The girls and Buzz awoke in mid-morning, as the sun warmed their bellies
and backsides.  They brushed the sleep from their eyes, and resumed their
journey to the east.
    "Do you think that the hunters woke up yet?"  Sammi asked as they
walked.
    "Probably," Rosie replied.  "Boy, I bet they were mad!"
    "Yeah," Maxie added.  "Tee hee hee."  Suddenly they entered a small
clearing in the trees, and stumbled upon a large boulder, with a black and
white object on top.
    "Well hello," The thing said.  "How are we doing this morning?"
    "Huh?" Sammi said.
    "Who is it now?"  Wiggles sighed.
    "Boy," Maxie stated, sniffing the critter's behind.  "You stink worse
than us!"
    "Why of course," It replied.  "I am a skunk.  My name is Pierre."
    "A skunk?"  Sammi asked.
    "Yes," Pierre answered.  "You four are domestic ferrets right?"
    "That is correct," Wiggles stated.
    "Well then," Pierre declared.  "We're not much different.  We are both
from the Mustelid family."
    "The mustard family?"  Rosie said.  "What does that spicy stuff that Dad
puts on his sandwiches have to do with ferrets?"
    "No, no, no..." Pierre proclaimed.  "Sit down.  Let me tell you a
story..."
    "Woah!"  Sammi exclaimed.  "Another story!"
    "Skunks and domestic ferrets have a similar evolutionary history."
 Pierre began.  "Some smart scientist-type somewhere decided to give us the
name Mustelidae and lump us all into the same family.  That is because we
have similar characteristics, such as long, slinky bodies, short, rounded
ears, short legs, and anal scent glands.  Other members of our fine family
are weasels, minks, otters, badgers, wolverines, fishers, martens, ermines,
and black-footed ferrets."
    "You mean that we are cousins of our friend, Otter?" Maxie asked.
    "Yes," Pierre answered.
    "What about raccoons?"  Rosie questioned.  "They have masks on their
faces like we do!"
    "Well," Pierre explained.  "Raccoons are in another family than us
because they have ringed bands on their tails, even though they look a lot
like us."
    "Woah," Sammi exhaled.
    "So,"  Rosie said.  "Black-footed ferrets are our cousins too?"
    "Yes,"  Pierre replied.
    "We are going to go rescue them from that bad guy, Fang," Sammi stated.
    "Really?"  Pierre responded.  "Do you know your way to his lair?"
    "No," Wiggles stated.  "We don't.  And personally I think that we should
give up this whole lunacy and go home to Mother and Father, who are
undoubtedly worried sick about us."
    "Well," Pierre suggested.  "I could lead you through the Evil Swamplands
to his home."
    "Really?!" Rosie exclaimed.  "Would you do that?!"
    "Sure," Pierre added.  "The beginning of the marsh is less than a mile
away from here."
    "Thank you so much," Maxie said.  Suddenly, from out of the trees came
another animal, half the size of a ferret, which glided down to the ground
next to the girls, and was screaming, "Fire!!!  Fire!!!  Run for your
lives!!!"
 
    (to be continued...)
[Posted in FML issue 1664]