Ballykissangel

Episode 9.10

"Teastes beag, teastes mor"

by Camille Partridge


Barely a week after driving down to BallyK, Peter and Assumpta find themselves going back. They have an appointment to discuss wedding arrangements with Aidan and Vincent. Despite the fact that Peter likes the pastor of the church he has been attending in Dublin, he and Assumpta have no doubt that they want to be married in the church in
Ballykissangel. After their counseling appointment, they are going to take a picnic lunch out with Maggie, Orla, Connor, and possibly several other friends. The first flowers are starting to bloom in Killnashee, and Maggie thinks the badger parents might be letting the cubs above ground soon, too. Since it's Sunday and the pub is closed, it seemed a perfect opportunity for a picnic, so long as the weather gives them all a break!

"But, 'Ssumpta, don't you want a long fancy dress, and bridesmaids, an' me in a tuxedo, an' all that traditional wedding stuff?" Peter has always thought that women just naturally craved such things, and is perplexed that Assumpta seems not to.

"No, Peter, not really. When I was a girl, yes, I wanted all that, but by the time I could find a dress, and dresses for bridesmaids, get them all ordered and custom-tailored, get you and groomsmen in tuxedos, I'd be in danger of going into labour during our vows! If you want to wait, we can, of course, until after Thea is born, and I get a bit of figure back, and maybe get her on solid food so I don't need a nursing bra under the wedding dress. Secretly, I have to admit, I would still love a fabulous fancy wedding, but we'll have to wait nearly a year, and I just don't want to do that. What do you think, do you want to wait?" Assumpta has the passenger seat reclined far back and is laying down, but turned on her side, so she can pillow her head on her arm and watch Peter's face.

"Assumpta, I never fantasized about my wedding when I was young, I was already headed for seminary in my mind, but, these past months, I sort of have day-dreamed a bit. I can see you in that long white dress, great long train floatin' behind you, flowergirls scatterin' petals, Niamh and Bonnie and Orla and Siobhan in pretty flowered dresses, carryin' flower bouquets an' all. But, when it comes down to it, in the end I just dream of seein' your beautiful face, lookin' up at me and repeating our vows. And I also remember our winter wedding, there you were, in that long white dress, never mind it was wool and plain, not satin with hoop skirts. In lots of ways that wedding satisfied all my dreams, for all it wasn't in a church it was a real ritual, and I've felt married in every sense of the word since that day. If you want to wait, we can, or if you want to have our church wedding now, that's fine, too. In a lot of ways, I feel like this one's more for the community, for our families and friends, not so much for us!" Peter smiles ruefully.

Assumpta chuckles. "You're so right, Peter, I think it is, too! Still, I think your family, at least, wants that church wedding, even if our close friends know the deed's already done, and even though we feel our marriage is real now, for the majority, that church wedding is the big deal, and the sooner we get it taken care of, the better. I think I just want to wear that nice cream suit I wore to the registry office, but I know Niamh will have a fit, so I hope she can find something we both like off the rack. I'm not going to let her spend a fortune on it, though, I'm not wasting our money that way!"

"Ssumpta, it's OUR wedding, an' if we want it plain and simple, then Niamh can just get over herself. An' who knows, maybe, with Kieran and Brian, and starting to plan Emma's wedding to Danny Byrne, Niamh will relent on a huge fancy wedding for us?" Peter's voice is raised a bit, he cannot but help but be excited, anticipating what he knows is going to be a major party, some time in the next couple of months, if all goes well. His foot presses down on the gas pedal, subconsciously hurrying towards the future.

"Well, maybe a pretty new dress would be nice, after all?" Assumpta smiles, and sighs softly, and closes her eyes, and Peter glances over, seeing her surely drifting off to sleep. Knowing she needs the nap, he says nothing, letting her rest, as he drives.

******

In BallyK, Maggie is enjoying a morning off, without needing to get ready to open, and having seen James off to Sunday Mass. She putters around her kitchen in robe and slippers, checking all the storage to see what to order, what to shop for, and starting to think about springtime meals. While her logical brain tallies cases of liquor and bags of flour and sugar, her imagination mulls over the scene in her bedroom the previous evening...

