Tales from the Beaver Lodge: Stories of Little Berry, the Beaver Queen

By C. B. James

Little Berry, born in the savage Maine wilderness, watches as her father is swept away by a flood wave and her mother is carried off by savage wolves, never to be seen again. Orphaned and alone, she is discovered by the kindly Ms. Parks, who operates a trading store in the remote valley not far from Bar Harbor known as the Valley of the Four Ponds.

Mentored by Ms. Parks, Little Berry stuns her when she begins to speak and soon can read books. Not only can Little Berry speak English, she can speak numerous languages. It was if she had been alive for many years and even perhaps had existed as many beings and maybe had once been human. Surrounded by savage wolves and bears, Little Berry rallies a small band of young beavers to her side. Realizing Little Berrys great abilities, the beavers elect her as their queen. Her cousins, the twins, better known as Chunk and Crunch, become her bodyguards. Soon the Queen is winning over some of the bears, such as Sleepy Pete, with great kindness while fighting the wolves led by such fierce leaders as One-Eyed Jack and the Devils Breath.

Along the way, Toasty, a tall lean bull beaver, learns to start fires and fly a plane. The Queen, with the help of the twins, finds a giant egg in a cave, which reveals the greatest surprise of all. Added to the mix of tales is Catalina Cougar, who kidnaps the Queen, but in the end, she is saved by a small kit beaver known as Little Ace. There are beaver baseball games and many other tales of adventure as the Queen and her furry friends meet the wolves in the climatic battle. Within these pages are many tales of fun and adventure as told by the Queen and her bucktoothed friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 21, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524646523

C. B. James

The author was born and raised in a small Pennsylvania town. After attending a small college as a history major, he dropped out of school and enlisted in the regular army, where he was trained as an intel analyst. Upon his discharge, he took a job with an insurance company. He enjoys reading history and collecting historical relics. He lives quietly with his wife in Maryland.

Book preview

Tale 1

The Prophecy

L ittle Berry Beaver sat in wind-rustled elders at the edge of a sparkling and babbling brook eating berries while the gentle September breeze tossed and parted her reddish brown fur coat. The pleasant warm sun made her a little sleepy while its direct rays made her eyelids close downward over her big brown and wondrous eyes as she quietly ate her berries. Little Berry’s ears caught the joyful sound of the wind as it rustled the leaves of nearby trees while the slowly moving clouds crossed the face of the sun and dappled its rays onto the meadow where Little Berry ate. A meadow that wore as its robe a thick mantle of green grasses intermixed with tall reeds that swayed with the breath of every wind gust and was dotted with wild flowers in countless numbers; a beautiful collage of rainbow colors.

Little Berry Beaver loved all types of berries such as blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and her all-time favorite, raspberries. From time to time Little Berry Beaver would go to Ms. Parks’ store in the Valley of the Four Ponds and beg for raspberries. Ms. Parks would dip the raspberries into warm chocolate and place them in her hand for Little Berry to eat. When Little Berry’s tongue tasted that sweet, and almost heavenly, combination of raspberries and melted chocolate, oh if there is a beaver heaven, well Little Berry Beaver was there in that delicious moment. And when she ate the chocolate-covered raspberries her body, from head to paw, would shake in delight. Her little face would wrinkle in a broad buck-toothed smile. Her broad flat tail would pound on the ground, causing her to bounce around the meadow in gleeful delight, finally landing at Ms. Parks’ feet with her buck-toothed smile and a pleading look in her eyes, begging for more.

Ms. Parks would laugh and say, Little Berry, my cute little girl, if I give you too many chocolate-covered raspberries you will get fat.

Little Berry would quickly reply, No, no, I won’t get fat. As soon as I eat this last chocolate-covered raspberry I will chew down many trees for you and drag them up to your wood-pile. Please, oh please, just one more chocolate-covered berry, oh please.

Ms. Parks, with a wide smile, would say, Okay my sweet little girl here is your chocolate-covered raspberry, and then with those words she tossed another chocolate-covered berry to Little Berry who caught it in her mouth. As usual her body started its gleeful shake with the tail pounding and her bouncing dance upon the meadow.

She sat by the babbling brook eating her berries. As much as the brightness of the noon-day sun made her slightly close her eyes, she was alert and from time to time would change position so she could view the surrounding meadow. Predators such as the notorious wolf named One-eyed Jack led a pack of timber wolves that lurked in the surrounding woods. If One-eyed Jack appeared with his pack of wolves all of the beavers would flee into the waters of the Old North Pond and swim beneath its protective waters before entering their safe homes at the beaver lodge.

Located within the surrounding mountain range was a cave and residing within its dark and cool recesses was a young black bear known to all as Sleepy Pete. Sleepy Pete, who had drifted into the pioneer mountain range but a few passing moons ago, was a quiet and peaceful soul who spent his days in search of berries or in wandering trips down to some fishing hole where, with his quick eyes and paws, he would reach deep into the cold waters of Old North Pond and pull out of it a good meal of mountain bass or trout. Quietly traveling on soft and huge padded paws, Pete would wander along moss-covered trails through the dense pine forests of Maine in his constant search for berry patches. Sometimes in the middle of a hot summer day Pete would lay or stand in the middle of a rushing stream and allow its cold waters to cool down his massive furry body. Pete loved to sit on the grassy edges of the cold and rushing waters of a nearby sparkling brook and patiently await the arrival of some passing trout then rip the startled fish from its cold watery home and eat its rich tasty flesh with joyful relish.

