Lester managed to stand up, but was a little unsteady on his paws. Nogdorf, watching Lester, managed to hold in his laughter, until Lester tripped and fell on his face. Nogdorf roared with laughter. Have you ever seen an orange rabbit with a red face? Well, after the red face, Lester put on a sheepish face, realizing he had brought on his problems himself.
They worked quietly together, making Nora’s cookies. Nogdorf asked Lester if he had noticed the dark creatures this morning. Lester had to confess that he hadn’t noticed them. Nogdorf said, “We had a couple of spies approach us this morning and while I was able to frighten them off, they will return. The copperhead was only a few feet away from you and if he hadn't been scared away, it might have been a deadly experience for you. I suspect they are after you and will do anything to stop you from learning and healing the good creatures. It is important that you not only do your job as Herbal Wizard, but keep a watchout for the dark creatures, to protect the creatures in your forest.
Sneaky and Trouble snuck back into the circle of dark creatures, hoping to escape Lucent and Corrigan’s questions about the mission. They had come away with as little information as they had going in to see the Herbal Wizard. Corrigan glanced up and caught Sneaky’s eyes. “Sneaky, come up here and tell us what happened. Maybe the information you got will help us in our plans. Now tell us what you found out.”
Trouble whispered into Sneaky’s ear, “Let me handle this, Sneaky. I’ve got an idea.”
They walked up to Corrigan, who asked, “Describe the area they are working in. I want to get a feel for the best way to plan an ambush.”
Trouble said, “It looks like the best time to plan an ambush is around seven o’clock when most of the forest creatures have gone to bed and Lester Rabbit has no one around to protect him. There is a great place for us to hide beside the road he has to travel home on. I say we dig a pit with spikes in it and throw him into it, what do you think?”
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Corrigan said, “Alright that is some interesting information. That will help in our planning. However, Lucent and I will be putting our heads together to plan how to get rid of the rabbit. Your part is simply to bring us the info and don’t worry about the rest.”
As they walked away, Trouble whispered to Sneaky, “How’d you like that? I just started coffee-housing and Corrigan couldn’t get rid of me fast enough. He was afraid I would take his place in this group and start running things. Ha Ha! Now we don’t have to worry about him finding out how quickly we got discovered.” He was so proud of himself that he didn’t notice Corrigan following close enough to hear what he was saying.
Corrigan lifted up a two by four and conked Trouble on his little ferret head and even though his head didn’t fall off like the mice’s heads had, he would never get up again. Corrigan sneared, “Let that be a lesson to you, Sneaky just in case you ever get any ideas of trying to deceive me like the ferret did,” and he walked back up to the front of the group.
Sneaky was shaking and if he had been a rattlesnake instead of a copperhead, his tail would have been rattling like crazy.
Meanwhile back in the garden, Nora had shown up and Nogdorf was explaining the best way to use the cookies for her arthritis pain and her sleep. “You don’t want to take these any time except just before bedtime. Even though the cookies taste good, don’t take too many, because it does contain medicine. Treat it responsibly.” Lester was listening to Nogdorf’s explanation and realizing how important the explanations would be when distributing his herbs.
After Nora left, the duo talked as they cleaned up. Lester asked Nogdorf, “Did you do the stakeout at my house last night?”
Nogdorf said, “Yes, I did, and what a night. After following her, and man is she fast, I went back home to look up a cure for her. Why, if this was to keep up, we wouldn’t have any mice at all in our county. So it is necessary for us to find a remedy. I haven’t found it yet, but I have a likely solution for the next few days until we can find the permanent cure. Here are three cookies I saved out from Nora’s batch. I want you to give her one just an hour before bedtime each night and it should put her right to sleep. Let me know in the morning what happens tonight, please.