She had been kneeling before her personal altar, praying, and asking to know her path ahead, if her Goddess would grant her that boon, when she had heard James gasp and cry out in a muted voice. Pulling herself out of her meditation as quickly as was safe, she turned to see him also kneeling, his eyes closed, faced raised, and hands clasped in prayer. She stood, and stepped over to his side, laying one hand on his shoulder.

"Jimmy, what's the matter, what did you cry out for, are you sick, or hurting somewhere?"

O'Connor crosses himself, and opens his eyes, turning to place one of his hands over hers. "Maggie, just now, when I came out of the bathroom, and you were kneeling, praying there, I could see the dresser right through you, and the candle flame, the light was shining right through you as if you were a piece of waxed paper. What in Heaven's name is going on? I noticed this last week, but I thought it was just a trick of sunlight, but not tonight, it's after midnight and inside a closed room!"

"Jimmy, I don't know how else to explain it, but my time here in Ireland may be coming to an end. I may have completed the task I was sent here to do, and I may be about to be called somewhere else where I'm needed. The fact that you are seeing this happening means you are meant to know, I think, and that you are being offered the chance to decide if you want to come with me or not. Only you can decide that. If you don't, I suspect that, when you go home to the States, you might find that alot of your recent past is a little different than you remember it, but before long you will have forgotten it was ever any different." Maggie steps away and goes to sit on the side of her bed.

"What? What do you mean, Maggie? What would I forget? Why in the world would I want to leave you? Wherever you go, Maggie, I'm going, too! I spent too many years denying the fact that you were meant to be a part of my life, that we were supposed to be together. I am absolutely not ever letting you go, not now!" James also stands, steps to the bedside, and takes both Maggie's hands in his, lifting them from her lap and putting them to his lips, kissing first one, then the other.

"Oh, Jimmy." Maggie sighs, and lays her head against their clasped hands. "I hope you don't regret your choice. You've been doing a pretty good job of not seeing things having to do with my more surreal pursuits, because I know what I am and some of the things I do just don't fit into your comfortable world-view, but if you're seeing this, then you must be being given the option to take a few more steps with me along my Path. If you want to come, then I will most decidedly take you along. Of course, it could well be that I won't be called elsewhere after all, someone else may turn out to be better suited to the needs of that task, and I'll be allowed to stay here in Ireland and watch my little cousin grow up, and Iblis' foal as well, and live out my life here. I can't actually decide what I want to happen. I feel like I've barely begun to serve in my fullest capacity, and I ought to do more, but I also love it here, I love having family again, and I've made friends I care for, too. I'd like to see Orla and Connor further down the Path, as well as little Thea safely welcomed to the world, but I feel a little selfish to ask for that, and I had better just try and stay out of the way and let the Goddess send me where She wants me. If you had a choice, what would you want? Would you want to stay here in Ireland?"

"Maggie, I've been thinking some about this." James sits down beside Maggie on the bed, and puts his arm around her shoulder. She leans against him as he continues. "It seems to me as if you are so busy all the time, you're working too hard. I know I'm alot older than you, so maybe I am underestimating you, but I'd like to have you have more time for us, and for yourself as well. But, if you love it here and want to stay and run this business, I'll just grit my teeth, and try and remember what it was like when I was a parish priest and there was always more to do than there were hours in the day, and hope that you can hire some help so we can take it a bit easier one of these days." He turns his head and kisses her forehead.

"Thank you, Jimmy. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I am glad I won't have to leave you behind. Sometimes I wonder why you are so devoted to me, when I didn't wait for you, but went on and got married and moved away. I feel a little unworthy, when you've thrown away your whole career for me." She snuggles closer against him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Oh, Mags, if was my own fault we weren't together decades ago. If I'd quit being such a coward and spoken to you before you went off to college, then we'd be watching our daughter getting ready to have our grandchild, instead of watching your cousin having her baby." O'Connor sighs.

