As they headed toward home after the terrible scare about Willow's livelihood, the wee Bea planner was already beginning to think of how she and the mom bear could possibly meet. Would she have Scruffles and Sweet Puppy with her as she did her strolling exercise? Or would it be better to meet the new potential friends alone? Maybe she'd just tell the other mom about Scruffles and Sweet Puppy. What a choice to make.

Then she remembered what Timothy the wood carving, clay pot making, caring beaver had said to her. She'd frantically gone to him to ask for help. She and Scruffles had had their initial problem after she'd invited him to live with her. Timothy reminded her she should have discussed with Scruffles what he wanted when he first moved in. Bea always needed to make everything work out right. Sometimes she made poor choices.

She thought she knew the best way to do things, but it wasn't the only way. This time she did her brain exercise to do things right. She knew what the nicest thing for everyone would be in such an exciting visiting situation. She needed to ask Scruffles and Sweet Puppy what they wanted to do. Did they want to come along or stay home and find out what happened later?

As you may have guessed, Scruffles chose to remain home basking in the freshly risen sun. And, of course, Sweet Puppy could not let this opportunity to make new friends. The plan was they hurry in the dark to get ahead of where the happily revealed convoy traveled. Then they would linger as if "full-of-business" until the mom bear came along with her puppies.

They timed things perfectly. Not much waiting passed after the delighted duo got settled into where their new friends would come along. They heard the usual chatter with a bit of bickering echoing. The moment Bea had worried about and planned for would soon be over.

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Remembering the manners her mom taught her, Bea introduced herself and Sweet Puppy. She then welcomed them to the area. The mom bear announced herself as Doolie. The list of her puppies went from tallest to tiniest, Benny, Zoe, Annie and Maddie.

Sweet Puppy was immediately enamored with Annie who could not be bothered even looking at her. To escape Sweet Puppy's admiring advances she kept weaving under long legs. Because Sweet Puppy was so focused on making friends with Annie, she did not notice that Maddie was wagging her little nub of a tail. She was rollicking with a hippity-skip on her three very short legs.

As it turned out, Sweet Puppy and Zoe, a much more appropriately sized puppy, began playing with each other. Bea wondered if that was the first time Sweet Puppy had done her simply-enjoying-her-life exercise. She seemed so free at that moment. It did Bea's heart good to see this, knowing what a terrible life she had had.

It became obvious that Maddie's real friend was Benny, white fuzzy-faced and very anxious . His jumpy behavior made Sweet Puppy a little "stand-offish" with him. She was going to have to do her brain exercise regarding this quite large puppy. Staying calm but alert she knew she'd be safe.

Annie, who had a firm facial pose that could be likened to Winston Churchill indicated that she felt more secure in her mom's arms. The reason for this became obvious to Bea as they exchanged ideas.

You may remember that Bea feels a need for everything and everyone to have a specific name. She wanted to listen a little longer to Doolie to know what to call her. This is so the Maker can find Bea's friends sooner. If Doolie ever needed the help, Bea was going to make sure she could be found right off by the Maker.

The longer Doolie talked, the more Bea began to think that she would refer to her as Doolie the Wise Bear. She wanted to have the Maker of wise bears be able to find her new friend Doolie. Bea didn't think that Doolie was going to need help right off, she sounded quite wise.

Bea realized all of her "what-if's" and fears were unfounded. She did not have to worry about needing to find enough food for that family. Doolie told Bea of a renewable source of food, especially chicken. What a nice change that would be for all of them. Then, she thought of Scruffles who wasn't there.

A promise was made to introduce Scruffles to the crew later. Doolie then told Bea and Sweet Puppy more about where this chicken place was. Inquiring about the chance there would be honey too, Doolie replied with a resounding yes. This note of hope of different food was coming just in time. The fish they caught were more scarce in the areas closest to their cave.

It was a fragile time in their meeting. Bea did not want to broach the topic of her be- wee-with-Bea exercises. Nor did she think this was the time to mention her talks to the Maker of everything or the Maker of anything specific. She didn't know why but she was quite certain that Doolie did do her talk to the Maker, often.

The sun had not only risen but was high overhead when they parted, agreeing to meet again. It took a bit of an effort to tear Sweet Puppy away from her fun with Zoe. Bea had to promise her that they would be able to get together soon. The two resistant puppies said their good-byes.

Maddie seemed especially excited to hear that she would be able to spend time around Sweet Puppy again. When Sweet Puppy went over to say her farewells to Annie she was pleased that she at least got a polite snortle out her. That to Sweet Puppy was promising.

When they had traveled a distance, Bea looked back. Was that a little step dance she saw Doolie doing? And wasn't Zoe prancing too? She felt such gratitude. It was time to do her talk to the Maker of new friendships. Bea's bad memories were slowly fading. Her heart experienced a little thrill as she and Sweet Puppy headed home, dancing to the gentle swaying of the trees.