#antelop

Picnic in the Woods

           Annabelle stood at the top of the stairs and grimaced as she dug at the crotch of her shorts. The tight fabric of her borrowed shorts chafed the inside of her legs. Claudia was nice enough to loan her some clothes. Annabelle thought even with the opossum’s shapely hips and posterior she’d be able to fit in the shorts better but that was a miscalculation. Still, Annabelle had no reason to be picky. The maroon tank top was nice, albeit a bit snug against her chest and shoulders; too tight to allow for a brassiere. It was just something she’d have to deal with. One final squat to see if she could stretch the fabric just a little more before she walked down the stairs to join the rest of them.

           Claudia looked up at the vixen from under the brim of her large, wide-brimmed white sun hat, a large smile on her face. “Oh darling, you look fabulous.” It was only then that Annabelle noticed that the opossum was wearing almost the same outfit; her tank top was yellow instead of maroon.

           “Aw, we’re triplets.” Rebecca muttered, looking at Annabelle as she reached the bottom step. The raccoon wore the same outfit; except her shirt was a vibrant cantaloupe orange color.

           “So it would seem.” Annabelle giggled.

           “Shucks, I borrow all my clothes from Claudia. She’s the only person here with my same body type.”

           “And what a lovely body it is, amour.” The opossum kissed the raccoon’s cheek before they wandered off arm in arm.

           Annabelle followed them as they when her attention grabbed by the others in the main room. With her, Claudia, and Rebecca there was also Lilian and Patty, who were talking with Grace on the other side of the stairway. Callie and Molly were standing near the front door chatting, while Sarah begrudgingly stood with them. There were three others in the main hall that Annabelle hadn’t met before. A pair of lemurs with matching black, white, and gray fur, stood with a very tall antelope. They seemed to all be playing a game involving their hands. Annabelle stared at them so intensely she didn’t notice Callie and Molly coming up behind her.

           “What do you think you’re doing?” Callie chided.

           Annabelle jolted from the accusatory tone. “I’m going on the picnic.” She turned to see the canine with her arms crossed.

           “Thanks to you, we had to finish all the yard work ourselves.” Molly barked.

           “Yeah, while you were off playing in the maze,” Callie didn’t miss a beat.

           “Come on you two.” Sarah pleaded with them.

           “No, Spots, this is crap. She shouldn’t be allowed to go on this picnic if she’s not going to do her chores.” Callie turned her fury on Sarah for a second, the cheetah just rolled her eyes and walked away.

           “So how much trouble did you get into, White-Tip?” Callie’s eyes narrowed.

           “Scandalous,” Molly gasped covering her mouth.

           “Shut up,” The canine glared at the red wolf. “Basement detail, I hope. It’s what you deserve.”

           “None.” Annabelle stated.

           “None?” Callie groaned. “Not fair! If that would have been me, they would’ve buried me in basement duties for the rest of my life.”

           “Just stop, you two. I remember you two getting away with tons of stuff when you were new.” Sarah’s voice spiked, her naturally deep voice rumbled in the back of her through. “Why can’t we all just drop it and enjoy the picnic.”

           Callie looked at Sarah and then to Molly. “No, screw this. If she’s coming, I don’t want to be there.”

           “Are you sure?” Molly sounded genuinely disappointed.

           “Yeah, we have better things to do, come on Molly.” Callie grabbed the red wolf’s wrist and pulled her in the direction of the kitchen.

           “Wait, I don’t want to ruin this for you,” Annabelle called after them. “I can…just stay here.” Her voice dipped to a whisper. ”Great.”

           A warm hand caressed the tight fabric at her back. She looked over her shoulder to find a pair of amber eyes staring back warmly. Sarah’s plump dark lips were pulled back in an easy smile. “Don’t mind them, Annabelle.” Her accent was smoother when she whispered. “They don’t like that there’s someone newer than them. Youngest children want to always be the youngest children.”

           Annabelle smirked. “Thank you, Sarah.”

           The tall cheetah nodded, her tight curls bounced around her face. “Anytime,” The tall cheetah walked back to the front door to wait.

Annabelle watched her walk away, the white fluff at the tip of her tail ticking in time with her steps. It was hard to tell if the cheetah was friendly or just being polite to her. Sarah seemed as though she might be the same age as Annabelle but it was really hard to gauge. The cheetah acted more mature beyond her years. It wasn’t a question that could easily be approached. The vixen knew nothing of Sarah’s customs and wouldn’t want to insult her.

           Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the lemurs once again, the white fur amidst the black and gray working like a beacon to draw her to them. Annabelle walked up and watched them playing their game with their hands. They were making shapes so quickly she couldn’t make them out. “Wow,” Annabelle whispered and kept staring.

           “They’re deaf,” A very coarse and sharp accented voice said from behind her. It reminded her of Charlotte’s accent only more deliberate.

           Annabelle had to look up to see the face of who was talking to her. A very tall antelope, who wore a ageless face stood next to her. A quick glance told Annabelle that she was very particular; everything thing was pressed, pristine, and in its place. Dirty blond hair slicked back with some form of chemical that Annabelle couldn’t trace. Her blue eyes sat behind an elegant pair of spectacles, a single golden stud in each of her tall ears. Everything about this woman was symmetrical. Right down to the pressed lapels of her white sleeveless blouse. Her black pleated skirt was pressed to crisp edges. Knee high black leather boots that were polished so brightly that Annabelle was sure she could see her reflection in them. Everything about this antelope urged Annabelle to slink away before her cold demeanor froze her where she stood.

           “Oh,” Annabelle whispered. “Why are they doing that thing with their hands?”

           The antelope lifted a long onyx cigarette holder to her lips taking a long drag. “You’ve not had the pleasure of interacting with the hearing impaired before?”

           Annabelle answered earnestly. “I’m afraid not, I’ve lived in the woods most of my life. My family is all I’ve known.”

“Well, let’s get you acquainted, shall we?” The antelope took Annabelle’s hand and pulled her along as if she were a child.

The closer she got to the two lemurs; she noticed that they were completely absorbed in whatever they were doing. Neither of them even noticed when the antelope joined them again. Annabelle stood behind the tall, slender antelope watching them continue to make their shapes to one another.

She tucked the stem of her cigarette holder between her teeth and reached in between the two lemurs covering one of their hands. The girl turned her attention up to the antelope with a pair of brilliant blue eyes. A smile drifted to the lemur’s lips before she started making shapes at the antelope this time. It wasn’t long before the lemur with the yellow eyes joined in. The three of them were quickly engulfed into their strange game once again. Annabelle cleared her throat, feeling a heat coming to her cheeks. She wasn’t sure what was going on but was a little concerned that she might be interrupting them.

It was at that point that the yellow-eyed lemur noticed Annabelle and in a quick motion, she darted behind the other lemur, peering at the vixen curiously from over the other’s shoulder. The giant eyes darted all around the vixen, studying her for what she was. The lemur with the blue eyes looked back over her shoulder and flicked a few more symbols to the other. They followed through the motion for a few seconds before the yellow-eyed lemur shifted out from behind the other one. She touched her chest then made a few shapes before resting her hand against Annabelle’s chest.

The vixen shook her head, her mouth falling open before looking to the antelope for assistance. “I don’t understand.”

“Don’t look at me, child. Look at them. They can read your lips.” The antelope exhaled some smoke in the vixen’s face. She already seemed frustrated by the vixen’s inability to understand the lemurs.

Annabelle looked back at the pair and repeated. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

That was when the blue-eyed lemur nodded and made the universal ‘OK’ symbol with her hand. She followed it by snapping her finger before pointing to the antelope and starting making shapes again.

“Dr. Gilda,” Rebecca said from behind Annabelle. The blue-eyed lemur made a soft squeaking noise and touched her nose.

“Rebecca,” The antelope said, her pristine face cracking a smile. “You’ve been studying, haven’t you?”

“I sure have, Dr. Gilda.” Rebecca chuckled.

Both lemurs covered their mouths before hugging each other. They both parted and started frantically signing to the raccoon. Rebecca held up her hands. “Whoa girls, I ain’t that good yet.” The raccoon signed back to them as she spoke, she kept her pace slow to help them understand.

Both of the lemurs nodded and slowed their pace to match the raccoon’s. Their movements were fluid and in time with each other as if they were talking in the same tone and speed. Annabelle was mesmerized by how beautiful it all looked.

“Alright, I’ll tell her.” Rebecca signed back to them as she spoke aloud.

The blue-eyed lemur raised a single finger letting the other know that she was starting first. Rebecca spoke along with the symbols. “My name is Nuts. I’m very pleased to meet you.”

The yellow-eyed lemur started not even a second after the first had finished. “I’m Bolts, and we’re sisters from a land far away.”

“How do I sign them my name?” Annabelle said not taking her eyes off of the two lemurs.

“I don’t know,” Rebecca looked up at the antelope who was smiling so widely that Annabelle could see that several of her back teeth were crowned with gold. “Dr. Gilda?”