"Well, never say never, there's nothing stopping us from trying, now is there?" Maggie giggles, and runs the tip of her tongue up James' neck from his collarbone to his ear. He shudders, and turns, reaching to lift her chin and cover her mouth with his...

Standing in the middle of her kitchen, Maggie shakes herself back to her work, wondering if she will even be in Fitzgerald's pub for the next tourist season, or if she and James will be gone, not even a memory, with the river of life in Ballykissangel flowing smoothly, the disturbances and diversions removed, and everyone comfortably in their
rightful places again.

******

Later in the day, Peter and Assumpta are sitting at the kitchen table in the pub, drinking tea, as Maggie and Orla pack a picnic basket. The phone rings, and Maggie answers it.

"Avril, hi! No, no calls here, yet. Ah, they called you? I wonder why? Well, anyway, yeah, April first sounds fine to me, that's what?...A Sunday? So, no racing on the track, it's free for us. Yeah, I will need a trailer ride for Iblis, do you want to drive him up in your horsebox? That'd be great, since he's staying with you right now, anyway. What time do you want to leave? Okay, I can be ready then. Did they say what, besides Iblis and I, I need to bring, any of the original pedigree documentation, health certs, that sort of stuff? Okay, I did fax all that info to them, it's easier if I don't need to bring it along. I will bring my microchip reader, so they can confirm his ID before we run...really? No, not at all, why would I mind? Iblis is used to The Cat being around, and I'm sure a traveling buddy would be a comfort to him. Oh, she's not in season right now, is she? I don't *think* he'd be silly enough to try anything in the trailer, but no sense in taking any chances! Okay, then, I'll see you tomorrow, and we can talk some more, and we'll keep fingers crossed this time trial goes well, and the weather doesn't change and make us delay again!" Maggie hangs up the phone, and turns back to the picnic preparations.

"So, the race is on, then?" Orla asks.

"Yup, barring too much rain. I just hope we can make that arbitrary time, I do think Iblis can sire a nice foal on The Cat, and I don't want to disappoint Avril." Maggie closes the lid of the basket. "All ready to go, kids?" Peter and Assumpta stand up, and Connor comes into the kitchen from the front of the pub, having been downstairs, moving barrels.

"How'd you know...?" Peter starts to ask Connor a question.

"Heard the lid on the basket shut, and figured I'd better get up here, or go hungry!" Connor laughs, and Peter nods, chuckling as well. The group goes out the back door, and Peter and Assumpta get in their car, while Orla, Maggie and Connor get into the blue van, leading the way out of town.

******

After driving a while, Maggie pulls off the road and into a graveled parking area, where a small sign announces the name of the hiking trail and park rules. Brian's development has actually drawn some increased level of interest in Kilnashee Woods, and a few rustic trails as well as parking areas have been developed.

"Hey, this place looks familiar!" Peter remarks, setting the parking brake on the car, and opening his door to go around and help Assumpta out.

"It should, this is where Brendan and Siobhan and Michael staged their protest!" Assumpta tells him, using his hand to pull herself up and out of the car.

"Oh, I should have, I mean, I'm sorry..." Peter actually blushes a bit, a little ashamed he didn't know the place immediately.

"Peter, it was dark, and you didn't grow up here, how could you have remembered exactly what it looked like, especially when it has changed a bit?" Assumpta gives his hand a squeeze as they walk towards the blue van, where Connor and Orla are unloading blankets and the basket.

"So, Assumpta, do you know the spot I was thinking of? Can you find it, or do you want me to go first?" Maggie asks, pulling folding chairs out of the back of the van.

"No, I can find it, shall we go on ahead?" Assumpta is excited to show Peter the beauty of the woods in the early spring.

"Sure, you two go on, we'll be along in no time," Maggie answers, stacking chairs so she can carry the five they need.

"Maggie, can I take some of those for you?" Peter reaches out a hand.

