Lavinia was watching butterflies. Lavinia LOVED butterflies. Almost as much as she loved rolling in the dirt. Which is how Lavinia Mudwallow had come to earn her name in the first place.

For Lavinia, there was simply no better place in the whole wide world to watch butterflies, than Grandma’s garden. Filled with vibrant colors and soft sweet scents, Grandma's yard was truly a magnet for the most beautiful of those gracefully fluttering creatures. Lavinia sighed happily, then yawned and thumped her tail some more.

"Neek?" came a plaintive sound, interrupting the tranquil scene, causing Lavinia to perk up her ears and still her tail in mid-wag.

"Neek?" came the sound again, louder now, from somewhere beneath the fragrant lilac hedge.

Lavinia cocked her head to one side, as a puzzled look crossed her face. It certainly sounded like an "I'm lost!" to her.

Quietly, the roly-poly Lavinia Mudwallow got to her feet and stretched. She ambled slowly toward the spot from whence the sound had come. A twig crackled, and Lavinia paused, listening intently.

All of a sudden, amidst a great mass of lavender flowers, there appeared a tiny, amber-eyed little creature. As it struggled to extricate itself from the last bit of blossoms, the tiny thing stumbled, landing smack on its chin near Lavinia's feet.

"Neek!" it complained loudly. "Neek!"

Lavinia Mudwallow’s tail began wagging a mile a minute. She approached the tiny bit and sniffed it ever so carefully to make certain it was what she thought it was.

It was indeed.

Lavinia opened her mouth very wide. You could see ALL of her sharp teeth.

"NEEK, NEEK, NEEK!" the frightened little thing screamed, and threw itself to the ground, paws over its eyes. Lavinia picked it up ever so gently in her mouth, the same way she’d have carried a new puppy. It flailed wildly about, twisting and turning and trying to escape.

Lavinia turned and trotted back towards the house, going very carefully through the dog door so that she didn’t harm her treasure. Gently she climbed the stairs, taking care not to jostle it, as she padded down the hall towards the sunny playroom.

Amanda Grey sat on the floor, busily sorting through the toybox. Her brother Timothy was sprawled sideways in an oversized wingback chair, knees draped casually over the arm, deeply engrossed in a book. Sam Cat, perched comfortably on Timothy’s stomach, appeared to be helping him turn pages.

At Lavinia’s approach, Sam Cat abruptly flung himself off Timothy, and rocketed across the room to see what was struggling, and flapping about so determinedly, in Lavinia’s mouth. Whatever it was, it was beginning to get pretty soggy, that was for sure.

Sam gave it one startled look and then tore out of the room, in search of Timothy and Amanda’s grandma.

Timothy, still deeply engrossed in his book, was not paying the slightest bit of attention, and Amanda was mostly upside down as she leaned over the side of the big wooden toy chest.

Lavinia walked silently up to Timothy and unceremoniously dropped the gooey mass onto his stomach. "NEEEEK!" it screeched indignantly, at the very top of its lungs.

"Aaaaaaaa!" yelped a startled Timothy, and shot straight up in his chair. Tiny, sharp nails gripped Timothy’s t-shirt as the terrified creature tried to keep from being catapulted into the air.

Sitting up now, his book in a heap on the floor, Timothy’s hands firmly gripped the arms of the chair as he leaned over and peered intently into the bright amber eyes of the tiny disheveled thing on his lap.

"What the heck is THIS?" he demanded of Lavinia, who at the moment was looking extraordinarily pleased with herself.

Amanda Grey backed out of the toybox to see what all the commotion was about. "Oh, WOW!" she said excitedly, "Lavinia found a kitten." Without bothering to stand up, she quickly scurried across the room on her knees, stopping at the side of Timothy’s chair.

"I don’t THINK so, Amanda," her brother said levelly, as the delicate creature made itself at home on Timothy’s knee. It was trying to shake some of Lavinia’s drool off of one downy wing which seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

Amanda’s eyes grew big and round as she met her brother’s equally startled gaze.

"GRANDMAAAA!" Amanda shouted over her shoulder. "Come QUICK!"