and Gondzor will not abandon us. Skeezer, you shall be responsible for the rationing of food. Rutorina, you will keep lookout from the Beaver’s teeth, and warn us if the fire turns this way again. Everyone else should rest and stay quiet to conserve your energy.”
After so much hurrying on the previous day, time slackened its pace to a crawl. Smoke turned the usually bright reflections from the lake’s surface into a sooty, ominous looking brew. Ash filtered in on the wind and breathing became an effort interrupted by coughing. At first Spraybreath and Spritzer set about grooming themselves, plucking burrs and spiders’ webs from their fur. But they were soon discouraged because ash began to drift down upon them, recoating them with new layers of ash before they could remove the old layers of grime. Their inability to clean themselves left them despondent. Even though we were presently in little danger, we felt weighed down by the calamity and uncertainty.
On the day Zornova departed little happened. We spent our time resting and sleeping awakened only by fits of smoke-induced coughing. Skeezer oversaw the rationing of food for the skunks. Late in the afternoon, though it was difficult to be sure, with so little sun filtering through the smoke and ash, I waded into the shallows to wash my food. The water’s surface was gritty with ash and several small fish floated belly up. I could not get my food as clean as I liked. All of us were depressed in spirit and afraid of the news we might receive, about friends and family members hurt or killed by the flames. As I waded back towards the shore, I heard squealing and hissing coming from the island.
“No more food for you, Spraybreath,” shouted Skeezer.
“Get out of my way, you old geezer Skeezer,” Spraybreath yelled back.
“You little squirt you, I’ll teach you to sass me,” Skeezer bellowed back defiantly.
I hurried ashore to put an end to this dispute. Wouldn’t you know it, as soon as I take a break for lunch, some ruckus had to erupt.
“Skeezer, could you please tell me the cause of this dispute? This is not the time for arguing, or for snarling insults at one another; we must take care of each other,” I said as I approached the pair of sparring skunks.
“Just buzz off masked secretary,” snarled Spraybreath, before she turned to hiss and snarl at Skeezer.
“Well my goodness you are a rude one,” I replied, for I was determined not to let anger intrude. “Go ahead Skeezer, you give me your story, and then Spraybreath you can give me your version.”
“Thank you, Blinkers,” replied Skeezer with authority. “This little stink-tailed piglet is eating too much. This is the second time today she has gone foraging without my permission.”
“We can do without the name-calling, Skeezer,” I replied calmly. “Now Spraybreath, what have you to say?”
“Well old Skeezer keeps telling me what to do,” whined Spraybreath, no longer quite so defiant. “I’m hungry. I’m a growing skunk and I need to eat regularly.”
“Yes we understand Spraybreath, all of us are hungry,” I explained. “But we must ration our food so that we don’t starve and die. Now I want you Spraybreath to apologize to Skeezer, and then I want you Skeezer to apologize to Spraybreath. And I don’t want to hear any more name-calling. And Spraybreath, I want you to do as Skeezer says.”
After their mutual apologies the skunks calmed down and waddled back to the base of the beaver’s tail. Grubsy was on watch, but would soon return when Crooked Stripe took over as lookout. Just as Grubsy could be heard wheezing as he returned from watch duty, two large forms emerged from the deep water. From the silhouettes I could tell that two moose were approaching. Neither had antlers so they were both females. One was smaller and younger.
As they approached I called out to them, “Who are you?”
“Oh don’t be such a busybody Blinkers,” came back across the water. My heart sank, for it was Tromengard and Udena. I did not really want to deal with the contentious Tromengard, but I must be civil. As a public servant one learns to hold his tongue. One learns not to say just what one might like.
“Welcome, Udena and Tromengard,” I called back. Both of them had stopped chewing on the plants they had plucked from beneath the water’s surface. “What brings you here?”
Tromengard answered back, with her nose high in the air, “Just what business is it of yours to ask about our comings and goings?”
I did not reply, for such insolence did not deserve a reply. I waited, knowing that Tromengard liked to talk; I knew that she could not resist her desire to be the center of attention.
It was not long before Tromengard spoke again, this time with less ostentation. “The wind has shifted and the fire has crossed the highway and is heading this way. It will not be long before the fire reaches the shore of Big Sky Lake. So we have come to Beaver Island for refuge. We did not expect to find anyone here.”
“We were hoping that the fire would not come this way. You are welcome to join us here,” I answered “Zornova has left me in charge here before taking her leave. We arrived yesterday afternoon after fleeing from Willow Meadow.”
Tromengard moved closer to the shore then she stopped and started backing up again. “Oh gracious,” she cried, “You are here with a skaggle of little stinkers aren’t you? Well, you must all leave. You know that Udena is so sensitive. Surely you must know about her allergies. There is no other way; you must leave so that we can stay here safely. Get along now, all of you!”
“That is enough silliness from you, Tromengard. You may stay or you may leave, but none of us are leaving this island until Zornova sends us instructions,” I answered. The nerve of that pompous moose!
“Look, Blinkers,” shouted Spraybreath. “The fire is coming.” We looked westward and saw that the sky was glowing brighter.
“Listen, all of you, and that includes you Tromengard—for I am in charge here until orders to the contrary arrive from Zornova,” I shouted. “When the fire gets closer we must all stay low to avoid the smoke. We will stay on the far side of the island. Tromengard and Udena, you are to stay in the water so that you will be breathing near the surface. I will keep watch to make sure that no sparks ignite and burn our refuge. If a fire should start on the island all of you must help put it out.”
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