Someone Is Stealing Christmas Wishes, Charlie Boone! - 4. Chapter 4

By the time Charlie and Kip arrived at the lodge's restaurant for breakfast, Uncle Bob and Browbeat were already there, Bob sipping coffee over an empty plate, and the flyer landed on the tabletop to one side of him.

"I'd have waited, but after last night, I thought everyone might sleep in a little," the man said, as they seated themselves at the table.

"Everyone's up," Kippy returned, giving his shoulders a brief stretch. "The others will be down in a few minutes." He smiled then, and glanced at Charlie. "Last night was rather magical, though."

Charlie tried not to look embarrassed, because he knew Kip was not just referring to the evening at the town hall, but to what had happened later after they had returned to their rooms. But Bob Travers seemed to pick up on that notion, anyway, and his eyebrows rose over a crooked smile, while Browbeat tittered happily from the tabletop beside him. "Love is in the air!" the little flyer said merrily.

Charlie cleared his throat, and picked up a menu. "Any recommendations?"

Bob looked relieved at the change of topic. "I had the pancakes and sausage. The maple syrup here is killer."

Kippy frowned at that. "I feel like something lighter. An omelette, maybe. And a few strips of bacon?"

"That sounds good to me, too," Charlie agreed. "But let's wait for the others."

That was not long in happening. The rest of their group arrived en masse, coming into the dining room laughing over something.

"What's funny?" Kip asked, smiling at them as they took seats.

Horace smiled back at him. "When we woke up this morning, there was a squirrel looking in our window at us."

Kippy looked surprised. "A squirrel? Outside, you mean?"

"Right. Perched on that very narrow ledge outside. Gray fellow with a black tail. How he got up there, I'll never know."

Charlie stared at the man. "He climbed the outside wall, I'm sure."

Kippy took note of Charlie's intensity. "Something?"

Charlie shrugged, and smiled at Uncle Bob. "I'm just reminded of what Bob said, that we could somehow be dealing with an animal of some sort." Charlie mulled that, and nodded. "And now that I'm focused on that, I'm thinking of the way our visitors last evening moved." He turned to stare at Kip. "Squirrels, when they run, bound over the ground. They're fast, and they are very strong for their size. In snow, they wouldn't leave a normal track, because they leap a good two feet with each bound." He looked around at the others. "Many four-footed creatures move this way. It seems an important clue."

Rick waved a hand. "After that snow last night, there will be no use looking for tracks out there today. They'd be filled in by now."

"Yeah." Charlie rubbed at his forehead. "But that was what was familiar to me about the way our visitors moved. They bounded, like an animal would do."

Kippy shook his head. "I got a good look at those two. They didn't look like any animals I've ever seen."

"I know," Charlie agreed, remembering the black, amorphous figures as they fled. "That's the puzzler here. But I'm convinced now that our two guests moved on four feet, not two."

"That doesn't definitely mean an animal," Amy said, smiling. "Auggie runs on four feet, but I would never call him an animal." She laughed. "Definitely, not to his face."

Charlie chuckled at that. "I wouldn't, either, because he's not. But...let's hold that thought for now, and maybe add it to our list of other clues to possibly be tossed out later."

There was a round of laughter at that, and soon Myrna was at their side, taking orders.

"Do you ever sleep?" Kippy hazarded to ask her. "You always seem to know when we're here."

The woman smiled at him. "Sure. And after that wonderful songfest at the town hall last night, I slept like a baby." She patted Kip's shoulder. "You guys are a bunch of sweethearts, you know that? Everyone was taken with how you reacted to the songs."

Kippy sighed. "They were just beautiful, especially that first one." He shrugged. "I can't remember what it was called, because it was in your other language."

Myrna patted his shoulder again. "It's called Snjórinn fellur frá stjörnunum. That means, The snow fell from the stars."

Kippy closed his eyes at the memory. "It certainly did last night."

Myrna looked pleased, and was whistling Let it snow! as she headed back to the kitchen with their orders.

"It doesn't take much to make these people happy," Amy decided, staring after her. "What a wonderful town."

"It actually seems that way, doesn't it?" Charlie responded. "And they're like that back in their own world, too." He grinned. "But let one of their own, or one of their friends, get into a jam, and look out! They can be really tough customers when they need to be."