Little Berry Beaver and Pete’s paths would cross, be it at the Old North Pond’s boulder-covered edge or by some berry patch, but oh never was there any trouble between them, no never. Little Berry’s bright buck-toothed smile and her quick wave of her little paw and her beautiful big brown eyes had won over the heart of Sleepy Pete, as she won over the hearts of all who resided within the little Valley of the Four Ponds. Save all but the heart of one cold-hearted wolf that went by the name of One-eyed Jack!

One-eyed Jack got his name just a few moons ago. At the time he was named Jack and leading his pack of wolves along the mountain range searching for prey when snow began to fall, turning quickly into a blizzard! Trying desperately to escape the awful biting cold of the pitiless blizzard, Jack led his pack of wolves deep into a cave for shelter. While searching for shelter in this deep dark cave Jack stumbled into Sleepy Pete’s winter bed where the young bear was spending the winter in a blissful sleep with its wondrous dreams. Jack, not realizing that Pete was there in the dark, bounded into Sleepy Pete’s comfy warm bed of leaves and pinecones and woke up Pete. What a mistake that was for Jack! For Pete was now angrier than a hive of disturbed bees and with a great roar he lashed out with one of his huge front paws and ripped across Jack’s face tearing out one of his eyes! Screaming with agony Jack and his terrified wolves fled the cave and retreated into a pine thicket and spent the night in a trembling cold agony as the frosty and sharp edged snowflakes fell upon them.

Jack, now known as One-eyed Jack, was able to get a patch from two old hunters, who went by the names of Dick and George, for his now-missing eye. Now with a black bandana worn about his furry neck and the eye patch upon his furry face, Jack had the look of a Caribbean pirate from days of so long ago.

Beavers do not receive a name upon birth, but instead are named when the beaver kit shows a special trait or activity that sets them apart from the other beaver kits. For Little Berry Beaver it was her special love of eating berries of all types. Little Berry Beaver was of ordinary size for a female beaver, but she was as strong as any tough bull beaver and could chew and drag as large a tree as the strongest bull beaver. What really set Little Berry Beaver apart from the other beavers of the Old North Pond was her great intellect. Little Berry Beaver could learn and understand things that the other beavers seemed unable to understand. Ms. Parks always said that Little Berry Beaver was the smartest critter she had ever known. She was literally the Einstein of the beavers.

Ms. Parks was from Atlanta and she was a proud and intelligent Afro-American woman who had received an extensive education including degrees in business and in medicine. She was tall and athletic looking and was known for her love of the outdoors where she surprised everyone for abilities with a rifle; she was a crack shot. But she never liked to hunt as the act of killing an animal seemed horrible to her! She loved to walk in the woods near her home after a hard day of work and soak in the beauty and warmth of Mother Nature. Its beautiful flowers, the sounds of the babbling springs near her home and the call of the owl and the sound of a scampering fox within the underbrush made her spirit soar with joy. She had made a fortune from her numerous businesses but when her husband died she decided to pass on her businesses to her children and move to Maine, to the shore of the Old North Pond. There she mourned her husband’s passing and contemplated on what to do with the rest of her life.

When she met Little Berry it was to become the start of a long and lasting friendship. She would become Little Berry’s mentor and teacher. She would unlock the mysteries of the world and the universe with all of its knowledge of many things, some of it good and some of it not so good, for Little Berry. And Little Berry was like a great sponge soaking in all the knowledge with a thirst that seemed never to be satisfied. Constantly she was in Ms. Parks’ huge library staring at all the pictures in books and reading them with the hunger of a starving person! Little Berry had to learn all she could about this tired old world because soon she would realize that on some dim and distant day she would do what she could to help it, but that day was long into the hazy future of things to be, and now was now!

Surrounding the Valley of the Four Ponds is the pioneer mountain range. No road crosses the remote mountain range or enters into the valley. Located near Old North Pond is the Great Falls. Beneath its tumbling waters is a dark large cave. Raiding Indians from long ago would camp there and plan for their upcoming attacks on unsuspecting pioneers in the valley. Local legend has it that within the cave is a hidden stock-pile of old Indian war clubs, bows, arrows, and ceremonial head-dresses. The old cave is said to be haunted with the spirits of these Indian warriors and chiefs. Because of the dread of these lost souls no one ever ventured into the dark, mysterious cave. If one is lucky enough to navigate the torturous Frenchman’s rapids and the Great Falls, then one could pass along an old Indian trail and enter into the valley. But to do this one had to have great outdoor skills and just plain luck.

Ms. Parks was a hardy soul and she made the difficult climb and canoe trip, making it into the valley about three summers ago. Here she built a large two story log cabin with a surrounding wrap-around porch and inside was exposed wood beams with a huge central fireplace. She had a little supply store with food and clothing items for passing hunters and tourists. Very few people passed by, and she sold very few things, but she did not care; she was rich from the sale of her lumber-yard and other businesses. Besides, she had come here to get away from her fellow human beings because despite her educational and business successes she had always felt the deep and hurtful sting of discrimination. She came to the valley to live with her furry friends, who she loved because as she had so often said, animals are color blind and because of that they are smarter than human beings. More than likely Ms. Parks was right!

