   "Hmm, hmhmhmhmmm... And now the sun's coming up... I'm riding with Lady Luck..."

Minty giggled softly to herself. The sun had been up for a good while already, as a matter of fact, and it wasn't exactly Lady Luck she was riding with, either... Lady Luck was the one she flew with. Still, the song was quite appropriate in a way; "Ol' 55" by The Eagles, and she [i]was[/i] driving her 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible.

This time, not towards the east. This time, not towards Silverton, to the airfield where her small airplane was hangered. This time, the green mousette was driving towards the west, in the direction of the Pacific Ocean.

It was a wonderful, warm sunny Saturday. And having checked the date, Minty had found it was that time of the year again. One of her favourite places was open again. Did she feel truly free when she was up in the air in her small Beechcraft Sundowner, there was also one place on the ground where the green mouse found herself reveling in a feeling of complete freedom. It was a place she already visited while she still lived in Portland, and now living in the small town of Bianco, halfway in between Willamina and McMinnville, Minty found she was even a lot closer to her favorite place by the west coast.

It was a place where she could feel completely free even while not being up in the air. Freed from the restriction of clothing, and free from stares or remarks. Well, mostly; she did still get enough of that as being a green-furred mouse. But she did not mind at all, because she enjoyed the place so much. All the way at the coast, just on the other side of the hills at the foot of which lay the small town of Beaver, there was a tiny little bayou jutting inland from the Pacific coast. It was not much more than a mile and a half long, if even that, along one side fully backed by the hills, along the other side enclosed by the trees, at the point opening into the Pacific ocean. A lovely, very private and secluded spot, and therefore a perfect location for a small beach catering to naturists like her. Minty giggled to herself behind her large sunglasses. As it was a female-only nude beach right on the other side of the hills from the town of Beaver, it had been given the tongue-in-cheek name of Beaver Beach. Innocent enough since it was almost next to the town of Beaver... yet with a rather cute double entendre due to the fact it was a place for only naked women to enjoy the sun, sand, water and fresh air.

It was not difficult to find. [i]If[/i] you knew the way. And it opened up for the summer season at May first, every year. Minty had been waiting for it. Adequately settled into her new home, she had been longing for the time her little summer retreat would be open again. She had made a couple of good friends there in the past; she had even gotten a few really cute dates there before. And regardless of that, it was just so wonderful to have a spot in the free nature where she could enjoy the sun and the breeze caressing all of her fur, unhampered by clothing, and with no one around but like-minded women.

She was almost there now. Leaving the town of Beaver behind, she followed the road that crossed under coastal highway 101, turning onto a small, narrow road that skirted close around the hills. There was a small landmark; Minty found it easily, making a soft chirring sound to herself as she drove her old convertible down the even narrower road between the trees, breathing in deeply the fresh, slightly salty air that was a mix of pine and ocean. Only a little bit furtheron, the narrow road opened onto a small parking lot. Several cars were present, and Minty parked her own old convertible in the shade of the trees, close to where a gate and a small building fenced off the parking lot from the small bayou beyond.

Opening and reaching into the trunk of her car, Minty took out a bag and shouldered it. There was not much in there; just two large towels, her MP3 player, a book, an empty bag for her clothes, and that was it. After closing and locking the trunk, she dropped her car keys into her purse and then put her purse into the bag as well, calmly stepping through the gate and walking down the small path between the trees to the beach that flanked the little bay. The sound of voices could already be heard between the trees, and Minty's smile deepened when she stepped into the clearing and onto the small beach, seeing a number of women sunbathing on the sand, or swimming or playing in the water.

She calmly stepped through the sand, finding herself a spot near the corner of the bay, where the small body of water curved sharply towards the ocean. It was a very lovely spot; looking to one side, Minty could see the hills and the forest enclosing the premises, looking to the other side, she could see the ocean. Setting down her bag, she took out one of the large towels and whipped it out, spreading it out across the sand. Then she started to take off her clothes, closing her eyes and drawing in a deep, content breath at each article of clothing she removed, folded and put into the empty bag she had also brought along with her.

