Things had been kind of quiet at the Bridge and No. 421 was getting
his cabin ready for winter. Oliver had settled in nicely, and it was
fun to have someone to talk to. Miss Rogue and Bandit had settled into
Oliver's mound and, so far, things were going well.

Oliver was helping to bank the cabin against the winter chill, when
Bluebird came fluttering up to the fence.

"Hi Oliver," she chirped. "I have a note for No. 421 from the Receiving
Angel. He said a cute little girl by the name of Sugar Bear is going to
cross. You better hurry up and tell No. 421 so you can be there to
welcome her."

With that said, Bluebird flew away.

All Oliver heard was cute, sugar, and girl. He dashed into the cabin
almost knocking No. 421 over and rushed into the shower.

"What's the hurry," No.421 said. "You must be in an awful rush to get
somewhere."

"Well, ya, kinda." Oliver said. "We has a new arrival and I needs to
get cleaned up to greet her," Oliver said.

"Her, her?" No., 421 said. "We have a girl ferret crossing? Where is
her ticket -- I need to see that."

"Uh, Oh well, it is in my pocket -- you have been working hard, why not
let me take care of this one?" Oliver said.

Hey, don't take all the hot water," No. 421 said. "I just might need to
look good too."

The two ferrets hurried around getting dressed, combing hair, and
trying to get to the Bridge before the new arrival.

"What is her name," No. 421 asked as the two were walking out the cabin
door.

"Sugar Bear" Oliver said. "What a sweet name. Why I'll bet she is just
as sweet as she sounds."

No. 421 rushed back into the cabin.

"Why didn't you say she was a sweetie," No. 421 said. "Sugar Bear
sounds like I need to be extra special good looking."

No. 421 was slicking his hair down, trying to get it to look "cool" but
his cowlick just kept on springing up. In desperation he duct taped it
down, hoping no one would notice.

No. 421 and Oliver arrived just as a cute little sable girl ferret came
wandering over the Bridge. She was a beauty, and No. 421 just stood
there watching her.

Oliver, for once, was speechless.

"Hi" she said. "My name is Sugar Bear and I'm lost. I was home with my
Momma Greta and now I is here. I am lonely and I miss my momma. Can you
help me?"

"Welcome to the Rainbow Bridge," No. 421 said. "This will be your
forever home until Momma Greta comes for you. Do you have anyone here
with whom you could live till she comes?"

"I has some ferret family, Chloe, Moon and Ziggy who went somewhere a
while ago and I never saw them again. Do you know if there are here?"

Down in the Meadow of Dreams, a lone ferret raised his head. Ziggy
sniffed the air, and then he sniffed again. There could be no mistake;
he thought he smelled a scent from his earthly home with Momma Greta.
There it was again.

"Hey Chloe, Moon, do you smell something"? Ziggy said. "Does it remind
you of home? Come on, let's get to the Bridge."

The three ferrets raced over the meadow and up the path to the Bridge.
Ziggy was in the lead, and he stopped so short, Chloe and Moon piled
into him.

"Hey Sugar Bear, that you," Ziggy said. "Hey sweetie, we have been
waiting for you. Glad you made the trip safely. How are things at
home?"

Sugar Bear smiled a beautiful smile and ran to Ziggy, Chloe and Moon.
She hugged each ferret and the four began dooking all at once.

No. 421 and Oliver just stood there and watched the happy reunion.

Finally Ziggy came over to Oliver and thanked him for being there for
Sugar Bear. No. 421 could not take his eyes off of her. She was a
beauty, and he vowed to see her again.

Sugar Bear came over to No. 421 and took his big paw in her little one.
"Thank you" she whispered. "I has family here now, and I won't be
lonesome. We have a lot of catching up to do, so I guess I'll be going
home with them."

Shooting Star was standing on one point in the background. She stepped
forward and offered her services to tell Momma Greta Sugar Bear arrived
safely.

"Oh yes," Sugar Bear said. "Please tell my Momma I'm here with the
family, and they all say "HI" to her."

Then she covered her face with her paws and threw kisses to Shooting
Star to take back and shower on Momma Greta as she slept some night.

Shooting Star sped away and the foursome started down the path to the
Meadow of Dreams. Sugar Bear turned and blew a kiss to Oliver and No.
421 then skipped away with her family.

No. 421 turned to go down the path to his cabin when his cowlick sprung
up and the tape stuck to the tree limb hanging over the path.

"OOOOWWW hey Oliver, don't make any noise, I don't want Sugar Bear to
turn around, OW, but could you kinda unstick me?"

Oliver looked at No. 421 and he could not stop dooking. He climbed up
the tree and out on the limb to unstick No. 421. The limb broke, and
Oliver fell down right on top of No.421 with a thud. Sugar Bear and
her family heard the crash and rushed back to the Bridge.

"Oh, are you alright," Sugar Bear said. "Your not hurt are you?"

"No. 421 was looking through some leaves and blushing and was not able
to answer right away.

"What is on your head?" Sugar Bear said. "Oh, I see, well you did not
break any points on your antlers. You are a very lucky ferret." With
that, she brushed a kiss on his cheek and the four ferrets went off
down the path again.

Oliver could not stop dooking. No. 421 looked so funny with a branch
stuck sort of sideways on his head.

"Antlers, antlers" he said. "Dook dook Antlers. Sideways ones at that.
You really did it up good this time."

No. 421 was not laughing. He carefully pulled the branch from his head
with an OUCH and a good size chunk of his fur.

Still rubbing his head, the two friends arrived back at the cabin.
Oliver began preparing supper, and No. 421 took his crayons and began
coloring in the spot on his head.

Later he wrote in his logbook, mission accomplished, Sugar Bear is here
with her family, and almost all is well.

No. 421 decided tomorrow he would ask Bakin' Bertha if she could knit.
He needed a hat. If he couldn't get a hat, he just might sleep until
the hair grew back. Tomorrow he would ask the Boss how long it took to
grow new hair. He was too handsome a fellow to be bald between the ears
for long.

[Posted in FML 6503]