5
Lucas felt absurdly like a teenager on his first date as he hurried up the rickety wooden steps behind Devon. The flimsy screen door slapped closed behind him. Then he stopped in the big entryway and stared in disbelief.
A host of tiny animals were swarming all over her feet, nibbling at her ankles and, as she bent down in their midst, jumping up to lick her face. They looked like rats with fuzzy tails and raccoon-mask faces. “What in the world,” he demanded, taking a cautious step back, “are those?”
Devon lifted one of the little animals high in the air, then tenderly cuddled it in her arms. “They’re ferrets!” Her exasperated tone implied that he certainly should have known better. “You sell tons of supplies for them. Haven’t you ever seen one before?”
“Not in real life.” They were