Once fully nude, the green mouse stretched and breathed in deeply, releasing her breath in a low, long-drawn and content chirring sound as she felt the fresh breeze stroking across her green fur. Mmmmm... wonderful, just wonderful. Finally opening her eyes again, Minty pressed her large sunglasses back onto the bridge of her muzzle and lowered herself, sitting down on her towel and leaning over to reach into her bag again. Out came her MP3 player and the book she had brought along with her, as well as a packet of batteries; her MP3 player was an older model, and it tended to wear out batteries a bit quicker, so Minty always made sure to bring some extra batteries with her so she wouldn't suddenly be without music as she was relaxing.

After having put on the small headphones, Minty rolled over to lay on her chest and tummy, opening her book at the page where a bookmark was placed; a very simple bookmark, being nothing more nor less but a narrow, rectangular card from a Portland library with a stamp on it showing the date the book was due to be returned. The most recent stamp on the card read February 18th, 1998; not that Minty was twelve years overdue with returning the book, it was simply an old book removed from the library and sold, as was shown by a different stamp on the flyleaf. Humming quietly along with a song on her MP3 player, the green mousette began to read, laying on her chest and tummy, comfortably leaning her head in one paw, her thin turquoise tail swishing slowly while she bent her knees and lifted her feet up into the air, waggling them lazily back and forth.

Soon she was taken up in the story, even forgetting to hum along with her songs and waggle her feet. Also her thin hairless tail remained motionless, simply sticking up into the air to the point where gravity made it curl down smoothly towards her shoulders. Still, every now and then, Minty flickered one of her large round ears or even looked up for a moment sometimes, when someone stepped by her, when someone new arrived, or simply to just look at her surroundings and enjoying them. Reaching the end of a chapter, the green mouse again lifted her head for a moment, looking down into her book while toying with the library card that served as a bookmark as she silently pondered to herself. Would she continue reading into the next chapter, or do something else now? Perhaps go for a little swim? Or just roll over and lay back to enjoy the sun on her front instead of her back? Or maybe go to the small food bar in the building to get a little something to eat? It should be about time for that... what time was it, anyway?

She bent her right arm before her face to look at the underside of her right wrist, where the clockwork of her elegant little wristwatch was. Ten past two in the afternoon. Hmm, a bit late for lunch and a bit early for dinner, but it might still be a good enough time to...
   "Hi!"

Unable to help it, Minty let out a soft squeak at the sudden and unexpected sound of a voice interrupting her thoughts like that. Her tail gave a sudden twitch, her feet dropping to the towel while she let the library card slip from her fingers. Looking around a bit, she brought up one paw to take off the small headphones of her MP3 player, then pressing back her sunglasses which had slid down to the very point of her nose. A smile curled her lips when she located the source of the voice; next to her, on her left, was standing a little fox girl of not much more than maybe six or seven years old, looking at her with bright eyes, her arms behind her back, rocking back and forth on her small feet a bit while wagging her tail. The kit's coloring was traditional red fox, but much lighter, almost like clothes that had been washed too often; the ruddy orange fur was of a light, almost peach-colored tint, the usually black accents on the eartips, forearms and lower legs were a more grey-blue color. The white was very bright white, though, covering the small vixen's tailtip, and her entire tummy and chest, plus the front of her throat and running up across her chin to the upside of her muzzle, stopping only at a point between her eyes, which were a deep, warm orange in color.
   "Oh! Hello there," Minty giggled in response to the greeting. "You startled me a little bit there."
   "Sorry," the little vixen said, nibbling on a finger while her orange eyes moved all over the green mousette's form. "You're all green!"

She said it as if she was making a most astounding discovery. Minty couldn't help giggling over it, leaning both her elbows on her towel and resting her chin on the matting formed by her intertwined fingers.
   "Why yes, so I am, indeed. Very well spotted, dearie."
The vixen kit smiled and nodded.
   "How come you're all green? Did you like paint your fur?"
   "Nope," Minty smiled with another giggle, flicking her thin tail a bit. "See, no fur on my tail or in my ears, and it's green there too. It's just my color."
   "Oh," the small vixen said, tilting her head while twirling her fingers into each other behind her back again. "What's your name?"
   "My name is Minty Mouse, dearie," Minty smiled. "What's yours?"
   "Cute!" the little vixen said with a bright smile. "I'm called Fiabella, but my mommy almost always calls me Fifi."
   "Awww," Minty giggled softly. "That's even much cuter than Minty."
   "Aw, no it's not," the little vixen mumbled with a sudden blush, looking down at her small grey toes she wiggled through the sand a bit.

