It's fall break at the school where I teach so finally got some time to write! Yay! I hope you enjoy woodsman Eliot and his teeny counterpart. :)

"Eliot, where are all the deers? You said there were going to be deers," Leonora Amelia said from her booster seat strapped in the back seat of his truck.

He glanced in his rearview mirror for just a second to catch the puzzled frown undoubtedly crinkling her forehead. He loved it when she made that face. It made her look like a smaller, much cuter version of Nate when he was thinking really hard about something. "Keep your eyes peeled, darlin'," he encouraged. "You'll see some."

She huffed, but kept her big blue eyes fixed on the trees sliding past the window. He glanced once more at her, taking in her messy dark curls and tiny arms folded across her bright pink shirt. He'd told Sophie to pack dark colors that she wouldn't care about getting dirty, but apparently the six-year-old owned no such clothes. At least the bright pink would make her difficult to lose in the forest.

"Sometimes princesses can talk to animals," she informed him after a moment. "I watched a movie with Hardison 'bout it. Right after we watched Ponies. You know what?"

He realized she was waiting for a response. "What?"

"Fluttershy can talk to animals too. She takes care of them. If Fluttershy were here she could talk to all the animals and tell them to come out and say hello and then I can see them." She paused for breath. "Eliot, can you ride deers?"

He chuckled. "If you could catch one, I guess you might be able to. But honey, wild animals aren't to play with. If you see one, you just look. Especially a moose. You know what a moose looks like?"

"I know what a moose looks like!" she said, sounding offended he would doubt her.

"Well don't get anywhere near one, okay? They're not nice, and neither are bears."

"Hardison told me about all that stuff. He said we were crazy for wanting to go camping where there's stuff like bears and porcupines and badgers and bats. Are we crazy?"

"What have I told you about listening to Hardison?"

"Don't do it?"

Eliot grinned. "That's my girl."

They made it to the campsite without any deer sightings and Leonora was sorely disappointed until they found a chipmunk eating someone's leftovers in the fire pit. The little girl squealed but Eliot caught her arm before she could run toward it.

He crouched down next her and spoke quietly in her ear. "He's gonna run off if you scare him. We're in his home so we're not gonna bother him."

She stilled and watched as the little creature stuffed his cheeks and scampered out of the fire pit. She giggled as it finally noticed them and darted up into the nearest pine, chattering angrily.

"He's talking to me!" she said. "What's he saying?"

Eliot grinned and kissed her head. "Probably tellin' us to go away. Come help me unload and we'll make a fire."

They set up the tent. Rather, Eliot set up the tent while Leonora followed him around asking endless questions about forest animals and the trees and bugs. He was happy to answer them. It's why he'd brought her camping in the first place and why he planned to do so every summer until she was grown. Some of his best memories from back home were the camping and hunting trips he'd taken with his dad and brother. In fact, he'd been Leonora's age the first time his dad took him into the woods.

Leonora was delighted with the tent. They spread out their sleeping bags and she plopped down on her bright purple one with a contented sigh. "This is really cool," she sighed happily. "It's like a little house!"

He sat next to her on his own sleeping bag and pulled one of her curls. "Aren't you glad you didn't listen to Hardison?"

She laughed, the gap where she'd recently lost a tooth evident. "Yep. You think Bertrand could come live in here with us?"

"Uh… who?"

She rolled toward him, propping her head up on her hand. "My chipmunk, silly!"

Of course. "I don't think he wants to come in here. He lives in a tree."

She stared at him wide-eyed. "I wanna live in a tree!"

They roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire much to Leonora's delight. Eliot could've put something a little better together but he wanted her first camping experience to be authentic. Besides, she loved hot dogs.

After dinner Eliot built up the fire and they sat in their camp chairs watching the flames as the night settled in behind them.

"I wish Bertrand were here," Leonora sighed, her eyes half-closed.

"He probably is," Eliot assured her, stirring the fire and sending sparks of light into the darkness.

They watched in silence for a few more minutes and the next time Eliot looked at her, her eyes were nearly closed and she was slumped way down in the chair.

"You ready for bed, darlin'?" he asked quietly.

She nodded.

"You go get your pj's on and I'll put out the fire," he said, reaching for the bucket of sand next to the fire pit.

She slid out of her chair and he fished the flashlight out of his pocket to give to her which woke her up a little. She loved getting to use his flashlight.

Eliot spread out the remaining coals and sprinkled sand over them, remembering again that first camping trip he'd taken with his dad. His father had been a large man, broad like Eliot but taller, and he'd knelt side by side with Eliot and blew on the smoldering tinder until the bigger logs started to catch. Eliot had thought it was magic.

By the time he got back to the tent, Leonora was already ensconced in her sleeping bag, the flashlight clutched in both hands.

"Eliot? How much batteries does this have?" she asked the question casually, but Eliot could hear the slight waver in her tone.

"Enough to last all night," he assured her.

She nodded but her eyes were still wide and afraid. Eliot remembered something else his dad had shown him.

"C'mon," he said, standing as much as the tent would allow and holding out his hand. "I gotta show you something."

She crawled out of her sleeping bag and grabbed his hand tightly, still holding the flashlight with the other hand. He picked her up when they had stepped out of the tent since she was barefoot and walked with her to the center of the campsite before his hand closed around hers and turned off the flashlight.

She gave a little squeak of dismay as the darkness of the forest closed around them. "Nora," he said gently. "You ever seen the stars?"

"Duh," she said, fear momentarily forgotten at such a dumb question.

He smiled. "I mean seen all the stars. You can't see 'em from the city."

There was just enough light for him to see the puzzled frown on her face again as she looked up at the sky. They stared for a long moment before she looked at him again.

"There's so many," she said. "It looks like my sparkle skirt."

Eliot wasn't sure if he should be amused or distressed by that comparison, but he was glad she didn't seem afraid anymore. It had worked with him. He remembered his dad teaching him about the constellations and the Milky Way to assuage his own fears forty years ago. He remembered the feeling of safety and awe looking up at the stars in the quiet of a forest night, his father's arms around him.

"Can we stay here forever?" Leonora whispered, still transfixed.

"I wish, darlin'," he said. "I wish."