"I'll say," Rick agreed. "I remember when Max and his buddies tossed that Beltracian war world into its sun. They don't play if you give them a reason not to be nice."

"They don't do things like that lightly, though," Adrian said. "They prefer peaceful solutions."

"Yeah, but some people can't be dealt with that way," Rick replied. "Elves know when they can be fair, and when they need to be tough."

"I like them," Horace said. "But especially because I feel I can trust them."

Charlie nodded at that. "That's true. You can always trust them, because they honor themselves and others." He sighed, perhaps a little wistfully.

"Be nice to take that home with us, wouldn't it?" Uncle Bob said, with a smile of understanding. "Spread it around a little?"

Charlie smiled at the idea. "If only it were possible."

Kippy tsked, and looked around the table. "Now, stop that right now, Charlie. Let this be a cheerful day while we look for the two blackguards that ransacked our rooms."

Adrian laughed. "Who says blackguards these days?"

Kippy grinned. "I believe I just did."

Charlie smiled at that, and patted his boyfriend's arm. "Okay. But first, let's eat."

Again, the food was marvelous, the omelettes fluffy and hot, and the bacon just right. Almost as if Myrna seemed to know exactly how everyone liked their food. He smiled at that thought. Maybe she does!

They talked while they ate, and the morning grew somewhat brighter outside the large windows, though the sky remained mostly gray and the air was still full of snowflakes gently raining down. It felt like winter, but it also felt like Christmas, and even though they were engaged in an investigation there was something undeniably cheerful about it all that Charlie couldn't quite explain. Being in Twombly, in elf territory, made it terribly hard to be anything but happy.

"What's first on the list?" Browbeat asked, when everyone had finished their meals. "I need to get moving some, or my wings will freeze in place."

Charlie smiled at the idea. "I believe Eseffa and Jorli said your body would last longer than rocks!"

Browbeat tittered at that. "I just mean, I'm getting restless!"

Rick nodded. "I know the feeling. Well, I guess looking for tracks behind the lodge is probably useless after the snow. Maybe we can walk back and look at the cabins that Kiley and Kiri told us about?"

"That was first on my list," Charlie agreed. "But since we have to go that way, we'll look for a trail left by our visitors, anyway."

"We have to get the twins first," Adrian reminded. "Kiley and Kiri said they would go with us."

"Call them, Kip," Charlie asked. "See if they can come here, so we don't have to backtrack ourselves."

They rose from the table, and again Myrna was right there before they had taken two steps away.

"Everything was wonderful," Uncle Bob told her. "The food here is almost as good as your own sweet presence."

Myrna eyed him with a smile. "Oh, you're a charmer, aren't you? I can see now I'd better watch out for you!"

They both laughed, and Uncle Bob gave a serious nod of his head. "Really, Myrna, the food here is just wonderful. And the atmosphere, and the people...there is nothing in Twombly that hurts!"

"And you mean that, too," Myrna said, sounding satisfied. "That means a lot to me. To us. Thank you."

Uncle Bob nodded. "See you at lunch?"

The woman waved a hand, and the table cleared itself, the plates, utensils, and cups sailing away to the kitchen in an orderly line. She nodded. "You like Yankee Pot Pie? I make a pretty good one. It's the special today."

Uncle Bob rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "We'll be here!"

Myrna smiled around at them, and then turned to follow the plates back to the kitchen.

Rick smiled at his uncle. "Someone has the Christmas spirit, I see."

"It's hard not to here, Rick." He leaned forward towards his nephew. "I talked to your Aunt Susan last night, and said we had been invited to a wonderful Christmas dinner at the home of a magical friend of mine."

Rick's eyebrows shot up. "Nicholaas?"

"Yes. I said I wanted her to go with me, that I promised it would be very fun, and she sounded excited about it."

Rick sighed happily. "So, you'll tell her?"

Uncle Bob laughed. "I'll do more than that! I'll show her!"

Adrian put an arm around Rick's back. "We'll be there. This will be fun!"

Rick nodded. "My folks'll be happy, too. Now they won't have to be careful what they say around Aunt Susan!"

They headed upstairs to get their coats and hats, Browbeat buzzing happily around them as they climbed the stairs.

It did feel like Christmas, Charlie thought. Would it stay that way, if they were able to solve the mystery?

