Chapter four! And for those of you wanting a Nick and Judy appearance: I hear you, I will try to fit them in somewhere in future chapters. Hope you enjoy the story so far :)

Chap 4: Field trip.

"Stay in your pairs, kids!" the old goat called out as she led the long trail of fourth and fifth graders down to the mill. Mary followed behind, keeping an eye on a young rabbit reluctantly paired up with a light grey wolf cub.

The Bunnyburrow flourmill was idyllically situated by the river. Its old-fashioned water wheel still turning in the stream, even though the mill had long since been upgraded with a more modern engine. A new road making it possible to drive down for delivery trucks and other cars forked out of the main road; however, the teachers and the kids were walking down the old cart road. Coming down the grassy hill, they were treated to a picturesque view of the mill and the river winding its way down between grassy hills towards Beaver Dam.

Mary's heart skipped a beat as she noticed a familiar pink van in the mill's parking lot. She almost thought she saw a spot of orange fur when a loud yelp made her snap her head back to the kids. With her attention diverted, a scuffle had broken out.

"Hey! You stop that right this instant!" two young rams had pushed the wolf cub down; one of them was trying to pry his lips apart. Giving herself a mental scolding for becoming distracted, Mary took a hold of the young ram and pulled him away.
"What kind of behaviour is this Darryl?" she demanded sternly. "And don't think I didn't see you helping, Paul"
"He wouldn't show us his teeth" Darryl answered defiantly. "I've never seen wolf fangs afore"
"And what made you think it was OK for you to force him if he didn't want to?" the young ram did not answer, just looked away in disobedience.
"That's not the way to treat your classmates. You apologise to Benjamin right now, the both of you"

The two rams mumbled an inaudible "Sorry" to the wolf as they passed him, re-joining the front of the group. Benjamin sat on the grass, trying his best not to cry as Mary knelt down in front of him.
"You all right Benjamin?" the wolf cub just nodded, but tears started to stream down his cheek.
"It's ok" Mary said as she patted the young wolfs shoulder.
"I hate it here" he muttered.
"I know it must be tough being the new kid, but you'll make friends in time" Mary tried to sound encouraging, but it had already been a month, and Benjamin was still alone a lot when she saw him. Being the only wolf in Bunnyburrow elementary, he naturally had a hard time fitting in. Trying to cheer him up she added:
"You know, you were really being the bigger mammal; not striking back" Mary gave him an approving smile.
"Mommy told me not to" he said solemnly, wiping his nose with his sleeve.
"Mommy told me, if the other kids beat me, I must never claw or bite or do anything."
Mary fell silent; his mother told him to let the other kids bully him? She reminded herself to mention it to Claudia; it was probably something she should address at the next parent-teacher meeting.

The bunny paired up with Benjamin had run to his other friends, so Mary took the young wolf's paw, leading him down the hill to join the others, who were lining up in the parking lot.
Claudia, the cheetah in charge of the fourth graders, quickly agreed to let Benjamin stay in front with her after Mary silently filled her in on the episode. Leaving Benjamin in the capable hands of the senior teacher, Mary started to do a last headcount to make sure no one had wandered off on their walk down.

