The midget hamster led the way through a series of tunnels, connecting stations -boxes that connected three or more tunnel sections-, and yet more tunnels, like the cops were after him. I could barely keep him in sight he moved so quick.
It surprised me to finally see him stopped in one of the connecting stations when I finally caught up to him. He hopped back and forth from foot to foot. "Wait, wait here. Find others. Back soon. Stay! Found you!" He zipped through the tunnel to the right before I could respond.
That was fine with me to wait. I crouched down, my sides heaving. If this hamster wasn't Larry, he certainly did a great impersonation of him. I certainly hadn't seen any other hamsters his size be the same ball of energy that one did.

I didn't have to wait long, though thankfully my I'd managed to catch my breathe before I caught the scratch scratch of multiple rodents approaching through the tunnels.
He appeared first, just as hyper as when he'd left, coming out of a different tunnel like a rocket, circling around me seven times before the others appeared.
There were four of them that stepped from the tunnel the midget had come from. Four! Could it be the five of them were my crew? Had I finally found them?  Cautiously they approached.
I straightened, my nose quivering. They all smelt of walnuts. Was it possible. The five of them smelt the same, did that mean I smelt of walnuts too? Was that how they'd been able to tell themselves apart?
The numbers even fit. two females, three males. But beyond my guess about Larry, I wasn't sure who the other four would be. Two of them, one male, one female, were the same size as me. Though their fur wasn't the reddish color mine was. The male was totally black, with the exception of a white stripe like a lightning bolt by his nose, and a white line down his chest. The female had the longest fur I'd seen on a hamster, curling around her and making her look super soft, with a light brown and white coloring. The other two new comers also a male and female were about double the size of the midget hamster. But smaller then me. The male was grey, while the female was a creamy colored.
I really would have to ask Lisa about the different hamster sizes.
Larry, I was sure it was him now, returned to the others, moving even when he was holding still, his ears, nose, eyes, constantly going different directions.
Their noses all twitched as they caught my scent. Surprisingly the grey male spoke first. I'd expected the black one to talk. "Same scent, smell sixth, you sixth? Alpha? None others alpha, you be alpha, I beta, Beta." He repeated significantly.
Obviously I got that we were unable to say our names in this hamster language. Though the beta, thing. Billy wouldn't ever refer to himself as second in command. John though...he would think himself as such. "I Alpha, You beta? Beta strong, hold much when gathering?" John was the strongest out of us and took pride in that fact.
His cheeks puffed out. "Hold much yes." He said tensing up, everyone else had done so as well. Even Larry had stilled. Yet, I couldn't see why they were tensed. If this male was John, that had to make the bigger black one Billy. The females, though, remained silent.
"You all well?" I asked cautiously, my perking forward. "Good? Eat much? Long time here? All Well?"

#Henry