“Follow along with me, children.” Dr. Gilda started signing something at a slow pace, Annabelle and Rebecca followed her instructions. It didn’t take long for both lemurs to join in.

After a few times of making the symbols, Annabelle turned to the lemurs and spoke as she signed just as Rebecca had done. “I’m Annabelle, I’m new here.”

Both lemurs looked coyly at each other and smirked before starting to sign at another frantic pace. “Dr. Gilda.” Rebecca urged unable to follow what Nuts and Bolts were trying to say. The antelope didn’t miss a beat; she translated with a giggle in the perfect tempo behind her voice. “Oh, we heard you the first ten times. Your accent is atrocious. Practice makes perfect.”

Annabelle laughed and nodded. “I will strive to better myself.”

Nuts touched a hand to of one of Annabelle’s cheeks while Bolts touch the other. Annabelle felt her cheeks grow hot from the forward reaction. The pair of lemurs drew her into a warm hug.

“Wow, they sure like you, Anna.” Rebecca chuckled.

When they pulled away from the hug, Nuts and Bolts started signing again. Before Annabelle could say anything else to them, they scurried away with Rebecca chasing after them. The vixen fanned her face as she watched them chase around the large hall.

“Young Annabelle Du Loc,” The antelope said pointedly. She put her cigarette butt out on the heel of her boot before slipping the holder into one of the folds of her skirt that doubled as a pocket. “I’m Dr. Gilda Wulfschtahd, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Annabelle looked at her. “The pleasure all mine.”

“It won’t be for long. No one is ever pleased to know me.” Dr. Gilda chuckled dryly.

Annabelle cocked her head, confused by the antelope’s statement. From everything she’d heard of the doctor, she seemed well liked. But now that she was thinking about it, she couldn’t remember if the things that were said were favorable or not.

“Well, with young Rebecca being able to speak to them, I suppose I don’t have to join them on this little excursion after all.” Dr. Gilda mused aloud.

“Ma’am?” Annabelle asked.

“Oh, I was remarking that Rebecca has come such a long way in her abilities in sign language. She can talk to those two with no problem. That frees up my afternoon for other things.” Dr. Gilda folded her hands behind her back. “This is fortunate; I’ve been trying to get the lot of these slackers to learn sign language, so I didn’t always have to follow those two around. I guess everyone’s a little too busy with their own stuff.”

“I’ll do it.” Annabelle offered, forgetting about her life outside the manor for a moment. The realization that she might never want to go back to her former life made her feel cold inside.

“Very well my dear. We’ll speak on this matter further when you get back,” Dr. Gilda managed to gather the attention of the twin lemurs with a wave of her hand. They waved back before signing something to Rebecca that made her laugh. Annabelle turned to say something to the doctor but she was already retreating back up the stairs without as much as a goodbye.

“I see you’ve met Dr. Death.” Claudia slunk up to rest her head on Annabelle’s shoulder.

“Dr. Death?” Annabelle turned to look at her but ended up bumping muzzles with her.

“Yeah,” The opossum reached up to wipe a small amount of foundation from Annabelle’s muzzle. “She arrived here about the same time Patty did. She’d been cold and silent like the grave. When they docked she stood all alone for a long time trying to figure out where to go. Mother badger took pity on her and bought here for the Duke’s consideration.”

“Where did she come from?”

“Germany. I heard that she was one of those scientists in the prison camps. After the war, she went into hiding or something like that.” Claudia folded her hands in front of her like a ballerina. “Some folks around her claimed to have heard her talk about the experiments she’d performed on the prisoners.”

“None of those rumors have any foundation, nor have they been proven. Dr. Gilda just likes her privacy, the same as the master.” Grace walked up with her hands on her hips.

“I-” Claudia stammered.

“I know; Claudia. Myths and legends are fun, but Dr. Gilda has been nothing but nice and helpful for us all. One day, if she feels so inclined, she’ll tell us what happened to her. Until then, let’s try to respect her.”

“Je suis desole mon amour.” Claudia lowered her head.

Grace smirked. “It’s alright. Now, you two get your tails in gear, we’re heading out.”

           Grace led everyone outside onto the front stoop. A shallow stone step broke way to a wide dirt path that narrowed the further down the way it went. On either side was a line of trees thicker than walls. Trees as far as Annabelle could see. She now understood what Grace had said about taking a guide the first few trips to town. Everything looked the same in the late spring bloom.

