~~~ At the Valley of Flowers ~~~
Cisco found Isis standing with her hands on her hips, surveying the hillside of violet flowers.
“What are you thinking about, Hon?” Cisco asked.
“I’m thinking we’re going to have to set up a system for collecting and drying the seeds from all these flowers,” Isis replied. “We’re going to have to start growing these beauties in other places too.”
“You’re right,” Cisco said. “If they’re as important as we think they are, they’ll be safer if there are more of them growing in more places.”
“Exactly,” Isis said. “But it’s frustrating because we aren’t working with many facts at this point.”
“Well, we’ve already discovered some interesting things that could prove to be important,” Cisco said. “And we’re putting together a great team here.”
“I agree,” Isis said. “This village is going to be a very special place. I think it will attract good people.”
“Maybe I worry too much, or not enough, who knows,” she said with a sigh.
“Yeah, that’s a familiar feeling,” Cisco said, giving her a hug.
“If you don’t need any help here,” Cisco said, “I’ve got a project I want to get started on.”
“No, I’m fine,” Isis replied. “I’ll just stay here for a while and see if I can come up with any good ideas.”
“Alright then,” Cisco said, “I’ll see you at dinner.”
Back at his work area, Cisco grinned to himself as he started sketching out his latest contraption.
“I love working on these projects,” he thought. “Creating something that’s never been seen before… I like that.”
As he drew, an idea began to form in his mind, and he mentally ticked off the materials he’d need: bamboo for the framework, round stones of a certain size for… well, whatever they were supposed to do, and Moonglow pods for the resin he’d need.
“And everybody that sees this thing is going to think I’m crazy as a loon,” he chuckled to himself, imagining the looks on his friends’ faces when they saw what he’d created.
Returning from gathering materials, Cisco found himself thinking, “No more putting it off. I’m going to actually have to build this thing.”
“Measure, cut, tie, scratch head, cuss… yeah, I’ve got the process down.”
Later that afternoon, Cisco sat back looking at the contraption he’d built.
“Well, that’s really something… I guess,” he muttered.
“Hey guys,” he said, approaching Suki and Shaun, “Can I borrow your fire? I need to make a light device for my project.”
“Sure,” Suki said. “I think we’re running out of new ideas anyway.”
Later, as Cisco was putting the final touches on his project, Shaun remarked, “I can’t make heads or tails of what you’re building, but I’m sure it will do something.”
“Whatever you’re doing, you’re making good progress… I think,” Suki said with a laugh.
That evening at dinner, they were all relaxing, enjoying the meal.
“So, Baxter, what were you up to today?” Isis asked.
“I took Kikki and Tam with me to mark out where we thought the new cabins should go,” Baxter replied.
“We told him about the basic setup at the Hidden Village,” Kikki said, “but we decided to situate the cabins for what works best for us.”
“We’ll have to cut trees to make room for the cabins,” Tam said, “but we want to keep as many as we can. We want the village to be an enjoyable place to live.”
“Some selective clearing of the forest outside the village will do it some good.” Baxter said. “That will give us enough logs for the new cabins. That way, we won’t need to cut any more trees in the village than we have to.”
“So, has anyone picked a particular site for their own cabin?” Isis asked.
“Now that you mentioned it,” Tam replied with a grin, “Kikki and I did find a site that we liked quite a bit.”
“If that’s okay,” Kikki said.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Cisco said. “Isis already has a cabin, but if anyone else wants to claim a site, I say go for it.”
“Let’s be sure to mention it to Jax and Piper when they get back,” Baxter said. “Though I don’t think we’ll run out of good sites for quite a while. This really is a beautiful valley.”
The next few days were spent with everyone busy on their own projects.
Baxter was in the forest cutting trees for the new cabins, while Kikki and Tam were busy bundling cut meadow grass to be used for thatching roofs.
Suki and Shaun were producing different shapes of the light devices that they had finally decided to call ‘Shiners’.
Cisco had finished his contraption and was busy testing and modifying it to get it to work like he had in mind. He promised a demonstration when all the traveling cats were back at the village.
While the others were busy, Isis had been trying out some of her ideas for collecting the violet flower seeds. The only problem was she couldn’t actually collect any seed pods until the flowers were mature. Until then, all she could do was prepare and wait for the flowers to start dropping their petals. That would be the sign that the seed pods were about ready to be collected.
So she waited.
A few days later, Jax returned with his workforce of Rangers. Everyone gathered around to greet the new arrivals.
