Many days later...
CRACK!
Fone Bone, bundled with his own, self-made hat and raggedy cloak, broke off a spare branch from the foot of a tall, bare-branched tree, and carried it to the pile he made nearby in the snow.
"Perfect!" he said with a puff, a cloud forming in the chilly air. He bent down and hefted up his new pile. "Now all I need is one more good sized stick, and I'll have enough!"
So, carrying his new pile of wood, he tromped through the snow, humming a cheery old song from his hometown fitting for the morning routine, as though he were taking a walk through the park rather than the barren wood of wherever.
Fone Bone did what every decent Bone did in a situation such the one he was in: make best of it.
Weeks had quickly passed, with the snow coming early in heaps and lumps all over the woods, covering the once green and brown environment into a blanket of white, and Fone was still no closer to finding his cousins.
Deep down, knowing them, growing up as fellow childhood-orphans on the street of their hometown, they too would find a way to adapt when their survival instincts kicked in. Smiley, with his big height and his big heart, always made any hardship look too easy. Phoney, on the other hand, would certainly have a tougher time, his strong suit being mainly involved in the structure of civilization and the goods it provided for him, using his words and his...er, charms to get what he wanted.
At least he didn't have to deal with his loud complaining. He couldn't remember the last time he had gone this long without Phoney Bone constantly shouting in his ear, riling him quickly enough to shout right back. It was a nice break, like being set in the middle of Walden, Henry David Thoreau's novel of solitude.
Though, strangely enough, he was starting to miss it a little...
"Oh, Bone! Mister Bone! Yoo-hoo!" From over the white hill, a female possum, surrounded by her babies (one riding on her back), waved cheerily in his direction. She was carrying a basket.
Fone Bone approached her. "Why hello, Miz 'Possum! I haven't seen you in a couple of months!"
Setting down her basket, Miz Possum waved her hand casually. "Oh, I don't get out of th' house much in winter," she said, "'specially with the young'uns!"
Two of the "young'uns" scattered up to him, tiny as chipmunks, with wide, innocent eyes. The littlest one slid slowly off their mother's back and eased close to her side, looking up at him excitedly.
"These can't be your kids!" Fone Bone exclaimed. "They're all grown up!"
"Well, it's almost spring! They shoot up fast this time of year!" said Miz Possum proudly. She glanced down at her babies. "You boys remember Fone Bone?"
"Sure!" piped one, and another, "Yeah!" from the littlest.
"How you guys doin'?" Fone Bone knelt down at their level/
"We're cool!" said the first.
"Where'd ya get the hat?" said the second.
Fone Bone touched his hat with a smile. "Your mom made it for me! She's a real lifesaver, your mom! I woulda froze without it!"
The three little possums shrugged. "Pretty dorky!"
"Mom brought ya some more blankets 'n' stuff!" said the littlest, dragging over the basket.
"Wow, thanks!" exclaimed Fone Bone, looking gratefully at the smiling mother. "I don't know how I would've made it through th' winter without you, Miz Possum!"
Miz Possum chuckled and waved him off again. "Oh, don't you worry about it! As long as you're stuck here in our valley, I'll take care of you! Here!" She pushed the basket in his direction. "I packed a pie in case you're hungry!"
"Thank you!"
He really meant it. If it weren't for the Possum family, Fone Bone probably wouldn't have survived long, with or without the snow.
At the beginning winter, getting ready for hibernation, the new mother Miz Possum had found Fone Bone shivering in the cold at the base of their home near a tree and was kind enough for him to shelter with them a little while until they found him one of his own. It didn't take long, finding a nearby hole in the ground beneath a fallen pair of trees crossing like a rooftop-bridge on top of a mound of snow, like a lopsided igloo waiting just for him to use.
Using the spare branches in the woods to keep the snow and the trees from collapsing around the hand-built doorway, also for some firewood to keep warm, Fone spent the season making this little hole into his own residence, using the snow for water and a few of Miz Possums shared extra provisions, some of them her own homemade pastries, for food. She also gifted him with a hat she hastily made his size and a couple of blankets, one of which he was wearing around his shoulders as a cloak. It wasn't long before the Possum family disappeared for a while, so Fone Bone was left to improvise.