Minty giggled softly behind a paw. Now that was just too adorable! She lazily swished her tail again, her feet lifting back up into the air and beginning to waggle back and forth again as she looked at the vixen kit. She noticed how the transition between the almost peach-orange fur and blue-grey fur on the vixen's arms and legs was very smooth, instead of a sharp border; also the blue-grey fur on the girl's right arm reached much higher, all the way into the crook of her elbow, while the blue-grey fur on her left arm only reached to halfway up her lower arm. Similarly, the grey-blue fur on the kit's right leg reached up to her right knee while the grey-blue fur on her left leg reached no higher than several inches above her ankle. The white that ran down from the point between the little vixen's deep orange eyes and across her muzzle, throat and chest smoothly followed the curve at the underside of her tummy, the border between the white fur and the peach-orange fur however being a rather sharply defined border, much unlike the smooth blending of the peach-orange and grey-blue on the kit's arms and legs. Also on her tail, the border between orange and white was a quite sharply defined, yet irregularly waving line. As the white also engulfed her entire muzzle, upside and underside, the little vixen's nose pad was not black, but a greyish dark pink, a bit darker than the skin on the inside of her large pointy ears.

Looking up, Minty hid another soft giggle behind her paw as she noticed how the vixen kit was holding her wagging tail in almost the same position as the ponytail at the back of her head which her chestnut brown hair was tied into. The ponytail was held in place by an almost too adorable scrunkie as well, pink in color and with small silk flowers sewn onto it. The only thing that could possibly have been even cuter would have been if the vixen's hair had been tied into two pigtails on either side instead of one ponytail at the back.

Still, the green mouse couldn't help but wonder what that young vixen girl was doing here on Beaver Beach. Sure, she could have come with her mother, that was the most logical explanation even, but it still was quite unusual. Beaver Beach was a place where generally only single girls and women came to. Mothers with children were not often, if at all, seen there, as it was a women-only place, and a woman having a child meant she usually was married as well, or at least had a male mate. Minty shrugged slightly, dismissing the thought, looking up at the vixen kit's face again to find the girl looking back at her as well, the blush having receded from the little vixen's cheeks.
   "You're pretty," she smiled. "I like the green."
   "Why, thank you very much, Fifi," Minty smiled. "That's very sweet of you to say. And you are a very pretty girl yourself as well."
Almost immediately, the little vixen blushed again, twirling her fingers into each other and looking down at them while rocking back and forth on her feet a bit.
   "Am not..." She shook her head, looking back up with a new smile. "You like swimming?"
Minty giggled cheerfully, giving a soft nod with her head.
   "Yes, swimming is nice, I like to swim."
The little vixen with the melodious name of Fiabella nodded as well.
   "Yeah! I like..." She halted for a moment, sniffing a bit. "...I like swimming..." Again a slight pause and a sniff. "...too."

She was slowly moving her head from side to side a bit as she sniffed now and then, rocking back and forth on her feet while wagging her bushy tail. Minty blinked with surprise for a moment, the vixen kit's sniffing prompting her to take a deep breath of air herself as well. Almost at the same moment, her thin turquoise tail flopped down onto the towel limply, and the green mousette's cheeks turned a quite strange tint as a rosy blush appeared under her soft green fur. Uh oh... come on, not [i]now[/i], that was no good... Quickly pushing back her large sunglasses to hide the strange tint of her cheeks, Minty rose up to sit on her knees, brushing down the fur on her side with one paw a bit.
   "Uhm... I think I'm going to swim a little right now, actually," she said to the little vixen. "Would you like to join?"
   "Yeah!" Fiabella nodded with enthusiasm, happily wagging her tail. "That'll be cool! We can play with the ball!"

Without waiting for the green mouse to reply, the little vixen turned and trotted off towards the water, detouring past a small hut-like building from where she got a large, colourful plastic ball. Minty giggled softly at it while shaking her head slightly, stepping over to the water herself. Such a cute kit... but whew, that was a close one. Of all the times for her to get hot, this was definitely one of the less handy. Hopefully the water would... eek!

