Oswald dipped the ladle into the beaten old pan hanging over the fire and dipped two scoops of the milky soup into his wooden bowl. He sniffed the contents of his bowl and his belly rumbled. 868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GMqP1FND7
“What we eating today, Br’er?” he asked the scruffy looking brown rabbit on the opposite side of the fire.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PSL0Iyvmz
Br’er Rabbit shrugged his shoulders. “The usual I reckon,” he said as he plopped down on a raggedy blanket. “Garlic, a few wild carrots, a couple taters and what’er critter Allie a’stumbled into.”868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3InnMxcN5k
“It’s squirrel,” said a girl’s voice from behind a patch of bushes that were some ten feet away. The bushes rustled and a blonde girl, no older than nine, stood up. She was pulling up her overalls and tucking in her undershirt.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhiLcPvxIG
“I didn't even see you over there, Allie,” Oswald said as the girl stepped out of the brush and began walking towards them.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcBD44MzQV
“When I'm making water I generally don't mean to be seen,” she said to Oswald as she stopped at her pack and pulled out her own wooden bowl. She scooped some of the thin soup into it and plopped down next to the black and white rabbit.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpx6hYHuBdu
Oswald had wondered where she had gotten off to earlier that morning. Allie had a way of just slipping off and disappearing when she had a mind to. Being gone for an hour or two was just something that he and Br’er has just come to expect during the travel time during the day. It was mostly an advantage for the two rabbits, though, as Allie usually returned with some berries, critters or a better path to take than the one they were currently on. 868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmsBHD7hJc
Dipping his spoon into his bowl and lifting into his mouth, Oswald took his first bite of the soup that the girl had put together. The taste of garlic overwhelmed his palette at first, but he soon decided that the soup was quite tasty.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl43YIvUi5j
They had found a healthy patch of garlic a week or so ago (or maybe more than a week - Time was funny there) and they had been using it in everything they cooked. One night, when they hadn't found any game or wild growing plants to eat, they just drank boiled garlic juice. It wasn't tasty, but having something in your belly instead of nothing is preferable.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jsZJkWgfE
As Br’er had said, there were some carrots in there as well as some of the wild rice that he had found along the trail two days before, a bit of basil they had found growing in a field and the squirrel that Allie had popped with her slingshot. 868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLtyVm9nUuh
He chewed on the slivers of meat that were in his bowl. It was tough and a bit gamey, but tasty in its own way. He eyeballed Allie. “Did you watch the squirrels long enough to…” he said, but was cut off by the girl.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlcfRpW8JD
“To figure out if they were gabbers or not, Oswald?” she said sharply. “Of course I did. When was the last time you remember me consuming a gabber?”868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENKZ5qQYr8
Oswald shook his head and continued eating. “I was just asking.” It was against their rules to eat animals that could talk like he and Br’er.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkp0PnM9Cn
“You ask a little too often these days,” Allie replied. “It's like you don't trust me no more.”868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKb1snIXrmr
That statement was about as ludicrous as it got. Oswald trusted Allie with his life. She trusted him with hers. And they both trusted Br’er with theirs. These three trail companions had been on the road together for a long while. How long? None of them could really say (time was funny there). 868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7yKVPgIksY
“I trust you plenty,” Oswald answered. “Probably more than I should,” he added with a smirk.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0d4C7dwy2F
“Probably,” she giggled. They all got a chuckle out of it. 868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xtr1E5x4x
Later that night, as the moon sat bright in the sky, Br’er reached into his pack and pulled out a beaten wooden box that looked like it had been around for a hundred years. He laid down with his head and shoulders resting on in his pack as he opened the box.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fVpYCWzPB
From it he plucked a compass with copper and gold engravings on it. He tipped it towards the light of their camp fire so he could get a better view of the pointer.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zud6LFr8g
Allie and Oswald both watched him intently. Br’er gently put the compass back into it’s box and laid it next to him. As he tipped his big straw hat down over his eyes he spat out the long piece of grass he had been chewing on.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHpwoMllp6G
“It looks like we’re still a’footin’ it east,” he said.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZIEGDM2P4
His two companions nodded and closed their eyes for the night as well.868Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXQak55cZt
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