Four feet underground and finally heading uphill, Trix was urged onward by the chorus of support. How his heart pounded!! How his legs hurt!! Did he have it in him to complete the tunnel? Never had Trix been tested like this. Exhausted, he pushed doggedly onward until....wait....could it be....his left...front...paw... broke....through....

TRIX HAD MADE IT!! THE TUNNEL WAS COMPLETE!!

Trix needn't have worried about pulling his weary limbs up out of the hole. Rambo was inside the tunnel, both testing it and waiting until Trix was ready for just the boost that he needed. He moved forward until the filthy white bunny butt was nestled securely between his two horns, then he climbed out of the hole carrying Trix on his head.

"I j-just want to sleep," said Trix, and indeed, his eyes were already drooping. Gently Rambo placed the bunny on a bale of hay for a well-earned nap.

."You're a hero, little one," Rambo said to Trix. Later, Rambo would have a party for the brave bunny. For now, though, it was time to save Teacher. He turned and headed back through the tunnel of love.

Down the long aisle, the animals looked out at Rambo. They were silent as they waited for him to speak.

"We must all do our part now," he stated. "I'm going to open your doors, then I'd like for you to follow me into the hay room."

"FINALLY," Mufasa snorted.

Rambo made quick work of opening the twenty stall doors from which the animals--chickens, ducks, horses, goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys, turkeys, rabbits, and cows--emerged and waited respectfully for Rambo, their Leader, to speak again.

"This way," he instructed.

One by one the animals proceeded down the long aisle and through the tunnel until, just moments after Trix had completed his wondrous feat, seventy animals huddled in the hay room.

Rambo gathered himself and spoke.

"Friends, we all understand what this place is, and how fortunate we are to be here. If we want Catskill Animal Sanctuary to continue as a place of love and peace for us and others, we have to act as a team." As Rambo said this, he looked especially at Mufasa and Ted, neither of whom were known for their team spirit. "Teacher is stuck behind this Mountain of Hay."

In front of him, the chickens' eyes grew large. "What can we do?" asked Ramona the tiny hen. "We're only chickens!"

"Each of us has an ability that can be used in this situation," Rambo continued. "Goats and sheep," he said to PeeWee, VanGoat, Mr. Specks and all the others, "you can quickly climb this mountain, then use your horns--or your heads if you don't have horns--to butt the top bales down to the ground. "

"Sure thing," or some other such acknowledgement was bleated by all but Mufasa, whose head was buried in a bale of alfalfa.

"Phyllis, Nutmeg, Sumo, Ramona, Norma Jean," Rambo directed the chickens and turkeys, "we need you on top, too. You're our lookouts. Don't let the hay land on the bunnies--it would crush them."

"Oh my, what an important job we have!" the birds cackled as they hopped up the mountain, a bale at a time.

"Ted, Casey, Babe, Maxx, Buddy, Rosebud," he instructed the horses and cows. "You're our heavy lifters. As soon as your friends up top knock a bale down, you lift them by the twine and move them outside, out of the way."

"What about just eating them?" Ted asked.

"There's not enough time," Rambo expained. "And Ted, you know you can't have hay. It gives you diahrea."

Ted farted his reaction. Still, Rambo knew he could count on the giant horse.

The pigs, on the other hand, might be a challenge. Rambo stood before the pig batallion--17 of them as different in size and appearance and temperament as any 17 humans. (This uniqueness was true of all farm animals, and it often pained Rambo that most humans lacked this basic understanding.) There stood Farfi, fierce and impatient. Next to her was Policeman, a wise and gentle soul. To his left was Winston, a potbelly, just learning to trust this wonderful new world, and next to him was Franklin himself--the innocent imp at the center of this mess.

"Now pigs," Rambo began slowly. "I know that, as unique as all of you are....."

"YES!!" Piggerty interrupted. "I have lovely SPOTS!"

"...As unique as all of you are," Rambo continued.

"Doctor says I'm the very best pig on health care days," Zoey whispered.

"Yes, Zoey, you're a model pig," Rambo praised. "As unique as you are, we know that a few things are true of all pigs.

"We're brilliant!!" oinked Ozzi.

"We're sensitive!!" snorted Claude.

The cacophony grew as the pigs gleefully tooted their own horns, until Rambo was about to give up and simply hope for the best. But without the pigs, he knew there would be chaos.