The green mouse let out an involuntary and quite high-pitched squeak as she waded into the water. Yes, that would do the trick, alright! As it was still so early in the season, and with the small bayou so enclosed by the trees and the hills and therefore not getting too much sun, the water was still quite chilly. Certainly cold enough to cool her down! Minty actually felt her flesh creep and her fur go on end for a moment as she stepped into the water, her thin tail flicking erratically behind her.

It took just a moment or two for her to get through it, though. And she didn't even get very much of a chance to think about the chill for very long since the little vixen Fiabella tossed the ball over to her and giggled cheerfully when it bopped the green mouse right on the nose. Minty also giggled, taking the ball and tossing it back to the small vixen, making it land just before Fiabella in the water so it splashed some water into the kit's face.
   "Heeeyyy, that's no fair!" Fiabella giggled, wiping her face with her paws. "I'll get you for that!"

She threw the ball over to Minty again, following it with large splashing steps to get to the green mouse. Laughing softly, Minty waited until the small vixen was only a few steps away from her, then she suddenly drew in a deep breath and submerged, disappearing from sight. Fiabella picked up the ball and looked around at the surface of the water.
   "Hey, where'd you go?"
With the shadows of the trees overcasting the water, she could not see the green mouse swimming underwater and emerging again a little behind her. But the little vixen noticed that Minty was behind her soon enough as the green mouse playfully pulled her bottlebrush tail.
   "Gotcha!"
Fiabella yipped in a high-pitched tone and whirled around, splashing water everywhere.
   "You're sneaky! I'll get you!"
   "You'll have to catch me first!" Minty giggled, swimming off a bit. "Catch me if you can!"

She swam away further, happily pursued by the little vixen. For quite a while, they played around in the water, laughing and giggling, chasing each other, splashing each other, teasingly pulling each other's tail or pulling one another underwater by the legs - or at least Minty sometimes teasingly pulled Fiabella underwater by the legs, but the little vixen was by far not strong enough to do the same to Minty. Although at a couple of times when Fiabella tried, the green mousette pretend-flailed and submerged, amusing the vixen kit to no end.

Just as they were standing facing each other and slapping the surface of the water with their paws to splash each other, their play was interrupted by another voice ringing out, causing the little vixen to perk her ears and look around.
   "Fifi! Where'd ya run off to, honey?"
   "That's my mom!" Fiabella announced, turning a bit and waving at an adult vixen looking around on the small beach. "I'm here, mom! I'm playing with Minty!"
The adult vixen looked around and smiled when she spotted her daughter and the green mousette.
   "Oh, there y'are! Ya coulda told me ya were going off to play while I tried to fix the car, honey." She smiled at Minty. "I hope she ain't been botherin' ya, miss?"
   "Not at all," Minty smiled. "She's a real cute girl, and we had a lot of fun."
   "Ah, good, alright," the adult vixen smiled. "Yeah, she's mighty friendly alright, an' I can certainly imagine she would be interested in ya, what with yer... quite unusual fur color. No offense."
   "None taken," Misty chortled. "I know I pretty much look like an alien."
   "You're an alien?!" Fiabella squealed in an enthused tone.
Both Minty and the adult vixen laughed heartily.
   "No dearie, I can assure you that I'm definitely not an alien," Minty giggled, taking the little vixen by a paw and wading towards the beach where the kit's mother was looking at them.

Minty could right away tell where Fiabella got her looks from. The kit's mother had a fur that was even much paler in color; not even orange anymore, but a light, pastel yellow, the black accents on the tips of her ears, paws and feet being a mere soft dust grey. They were much more symmetric than the markings on Fiabella, too; reaching up just over the wrists of the adult vixen's paws, and a few inches above her ankles, also blending into the light yellow fur very smoothly, unlike the sharply defined white markings on the end of her tail, in her face and across her chest and stomach. Those were quite different from Fiabella's white ventral markings; on the adult vixen, the white covered her entire chest and stomach, running along the outer curves of the vixen's C-cup bust, and a bit down along the inside of her thighs where they ended in a smoothly rounded bottom. In her face, the white ran up from the front of the vixen's throat and veered out to the sides, covering a large part of her cheek ruffs and enclosing her eyes in a round white spot, from where the white ran down along both sides of the bridge of her muzzle to her mottled grey and dark pink nose pad. Her hair was a much lighter tone of brown than Fiabella's, too, but she wore it in a similar ponytail, and she had the same deep, warm orange eyes.

