part two
The next day, Squirrel came with frantic news. He said that Raccoon had gone into the Wilderness and had been caught in a trap. Grandfather Owl, irritated at being wakened, put out the call for heroes to go forth and rescue Raccoon. Dog had been set loose earlier in the day and quickly volunteered. Sly Fox was looking to earn a little good will, and he said he would go. Turtle decided she ought to go as well.
So, the three of them set off into the Wilderness in pursuit of Raccoon. At first, Dog had no trouble following his scent, but after a while, Raccoon had climbed up a Great Pine, apparently, to escape the Brothers Wolf. When Dog came to this realization, he despaired, for a moment, wondering where he would find the trail again. But, more troubling, Dog had encountered the Brothers Wolf before…but he would not tell of that encounter.
Crow lighted on the branch and cackled, “Kaaaw! What strange company you keep! Sly Fox and Dog and Turtle wandering through the Wilderness! Kaaaw haa ha ha. I know what you seek, and you may even be in time, if you can find it! Beware the Hunter and his Hound! They have Raccoooon and soon, soon, sooon, he will be a fine fur hat! But, maybe I can lead you there, if you can give me something fair!”
Sly Fox was quick to think of something that Crow might find of interest. “I’ll give you this shiny bauble if you lead us to Raccoon.” The artifact was a crumpled sheet of shiny discarded by the Humans.
“Kaaaw!” the bird crowed with glee and he swept down to snatch the shiny up and take it high into the tree. “I will give you what you want, if you give me three such shiny things.”
Dog asked Sly Fox if he could remove the tag from around his throat. Sly Fox’s deft skill in thieving was put to the test, but the test was quickly passed. Crow now had two shiny baubles, but Turtle had nothing to give. Frustrated, Dog began to sniff again, and finally found the scent he sought.
He followed that scent to a thicket, which he could not fit through. Sly Fox went in to scout ahead. On the other side, he saw a great Wolf-hound staring back at him and behind him, a small cottage.
“What brrrrings you here, Fox? You look like brrrreakfast, to me.”
Sly Fox saw that Wolf-hound was chained to a stake, and, therefore, kept his distance. “I’m only looking for a Raccoon. Have you seen one, lately?” Sly Fox could see several skins stretched out by the cottage, but none seemed to be a Raccoon. “If you help me out, I’ll leave any traps of your master’s alone, should I come across them. Otherwise…I won’t.” Sly Fox had no intention of keeping this bargain, but hoped Wolf-hound would believe him.
Wolf-hound seemed to agree with this deal. “The Rrrraccoon that you seek went that way,” he said, indicating, with a nod, the direction of the cottage. Sly Fox was sure he could spot a lie, when he heard one, and this Wolf-hound seemed to speak the truth. He went back to Dog and Turtle to tell them as much.
Dog and Turtle were more skeptical, and, anyway, Sly Fox’s job was not yet done, so he was sent back into the thicket. On the other side, he kept his distance from Wolf-hound and began to take a circuitous route toward the cottage. He could see several traps and snares along the way and stopped to mark each one.
This enraged Wolf-hound, who struggled against his chain and howled in fury. Hearing this, Dog picked Turtle up gently in his mouth and barreled through the thicket, forcing his form through the tiny space and clawing limbs. Somehow, he managed to squeeze through and, once on the other side, set Turtle down and immediately issued his challenge to Wolf-hound.
With Wolf-hound distracted, Sly Fox broke into the cottage and began to ransack the home. After he had done this, Dog sniffed around outside of Wolf-hound’s reach until he picked up Raccoon’s scent again. He could also smell that a human had gone in the same direction.
The three departed, leaving Wolf-hound to stew in his anger behind them. After some time, the two scents diverged and the group opted to follow Raccoon’s, rather than the human’s. In the end, they came upon Raccoon caught in a snare.
Dog carried Turtle over to Raccoon, so that she could bite through the rope, but, at that moment, Wolf-hound came rushing through the woods and bit Dog so ferociously that the latter dropped Turtle to the ground. Sly Fox delivered an attack from the shadows upon the Hunter, who was running after his Wolf-hound, and then Fox quickly ran away. The Hunter ran after Fox and swung at him with a wicked hatchet, but Fox deftly evaded the attack.
Turtle called upon her faith to heal Dog of his wound, but, even after, another such vicious blow would lay him low. Dog bit Wolf-hound back, with nearly as savage a bite as he had been dealt, but Wolf-hound was ready and circled around, snapping as he looked for an opportunity to go for the throat.
Sly Fox ran into a thicket to hide from the Hunter and succeeded in becoming lost. In frustration, the Hunter turned back to his Wolf-hound’s fight and advanced toward it. Turtle healed Dog further and Dog growled at Wolf-Hound with such menace that the beast took pause. Meanwhile, Sly Fox dashed out and bit Hunter once again. This time, Hunter turned on him and slashed a nasty gash down his pelt, nearly killing Fox in a single blow.
Dog growled another threat to Wolf-hound, “You’ve felt my bite; now back away, or I shall kill you where you stand.” This was too much for Wolf-hound; he had never met anyone who would stand up to him, except for his master. Wolf-hound fled.
Once he was gone, Dog lifted Turtle up to snap through Raccoon’s snare. Fox, meanwhile, evaded the Hunter and waited for him to chase after his fleeing Wolf-hound. Raccoon, now free, was herded back to the Farm to meet with Grandfather Owl's justice, and that is the tale of how Raccoon was rescued from the Wilderness.