When Little Berry Beaver was born her parents were living on the other side of Pioneer Mountain and the local seer, who was an owl named Sage Owl, had told her mama and papa that Little Berry Beaver would someday be special and perhaps the future leader of the beavers and maybe even more! Her father, Speedy, named so because he was a fast tree chewer and dragger, looked at the small and seemingly timid Little Berry Beaver and told the seer that he was full of dam mud.

The old seer Sage Owl replied, No, it will come true.

Peachy, Little Berry’s mother, put her paws around Little Berry while looking into Little Berry’s eyes, said to her furry mate, no, you are wrong, Little Berry is special, because the seer said so and she is so special to me!

Speedy threw up his paws in disgust and walked away.

Prepare for the worst, said Sage Owl, for bad days are coming for all three of you. But Little Berry will survive, survive to be not only a great leader in the nearby Valley of the Four Ponds, but she will be known to the surrounding world for her great and noble heart!

She is my kit and I love her dearly, replied a tearful Peachy. Shall I be alive to see her when she becomes a great and wondrous leader of the beavers? asked a tearful Peachy.

Not wishing to break her heart with the bad news of things to come Sage Owl replied, while putting his wings about the crying Peachy, Little Berry will always carry you and her papa in her heart for as long as she lives and her heart shall be known to all as a most wondrous thing!

Speedy said to Peachy when he heard Sage’s prediction that Sage Owl was crazy, that nothing would happen to them. Peachy was worried, but Speedy ignored the warning. One cold winter night, when storm waters were lashing against and over the dam wall, Speedy was dragging cut trees to the top of the dam and stacking them into position. While his back was turned to the outside of the dam wall, a mighty surge of storm water hit him from behind, then pulled him off the dam wall and into the swirling vortex of storm waters and swept him away. Poor Speedy was never seen again. Peachy was heart-broken and cried for Speedy day and night. She stopped eating.

Little Berry Beaver was just a kit and seemed confused and tearful. She did not understand where her papa was and why her mother was so sad. One day Peachy disappeared into the woods to get some herbs for Little Berry, as Little Berry was sick. She waved goodbye to Little Berry, saying she would be home before nightfall. She too was never seen again. Some of the beavers think old One-eyed Jack got her. No one knows for sure. All the beavers were terrified of old One-eyed Jack and at night the beavers would tell their little kits to be quiet, be good, and go to sleep, because if they did not, old One-eyed Jack would get them. At that warning the little kit beavers would quickly close their eyes and go into a deep sleep.

Living within the beaver lodge were Crunch and Chunk, the twins. Both were heavy-set and very strong. They were Little Berry Beaver’s bodyguards. They followed her everywhere. They were totally dedicated to her. But Crunch and Chunk were wanderers and explorers. And from time to time the twins would slip away and wander about the valley looking for adventure. Once they had slipped into the old Indian cave and discovered the Indian campsite. It was a treasure trove of old Indian artifacts, old tomahawks, bows and arrows and Indian ceremonial head-dresses. Crunch and Chunk showed up at the lodge wearing the Indian head-dresses and carrying bows and arrows. Everyone was laughing and everyone thought that Crunch and Chunk were the two greatest rascals of the beaver tribe.

A distant cousin to Little Berry Beaver was Tag. Tag, a young female beaver, was the fastest of the beavers on foot or in the water. If anyone had to deliver an important message, it was Tag who got the job of delivering it. Tag tended to get very excited if she was delivering an important message and she would stutter her words out fast and furious, until Little Berry Beaver would patiently tell Tag to calm down and slowly tell her the message. Next was Sandee, an almost blond-colored beaver with a large tuft of bright red fur on the crown of his head, who was the tribe jokester. If Crunch and Chunk’s slippers were missing, everyone knew that Sandee had hidden them somewhere inside the living quarters of the lodge. Yes, the beavers had slippers. Ms. Parks had made all the beavers little slippers to wear. She also made them little sleeping shirts and little sleeping caps and sewn on them was her favorite T.V. quote, who loves you now. Rosie, another hard working beaver, got her name as she loved to sit beside the Old North Pond, hold a bunch of roses and smell them all day long with a big bucktoothed grin. Rosie was a bit of a dreamer and when not working on the dam, she would be seen sitting along the moss covered bank of a nearby stream, daydreaming and picking petals off a rose, tossing them into some gentle breezes while watching them slowly disappear into the surrounding meadow grasses.

The biggest and strongest of the beavers was Bruno, who was a great and dedicated dam builder. But he was not a great talker. After a hard day of work on the dam, Bruno would wander into the living quarters, eat a little and then climb into his bunk and go to sleep. Yes the beavers had bunk beds. Inside their huge lodge was a living quarter. Little Berry Beaver saw the bunk beds inside Ms. Parks’ huge stone and log house and ordered the beavers to construct bunk beds. Within the row of bunk beds was a long table where meals were served. Ms. Parks taught Little Berry Beaver and the rest of the tribe that warm cooked food was much better than cold raw food. Salads of all type were the favorite beaver food, at least for that tribe. And believe it or not the next favorite food was spaghetti. Bruno was a huge fan of spaghetti. His burly tough body needed all the energy that spaghetti gave. Ace is Bruno’s kit and he got the name Ace because Ms. Parks came to the lodge to help in the birth of Little Ace. The beavers totally trust and love Ms. Parks. She saw a little white patch on Ace’s forehead, along with what appeared to be a black ace symbol within it, hence the name. Rosie was Ace’s momma and Bruno his papa.

