President Fox

Chapter 2: The Fox Who would be Tiger

"A bear with one foot," they all murmured together, eyes wide and wondering and hackles raised.

Weasel said, "The murderer could still be close by."

Fox snuffled thoughtfully. Then he sat on the spot where he hid the bear paw. It was not comfortable though, because scraggly branches pressed against his back and an errand twig would poke his eye if he was not careful. A dead piece of root that had been dug out when he made the hole which was then left on the surface when he refilled the hole, now poked persistently at his butt.

Fox said, "Is it still considered murder? President Monkey was clearly hunted for food."

Dove tittered. "Food... food... yumyum... food. Hunting is not... murder.... It cannot be murder.... I take worms or maggots sometimes. That is not murder. That is hunting."

Weasel nodded. "I totally agree. That is not murder."

Rabbit chattered, "But this is the safe zone. No hunting is allowed in the safe zone!"

Weasel and Dove looked away, not wanting to meet the herbivores' gazes. Fox, however, was shameless and he looked all the others in the eye. It was an open secret among the omnivores and carnivores that hunting was easy in this place. They just had to make sure that there were no witnesses and that they do not leave evidence of the kill. Who was to say that Fred the Rat was not dozing in a patch of sunlight in the safe zone when he was gobbled up? No one had seen him in days, but he could have met a bad end outside of the safe zone. The forest is large and predators are everywhere.

With his chests puffed up, Buck said, "I will tell the sentries to watch out for a bear with one foot." Then he went to stand in the middle of the glade, brought his hooves together in attention, stretched his neck up and bellowed. "President Monkey has been eaten in the safe zone." He repeated this message three times.

In the distance, a bellow demanded for more information. This bellow too was repeated three times. Buck listened to each repetition carefully. Then he again readied himself to bellow. "Clues show one-legged bear!"

"Find one-legged bear!" came the reply from multiple directions, each responder blaring it out three times.

The din caused a near panic in the safe zone.

Riled up by all the commotion, Doe cried out, "Those bears are such arrogant beasts. They have no respect for our government."

Fox's voice rose to a high pitch as he said, "They are bears. They are brutes, and they have no sense of guilt or mercy." Then he crouched and whispered so low that the other animals had to crowd in front of him to hear him say, "Imagine what they will do to the rest of us. Imagine what they would do to our children."

Gasps of horror followed his pronouncement. Mr. Squirrel squeaked, "We must do something! We must do something!"

"Yes!" Fox said. "We must do something. We must take revenge. We must kill them before they kill more of us."

Weasel snarled to get everyone's attention. Then she said, "Calm down. The bears are larger than most of us. We cannot fight them, and their numbers are large and hungry."

Spittle foamed around Fox's mouth, "You don't care about us. You don't care about our children. They may be big, but we are many." He turned back to face the crowd and shrieked, "We can win this war! We can win this war!" and soon his cries were repeated by all the young animals in the vicinity. The forest was so full of the fire of war that Fox was named the new army commander. No one could speak against him, or heaven forbid, stand against him. He was the only leader with a solid plan. He was the only one that knew what they had to do. And, by the One Spirit, they all wanted revenge.