By the time morning rolled around, they went back to try and scavenge what they could from the forest. Sadie was forced to take a break every few minutes because Penny noticed that she was having trouble walking. Her legs were fine, but her back was so sore that it was almost numb. When she did get a change to scavenge, she normally only got a few berries or some twigs. Verne grabbed some bark and took a bite from it.

"Okay, this is great." He said with a smile as he chewed the bark. "Granted, it takes some time to chew. But that was very satisfying and there's lots of fiber in there too."

"That does look tasty." They turned when they heard a familiar voice. Sadie smiled when RJ came into view.

"What are you doing here?" Verne narrowed his eyes.

"I'm here to help you with your foraging thing!" RJ smiled and then it faltered. "Verne, you said a word yesterday that started with an 'f'. What was it?"

"Family?" Verne said.

"Right, that..." He gently hit his chest. "That got me right here. I used to have all that. My own place...surrounded by loved ones...universal remote. But all that went away with..with the weed hacker incident."

"Oh, come here!" Hammy ran up and hugged him. Sadie walked over to him and touched his shoulder with a sympathetic smile. He returned the smile and continued to sob.

"Jeepers, Verne." Penny glared at him.

"We could always use the extra hand," Lou said. "With Sadie hurt and all."

"The weed hacker Verne!" Hammy exclaimed as RJ removed his arms.

"I'll be going...not your problem..." RJ sighed and walked to his bag. "Here I am...going. Sure I'll see you around the forest. Take care."

"Alright.." Verne muttered when Sadie gave him a glare. "Alright. RJ? You can stay."

"Whoo!" He yelled and barreled into the turtle. "I knew behind this crispy outside, there was a soft, nougat-y center in there! Do you mind if I call you 'Uncle Vern'?"

"With every bone in my body." He peeked out of his shell.

"Great!" He exclaimed and then turned towards everyone. "May I work with Hammy?"

"Yeah." Sadie smiled and he grabbed Hammy by the arm. When they left, Sadie gave Verne another glare but it went unnoticed.

"I'm gonna make sure they're okay." Verne muttered and walked through the hedge. When he was gone, they all looked at each other. Heather nudged Sadie and pulled her inside the hedge.

"What's with those gooey looks you keep giving RJ?" She taunted and Sadie's ear fell forward.

"What gooey looks?" She asked.

"Don't be stupid!" Heather grinned. "You like him, don't you?!"

"I haven't even talked to him!" Sadie's voice went up an octave and she winced. It always went up when she was embarrassed or nervous. Heather pointed at her.

"Aha!" She cheered. "You do!"

"Shh!" Sadie motioned for her to be quiet. "Alright, I do. Now will you leave me alone about that! Also, don't tell anyone! Promise?"

"Promise!" Heather made a zipper sign over her lips. Just then, cheering came from the others. The girls went back through the hedge and saw RJ and Hammy sitting on some boxes. They scampered over to them and RJ smiled down at Sadie.

"Want one?" He held something round out to her.

"Sure." She took it and smelled it. Mint. When she took a bite, it practically melted in her mouth. "What is that?"

"Thin Mints!" He cheered and put one into his mouth himself. "That's right, don't push! Plenty for everybody! Got a box right over here for you, Penny."

"Jeepers!" She cried. "Kids, eat up. Anything this good has to be healthy!"

"Feel that buzz in the back of your skull?" He asked her.

"Yeah!" She responded.

"That's called a sugar rush." RJ said. "That's what keeps the humans going and it's also why they don't hibernate. Top it off with a little of this..and you'll have what normally takes you all summer, will only take us a week!"

Sadie watched as the kids drank some of the contents of the can and began to bounce around. Heather smiled. RJ just barely managed to stop Hammy from taking a drink of the liquid.

"Woah!" He laughed. "The last thing you need is caffeine!"

"That would end badly." Sadie giggled softly.

"Dig in, my friends!" RJ grinned. "This is only the beginning!"

As the weeks went by, they collected so many different foods and toys. Heather and Sadie both scared themselves by using an Walkman for the first time. It was up super loud and they pressed play. After they figured out how to work it, however, they jammed to Avril Lavigne and Tim McGraw. It didn't take them long to learn all the lyrics. When they weren't fooling around and dancing, Sadie was talking to RJ.

They began to get closer as the week went by, often stopping to talk with each other or pass congratulations on a good trip into the neighborhood. When RJ found a camera and managed to get it working, they took turns taking pictures of their friends and themselves. Sadie's favorite was one of her and RJ balancing on a skateboard. A few times, he actually managed to get her to play a prank on someone. She knew that she was becoming a bit more open because of him. Even on a big heist, she was feeling courageous enough to go.

When they heard Ozzie get 'hit' by the car, she poked her head out from a bush. The group ran out and climbed onto the roof of the car. They were going to steal the cooler. For a moment, however, they stopped when one of the young humans went back towards the car. RJ mouthed the words, 'Improvise' and Ozzie did just that.