Rosie and Gin were the tribe’s food gatherers and chief makers of salads and the beaver’s favorite dish, spaghetti. Rosie and Gin had spent a lot of time at Ms. Parks’ house learning how to cook. Rosie and Gin would sit on the kitchen counter and watch Ms. Parks cook spaghetti and other dishes. Ms. Parks, just the other day, was showing Gin how to prepare oatmeal. Gin was unsure how Bruno would take to the dull taste of oatmeal. But when Rosie added sweet maple syrup to it Bruno could not get enough of it. Last, but not least was Toasty. Toasty got his name as it was his job to gather wood and keep the two little wood stoves within their lodge living quarters loaded with wood and warm with heat. Winters in Maine are very, very cold. And again Ms. Parks had shown the beavers how to start a fire and how to keep it going. Oh, the beavers were now so warm on the coldest winter night, thanks to Ms. Parks, between the warm fires, the little sleeping caps, robes and slippers, well the beavers were very happy. While all the time they would chew down trees for Ms. Parks and then drag them to her house and pull apart the trees and stack their parts along the porch walkway that surrounds her house.

Ms. Parks’ great-granddaddy had been the first Afro-American officer in the Union army during the Civil War and his name was Colonel Parks. He settled in Atlanta after the war and married a local lady, had six children and started a local lumber-yard that got bigger and bigger with time. His three sons and three daughters turned out to be great business people and the lumber business prospered, expanding out of Atlanta and into the adjacent states. The eldest son married a lady from Alabama and they had four children. One of them was named Jordan who is our Ms. Parks. Jordan was very smart and was such a great student that when she finally graduated from Alabama University she had degrees in both business and medicine. She married a very handsome banker from Atlanta named Robert. Between Ms. Parks and her husband Robert the lumber business soared. The name of the Parks Lumber Company is now seen everywhere. All fifty states and even some parts of Europe carry products of the Parks Lumber Co. The Parks family is a close-knit family and family reunions at the grand old house of Parks Sr. are quite something. The Parks family throws open the doors to Atlanta and the rich and poor come in for the family celebration. This big celebration is held during the first week of December and it gets everyone in the Parks family and the folks of Atlanta ready for the holiday season. It is a great affair.

As a little girl Ms. Parks had visited the state of Maine and she fell in love with its land and its people. After years of hard work in the lumber-yard she decided it was time for her and Robert to retire. Besides all of their children were grown and in the lumber business. Robert agreed and they made ready to leave for Maine where they would build a huge log and stone house living in quiet solitude and splendor. Alas poor Robert suddenly got sick and died. Ms. Parks was heartbroken, stating that poor Robert had died of a bad heart and had left her with a broken heart. But she was made of tough fiber and after a period of grief she left for Maine.

Years ago she had made building plans for her retirement home. A construction crew from her lumber company followed her to Maine, where she decided that the site of her home would be in the Valley of the Four Ponds, the same valley where Little Berry resided. The most skilled artisans Ms. Parks knew built the house, and the end result of their work was a magnificent stone and log structure with a slate roof. It was three stories high with a first floor porch that wrapped around the entire building. The first floor entrance door was comprised of a huge solid oak door with strong locks to keep the door secure. The entire first floor was of course comprised of beautiful hard wood floors. In the center of the grand room was a huge four-sided stone fireplace with metal inserts that provided heat and beauty to the entire home. Antique furniture was tastefully placed throughout the house. The kitchen was a combination of modern convenience and early American style.

At the top of the home was a real New England widow’s walk, where Ms. Parks could stand and view her little kingdom. Early in the morning Ms. Parks would sit upon the widow’s walk and drink her tea and read the numerous newspapers that she subscribed to. She was, for the most part, the only human living in the Valley of the Four Ponds. Wood-burning stoves were located throughout the house to keep it warm. A sheltered walkway from the main house to a wood storage barn protected Ms. Parks from the changing weather patterns, which Maine was so famous for. Within the basement was a wondrous storeroom of food supplies, first aid equipment batteries and extra clothing. Shiny rows of tools for various repairs lined the walls along with pairs of snow-shoes, a snowmobile, several shotguns and rifles with plenty of ammo. Row after row of canned foods filled the huge basement. There were soups, meats, teas, spices, sauces, cookies and numerous other types of supplies too numerous to list.

When Little Berry first saw the storeroom it took her breath away. As she walked through row upon row of those wonderful things, she stopped and looked up and asked Ms. Parks about each and every item, where they came from and what their usage was. Ms. Parks responded by giving Little Berry a little taste of each item. Later Ms. Parks would spend hours with Little Berry showing her tools, building equipment, engineering drawings and photos. Ms. Parks showed Little Berry all of the wonderful spices and let her have a taste of each and every item. Little Berry’s eyes would light up along with her cute little smile when she tasted something especially delightful. But it was the chocolate that gave her the greatest delight. The smell of cocoa made Little Berry swoon. Ms. Parks could ask Little Berry for stack after stack of cut wood for her wood burners and Little Berry would get it done in one day. All of that just for one Hershey bar. Little Berry loved dearly her sweet chocolate.

One day as she was eating her chocolate and leaning over Ms. Parks’ shoulder, who was reading one of her newspapers, she asked Ms. Parks what she was doing.

