Oliver was in the tool shed waxing the runners of his sled. It would
soon be winter and he wanted to be ready. No. 421 was taking a
much-needed nap, as there had been a lot of traffic at the bridge in
the past few days.

There was a flutter of wings and Bluebird perched on the open door of
the shed.

"Oliver," she chirped. "Put down that wax and come over here. I has a
very important job for you to do. Besides, you are never going to fly
like me, no matter how much wax you use."

Oliver had hoped to fly over the cloudbanks in his sled, but Bluebird
had a point, he probably never would get it off the ground.

"Okay" he said. "What do we have here?" "Let me see, a black, white and
tan girl ferret with a cute mask!! Do I have to tell No. 421, Bluebird?
Can't I just go alone?"

"No" Bluebird chirped. Take that ticket to No. 421 and then get
yourself to the Bridge." Saying that, she flew away.

Oliver put his wax and cloths away, closed up the shed and started for
the house. No. 421 was up from his nap and out on the porch. "Hey
Oliver," he said. What have we here? " He took the ticket, read it over
and taking his jacket down he told Oliver to get cleaned up and come up
to the Bridge.

No. 421 was just getting settled when he heard the sounds of someone
walking very slowly over the planks. A very nice lady ferret was
walking slowly toward him. She had her head down and he thought she
might be crying.

"Hello little one," he said. "What is the matter? Are you all right?
What is your name?" he said.

"My name is Sassy and I miss my home and my bestest friend Red," Sassy
said. "I'm afraid with out her, we were always together."

" Now you stop crying help me pick up this trail of Forget-Me-Not
flowers that grew from your tears," No. 421 said. As soon as Oliver
gets here, we are going back to the Gate. I have orders to see that you
meet up with Skye and he will know what to do to help you. He knows
where your brothers and sisters are and he will take you to them. I
believe they are called the "Raisin Crew. You can take these flowers
with you." Sassy sniffed, and stopped crying. She dried her tears on
No. 421's arm. "Will Red be there," she asked. No. 421 said her buddy
Red would not be there at this time, but she would come at a later
date.

"In the meantime, you can fix her a room and Skye will introduce you
to some other young lady ferrets that you can become friends with,"
he said.

Oliver arrived and No. 421 told him they were going to the Gate.
"Oliver put on his best manners and asked Sassy for her paw. "No, no,
I'll help her." No. 421 said. "It is just over the next hill, but you
don't want to trip over a cloud and fall. Oliver, go ask the Receiving
Angel if Skye is available to help Sassy here?"

The little group started back to the gate and approached the Receiving
Angel's desk.

"Hello No. 421 and Oliver, Skye is getting me some more tickets just
in case I need them. He'll be here in a minute."

Skye came around a cloud pillar carrying a stack of new tickets. "Hey
Sassy, that you" he said? You're looking great."

The Receiving Angel turned to Skye and asked him if he knew where the
Raisin Crew lived.

"Yes Sir," he answered. "But, well, could I talk to you for a minute?"
The Receiving Angel and Skye put their heads together and all you could
here was whispering. The Receiving Angel shook his head and frowned.
Then he smiled, and the two walked back to Oliver, No. 421 and Sassy.

"Is something wrong?" Oliver said. "Did I make a mistake?"

"No, nothing is wrong, but Skye here has a suggestion. It seems that
Sassy can go and live with the Raisin Crew, they are just over that
ridge of cloud, but he thought she might like to stay here and visit
with him for a while. He said he could use, ah, some house keeping
help. Maybe Sassy could stay here for a couple of days; just to pull
things together and then he would take her to the Raisin Crew. She
could live there and come in say one or two days a week to, well, how
to put this delicately, straighten up, shall we say."

The Receiving Angel was flustered, as he knew Skye was a wonderful
worker and friend, but not one of the best housekeepers. Sassy
brightened at that thought and began to smile. She could do that. That
would give her something to do while she waited for Red and her Mom.

"I think I could do that," Sassy said. "Could I send her a message
telling her I'm okay now?"

Shooting Star stepped forward and gave Sassy a pointed hug. "You tell
me what you want to say and I will deliver it tonight," she said.

"Tell my Mom I will be here waiting for her," Sassy said. "Tell Red I
love her and will fix a room for the two of us when I get to my real
home. Until then, I will help Skye keep his mound presentable and
spend the rest of the week with the crew. Love ya all, Sassy."

Shooting Star wrapped up the message and left, The Receiving Angel was
happy that Skye had help with his chores, and Sassy gave No. 421 a hug
and Oliver a kiss on the cheek for all their help.

The two friends started back up the path, Sassy and Skye started for
his mound behind the gate, and The Receiving Angel breathed a sigh of
relief. He had really been worried about Sassy, but now, everything
would be all right.

Back home, Oliver and No. 421 sat down for a supper of N-Bone stew and
No. 421 wrote in his logbook, Mission Accomplished. Sassy is in good
hands and smiling. Some crossings are difficult, but we were successful
again.

[Posted in FML 6884]