Timpoochee motioned for the crew to maneuver the trading boat toward the inlet beach, near the spot he and the crew had been taken captive a little over a month before.
“Ulagu, I do not like being here,” Waya whispered to Timpoochee as they pulled the boat to the soft sand shore. “Bad medicine is here. Do you not remember?”
“I remember,” Timpoochee replied, sternly. “I remember much more than you could possibly understand.
“I remember how we have been misled. I remember how we have been lied to. I remember how sometimes even those we think are friends can plot to trick us, use us, take from us,” Timpoochee said.
“Then why are we here and not continuing on your way home? Waya asked.
“We have a task here,” Timpoochee said. “We have something to set right.”
He was quiet for just a moment.
“Do you remember the story of how the rabbit was so boastful?” Timpoochee asked his crew. “The rabbit would brag and claim he could do any trick any of the other animals could do, that no one could out-trick him.
“The otter said, ‘Well, I can swim under water and eat ducks.’
“And the rabbit claimed he could do that, too.
“‘Let’s see that,’ said the otter and promptly dove into the water, swimming all the way across the stream to the ducks where, without anyone else noticing, he grabbed a duck by its webbed feet and dragged it back under water to the near shore.
“‘That’s impressive,’ said the rabbit upon the otter’s return. ‘Watch this…’