Meg looked to Allistor, who nodded.  “Well, we figured since we called this place the Warren, it should have some fluffy bunnies, right?”  She opened a trap door in the top of the wooden box Allistor had brought back, and pulled out a soft, fuzzy brown rabbit.  Bending down, she handed it to Chloe.  The girl squealed in delight and hugged the furry beast to her chest.  “It’s SO CUTE!”

Nancy crouched down so that she was at eye level with her daughter.  “If we keep these here, you’re going to have to learn how to take care of them.  You’ll need to feed them, clean up after them, and make sure they don’t escape.”

Chloe immediately began nodding her head emphatically.  “I will, Momma!  Max will help me.  If any of them gets loose, he can catch them.  He’s really fast!”  The dog perked up at the mention of his name, and he trotted over to poke his nose at the bunny’s hindquarters.   Lilly handed Chloe a few plants she’d brought in for the rabbits to nibble on.

They took a few minutes to let Chloe feed and name the two bunnies.  Male and female.  Thumper and Beatrice.  Allistor had run across them in the yard behind the barn.  The hutch was there, a wooden structure with chicken wire along the front and top, maybe six feet wide and ten feet long.  There was a hole busted in one side, and the bunnies were roaming free.  He suspected the two were survivors of a larger group, and that something had broken in and helped itself to bunny tartar.

He’d immediately thought of Chloe.  They’d make good pets for her to play with and learn to take care of.  And if they did what bunnies were famous for, they could be the start of a colony that could be a sustainable food source.

The others had repaired the hole in the hutch, then built a small rabbit run around it.  The bunnies could be let out of the hutch to hop about the roughly ten-foot square area.   They’d bring in some dirt and maybe some hay later.

As it was suppertime, they all convened around the big table by the fountain.  Sam rolled the grill around and threw on some burgers and vegetables while Meg brought out some buns and other fixings.   As Sam grilled, Allistor began to share his dungeon idea.

When he was done reasoning it out for them, he asked, “So… who wants to go kill some vermin?”

Hands shot up.  Everyone’s except Lilly and Nancy.  When Lilly said, “It’s okay; I can keep Chloe here with me,” Nancy’s hand went up too.

Sam served the burgers, and they began to plan their first dungeon run.

*****