“Welcome to Flower Village,” Jax said, waving toward Isis’s cabin and the other shelters. “Everyone, these Rangers are here to help.”
“Some of you have already met, but I’ll introduce you all anyway.”
The Rangers stepped forward as they were introduced.
“First of all,” Jax went on, “this is Stony. I’m not sure he came because he wanted to build cabins or if he was just missing Star.” Stony blushed and scuffed at the dirt.
“Next are Juni and Breezy. They’re great workers, but if you get them started, they’ll talk your leg off.”
“Hey, I resent that!” Juni said.
“Why, I remember just last month there was that time when…”
“Yeah, I remember that.” Breezy jumped in. “You didn’t say a word for a week. Of course, you were sick with a real scratchy throat.”
“Now for me, I’ve been known to…”
“And I rest my case,” Jax said, holding up his hands and laughing.
“The big guy there is Benji,” Jax continued. “He’s a good guy and will do whatever you ask him to. So try not to take advantage of him.”
“And finally, this is Zelli. She’s the petite one of the bunch. Her motto is ‘work smarter, not harder,’ plus she loves to climb. She’ll be doing most of the work on the roofs.”
Jax then turned around and introduced the village cats.
“Of course, you all know Cisco and Baxter,” Jax began.
“The lovely lady next to Cisco is Isis; she’s an accomplished healer and our resident know-it-all,” he said with a grin.
“Hey, watch it, Bub. I prefer the term, ‘a veritable fountain of knowledge’,” Isis replied with a grin.
“Um, yeah, that’s what I meant to say,” Jax said with a laugh.
“Next to Isis is her daughter, Suki.”
“She’s Isis’s apprentice and research assistant.”
“The other young lady is Kikki. She came to us from the Hungry tribe. She’s good at anything we ask her to do and is especially adept at dodging giant eagle attacks.”
“And finally, I’m sure you remember Shaun and Tam,” Jax said, pointing to the twins. “But I have to tell you right up front to forget everything you knew about them.”
“What you see before you are the new improved twins,” Jax said, smiling. “Hardworking, kindhearted, and accomplished eagle fighters, though Tam is a little better at taking hits than giving them.”
“All of the young ones have proven to be very good at everything they work on,” Jax added.
“Well, we’re glad you’re here,” Isis said. “We can certainly use the help. There are shelters where you can put your gear. We generally gather in the common area here for our meals.”
“Come on, guys and gals,” Jax said. “I’ll show you where everything is.”
That evening, after dinner, all the cats were sitting around the large fire pit.
“What do you think about our plans for the cabins?” Jax asked the Rangers.
“Well, we have a few questions,” Stony replied.
“Are we actually building a village here, or is this just a temporary research station?”
“I’m sorry,” Jax said. “I should have made that clear. This is my home, and I plan to live here for the rest of my days.”
There was a chorus of agreements from all the resident cats.
“As you can see, we all feel the same,” Jax said. “And we’d be happy if you all decide you feel the same.”
“Well, now that we’ve got that out of the way,” Stony said, “I think we agree with your ideas for the first group of cabins. They’ll be great to house new arrivals to the village who aren’t necessarily planning on living here.”
“But, for the cats who know this is where they want to live, it would be nice to be able to choose their own cabin sites.”
“Funny that you bring that up,” Cisco said. “We’ve already talked about that and decided that everyone should be able to choose the site for their new home. Be aware, though, if you find any markers, that location has already been taken.”
“I wouldn’t worry, though; there’s no shortage of beautiful places to build a home.”
“That’s great to hear,” Benji said. “That gives us incentive to get the first set of cabins built. Then, when we get time, we can start on our own.”
“So, does that mean we’re moving the Rangers’ headquarters from Golden Oaks to here?” Juni asked.
“To tell you the truth, I hadn’t really thought that through,” Jax replied.
“If that many Rangers decide to live here, that might make sense, but I also like the idea of keeping the lodge at Golden Oaks.”
“I don’t think it’s something we have to decide right now,” he went on. “What’s best will become obvious in its own time.”
“Heaven knows, we have enough to keep track of without coming up with more things to worry about,” Isis stated.
“On that point,” Kikki spoke up, “Tam and I have been trying to keep things from getting completely out of hand.”
“I’ve been keeping track of who’s on what projects, who’s traveling, and when they’re due to return.”
“And Tam’s keeping an eye on our food stocks and trying to make sure that we have the building supplies we need.”
“We haven’t been tracking what Isis might need or what Cisco needs for his projects.” Tam said. “We figured they were best for that.”
