Chapter 14

The young vixen yawned and stretched. It was a lovely day, with a blue sky overhead and a nice breeze. She stood up from the shade of a tree, where she'd been sleeping. Smelling food, she trotted over to the bowl she ate from, a bell jingling from a leather collar around her neck. The vixen's home was the backyard of a small log cabin, encircled by a wooden fence. Her caretaker, an old hermit, lived in the cabin. She knew she was an unusual pet, as most humans seemed to view foxes as pests, but this old man seemed to have a soft spot for all creatures. He had numerous birdfeeders hung around his house and the tree in his yard, and there was a doe that would sometimes come up to his front porch and let him hand feed her. He lived at the edge of a pine forest, where no other humans bothered him.

The vixen looked in the bowl to find fresh bacon, which she wolfed down. The old man was always very kind to her—he'd found her just a few weeks ago, half dead, and had taken her home and nursed her back to health. The vixen couldn't remember what had happened to her or anything else prior to her rescue. Her head had hurt very much when she'd woken up, as if she'd hit her head on something. She knew she must have had a life in the wild before, but was too afraid to venture beyond the fence, knowing she wouldn't know where to go. She'd decided to stay with the hermit, where it was safe, until her memories came back. The vixen couldn't even remember her own name, though the man had been calling her "Little Missy."

The back door swung open, and the old man emerged, his stiff joints making him walk slowly. The vixen ran up to him, letting out a friendly, high-pitched bark.

"Hey, Little Missy," said the man, bending down to pet her head. "Did you enjoy your lunch? Good, good. I gotta run into town for a bit…I hate going there, but I gotta get some more bacon and eggs from the farmer's market. Lord knows I can't live without those. You stay here and be a good girl, okay? I'll be back later."

The vixen wove around his legs, and he petted her one last time before going back inside. The vixen curled up in a patch of sunlight, about to take another nap, when she heard a sound from behind the fence. She perked up her ears, then called out, "Blaze?"

A loose plank in the fence swung upward, and a dark head poked out through the space. "Hey there, miss," he greeted.

The vixen trotted over to the dark-furred fox that had squeezed his way through the fence. "How are you today?" she asked.

"Never been better," he said, licking a paw and washing his face. Blaze had been visiting her ever since she'd come to live with the hermit, having seen her from a distance one day and been curious about a fox living with a human. His voice always sounded casual and apathetic, but he always gave her a warm gaze that made her feel safe around him.

"I was just out in the woods and I saw the strangest thing." Blaze yawned and stretched, then curled up in the grass and looked up at the vixen with an affectionate smirk.

"Oh? What was it?" the vixen asked.

"I saw another fox. I know, surprising, right? I told you I was the last one in the forest. But that's not all. He was with three dogs."

"What!?" the vixen gasped. "Dogs? Were they big and scary?"

"Nah," Blaze replied. "One of them was a dinky little thing. Another was a pretty silver greyhound, and then there was a kind of dopey-looking hound. They were playing. When I approached them, they said they'd come from a forest to the west. Didn't you say you were from a forest to the west?"

"Um…I guess so," said the vixen. "I mean, that's where the old man found me."

"This fox looked kind of familiar to me," Blaze told her. "I couldn't figure out why, but then a little while later it hit me—he looked kind of like you, only male."

"Like me!?" the vixen exclaimed.

"I know you can't remember anything, but I thought I should mention him to you," said Blaze. "His name was Cedar. Sound familiar?"

"Cedar…Cedar…" the vixen thought hard. She didn't recognize that name, yet there was something funny about it, as if she should know it.

"He said that men had destroyed the forest to the west, and that hounds killed his father and sister," Blaze added.

"Oh…" the vixen's voice trailed off. "Oh…oh!" She was not prepared for what happened next. She crouched down in the grass, gasping as sort of an explosion took inside her head. It wasn't painful, but very overwhelming…images seemed to flash before her eyes, names and familiar cries echoing in her ears.

"Hey, are you okay!?" Blaze put his paws on her and shook, sounding very concerned. "Hey!"

"I…I'm fine." The vixen slowly sat up and looked at Blaze, her eyes wide. She trembled all over.

"What happened?" Blaze touched his nose to hers.

"Well I…I think my memories came back," the vixen stuttered. "I was in the woods with my father and brother, and hounds chased us…I fell into a river and got swept away…the old man must have pulled me out…oh my god, Cedar! He's alive! But Dad…he's dead? No, it can't be true!" She began talking so fast Blaze couldn't understand her, and then let out a wail of grief. He gently licked her face, pressing into her. "It's alright," he soothed. "It's okay."

"No it's not!" the vixen sobbed. "My father is dead!"

"But you still have your brother." Blaze wrapped his tail protectively around her. "I can take you to see him, if you'd want."

"See him? Oh…oh my…yes! Yes, I want to see him!" the vixen cried. She then paused, tears still streaking down her face, memories and a mixture of emotions whirling in her head and making her feel dizzy.

