Back at the Whitetip manor, the siblings were staring into the kitchen cabinets.

Ryan grabbed three strips of dried meat as Mia peered deeper into the void.

"I already checked. ", Ryan said.

She sniffed at the dried meat, tentatively biting into one before reassessing her hunger.

Ryan transformed, a strip of meat dangling out of his jaws. He chewed slowly.

"Does that really work?", Mia asked.

Ryan grunted, by way of answer, and trotted to the door.

"Wait, I need to get my shoes. ", she said.

* * *

It wasn't long before the pair made it to the village. They stood overlooking the some fourty odd buildings. Ryan transformed back. He liked to be in his fox form, but standing below grass-height really wasn't ideal.

"Is that it?", Mia pointed to a building somewhat larger than the average shack, in the shape of an L. One side of it was open to a wooden pen, where a man cracked a whip by a stubborn old cow, coaxing it in without actually hitting it.

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"Yeah. That's the milking shed. He keeps some goods in the room on the side. "

They headed towards the shed, watching as the man hooked a rope behind the cow, shutting it in a stall.

Entering through the front, Ryan rapped his knuckles on the wall to make his presense known.

"Come on in!" the man yelled, sliding a bucket under the cow before glancing back over his shoulder to see who it was.

"Oh, if it isn't the Whitetips. What can I get for you. ", after a pause, "Bill, get over here and start milking!".

"Yessir". A small boy entered from the side room, glanced at the siblings twice as he hurredly went to the stall. He headed around the opposite side, crouching low as he milked. Staring at them.

Mia took a small step back. Ryan, on the other hand, smiled, parting his lips to reveal his teeth. The boy's eyes returned to the bucket.

"Milk and eggs", Ryan said.

As Ryan was trying to pick out the four largest eggs out of an identical dozen, Mia was already turning away to the door. Apparently, she had had enough of the smell of cow manure and the kid who was looking at her between squirts of the udder.

It wasn't until they were half way back that Mia spoke.

"I don't like that kid. " Mia said.

"He wasn't there last time. " Ryan said. "But they all react like that for awhile. You should have seen the cobbler. "

"Hey, what happened? Dad just said he was an 'excitable fellow'"

"Ahh, yeah. He didn't want us to know about his feet. "

"He said they were just sore. " She paused "What had he done?"

"I never saw them up close. And he didn't tell me either. But the cobbler had to help him get his boots off. I could see him cutting away at them with a big pair of sheers. "

"But you told me he panicked"

"Oh he did. He'd thought we were human. See, dad was wearing that big black jacket of his with the hood up to keep the rain off. The poor sod didn't notice anything until the boot came off. " Ryan smirked "Its also the only time I've heard dad yelp. Right in the cobbler's ear. "

"Huh"

"Oh but the best part was when dad asked for help with the other boot. "