Eric and The Fox
Chapter 5 - Vallorest Island
Chapter 6 - Misty and Mello
Small and cat-like, Sylvie easily crossed the tree bridge. Eric had a harder time of it. The tree bridge was slippery and wet and shifted with his weight almost toppling him into the rapids.
“Whoa, that was close,” Sylvie gasped, watching Eric catch himself before falling. “Good thing the whole tree didn’t crash.”
“Yep, a tumble into those rapids over the rocks would have been a problem,” Eric agreed.
“Please stick your paw in this muck, Sylvie.”
“Why?” Sylvie complained.
“I want to know what a fox paw print looks like, so we can track it,” explained Eric.
“Oh, brilliant Eric. What a great idea. I’m not yet full grown, but the print pattern will be the same, only smaller.”
“Can you sniff your Mama and Papa’s scent? Is that a fox skill?” asked Eric.
“We were just starting to learn to hunt, but I know their scent and will sniff for it as we go. I don’t think we will find it along the shore, by now the water would have washed it away completely.”
“We can stop at obvious decision points along the trail, if there are any, to sniff or track,” suggested Eric. “We will figure this out. We make a fantastic team.”
“I would have followed this little animal trail,” Sylvie said, pointing under some bushes.
“You go first, I am afraid I might damage any potential clues,” Eric laughed, recognizing their size difference yet again.
The trail under the bushes led to an open field surrounded by a horseshoe shaped ridge. As the pair exited the little trail under the bushes, Sylvie stopped to sniff and to her delight she picked up a scent.
“Oh! Oh! This way,” Sylvie called as she started to bolt toward the east tip of the horseshoe ridge.
“Oh no, please wait,” called Eric. “Let’s not be impulsive.”
“Why? It’s already been days,” complained Sylvie. “We finally found a clue.”
“Well, Spunky taught us to be careful in an open field with a ridge like that,” explained Eric, pointing at the horseshoe cliffs. “If any unfriendlies are watching, they will see us coming and will be able to ambush us.”
“Oh, good point. Do you think there are unfriendlies watching?” asked Sylvie.
“Not really, I think we are on the island that was created at the same time as The Twin Rainbows Falls,” Eric said. “But it's better to plan for trouble and not find it, than have trouble surprise you, don’t you think?”
Just then, an eagle screech startled them both and they retreated under the bushes.
“Oh, unfriendlies,” cried Sylvie. “How unlucky, so soon.”
“Not all eagles are unfriendlies,” said Eric. “But they do live up on ridges when they are not in the mountains.”
“How far do you think your Mama and Papa think you might have explored?” asked Eric.
“Truthfully, I would have turned to go back home already, but if I had kept exploring, I would have tried to climb along that ridge,” Sylvie said. “I love climbing.”
“Well they didn’t return that we know of, so let’s stick to the bushes and get to the ridge as undercover as possible. Try to keep the scent if you can,” said Eric.
Staying close to the bushes the pair of explorers did their best to remain hidden from view. Along the bottom of the ridge there was a small stream and Eric saw a smudged fox print track, which seemed to be heading for the path up the ridge.
