Eager Beaver

Chapter Forty - Potty Break

We spent the next hour or so collecting candy along the route Ms Diaz had planned for us. I didn't make any more silly mistakes saying 'trick or treat' at the wrong time or anything, but I did get plenty of compliments on my costume. The route happened to pass the same house where the old lady who'd given us 50 dollars on Apple Day lived, and she was just as generous with candy as she'd been with her money.

"Ooh, look at all these adorable forest creatures." she remarked, dropping huge full size Crunchie bars into our pillow cases. "A big brave hawk and his baby brother, a racoon, a squirrel, a beaver..." she squinted at me through her thick coke bottle glasses. "Oh! And a sweet little otter! You're the cutest of the bunch!"

I felt my cheeks get all hot and shuffled bashfully back slightly towards Zach, making Alex titter. Laurie however was happy for the compliment. "We're the Friends of the Forest!" he reported joyfully, bouncing up and down to try and attract the lady's precious attention again.

She looked a little confused. "The Friends of the Forest?" she repeated.

"It's from a story book. For Beaver Scouts." Zach explained gruffly. He gestured around at us, conspicuously excluding himself. "They're the local lodge."

The sweet old lady nodded wisely in recognition. "I thought I recognized you boys!" she enthused.

"I'm a girl!" Alex quickly interjected, looking just a little annoyed, but the lady didn't miss a beat.

"Oh, of course dearie. I thought I recognized you beavers." she corrected, adopting a mischievous grin. "Aren't you the ones who gave me that delicious shiny red apple?"

"Uh-huh!" Laurie confirmed, prodding a proud thumb into his fluffy squirrel chest. "I gave it to you!"

"It was actually from the whole group." Charlie interjected.

"But I rang the doorbell!" Laurie shot back. "You said no one would be home."

"Well, it was one of the tastiest apples I've ever had!" the lady intervened, pacifying their inane squabbling. "Why don't you all take some more candy for being such good beaver scouts?" she offered, her old eyes creasing with warm doting delight to see us all eagerly put out our pillow cases again. She dropped another two full size Crunchie bars into each of our bags, Zach's included. "What are your names, dearies?"

"I'm Laurie." The five-year-old talked with his mouth full as he chomped down on his Crunchie bar, a few crumbs of honeycomb tumbling out of his mouth. "That's Charlie, Alex, Leo, Cooper, and my big brother Zach!"

Alex narrowed her eyes slightly in annoyance, looking like she was going to say something, but she didn't. Zach also looked a little perturbed for some reason.

The lady nodded thoughtfully, seeming to make an effort to remember each and every one of our names. "I'm Mrs Lambert." she told us with a smile. "All you little cuties are always welcome over here."

We said our pleasantries and left soon after, continuing along our route. As soon as Mrs Lambert was out of earshot however, Zach showed his little brother a vaguely annoyed look. "Why did you tell her our names?" he asked with a scowl.

Laurie just looked confused. "She was nice!" he said innocently. "Maybe she'll come to the Christmas Play?"

Charlie looked conflicted. "You're never meant to tell strangers your name." he lectured, sounding as if he was repeating some quippy line from an animated after school special. He unwrapped his own Crunchie bar and took a big bite.

"She's not a stranger." Laurie countered. "We met her on Apple Day!"

"You should have told her our Beaver names!" Alex insisted, making Laurie giggle.