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Little Gus and Wendy finally flopped into two big sleeping bags with big smiles on their faces. The blackberry bushes had been full of delicious fruit and they’d stuffed themselves. Then Sam remembered his promise and dragged the two off to see the rabbits. Ten little hoppers roamed around in their pen with the four big Mom and Dad rabbits, and Sam had let them sit down in the pen and pet the animals. Wendy had never felt something so soft in her life! Oh, to have a bunny as a pet! Now she truly lamented never getting up the nerve to pet her rabbit hybrid friends’ ears. If it was anywhere near as soft, she’d been missing out. Jumping up to them and Sam, they’d twitched their noses and even sat in Gus’s lap. But when the sun set, it got dark too quickly. Sam had held up his wings under one side of his head in the ‘sleep time gesture, and they headed back to the big house. Waiting for them was a living room floor covered in couch cushions, extra pillows, and enough sleeping bags and blankets for all of them to be comfortable.
“I hope my mom is like this,” Gus whispered to his friend. “I hope she makes popsicles.”
Wendy nodded back. “Kateri and Trisha are really lucky. And Sam too! Their moms and dads really love them.”
“They live in a really beautiful place too. I hope we can come back here someday, after we find my mom.”
“We won’t tell anyone about you guys,” Jep promised the next day. “No one’s coming to hurt you.”
The grandmother of this family just loaded their packs with another parcel of meat. “God and our Gus will keep us safe. But we’re all glad you found us. We’re happy to help, and it was good for the kids to meet some more people like them.”
Wendy luxuriated in her new, warmer sweater under her cardigan. “Thanks for helping us so much,” she said as Sierra slipped another, similar sweater over Little Gus’s head and fastened the button on the collar. “I hope we can come back someday. Then she smiled at Sam. “Maybe by then you’ll know what your name means.”
Big Gus and Tori shared a fond look over their little boy’s head, then Gus walked over to Jep and whispered something to him. The big man backed up to look him in the face with raised eyebrows, but then he started to laugh. “I think he already lives up to it. If we can ever repay this,”
But laughter cut him off. “Just bring these kids back for a visit, and maybe stay longer next time. We’d love to have you for a whole season. Might even build a new addition to the house, if you want to stay longer,” Chad, the patriarch of this clan of welcome said. “Good luck.”
Eventually, a full two years later, they did make it back. The house was bigger, the family had a toddler with built-in armor and a habit of curling in on himself, and every single member of the family was happy to see them.