Jeffrey the Rabbit mentioned it while Little Red Bear was helping him put away a few things from the garden.
“Mrs. Clover has been bringing in her Winter bedding,” he said. “There’s still a bundle beside the path that was there from yesterday.”
Little Red Bear set an empty basket beneath the shelf.
“Everything all right?” he asked.
“I expect so. She’s been carrying smaller loads lately. I didn’t know if you might want to stop by to check in on her if you’re going that way later, Red.”
Little Red Bear looked toward the trees beyond the garden.
“I could go that way,” he agreed.
By afternoon, he did.
Mrs. Nettie Clover, an elderly rabbit neighbor, lived in a snug burrow home a short walk from Little Red Bear’s cabin. She kept her doorway swept, her belongings in their proper places, and a firm opinion about what those places were.
Little Red Bear found her beside a bundle of dried grass nearly as broad as she was.
She pulled it a little way along the path, stopped, and adjusted her grip. Then tugged at the resistant bundle again.
A few loose stems escaped. Nettie looked down at them.
“Well, that’s not very helpful,” she admonished.
