Otter Chaos! (8 page)

Beanie and Coal nodded and smiled.

“Then the last one up is the winner!” said Maple, lifting her shell-horn.

HOOOOOONK!

Beanie and Coal breathed in deeply and slowly submerged, swimming down to the bottom of the pool where they sat, cheeks bulging, as they held their breath. Occasionally they waved at each other, but mostly they peered up towards the light, at the silhouettes of their families, who were all waving at them and cheering them on. Beanie felt proud seeing Coco and the twins rooting for her, but the loudest cheers came from Woody.

Four minutes in, she was still quite happy at the bottom of the pool, but Coal was looking uncomfortable, having to use quite a lot of energy and oxygen flapping his paws to stay submerged. Beanie managed this much more easily as her huge tail and heavier weight provided extra ballast. She was so happy that she stayed underwater for a whole minute more to enjoy her triumph after Coal gave up and swam to the surface, and when Beanie resurfaced she was greeted by riotous applause from her family.

The twins lifted Beanie up and gave her a victory lap on their shoulders, while Coco chased Woody around them, which didn't do Coco's lily headdress any good at all.

The excitement was high in both camps now the Browns and the Blacks had three wins each, and there was only one event to go – the underwater obstacle race with Woody and Sooty!

veryone was excited about the underwater obstacle race between Woody and Sooty, but they were all hungry too. Luckily, Mama Black and Mama Brown had laid out a huge fishy buffet for the athletes, so the teams agreed to resume the racing after lunch.

The day had begun with a definite divide between the two families, but after watching and competing in the exciting events, they were now mingling and chatting cheerfully. The young otters had had great fun spending time together, and even Papa Black and Papa Brown found they had a lot in common, just like their wives. Woody and Sooty enjoyed the sight of their families getting along so well, as it meant they could laugh and play without feeling guilty about letting their teams down. All was going swimmingly until Grandpa Bruno and Grandpa Jack reached for the same fish.

“Oh, no, you don't!” growled Jack, tugging on the slippery fish tail.

“Nice try!” growled Bruno, tugging on the slippery fish head.

“Let go, you crooked old toad!”

“You let go, you sly old crow!”

“I saw it first!”

“Well, I grabbed it first!”

“Stop!” yelled Grandma Maple, but it was already too late.

The fish shot up in the air and everyone craned their necks skywards, watching as it landed in the river with a loud
PLOP!
And when they looked back, the two old otters were rolling around the bank in a furious ball of brown and black fur.

Team Black and Team Brown quickly re-formed and pulled their senior members apart, arms and legs swiping at the air like a pair of upturned turtles.

“I've had just about enough of you and your jibes!” growled Grandpa Jack, rising up and dusting himself off. “Let's get on with the last event and out of each other's lives forever!”

“I'll second that,” said Grandpa Bruno, flicking mud off his fur. “Let's put an end to this so we don't have to spend any more time together!”

With help from Papa Brown and Papa Black, Woody and Sooty had spent a good portion of the previous day building a large obstacle course for their event in the competition. The course had hoops and tunnels, ladders and funnels, all going in and out of the water, followed by a final short dash to the finish line.

Before mounting their diving boards at the start of the course, the two friends hugged and wished each other the best of luck. The pair looked down at their families, who were waving and cheering, all except for the grandpas, who had their arms folded and were scowling at each other.

“Do you promise to stay friends?” asked Woody, who was worried about competing against his friend – because for one to win, the other would have to lose. “No matter who wins the obstacle course and gets to stay in the den?”

“I promise,” said Sooty.

“Me too,” said Woody.

“But what if one of us gets cross because they lost the race?” asked Sooty. “Our grandpas probably thought they'd always be friends, and now they can't stand one another.”

Woody thought about it for a moment and wondered how he would feel if he lost out to his friend. Then he smiled broadly. “We won't be like that,” he said confidently.

“How can you be so sure?” asked Sooty.

“Because we will be on each other's side as well as on our own,” said Woody. “I want to win the race myself because I don't want my family to have to move to another den, but I'll still be happy for you if you win, because you're my best friend.”

