A Browntown Easter

                                    The last few days, everyone in Browntown woke up to sweet little surprises. Everyone, in the big cabin, in the trapper shack, the tire shack, the mash tent, the tree house, and even in the guest tent. One morning it was little colored foil-wrapped chocolate eggs on their bedside tables, or in Noah's case, on his desk. Another morning there were paper cones full of jelly beans in their boots or shoes, and this morning it was handfuls of speckled, malt ball eggs in their coat pockets. No one heard anyone come and go in the night, Mr. Cupcake didn't even stir. There were no footprints on the floors, even though it was rainy and muddy outside all week. The Brown family and a family guest sat around the table this morning, enjoying their candy while waiting for breakfast, and energetically discussing who was doing this, and how.

Noah was perplexed that none of his bear alarms or general camp security measures had gone off. Bear and Bam checked the motion activated game cameras placed strategically around the Browntown but there was nothing on them but the occasional bear or two. Billy and Ami were more concerned that someone could slip right into their family's home without anyone noticing. Birdie and Rainy thought it was kind of funny, and Rainy suggested it was the real Easter Bunny. Her brothers rolled their eyes at that, but didn't have any better ideas. Matt and Gabe didn't say much at all, because they were the family pranksters and didn't want to be blamed for it, and it was suggested that they were the culprits, which they both denied. As proof of their innocence, they both claimed they would have eaten all the candy long before they could get it delivered.

The only other person in camp was Katy, a family friend who was staying with them a few weeks. She had known the Browns for years. The kids had all grown up around her, and knew her to be a lot of fun, even crazy silly at times, but no one suspected her of roaming about in the night delivering goodies undetected. For one thing, she was scared to death of bears, and would never, ever go outside at night without a partner with a gun, and the brothers and their guns were on call if she ever needed to visit the outhouse in the night. They also knew she slept soundly all night, as evidenced by her snoring coming from the guest tent. It rivaled even the loudest any of the brothers could snore. Katy insisted she did not snore, she was simply dreaming of motorcycles, or motor boats, or lions roaring. Each morning they teased her, and each morning she claimed she was dreaming of something else. But the snoring was a good alibi, and Noah and Matt were her witnesses, as her tent was closest to them.

The ongoing discussion that day led to a plan of action. Matt and Gabe were still the most likely suspects, so Bam would keep a watch out on Matt that night, to see if he ever left his tire house. Bear would watch the whole compound from his tree house. Birdy and Rainy agreed to keep an eye on Gabe. That night, with cries of "more", the campfire was put out and the family went off to their beds.

The next morning, lo and behold, every single person in the camp had a brightly painted egg in one of their gloves! None of the night watchers had seen a thing, none of the alarms had been triggered, and nobody heard or saw anyone coming and going. Rainy's Easter Bunny theory was beginning to look better and better. The family, and Katy, were stumped. But more determined than ever, Noah thought and thought about how any person/creature, could possible traverse Browntown in the night and not get caught. And secondly, he considered how that person/creature, could go in and out of the dwellings without leaving a trace. He actually didn't think it was a creature, but Rainy insisted that he at least consider the possibility. Just before lunch, he thought he had the answers, and set about beefing up his security systems, and spent much time observing the comings and goings in the camp.

That night, he announced at dinner that he would catch the culprit by the next morning, smiled his sly grin, and went to bed. And the family retired, too. In the earliest hours of the morning Katy was knocking at his tent door, needing an armed escort to the privy in the dark. Noah smiled as he got out of bed and turned on a light, and asked Katy to step in out of the cold while he put on his boots and coat. Then he walked with her to the outhouse, and then directly back to her tent and saw her safely zipped back in it. He grinned smugly to himself as he went back to bed.

