Nick stretched luxuriously, sipping at an ice-cold lemonade as the children of the Thorneycroft Orphan's Home bounced around him. He had just finished telling Sister Margaret about Billy Wilson pulling him and Judy to safety and the badger smiled gently at him. "So he really is a changed animal?"

Nick nodded at the curb. "See for yourself."

The woodchuck had pulled up in a van and was scolding mildly as the members of Junior Ranger Scouts Troop 914 jumped out and started mingling with the orphans. Nick waved him over and he joined them just as Judy came out of the house with a tray of sandwiches.

Billy took a sandwich and sat on the grass across from Nick, smiling brightly. "So this is where you grew up?"

"Not exactly." Nick finished his lemonade and picked up a sandwich. "It's more like where I hung my hat for a few years."

"And we're still waiting for him to grow up," said Judy with a bland expression.

Sister Margaret shook her head at Judy, then said warmly, "Mr Wilson, I want to thank you for saving Nicholas and Judith. They mean a great deal, to me and to all these children."

The woodchuck ducked his head in embarrassment. "That's all right. I'm just glad I was there to help."

"Even though you were supposed to wait in the car?" Nick's eyes twinkled.

Billy laughed. "Even though." He turned his attention back to the badger. "I hope some of your children will want to join the troop. I'm always looking for new recruits. All species are welcome. And if I get some new kids it'll help take my mind off...well, everything that's happened."

"What is going to happen now?" asked the elderly badger.

"Well, we've got Wuchak on a laundry list of crimes. Arson, attempted murder of a police officer, insurance fraud…" Nick finished his sandwich and took another one. "He's going away for a long time."

"So is Phyllis," said Billy sadly. "She was stepping out with Mr Wuchak behind my back, and when his expenses got away from him at Kopje Court, they figured they'd kill two animals with one stone. Not that they actually had the guts to really kill me, but they planned to frame me for the project being destroyed and that would give them a nice insurance payoff and get me out of the way so they could be together." He shook his head. "I still can't believe it."

"What was Mr Wuchak doing at the construction site that night?" asked Sister Margaret.

Billy finished his sandwich, contemplated the tray, and sat back without reaching for more food. "Well, once he decided to destroy the site, he started using substandard materials. The invoices for those materials are in the files he sent to the ZPD, but I had several months worth of invoices in my trailer and he knew the suppliers on those invoices weren't going to match the suppliers on what the cops had."

Judy took up the story. "Naturally with Billy as the only suspect, we had workmen digging out his trailer. Wuchak was keeping tabs on that and when it was uncovered enough to get into, he went out to the site to drop a stick of dynamite on it and destroy the records." She shook her head. "And then he panicked when we showed up and instead of just running, he went up on the scaffolding."

A tiger cub came running up. "Sister Margaret, do you think I could join the Junior Ranger Scouts?"

The badger hesitated and Billy said quickly, "We'd love to have you. Every new recruit gets a uniform and a handbook, but you have to pay all your dues yourself." The cub's eager expression faded and the woodchuck smiled. "All the kids pay their dues themselves. We have fundraisers all the time and they're a lot of fun. What do you think, Sister?"

The badger got up and took the cub's paw. "I think we should see if anyone else would like to join since Mr Wilson's troop has such a generous policy."

"Please, call me Billy."

The woodchuck and the badger walked off with the cub and Nick chuckled. "I wonder if Billy has ever been called William."

"He'll get used to it." Judy poured herself some lemonade. "I got used to being called Judith even though the only person who ever called me that was my grandmother." She giggled. "She was always telling me to wash my paws and every time Sister Margaret says Judith, I have this urge to check my claws."

Nick laughed. "With me it's my ears. I always have the feeling I haven't cleaned behind my ears."

"So are you all right now?" asked the bunny softly.

The fox gazed pensively at Billy fielding questions from the children while Sister Margaret tried to keep some kind of order. "I guess it depends what you mean by 'all right.' Billy wrecked my life when I was a kid and nothing will ever change that. But he helped me save your life, and that's all that matters now."

"Hey, Nick!" Billy was waving and the fox went over to him. "I have something for you." The woodchuck pulled a small metal case out of his pocket and presented it to the fox.

Nick opened it. "A compass?"

"It was Mr Mactire's. He left it to me when he died. He said it was the very first piece of scouting equipment he ever owned and he always carried it. Said it was important to have something that always pointed you in the right direction."

The fox snapped the case closed and tried to hand it back. "I can't take this. He left it to you."

"Nope, I think he would want you to have it." The woodchuck smiled, but his eyes were very serious. "Thanks to you, I know what the right direction is now. And who knows, maybe you'd like to come back to the troop. I could always use an assistant scoutmaster."

"You mean that?" The fox blinked in surprise.

"Sure I do. I can't think of anybody who's braver or more loyal or helpful or trustworthy than you." Billy stuck out his paw and after a moment Nick took it, and they shook.