"Lights fading, limbs growing cold!" He began to roll on the pavement. "I see a tunnel...Mother! is that you? Beckoning me towards the light? Must...move...toward the light!

"You went too far!" Verne's voice made Sadie turn. The others managed to unhook the bungee cords. "Let's get out of here and leave this-"

He was cut off by the cooler being shoved off the roof and on top of him.

"Nice catch, Verne." RJ laughed and the others jumped down. The began to carry it towards the hedge, but it slammed into the curb and its contents fell out. A large vehicle sped down the street towards them and they leaped behind the cooler. Hopefully, no one would see them. Sadie couldn't ignore the bad feeling in her stomach. As another human got out of the vehicle, they began to collect the fruits and nuts that had spilled out. RJ grabbed a can of nuts.

"Leave it!" Verne hissed and they turned back to Ozzie, who was lying in the middle of the crowd.

"What do we have here?" The man spoke. "Didelphis marsupialis virginianus. Approximately ten pounds. Male."

"I think he's dead." The woman with black hair said.

"Oh really?" The man rolled his eyes. "Do you in fact have a degree from Verm-tech? I think he wants you to think he's dead!"

As they fought, they others managed to get the cooler over the curb and through the hedge. RJ and Sadie stopped. RJ gave Ozzie the code and Ozzie winked to show that he saw it. RJ disappeared into the hedge, but Sadie stayed behind the watch the rest. She was slightly intrigued to see what would happen next. Suddenly, he popped up and ran towards her.

"Thank you all for coming!" He cried out. "You've been a great audience!"

"Come on!" Sadie hollered and dove through the bushes, Ozzie came right behind her.

"That's what I call a super-duper performance!" Lou exclaimed and patted his arm.

"They were riveted man!" RJ congratulated. "You were awesome!"

"Dad!" Heather touched his side. "I just gotta say that was...that was pretty cool."

"Props for the Oz-man!" One of the porcupine kids cheered, which made the others follow suit.

"But let's not forget our brilliant leadership!" Ozzie smiled. "RJ!"

"RJ!" Sadie cried along with them and laughed. RJ passed her a genuinely happily smile and she returned it.

"Hey, come over here." Heather said. "We wanna show you something."

"Alright." He nodded and followed them. He walked beside Sadie, however. She felt so happy to be this close to him for once. As they walked she couldn't help but lean on him a bit. He never leaned away. She covered his eyes when they got near to the surprise, and removed her hands when they got there.

"Check it out!" Stella gave him a wink and he stepped forward to see his new home.

"We got a place for you right here!" Hammy patted a booster seat and RJ sat down, awed with his surroundings.

"Is this anything like what you had?" Lou asked and RJ smiled.

"This is nothing like what I had." He replied and Heather handed him the remote.

"Here," She laughed. "Take the remote before my dad does."

"This is nice guys." He nodded. "Really nice."

RJ clicked the TV on with a smile.

"We return to, A Scoundrel Among Us."

"You should be ashamed of yourself! We let you into you into our home and you deceived us."

He quickly changed the channel.

"I gave you my heart and you ripped it into a million pieces."

Sadie never noticed the sideways, forlorn glance he gave her before changing the channel again.

"Get real, Kevin! 'Cause when you feel like a dirt-bag, it's because your a dirt-bag. Right? So just own it and say it. 'I am a dirt-bag!'"

"Dirt-bag?" Lou said. "I don't think that guy's real doctor. What do you think, RJ?"

As the others wondered where their male raccoon friend had wandered off to, Sadie followed the direction he was headed in and eventually found him. He was hyperventilating into a bag. Then, she noticed that the log was completely empty. She gasped.

"Where's the food?!" They both chorused and looked around. They popped through the bushes to see Verne with the little red wagon full of the food.

"What are you doing?!" Sadie questioned and Verne slowed to a halt.

"Putting things back to the way they were." He said simply.

"How about I just leave?" RJ suggested.

"Good." Verne said. "Then I take all the food back to the rightful owners."

"Why?" Sadie asked, rather shocked at Verne's actions.

"Because we've angered the humans!" He gestured to the bunny being repetitively whacked over the head with a mallet. "I don't want to end up like that bunny. Hence, I'm giving everything back so they won't kill us."

"Verne, you don't understand!" RJ stopped the wagon from moving yet again. "We need this stuff."

"No, we don't!" He growled and pulled the wagon. During their game of tug-o'-wagon, they unhinged a chain that was staked into the ground. Sadie grabbed it and followed it to the source. RJ noticed too because he tried to get Verne to be quiet.

"No!" He exclaimed. "I'm not falling for anymore of your smooth talk! I don't know what you're up to, but my entire shell is tingling. You know what? I'm listening to it this time and I'm putting my foot down!"

When a tiny squeak erupted from a toy beneath Verne's foot, a rather large dog appeared and tilted his head toward them. Sadie gasped as it crouched down and was still much bigger than them. Verne moved his foot and stepped back.

"Play?"


Cliffhanger! :D Next chapter will be out tonight.