"No, Peter, you make sure Assumpta doesn't slip and fall in the mud, it's bound to be slick in places, yet, and a picnic is no fun if your pants are soaked through the seat with muddy water!" Maggie chuckles. "Now, off you two go, we'll be along."

Peter and Assumpta head off down the trail as Maggie, Orla and Connor get their gear organized. Clouds blow across a blue sky, causing patches of shade to alternate with sun across the landscape. As the leading pair enter the skirts of the wood, a mist seems to rise up around them, but they don't notice, though the trio behind them do.

"So, d'ya think he'll do all right?" Connor asks Maggie, as Peter and Assumpta disappear into the mist.

"I don't know, but I suspect he will, Connor. If not, no harm will come to him, but Assumpta needs to know, before she takes that third and final step. The handfasting is traditionally for a year and a day, and the legal stuff can be undone, too, but that Church wedding is for life, and undoing it would be a bear!" Maggie shakes her head.

"Speakin' of bears, d'ya suppose the badger cubs will be out yet?" Orla, carrying an armload of blankets, peers into the woods, down the path, where Peter and Assumpta are no longer visible.

"I hope so, it's nearly the Vernal Equinox, so they ought to be. It hasn't been cold in weeks and weeks, and even the rain is tapering off," Maggie answers, shifting the stack of chairs in her arms.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough, we're not far away now." Connor hefts the basket to the top of his head, stabilizing it with one hand. "How are we going to explain that we got there before Peter and Assumpta?"

"They won't be far behind us, and Assumpta can tell Peter she took him by a longer path to show him some flowers she loved, or a waterfall or something. He'll forget what really happened, probably before he even rejoins us. People always do." Maggie sets the chairs down. "I need to take a few minutes, or I'm going to drop this mess!" Orla laughs, setting the pile of blankets on top of the chairs, but Connor keeps walking, carrying the heavy hamper of food and drinks. After a couple of minutes, Maggie picks up the blankets and Orla takes on the chairs, and they follow the tall man on down the path.

******

As Peter and Assumpta ramble along, the sun breaks out, and soon Assumpta is peeling layers of coat and sweater. She finds a large rock, surrounded by ferns, a few steps off the path, towards the little stream she can hear, not far away. She sits down, and pats the rock next to her, inviting Peter to join her.

"My, it's gotten warm all of a sudden, hasn't it?" Assumpta wipes moisture off her forehead as Peter sits down.

"Yeah, but there's clouds comin', an from the direction the wind's blowin' from, too. It'll cool off soon enough, I hope it doesn't rain!" Peter squints worriedly, scanning the sky.

"Well, if it does, it does, we'll just put our coats on again, and get under the trees, further into the woods, and be comfy and cosy in no time. Just keep telling yourself 'forty shades of green' as you get drenched!" Assumpta laughs, and Peter joins her, remembering the first time they met, her saving him from a soaking as he hiked into BallyK. After a few moments' worth of rest, with clouds starting to shade the sun and cool them both, they stand, and head on towards the next patch of forest land. Soon, the clouds thicken, and large, scattered drops of water begin to splash down. They join hands and start to dash, only to hear a muffled cry from behind them. They both slow and turn, and see an elderly woman behind them, stooping to try and right a wheelbarrow that has tipped off to one side, threatening to spill a sack of some substance, the top sack of a pile of three. As Peter and Assumpta halt, the rain begins to pelt down in earnest.

"Ssumpta, can you make it under the trees up there, while I help her?" Peter puts a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Sure, love, I'll be fine!" Assumpta answers, and pulls up the hood of her coat, trotting towards a heavy stand of evergreens where she knows the foliage will keep off the worst of the little cloudburst. Peter also pulls up his hood, and runs back towards where the grey-haired lady is still struggling to right the barrow, her hands and feet both slipping in the mud in the lowest spot in the path.

"Here, lemme help ya' right this, ma'am!" Peter offers his arm to the woman, to let her step back from the handles of the barrow so he can position himself to lift it.

"Why, thank you kindly, dear, what a kindness to an old woman!" Her face, as she looks up at Peter, is lined and weathered, and she is dressed in faded denim jeans and a faded wool coat, wearing muddy wellies on her feet.