* * * * * * *

Norma Dinkins was another cheerful soul, with blonde hair, and blue eyes that smiled a lot, and she seemed more than happy to walk back to the cabins with them after Kiley asked her if they could look at them.

"I don't have any rented just now," she told them, as they walked the snow-covered path through the forest. "Most folks that come here in the winter do that to ski, so they stay at the lodge. But during the summer, these are all in demand. Folks like the idea of camping in the woods without roughing it too hard."

Horace found that funny. "What's the point of going camping if you have all the luxuries of home? Just stay at home, and save yourself some money!"

Norma made hushing motions with her hands. "Oh, don't say that! I love having guests!"

Kippy turned to look at the older man. "You've never rented a summer cabin by a lake?"

Horace looked surprised. "Is there a lake near here?"

Norma nodded. "Small one. It's a pond, really, though a very big one, 116 acres. My cabins are along the western shore."

Kippy raised his eyebrows at Charlie. "Who knew?"

"I did," Kiley said, grinning.

"Me, too," Kiri added. The two elves seemed delighted to be out for the walk with them.

"I didn't," Charlie said. He turned to Uncle Bob. "Did you?"

"No." The man frowned, held up a hand, moved it back and forth like the needle of a compass as he looked around a bit. "When we drove here, we came from the west. If the western shore of this lake is this way, that means the lake is east of Twombly. We wouldn't have seen it driving in."

Norma laughed at that. "You're good with directions, and you're absolutely right." She nodded. "All sorts of mountain lakes and ponds in these parts. Pretty country, and people like it."

The cabins turned out to be only a short walk through the forest. They emerged onto a gravel lane mostly buried in snow that ran across their path, and there, before them, a short distance through the trees, they could see the water, as well as the backs of several of the cabins, with fair stands of woods between each one. Visitors would definitely not be right on top of one another here.

There was evidently a short drive that ran from the gravel road to the side of each cabin, if the furrows in the snow could be believed. Neither the road nor the lanes they could see were blemished in any way, the snow pristine and perfect. No one had driven or walked back here recently, anyway.

Charlie had not really known what to expect, but the cabins he'd imagined were nothing like the thoroughly modern A-frames that he could see now. They were made of finished logs, expertly dressed, and shown with yellowish wooden splendor in the diffuse light beneath the trees. They walked up one of the drives to the nearest cabin, and circled around to the front.

A deck ran across the width of the cabin, and large thermopane windows looked out on the pond.

"There's a loft, and two bedrooms, sleeps 4," Norma said, as if showing the place for a rental. "The first floor is all one space, with a full kitchen in the back. Well water, purification unit, septic tank, and electricity. There are two fireplaces, one in the front there, and one to the rear, but there's also gas heat, to keep things comfy. The tanks were filled at the end of the fall. LPG, lasts forever."

"It's lovely," Horace said, sounding absolutely surprised. He turned to look out on the lake. There was a dock off the beach, and ice on the water, though the center of the lake was clear. A group of ducks congregated there, discussing the weather, or perhaps what they wanted for Christmas. The snow-filled conifers across the water glistened in the gray light, and the snowflakes drifting down created a scene pretty enough for a Christmas card.

"Amazingly so, even," Horace finished, more softly.

Amy sighed, and snuggled up against him. "I want to come here next summer."

Horace looked absolutely amazed. "So do I!"

Everyone laughed, and Norma looked pleased. "I'll give you my number, and make sure you have a place for the dates you like."

Charlie turned to examine the cabin. It wasn't the sort of place you could just jimmy a window and enter. The structure looked sturdy and tight, and the windows they could see didn't open, and there wasn't a single footprint anywhere in sight. "I don't think anyone's been here recently."

In fact, his senses seemed to be clearly telling him that no one was around. No one human, anyway. The cabins seemed a dead end lead in their investigation, certainly.

"I come once a week to look things over," Norma said, looking around them. "Haven't been here since it snowed, though." She turned a questioning gaze on him. "Did you expect someone to be here? I would know, if anyone came around."

Charlie didn't mention that the people they were looking for seemed able to stay beneath the notice of the elves. "Not really. We were just making sure." He smiled. "I loved seeing these places, though. We may want to come here one summer, too."

"I'll give you my number, too, then." Norma looked around, took a deep breath, and let if sigh out. "Lovely place, summer or winter. Makes the heart happy just to be here."