"Gideon Grey!" Mary spun around at the sound of the old goat's raspy voice. "My, my, haven't you grown!" Mary's heart skipped again as she saw Gideon standing at the front of the group, carrying a big sack of flour over his shoulder. He was wearing blue overalls and a green and white baseball cap, looking a bit rougher than usual. "H,hi Mrs. Marnie" he said surprised, Mary thought he even sounded a little nervous.
"Mind your manners!" the old goat tsk'ed at him "Not taking your hat of when greeting a lady"
Gideon looked properly flustered as he quickly dropped the heavy burlap sack to the ground, sending up a big white cloud of flour.
"Sorry. Good morning Mrs. Marine" he repeated, baseball cap in hand.
"That's better" Mrs. Marnie said. "See kids, I had this young fox in school as well" Mary could swear some of the kids shot him sympathetic glances.
"You were ill-mannered back then as well" Mrs. Marnie said sternly, turning back to Gideon. Mary could see how uncomfortable he was, ears flat to his head as the old goat scolded him as if he was ten years old again.
"Gideon and I were in the same class" Mary loudly informed the group of kids, taking their attention away from Mrs. Marnie before she could continue. "And now he's a baker. He owns the bakery in town. Isn't that right Gideon?"
Gideon was both embarrassed and relieved to hear Mary's voice interrupting his old teacher.
"Yea, that's right" Gideon sent her a thankful smile, though not enjoying the forty or so pairs of curious eyes on him.
"He is here getting flour for his pies and cookies, and we are going to see just how they make that flour from wheat from our farms" she smiled at the kids. Sending Claudia a meaningful glance. Te cheetah quickly took over.
"Well kids, let's head inside shall we. Fourth grade with me, fifth grade follow Mrs. Marnie"

Trailing behind the kids again, Mary slowed down as she approached Gideon.

"Thanks" Gideon whispered as Mary walked up to him. "I swear, she still scares me that one"
Mary gave a little laugh "Understandable. Though I never imagined you to be scared of anything when we were kids"
"Well I was" he put his baseball cap back on. A thin layer of flour coated his overalls and shirt. Without thinking, Mary reached up and straightened his shirt collar, dusting the worst of the flour away.
Gideon stood completely still, feeling Mary's small effective hooves brushing over the fur on his neck. He felt something flutter in his chest as he looked down on her standing on the tips of her hoofs to reach up, her eyes concentrated on his shirt.

Mary glanced up, meeting Gideon's mild blue eyes above her. She quickly took a step back as she realised the intimacy of what she was doing.
"Your collar was crooked" she explained meekly, feeling a little flushed.
"It'll be again in a minute, but thanks" Gideon smiled warmly at her; it made her nose flush even more.
"I need to go" she nodded towards the crowd of schoolchildren walking towards the entrance. "I'll see you later" she smiled at him.
"Yea" Gideon easily flung the heavy sack of flour back over his shoulder "See you Mary". He watched her herd the remaining group of kids inside. A small smile played on his lips as he smoothed his paw over his shirt collar, feeling the flutter in his chest growing stronger.

Inside the spacious entrance hall, which was what was left of the old flourmill, Mrs. Marnie shoot her a suspicious glance.
"You friendly with the fox?" her eyes narrowed to match her slit pupils.
"Gideon? Yes, we're friends, or just acquainted really" Mary answered wearily.
"I remember when you all were kids, bullied you something fierce that one"
"We were just kids, time passes. He is perfectly nice now" Mary said, glancing over her shoulder at Gideon walking back to his van.
"A fox is a fox" Mrs. Marnie snorted. "Never turn your back on a fox, not to be trusted"
"Marnie!" Mary said shocked, looking around to make sure none of the kids heard her talking like that. "That is not true, Gideon Grey is.."
"I'm just telling you like it is girlie" Mrs. Marnie cut her off. "They may act all polite, and nothing wrong in being polite in return. But never turn your back on a fox" Mrs. Marnie warned her as she walked towards the front of the group to Claudia.
Mary found herself looking forward to the day Mrs. Marnie was due to retire.

Gideon pulled up the driveway to the Beaver Dam Garage. Tipping his cap to the owner, Chuck, he strolled around the back with a pie box under his arm. This had become a routine after every flour pick-up; Gideon had never had many friends, but Travis had stayed by his side through thick and thin. Even though he had started out as more of a sidekick, he had matured into one of his closest friends.