“You two are really something,” Isis said. “I had no idea you were doing that.”
“You’re right though,” she added, “the things that Cisco and I use are more specialized and we only need them in relatively small quantities.”
“Well, that is, except for the blue light minerals,” Cisco said. “If we start building shiners in quantities, we’re going to have to lay in a bigger supply.”
“You make a good point,” Kikki said. “We’ll add that to our list.”
“Going back to what we were talking about earlier about the first group of cabins,” Breezy said.
“With as many cats that we have now, with perhaps more showing up in the next few weeks, I think we’re going to need a communal cook house to feed everybody.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Jax said.
Thinking for a minute, he decided, “Tomorrow, we’ll modify the layout of one of the cabins to make it a cook house.”
“I hate to interrupt again,” Kikki said, “but that brings up another matter.”
“With all the extra mouths to feed, we’re going to have to increase our hunting and fishing.”
“Maybe the next Ranger or two that show up,” Jax said, “can be assigned to that duty, at least temporarily.”
Conversation died down for a bit as everyone relaxed by the flickering fire.
“I don’t normally say much,” Zelli said, “but I have to say that it really feels good to be here.”
“Yeah, it just feels right,” Stony agreed.
The next morning, the Rangers were ready to build cabins.
“Does everyone know what they’re going to do?” Jax asked.
Baxter said, “Benji and I are on tree felling duty. Today, we’ll drop the trees that are right on the cabin sites.”
Juni said, “Breezy and I are clearing brush and rocks at the sites.”
Cisco said, “Stony and I are going to start hauling up big, flat rocks for the cabin cornerstones.”
Zelli said, “I’ll be pegging out the lines for the cabin walls.”
“Unless you need us for something,” Suki said, “Shaun and I are going to keep making and refining the shiners.”
Tam said, “Kikki and I need to make a supply run to the Hungry village. We’re short on rope and cordage.”
“What are you using to trade for those things?” Jax asked.
Kikki replied, “We were going to ask Luna what they might want.”
“Why don’t you take a couple of the shiners to give them,” Jax said, “just to let them know that we’ll have things to share with them once we get up to speed?”
“Good idea,” Kikki said. “They’ll get a kick out of that.”
“It sounds like everyone has a job,” Isis said, “So I guess I’ll be the camp mom. I’ll take care of the meals today.”
Everyone scattered, and Kikki and Tam headed down the trail to the Hungry village.
~~~ Hungry tribe village ~~~
At the village, they checked in at Willow’s clinic but didn’t find anyone there.
“They must be out doing medical visits,” Kikki said.
“Well, we really came to see Luna,” Tam said. “Let’s go find her.”
They found Luna at her cabin near the village center.
“Hey Luna, are you busy?” Tam greeted her.
“No more than usual,” Luna said with a smile. “What can I do for you today?”
“We’re hoping to get some building supplies,” Tam said.
Kikki said, “We wanted to ask you what you might want in trade.”
“With just starting to build a new village,” Luna said, “I’m surprised you’d have anything surplus to trade.”
“Besides that, with how much the Rangers helped us when we were in trouble, I’m sure my whole village will be glad to help you with what you need.”
“That’s good to hear,” Kikki said. “We’ll try not to take advantage of your generosity.”
“We did bring you a few things to show you something of what we’ve been up to.” Tam said. “We’ll have more to share in the future. Let’s go inside and I’ll show you what I mean.”
Inside, he pulled out the small shiners, handing one to Luna.
“Here, hold it like this,” Kikki said, showing her. “Now shake it a few times.”
Luna let out a startled gasp when the beam of blue light lanced out.
“That’s the darnedest thing I’ve ever seen!” Luna exclaimed. “How does it do that?”
Tam laughed. “For now, it’s a trade secret.”
“Before you get carried away,” Kikki said, “these are just samples. Each one will only last so long before the stuff inside needs to be replaced.”
“Eventually, we’ll have enough of that material that we can supply as much as you want,” Tam said, “but for now, we’re just giving out samples.”
“Well, I can tell you that everyone is going to get a real kick out of these,” Luna said with a grin. “So, what kind of supplies do you need?”
“We’re building cabins, and we’re going to need rope and binding cord,” Tam said.
“Is anyone in your village set up for making pottery yet?” Kikki asked.
“As a matter of fact, there is a family doing that,” Luna said. “What exactly do you need?”
“For now, just some small jars with lids,” Kikki said. “That’s for Isis’s work with the flowers.”
“Suki made a request for a few dried gourds for a project she and Shaun are working on.”