Charlie nodded at that. "Well, thank you." He looked back the way they had come. "We'd better go see Miss Zumbold now."

Norma looked pleased. "She lives just next to me. I'll show you the way."

They walked back the way they'd come, Norma talking pleasantly about the land and the forest the whole way. And as they progressed, Charlie kept seeing things move out of the corners of his eyes, and when he looked, it was usually to see a squirrel sitting on a branch, watching them, or several of the creatures in the snow, also looking their way. The more he looked, the more he saw, until he finally turned to Norma beside him. "A lot of squirrels here."

Norma smiled. "Bless their little hearts. Sweetest things nature ever put in the woods."

Uncle Bob grunted. "I don't know about that. They really made a mess of my wife's gardens behind the house until I caged them all in. And they gnaw on everything, even the patio furniture."

Norma laughed. "They're just being squirrels, sweetie." She leaned closer to him. "Plant yourself a couple of short rows of carrots behind your house, in the clear, and then when they're ready, pull them up so the tops show. Squirrels love carrots. And they'll leave your other plants alone!"

Bob smiled, though even Charlie found it a little weak. "Well, I don't really want to attract more of them than I have now!"

Kippy looked at Charlie. "Are you suspecting squirrels?"

Charlie frowned at that. "I think we'd have recognized squirrels running away from the lodge."

"That's what I was going to say."

"Then no, I am not suspecting squirrels."

Kippy looked around then, and frowned himself. "There do seem to be a lot of them here."

"No more than anywhere else," Norma said, overhearing. "Ours are not shy, is all. You'll find all the wildlife around here that way. In most places like this where there are people, animals keep a low profile. You just don't see them as much, because they are more aware of us than we are of them, and they're afraid of people. Not around Twombly, though. We have strict rules about respecting the wildlife. And when I rent my cabins, I tell people very firmly that abuses will not be tolerated."

Horace smiled. "Do they listen?"

Norma gave him a knowing look. "The way I tell them, yes!"

"She tells them with skwish!" Kiri said, smiling.

"And you know how well skwish works," Kiley finished.

That brought understanding nods from everyone.

"But if you look closely enough as you walk, if you pay attention -- you will see the many animals that live here," Norma suggested, smiling. "There are many more of them than there are of us."

They all smiled at that. And as they walked along, Charlie became much more aware of the woods around them. They saw deer watching them, and a fox or two loping along without a care, and birds in just about every tree. It surprised him that he hadn't noticed them before...but then, he hadn't really been looking, either. And, he wasn't used to looking for the wildlife, he now realized. Even back home.

"I'll bet our own woods are just full of critters, too," he mused aloud.

Browbeat tittered at that. "You're just realizing that now? I see them all the time!"

"You're more observant than I am," Charlie returned, nodding. "I'll have to pay more attention, I think."

They reached the back of the lodge again, and circled around it towards Main Street. Charlie looked again for tracks from the adventure the previous night, but couldn't recognize anything that seemed the spoor of a living thing. He stopped once, touched the surface of the snow, and found the tiniest layer of ice just under the soft surface. Perhaps something very light, bounding across that surface, might not leave a good trail one could see?

He looked around again, noticed a few squirrels in the trees, watching them, and smiled. Hmm.

Kippy paused and looked back at him. "Come on, Charlie. You're holding up progress!"

Charlie smiled, and hastened to catch up with the others. Kippy put an arm around him and helped him along, and smiled at him. "I have my eye on you."

Charlie smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way, love."

The homes of the citizens of Twombly were mostly in the woods at each end of Main Street, beyond the shops and other buildings. Each home was of a style, reminiscent of a Swiss chalet, built with finished and dressed logs, just as were the A-frames at the lake. But while the homes were of a style, no two were exactly alike, though the design ethic was similar in the heavy, sloping roof and wide, well-supported eaves set at right angles to the front of the house. A broad covered porch ran across the front of each structure, bounded on three sides by ornate rails of wood, which often wore little lines of snow on them where the sun could not reach. The panes of the windows beneath the porch roof overhang danced with the lights of candles on the sills within. Small firs at each end of the porch twinkled with multicolored lights, forming a picture good enough to grace the front of any Christmas card. There was a feeling of comfort and tranquility to the cluster of homes, and Charlie knew it was because these neighbors shared the same sense of purpose in life. This was a community, with a capital C.

