No. 421 had just about finished raking his lawn and Oliver was putting
away his snowboard for summer when Bluebird came fluttering up to the
fence.

"No. 421" she chirped. "I has a ticket for you from the Receiving
Angel. Seems we has a ferret crossing and I need you to find
Des...Des.,,D.. Desiderio the Ferret for him. Kinda hard to get the
beak around some of the letters."

"Oliver is in the shed," No. 421 told Bluebird. "Go see if he can help
me with these tools and then we will take care of Otter."

Bluebird flew over to the tool shed and perched on the open door.

"Hey Oliver," she chirped. "No. 421 wants you to give him a hand with
the rake and wheelbarrow. Then you had to find some ferret family. We
has a feller named Otter coming over."

Oliver rushed out the door. "Did you say the Otters," he said? "We
don't have their slide fixed yet -- Oh my, what are we going to do. We
used it all winter and it is a mess, hey Bluebird help me out here."

"Sorry Oliver," Bluebird said. "I cannot fly with mud on my wings, and
you should not have been there in the first place." And with that, she
flew away.

Oliver rushed over to No. 421 and picked up the rake. No. 421 put the
last of the leaves in the wheelbarrow and the two friends pushed it to
the shed.

No. 421 told Oliver he had to go find a ferret named Desiderio the
Ferret. "Tell the ferret to meet me at the bridge," No. 421 said.
"Oliver, what is the matter? You are all upset. You must find this
ferret for me now."

"No. 421, I can't help you now." Oliver said. "The Otter is coming back
and we made a mess out of their slide. I has to fix it cause we was not
supposed to be there in the first place."

No. 421 smiled and looked at Oliver. "Oliver, the otters are not coming
back, the ferrets name is Otter. You will be all right, tell your
friends to get to work and you find Desiderio the Ferret for me. I'll
see you at the bridge in a few minutes. I think that ferret lives over
by the big rock at the edge of the Field of Dreams."

Oliver started off for the field, and No. 421 had just settled himself
in his chair when a Roan ferret came walking over the bridge.

"Hello there," No. 421 called. "Welcome to the Rainbow Bridge. I'm
Bridge Greeter No. 421, and my page Oliver has gone in search of some
family you have here."

Otter stepped off of the bridge and stood a ways away from No. 421. He
stood there, looking lost and so alone. He looked at No. 421 and said
in a small voice, "How did I get here, and where is my Mom? I didn't
like her to hold me, but I always knew she was there. Now I is all
alone."

No. 421 told Otter he had been very sick and was not going to get any
better. The Boss called him home so he could recover his health and
wait for his human Mom to come and get him.

Just then Oliver came up the path with a big a ferret in tow. Desiderio
took one look at Otter and rushed over to give him a big ferret hug.

"Hi Otter," Desiderio said. "Good to have family here, I've had a room
ready in my mound for a long time, and had just about given up seeing
anyone I knew. Good to have you here. We have some of The Wrecking
Crew here so you will feel right at home. How was the trip?"

Otter smiled shyly and said the trip was smooth, "I just went to sleep
and woke up here. A man with wings looked me up in a big book and
pointed me down a path. Now that I'm here and with you, everything
will be easier," Otter said. "You say I have other family members
here also?"

The two ferrets hugged again and Desiderio thanked No. 421 for finding
him and helping Otter.

"I'll take him home with me and we will get him all settled in,"
Desiderio said. "Please send a message home to his mom that he is here,
we are all together again, and will wait for her to come and collect
us."

Gentle Breeze said she could handle this. She would ruffle the shy
violets in the morning and they would nod Otter hade made the trip
safely. He was such a shy little fellow; he would not want any big
announcement.

The two ferrets started back down the path and Oliver and No. 421
started home. Oliver stopped on the way and saw some of his friends.
They had just come back from repairing the otter's slide and resolved
not to make a mess like that again. The otters would go tell the Big
Boss, and the ferrets would be in trouble.

No. 421 went home and put the kettle on. He wrote in his logbook,
Mission accomplished, Otter is here and reunited with family. Oliver
had his friends fix the Otter's mudslide, and there was no one
complaining. Funny what just the right name can do.

He closed his book and the two friends had a cup of ferretone tea and
some of Bakin' Bertha's raisin cookies.

[Posted in FML 6659]