Unable to [i]not[/i] spot it as they all three were naked, and it was quite normal for women to look each other over on the female-only Beaver Beach, Minty also noticed how the two vixens shared another, more private trait; their vulvas were quite triangular-shaped and evident between their fur, much resembling the original shape of the sexual organ of their feral, quadruped ancestors. Fiabella's was much less developed yet of course, and a light orange in color since the white fur on the little vixen's tummy didn't reach down that far; her mother's was more defined and a mottled grey and dark pink in color, like the moist pad of her nose.

The look Minty was appraising the vixen with was returned to her as well as the vixen gazed over the mousette's green form, both of them smiling as they looked up and their gazes met each other's. Still holding Fiabella by a paw, Minty reached out with her other paw to shake the paw the adult vixen offered her.
   "Thanks fer looking after Fifi fer a bit. Name's Dusty, Dusty Nevada." She chuckled softly. "No joke."
Minty let out a soft giggle as she shook paws with the vixen.
   "I believe you on your word. I'm Minty, Minty Mouse. Or that is what everyone, including myself, always calls me; according to the IRS, I'm still Mindy Verde, but I hardly even answer to that anymore as I'm used to going by Minty Mouse."
   "Well, it's a pleasure to meet ya, Minty," Dusty smiled. "I hope y'all excuse me now, but I need to find a phone so I can call a garage fer my car, otherwise we'll be stranded 'ere."
   "Well, it is a very lovely place to be stranded," Minty giggled. "I can take a look at your car, if you'd like; I'm quite knowledgeable about those things, out of pure necessity and because of my hobby." She shrugged a bit. "I don't know if I could fix it without tools or parts, but at least I'd be able to tell you what's wrong with it."
   "That would be a big help already, thank you," Dusty smiled. "Ya might wanna dry off a bit first, though. An' the same goes fer ya, young lady," she added, winking at Fiabella. "It's still early in the season, an' we don't want ya catchin' a cold."

Fiabella giggled and stuck out her tongue at her mother. With soft chortles, the adult vixen and Minty walked to the spot where the mousette's towel and bag were laying in the sand. Offering the second towel in her bag to Fiabella, Minty used the towel she had been laying on to dry off herself, after she had shaken the sand off of it. With the both of them as dry as they'd get, Minty packed the towels back into her bag, as well as her book and her MP3 player, shouldering her bag as she followed Dusty and Fiabella to the spot where the belongings of the vixens were waiting.

Having gathered up their things, Dusty shouldered the two bags it came in and led the way for Minty to the small gate, just as the green mouse not yet bothering to put her clothes back on. Entering the small parking lot, she nodded at a 1982 Ford Granada station wagon in a metallic brown color, parked a few spots away from where Minty's '55 Bel Air was parked.
   "There she be."
   "Right," Minty smiled, stepping up to the car and setting down her bag. "Can you pop the hood for me, please?"

Dusty opened the driver door and reached inside to unlock the hood, after which Minty undid the catch and lifted the hood. She started looking over the engine, starting at the front near the radiator, but needing to step to either side of the car to look at the areas closer to the firewall as she found she could not lean over the engine bay that far from the front. Even from the side, the smallish mouse had to lean over quite deeply, one foot lifted off the ground and her thin tail swishing and flicking energetically while she every now and then murmured to herself. Dusty chuckled softly to herself over the sight, letting out a louder giggle when Fiabella couldn't resist the urge to stand on tippy-toes and reach upwards to bat at the green mousette's swishing tail. Minty giggled softly as well, after a while letting herself slide back to her feet.
   "Fuel intake manifold is busted," she gave the verdict. "That's gonna be garage work, alright, I can't fix that right here."
   "I was afraid o' that," Dusty nodded. "Well, I better go find a phone an' call a garage, then. Silly me to ferget my cell at home. I jus' hope they'll be able to fix my car while I wait so we can get home afore dinner."
   "Don't count on it," Minty said while she took one of the damp towels from her bag to wipe her paws with a bit. "But if you want, I can tow you to your house and you can call a garage from there, or I can tow you to a garage near where you live and then give you a ride home."
   "That's mighty generous of ya," Dusty smiled.
   "It's no problem at all," Minty assured the vixen with a smile, putting the towel back in her bag. "Do you live very far away from here?"
   "Reasonably," Dusty nodded, smiling. "We live in Willamina."
   "Oh! That's right on my way home too, I live in Amity," Minty giggled. "Well, I suppose we'd better put our clothes back on, and I'll get my car to hook it up to yours."
   "That sounds like a plan," Dusty chortled.

