Yay, an update. The new chapter 2 and 3 are up so I advise everyone to read those before this chapter... though it really doesn't matter if you do or not. It's just a way to get a much broader picture on Jane's actual purpose on being in Acorn Flats and her "rivalry" with Ms. Mucus.

Chapter 5

"The wrong girl"

The next day…

Fourth times the charm, Jane kept repeating to herself, taking a deep breath, sinking her foot into the stirrup and straining her muscles to hoist herself onto the horses back. This time she put less force into throwing her leg over the saddle, winding her arms around the mares neck when she lowered her rump.

She silently thanked the little palomino for being so patient with her, trembling in fear she would land rump first in the dirt again if she wasn't careful. But her luck improved there for a second, allowing the Den mother enough time to steady her nerves and sit straight up in victory. "T-t-there. That w-wasn't so hard."

Nina hid a chuckle behind her hand, eventually applauding the woman who, apparently, never rode a horse before. "Now that you're on, think you can ride her around?"

That sounded easy enough… until she nudged the horse onward and found the motion very bizarre. Enough so she wobbled horribly, nearly falling off once again.

The hair on the back of her neck soon rose when she heard a cruel snicker emerge behind her. Jane hesitantly glanced over her shoulder, cheeks reddening, not at all surprised to see Ms. Mucus standing there, like she usually did, shaking her head mockingly, dressed combat style with a rifle perched in one arm. "Was'ah matter, city gal? Country life to much for ya's to handle?"

"N-no, no. Just trying to get situated is all."

"Funny, here I thought you was hired to teach them girls ta be graceful or what-not. Not how to fall on their rumps like ninnies." The bulky assistant snorted, sending Jane to blush even deeper.

"We're not ninnies. She is." Gretchen defensively pointed to the blond, sending Mucus to smirk at the embarrassed scrunch Jane fell in. "It don't take a genius to figure that out." She sneered, turning towards the forest before her superior could reprimand her for the insult.

Patsy gave a good punch into her friends arm, growling under her breath, "Whatcha say that for?"

"It's true." Gretchen grumbled, rubbing the sore spot.

"So, you didn't have to point it out."

Gretchen merely grunted, quickly taking the lead ahead of everyone (mostly to avoid looking at the hurt Den mother), followed by the equally impatient Patsy, leaving Nina with the duty to stay behind and comfort the now somber woman's pride.

But Jane, despite being made a fool, was determined not to let their words eat at her. She'd show them all that though she hailed from the concrete jungle, she wouldn't give up on learning the ways of the backwoods.

No, she'd make this work… and keep her promise to Commander Hoo-Haw on domesticating the unruly Squirrel scouts.

Jane turned back to look at where her irritable assistant had disappeared to, quirking a brow curiously towards the reasons behind Musus's attire and attitude change. "Um… Nina? Can I ask you a question or two?"

"Go ahead."

"Uh, yeah, it's about Rubella Mucus. Why was she-"

"She always goes hunting this time of day. Mostly setting traps incase the mutated animals are lurking about."

"You mean to tell me she believes in those creatures too?"

"Everyone around Prickly Pines does." The lanky scout retorted, "We weren't pulling your leg about their existence. If I see any tracks, I'll be more than happy to point them out to you."

Jane fidgeted a bit in her saddle, wobbling still and needing to grab onto Nina to right herself. She felt even more embarrassed now, batting her lashes trying to reaffirm her slowly ebbing confidence, "Well… alright. I'll take your word for it."

"Good, cus I'm scarcely ever wrong about anything."

"C'mon, you slow pokes. I haven't got all day to hear you two yammer. We've got tracks to make… if you can stay on the horse that is." Gretchen shouted, earning a jab in the ribs by Patsy again. "Will you lay off, she's never been riding before."

"So. I wasn't that bad when I first started. And besides, she's the Den mother. She's suppose to know how to do all this stuff to begin with."

"You're not helping matters by insulting her." Both girls stared each other down, followed by bickers, forcing Nina to mumble, "Here they go again."