Reading, darling, just reading, she answered with delight as she looked up over her bifocals.

Can I learn to read? Little Berry asked with her soulful big brown eyes. Big brown eyes that always danced with delight and seemed as deep as the ocean’s greatest depths.

Of course. Ms. Parks quickly bought out her numerous books on various subjects and started to teach Little Berry how to read.

Within weeks Little Berry was reading everything from engineering to cooking, to animals and peoples of the world; everything she could get her little paws upon. She was a reading machine. However there was one book that Little Berry found that really peaked her interest. Of course, it was dam building. The use of concrete and steel walls that had water pressure releases and living quarters within really fascinated her. Plus the security of her little tribe would be better within a concrete and steel dam and lodge.

One-Eyed Jack and his ruthless set of wolves were known to be over in the next valley where they were attacking every living animal and killing them for food. Beaver meat was the favorite of One-Eyed Jack and his gang of cut-throat wolves. They loved to break apart a weak dam and house and pull the beavers out, young and old, and eat them one at a time. They were a terror to everyone. However the one they feared the most was the scout and the most horrible hunter and killer of One-Eyed Jack’s gang. A tall, skinny wolf with deep piercing eyes that shone red when he was on the lookout for a victim and that wolf was named, The Devil’s Breath. Legend had it that he would eat anything-living or dead-and his breath was foul and it stank of all the animals he had killed and eaten. It was claimed that he once had caught a hurt human, a hunter, near the path leading over the falls toward the remote trail leading into the Valley of the Four Ponds. The hunter had broken his leg and could not move. The Devil’s Breath circled the crippled man all night making him discharge his rifle. He missed his attempted mark—The Devil’s Breath—and worse yet used up all of his ammunition, round after round until he had none. The wily devil for two days feinted attack after attack on the weak and helpless hunter until he lost strength and the will to fight on. Finally The Devil’s Breath rushed the crippled hunter from behind and killed and ate him.

Killing and then eating a human being gave him great status and power with his fellow wolves. The valley creatures feared him above everyone. Even human hunters avoided the valley because of the legend of The Devil’s Breath-how he would track and kill any unwary hunter. The Devil’s Breath’s status grew and grew until even One-Eyed Jack became suspicious of The Devil’s Breath and wondered if The Devil’s Breath was attempting to take over his leadership role of the valley’s wolf pack. If one saw The Devil’s breath in the area and worse yet smelled him, one knew that the rest of One-Eyed Jack’s wolf pack was nearby and on the prowl for a kill. That knowledge would send the beavers running or swimming back to the lodge where they would gather inside then post a guard on the dam’s wall to keep a constant watch. Fortunately, no serious attacks on the dam had yet occurred, but news of the wolf attacks on the adjacent valley’s beaver lodges made the Old North Pond beavers fearful and they were very much on edge.

Old story-tellers from the adjacent valley told a story that The Devil’s Breath had one night come across a wandering gypsy. He was standing outside of his horse-drawn wagon practicing the art of fire-eating. Unseen in the surrounding dark woods The Devil’s Breath watched in utter fascination. Later that night as the gypsy slept in his little wagon The Devil’s Breath attacked and killed him. As he sat there eating the poor gypsy he discovered in the gypsy’s pockets his fire-eating equipment. The Devil’s Breath practiced with the dead gypsy’s flaming stick and matches until he had mastered it. And worst yet, he learned how to light the flaming stick, and then blow the flames onto objects. Soon he was the terror to all of the beavers.

Attacked beavers would first run into their beaver house and hide. One-Eyed Jack and his pack of wolves would surround it. The beavers felt safe, as they believed that the wolves could not possibly break down the walls and get among them. However the terror began for those poor lost beaver souls when that horrid Devil’s Breath arrived at the dam with the dead gypsy’s fire eating stick. That hideous devil would light the fire eating stick and blow the flames all over the wooden walls of the beaver house, smoking the poor beavers out and into the open where the wolves would gobble them up! It bought shivers to all the living beavers in the surrounding valleys! All the beavers wondered when they would be next to fall victim to the hideous Devil’s Breath and his terrible blown flames. It was no wonder that the beavers feared The Devil’s Breath so much and ran for their homes when they heard he was nearby, especially when the legend had The Devil’s Breath engulfing the beaver homes in raging flames with eyes that burned and shone with a frightening glaring red in the blackest night of nights! It was as if he was the very creation of the devil himself! If he was not, then he should have been!

Tale 2

New Paths

M s. Parks had heard all of these dreadful tales and decided that she would help protect her new-found friends of the Old North Pond beaver tribe and all of the tribe’s friends in the valley. It was decided that Ms. Parks and the beavers would build a concrete and steel dam and house that would be camouflaged with wood and brush and be completely safe against wolf attacks, including The Devil’s Breath himself.

Ms. Parks basement was a wondrous place filled with engineering drawings, construction equipment such as concrete mixers, saws, welders, rebar, shovels, picks, and helmets; everything one needed to build a dam. The beavers were great builders, but what they saw in Ms. Parks’ basement was… well it took their breath away.

Little Berry Beaver, now known as the Queen of the Beavers of the Valley of the Four Ponds, walked through the aisles of stacked equipment. In her mind she could see a home for her beavers and all of her other furry and feathered friends, and most importantly a home that was dry and warm and safe from wolf attacks. Little Berry saw a wonderful future at that moment.