"No trouble at all, ma'am, my wife and I heard you when this barrow slipped, and so of course I came back to help." Peter plants his feet wide apart, and bends, grasping the handles of the barrow, and lifting. It comes right up, and he begins to push. "Where were you headed with these bags, an' what are they, if you don't mind me asking?"

"They're feed for the deer. We have a feeding station inside the woods a bit, and off the path some. Keeps the deer from browsing the farmers' crops too much, as the population is bigger than this tiny patch of forest can support. With no predators, and limited hunting, there'd be either starvation, disease, or the farmers out poaching over their lost
crops, so it's better if we feed at the right time of the year, and then direct hunters this way in the fall, after the tourists are gone. We're not likely to see wolves hunting them down again, not like in the old days, so we do what we can to keep the balance." The elderly lady is stooped a bit as she trudges along beside Peter, but her voice is strong as she speaks to him. As they approach the heavier woods, the sky splits with a crack of lightning, and begins to really pour.

"Wow, that was some bolt o' lightnin', hope it didn't hit somethin' vulnerable!" Peter lifts his head, and sees Assumpta, waving to him, standing under a tall evergreen. The elderly woman also looks ahead, and turns to Peter.

"Your wife?" she asks.

"Yeah," Peter replies, pride in his voice.

"She'd better get out from under that tall tree, or she's going to be hit by lightning!" the old woman warns Peter. Just then another crack splits the sky.

"Assumpta!" Peter nearly shrieks, "come here an meet..." he turns to the old woman beside him.

"Mairi", she answers his unspoken question.

"Come an' meet Mairi!"

"I'll get soaked!" Assumpta yells back.

"Better soaked than electrocuted!" Peter answers her. He sees her look up at the sky just as another bolt of lightning cracks down. A taller tree just a few yards away from the one Assumpta is sheltering under has been struck, but is only smoldering, as the foliage is so wet. The implications of the thin plume of smoke are not lost on Assumpta, however, and she starts to jog towards Peter and the elderly woman beside him, her head down and sheltered by her hood. Despite her caution, she is soon slipping on the muddy path, and before long she is down on her posterior. Peter calls out her name, and sets the barrow down to go to her aid, but the old woman puts a hand on his arm, and Assumpta waves him off, she is giggling as she slips and struggles to stand.

"Push the barrow to her and let her use it to brace herself to stand up," the old woman tells Peter, and resumes her trudge towards Assumpta and the deeper forest, along the muddy footpath. Peter, seeing her point, picks up the handles of the wheelbarrow and pushes it along as well, until he reaches Assumpta, still giggling as she sits in the mud, getting soaked by pouring rain. Between the wheelbarrow, Peter, and Mairi, Assumpta gets to her feet. Mairi picks up one sack of feed from the barrow and slings it over her shoulder. She motions to Assumpta, and tells her, "Hop in," before resuming her trudge down the path.

Peter and Assumpta exchange a suprised glance, shocked at the old woman's seeming strength in hefting the sack of feed, but Assumpta does sit on top of the other two sacks, and Peter, with some effort, lifts the barrow again, and follows Mairi. She trudges along, past the still smoldering tree, and around a bend in the path, where there is a fork, and a very narrow rut winds away from the main path. Mairi stops at the fork, and turns, holding up a hand.

"Here's where we part ways," the old woman says, "I'm off that way, the feeder is off the main path, so walkers don't disturb the deer."

Peter sets the barrow down, and Assumpta stands up, moving out of the way as Mairi lays the sack of feed she has carried back on top of the pile made by the other two, and then shoos Peter out of her way, as she places herself back between the handles. Before she bends to take ahold of the handles and lift the barrow, she looks from Peter to Assumpta, and smiles broadly, her wrinkled face suddenly sunny. She reaches out towards Assumpta, and lays one palm, for just a moment, on her abdomen.