"Oh… Um, girls? You two really shouldn't-"

The tall nerdy scout held up a hand to stop Jane before she began, "It's best to let them work it out among themselves. I doubt they're listening to anything but the others insults anyway."

"But I feel I should put a stop to it. Friends shouldn't fight amongst themselves."

Nina let out an amused snort, "Oh, I wouldn't worry none about them or their friendship. They have thick skins, and even thicker skulls. I say let them be. They'll patch things up here in a bit and everything will fall back to normal… as normal as those two can be." Nina gave an all knowing grin, "Didn't you ever argue with your friends over silly stuff?"

"No, not really." The older woman didn't mention that her "friends" were the fair-weather type and made most of the decisions when their busy lives settled down enough to include her in it.

True enough, Jane had never been considered the popular girl, not even with her well polished peppy can-do attitude. She had mostly been referred to as the cheery, reliable person. The designated driver. The straight arrow. Well… straight up until that little tryst two months ago. Should've known office relationships don't last.

Silly, gullible Jane. That's what her coworkers had snickered.

Nothing like kicking a dead horse while it's down.

They had contributed to her choice on leaving, since she knew she would never be allowed to live her one selfish decision down. Thus she retreated to as far as she could, taking the first job that said yes to hiring her.

Acorn Flats.

Jane wasn't paying much attention to anything but her thoughts and the beauty that lay within nature..

Jane figured there would be things she was bound to miss in Citiville, namely the restaurants, but there were also things she was beginning to love about Acorn Flats; such as the girls and staff.

She sighed distantly, starting to feel content for the first time in her life… even if she had to endure listening to childish squabbles. In truth, it made her feel more welcomed.

The two feisty scouts, who had regurgitated a whole slew of name-calling, simmered down when they ran out of things to scream at the other; eventually apologizing, like Nina had predicted, and chattering giddily amongst themselves and even including Jane's opinions into the conversation.

This is starting out to be a great new home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What are we doing here again?" Skip asked in his most quiet voice, hiding in the bushes with Edward and his brother.

The ever grumpy platypus slapped a few flies from his face, growling irritably under his breath. How many times did he have to explain the plan to these nitwits? And why did he always get stuck with the idiot patrol?

"Slinkman sent us here to sack the Den mother and bring her back to camp. How hard is that to remember?"

"Oh yeah." Chip beamed, having his mouth quickly covered for being to loud.

"Shut up, you morons. Do I have to rip your lips off and shove them where the sun don't shine to keep you quiet? If she hears us we'll never be able to catch her off guard."

"Why do we have to sack her?" Skip inquired, giving the burlap sack a good shake for emphasis, then putting it over his head, losing all train of thought. "Hey, this bag smells like potatoes."

"Can't we just ask her over?" Chip thought out loud.

Edward slapped his head again, this time in frustration. "Do you honestly think some pretty girl is gonna willingly come over to a camp filled with freaks… to fall in love with Lumpus no less?"

"Uh-"

"No! That's why we have to nab'er and run. Keep her under lock and key until she complies to our demands. No food. No bathroom breaks. Nothin till we get what we want, ka-peesh?"

The Dungs, still not understanding, nodded in unison just to shut Edward up. "And what do we want again?"

"GAH! To break the curse!!"

"So when do we grab her?"

"When she goes by!"

"And when's that, its to dark to see?" Skip trying to peer through the bag.

Edward banged his head against a rock, nabbing the sack in annoyance. "You pee brains! Stay FOCUSED!!!"

The dung brothers both threw their dirty hands over the platypus's beak, shushing him. "You'll scare off the prey."

"And we'll have to rip off your lips and shove them up your butt."

While the two blathering idiots kept lecturing him, Edward spotted the Squirrel scouts approaching, his eyes growing wide. He pointed as the girls neared, still unable to speak. He waved his arms wildly to catch the dungs attentions, finally managing to break free long enough to scream, "GET HER, BOYS!!!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

All four girls turned their heads in every direction, pulling their horses to an abrupt stop. The once docile palomino reared back on her hind quarters, thrashing her front legs wildly in the air due to Jane's inexperience.

