Chapter Nine: Downstream

Unfortunately for Beechtail, Maplefur woke up in a bad mood at dawn. She made a point of not speaking to Beechtail while they were foraging for breakfast. In an attempt to placate her, he gave her some berries he had, after that she seemed a bit less hostile, though not particularly friendly. After eating, they continued to gather whatever food they could find. Beechtail was gathering some ripe berries, when he heard them. Several creatures were walking through the woods toward them. Beechtail moved to the side to get a better view, and tripped over a tree root.

"Ooofff." There was silence for a second, and then he saw them at the same time Blackskull saw him.

"Get him!"

Beechtail scrambled to his feet, heedless of the bushes, he dashed back to where Lutran and Maplefur were loading their finds on the raft. He skidded to a stop in front of them. "Vermin…in the woods… saw me… coming," he gasped.

"You two, untie the raft, I'll keep the blighters busy," Lutran turned, and picked up a thick, forked branch.

Blackskull and his trackers emerged from the trees. A brave stoat, hoping to impress his leader, leapt forward; slashing down at Lutran. Lutran caught the sword in the fork of the branch, snatched a hatchet from the vermin's belt, and slew the astonished creature. The rest of the trackers charged led by Sludgenose, who was wielding a spear. "Eulaliaaaa," Lutran hurled the branch at them causing all except Sludgenose to stop abruptly. The rat kept on running; Lutran sidestepped, grabbed the spear haft, and catapulted Sludgenose into the river, where he was swept off downstream by the current. Maplefur had untied the raft and it was beginning to drift off without Lutran. He used the spear to vault to the raft, and then released it. The spear whipped back, knocking Blackskull flat.

"Idiots, kill them! KILL THEM!" Blackskull shouted at his trackers. He jumped up and down in fury as the raft sped out of sight downstream on the swift current. "We've almost had them three times! Why can't you kill them? Get some sleep; it might be your last if we don't catch them tonight."

Back on the raft, the three friends were in fits of laugher. "Hahahaha did you see the look on that rat's face when he flew in the air?" Maplefur chortled. "Or that fox when the spear hit him."

"Yeah, he'll have a headache to match yours." Beechtail regretted his words as soon as he had said them.

Maplefur stopped laughing abruptly and glared at him.

Lutran kept laughing for a few seconds before he realized he was the only one. "I say, chaps, what's got you frownin' like moles on a boat, eh? Just a moment ago you were laughin' like mad otters, wot wot."

The ironic statement sent both squirrels into another fit of laughter.

Lutran stared at them for a while, and then glanced back along the way they had come, "Dashed strange creatures, squirrels."

When Beechtail had gotten his mirth sufficiently under control, he asked Lutran about where they were.

"Well, this stream goes for quite a way, and then it goes over the edge of a large waterfall. More seasons ago than most badgers live, some warlord's army went over the edge, umm…Gupo the Savage or something like that. However, if we keep out of the main current, there's a side stream that bypasses the waterfall, and you go down a set of rapids instead. Ha, I'd like to see the vermin try to follow us on the river, wot"

The raft began to pick up speed. Maplefur and Beechtail had to fend off rocks with the paddles. Lutran pointed to a spot farther downriver, right on a bend. "A little more to the right, watch those rocks."

"I see it." Beechtail jabbed at the rock with the paddle, causing the raft to side out of midstream.

The raft moved close to the bank then shot off into the trees down a side stream. If Lutran had not pointed it out earlier, Beechtail would never have seen it. The entrance was overgrown with bushes that concealed not only the stream, but Sludgenose the rat, who had pulled himself out of the water just before the raft arrived. However, the three friends didn't see him. But he saw them.