All The Little Foxes

By Karen Elizabeth Russell

Can anything ever come between true friendship? Look out world, a new group of memorable and fun loving characters have just entered the scene. Edgar and Jules are two fox cubs who are self-proclaimed best friends for life. Each fox has always been there for the other, through thick and thin. The foxes are growing up fast, and are entering into the fifth grade this year - with each one believing nothing can change this friendship, and everything will always stay the same.
Enter the new kid in town - who happens to be - of all things - a girl! Fifi comes to town which brings on a whole new set of trials and tribulations. Not only for the entire class - who has never -ever had a brand new student come to town, but for Edgar and Jules as well. Can the friendship between this dynamic duo remain the same with all of the changes that are about to take place - or will this be the year that changes their lives forever?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
• Release date: Dec 26, 2015
• ISBN: 9781619849266

Karen Elizabeth Russell

Karen Elizabeth Russell has dabbled in many different career options throughout her life. She has performed to children as a magic clown, and she teaches yoga as a qualifi ed Satyananda yoga instructor. Now, in the prime of her life, she enjoys freelance writing. She resides in Wellington, New South Wales, Australia.

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Dance!

CHAPTER 1

Deep inside the lush evergreen wood, just outside the tiny town of Belford, and about a mile further down the road as the crow flies, lay a place called Fox Township. Nestled in the rolling hills at the outer edge of the furthermost western corner of the kingdom, Fox Township was well known as a warm and inviting destination, a place in which many a pride had set up home. It was also a picturesque winter vacation spot that attracted visitors the world over, and was famous for its snow-covered peaks and succulent fir-laden valleys.

But the frozen tundra, rising summits and holiday postcard scenery were not all this municipality had to offer. True to its name, Fox Township was home to many a skulk of foxes. There was a cornucopia of colorful characters that resided in the township, and every dynasty in this community was looked upon as just another sector of one large extended family.

As you passed through town on any given day, you would find young fox and old, big fox and small-most of whom had never ventured very far away from this cozy, cavernous kingdom, each and every fox being noteworthy in his or her own right.

Fox Township was home to a vast array of characters, ranging from the old town wealthy to the newest middle-class families and every type in between, all living among the lush evergreen harmonies without question or judgment of one another. It was not uncommon to make the acquaintance of Horatio B. Pepperschmidt, the beloved township mayor for more than twenty years. Down on the main street, Mayor Pepperschmidt often lent an ear and shared stories with the town folk, such as Clyde Clemmens, proprietor of the general store, or Miss Elizabeth Alsace, the township’s oldest resident at 112 years.

There was certainly an array of personalities that called Fox Township home, each with a story to tell-one more engaging and at times more exotically embellished than the next-but perhaps the two most memorable characters who could ever cross your path as you made your way through this sleepy little hamlet did not have many feats of fancy tales to tell just yet, as they were two of the township’s youngest residents – Edgar and Jules.

These particular pals had known each other long before either were old enough to cross the road without an adult watching. Both cubs knew everything there was to know about the other, and it mattered not the time of day or season, wherever you found Edgar you were sure to find Jules, and vice versa. To say this pair of pals were tight would have been a drastic understatement. They had been there for each other through thick and thin.

When one got grounded for behaving badly, do you think you would find the other frolicking freely without a care in the world? Heck to the no! The fox who could independently meander while his pal was in solitary confinement would too confine himself to the four walls of his own family domain until his pal could roam free once again.

You could also bet your bottom dollar there would never, ever be a brand new premiere of the latest robo-cop vampire in space sci-fi epic playing in the theater that would find one of these pals there without the other – this sort of thing simply did not happen.

It was all or nothing with this pair, and not only in good times and carefree days. When push came to shove and all the chips were down, Edgar and Jules were always each others lifelines.

If even the scent of trouble came around Edgar, you could bet Jules would rally to his rescue, and there was no one there in Jules’ hour of need faster than Edgar. These pals had battled united together in banded brotherhood, from the smallest of playground scuffles and juvenile misunderstandings, to standing true in the fiercest code of honor against all who rallied with question or force against he who was called BFF.

No one in the township would forget the incident that took place not all that long ago, when Jules was the only one there for his pal. It was a very trying time when all of Fox Township had seemingly turned their backs on Edgar. You see, he had shown up at the ‘Awesome Autumn Anomaly,’ which just happened to be the all-time biggest faire this side of the Rockies.

It was at this wonderful fall festival where one by one, many a town folk stood back in horror, as they cast their eyes upon Edgar making his way through the crowd. It seemed everyone was under the impression our fine friend had fallen victim to a severe case of the mange, when in all reality – it was simply the not so successful hair-cut Edgar had received when the new ‘Cut-Rate Cutters’ franchise opened up in the town square.

For one solid month, all of the town folk kept their distance from Edgar – both children and adults alike. They walked on opposite sides of the road when Edgar made his way through town, and peered out from behind curtained windows if someone came knocking at the door, pretending not to be home if the figure gracing their doorstep even remotely resembled poor Edgar.

Jules however – never left his friend’s side. He had Edgar’s back, even going so far as keeping his pal in various hats, bulky sweaters and other accoutrements to help mask this temporary set back. Never one to be out-done, Edgar took many a stand of solidarity with Jules – like the time a couple of peanut-butter eaters from the wrong side of the tracks made their way into town, trying to prove