“I'll be happy if you win too,” said Sooty.

“I think our grandpas must have forgotten what's important, and that's why they don't like each other any more,” said Woody, holding out a paw. “So let's make a pact always to be on each other's side, and that way we'll never cheat and always win and stay best friends forever.”

Sooty and Woody shook paws to seal the pact and were both beaming. They could now enjoy the competition just like they enjoyed racing together for fun because, whatever else was at stake, they knew their friendship was safe.

“Are you ready, my darlings?” asked Grandma Maple, clambering up on to the platform. The two pups shuffled on to the diving boards, took a few practice bounces and nodded. “Then may the best otter win!” she said, lifting the shell-horn to her puffed-out cheeks.

“May the best otter win!” echoed Woody and Sooty.

HOOOOOONK!

The sound of the horn gave way to a huge cheer as Woody and Sooty bounced, backflipped and plunged into the river for the final race.

Underwater, the cheering was muffled as the two friends swam deep, bodies wiggling in waves, their hind paws flattened like tail fins to generate speed. They reached the twiggy tunnels along the bottom of the river and darted through, their tails steering like submarine rudders. On the other side of the tunnels the otters shot straight up, burst out of the water and soared through the first of a series of hoops. Woody and Sooty were neck and neck after the first obstacle and were really enjoying themselves, their families running along the riverbank cheering them on.

The next challenge was to weave through a ladder that was anchored to the riverbed with rocks and stretched all the way up to the surface where the top was tied to a large floating raft. The friends dived down to the bottom again and snaked through the ladder rungs, overtaking each other several times before they reached the top. There, they scampered over the raft towards another waiting hoop.

“HOORAY!” cheered the Brown family as Woody went through first, which put him in the lead.

“Come on, Sooty!” cheered the Black family, encouraging their youngest member as he followed through the hoop.

Next, Woody and Sooty had to scale rocks, dive through rings, climb ropes and slide down tubes. Hoop jumps marked the end of each obstacle and the beginning of the next, and Woody managed to hold his lead, jumping through each hoop just before Sooty.

The last obstacle was an underwater speed swim through a swaying forest of dense riverweed. Even with his head start, Woody Brown swam faster than ever before, shooting through the tangle of weeds like a furry torpedo! As he reached the end he could see the final stretch and the blurry silhouettes of the families at the finish line. They were all jumping up and down with excitement as they waited for the otter pups to emerge.

I'm going to win!
thought Woody, the added thrill of victory spurring him on.
I'm going to win for my family and we will all get to stay in Cottonwood Lodge!

But then he remembered that his win would mean a loss for his friend. And not only that, but the Black family would have to clear out and move away.

Woody glanced back to see how close his friend was to catching him up and whether there could possibly be a tie, only to discover that Sooty was nowhere to be seen!

The young pup couldn't have fallen that far behind!

Woody didn't hesitate for a second. He immediately doubled back and re-entered the forest of riverweed, darting back and forth amid the swirling tendrils, searching for his friend. Shoals of silver fish dashed away and tiny bubbles plumed around him, and then he saw a small black paw waving at him in the distance.

It occurred to Woody that Sooty could be tricking him, luring him back just so he could overtake and sprint for the finish line. That's probably what Grandpa Bruno would think if he was racing Grandpa Jack, but Woody knew his friend wouldn't do such a thing.

They had made a pact, after all.

Woody dashed through the weeds and reached Sooty just in time. His friend was waving all four paws frantically but seemed rooted to the spot. Woody ripped the weeds away to discover that Sooty's tail was tangled in a scrap of fishing net wrapped round a large rock. From the panicked look on Sooty's face, Woody could tell the struggle had used up most of his air. The obstacle race no longer mattered. It was now a race against time!

Woody tugged at the fishing net, trying to break it with his paws or tear it with his teeth, but it was too strong and only tightened its grip on Sooty's tail. The young rescuer darted away and searched the riverbed until he found a half-shell, then he used the sharp edge to hack through the netting and eventually managed to free his friend.