"She'll be a lovely girl, blessings on you all!" Turning, she lifts the handles, and pushes the wheelbarrow down the rut, soon parting some low brush, and, as it closes behind her, disappearing from their view. The pair turn from watching her go to look at each other.

"That was a bit strange," Peter remarks.

"A bit? That was *very* strange, she clearly didn't really need your help, did you see her lift that bag of stuff? What was that, anyway?" Assumpta turns, and, taking Peter's arm, begins to walk on, heading towards her meeting place with Maggie and the rest of the party.

"She said it was food for the deer, so they don't eat farmers' crops and get poached." Peter places a hand over Assumpta's as she grasps his forearm, then, looking skywards, adds, "Hey, look, the rain has stopped, the clouds are blowing away again!" Assumpta also glances up, then shakes her head.

"Deer feed... " she mutters, "I wonder..."

Peter asks, "What?" but Assumpta just shakes her head again, and tells him, "Never mind."

They walk in silence for almost five minutes before reaching a fork, where Assumpta steers Peter in one direction, pointing out little clusters of several different types of wildflower. They wind their way up on to a hilltop, and she points out all the landmarks they can see. They head back down, and, after just a few minutes, meet up with Maggie, Connor, and Orla, with the picnic already laid out.

"Sorry we took so long, we were helpin' a lady who was takin' feed to the deer, an' her wheelbarrow tipped and almost dumped the load in the mud." Peter helps Assumpta to a chair, but before she sits, she takes off her coat, which he spreads in the sunshine over a bush. As his back is turned, Maggie looks at Assumpta, and mouths "deer?" Assumpta smiles, and she, Orla, Connor and Maggie all nod at each other just once, as Peter turns back around.

"Don't worry, Peter, we haven't been waiting long. Let's eat, and then, on the way back, we can stop and see the badgers, and find out if they're receiving visitors today." Maggie smiles as she hands a plate over to Assumpta, as Peter sits down. Maggie passes plates to everyone, and the group starts eating sandwiches, passing fruit and biscuits and drinks, and talking about the flowers, and, inevitably, the wedding that Peter and Assumpta have started to plan with Aidan and Vincent at St. Joseph's.

After they finish, as Peter and Connor begin packing things up to carry out, and Assumpta moves off to the side of the clearing with Maggie and Orla. The three put their heads together for a quick and quiet chat.

"So, did She say much to you?" Maggie whispers.

"Not much, just laid Her hand on my stomach, and gave us Her blessing," Assumpta answers.

"Just you and the baby?" Orla adds.

"No, She said 'on you all'." Assumpta smiles, and Maggie and Orla grin as well.

"Ah, good, She's satisfied, She likes Peter, he must have passed Her testing!" Maggie heaves an inward sigh of relief.

"She nearly struck me with lightning to test him, but he didn't panic, and did as She asked. All I got was a soaking, and She knows I won't melt in the rain, after all." Assumpta laughs.

"Yeah," Maggie agrees, "and She's sent the sun to dry you off again, just as quick. You'll take no harm, nor will the baby. Now," she speaks loudly to everyone, "let's go see if the badger cubs are out to play!" Peter and Connor heft the chairs and blankets and basket, between the pair of them and the whole bunch leave the clearing and head back towards the parking lot, taking a different turning than the one Peter and Assumpta arrived by.

******

A few minutes' walking brings the group to a heavily wooded area, where they lay their bundles down behind some shrubbery, and walk quietly off the path and into the forest. They soon reach a clearing, and Peter sees several mounds of bare dirt scattered about. He starts to ask a question, but Assumpta raises a hand and lays her fingers across his lips. She pulls his collar down towards her face, and whispers "wait" into his ear. He nods.

Maggie alone steps into the clearing, and moves to the middle of it, spreading a blanket on the grass. She kneels, and then lays down flat, face turned to the side, with her palms resting on the grass. She lays still for just a few seconds, and suddenly, heads, striped black and white, with bright, beady black eyes and shiny black noses, pop up out of several of the dirt mounds.