The getting re-dressed was done very quickly; not bothering with their underwear, Dusty just dressed herself and Fiabella in their skirts and tops, and Minty only put her top and her shorts back on as well. Stepping over to her car, she put the bag on the backseat and got in, starting the engine and slowly driving over to the Granada station wagon of the vixens. While she maneuvered her car around tailfirst in front of the station wagon, Fiabella looked at the old convertible with her muzzle sinking open a bit, but then she started hopping up and down and clapped her paws.
   "That's your car? Awesome!" She turned and looked up at her mother with large, round, sparkling eyes. "Can I ride with Minty, mom? Pleeeeeze? Look at what a cool car she's got!"
Dusty chuckled.
   "If she don't mind..."
   "Not in the least," Minty giggled, opening the trunk and pulling near a small plastic fold-up crate in which were a small tool set, jumper cables, a reflective warning triangle on legs, a folded-up sheet, a few bottles holding oil and window washer fluid and the like, and also a large orange towing cable.

Kneeling down between the two cars, the green mouse fastened one of the hooks of the cable to a towing ring on the back of her Chevrolet, and the hook on the other end to a towing ring on the front of the Ford. Rising back up, she patted the sand off her shorts and her knees and put her bag in the trunk, smiling at the two vixens.
   "Right, we're ready to go. Which garage should I tow you to, Dusty?"
   "QuickFix, it's at South Main Street in Willamina," Dusty smiled. "Again, thanks so very much fer doin' this, Minty."
   "Like I said, it's no problem at all," Minty smiled. "Now, you go sit on the passenger's seat and buckle up, Fifi, okay? And you put your car in neutral and switch on the alarm blinkers, Dusty."

Fiabella nodded with a happy cheer and darted to the passenger door of the old Bel Air, climbing in onto the passenger's seat and buckling up, while Dusty nodded with a soft chuckle and got in behind the wheel of her Granada, shifting the gear into neutral and switching on the four-way flashers. Minty smiled, getting behind the wheel of her Bel Air and also buckling up, shifting the gear and looking across the backseat while she let the old convertible roll forwards until the towing cable stretched taut. Then she gunned the engine, which roared in protest as the old Chevy remained in its place for a few moments while one of the rear tires spun and sprayed a shower of sand and light gravel against the front of the Granada. A moment later, the rogue wheel found traction as well, and the station wagon began to slowly roll forwards as Minty's Bel Air pulled it from its spot.

Going down the freeway at a modest fifty miles per hour for safety, Minty couldn't stop herself from giggling at all the enthused reactions from the little vixen in the passenger's seat to getting to ride in a convertible. Fiabella kept leaning up in the seat, leaning on the top of the passenger door to let her hair blow in the wind, sticking her muzzle into the air with her eyes closed, or simply slumping back against the seat with an arm dangling over the top of the door. Reaching down, Minty switched on the radio; TOTO with "Stop loving you". She cheerfully sang along, accompanied in the choruses by a cheerful "la la la!" from Fiabella who didn't know the lyrics.

Almost two hours later, Minty nosed her car into the town of Willamina, paying close attention to the street signs to find her way to South Main Street, assisted by some very cheerful directions from Fiabella. Only a few minutes later, she pulled onto the lot of the QuickFix garage, towing the Granada to the large open doors of the garage building before stopping, killing the engine and getting out to undo the towing cable. Dusty also got out of her car, stepping into the building and returning a few moments later with a mechanic who checked under the hood while the vixen told him of the problem Minty had informed her about. Arrangements were made to fix the car, and after taking the two bags and putting them in the trunk of Minty's car, Dusty left her keys with the mechanic and got into the Bel Air. Fiabella was a bit disappointed she had to sit on the backseat now as her mother took the passenger's seat, but it was still really cool back there too!

