Chapter Four

When you call for help when you are lost

Forever more at whatever cost

And the world will begin exactly how it ends

"Heaven - Angels And Airwaves

Night had fallen, Widow Tweed was sitting in her rocking chair, waiting for her pie that she was making to be finished baking. The rhythmic back and forth movements were rather soothing to her. In her hand was a cold glass of milk, jiggling every which way as it rocked with the chair.

"Oh for heavens sake, this pie is taking awfully long to finish." She mumbled under her breath. "The oven must be broken, that's the second time this year!"

A noise reverberated through the house. It was faint but it seemed to have some sort of force to it. It sounded like something was rubbing up against sandpaper. She wondered what it could be. It definitely wasn't anything upstairs, it was too loud to be coming from up there. She ruled out everything in her peripheral vision as well.

The door!

After concentrating harder, it became clear that something was scratching against the door. She couldn't imagine what though, the barn animals never left their post, and if it were actually someone, they would probably have the some sort of modesty to actually knock. The scratching sounds became louder now, which brought Widow Tweed off of her feet. Whatever it was seemed desperate to have someone answer.

"Who's there?" She demanded.

Another sound came from the door. It was a weak cry that sounded stifled. The woman knew this sound. She had grown familiar to it, it was a fox. She froze in utter shock, was it really him? There was only one way to find out. She approached the door with caution, each step felt like an eternity to her. She was finally within arms reach of the doorknob, but she was too scared to grab it.

JUST DO IT!

She slowly opened the door, peering through the crack. On the other side was Tod, now sitting at attention. His tail swished back and forth in curiosity. Time stopped for them, Widow Tweed had the door wide open now, her hands over her mouth. She was speechless at this point now. Tod had found his way back home.

"Bless my soul, Tod!" She opened her arms for the vulpine and he ran right for them. She grabbed him, and lifted Tod high in the air. She had hoped for so long that this day would come, but she never expected this to occur. Widow Tweed then cradled him in her arms, rubbing his belly. Tod licked her face, tickling her nose to an extent. She responded by tickling his. "I just can't believe you came back here." She was still trying to let the moment sink in, which was when an unpleasant thought came into her head. "But you can't stay. You know better than that." His whole body seemed to deflate the second the words came out of her mouth. " It's just too dangerous. I left you in the game preserve for a reason. So people like…" She stopped for a moment. "Amos…" She spat the word out as though it were poison. "couldn't get to you. I mean, I don't mind you visiting me, but you have to know that I can't bear to see anything bad happen to you." The distress in her voice was hard for Tod to listen to. "Here…" She put him down and grabbed her cup of milk and poured a little bit into a bowl. "Have some of this." She put it down on the patio and allowed Tod to lick it all up. Savoring every drop, he finally finished, allowing Widow Tweed to take the bowl away and quickly washed it out.

When she returned, there was a rather faint glint in her eye, a tear. It began to move down her face, until it finally falling to the hardwood floor. Their time together was short lived but bittersweet. Before parting, the woman guided her hands slowly across Tod's back. It was silky smooth and well looked after. She found pleasure in knowing that he had been able to take care of himself for the past year without her.

"Goodbye, Tod…" She said as the vulpine slowly walked away, looking extremely upset.

At the Slade residence, Chief and Copper were slumbering peacefully in their makeshift homes made out of barrels. Each was well tied up and not planning on leaving either way. Copper was jarred awake by the sound of something rustling in the bushes. The hound dog stayed silent, waiting for the right moment to attack. He decided to be stealthy about it by going back into his sleeping position.

"Copper!" A voice in the distance called, trying to restrain a loud response. This caused the hound's eyes to open wide. It was another inevitable moment for him, he knew Tod would come back one day. He spotted him as he stumbled out of the bushes that the sound originated from the first time, the red fox trembled at the sight. Copper looked uneasy, quickly glancing back at Chief who was still asleep.

"What are you doing here?" He whispered, hoping that his fellow canine wouldn't wake.

"You're my best friend, can't I stop by every now and then?" His ears sank down. "Well yeah, but it's been forever, and I didn't expect you to return." He sighed. "I thought you would have learned from last time…" His voice was bitter.

"I did, but I have to tell you something." He perked his ears back up and hoped that Coppers response would be positive. It was, so he continued on. "I'm gonna be a father Copper, Vixey's pregnant." The hound didn't react at first, it wasn't until Tod had let out a grunt to get his attention. Copper looked happy on the outside, but on the inside, he was a bit jealous. While he was cooped up for so long, the poor mongrel wasn't able to have a mate. He was raised to hunt, but at the same time he wished to have a family like his good friend was soon to have.

However, he remembered what happened the last time this happened. It didn't end well, and he certainly didn't want it to occur again. Copper set his bitterness aside and put on a smile for Tod.

"I'm happy for you." He mouthed as he heard Chief mumbling something about chasing a rabbit in his sleep.

"I think this would be a good time to leave…" The situation had become tense with the sleeping hound preparing to wake. Before Copper could say anything, the vulpine had left. Chief shook as he came out of his dream. His crusted eyes opened, causing some of it to fall off.

"Man oh man Copper," He chuckled. "I was having one crazy dream…"

"That's nice…" Chief knew what had just occurred. Before he got to the bottom of it though, he chose to take a quick stretch break. Being cramped up in a barrel is not very good for your body.

"You were talking to that fox again weren't you?" Copper's heart skipped a beat. Why hadn't he intervened? It seemed extremely out of character for him to do such a thing.

"What are you t-"

"Don't play stupid with me, I heard the whole thing." He smirked at Copper.

"Then why didn't you intervene." It was a question that Chief didn't seem to have an answer to. He just put it in simple terms.

"Maybe I felt some mercy for once…"

Half an hour later, Tod was back home. The moonlight reflected off of the lakeside as he went inside. Vixey was already asleep, but the moment he got within five feet of her, her eyes bolted open.

"Oh, you're back." She smiled.

"Yeah, I told you I'd be back tonight, are you alright?"

"As long as you enjoyed yourself." The vulpine felt a warmness overtake him.

"Sorry for waking you, go back to sleep." She blinked, and then outstretched her body, now laying on her side. She let Tod join her, laying his head on her upper body, keeping each other warm. Soon enough, they had both reached their respective dreamscapes…