Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

By some strange coincidence it was high noon in high summer when the stranger hit town. The riverfolk were dozing or chatting lazily in the shade when a creature they had never seen before broke through the bushes. He was about the size of a badger but with a fluffy coat and a long stripey tail like a cat. Dog Otter raised on his hind legs and sniffed. “Male, almost badger, not otter, not know.” He moved closer to protect his mate, just in case.

The stranger sat on his hind legs and pressed his long-clawed paws to his nose. “Y’all goddanny waaaaaadur?”

The animals of the river by the small village looked at each other in bemusement. Accustomed as they were to not speaking each other’s languages fluently, this new fellow was incomprehensible. Taking charge of the situation as their Bard, Otter fixed the newcomer with a bright eye…