Thieves

Chapter Two

Chips, Charley, and William all woke up early the next day to play with their new friends. They met at Chips' house and headed for Rocky and Rhonda's shelter. When they reached the shelter, they were surprised to find that no one was there.

"Where could Rocky and Rhonda be?" Chips wondered.

William said, "Maybe they went to find something to eat for breakfast."

"They will probably come back soon. Let's wait for them. While we are waiting, why don't we build a snowbunny?" Chips suggested.

Snowbunnies are a lot like our snowmen except they have big ears and an extra snowball in the back for their tail.

Charley rolled the snow into the smaller balls, and Chips and William rolled the larger balls. When the balls ready, they stuck them together and shaped the figure into a bunny. They put pebbles on the head for the snow bunnies eyes, nose and mouth.

Charley was about to suggest that they make a snowbug too, but he was interrupted by loud shouting.

"Hey, " cried William, "that's coming from the direction of Grumpy Gopher's house. Let's go see what is happening."

They are began hopping towards Grumpy's house. When they arrive, they saw Grumpy standing in front of his house looking as angry as could be.

"What happened, Grumpy?" asked Chips.

"I caught some thieves!" declared Grumpy.

"Thieves?" asked William.

"They have been stealing food from my storage. It was the food I had been growing in my garden all summer," answered Grumpy. "I caught they red-handed, and they were caught in a trap I set up. Now they are in a cage behind my house."

Charley asked, "What are you going to do with the thieves?"

"I am going to keep them locked up and teach them a lesson!"

"Forever?" asked Charley.

"Well, not forever, but for some time. Stealing is a very bad crime, especially when they steal from me. They won't get away with it."

"You are right," said William.

"Maybe they were just hungry," suggested Charley.

"Bah. If they wanted food, they should have slaved in a garden all summer like I did. Either that or they should look in the forest for food. There's plenty of it out there. They don't need to take it from me."

"May we take a peek at the thieves?" asked Chips. "I've never a thief before."

"Go ahead," said Grumpy, "but don't go near them. They might be dangerous."

They hopped to the back of Grumpy's house and looked into the cage. They were surprised to see Rocky and Rhonda sitting inside!"

"Rhonda, look, it's our friends from last night," cried Rocky.

"Rocky and Rhonda, what are you doing here?" asked Chips.

"We were looking for food, and this mean old Gopher trapped us and stuck us in a cage," explained Rocky.

"You mean you were stealing food," Grumpy explained.

"Well, just a little bit," said Rhonda. "We were hungry."

"It's wrong to steal food," Grumpy exclaimed.

"Grumpy, these are our new friends, Rocky and Rhonda. They are orphans. They have to look for their own food and take care of themselves. I'm sure they did not mean to steal you food. They were probably very hungry, and they couldn't help themselves," explained Charley.

"Nonsense!" shouted Grumpy. "I don't care who they are. They stole food, and they should be punished!"

Rhonda cried, "We're sorry. It was just that there was so much food here, and we were so hungry. We were just going to take a little."

"Please let us go. We won't take anything," begged Rocky.

Grumpy shouted, "No, I don't want to argue anymore. It was wrong of you to steal."

Poor Rocky and Rhonda. What were they going to do? They knew that they should not steal, but sometimes it was so much work for them to find food in the winter. Now they were stuck in a cage for who knows how long.

Charley had an idea. He said, "Well, now that you will be feeding Rocky and Rhonda everyday that you keep them in the cage, not to mention cleaning up after them and keeping a fire going at night to keep them warm, I guess you will be awfully busy."

Grumpy snarled, "I never thought of that. Well, it will be worth it to see these theives locked up so they cannot steal anymore."

"But why should you do all the work? Wouldn't it be more fair if they would do the work?" Charley asked.

"Yes, but they cannot do anything if they're in a cage," complained Grumpy

"Hey, how about if you let them out so they can do work for you to pay for the food that they took?" Charley suggested.

"Hmm..I really could use more firewood."

"Yes," agreed Rhonda. "We could gather wood for you."

"Chips said, "We could help too. We'll all gather you lots of wood."

"I don't know. How will I know that they won't steal anymore?"

Rocky said, "We won't. We promise."

Charley said, "Please, Grumpy. They are our new friends. We cannot play with them if they are in that silly old cage."

Grumpy still was not sure. "How do I know you all won't just run off and play instead of getting my wood?"

"Put me in the cage until they get all the wood you need. Then you can let me out," suggested Charley.

"That's a fair deal," said William. "You can trust us not to leave Charley in the cage."

Grumpy finally agreed. He let Rocky and Rhonda out of the cage, and Charley climbed in.

Grumpy had to push the bars closer together to make sure Charley could not get out.

"Charley, are you sure you want to do this?" asked Chips.

"Sure," Charley laughed. "I get it easy. I get to rest while you guys do all the work."

Rocky and Rhonda were sure glad to be free. They thanked Grumpy and Charley, and then headed into the forest to gather the wood. Chips and William went along with them.

They gathered as much wood as they could. They returned to Grumpy's house with a whole pile of small logs. They then went back to gather even more. They made many trips back and forth. The wood pile was getting very tall. Grumpy finally told them that that was enough wood and they could stop.

"You gathered enough wood to last me ten winters! As a matter of fact, you gathered so much that from now on, when Rocky and Rhonda need food, they may come and get some from my storage," Grumpy declared.

"Thank you," cried Rocky.

"You are not a bad gopher after all," said Rhonda.

"Don't forget me!" shouted Charley

Grumpy let Charley out of the cage. Rocky and Rhonda gave him a big hug. Chips and William patted him on his back.

Grumpy said, "Now go along and play."

They all took off towards Rocky and Rhonda's shelter. To reward Charley for this great idea, they made ten snowbugs surrounding the snowbunny. Charley sure felt honored.