Things had been very busy at the Bridge over the past few weeks -- a
lot of fuzzy's were crossing before winter set in. No. 421 and Oliver
were settling in, the garden had been composted, all the outside work
had been done, and there was food aplenty in the cupboard.

Oliver was just finishing up the breakfast dishes and No. 421 was
enjoying a second cup of ferretone tea when there was a tapping on
the door. Bluebird was there with a ticket in her beak.

"Hi No. 421," she said. "We has a ferret that crossed a month ago and
you needs to send Oliver to find him. His name is Thyme, and he is one
of the Aussie Fuzzies. We think he is staying somewhere with other
ferrets, but now, Sage and his family is looking for him."

"Would that be Sage from the Winchester Weasel Mound down near the
falls, No. 421 said? "He spoke to me just the other day and asked i
 we had seen Thyme."

Bluebird dipped her wings and flew away. No. 421 finished his tea and
put on his boots.

"Oliver, what are you doing this morning?" he said. "Want to go with
me, or stay here and finish picking up?"

Oliver decided to finish his work, so he told No. 421 to take care and
if he stopped at Bakin' Bertha's they were all out of cookies.

No. 421 started down to the Ferretone Falls when he heard some ferrets'
dooking down by the Otter Slide. They were having so much fun, he
decided to go over and see what was going on.

"Hi No. 421, where is Oliver," one ferret said. "We are using the slide
till the Otters come back. Want to take a turn?"

"Thank you, but I cannot play right now," No. 421 said. "Have any of
you seen a ferret named Thyme? He is one of the Aussie Ferrets, and he
passed awhile a go. Somehow we missed him, and now I have to find him."

Just then, a group of ferrets came running up the hill from the falls.
D"Weezil, Snow, Buford, Spotty and Sage, and one he did not know rushed
to the top of the slide and stretching out, slid on their bellies to
the bottom.

"Who have we here," No. 421 said. "Aren't you the Winchester Weasels?
And who is this new feller?"

"Hi Mr. my name is Thyme," said the last ferret up the hill. "I arrived
a while ago, and there was no one at the gate to greet me. I signed in,
wandered around, stayed with some ferrets over by the Silver Brook,
asked a few questions, and found my family last night. Sorry if I upset
you, but I did not want to cause any trouble."

"That's okay," No. 421 said. "You sister Missy was upset thinking you
had not found your family and she was asking about you. Now that I have
found you and you are with your family, we can send a message back that
you are alright."

"Oh thank you," Thyme said. "Tell Missy not to cry, we are alright here
and having fun. Whisper to her that we love her, and we'll be watching
to see if she twitches her ears while she sleeps. Then we will know she
has our message in her heart."

Shooting Star was sleeping under a cloud puff, so No. 421 called Gentle
Breeze to deliver the message.

"And tell Mom I love her, and not to cry for me," Thyme said. "We'll be
together again, and we all send her best wishes for a Merry Christmas."

And with that, the Aussie ferrets started throwing kisses for Gentle
Breeze to take back to Momma Sue.

Gentle Breeze filled up his pockets and started down to see Momma Sue.
No. 421 walked slowly back to his cabin. He hated to miss a ferret
crossing, but that was before The Receiving Angel had help at the Gate.
That would not happen as much now.

Back at the cabin, Oliver was taking a nap in his hammy and No. 421
wrote in his logbook, Mission accomplished. All the Aussie Ferrets are
together and having fun while they wait for their Momma Sue.

[Posted in FML 6551]