Ms. Parks saw a need to train the beavers so that their old dam could be torn down and the new modern concrete and steel dam and house could be built in its place. For the next two weeks during that wonderful spring of hope and change, training for the beavers occurred. Use of tools was taught, construction plans were drawn and equipment was passed out. The construction of the new dam and house would take about one month to complete. And so with hard hats on their furry heads, and shovels and picks in their tough burly paws, the beavers went to work building their new dam and house.

It was a tense time because without their dam and house the beavers were subject to a wolf attack. Ms. Parks realized this and had the beavers stay in her huge home. She set up little cots in two neat rows with a long meeting and dining table located at the end of each row. At the end of a work-day the beavers would walk up the hill to Ms. Parks’ house, where she would stand with a water hose and spray water on the sweaty beavers, then scrub them with a soapy brush and rinse them off. The beavers who were washed, being good-natured, laughed and joked with Ms. Parks, as did all the other beavers who were in line awaiting their turn for the warm soapy shower.

Once clean and fresh-smelling the beavers headed into the basement where Ms. Parks had their cots set up. As they walked into their quarters they hung up their little hard hats on hooks on the wall next to the door, then stacked all their tools against the wall. Ms. Parks was very neat and organized, but for that matter so were the Old North Pond beavers. Once the tools were stacked the beavers would sit on their cots and talk in their chitty chatty beaver language, or in human, a language that Ms. Parks had taught Little Berry, who in turn taught the rest of the Old North Pond beaver tribe.

Ms. Parks then would walk into the area yelling, dinner time, which quickly got the beavers attention. They rushed to the dinner table where they sat on little wooden stools with big buck teeth, big expectant eyes and glowing smiles knowing that Ms. Parks and Rosie had whipped up another great meal of spaghetti and garlic toast with a delightful salad!

Little bowls, spoons, plates and cups sat at each beaver’s spot. Little Berry, being the Queen, sat at the one end head of the table while Ms. Parks sat at the opposite. Tonight Ms. Parks was serving another of the beaver’s favorite meals; corn or sugar corn flakes with milk. Ms. Parks carefully poured the flakes of choice into each beaver’s bowl, following it with a full ladle of rich whole milk. Afterwards she placed huge plates of sliced apples, oranges, and wonderful berries and grapes of all types. The eyes of all the gathered beavers shone with wonderment and surprise at the size and richness of their meal. And as they ate they chattered about the work on the dam and the house and how things were progressing so well! Beavers are wonderfully self-confident and they always believed that the job that they started would be finished! It could be the hardest day at work or a cold, rainy day and they would never complain. They were always happy. And oh how they loved to joke among themselves and play jokes on each other.

Once Chunk and Crunch found an old bear’s blanket on Ms. Parks’ first floor living room. It was late at night and they silently crept down the stairs wearing the old bear blanket over themselves. Bursting into the basement they yelled over and over, roar-roar-roar, growl-growl! All the beavers leaped out of their cots, hiding in every tiny corner they could find! However some of the beavers formed a little defensive line around Little Berry, their newly elected Queen. One of the kits, Little Ace, exhibited his courage by standing in front of the Queen boldly holding his little paw out to the so-called bears calling on them to stop their attacks or face his wrath! Realizing quickly that it was only Chunk and Crunch, the beavers started to laugh and laugh!

Little did anyone realize that on some distant day when Ace’s command to stop one’s attack or face his wrath would be quickly obeyed! The twins were laughing so hard that they fell down totally out of breath! On hearing the growling sounds followed by wild laughter Ms. Parks came rushing down. She too quickly realized that the twins, Crunch and Chunk were up to their old tricks. She too joined in with the laughter. All the beavers said with great merriment that someday that they would get even with the two pranksters.

Ms. Parks had set up a game room on the second floor of her house for the beavers. Next to the game room was the TV room that was more educational than anything else. Shown on the TVs were tapes of this old house, a real favorite with the beavers. Other favorite shows were the Discovery Channel, A&E, the Nature Channel, and Modern Marvels. When Modern Marvels or the History Channel portrayed such things as the building of the Hoover Dam, well, all the beavers stopped what they had been doing and rushed into the viewing room to watch with great amazement the construction techniques and the sheer size of the dam. When some amazing task was completed, such as the installation of the turbines or the massive pouring of concrete, the beavers would stare at each other with looks of wonderment, then start talking in Beavereze, which is a language composed of tones that rose and fell like ocean waves and voice phases that were more complex than a tapestry. From time to time the beavers would burst into speaking human words like, unbelievable, awesome, and other such words.

Crunch and Chunk were video game junkies. They would play Pac-Beaver for hours and hours. Ms. Parks, being the most diverse and talented person ever known, had programmed the game using spare parts from the old game of Pac-Man. With Pac-Beaver it was the wolves trying to eat the beavers then the beavers would eat a power strawberry or raspberry and chase the wolves and gobble them up. However Chunk and Crunch did not use their paws, instead they used their tails to move the joy-stick controls. This would free up their paws so that they could hold their beaver brewskee drinks and when they both hit high scores they would high paw each other. Crunch and Chunk had two games going at the same time side by side. They would play their games then stare at the others’ games and try to give each other advice on how to turn the tables on those wicked wolves and eat them up. The two of them would start hooting, hollering, laughing and making so much noise that the Queen would come from the next room where she was trying to watch a re-run of her favorite show, Beaver Jeopardy, and tell the two of them to be quiet or take it back to the lodge. Which meant the two of them would be working on the dam for hours and hours. The two of them quickly shut up, but later they would quietly mimic the Queen in what and how she gave her warning, while going back to playing their games.

