“What’s that?” Squirrel leapt lightly to my shoulder and leaned into my ear in a confiding way. Everyone was ignoring Big Rabbit who had been slowly returning to normal. However, this new line of conversation had him turning scarlet again. His nose began twitching back and forth.

“Fairy Hunter’s, Ink. is a small band of fairy hunters”, explained Ashley.

“There’s no such thing as fairies,” Squirrel said.

Big Rabbit, overcome by various strong feelings, gave a loud harrumph.

“Shows all you know!” Big Rabbit said in a superior manner. Unfazed Squirrel had begun to chase his tail again. Then he stopped suddenly and swayed on his feet as if dizzy, which indeed he was from all his gyrations.

“I’ve never seen one,” Squirrel said firmly, and his nose twitched as he began to sniff about. “Any nuts here? I’m hungry!”

“There aren’t any nuts,” said Ashley, “We never bring nuts.”

“No nuts?” Squrrel said in a horrified voice.

“Well we didn’t know you were coming, after all,” I said calmly. I’m sure we can bring nuts next time.”

“Do you eat only nuts?” This from Ashley, ever curious.

“Well, no, I eat acorns too. But it’s too early for acorns. Sometimes I eat tomatoes and corn from people’s gardens. But they get very angry with me and they bring their guns. So i stay away from gardens.”

“Very wise, I’m sure,” I said.

Squirrel, whose thought processes were as jumpy as he, himself, returned to his original topic of conversation. “Do you really hunt fairies?”

“We really do,” replied Ashley proudly.

“Then I want to hunt one too. How do you know they’re about?” Squirrel had jumped up on my shoulder again and was breathing lightly in my ear, which tickled. I squelched the urge to scratch my ear.

“Well, there are various ways one knows that fairies are about–,” Big Rabbit had begun to speak portentiously (that means he began to talk as if he had something VERY important to say.) But Ashley interrupted him.

“You learn to ’see’ them, like this.” And Ashley stared off into the distance with slightly crossed eyes and a dazed look on her face.

“You look like a zombie,” said Squirrel.

Ashley scowled. “Do not.”

“Do too.”

“Do NOT”.

I interrupted this fruitless exchange before it descended into a real fight.

“We practice seeing them by looking out the corner of our eyes while pretending to be staring forward.”

“Like this?” Squirrel asked, and crossed his eyes, as he squinched up his face (squinching is very odd–you have to smile and frown at the same time.)

“Not quite. It will take a little time but you’ll get the hang of it, I’m sure.” I said with a smile.

Big Rabbit who had been largely silent albeit seething, spoke up, “You’re not agreeing that he should become one of us, are you?” He sounded as horrified as Squirrel had sounded earlier.

“Well,” Ashley said, “He is going to be living in your back yard.”

Big Rabbit groaned, “Don’t remind me.”:

Squirrel, in celebration of his new fairy hunter status, launched himself from my shoulder onto a nearby tree trunk which he quickly scampered up. “Yippee!!!” He shouted, “I’m a fairy hunter!” and did a somersault in midair as he leapt from one tree to another.

Everyone except Big Rabbit clapped.