Alice walked the grounds feeling pensive. After the situation with Mark, she wondered about death. She was so afraid about his death. So afraid, that she still had trouble sleeping, worried that one morning, he wouldn't wake up. But she had gotten a letter from him. He reassured her that he was fine. That he was alright, and that Julie was pregnant. She was excited for her niece.

She  wandered the grounds not really thinking about where she was going. She just needed time to be alone with her thoughts. But without looking where she was going, she walked right into the Keeper of the Keys, who she hadn't met yet this year.

Dallas had a bucket of chicken parts over his shoulder from the kitchens, he needed something to keep the clabberts away somehow, and Dallas had learned in his travels that claberts hated the smell of chicken blood. He was whistling, Thor at his ankles, sniffing away for something to chase. Thor and him had met in a rather odd way. Stray dog ran in the back door and made it's way up onto the counter and managed to open the cabinets.

Dallas had run down with his revolver, thinking it was a burglar. The collie had a box of cheez-its in it's mouth, and Dallas felt rather bad for the talented dog, and decided to keep him and taught him to herd ducks. Since then, the mutt had been his loyal companion. Thor's ears perked and he barked and ran off int he direction of a squirrel. Dallas didn't even see the tiny Hufflepuff until she bumped into him.

"Doh!" Dallas tried not to spill the bucket of chicken guts, but a stream of blood came pouring over his shoulder. Dallas liked kids, littler ones weren't his favorite though. Dallas put down the bucket, and wiped off his shoulder with a hand. "Op, sorry l'il miss." Dallas said, smiling. He towered a good two feet over her head. He tipped his hat, maybe this one would scream and run from his immense height.

Alice looked up at the man who was towering over her. Standing at 4' 6'', she was used to tall people, but this man, this man was tall tall. She stared up at him, with a tilt of her head, and said, "It's alright. I'm used to it."  She looked up at him, and at his hat. "That's a nice hat. I like it." She said. Alice stuck her hand up. "I'm Alice. Alice Hunter."

Alice tapped her feet happily, happy to meet new people.

Dallas smiled, this little lass was charming. "Well.." Dallas took off his hat and plopped it on her head. He then stuck out his un-blood covered hand. "Nice to meet you Alice Hunter, my name's Dallas." He looked at his bucket of chicken bits. "I don't suppose you would like to help me with something?" He said, thinking of spreading the blood traps, but then thinking of something else he was planning on doing tomorrow.

His augurey was getting restless, and he needed to feed it, and his bug trap had filled up. Inkspell's nest was hanging from a branch next to his, and she was recovering from being attacked by a an ashwinder that seared her wing feathers. The poor thing couldn't even move from it's nest. Dallas had been nursing it back to health so she could go back into the forest with the other augurey's and they could sing for the rain all together.

Alice smiled as he gave her his hat. She was happy with this man. He was nice. It was nice to be able to get her mind off everything. She liked his smile and she liked his eyes. He just seemed to be a very nice man. Most of the adults here scared her. Storm, Kesali, they were both scary. But it was nice to meet someone at Hogwarts who wasn't frightening.

"I don't suppose you would like to help me with something?"

"I'd love to help you." She said with a smile, as she fixed the hat on her head. "I mean, I don't want to be a bother."

"You won't be a bother at all, I could really use the help. Alright then, have you ever heard of an augurey? It's a bird." Dallas said, picking up his bucket, and began to walk. He heard a loud bark and saw Thor running out of the woods. Dallas put down his bucket and put out his arms for the dog. The dog leaped up at him and licked his face. Dallas laughed and played with the dogs ears. The dog jumped up onto his shoulder.

"Thor, you're too big to be doing this now." Thor stood up on Dallas' back, looking at Alice and panting. "Thor! Off!" Dallas commanded. The collie hopped off the man's leather trench coat and ran around the Hufflepuff's legs. Dallas picked his bucket back up and continued walking towards his hut. "Thor won't bite, he just gets excited." The dog looked at him as his name was mentioned, then went back to running around Alice.

"You look good in that hat, if you stick around long enough, I'll weave you one." Dallas said, a little trick he had learned in Texas. he had gotten better as the years went on, and had given them away as they got more complex. Dallas walked up the steps of his hut and grabbed his bug trap and a spoon, putting down his bucket near his large wooden table.

"Hope you don't mind bugs." Dallas said, holding up the trap. it was shaped like a miniature lobster trap, with mesh instead of wooden slats, he'd invented it himself, and put honey on the bottom and put it just outside his door, and the bugs gathered like it was a soiree.

Alice walked quietly, before the dog joined them jumping up on Dallas. She tensed up, seeing how large the dog was, as he started to run around her. he was up to her hip, easily, and she slowly pet his head. Thor quickly licked her hand and she smiled. He was harmless, just a large, overgrown, puppy. She pat him a few times on the head and continued to walk as he trotted beside her. She was liking this man more and more.

"You look good in that hat, if you stick around long enough, I'll weave you one."

Alice smiled widely. She always liked cowboy hats. She thought she looked good in cowboy hats.

"Hope you don't mind bugs."

"Mind them?" She said happily, as she kneeled down to watch the small insects rush over to the honey.

"At-a lass, good to see a young lady like yourself into insects, if you'd like, I have a few books on magical bugs in my hut, if you wanna look at them after your done with Inkspell." Dallas said, dropping the spoon by the girl's hand. He walked over to the hanging tree branch, and the tear-drop shaped nest of brambles and twigs. Inkspell, sat in her nest, as depressed looking as ever.