Even with the weather being hot and muggy, the forest was lovely. It offered tons of shade and painted the underbrush with a green tint from the leaves. The group started out as a clump at first but thinned out into groups of two as they walked. Grace was in front and somehow Annabelle ended up at the rear. Lucky for her, the two lemurs were right in front of her, she could keep track of them by the white stripes on their tails. They’d only walked for twenty minutes or so before they came to a small stream. Near to it was a patch of earth that seemed to have been cleared off a long time ago. The dirt had been tilled and was dry and soft.

“Here it is,” Grace announced as if she’d said it a thousand times. Without another word she got to work unloading the heavy pack she carried on her back.

Annabelle watched for a moment but became distracted by the two lemurs heading off towards the stream. The vixen followed them to see what they were up too. Nuts quickly scaled a nearby tree to cut down several of the thin vines. Annabelle made sure to move so she didn’t get hit by any falling debris from the branches above. Bolts, on the other hand, was using a knife to stab the truck of a tree trying to harvest some sap. When it started flowing freely, she started peeling away strips of the bark.

“Incredible,” Annabelle said to no one in particular.

“It’s amazing stuff, isn’t it?” Rebecca joined her.

Bolts started weaving the bark into a little basket with a handle. When it was done, she made another one that looked almost exactly the same as the first. Nuts slid down the tree and gathered up the vines starting to weave them together to make rope. It was Bolts turn to scale the tree, gathering several large leaves from one of the tallest trees.

“What do you suppose they’re doing?”

“They’re engineers, they’re building stuff.”

Annabelle turned to Rebecca. “Engineers?”

Rebecca’s raspy voice took on a cute tone as she giggled. “Boy and I thought I was backwater,” She gave her a gentle nudge. “I’ve been talking to them for months. They told me when they were children their father sold them to a toy factory.”

“Because they’re deaf?”

“Nah, it was because they’re girls. In the Orient countries families thrive on the shoulders of men. Ask Lilian, same deal with her family. Money, government, so on, all male driven. Women don’t have a purpose beyond having babies and pleasing their man,” Rebecca continued. “They didn’t become deaf until after they started working in the factory.”

“What?”

“Oh yeah, most factories over there have a deal with orphanages in the area. They will pay to take kids off their hands for cheap labor.” Rebecca wrung her hands.

“What if they run away?”

“That’s the thing; they blow out their eardrums, so if they manage to escape, they can’t tell anyone what happened to them. Then the kids will be returned to the orphanages and the factories will just come and gather them up again.” There was an uneasy tone in the raccoon’s voice.

“I don’t believe this.”

“It’s true.”

“No not that, Rebecca. I mean, it’s like I’ve been living in a fairytale my entire life.” Annabelle said sadly. “I thought stealing to feed myself and sleeping under the stars was so difficult. I didn’t know any of this was happening.”

Rebecca rested her head on Annabelle’s shoulder and sighed. “Can’t blame yourself for that.”

“I know, I just…why are people so terrible?”

“Not all of them, Anna.” Rebecca wrapped her arm around the taller girl’s back; her brown hair was being tossed in a merciful breeze that suddenly decided to pick up. “I think you’re pretty swell yourself.”

“Thank you, Rebecca.”

When Annabelle looked back at the lemurs, she was amazed to find that the pair had built a device in the water. The flowing stream rotated the baskets causing the vines to shift the hastily whittled cogs that would work to spin the large leaves in a clunky circle. The faster the leaves spun, the harder the breeze blew.

“That’s incredible.” Annabelle says awestruck.

“Oh that, that’s nothing. They do this kinda stuff all the time.”

Nuts and Bolts embraced giving each other a soft peck on the lips. Their fur was being tossed about in the breeze of the rickety fan. Nuts used her tail to fluff Bolt’s nose causing her to sneeze before she took off. Bolts rubbed her nose and gave chase. The pair of them let out a soft chittering noise as the ducked and dodged after each other. Annabelle watched their speed and movement with amazement. Nuts led the charge, running at Annabelle and Rebecca at full speed. The vixen winced and covered up as if the lemurs might slam into her. Rebecca didn’t flinch, she watched with a wide grin on her face.

Nuts crouched into her run and sprung in a wide rolling arch over the vixen and raccoon. Annabelle looked up at her as she sailed overhead. Bolts compressed her body down sliding between Annabelle and Rebecca legs without even touching them. Then she tumbled up onto her feet right behind Nuts, who gracefully landing still running at top speed.

“Wow,” Annabelle giggled. “We have a regular circus here.”

“Sure do, darling.” Claudia giggled; Annabelle had been so engrossed in the lemurs that she didn’t hear the opossums approach. “I’ve been trying to get them to teach me some of those moves, but those two are so secretive.”

           “You could say that a cat’s got their fingers.” Rebecca made a yucking sound with her laugh.