With Dusty's directions, Minty drove through the small town, following South Main Street until it changed into West Main Street in the middle of town, and even further down until it changed into NorthEast Main Street. Then a left turn onto NorthEast Oaken Hills Drive, and another left turn at Oaken Hills Park to get onto NorthEast 3rd Street, where the vixen had told Minty their address was.
   "And now I insist ya stay fer dinner," Dusty stated as Minty parked on the driveway of the vixens' house. "It's the least I can do to thank ya fer all yer help."
   "Like I said before, it was my pleasure," Minty smiled. "But it'll be my pleasure to have dinner with you as well."
   "Good, because I ain't lettin' ya go home without it," Dusty giggled, pointing a finger at Minty's nose.
   "Yeah, you gotta listen to mom!" Fiabella chirped cheerfully. "If you don't listen to her or don't empty your plate, she'll spank you!"
   "Wouldn't want that to happen," Minty chortled. "So I'll be a good girl and have dinner with you, and I'll finish all of it, too."

Laughing softly and happily, the three of them went into the house. Minty looked around her a bit while Dusty put the bags away and poured them a drink before she went to the kitchen to fix dinner. With Fiabella hovering around her like a fluffy peach-colored little cloud of energy, the green mouse slowly stepped around the living room a bit, taking in the furniture, the plants, the decorations. It became apparent to her that the two vixens were living in the house alone; there was no evidence of a male mate, of Fiabella's father, living in the house as well. That would probably mean that Dusty was a single mother, a divorced mother or a widow, Minty mused silently. As there were no photographs anywhere that showed signs of Fiabella's father, the green mouse guessed one of the first two options were more likely than the third one.

After a simple but very tasty dinner, the three of them sat outside on the front porch for a while, talking cheerfully about all kinds of random subjects while enjoying the warmth of the slowly setting sun. Both knowing they had made a new friend, they exchanged phone numbers to keep in touch with each other, and Minty also wrote down her address in Amity for Dusty.

When it was time for Fiabella to go to bed, the two vixens and the mouse rose up from their seats to say their goodbyes. Fiabella happily hugged Minty around the waist, looking up at the mousette's face with sparkling eyes.
   "Goodnight, Minty! You're a really cool mouse! I love your awesome fur, and your awesome car, too!"
   "I'm glad about that, Fifi," Minty giggled, softly stroking the little vixen's hair and ears with a paw. "Nightynight dearie, sleep tight and have sweet dreams."
   "Yeah! Thanks, Minty! Nightynight!" Fiabella chirped, giving the mouse another hug before darting through the open front door.
Dusty smiled and also gave Minty a hug.
   "Ya have no idea how much I appreciate all the help ya gave us, Minty. Thanks so much fer everything, and don't be a stranger, alright? Come visit again soon." She brushed her muzzle past one of Minty's large round ears as she stepped to the front door, adding in a much lower tone; "Because we'll have a few things to talk about."
She winked and tapped a finger against the side of her muzzle, turning Minty's surprised blink into a soft giggle.
   "Well! I'm away tomorrow, but I'll call you Monday after work and see what we can arrange." She gave the vixen a soft hug back. "Goodnight, Dusty. It was a pleasure meeting you. I'm very happy I made such a nice new friend."
   "Likewise, on both accounts," Dusty smiled. "G'night, Minty, and thanks again fer all yer help. Have a safe trip home."

They embraced one another one more time again, then Minty stepped off the porch and got into her car, returning the wave Dusty sent her before stepping through the front door of her house. Calmly backing down the driveway, driving through the small town, out of it, and towards the small town she lived in herself, the green mouse reflected on the past day, smiling to herself. It had been lovely to visit Beaver Beach again, and she had made two very cute and sweet new friends, who even lived close by, too. She knew she would be visiting the two vixens very soon again, if only because she was curious about what Dusty had meant with the things she'd said they'd have to talk about. It sounded very promising, though.

Entering Amity and driving over to her house, Minty sang softly to herself as she parked her car, got her bag and went inside to take a shower and get ready for the night. Mmm... it had been a great day. Maybe she had been riding with Lady Luck after all.
