2-- Only a week later, Halloween night had come, and the neighborhood kids had the run of the development. RJ had made sure that the family would be just as active, to take advantage of the sugar-driven proceedings. To cross up the human kids, various approaches to the pilfering were taken by the family, who had efficiently split off into groups. Before the night was half over, there were several potato sacks worth of Jolly Ranchers, Fruit Roll-Ups, various kinds of licorice whips, a smattering of consistencies of gum, and even cookies, targeted specifically by Hammy, had been acquired. There was even a selection of fruit gained, mostly to convince Verne that the evening wasn't a waste of time. Ozzie, Heather, Stella, and Tiger about met the height of a small child by standing on each others' shoulders, and had the use of a rather elaborate goblin costume, snatched from unknown origins by RJ. He, along with Hammie, Lou, Penny, and the porcupine kids, used the general guerilla tactics to gain a score of goodies. By draping a sheet over Richard, the family found that he could pass for a convincing disguised parent. The operation pleased everyone for the most part, although Richard was bewildered by one small detail.
"They don't give out Aquapods?" he wondered aloud to RJ, who was helping him remove the sheet.
"Well, I think most kids see it as a clever way for their dads and moms to get them to drink water," RJ replied.
"Man, they have to trick 'em into drinking water? Weird."
"I just hope you're on the level about the timetable, RJ," Verne reminded him as he waddled up, tossing an orange from paw to paw as he spoke. "We really shouldn't be delaying it, especially with the kids. It isn't healthy."
"Oh, come on, Verne, health is gonna be a minor concern once the sugar rush kicks in! And that's gonna be vital in three weekends, when we have the After-Thanksgiving job on our doorstep!"
"Ooooh! What's the 'After-Thanksgiving job'?" asked Heather.
"Ladies and gents, the second of three motherlodes! You should prepare yourself to sample cuisine you've never heard of! Just waiting there for us!"
A disgruntled Hammie suddenly popped up from a plastic Halloween goody sack, obviously from the local Super-Mart. "Well, they better have more cookies!! The little chocolate bars are okay, but..."
"Speaking of not healthy," Verne grumbled.
"Verne, the timing is perfect! This is gonna work out in our favor! And Hammie," RJ put an arm around the crestfallen squirrel's shoulder. "If you can hang on for just another month or so, you will see enough cookies to fill TWO logs!"
"Oooooooo...AWESOME!" Hammie exclaimed, dancing around.
"So, what do we have to do for this, 'After Thanksgiving Sale', or whatever you call it?" Verne asked with raised eyebrow.
"Trust the 'coon, Verne. You're gonna be too busy to worry!" In that respect, RJ was just as good as his word. The Thanksgiving job began at approximately 8PM that night, considering that the 8:00 rule concerning garbage was still in force for the development. RJ did permit a daytime rest for the family, since they would need as much moonlight as they could snatch to hit the tall, silver cans. There was more than enough to do: between rather healthy (or unhealthy, as the case was) portions of leftovers and scraps of various kinds. They found quarter-full cans of chicken broth, leavenings of everything from stuffing to cranberry sauce (a favorite of Hammie's) to steamed greens, and even samplings of pumpkin pie filling, that Bucky, Spike, and Quillo simply fell in love with. The family had now become so efficient at heists, that hardly any sound was heard, and barely a trace that they had hit the cans was left. Even a slight incident involving Nugent and two large turkey bones failed to stir any commotioin. Even Verne found himself impressed--particularly for the fact that they had managed to come away with great quantities of something other than junk food. They had managed to finish up in the space of only five hours, and prepared to celebrate with a slightly-more-than-modest feast. As they were seated around a large stump, with only about a tenth of the haul before them, RJ was filling them in on the details of how the humans managed the feast.
"First, a moment of silence, to worship, the food."
Everyone bowed their heads in revered silence for exactly one minute. Then RJ broke the silence.
"Good drink, good meat, good God, let's eat!"
"Uh, just one minute, everyone," Verne tapped the side of his can of CranApple Delight with a plastic spoon, as if preparing a toast. Everyone raised cans of various beverages. "As we know, RJ landed into our family with...more than a little turbulence, but I want to take this opportunity to speak my appreciation for his know-how and drive in making sure we're fully supplied for the season, and then some! He has really come through, so, to RJ!"
"To RJ!" repeated the family, clinking cans all around. RJ's lower lip quivered with emotion.
"Thanks, you guys...Verne. That was really nice."
"Heh, well, don't get used to it." Verne shrugged. "If Christmas is anything like this, I'll begin to think any food problems we've had will be a permanent thing of the past."
"Verne, Christmas is just gonna knock your shell off!"
Verne raised an eyebrow at him.
"Just a figure of speech," commented RJ quickly.
"Time for cookies?" Hammie asked excitedly.
"Yes, Hammie, among other things, it's the season of cookies!" assured RJ.