After week two, he did managed to build himself a fishing pole with a stick and extra string from his bag to go ice-fishing, since he was inexperienced in hunting or setting any other traps, really.
So it had been a fish-filled winter, and once spring came and Fone Bone continued the search for this mysterious "Thorn" (or his cousins, if he was lucky), he hoped he wouldn't have to eat another plain roasted fish for a long time.
When Fone Bone bent down to pick up the basket, Miz Possum asked him, "Did you ever find those cousins of yours?"
Fone Bone sighed. "No, not yet. Have you seen Ted since I talked to you last?" He hadn't seen Ted since he hopped and retreated form those rat creatures that would've made Fone their dinner if he hadn't snuck off during their bickering. Thankfully, he hadn't had the misfortune of running into those things, either.
"Nope!" Miz Possum shook her head. "Don't know much about what bugs do in th' winter, but I haven't seen wing nor antennea of Ted sin th' snow hit...say...Wasn't there someone else you wanted me to find out about?"
Fone stood up. "Ted was gonna take me to see someone named Thorn," he told her.
"Oh, that's right!" Fone brightened, until she shook her head again, "Nope haven't found a thing!" She started fussing with the blankets in the basket. "You sure you have enough blankets?"
"Yes, ma'am." He sighed. "Well, thanks anyway, Miz Possum! If there's ever anything I can do––"
"As a matter of fact, I'm on my way over to Miz Hedgehog's place, 'n' I was wondering if you'd mind watchin' the kids?"
"All right!" cheered the first baby possum. "We're gonna stay with Fone Bone!"
"Me?!" Fone Bone stuttered. "B-But...I don't anything about baby possums!"
"Oh, it'll just be for an hour or two!" Miz Possum assured him, while already turning around to walk up the hill, leaving her sons with Fone Bone. "You boys be good now!"
"Don't worry about us, Mom!" called out one of her sons.
Soon, Fone Bone was left alone with three baby possums, staring up at him with wide-eyed expectancy. He stared back, completely at a loss. He didn't have much experience with any children in particular. That role belonged to Smiley Bone, who was a natural caretaker for anything small and innocent. In some sense, as the eldest of three, even Phoney Bone had more experience than Fone Bone...in his own way. Though always harsh and loud, and a bit cowardly half the time, Fone Bone never forgot that when it came down to it, Phoney would (for once) forget his own problems and fight to bend the world at his whim to make sure he and Smiley were taken care of.
But neither one were here. Oh, well. He reckoned he'd have to gain some experience, at some point. And Miz Possum's children were not nearly as bad as he and cousins had been in their childhood mischief, so how hard can it be?
"Well..." Fone Bone hefted up his logs and baskets, glancing over to make sure the little ones were following. "C'mon, guys! You can help me put the finishing touch on my house!"
Like little ducklings, they followed him up over the hillside, which a few minutes later led to his snow-piled, wood-pillared den.
"Run inside where it's warm...I'll just be a second!"
"Whoop!"
"Yippeee!"
The three little possums scattered excitedly inside.
Meanwhile, a few minutes passed before Fone Bone succeeded im replacing his new set of pillars to support the doorway with the woodpile in collected. With a few more adjustments, the logs fit in place. "There we go! Cozy as an igloo!" Fone Bone said proudly. "By the time this melts, it'll be spring, an' then I'm outta here!"
Suddnely there was smashing and crashing on the inside, followed by a loud CRUNCH that made Fone Bone jump in alarm. "Hey, guys!" he called, before looking inside to check on the little ones. "Take it easy in th-WHAT TH' HECK?"
Two of the baby possums were holding over their heads a boulder big thean both of them both together, while the littlest one steadied a chestnut in position to smash.
