain personality to her that was not unlike the bunny and mouse who were giving her aid. These feelings did more to annoy the fox than give him admiration for the human.
Gumdrop suddenly jumped down to the ground and said, “Suddenly, I don’t feel like staying here anymore.”
Flopsy asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Must just be the atmosphere. I’ll come back tonight.” She sidled past the fox as if she did not want to touch him. Wily just ignored her.
Flopsy looked at Wily. “I wonder what got into her.”
The fox rolled his eyes. “Pfft. Mice. She probably doesn’t trust me to do the job right.”
Flopsy stepped over to the fox. “You have been doing great. Really, I always knew you had it in you.”
“You still wish it was someone else though.”
Flopsy shook her head. “Wherever you may be from, Mister Hooty trusted you enough to let you live here. In a way, we have all come to accept you, even if you are a little rude sometimes. Face it, you’re family now.”
Wily was utterly surprised to hear that. “Family? You think I’m family?”
“A lot of people do. You don’t ever hear them say it, but everyone here knows you. I mean, yeah, you are rude sometimes and have played a few pranks, but you never really hurt anyone. Me personally, I think you’re a good person who just gets grumpy a lot. Blacky is a little like that. Either way, I think everyone in Cottontail Pines trusts you not to go too far.”
“You trust me?”
“Of course, I do!”
Flopsy looked back and saw the girl holding up the food drawing. The bunny gasped, “Oh! She’s hungry. I need to go get my mom to cook for her again. Just stay here and do what you do best, Wily.”
After Flopsy had left, the fox looked up at the girl discerningly. He walked up to her and sat down. He said, “You’re supposed to be my ticket out of here you know. You’re just a big, stupid human. There’s tons of you out there. Why should I save you?”
The girl smiled and reached down to pet the fox. The feel of her hand between his ears was as annoying as it was very pleasing. He whined to himself as a tear fell from his eye. “This isn’t fair. I didn’t know they trusted me.”
*****
That night, Wily once again approached the border of Cottontail Pines. Little did he know that Gumdrop had been following once again.
Fang padded up to Wily with a big grin. “So, have you made your decision?”
Wily swallowed hard and said, “I know where and when they are taking her.”
“And?”
The fox paused as he thought about the previous day. He looked down for a bit before raising his gaze back to the wolf. “They are taking her out of Cottontail Pines early next morning from the north-east.” Gumdrop had to stifle a gasp when she heard Wily give the exact opposite of what was going to happen.
Fang cackled lightly. “Once the deed is done, I will make sure you are reinstated at Foxtail Glen. That is a promise.”
Wily faked a smile. “Great.”
The wolf turned and began walking away into the grass. “Now, excuse me while I prepare for breakfast.” Wily lowered his head and slowly padded back through the borders. Gumdrop just stood there watching as the fox walked away. Her look of shock slowly formed into a smile.
*****
Early morning: Mister Hooty was at the south-west border with the human girl, Flopsy, Goober, Blacky, and three badgers. Gumdrop was there as well desperately trying to draw a picture of what the girl needed to do.
Mister Hooty whispered, “She needs to know not to leave the badgers at any time. Only they know the way to the human village.”
Gumdrop nodded. “I don’t think she will have a problem understanding this.”
Blacky the skunk rubbed his belly and groaned. Flopsy noticed this and asked, “Aren
’t you over those berries yet?”
The skunk nodded. “Yeah, but it’s gonna take me a full season to get over Goober’s cooking.”
Goober quietly protested with a raised finger, “There was nothing wrong with what you ate. If anything you would have felt worse if I hadn’t done it.”
The skunk still complained, “Tell that to my stomach.”
Gumdrop showed the human a picture of her with two badgers pulling on her arms. There was also a house that they were running to. The large child nodded understandingly and even took one of the badger’s paws.
Mister Hooty said, “You keep low and quiet. If anything happens, protect the girl as much as you can.”
Snapper answered for his badger troop, “We’ll get her home safely.”
Flopsy ran up to the human and handed her a satchel with all the drawings that they had made together. “Take these with you so you can remember us. I had a really great time with you even if it wasn’t for very long.” The bunny looked down and sniffled a bit.
The human girl smiled and gave the bunny a head rub. Flopsy beamed at the touch and hopped out of the way.
Mister Hooty pointed his wing. “Go.”
Everyone watched as the girl was led through the field and eventually into the forest. Flopsy stood at the edge and waved for as long as she could.
From behind them, Wily walked up to the group and took a seat among them. Gumdrop peered up at him and even smiled. She had a newfound admiration for the fox.
Mister Hooty stepped over near him and whispered so that only he could hear, “Gumdrop told me what happened with you and Fang the other night.”
Wily looked at him suddenly. He seemed worried what that would mean for him; however, Mister Hooty just smiled and said, “I’m glad I made the right choice in trusting you.”
Wily did not answer. If anything, this had somehow restored his faith in the animals he was living with. He still wanted to move back to his birthplace, but for now, the place where he lived was really not all that bad.
The end.