Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Millie the fox was having a lovely dream by the fire.  She dreamt that she could fly – no; she could fly - and was soaring above all the streams and fields and forests and hills and villages.  She could see rabbits and squirrels far below, looking at her in wonder as she floated by the clouds, and she enjoyed the look on the flying pigeons faces as she glided into the middle and waved one red-and-white paw at them, and laughed as she speeded off.  She would swoop and dive, and then soar once more, as high as she could go before getting dizzy, and then she– she woke up suddenly at someone touching her!

Wide awake now, she looked dead ahead. It was a human . . . and some furry things that looked fun to sleep next to, but that bit didn’t seem relevant!  The little human looked just as startled to see her, and for a while they both just stared at each other for the longest time, both wide-eyed but not moving.  Of the millions of thoughts racing through her head, the same few kept coming back up.  A human, here? Why?  This can’t be good.  With that, she raised onto all four legs, lowered her head, and gave a low snarl at the intruder, who had now stood up and clenched both of her fists tightly.

“Oh stop being silly, Millie,” came a quiet, calm voice from the depths of Volbert’s collection.  Millie glanced to where the familiar voice had come from. It was Morris the old badger, sat there looking quite content, one paw folded over the other, his back end resting inside a big black cooking pot.  He chuckled to himself.  “Hmm, ‘silly Millie’, it rhymes”.

The intruder seems to be looking from one of them to the other very quickly, trying to keep her eyes on both of them at once.  Still with her fists clenched, she had a determined look on her face.

“She has been here a while now, and all she has done is sat by the fire.  She is cold and tired, just like you,” Morris explained.

“She is nothing like me!” Millie snapped, fixing the human with a stare.

“Really?  You both have the same stance.  If you were human, or she a fox, you would look identical right now. She isn’t here to hurt you. She didn’t know you were there.  Please Millie, go back to sleep, or at least sit down,” Morris had a very soothing voice, perfect for reading a bedtime story in, and although Millie didn’t agree, she was tempted to go back to sleep.  She sat down, but fixed the human with a stare and a little grumble under her breath.   

“I wish she could explain herself, and why she is here,” Millie muttered grumpily.

“Well, maybe she can”, Morris replied, and with that, he nodded at Flake.

The human watched with a keen sense of interest as Flake the red squirrel bounded jerkily towards the battered armchair, sat on the very top, and dangled his bushy tail to where someone’s face would be.  After a few moments, an almighty “aaaaah-CHOOOO” filled the round chamber.