Ms. Parks’ basement was a marvel to behold. It had beautiful hardwood floors with little beds with divider walls between each sleeping section. A long dinner table was off to the side of the sleeping area. There all three meals of the day were served. Gin, Rosie and Little Ace made up the meals. Beyond the sleeping dining area was the newly installed beaver shower area. The new dam and living quarters were yet to be completed. Prior to meeting Ms. Parks the beavers got their baths by swimming out of their dam home and into Old North Pond or by standing under Ms. Parks’ garden hose and scrub brush. After a hard day on the dam working like the busy beavers that they were, oh how they smelled! And Ms. Parks told them so! At the end of the day Chunk, Crunch, Sandee, Bruno, Toasty and the Queen and all the other beavers would climb Beavers Knob and walk into the basement and the aroma off their sweaty bodies caused tears to come to Ms. Parks’ eyes. And they were not the tears of joy.

My oh my, Ms. Parks would exclaim, you smell worse than my lumberjacks when they came out of the pine forests of North Georgia after cutting trees all day.

We all took a quick swim in Old North Pond, said Little Berry, the Queen. Little Berry was embarrassed, as she knew that they all smelled like old sweaty fur coats. Little Berry and her entire Old North Pond tribe were composed of very young beavers. Compared to humans they would be teenagers. Except teenagers who had grown up fast and were very responsible, apart from Chunk and Crunch when they had a little too much beaver brew and beaver brewskees.

To solve the smell problem Ms. Parks set up a beaver shower in the basement. It was set up like an auto wash; the little beavers walked into it whereupon Ms. Parks would hit the start button. Instantly warm water washed over the little beavers’ sweaty bodies bringing smiles and laughter with a lot of aahs and oohs exclaimed! Next the beavers walked onto the next color-coded wash mat and warm soap-suds cascaded over their stinky bodies. Little soft brushes came from the sides of the walls and began to scrub the furry beavers, causing great laughter from the furry one being scrubbed. Delightful warm rinse water followed with the beavers walking upon the next color-coded wash mat whereupon blow-dryers came on covering the beaver in pleasant warm and drying air. The beavers loved how the warm air caressed their bodies. But the blowers caused the fur on the beavers to stand on end and made them look like puffed-up fur balls. Ms. Parks, as usual, solved the puffed-up beaver look by adding mink oil, a little product she invented for the problem. The beavers would quickly apply it to each other and it would damp down their fur and give them the natural look that they were wishing for.

Inside Ms. Park’s basement was a treasure trove of knowledge. Barrel after barrel lined the floor filled with maps of countries, counties and states from all over the world. Other barrels contained engineering charts, building designs and most importantly designs for the construction of a dam.

For weeks that fall season the beavers labored on their new dam and home. The new dam would be made of rebar and concrete. Bruno turned out to be a master with the making and pouring of concrete. Toasty and Sandee were great at making the forms for the concrete pouring and Crunch and Chunk were hardy diggers making the entire foundation for the new dam and home. Rosie, Ace and Gin made the meals and kept a watch for any wolves that might be lurking in the area. Fortunately during the entire construction period One-Eyed Jack, The Devil’s Breath and the rest of their wolf pack never showed up in the Valley of the Four Ponds.

Once the dam was completed exterior valves were set in the walls and a safety railing was placed along the top of the dam. Little Berry never forgot how her Papa was swept off the wall of the dam by storm water. She still missed him. Inside the dam were the living quarters. Little beds with little divider walls were set up and they had a dining room just like the one at Ms. Parks’. Little Berry had her own special room since she was the Queen. Rosie and Bruno and their little kit Ace had their own room since they were a couple with a little one. Gin and Tag slept next to the dining area, as they were Rosie’s kitchen assistants. Toasty always slept near the one pot belly stove since it was his duty to maintain the two stoves and keep the fires going during those cold Maine nights. Chunk and Crunch slept near the Queen’s quarters as they were her bodyguards. Sandee slept next to them especially since all three of the burly bulls were without mates.

Leading to the outside swim hole was the mud-room. Ms. Parks noticed how the beavers were tracking mud into their living quarters and so as usual she came up with a great solution. After a hard day’s work the beavers would walk up Beaver Knob, get their beaver shower, have a small drink, relax with a beaver video game or watch the Discovery Channel or Modern Marvels. After that the beavers would slip into his or her little plastic slippers and walk back to the dam. On entering their lodge the beavers wore their little plastic slippers, which kept their feet clean and dry. Once inside the mud-room they took off their slippers and lined them up beneath their little smell patches and companion name cards, thus ending the problem of muddy paw prints on the lodge’s wooden floors, much to the satisfaction of Rosie who had the job of cleaning up the muddy floors.