"It's just over here," Norma said, leading them up to a mailbox at the road's edge. "I live here. The next mailbox along the way is is Zelladora's house."

Charlie had to smile at that. Zelladora Zumbold? The elves certainly were never shy about their names!

"Thank you, for everything," Charlie said to Norma. He took out his cell phone. "Can I get your number, for the cabins? I'll share it with Horace and Amy."

That was done, and farewells said. Norma headed up her snow-covered lane to her charming house, and Charlie sighed happily. One more very nice person.

Uncle Bob seemed to share his sentiment. "I could see retiring here, one day. I think Susan would love it as much as I do."

"We'd love to have you!" Kiri said, her eyes alight with pleasure.

"You could do magic shows every weekend!" Kiley agreed, looking enthused.

Bob Travers looked surprised, and then laughed. "Even I would find that too much to handle!"

"Well, as many shows as you liked then," Kiley said, his eyes shining. "You'd have a full house every time!"

Bob considered that with a smile. "I might need an apprentice. Or, even two!"

"Us!" Kiley and Kiri said together, clasping their hands before them.

Everyone laughed, and they started for the next drive.

"I won't rule it out," Uncle Bob said then to the two elves. He looked around, and smiled again. "I do love it here, definitely."

Kippy gave Charlie a squeeze, and Charlie sighed happily as they moved along. Kiley and Kiri were almost their own age, but in many ways were still very childlike. Their sense of adventure and wonder were simply enormous. Elves viewed the world around them as a magical place, and the people that filled it as part of that magic. Humans seemed to get jaded much sooner -- in fact, elves seemed not to get jaded at all. Even Max, at over six hundred years of age, still overflowed with a freshness in his views that never failed to amaze them. Charlie had to imagine that the human race was poorer, indeed, for the loss of this special part of it.

But we did it to ourselves, he knew. We drove them away.

They reached the next mailbox and turned into the drive. Another pleasant home dressed in Christmas colors and lights, and seeming eager to welcome. Charlie was reminded of their own house back home, and the way that Kippy and Adrian had lovingly dressed it in lights for Christmas. Lugh had been asked to turn the lights on each evening near dark in their absence, and Charlie wondered if anyone driving by on the distant road would spy their home upon the hill through the cut in the forest, and smile at the spirit it presented to the world.

They reached the front porch of the home, and the others waited at the bottom of the steps while Charlie climbed to the porch and rang the bell. He could hear a cheerful jingle inside the house, and then a moment later a voice floated around the side of the home. "I'm around back!"

Kiley and Kiri exchanged glances. "Oh, it's feeding time!" Kiri said, grinning.

"I forgot!" Kiley responded, laughing.

"What's feeding time?" Kippy asked.

Kiley took Kip's hand and started pulling him towards the side of the house. "You'll see! Everybody come!"

Kiri took Kip's other hand, and also started to pull. "You'll like it!"

They followed the two elves around the house, but were stopped at the rear corner. Kiley held up a hand. "There's a lot of us, and we don't want to scare them. So let's go around the corner one at a time, and just stop there, okay?"

Browbeat tittered softly on Uncle Bob's shoulder. "It this exciting, or what!"

Bob grinned. "Shh! Let's see what it is."

The two elves led Kippy to the corner, and then around. They stopped there. Charlie inched forward to where he could see his boyfriend's face, and so saw the look of enchantment that arrived there. "Aw!"

Charlie poked his head around the corner, and then slowly stepped out.

Behind the house was a sitting garden of wrought iron benches and chairs placed among low shrubs, now speckled with snow. A small greenhouse was beyond, the vague shapes of growing things inside visible through the green glass. The woods walked right up to the little garden from behind, thinning in the last twenty feet or so, but not losing any height at all.

Seated on one of the benches was a woman, efficiently wrapped against the cold in a long gray coat and a black furred ushanka hat with ear flaps. Her gloved hands cupped a large wooden bowl upon her lap, from which she was handing out what looked like nuts and berries to a semicircle of small deer and squirrels before her.

Her voice came to them even then: "Now, Emma, don't be greedy. Let Jacob have some!"

She bent and handed a pecan to a squirrel, which examined it carefully before testing it with its teeth. She handed another to the squirrel beside it, and the first squirrel promptly lowered its own pecan to sniff at the second one. The woman chuckled indulgently.