“I can gather all the stuff for you,” Luna said. “While I’m doing that, can you do me a favor, Kikki?”
“Sure, what is it?” Kikki asked.
“I’d like you to stop in and visit your friend Taniki,” Luna said. “I think she has something to discuss with you.”
“Of course,” Kikki said. “We’ll head over there right now.”
“Good, stop back here when you’re done, and I’ll have the things you wanted.”
“One last thing,” Luna said. “When is this thing going to stop shining?”
“We call it a shiner,” Kikki said. “As long as you don’t shake it again, it will shut down after about 10 minutes.”
“Okay, go visit Taniki, and I’ll see you later,” Luna said.
As they walked through the village, Tam asked, “What do you think Taniki wants to talk about?”
“I might have an idea, but why don’t we just wait and see,” Kikki replied.
Taniki greeted Kikki with a hug. “Come on inside,” Taniki said.
Inside, they were greeted by an assortment of young cats and kittens.
“These are my kids,” Taniki said. “The oldest little girl is Jenique, and that’s her younger brother, Devon.”
“That little girl over there is Kalina, and the two kittens are Pounce and Rowdy.”
“Why don’t you kids play outside for a little while?” Taniki said.
“Okay, Mom,” Jen said, gathering up Pounce. Dev picked up Rowdy, and they all trooped outside.
“That’s quite a family you have there,” Tam said.
“They do keep me busy,” Taniki said. “Have a seat, and I’ll get us some snacks.”
When they were comfortably settled and nibbling on the snacks that Taniki brought out, she began. “Like Kikki, myself, and all these kids lost our parents when the tribe ran out of food.”
“Since we came to the valley, all the families are doing well and getting on with life.”
“Though the tribe has been good at taking care of us orphans, it’s been hard to feel the joy of the rest of the tribe.”
“Feeling alone, we comfort ourselves by being together, but we’ve started feeling separate from the tribe.”
“They refer to us as ‘The Orphans.’ I know they don’t mean anything by it, but it sets us apart.”
“The thing I’d like to ask,” Taniki drew a breath, “is there any chance we can move to Flower Village and become part of your group?”
“I’m sorry it’s been hard for you and the kids,” Tam said, looking sad. Then, smiling at Kikki, he said, “I can tell you without a doubt that you and the kids would be welcome at our village.”
Kikki said, “Tam’s right. You’ll love it there.”
Taniki let out a sob and started to cry. She slumped back as if a weight had been lifted.
Kikki went over and held her until her sobs gradually stopped.
“Have you talked to Luna about this?” Tam asked.
“She was actually the one who suggested it,” Taniki replied. “She wasn’t trying to push us out, but she knew we were unhappy.”
“Well, of course,” Kikki said, “we’ll have to clear it with the group at home, but consider that just a formality.”
“When would you like to make the move?” Tam asked.
“I think I’ll wait to tell the kids until I know that it’s really going to happen,” Taniki said.
“That’s probably best,” Kikki said. “By the way, do you have any particular skills that we can tell the group about?”
“Well, let’s see,” Taniki said. “I’m obviously good at taking care of kids. Also, my parents were hunters, and they taught me a lot about that. The only other thing I can think of is that whenever there’s a tribal get together, they always ask me to do the cooking. They seem to like my cooking, and it’s something that I really enjoy doing.”
“Well, okay then. Thanks for the snacks,” Kikki said. “We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.”
“Right now, we need to pick up our supplies at Luna’s and head back up valley.”
They waved goodbye to Taniki and the kids and headed back to Luna’s place. Holding hands as they walked, they couldn’t help smiling.
When they got back to Luna’s, they saw a pile of items sitting outside the doorway of her cabin.
Luna came outside when she heard them talking. “I think I got everything you wanted,” she said.
“You do good work, Luna,” Tam said. “Be sure and thank everybody who gave us these things. We really appreciate it.”
“Will do,” Luna said. “And by the way, I’m going to show off the shiners tonight after dark. It should be a fun time.”
“I’ll bet it will be,” Kikki said.
“We talked to Taniki. She said that she’d already talked with you about how she was feeling.”
“Yes, she did,” Luna replied. “What do you think? Is there a chance the bunch of them can move up to your village? And do you think they’ll be happy there?”
“I think they’ll love it there,” Kikki said. “We’re going to run it by the group as soon as we get back. I can’t imagine that they won’t be thrilled to have Taniki and the kids.”
“Well, get going then,” Luna said. “I can’t wait to see her and the kids happy again.”
