Fairy Fox and the Missing Marmot Child      

      It was dark outside and not quite morning when Miz Maddie heard voices on the road outside her gate.  She slipped out of bed and stepped to the front porch to listen. Only the hoot of a far-away owl friend. She reached the fence, grabbing hold of the pickets to steady herself, and squinted up and down the road. Only shadows from the trees full of wisteria vines moved in the wind.  She opened the gate and bent down to look.  There, a fresh track!  Her fingers followed the outline, feeling the dampness.  Fairy Fox?

     He had been traveling back and forth from the reservoir most every day. Three months ago he was the one who brought back the tragic news; the Platoro Reservoir dam had collapsed, carrying many, many people away in the rushing water.

    One of the survivors of that disaster, Mamie Marmot, came to live in Cornersville bringing her two children. Their granddaddy Martin Marmot, a quiet gentleman who lives alone up the River Road insisted they come. Before the tragedy, Mamie, her husband, and the three little ones lived happily among the rocks below the massive reservoir. But now they were only three. Mamie’s husband and one of the children had disappeared that night in the flood.

      When they arrived the entire Cornersville community welcomed them and brought groceries and home-cooked meals to help them settle in.  Fairy Fox, who was one of the first to welcome Mamie and her children to town,  pledged he would return to search for her husband and child. And Fairy had been faithful to that promise traveling the 12 mile journey day after day.  Only last week, Fairy brought back from the river station a dark brown, knit nightcap with a while ball on one end. When he showed it to the family they recognized it: their dad and husband wouldn’t be coming back.

     Long after the emergency crews stopped their operations at the site, Fairy Fox continued his search, talking to everyone along the roads, asking questions. He posted signs and even dared hope someone had taken the orphan to live with them. He was determined to take back the truth, even if only proof of the body.

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     By the time the sun moved slightly above the trees the next morning, the news had spread across the entire community:  “Fairy found the other little marmot and brought him safely home to his family last night!”

     So now you know, little reader, the happy ending to the mysterious footprint in the road last night. It was Fairy Fox carrying the youngest marmot up from the river.