"Hey...hey…look at me." Blaze nuzzled her. "It's okay. I'll take you right now."

"Yes, but…what about the old man? He'll be worried if I leave."

"But you want to let your brother know you're alive, right?"

"Well…yes. Alright, I'll come with you."

The two foxes squeezed through the gap in the fence and headed for the woods.

"Oh, by the way, do you remember your name now?" Blaze asked.

"Oh…yes! It's Clover," the vixen replied.

"That's a pretty name. It fits you well." Blaze smiled at her.

Cedar and the dogs were by a stream near their burrows, perfecting the catching techniques Cedar had taught them. Thistle had fallen in, and was sitting in the stream, water dripping from his ears. The others were trying hard not to laugh.

"Oh yeah? You guys haven't caught anything either!" he snapped.

Suddenly, a clump of ferns on the other side of the stream rustled, and Blaze's head poked out.

"Yo," he said.

"Blaze? What's up?" Cedar's fur rose along his spine in anxiety.

"Nothing bad, you don't need to worry." Blaze leaped over the stream and landed beside the other fox. "I just saw something peculiar and thought you'd be interested."

"Huh?"

"Well, I just happened to be passing by this old hermit's house that's at the edge of the forest, and I saw something in the backyard. It was a fox."

"A fox!?" Cedar exclaimed. "I don't understand…what was a fox doing in a human's yard?"

"The old man's been keeping her as a pet. She's got a collar and everything." Blaze sat down and casually scratched himself once again. "But wait—it gets more interesting. So I talked to this vixen, and she said she's had amnesia for the past few weeks. The man found her passed out somewhere, and she couldn't remember what happened or who she was. Then I mentioned the woods to the west, and you, and she seemed to remember more about herself."

"Wait…" Cedar suddenly felt short of breath. Could it be? No, it couldn't…, he thought.

"Can you…can you take me to see this vixen?" Cedar choked out.

"Don't need to," said Blaze. "I brought her with me." He flicked his ears towards the clump of ferns, as if giving a signal. Cedar heard an odd jingling noise, and then, she emerged from the ferns. Cedar stared at the slim, bright-eyed vixen standing across the stream from him. He couldn't talk. He seemed to have lost his voice. He could only let out a shocked choking noise.

"Cedar…?" the vixen whispered. "Is it…is it really you?"

"…Clover?" Cedar gasped.

"CEDAR!" The vixen leaped over the stream and ran straight at Cedar, knocking him down on the ground in joy. "Cedar! It's you! You're alive!"

"Clover…how…what…" he tried to speak, but Clover wasn't listening. She had her forelegs wrapped around him in a hug, and wouldn't stop nuzzling him.

"Oh…Cedar…I got swept down the river…I hit my head on a rock and got amnesia, and an old man took me in, but then I met this fox, and when he mentioned you, I…I remembered you!" Clover stammered.

"Oh, Clover, I'm so sorry!" Cedar rubbed his head against his sister's. "I was supposed to be looking out for you…"

"No, Cedar, please don't blame yourself!" Clover smiled, happy tears dripping from her eyes. "We're together again. That's all that matters."

"So I'm guessing this is your sister?" The question came from Quicksilver.

"Yes." Clover let Cedar stand up, but the siblings were still touching pelts. "I thought she had drowned…"

"Cedar?" Clover stared at the dogs with wide, bewildered eyes. "Who are these?"

"It's okay, Clover. They're my friends." Cedar gave his sister a reassuring lick. "Meet Harley, Thistle, and Quicksilver. Harley saved me from a bear!"

"A bear!?" Clover cried.

"Cedar, I'd explain things more clearly if I were you," Blaze advised. Cedar suddenly remembered he was there.

"Thank you," he said his voice thick. "You found my sister. I don't know how I can repay you…"

"Don't bother," said Blaze. "I thought you'd looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out why. But then I remembered you said you had a sister. You and Clover have the same face and expressions."

"Wait…how do you two know each other?" Cedar looked back and forth between Clover and Blaze.

"Oh boy, lots of explaining to do," Blaze sighed, lying down in the grass and folding his forepaws over each other. "Well, basically, I'm a loner, but it's been kind of distressing being the last fox in this forest. So when I spotted this young lady a few weeks ago, I started talking to her. Does that help clear things up?"

Cedar couldn't help but notice a fond gentleness in Blaze's eyes as he looked at Clover.

"Thanks for taking care of her," said Cedar.

"No problem." Blaze got to his feet. "Well, now that you two are reunited, you better explain to your sister how you came to be friends with dogs."

"Wait, are you leaving, Blaze!?" Clover exclaimed.

"Yeah. I like you guys, but I've had enough socializing for one day. See ya." Blaze crouched down, ready to leap over the stream.

"Wait!" Clover cried. "You're just going to leave?"

"Clover, don't worry," he said, softening his voice. "I'll be checking in on you from time to time, as always." He winked at her, and then, as quickly as he had come, disappeared into the ferns.