For three days the trio continued to tread east over then grasslands. There was plenty of edible plants to be found along the way and Allie popped a few gophers that they ate off a skewer. It was tough and it not very good, but it was meat and it kept their bellies full as they trotted along. 697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIG7vWwbljk
Br’er checked the compass three times a day to make sure they were heading in the right direction. Oswald couldn't even remember a time when they hadn't been following the compass. There were some spirited discussions on why they were even following the blasted thing.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jcpSd4cE7
And the answer was always the same. “We be following it cuz we is spose to,” Br’er would always say. “It were gifted to me by a magic genie. He gived it to me after I freed him from a ring that a sorcerer had a’stuck him into.”697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWZfbvwPdI
Allie and Oswald never quite bought into the whole genie in a ring story that Br’er had told them ever since they met him so many years ago, but they never truly doubted it.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBrt3B6xHJ
It seemed a little too far fetched for them, but they had seen some strange things on the trail since joining up with the rabbit. And Br’er had never lied to them, so they really had no reason to doubt him. He was a trickster, but an honest trickster. To them, anyway. 697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuRLj5H8Ss
There were multiple times they had heard the rabbit spin a yarn to get himself out of danger with a stranger, but even then he would embed just enough truth to make the story totally believable. 697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AyLYnK7md
Be ’er was no dummy. In fact, he was smarter than Allie and Oswald combined. Not that you would ever suspect it with his country time drawl and his slow, lazy speech patterns. Most of the time he came off as a country bumpkin.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNht4gxrj8
And that was just how he liked it. “If ye play dumb your opponent will always underestimate ye,” he would often say. “And underestimating a feller is the most dangerous thing you can do.”697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPE5qx2EXM2
More truth had never been spoken. His two trail mates had seen Br’er get himself (and them) out of pickle of a situation more than once by playing dumb. The trail was a dangerous place and having a smart rabbit like Br’er with you made it that much safer. 697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbhUw3sp7y
And he had some good stories he would tell to keep them busy as they were walking or at night by the campfire. Oswald’s personal favorite was the one Br’er told about the bear and the briar patch back home. Oswald and Allie would start laughing every time they heard it and that only encouraged the rabbit to add a little more detail each time he told it. 697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQBGBRJDko
So, regardless of whether they thought the story of the genie was true or not, they trusted Br’er enough to follow him and the compass. It wasn't like he and Allie were leaving anything special behind anyway.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMDrOVddjl
They had been living in a dilapidated old barn when they happened upon the rabbit. They had nothing but what little the land provided for them at the barn. It didn't take much convincing for the rabbit in the straw hat to get them to leave with him. And they had been traveling ever since.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpT36B5zmcG
As they continued along the grasslands, Allie was thinking of that gopher skewer she had eaten the night before and her stomach started to rumble. It was going to be time to break camp for the night in a few hours and she hadn't gone hunting yet. “I'm heading over yonder,” she said to her friends as she nodded to a patch of hills off in the distance.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1yH47jcsv
“Be careful, Allie,” Oswald said as she walked off into the distance. Before long she was over the first grassy hill and out of their sight. 697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxK53k3Xeo
Searching for signs of game she bent over to get a better look at the ground and what signs it presented to her. She walked for the better part of an hour following a trail of broken and pushed over grass. She stalked silently with her slingshot in her hands and before long she had a good sized turkey corpse strapped to her backpack.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsA64YikX5m
Turkey was a lot more tastier than gopher or squirrel. They would have a good few days of eating ahead of them. She had a little more pep in her step than usual with the thought of eating a turkey leg. And that’s when she smelled it. 697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHcZvd40yj4
The smell of smoked meat was filling the air. Her mouth started to water and she turned her head from side to side to try and determine where it was coming from. Before long she had caught up to Br’er and Oswald. 697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YFSnUOz0y
They crouched behind a bush, looking at an old shack about a half a mile away. The smell was emanating from there.