On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays Ms. Parks would open the house up for a special dinner. Each and every beaver would have a seat at the dinner table. All would crowd into the room while chattering about another hard day on the dam. Ms. Parks would come into the room and tell the beavers of her day. She usually did work around the house plus she and some of the beavers would spend the day chewing logs for all of her wood burners and their little pot-belly stoves. The beavers chewed the logs down with their great teeth and jaws while Ms. Parks used a chain saw. Crunch and Chunk didn’t get their names for nothing. Crunch could crush six-inch diameter trees with one great Crunch from his mighty jaws and Chunk was also pretty good with his teeth. But Chunk had a thick strong body and he could carry great heavy loads of logs from the cutting area to either the beaver home or Ms. Parks’ great log and stone house.

Dinner at Ms. Parks was usually composed of light beaver brews followed by a salad filled with numerous fruits, greens, little tomatoes, and toasted bread crusts, then covered in Ms. Parks’ secret homemade salad dressing. The beavers would eat the salad and rave about how great Ms. Parks’ salad dressing was. Ms. Parks always said it was her grandmother’s secret salad dressing and the recipe had been passed down through the generations. Next was Bruno’s favorite and that was spaghetti with tomato sauce made with whole rich tomatoes, grown and taken fresh out of Ms. Parks’ wonderful garden. Ms. Parks’ garden was a thing of beauty. Vegetables of wonderful colors and smells greeted the beavers every time they came for a visit. Little Ace came up Beavers Knob every day to help Ms. Parks in the garden. Wearing a straw hat and a big bucktoothed smile Little Ace would spend hours in the garden with an oversized hoe in his oversized paws. Afterwards Little Ace would rush, fishing pole in paw, down to the nearest fishing hole where he spent hours catching fish after fish.

The beavers would find one loose end of spaghetti on their plate and keep sucking upon it until the entire stack of spaghetti was eaten. Garlic bread was also a favorite and numerous plates of the warm, toasty breads were made and eaten. Rosie could hardly keep pace with the demands for the garlic bread. Celery, olives, jellies, and once in a while peanut butter graced the beaver table. Peanut butter was so sweet and tasty, but once the licking started inside the beaver mouth, in the attempt to rid them of the sticky substance, it seemed like it would never end. Crunch and Chunk swore that only beaver brewskees could end the nightmare. Ms. Parks and the Little Berry always found Crunch and Chunk’s claims hard to believe. Beaver brew always made Crunch and Chunk a little crazy. This probably had to do with the fact that Ms. Parks made the beaver brewskees with watermelon slices and beer. Ms. Parks tried to keep the beer content to small amounts, but Crunch and Chunk were always sneaking more beer into the brewskee mix.

Now beaver brew is just milk and Ovaltine. Ms. Parks made this drink to give the beavers an energy burst when they felt tired from all of their hard work and she was right. The brew gave the beavers great energy in the morning. But unfortunately for them and her, especially during the beaver visits, it gave them gas. Horrid, loud and long gas explosions burst forth from the tortured beavers bodies. Little Berry was so embarrassed when she passed gas! Not so with Crunch, Chunk, Sandee, or Bruno. Late at night they would lie in their beds and have a competition to see who could blast out the biggest and most hideous gas explosion in the beaver house. Great sounds rocked the house followed by smells that could wake the ancient ones. After each fiery and smoky explosion great laughter would follow with numerous comments as to who had won the competition.

After several minutes of the hideous sounds of exploding gases and wild laughter the Queen would appear with a clothes pin fastened tightly around her nose and announce in a demanding voice that they all needed their sleep for the next day’s hard work. The response would be promises of no more gas blasts that shook the beaver house to its foundations. After a moment or two of silence more wild laughter burst from the room! Little Berry would return to her quarters and within minutes the three gas monsters would be at it again setting loose gas explosions of flame and smoke causing them to have tears from the gaseous fumes…followed by more wild laughter. This time the Queen arrived wearing a gas mask while yelling that if Crunch, Chunk, Sandee and Bruno kept it up, then no more beaver brews and brewskees would be served. At first there was dead silence followed by a chorus of gas explosions and more wild laughter.

The Queen started to yell out more threats about no more brews when all of a sudden she let go with her own flaming and stinky gas blast! Much embarrassed she quickly ran into her quarters yelling to quickly turn on the unit exhaust fan. By then the brew was taking effect on all the beavers and from Bruno to Little Ace gas was escaping in great amounts with less and less time between explosions. The cry of, let’s get out of here, echoed throughout the beaver house! And with that chorus of cries the beavers started a wild stampede toward the mud-room and the water escape hatch. Poor Toasty opened the hatch just as the gassed up beavers with bodies leaking foul odors burst into the room. Toasty-poor Toasty was run over and over by the crazed and gassed up beavers so desperate were they to escape from a room now filled with thick clouds of gas, which had been flowing untapped from their tortured and gaseous bodies! Upon seeing the trampled Toasty, eyes glazed with fear and terror, the Queen cried out, oh the humanity!

Tale 3

Peach and Pecan Pies

I t was the end of summer when the beaver dam with lodge was completed and it was time for the great celebration. Not only was it a celebration for the completion of the dam, but also the celebration of the peach. Ms. Parks, as we know, was from Atlanta where she had made her fortune in lumber but also where she had made her fortune by the owning of peach orchards and pecan farms. When just a young girl she had proposed to her father the idea of growing and selling peaches and pecans. He loved the idea and put young Ms. Parks to the task. She prospered and was so successful with the peach and pecan businesses that when her father decided to hand over the lumber and the paper mills to someone in the family, she was given the job as