Dallas whistled and she slowly turned her head in his direction. "Hello darlin' You ready for some bugs?" He walked straight up to the nest and stuck out his arm. The bird, looked at him for a long moment, then stuck one set of talons out and onto his arm, then the other. Her bandaged wing was crisp and white against the black and green tone of her feathers.

"This here, is Inkspell." Dallas said, the bird perched on his forearm. "Inkspell, this is Alice, she'll be helping me out for a bit, she's gonna feed you some grub, that sound good?" He spoke to the bird as if she could understand him. She shuffled a bit higher onto his shoulder. He took the steps up to his homestead by twos and came back down with a parrot perch, he used for feeding.

Dal held his arm out to the perch and Inkspell shuffled slowly onto the wooden perch and buried her head in her wing. "Here Alice." Dallas said, taking the bug trap off the ground. "You just spoon a few critters onto the spoon, and hold them about two inches from her beak. It ain't sharp, so it won't hurt a whole lot if she nips ya."

Dallas grabbed a honey covered caterpillar from the trap and placed it on the back of his hand, where all of his other scars were from his time working on a fisherman's boat with his father. He clucked his tongue and the augurey peaked an eye out, she straightened her back and looked at the sweet critter.

She cocked her head, and then, quick as a flash, snagged the caterpillar off his hand and gulped. "See, not so scary, I wouldn't recommend the hand things though, I've been workin' with augureys for quite a bit of time."

Alice nodded at the instructions, spooning a few of the critters on to the spoon, and holding it near the bird's beak, just as Dallas had told her. "Hi there Inkspell. I'm Alice, and I'm helping out today." She said, as the bird looked at her in a questioning way. She bit at the bugs on the spoon and Alice smiled. Maybe she wasn't too scared of Alice. And that was a good thing. She didn't like things to be afraid of her.

"You are such a pretty bird." She said as she spooned a few more of the bugs on to the spoon and towards the bird. "Such a lovely bird."

"There you go, she likes ya!" Dallas smiled, and went back into his hut to get the traps set up. He'd been working on small, wooden trays to poor the chicken remnants into. He grabbed a ladle from his wall and the bucket, along with the large wooden trays. He sat on the steps and watched Alice feed the bird as he spooned guts and chicken...fluids into the trays, he'd put one aside and start on another, until he had 15 filled up, and one tray left over.

Dallas grabbed the handful of bird organs out of the bottom of the bucket and plopped them into the last tray. "I think that's a spleen." Dal said, grimacing as the watched the thing float above the red. "Alice, darlin', do you want to keep feeding Inkspell, or do you want to come with me to spread out these trays?" He held the empty one up.

He poured some water into his kettle and hing it over the fire for some tea when he got back, and then came back out. "Doesn't matter to me what you pick, these traps gotta be put down."

Alice looked back at Dallas with a smile on her face. "I could  help spread things. I don't mind. I'd love to, actually." She said, slowly putting down the bugs, much to Inkspell's dismay. "It's whatever you think, Mr. Dallas." She said, using the mister. He was an adult. Adults were never to be called by their first name until she was an adult. That was what Mr. Lotusorder had taught her, and she wasn't about to forget her manners now. All of those days over the Lotusorder's house, all of the rules, they all truly shaped Alice into being the girl that she was today.

"If you'd like me to keep feeding, I'd be happy to. If you'd like me to spread traps, I'm happy to. Whatever you need, sir." She said with a smile, knowing manners were everything.

Dallas laughed heartily, she really was a polite little girl. "You don't need to call me Mister, or sir, Dallas is just fine, but you just call me whatever you like, as long as you don't call me Darrell Oliver" Dal laughed, his mother called him that when she was cross with him. Which wasn't often, but when it did, it was normally because he had done something she didn't approve of, like bringing home strange animals as a kid.

"Inkspell likes to take a break about halfway through, and there's a whole lot of chicken in these trays." Dallas cautioned her. "Whatever you'd like though, spreading them won't take too long." Dallas said with a charming smile.

Alice smiled as she put down the bugs, and walked over towards him, picking up a tray with a smile. "I guess I'll help spreading then, Mister-" Alice stopped herself. "I mean, Dallas." She said, with a smile, as she started to walk in the woods. "So, where are we putting these trays?" She asked, looking back at him, and pushing the hat higher on her head in order to be able to see.

She had to look up so dramatically just to see his face. His kind, smiling face.

"There you go!" Dallas smiled, patting her head. "Well, I just have to tuck them a few feet back along the edge of the forest, since you're helping me out, you won't get in trouble for being near the woods." Dallas said, reassuring her, just in case she was one of those sticklers for the rules. He knew he was, and it still kind of made him nervous to go into the forest, since he hadn't been able to while he attended school here.

"And nothin' will getch'a while you're wearing that hat." Dal chucked to himself, pulling his wand from his sleeve holster. "Do you know any levitation spells for several objects?" Dallas thought he could maybe help her out with her charms classes. 

"Well, I just have to tuck them a few feet back along the edge of the forest, since you're helping me out, you won't get in trouble for being near the woods."

It was as though he read her mind and reassured her. She smiled happily as she started to walk into the woods. "Sadly, I don't know the multiple levitation spells. But i can lift one thing at a time!" She said excitedly, as she carried the tray to the edge of the forest and placed it down. She then came running back for another tray, her hands getting a little red from the blood. She didn't care though, as she continued to spread the trays of chicken.