The following morning, Lester asked Nogdorf before the rest of the creatures arrived, “Nogdorf, why can’t we just wave the magic wand and say a few words and make the gossamer shield appear? Everybody is working very hard to get this done and it just seems like it would save time and energy, if we could do this in a simpler way.”

  “That's a good point and makes sense, , Lester so I’m glad you asked that question. Nogdorf responded. “Making the gossamer shield together gives the creatures a sense of community and a sense of pride. If we did it with the wand, it would indeed be faster, but the creatures would not appreciate the gossamer shield as much. Since they are making it themselves, they will take better care of it and will be eager to use it as well to show off their handiwork.”

  Yesterday, the creatures had made the gossamer shield and today a few of them would finish that all important work, while the rest of them would begin turning what they had made into clothing to be fitted to all of the animals. They were going to be ready for the attack of the dark animals.

  Nogdorf was pleased with the cooperation of the animals and enjoyed watching them. While watching them, he realized that the defense of the animals was covered, but they hadn’t done anything at all to prepare for attacking. He called Lester aside and asked him, “Just for a moment, I want you to think like a dark animal. Try to imagine what attacks they will try on us. Now, tell me what you have come up with.”

  “Well, Bobby Bear and his bear friends will probably use their weight and their claws and teeth on us. Of course, the snakes will use their venom. Lucent is the one who concerns me, Nogdorf. He is very sly, and while he doesn’t have the weight of the bear or venom of the snakes, to me he is the scariest one. There is no telling what evil scheme he will come up with.”

  “I have to agree with you, Lester and it is perplexing to not know where to take our attack for Lucent and the rest of the foxes. While we consider these things and make our plans accordingly, I want to show you our seamstresses for the day. I have chosen the mice ladies, because they have small and nimble fingers.and they enjoyed the sewing so much yesterday that they asked to be assigned to that today.” Nogdorf patted a mouse on the head who was wearing a cute blue bonnet. “This is Merina, who is in charge of the seamstresses.”

  Merina squeaked out a “Hello Nogdorf and Lester!. Such a beautiful day for our preparation. Excuse me while we get back to work.” She dropped her little thimble, so had to pick it up and smiled at them as she got back to work.

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  Nogorf introduced Tootsie, who was reaching way above her head, trying to help a rabbit put on his gossamer shield shirt. The rabbit, Earl, said, “I feel powerful.” Tootsie said in her squeaky voice, “It’s working. Hello fellows. Isn’t this exciting?”

  Nogdorf smiled as she went back to work, helping more of the rabbits to try on their gossamer shield shirts “ And these hard working mice are the triplets, Lissa, Clarissa and Silly Sally.”

  “Hi guys. We are working on the rabbit’s pants right now, as all of the shirts have been sewed. It is a very busy time, but we would like to talk with you in depth soon,” Little Silly Sally said. She was taking her part in the war really seriously. She reminded Nogdorf of the women who worked behind the scenes in the preparations for WWII.

  They moved on to a curious scene. Denny Deer was walking up to the ridge that was only a few yards away, but was struggling through tall brambles and grass. Then he turned around and walked back. He continued doing the same thing over and over.

  “Is he alright, Nogdorf?” JJ asked. “Does he have some screws loose?”

  Nogdorf laughed. “He is fine JJ. Denny is making a path to where we will put the big container of honey. This is a work in progress and will, when finished, be a bear trap. We have four other deers working on the same project in other locations.”

  “What are these other deer doing with the hammers and boards?” Lester asked.

  “Oh, they are putting together the rest of the bear trap. Do you see the long Pyrocantha thorns? Those will go through the boards which will be standing upright and in front of and on either side of the honey pot. When the bear steps right in front of the honey pot, he will step on a lever which causes the boards to slam into the bear, piercing him from head to foot and hopefully stopping him permanently.”

  “Let’s walk to my house. We need to go over your spells that you will need to perfect before the dark creatures arrive. Do you know what those birds are doing over there?” Nogdorf asked.

  Lester looked over where Nogdorf was pointing and saw a row of targets set up. Then he saw Arnold Bird fly over a target and poop. The poop hit the outside rim of the target. “Shoot. The little bird trilled. I’ve got to do better than that.”

  Lester laughed and laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding. This is one of our attacks?” Three of the birds took off at the same time and JJ laughed again when the three birds missed altogether and blamed each other, chirping and scolding.

  When they got to Nogdorf’s house, he turned on the tv and offered JJ a seat. Mason squirrel was presenting the news, so they paused the talking in order to listen. Mason said, “So, it seems the mouse murderer is no longer in our fair village. We have had no mice beheaded in the last week.” He cued the sound department and they all heard a recording of squirrel children all yelling, “Yay!”