Greetings for Ivan

Life had been very busy at the Bridge over the past few weeks, and No.
421 and Oliver were taking a day to relax on their porch. It was still
a little too early to put the garden in, but they were all ready.

There was a flutter of wings and with a swhoosh, Bluebird landed on the
porch railing.

"Hi Oliver," Bluebird chirped. "I has one more ticket here for you.
Says we have a fuzzy named Ivan crossing and he needs a little special
care. His Dad posted but did not say if he had family here or not, so
I guess you has to get up out of that comfy chair and see what we can
do."

No. 421 took the ticket and told Oliver this ferret was loved by his
Dad Randall and will be missed by his brother Gunther and sister Kiki.
But there was no one here to greet him.

"Being the first ferret is hard," No. 421 said. "Why don't you go down
to the Field of Dreams and see if there is an open mound lot. We'll
greet Ivan and you can get some of your friends and help him set up
housekeeping."

Oliver got up and started down to the lower field. He passed some
ferrets on the way that were going fishing. Other ferrets were out
tending their chickens or just chatting with their neighbors. He
passed Shay's mound; he was out fixing a window.

"Hi Shay," Oliver said. "Do you know of any vacant mound lots?"

Shay thought a moment and said, "Wait a minute, I saw one over by the
Raisin Grove. Go down here and turn left, right in front of you."

Oliver skipped down the path and came upon a nice quiet lot that needed
a little work, but would make a nice home. He wrote in the dirt in the
front of the lot "Welcome Ivan".

Back at the Bridge, a lone ferret was walking over the planks and
looking lost.

Hey there," No. 421 shouted. "Come on over, I'm No. 421 Bridge greeter
and you must be Ivan.

"Yes," the ferret said. "Where am I and how did I get here? Where is
my Dad and Gunther. Kiki will be looking for me too. Am I lost?"

No. 421 explained he was at the Rainbow Bridge and he would be here
waiting for the rest of his family.

"Some day, they will come for you and you will all be together again,"
No. 421 said. "Until then, my currier Oliver has gone to pick out a
mound lot for you and we will set about fixing up a place for you to
stay."

Oliver came back up the path and hurried over to Ivan. "Hi Ivan,"
Oliver said. "I'm Oliver, currier for No. 421, and I have picked out
a really nice lot for you. If you're done here, we can go there now."

No. 421 said that as Ivan did not have family, he should set about
fixing up a place before nightfall.

"Oliver, you should stay and help him," No. 421 said.

Shooting Star offered her services to Ivan to take a message back to
Dad Randall.

"Can I see where I'm going before I send the message," Ivan asked.

"Of course you can," Shooting Star replied. "Let's see what Oliver
has picked out for you."

"I don't know anything about building a mound," Ivan said. "My Dad
always took care of me. What can I do now, I'm all alone and I don't
know how to build a mound."

The two ferrets and Shooting Star were almost to the Field of Dreams
when they heard a racket coming from the Raisin Grove. Someone was
shouting orders.

The little group hurried down the path. Maybe the lot belonged to
someone else and Oliver had made a mistake.

As the three came into the clearing, someone was framing in a mound on
the lot. Oliver was very upset and went over to the one ferret that
seemed to be in charge.

Shay seemed to be everywhere at once.

"Hi Oliver," Shay said, "I saw Bluebird and she told me a lone fuzzy
was coming. I'm not working today, so I rounded up some friends and we
will have this livable by nightfall. Hi there, you must be Ivan. What
we have done is just frame this in and you will be able to sleep here
tonight. Tomorrow, you can put the finishing touches on it and we'll
help you get settled. You can eat with us tonight, and tomorrow, we
will help you finish it off."

Ivan was beside himself with joy. He had a new home, he could make a
place for his family, and he had some new friends. He told Shooting
Star to take a message to Dad Randall.

"Tell him I have arrived, I have some new friends, I have a home, and
I will add a few rooms for my brothers and sisters when they come," he
said. "Tell Dad I miss him, and will wait for him in my new mound."

Shooting Star smiled on all five points. Oliver had some great friends,
and even though ferrets are mischief-makers, they have hearts of gold.

After a running start, she took to the skies and Oliver shook paws with
the crew.

"Ivan will be in good paws," Shay said. "Go tell No. 421 everything is
under control."

Oliver walked back to his cabin and No. 421was just putting on the
teakettle for supper. He had the last of the N'Bones from the Barbeque
heating up and the two friends would have a good supper.

No. 421 wrote in his logbook, Mission accomplished. Oliver found a
vacant lot, Bluebird spread the word to the other ferrets who came and
helped build the mound. Ivan will be among friends. I don't think there
will be a problem. I was concerned at the beginning, but he seemed to
fit right in.

No. 421 put the book back on the shelf and the two friends sat down to
supper.

[Posted in FML 6669]