“Okay, thanks again for the supplies,” Tam said. “We’ll load up and get going.”
A few hours later, they were back at Flower Village. They dropped their loads at the shelter where they were keeping the tools and the building supplies. Then they went to check on the work groups.
That evening, after dinner, Kikki and Tam presented Taniki’s case to the group. The group’s response was basically, “What’s she waiting for? Get her and the kids up here.”
“There is a consideration though,” Jax said, getting everyone’s attention. “Where are we going to put them?”
“I think Isis’s cabin is pretty well maxed out,” Benji said.
“They could take one of the shelters,” Suki said. “But that might not be ideal with all those kids, especially the two kittens.”
“It sounds to me like where they’re living right now is better than a shelter,” Isis said. “I propose that we suggest she stays where she’s at until we get a cabin done for her.”
“You mentioned that she loves to cook and has done it for her whole tribe,” Jax said. “What about if we concentrate on building the cooking house and modify it to add a nice sized attached living quarters?”
“How long do you think that would take?” Kikki asked.
Baxter answered, “I think we could have the basic structure up in a week, with maybe another four or five days to get the living quarters livable. We can fit out the main cooking area and the rest of the cook house after that.”
“So a little less than two weeks then?” Kikki said.
“Yeah, that’s with all of us working to get the walls up and the roof on, then it’ll only take a couple working on the inside,” Baxter said. “The others can go back to building the rest of the cabins.”
“I’m going to make a quick trip down the valley to let Taniki know what we came up with,” Kikki said.
“As long as you’re going to make another trip down there,” Cisco said, “I have a special request.”
“Ask Luna if they’ve found where the Old Tribe did their flint knapping. Generally, a tribe will make all their knives and tools in the same spot year after year. There should be a lot of flint chips there. That’s what I need, a big bunch of chips. If they’ve found the spot, I’d like to come down and sift through the dirt to collect the chips.”
“Sure, I’ll ask her,” Kikki said. “Anyone else have anything?”
There were shaking heads all around, and the conversation went back to making plans for the next day.
The next morning started with a hearty breakfast of fish cakes that Isis made with freshly caught fish and wild bird eggs scrambled together. After helping Isis clean up after everyone left to get started on the cook house, Kikki grabbed her pack and headed downstream to give Taniki the news.
She found Taniki sitting in her yard with the kids gathered around. Seeing Kikki walking up the pathway, Taniki went to meet her.
“What’s going on?” Kikki asked when she saw that Taniki looked upset.
“It was my fault,” Taniki said. “The kids could tell that something was going on with your visit yesterday. When I didn’t want to tell them what it was about, they assumed it was something bad. I didn’t pick up on that, and the more they talked about it with each other, the more worried and then scared they got. By morning, they were some very unhappy kids.”
“Well, you’d better go tell them that you’re all coming to live at Flower Village,” Kikki told her with a big smile.
Taniki ran back to the kids, waving for them to gather around. When they were settled, she began.
“You’ve heard of the village upstream from here?” Taniki said. “It’s where the cats that brought us to this valley live.”
“The cats who live there are really nice,” Kikki said. “I understand that you’ve already met a couple of them.”
“I don’t think we know anybody from that village,” Jen said, and the others nodded in agreement.
“Do you remember the trip from your old village to this valley?” Kikki asked, bringing a round of nods.
“And do you remember the nice cat that told you stories every night before you went to sleep?”
“Oh yes, we do remember him. He was really nice,” Dev said. “I miss those stories.”
“Well, his name is Jax, and he lives at that village,” Kikki said.
“We called him Uncle Jax.” Kali said with a smile.
The two kittens, Pounce and Rowdy, started chanting, “Unka Jax, Unka Jax.”
When they settled down, Taniki finally told them the news. “Well, their village is brand new, and they’ve asked us to move up there and help them build it.”
“They want us to live there forever?” they asked.
“Forever. They’ll be our new family,” Taniki said.
“We wouldn’t be orphans anymore?” Jen asked.
“None of you will ever be orphans again,” Kikki said gently.
“You will have a lot of aunts and uncles though,” she added with a grin.
“That sounds like fun,” Dev said.
Kikki turned to Taniki. “Let me tell you the idea that they had.”
“They were already going to build a large cabin to be a cook house to feed all the cats working on the village. It’s going to be a while before the cats have their own individual cabins.”
“When I told them how you liked to cook and could do it for large groups, they came up with an idea.”
“They’re still building the cook house, but they’re adding on a large living quarters.”