Maggie gets up and turns to sit in a cross-legged position, and one large badger comes out of the hole, walking boldly up to Maggie, and sniffs her all over, very politely. Maggie sits still during the examination, and, when the badger sits back on its haunches, holds out both her hands.

Peter nearly chokes when the badger lays its front paws in Maggie's hands, but Assumpta, Orla and Connor appear non-plussed. The badger pulls its paws back, and turns its head, giving a gruff rumble of sound that brings the rest of its clan out of their burrows en masse, many running to the blanket for a quick sniff of Maggie, who returns the attention with ruffling of fur, soft stroking, or tummy rubs, depending on the age and condition of each furry creature she meets.

When the greetings are over, Maggie signals her friends to come over, and Orla and Connor stride confidently, while Assumpta takes Peter's hand and guides the reluctant man towards the blanket. The rest of the humans seat themselves in silence, and are soon undergoing the same quick sniffs Maggie did.

Orla and Connor are grinning from ear to ear, meeting old friends, and Assumpta is soon surrounded by several female badgers, some obviously either pregnant themselves, or nursing, all of whom are taking turns sniffing her, many actually touching her belly with a front paw, then touching her hand or arm. Assumpta returns the gentle touches, smiling and happy, feeling without doubt that these badgers are wishing her and her baby well, and returning the feelings to them. Peter sits still, being sniffed, but nearly open-mouthed at how Assumpta seems to be bonding in friendship to wild animals.

Finally, after the adults and adolescents of the clan have all made their greetings, some of the females waddle back to their settes, and bark out short commands. Soon several litters of badger cubs come piling out of the settes, tumbling willy-nilly towards the blanket and new-comers. Maggie, Orla, Connor and Assumpta soon each have several cubs in their laps, and Peter is surrounded by a bunch as well, who are all holding back. He looks from cub to cub, and slowly reaches a hand out, and one bold cub approaches and sniffs his fingers. He pets the soft fur on the cub's head, and soon he, too, has a lapful of squiggling, squirming little furballs. He tickles and scratches and pets, they clamber up his chest, nipping at his jacket, and soon he is laying on his back, giggling helplessly, as they lick his face, tug at his close-cropped hair, and stick cold, wet noses into his ears, snuffling in curiosity at this new being in their world.

Suddenly, he feels a heavier weight on his chest, and one grey-faced adult stares down at him. It reaches out one front paw, and Peter smells the strong musky scent as it lays one paw on his forehead. Suddenly struck by a strong feeling of communication, he realizes this old badger is gauging him, judging him, and he lays absolutely still. The forepaw is removed, and the old badger stares into his eyes. He looks back, unafraid, not realizing, as a child of the big city, that this creature could kill him before anyone could stop it.

The old badger reaches out the same forepaw, and taps Peter gently on one cheek, then hops off his chest and waddles over to Maggie, where it climbs into her lap, standing up on its hind legs and placing both forepaws on her chest. She leans forward, and the two rest their foreheads together for a moment, then the old badger settles down, curling into her lap as if to sleep.

Peter scoots closer to Assumpta, and the four young people are soon playing with cubs again, for another quarter of an hour, before the big male badger who first greeted Maggie sits up from where he has been laying next to Maggie's leg, and whuffs a short command. All the cubs soon toddle back to their settes, followed by their dams. The other adults and adolescents move among the humans, touching and sniffing farewells, and soon the whole clan except the big male and the old, grey-faced badger are back underground. The big male makes the rounds first, bidding farewell to everyone in turn, then the old badger, who Peter realizes is female, moves to sniff or touch and be touched in turn. The big male is halfway back to a sette when the old female finishes her round back in front of Maggie.

Maggie reaches into her coat pocket, and hands the old badger a small object wrapped in fabric. The pair touch foreheads again briefly, and the old female waddles behind the big male, back underground. Maggie signals her friends to stand, and she picks up the blanket, draping it over her arm, and leads the way back to the path. Peter opens his mouth, but Assumpta raises a finger in warning, so he waits, bursting with curiosity, and follows Maggie out of the clearing and back through the underbrush, holding Assumpta's hand in his.

