Poppy, feeling quite emotional and wishing she were alone, said only, “I don’t recall.”
Lilly sniffed. “Poppy,” she said, “aren’t you going to bathe?”
“Maybe,” said Poppy. She had been intending to wash herself, but she didn’t want it to appear she was doing so at her sister’s bidding. Instead, she sat by the water’s edge, put her paw in the water, and dabbled about. “The water is quite warm,” she said.
“What do you mean, ‘maybe’ you’ll take a bath?” demanded Lilly. “Poppy, the two of you cannot come home smelling the way you do. It would be disrespectful. Really, you smell horrible, which is something only your sister could tell you.”
“Lilly,” Poppy returned, while continuing to gaze upon the flowing water, “that is something only my sister would tell me.”
Mephitis and Junior tumbled out of the woods. “Hey, a creek,” cried Junior. “Who wants to go swimming?” He did not wait for a reply, but slid off the skunk’s back and plunged into the water.
“Young mouse!” cried Lilly. “You are splashing me!”
Junior’s response was to slap the water hard with a paw, sending a water spray right at his aunt.
She jumped away, crying, “Poppy, tell him to stop!”
Poppy, speaking softly and with a hint of a smile said, “Junior, do stop.”
“Okay,” said Junior, with an understanding grin. He began to swim about. Mephitis joined him, and the two frolicked.
Lilly watched them for a moment. Then she said, “Poppy, I’ve decided something.”
“What is that?”
“I think I’ll go downstream a bit, take the bridge across, and get on home. First. That way I can tell them you’re coming. You and Junior can take your time.”
“What you mean, Lilly,” said Poppy, “is that you want to warn them about me.”
“Poppy,” said Lilly, “Papa is easily agitated.”
“Then go right ahead and un-agitate him,” said Poppy. “We’ll come along soon.”
“Fine,” said Lilly, and she started off along the edge of the creek. She hadn’t gone far before she stopped and looked back. “Poppy, promise me you and Junior will bathe.”
“Actually,” said Poppy. “I’m going to ask Mephitis to give us another dose of his stink.”
“Poppy, you wouldn’t!” squealed Lilly.
“No,” said Poppy with a rueful smile. “But I’d like to.”
Lilly hesitated, as if wanting to say something, before moving off. This time she did not look back.
As Lilly disappeared around a bend, Poppy sighed with disappointment. The truth was, she was not liking her sister very much. The next moment Poppy gave herself a mental scolding: Lilly is just being who she is, she felt obliged to acknowledge.
“You know who you and Lilly remind me of,” called Junior when he saw that his aunt had left.
“Who?”
“Me and my sister Columbine.”
“That’s ridiculous,” said Poppy.
“Nope! We’re just the same,” insisted Junior. “We don’t like each other, either. Where’s she going?”
“Lilly decided to go ahead, to tell them not to be too upset when they see us—or at least to act as if they aren’t upset.”
“What are they going to get upset about?” asked Junior.
“Oh . . . it’s too complicated to explain,” said Poppy. She sat for a moment, thinking about what Junior had said, only to be suddenly doused by a spray of water.
Startled, Poppy looked up. “Ragweed Junior!” she cried out. The next second she caught herself: I don’t want to be angry. And after all, she really did need to wash. With that thought, she plunged into the creek so abruptly she took Junior by surprise and dunked him.
He came up spluttering, “Hey, Mama,” he shouted. “What are you doing?” The next moment he burst out laughing, and the two fought a furious water battle. Looking on, Mephitis laughed with them, but then joined in on Poppy’s side.
“Not fair!” cried a gleeful Junior.
After exhausting themselves, the trio waded out of the creek and lay down in the sun to dry.
“Hey, Mama?” called Junior. “How far do we have to go?”
“It’s pretty much what your Aunt Lilly said: cross over the creek, get through the Old Orchard, and Gray House will be right there.”
“Cool.”
Poppy, eyes closed, lay back in the sun with her furry white belly up. Her whiskers dried quickly. The warmth filled and soothed her. She was thoroughly relaxed when she heard Mephitis whisper, “Hey, Junior, your mother is pretty cool.”
“Maybe,” said Junior. “But it sure was a good thing we were there for the bear. She’s so wimpy. I liked her better when she stunk.”
“Yeah,” muttered the skunk.
Poppy, not wanting to hear any more of this conversation, sprang up.
“Hey, Mama,” Junior called. “Where you going?”
“I think I need to be alone,” she said, and walked away along the creek bank.
CHAPTER 13
Junior and Mephitis
DID I SAY SOMETHING WRONG?” Junior said to Mephitis.
“Don’t ask me,” said the skunk. “I don’t know nothing about parents. I can’t ever figure them out.”
“Neither can I,” said Junior. “All I know is, I’m never going to be like that.”
“Like what?”
“Old. It’s too weird. Hey, did you hear what my mama said?”
“About what?”
“Aunt Lilly. She decided to go ahead to that Gray House so she could tell them not to be freaked out when they saw us.”
“I heard,” said the skunk. “But I don’t think your aunt was talking about your mama.”
“Exactly,” said Junior, grinning. “It’s us she doesn’t like.” He belched and lifted a paw. Mephitis slapped it.
“Actually,” said the skunk, “I think it’s me she doesn’t like.”
“Hey, you stink, but I’m rude. Did you see the look on her face when I splashed her?” The two burst into laughter.
“You still stink,” said Mephitis. “Don’t you want to wash some more?”
“I’d rather gross them out,” said Junior.
The two laughed for so long they started laughing at their own laughing.
“I do like your mama, though,” said the skunk when they calmed down. “She’s pretty cool.”
“Yeah, she’s all right,” said Junior.
“I wish she were my mother,” said Mephitis.
“She can’t be,” said