“Their idea is for you and the kids to live there and cook for the village, at least until it settles down to be a more normal village. After that, you could still live there or have a cabin built wherever you like.”
“Does that sound like something you would want to do?” Kikki asked.
“Something I would want to do? It sounds like something I was born to do!” Taniki responded excitedly.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Kikki said with a grin.
“They only started on the cook house this morning. They figure it will take a little less than two weeks to have the whole building up and roofed in and the living quarters ready to move in.”
“It’s not going to be easy to wait that long, now that we know,” Taniki said, “but then there are things that need to be taken care of before we go, and a lot of goodbyes to say.”
“Remember, too, you’re only moving a couple of hours upstream,” Kikki said.
“You can always come back here to visit.”
“That’s true,” Taniki said. “So, there’s no need for any sadness. Only happiness.”
“Isn’t that right, kids!” Taniki shouted, jumping up and giving each kid a hug.
“Thank you so much,” Taniki said, hugging Kikki. “You don’t know how much this means to us.”
“Well, yes, actually, I do,” Kikki replied with a grin. “Remember, I was an orphan once myself.”
That brought a happy laugh from everyone, even the two kittens. Of course, they were only laughing because everyone else was.
“Now that the mood has lightened around here, I’m going to leave,” Kikki said. “I need to go talk to Luna about something new we need at the village.”
“I’ll check back in a week to let you know how things are progressing. If something comes up on your end, you know where Flower Village is. Just head upstream, and in a couple of hours, you’ll be there.”
They parted with hugs, and Kikki went to find Luna.
“Well, hi Kikki,” Luna said. “I didn’t expect you back so soon.”
“I came down to give Taniki the good news.” Kikki said. “I’ll let Taniki fill you in on the details, but the good news is that the cats at Flower Village are really looking forward to having her and the kids move there.”
“I’m relieved to hear that,” Luna said. “I know they’ll be happy there.”
“But to tell you the truth, we’re all going to miss her cooking.”
“Well, now you have an excuse to come and visit us,” Kikki said with a grin.
“Good point,” Luna replied. “Was there anything else that you needed?”
“It’s a little odd, but then it’s something that Cisco wanted,” Kikki said. “Maybe our ‘odd’ is his ‘normal.’”
“He wanted to know if anyone in your tribe has found the Old Tribe’s flint knapping site.”
“As a matter of fact, we found that fairly early on,” Luna replied. “The cats that found it were curious about the Old Tribe’s knapping techniques. They were hoping to find some pieces that had been worked on. They dug up a good part of the site and sifted the dirt for anything left there. What they found looked very similar to what we make today.”
“That’s interesting,” Kikki said, “but what Cisco wants is the flint chips that are left from whatever was being worked on.”
“Okay, you’re right, that is odd,” Luna said. “Let’s go talk to the cats who were digging at the site.”
Going directly to the site, they found a cat throwing dirt on a screen.
“Did you find anything interesting?” Luna called to him.
“Hi Luna, no, I’m just finding failed attempts,” the cat replied. “You know, what you get when you’re halfway through making a knife or a spear point and it breaks. That’s what I’m finding.”
“Is that Kikki with you?” he asked.
“Hey Pinky, how ya doing?” Kikki called in greeting.
“Haven’t been standing too close to the fire lately, have you?”
“No, and it was just that once. It’s all healed up and the fur’s grown back,” he said indignantly.
“I don’t know why everybody still calls me Pinky,” he said, rubbing his butt cheek.
“It’s just because we love you,” Kikki said with a laugh.
“Is that screen you’re using fine enough to catch any flint chips?”
“Anything less than a quarter inch falls right through,” he said.
“Why do you ask?”
“One of the cats up at Flower Village, who is kind of a mad inventor, wants a bunch of flint chips for one of his projects,” Kikki explained.
“Did you see the light show that Luna put on last night?” she asked.
“I sure did,” he replied, “That was really something.”
“Well, that was one of his inventions,” Kikki said.
“Do you have a bag to put the chips in?” he asked.
“I’ve got a pretty good pile of them here. Help yourself.”
Kikki pulled a bag out of her pack and handed it to Pinky.
“Hold this while I scoop the chips in,” Kikki said.
When the bag was full, Kikki tied it shut and put it in her pack.
“That’s all I need. Thanks for your help, Pinky,” she said.
“And thanks for your help, Luna. Cisco’s going to be happy to get these.”
“All part of the service,” Luna replied. “I’ll see you next time you’re down here.”
Kikki waved goodbye to Pinky and headed back for Flower Village.