Spring came at last to the Valley. Babies were born and eggs hatched. Green shoots carpeted the meadows and flowers were beginning to open. The mystery of Rabbit disappearing was a distant memory, but still remembered.
One day a young squirrel named Chips was playing on a log with a young raven called Blackie. They were jumping and tumbling off the log when Blackie loudly whispered "Be still! There is a man coming. We must be ready to hide if he gets any closer!" Well, he came closer and they hid, Chips under the log and Blackie into a nearby bush. The "man" turned out to be a young human, what they called a "boy". He walked up to the log, sat down on it and began to talk to himself. Chips was astonished to realize he could understand the boy and quietly listened. The boy told himself a story he had heard from his father about the Valley and the special relationship their family had with it. They managed the trust that keep the Valley a Sanctuary, and when both his father and grandfather were young they could actually talk to and with the animals there. While his father had lost that ability, his grandfather, called "Little A" talked to animals all his life. The boy, whose name was Billy, wanted to see if he could find any animals to talk to and his father dropped him off at the gate to the Valley.
Billy told this story to himself as he sat on the log. And then just said "I hope there are some animals around to talk to. Are there? Can you understand me?" and he sat quietly.
Chips at first was very puzzled and even a little afraid. Who was this "boy" and could he possibly be telling the truth? Then he remembered a tale told by Grandpa Tortoise at a gathering about a man named "Little A" who was a friend to all the animals in the Valley, and who was even buried on the burial hill. "This boy must be his grandson! AND I CAN UNDERSTAND HIM!!!!"
Chips crawled a little way out from under the log and said "Boy, can you hear me?" "Yes I can" and so began a wonderful and long friendship between another human and the folks of the Valley.
Chips took Billy to meet Grandpa Tortoise and they talked for hours, and when Billy was getting ready to meet his father at the gate, Grandpa told him about Rabbit, and asked him to think about what might have happened to him. Billy was sad to hear the story and pledged to do all he could to find the answer to the Mystery.
In the years after this first meeting, Billy spent many hours in the Valley, and was never able to solve the mystery, but by then, several more young animals had just disappeared. None were ever found.
Image: http://www.arkive.org/raven/corvus-corax/image-A24692.html
Image: http://www.arkive.org/grey-squirrel/sciurus-carolinensis/image-A21942.html
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