As they pick up the rest of their stuff and head back to the cars, Maggie turns to Peter and says, simply, "Ask away, Peter!" She has a huge grin on her face, she knows he has had a really surprising experience.

"Maggie, those badgers are wild animals, right?" Peter starts.

"Yes," she answers him.

"So why did they all come out and crawl all over us, even the babies?"

"Because they know me, and actually they knew everyone except you, and we all vouched for you, and the old wise-woman felt you were a good person, too, and they all know I'd never harm them, or let anyone else harm them, either. They're a clan, Peter, a huge extended family. The big male, he's their chief, the grey-faced female is his dam, their shaman, wise-woman, priestess, all rolled into one. I've known them for several years now, they are a wonderful people, with a whole culture that most people never guess at.

"They treasure their cubs and their elders just like humans do, they take care of each other, they function a lot like our ancestors did, a hundred thousand years ago. I've been blessed by their confidence for several years now, and I'm honored to know them. I hope you enjoyed meeting them, they were thrilled that Assumpta is going to have a baby, and they liked you."

"Maggie, I've never experienced anything like that in my life, I never had anything to do with wild animals as a kid, not in Manchester. Did I just take a tour of Disney World?" Assumpta snorts, then chuckles as Peter gives her a quizzical look.

"No, Peter, Walt Disney meant well, but he tried to make animals seem like people in fur coats. As much as it is comforting to think like that, truth is we are actually animals without fur coats. A lot more of our behaviors and culture came from them than we can even guess. Our differences are differences of degree, not of kind. People don't want to know that, they think it makes them 'less' in some way, but to some few of us, it's actually a great comfort. We're a part of a very big family, Peter, a part of the unity of Life, and realizing that is one of the first steps down the Path. I guess you'd word it as 'all part of God's Creation', wouldn't you?" Maggie is walking alongside Peter and Assumpta, Orla and Connor following behind the other three as they approach the gravel parking lot.

"Yeah, that is how I'd think of it. Only I never really thought of it this way before. I never *felt* it this way before!" Peter is smiling, remembering the sensation of communication with the old female badger when she touched his forehead and looked into his eyes.

Maggie smiles in return, knowing Peter has had a small epiphany. "Peter, I'm guessing you didn't have pets when you were a kid, or you'd have known this feeling a long time ago. Better late than never, though. I imagine Ms. Emma will be continuing your indoctrination, as she'll see it, but don't let her convince you that God is a cat, even though she is quite sure of it, okay?" Maggie chuckles.

"Oh, Maggie, Emma is trying to convince us both that she *is* God!" Assumpta assures her cousin.

"Yeah, she would! Cats aren't shy about manipulating any and every being they meet to their own advantage. It's one of their most endearing and infuriating traits, especially when we realize they've succeeded! Of course, they may all have the last laugh on us, if, some day, we find ourselves staring into a bewhiskered face and getting either a rough licking and a warm bowl of milk, or else a sharp-clawed swat into the Last Litterbox, depending on how we've been judged!" Maggie laughs out loud at the shock on everyone's faces, but the rest soon join her. They reach the cars, and Maggie opens the blue van, and shakes out the blanket and folds it, placing it inside, and Orla and Connor put in chairs and the food hamper.

"I'll never get that image out of my mind, Maggie. I don't think the threat of the 'Last Litterbox' will scare alot of sinners back into the fold, though!" Peter is grinning from ear to ear.

"Peter, if you let Emma's box go for a few days, you'll be surprised at the terror that smell can engender, and I'll bet a whole bunch of people would give up their worst vices if they knew *that* was what was waiting for them if they didn't!" Maggie closes up the back of the blue van, and turns to face her friends.

"Um, you've got a point, there. Not that I'll have the chance to try that image on a congregation, but you're right, that smell would motivate people!" Peter shakes his head, a couple of episodes of "pungency" coming to mind.

The friends are soon hugging and shaking hands, and Peter and Assumpta get into their car to head north to Dublin, while Orla, Connor and Maggie drive home to Ballykissangel.