He found Travis head down in the engine of a car, sniffing around for an oil leak.
"Mornin'" Gideon said cheerfully as he walked in.
"What's wrong with you?" the ferret said amused.
"What?"
"Stupid grin on your face" he ducked his head back down into the engine. "You look like a schoolboy in love"

Gideon watched as the ferret crawled back into the engine, almost disappearing into a small gap between a hose and the battery. Had Travis looked back up, he would have seen the realisation that played across the fox's face.
Gideon closed his eyes for a moment, seeing Mary's face, as he had several times over the past few days. He could remember how she smelled, how she sounded, the shade of her nose changing when she flushed. Something fluttered in his chest again, and he let out a long breath of air he had not realised he had been holding in.

"Travis, I think I'm in trouble"
"What'ya do now" the ferret asked, having worked his way down through the engine and under the car.
"You remember Mary Fields?" Gideon asked as he sat down on a toolbox by a cluttered workbench.
"Black sheep? Yea, used to push her around pretty badly. Heard she's back in town" he popped his head out from under the car, giving Gideon a bemused look. "Why? She wants revenge on ya?
"No, no nothing like that" Gideon was leaning his elbows on his knees. He actually looked troubled, making Travis worried.
"Jeez mate, what happened?"
"Nothing really. She just came in and ordered pies" Travis crooked his head, looking a little confused. "And I gave her a lift, and she's really nice, and it was raining, and she looked so soft and…And I saw her this morning, and I just…" he looked helplessly at his friend, not knowing how to express himself. They never really talked much about feelings.

Travis was quiet for a long time, taking in his friend's expression, before his eyebrows slowly rose up towards his ears.
"Of all the stupid shit you've done mate…"
"Yeah, I know" Gideon rubbed his paws over his face.
"But… you've done nothing right?"
"Like what?" Gideon asked wearily. Travis threw his paws up in disbelief.
"Shit, like, tellin' her stuff, or touching her or just looking to much"
"No" he did not feel like telling him about the time on the porch. "But I can't help looking"
"She's a sheep!" Travis stuffed the rag he had used to clean his paws in his pocket. "And last I checked you had fangs and red fur!" Gideon kept his eyes on his paws, looking sullen. Calming down a little, Travis walked over to his friend.

"When was the last time ya talked to a fox you're not related to anyway?" Travis asked calmly. "Ya need to meet a proper vixen, this' just a symptom of that." The only effect that argument had was making Gideon's shoulders slump even more.

Trying a new tactic, Travis said: "Look mate, she's prolly dreaming of some strong ram to sweep her off her feet anyway. So drop it"
"I can't" Gideon said meekly. "I swear Travis, she's like honey"

Sighing, Travis walked over to the small fridge in the corner. Getting two sodas, he threw Gideon one and sat down next to him on the toolbox.
"Remember when I told you about aunt Lynn?"
Gideon nodded, already knowing what point he was going to make.
"She ran off with a weasel, got married. I mean eloped properly. Nobody talks to her or about her. Didn't even know I had an aunt till I was in my teens! Can't imagine it's much better for the weasel fellow. And we really ain't that different, weasels n' ferrets" Travis took a sip of his soda, poking Gideon in the shoulder. "Now imagine you n' Mary. That'll get you more trouble 'an just a few broken windows"

Gideon's mind gladly imagined himself and Mary getting into trouble, making him rub his face even harder. Travis, not sure his friend was getting the message, added:
"Don't do anything stupid"
"I won't"
"I mean it mate. She prolly don't want nothing to do with ya"
"Yeah" Gideon said, carefully straightening his shirt collar. "But what if she does?"
"Don't even play with the idea. I guarantee you she don't."
"Yeah"
"So don't…"
"Yea, yea. Don't do anything stupid. Don't tell me what I know Travis" Gideon gave him a half-hearted shove, earning him a friendly slap on the back.
"At's more like it" the ferret jumped of the toolbox. "Now, what you got today?"
"A new recipe" Gideon said, trying to cheer up a bit. "Need your opinion on it, I'm trying to get the right balance between apples and pecan nuts"
"At your service" Travis made a mock bow as he walked into the break-room to get the coffee going.
Left alone in the garage, Gideon leaned his head back into his paws, letting out a discouraged groan.