"Now, Pixel, you have a goody of your own. This one's for Hex, okay?"

The two squirrels looked at each other, and the first went back to its own nut.

The woman looked up at them, and smiled. "Hello! Kiley and Kiri, I see. And some friends!" She nodded. "You may all come around slowly, if you would. Let's just be relaxed about this."

The animals turned to look at the new arrivals, and Charlie was astonished at the lack of anxiety among them.

"See? These are friends," the woman told the animals. Charlie noticed now that among the deer and squirrels there were at least three rabbits there, too, and a racoon!

The animals looked back at them, but seemed much more interested in what was coming out of the large wooden bowl.

"They're tame!" Kippy said, sounding delighted.

"No, they're wild," Kiley corrected. "They just trust Mrs Zumbold."

Everyone was around the corner now, watching. The animals looked back at them from time to time, but it seemed clear that the newcomers rated second place to the contents of the bowl. Charlie noticed then that there were larger deer -- the mothers of the young ones? -- standing in the woods, watching, but not coming forward to eat. They were happily munching on some of the undergrowth there, apparently content to let the kids have the goodies. Charlie smiled, feeling a little bit of Kip's enchantment, himself.

"You may come forward, slowly," Mrs. Zumbold called to them. "Everything will be fine," she purred to the animals.

They took small steps, and neared the crowd of animals and the woman seated on the bench. The ears of the adults deer stood up and twitched, and they stopped in their munching to watch the crowd of newcomers come closer; but even they seemed only interested, and not wary.

'Stop there," Mrs. Zumbold said, when they were less than eight feet away. She smiled at Kip. "You, with the sweet look of wonder on your face. You come forward first, to my side."

Kippy looked over at Charlie, his eyes wide with delight; but then he nodded at the woman and inched forward until he could sit on the bench next to her. She handed him a hickory nut. "Now give that goody to Emma, that cute little deer there."

Kippy extended his hand slowly towards the fawn, which leaned forward to sniff the nut and Kip's hand. And then she looked more closely at Kip, took the nut carefully, and her ears twitched in what seemed an acknowledgement of some kind. Kippy sighed happily at the eye contact, and grinned at Charlie.

Mrs. Zumbold laughed sweetly. "You have the knack, I see. They like you already." She reached into the bowl and withdrew two walnut halves, which she handed to Kip. She then pointed at the two closest squirrels. "This is Pixel, with the black tail and the spot of black on his head, and that one next to him, with the red tail and the streak of red down his back, is Hex. They would love for you to give them those nuts."

Kippy took a breath, and bent forward slowly towards the squirrels, and extended a nut-half towards Pixel. The two squirrels looked at each other, and then Pixel moved forward, sniffed the nut, and then carefully took it in tiny hands from Kip's fingers. The squirrel backed away then, and Hex came forward, as if he knew his turn was next. Kippy made a happy sound, and offered the second nut-half to him. Again, the second squirrel took it carefully, and backed away, and the two of them gazed at Kip as they munched away.

Mrs. Zumbold handed out more of the contents of the bowl, and soon Charlie and the others were there, too, offering treats to the wildlife, which seemed more than happy to take them.

"I can't believe how tame they seem," Adrian said, after he had handed out bits and pieces to a half-dozen critters.

Kiley smiled at that. "They know you now. They aren't tame, but they do know a kindness when offered one."

Charlie handed a last walnut half to Hex, who took it with the same gentle aplomb that the squirrels had demonstrated from the start. "That's the last goody, I think, little fella."

The squirrel contemplated him solemnly as he ate, and Charlie had to smile.

Mrs. Zumbold nodded at Charlie's words and held up the bowl, turned so that the animals could see it was now empty. "That's all for now, my friends. But if you come back tomorrow, there will be more."

Amazingly, the animals seemed to understand there were no more treats to be had, and the deer rejoined their elders, and the smaller animals moved back to the forest. Charlie and the others watched them go, and Charlie's eye was drawn to the way that the squirrels all bounded away. It was familiar, and he had seen that movement before. He watched them make the trees, and was startled when Pixel and Hex stopped and looked back at him a moment, leaned their heads together, their little mouths moving, and then turned and disappeared into the snowy underbrush. For the briefest of moments, as they made eye contact, Charlie had the crazy impression that the two squirrels were talking about him!