Once again, ol' Br'er Fox had been outsmarted by that trickster, Br'er Rabbit. He was hanging suspended by a rope looped around his ankle, and wasted no time attempting to untie himself. Now, Br'er Fox prided himself on tying some tricky knots for his many traps for Br'er Rabbit and other critters, but now he was beginning to wish that he had used an easier knot.
After spending an agonizing five minutes trying to disentangle himself, he heard a soft female soprano voice ask, "Are you in need of assistance Monsieur?" Br'er Fox's ears twitched the moment that familiar voice reached them. There, standing before him, was his new frenemy, Jeannette Francis Gallagher. Glaring at the lovely human woman, he spat out, "HELP?!!? Idon'neednohelpma'm speciallynotfromsomedamelikeyou, nope Iisjustabouttogetmyselfdownright'boutnow!" Jeannette was a very sensitive woman, so it took every ounce of will within her to keep from breaking down crying in front of Br'er Fox, since she knew that he couldn't stand seeing her get upset. Despite this, Br'er Fox was able to read her like a book. It would be a sick lie to claim that he didn't feel a just a little bit guilty over hurting Jeannette's feelings, so he put his pride aside, taking a deep breath and mumbled, "Maybe a lil' bit."
Upon hearing those words, Jeannette's sky blue eyes lit up. Not wasting anymore time, she took out her small knife, which she always kept hidden in her garter, and sawed the rope suspending the fox until it snapped, causing him to fall immediately plop down onto the dirt road. As he attempted to stand up, however, he felt a sharp pain jolt through his right leg, causing him to yell out loud and fall onto his side. Jeannette starred down with her eyes widened in shock, had she just injured her red-furred frenemy?!?! While she was against him hunting Br'er Rabbit, whom she was very close friends with, she harbored certain feelings for Br'er Fox. After a few minutes passed of her watching the fox hiss in pain as he gripped his right ankle, she saw Br'er Fox turn to face her. He noticed a few runnaway tears streaming down the human's face and finally spoke up, "Ma'am, y'alldonneedtofussovame disain'tyofaultanyhow!" his voice still laced with pain from his now sprained ankle. "I can'twalkbackhomebymyselfsoI'mgoinneedyoursupport!"
With hesitation, Jeannette crouched down low enough so that Br'er Fox could reach out and grab onto her right arm. After helping him stand, Jeannette and Br'er Fox started their long trek to Chickapin Hill. With Br'er Fox's limp, progress was slow and filled with complaints along with cursing from said fox. By the time they were nearing the halfway point, it was nearing sunset, and Jeannette had noticed that Br'er Fox had gone quiet and was moving more sluggishly than before. Eventually, she decided to stop and check up on him. Upon taking a closer look, she noticed that his eyes were half-lidded and fluttering slightly, as if he was struggling to keep them open. "Fox, are you feeling tired?" she asked in concern. Br'er Fox scowled at her and attempted to argue with her again, but a yawn escaped from his lips instead, much to his embarrassment. Jeannette smiled and giggled at his response, "If you want, I would be more than glad to carry you the rest of the way home," the female offered. Under normal circumstances, Br'er Fox would argue that he would rather be skinned alive than be caught being carried by someone else, but he was too exhausted and sore to care at the time, so he simply nodded, granting the human his consent.
Smiling, Jeannette lowered herself down again, gesturing for the fox to climb onto her back. Upon letting her know that he was secure, Jeannette stood back up, holding onto Br'er Fox's legs, being careful not to touch his injured ankle, while his arms were wrapped around her neck. As the pair resumed their trek to Chickapin Hill, now with Br'er Fox riding piggyback on Jeannette, he settled his head into the crook of her neck, burying his snout into her blonde braided hair, the rhythm of her footsteps eventually lulling him to sleep.
Upon arriving at Chickapin Hill, Jeannette was about to let Br'er Fox down, before hearing hearing him snore softly in her ear. Deciding to just let him sleep, she brought him inside of his dwelling, carrying into his bedroom and carefully taking him down from her body and onto his bed. She removed Br'er Fox's yellow bucket hat and forest green vest hanging them on the bedpost, leaving him lying there in just his white shirt and green pants. Kneeling down beside him, she took her time observing his features, the rise and fall of his chest, his long bushy tail twitching on occasion, and the moonlight seemingly illuminating his barely visible fangs and red-orange pelt.
Jeannette sighed as she watched the fox slumber, while she was certain that others would judge her for it and that Br'er Fox most certainly wouldn't return her feelings for him, she couldn't deny for much longer that she had fallen in love with this creature. From the day that she first arrived in Georgia, he was one of the few who was there for her in her time of need, and she wouldn't soon forget that. Deciding to leave him alone for the rest of the night, she tiptoed her way out the bedroom door, but before closing it, she looked back one last time at Br'er Fox and whispered, "Good night, mon amour."