This bucking immediately sent the woman to dangle, then plummet to the ground in a dust cloud, counting her lucky stars when she barely avoided being trampled by the kicking and whickering beast.

Jane's eyes burned from the uprising dust, causing her to choke and sneeze, swatting to clear the area around her face and see what exactly was going on. The only thing she could remotely make out were two bulky figures that flew out of nowhere, being only purple blurs that slapped a large sack over the head of… Gretchen?

The perplexed woman quickly came to her feet, fists clenched, looking back at the other shrieking girls. Nothing seemed to be attacking them though; they being startled and confused like she.

Pandemonium ensued, people screaming, Gretchen cursing profoundly and Jane unable to do much while her eyes stung and her body wracked in sneezing fits.

"You stupid lugs!" came a loud boom next to her.

The adult turned to see who exactly that voice belonged to, flabbergasted when her vision cleared to reveal a strange beaver-thing next to her, pointing angrily as he shouted, "You've got the wrong girl! That's not the Den mother." His words were not heard by the purple creatures. They had already tied the bag and were hightailing it back into the dense Prickly Pine forest, leaving their cohort forgotten.

Edward grumbled many foul words under his breath, shaking in fury. But his sour attitude soon twisted in fear when he looked up at the much bigger human woman glaring down at him. He gulped, then darted after his companions, hollering, "Wait for me, guys!"

Jane… was… speechless.

That animal had talked.

Talked

It had also revealed that she was the one they were after. But why, she wondered, her mind rounding back in disbelief that it had talked!

Her body was incapable of movement, save for wiping at the moisture running down her face. She didn't know what to do. Was this considered an animal attack? A kidnapping? BOTH?!! Did she go for help or give chase to save her scout? Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, what do I do?! I haven't read far enough into the handbook.

Her indecision soon fled when she heard Gretchen still hollering for help - a fierce protectiveness consuming her frame. Jane mentally kicked herself for those precious seconds she had stood there and done nothing, turning to the remaining Nina and Patsy, "You two go back for help. I'm going after those… those…."

"Mutated animals." Patsy offered.

Jane nodded, not caring what to call them and not wanting to admit she had been wrong about the creatures existence. She turned and raced into the thick foliage without further thought, trying to follow the guttural threats Gretchen screamed at the top of her lungs. It seemed that became the only way for the inexperienced woman to pursue them, for she knew absolutely nothing about tracking.

She got only so far before she could no longer hear but distant echos. Her heart pounded loudly between her ears, making her strain to make out any sound beyond her heavy panting.

There was nothing.

Jane turned her head, leaning upon a tree to catch her breath. "God, I'm out of shape. Gretchen!"

No answer.

"Greeeeetchen!!"

Still nothing… other than Nina grabbing her shoulder.

Jane nearly leapt out of her skin, angered to see her scouts disobey to help give chase. And on foot no less. "You two… were supposed to… get help." She gasped between breaths.

"We couldn't let you take on those monsters by yourself." Patsy said, looking towards Nina, "If they got Gretchen so easily, we knew you wouldn't stand a chance by yourself."

Gee, thanks. Jane wanted to mutter, turning to Nina who was the only one with enough sense to look a little guilty for disobeying. "I can't have you two get hurt, too. And what about the horses?"

"They know their way back to camp and, no offense Ms. Doe, we stand a better chance than you out here. We actually know how to track." The tallest scout whispered hesitantly, earning a rather peeved glare. Yet the Den mother didn't argue, aware the girls were right. To be honest, Jane felt rather useless right about now.

So, unable to persuade these stubborn girls to retreat, and not wanting to waste precious time arguing for a useless cause, she defeatedly pointed, "Lead the way then."

They may be putting themselves in danger, but Jane wasn't about to let any more harm come to her girls. She instantly yanked at a large branch from the tree, anger and desperation giving her strength, breaking it off to use as a make-shaft club.

It wasn't all that sturdy but it would have to do because she planned on knocking those beast's into last Tuesday.