2-2

Edward stood outside the beaver’s apartment and composed himself. He hadn’t realized until about five minutes before just where this was all leading him to. “It’s strange,” he maundered to himself. “You think you are on top of it all and so you act, and not five bloody minutes after you commit, you find out the one piece of knowledge that might have made you hesitate. This beaver is really getting on my nerves.”

The wind was picking up, and the fur around Edward’s tail was starting to lift and flow. He shuddered unconsciously. “Well.”

“Well,” he repeated. As a third “Well” left his lips, he started forward, hopped up to the front door and twitched his whiskers at the knob.

The door opened and two young men exited, talking excitedly about the game and oblivious to the small rabbit at their feet. Edward hopped inside the closing door and proceeded up the stairs to Gareth’s apartment.

As he settled on his haunches outside the door he heard a slight noise from within. Moments later the door opened inward, the beaver standing tall on his back legs, one hand on the knob and one hand over his mouth in an exaggerated moue of surprise.

“Why, it’s a little bunny!” the beaver exclaimed.

“Knock it off,” Edward replied.

“Ah. You’ve come to some conclusion, I take it? Think you’ve got something figured out, do you?” The beaver stepped back and made way for the rabbit to enter the apartment. “Mind the hardwood, and no pooping on the floor,” the beaver instructed cattily.

Edward hopped into the living room. “I take it you’ve arranged to be alone?” he queried the smirking rodent. “No one here to witness our ’meeting’ of minds?”

The beaver’s tone dropped a few degrees. “Meeting? Well, I suppose it’s not a chance encounter, but I hardly think your barging in can be considered a meeting. Why don’t you just state your business so I can be about my own, sans poop.”

“I suppose you could look at it that way, if you were to believe this an avoidable event. But you and I both know it’s not. It took me a while to piece it together. Years in fact, but now that I have, I admit to feeling bit foolish to have been so clueless for so long.”

A genuine smile lit up the beaver’s face. “I had been wondering just what was distracting you so. I always assumed you were just putting this little tête-à-tête off because you were busy with other strands.”

“No, unfortunately not,” Edward said settling onto the couch. “While I have been occupied, it’s always been a bit of mystery to me just who or what was imposing such odd conditions on events. I had taken our last brief meeting as an effect, not causative at all. Still, no harm done. These sorts of things will always wait.

“But now, my watery woodland friend, shall we discuss … Gareth, is it? … and just what we are going to do with you?”

“Gareth is outside your scope, bunny,” the beaver barked. “Completely a side issue and you know it. Let’s just stick to what’s relevant and get on with it.”

“Fine,” Edward sighed, “but I think we will find Gareth has more standing here than you imagine. You of all creatures should know it’s impossible to separate these things.” Edward eased back into the cushions, twisted his ears forward in an effort to look grave and met the beaver’s eyes with a willful stare. “So let’s talk about Barney, then.”