That morning, Easter morning, everyone woke to a shiny, foil wrapped chocolate bunny tucked into an extra shoe or boot, and they were gathering at the big cabin. Except for Noah. He didn't have a chocolate bunny in his boots, but he knew it was on the way. He quietly slipped behind his mash tent and hid behind a bush. A small dark figure sneaked through the early morning shadows, and as the family sat gathered around the breakfast table they heard a terrifying shriek, and Noah's voice booming "Got Ya!", followed by more shrieks, and laughter, and protests. "Put me down!" "No, you waskely wabbit, I caught you fair and square."" No, No, the Easter bunny can never be seen. Put me down!" Whoever it was that Noah caught, it didn't sound like they were too upset about it.

The rest of the family ran out on the front porch in time to see Noah approaching, with a kicking, laughing someone thrown over one shoulder. Noah said "I'll put you down if you give me my chocolate bunny", and an arm was flung over his shoulder, the attached hand holding his foil wrapped bunny. He took the candy, and carefully set his captive down, and spun her around to face to crowd on the porch. "Katy!" they all shouted, and she gave a theatrical bow. She turned to Noah and gave him a big hug, whispering in his ear. "You're sneaky!" "Yes, I am, and so are you" he grinned.

When they were all finally seated at the table, enjoying a fine breakfast of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, the family members all clamored for an explanation. They wanted to know how Noah caught her. He hesitated to say, stating he didn't have all the answers he wanted just yet, but did tell them he knew the Easter Bunny wasn't delivering the candy at night; there was just no evidence to support that. No sounds, no movement, no tracks. So he deduced that the candy had to be delivered earlier, somehow. He had noted the family's movements, who went to what house, and who did not. Combined with people's visits he recalled the previous days, he knew who the prankster was, and he set her up for capture. Had she walked right into his trap? Although she had visited the other dwellings that day, she hadn't been to his tent all day, but when she came to him for an armed escort to the outhouse that night, she couldn't deposit the chocolate bunny because he was watching her the whole short time she was in his tent. She had to come back in the morning to do her bunny duty, and that was when he had jumped out of the bushes behind his tent and grabbed her. Katy laughed and congratulated him on his deductive skills. But something was still bothering Noah. "Katy, how did you manage to leave treats for Mom, Dad, Birdie, Rainy and Gabe in the cabin four days in a row without somebody seeing you?" Katy just laughed, and said "Did I?" Noah's eyebrow shot up. " You have a partner in crime" he shouted. "Do I?" said Katy, matching his raised eyebrow with her own.

Everybody was laughing and talking and teasing the great Noah Sherlock Holmes about being stumped by the Easter Bunny. Noah scrutinized his family members one by one, and then came back to his sisters, who were giggling and whispering together. "It's one of you, I know. But which one? Hmmmmm." Noah stroked his goatee as he thought. Then he stepped over to behind his sisters, wrapped his arms around their shoulders, saying "These are our other Easter Bunnies!" Rainy and Birdy tried to deny it, but they were both chewing mouthfuls of jellybeans. It had been several days since they all received jellybeans, and nobody in the family could keep them that long without eating them. "The only way you could possibly still have a pocket full of jelly beans, little sisters, is if you had the whole bag full to start with. Busted!"

The girls stood and took their bows. Katy moved over between them and held their hands. " I have always loved playing Easter Bunny to all the little kids around, but this year I knew I would be here for Easter, and you just aren't little kids anymore. So I decided to have some fun, and to pass my Bunny duties off to the next generation. Rainy and Birdie will have their own kids someday, as well as lots and lots of nephews and nieces, right guys? Ahem! Right, guys?" The brothers quickly but sheepishly all agreed.

And so the Bunny baton was passed. The family had a great Easter memory to tell all the future grand babies, and they all spent the rest of the day enjoying each other's company and loving their life in the bush. Except Mr. Cupcake. He was outside, barking and barking. Every so often someone would open the cabin door and look around, or tell him to be quiet. But still he barked. What was wrong with them all, he wondered? Can't they see that giant rabbit hopping around the camp?

Y�1