"HOLY COW!" Fone Bone rushed and snatched the boulder away, throwing it away with a grunt. He turns away for two minutes and this happens?! Still shaken, he hurries them away from the rock and chestnuts. "What are you trying to do?! Kill each other?" Guess he had been wrong; the three possums could potentially be as reckless as he, Smiley, and Phoney had been. Thinking fast, he snatched all three of them up and said, "C'mon, let's sit by the fireplace an' I'll tell you a story!"
"Aww! We were havin' fun!" complained the first little possum.
"We don't wanna hear a story!" echoed the second sadly.
"We wanna play!" cheered the littlest, squirming right out of his hold and hopping off his nose.
The other two easily squirmed out with him. "He can't play with us!" said the second. "He don't know nuthin' 'bout baby possums! He said so!"
Two of them scurried up his body like squirrels until one perched on his head and other on his nose. "Play with us, Mr. Bone!" said the one on his nose, looking him in the eye.
"Yeah, c'mon!" said the other on his head.
The littlest one looked up at them all, fondling the still-whole chestnut. "What possums play best is 'dead!'" he squeaked.
That gave Fone Bone an idea. "LOOK OUT!" he yelled and pointed suddenly, causing the babies to jump in air out in fright. "IT'S A GIANT POSSUM-REATING BEAR!"
Alarmed, all three of possums dropped to the floor with a plop and closed their eyes, little pink tongues lolling out. It was adorable to look at. They didn't move for a long time.
"Hmm," Fone Bone smiled to himself. "I kinda like this game."
It wasn't long before he gathered the little ones like the babies they were and tucked them snugly under one of the blankets their mother gave him. They looked so precious, like little angels.
Perhaps babysitting won't be so tough after all.
Fone Bone was sweeping the floor of chestnut shells, humming to himself when he heard slight shuffling and soft giggling behind him. He turned around, only to find the three little ones still asleep. They looked, however, too still to be napping.
Turning back around, he heard the sniggering again. Smirking, he continued sweeping, eating until they thought he didn't notice.
And then––
"RRRRRRRR!" He swished around, bearing his teeth and raising his hands above his head, curling them like claws. The possums squealed in fright and delight. "HERE COMES THE BEAR! You better watch out! I'm gonna eat you up! RRRRRRRRRROAR!"
"Ahhh!"
"Wheeeee!"
"HA! HA!"
Laughing and screaming, the baby possums scurried out of the blanket, letting Fone Bone chase them around the cave, playing possum-eating bear chase...up until all three of them scampered out of the exit.
"RUN! The bear is chasin' us!" cheered one of them, trotting up the hill.
Fone Bone dropped his act and called out, "HEY! Stay in th' house!"
When they didn't come back, Fone Bone hurried out and started running out into the snow after them. "HEY! COME BACK HERE!"
"Catch us if you can!" they called to him in the distance. "Hahahahah!"
"I'm serious!" shouted Fone Bone. "Quit foolin' around!" Losing sight of them, he could only see their tiny footprints lieading like a winding trail into the cluster of tall, bare trees. "Boys?"
When there was no answer this time, Fone Bone stomped up the hill, growing annoyed now. Honestly, how did things get so complicated so quickly? All he had to do was keep them in the cave, and he couldn't even managed to do that? And just when he was getting warmed up again!
"All right..." he grumbled under his breath, still stomping across the snow while following their tracks, "They want me to catch 'em...I'll catch 'em!"
Their tracks led straight into snow-covered set of bushes, where Fone Bone was sure they were hiding long enough for him to pass by. Luckily, he was too smart for that. Feeling vindictive, Fone Bone smiled wickedly and raised his arms to prepare catching them. "Aha! Hidin' in the bushes, are you?!" he cackled. "Well, Mr. Bear is gettin' hungry!"
After counting to three, Fone Bone jumped straight into the prickly bushes for a surprise catch. "RRRRRRRROAR! NOW I'M GOING TO–––" He skidded to a halt, eyes popping. "Whooooops!"
Right in front of him, like something straight out of his worst nightmares, were the giant rat creatures he ran into those months ago.
And clutched tightly into their ugly, long-fingered grip, were three tiny, helpless baby possums, their screams cut off and and tearful eyes round with absolute terror.