Stories of Otter and her friends.
After long-night was always a bad time for Vixen. The men with bang-sticks were out in force and their dogs were getting better at finding her hideouts. They tried to chase her towards the bangs but usually she was too clever for them. On this morning, however, she was tired from a night’s foraging and … More Unexpected help
The pups were growing stronger and more independent each day. Sometimes they did not return at night. Dog Otter, as is usual with their kind, had not stayed in the holt with Otter and the pups but had his own hide-away near-by. One evening as Otter was settling down at moon-rise to sleep, she caught … More As time moves..
The riverbank folk had few dealings with humans. Granny Wytcher’s offspring was an exception due to her mother having saved Dog Otter’s life. She became a semi-permanent fixture wandering through with her small dog although she couldn’t communicate. Otter supposed they sometimes did “feel thinks” to each other because she could not explain how she knew … More New friendships
This is the final offering in the “Christmas With the Crooked Cats” series. A return trip to the river-bank to hear a seasonal tale from our old friend, Otter. Otter leaned against the holt’s mud wall and cuddled two pups to her as the snow piled up outside. The bells from the human village sounded … More How We Got Our Chins.
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 … More The 12 Days of Christmas Blog-Hop. Grande Finale. MASQUE
Christmas was bitterly cold that year and the snow had arrived early. Granny Wytcher shrugged into her shabby best coat and pulled her woolly bonnet down over her ears. She really didn’t want to go. Granny wasn’t what you’d call a regular church-goer but it was Christmas Eve and it was expected in the … More The 12 Days of Christmas Blog-Hop – Moon
Winter had come and the residents of the riverbank watched as the children from the village came to the fields to find pumpkins. Otter peered through the reeds and watched as a human cub tottered away with a round orange vegetable nearly as big as herself clutched to her chest. She whiffled her whiskers and … More The 12 Days of Christmas Blog-Hop – Feast
Days grew shorter and the promise of winter hung in the air in the mornings. The little village, its inhabitants and the creatures around it, started to prepare for the cold times. One clear, moonlit night, the Spirit of Love drifted around the little village. First, in the form of a huge stag, it bounded … More The 12 Days of Christmas Blog-hop – Spirit
“Tell us, Gran. Pleeeeese.” The children were huddled around her hearth, mugs of hot chocolate clutched in their hands, waiting for their story before bedtime. “The one after the storm?” Granny Wytcher settled back in her chair, continued knitting and began. She knew which story they wanted. “Well, it was the night after the … More The 12 Days of Christmas – Stories
All night long the rain continued and the thunderstorm bellowed its rage out over the little village and the creatures hiding around there. Otter pushed herself and her cubs as far into the hedge as possible to protect them, their little bodies nestled into her own. When the sun rose, the storm had ended but … More Storm, Part 2 (Sea) – The 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop
The Bingergread Cottage 