Busy as a Beaver

Chapter 8

The next morning, I popped by Betty’s café once more.

“Do you know a Michael Carlton?” I asked when I got to the counter, and Betty gave me a knowing look.

“That wouldn’t happen to be the name of the man who was killed up in the city yesterday, would it?”

“Ah, so the rumor mill has already made its way through here, has it?” I laughed.

“To answer your question, though, no, I don’t know him.”

“I can’t find a link between him and Gloria. But there has to be one.”

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t help you there.”

“You don’t know of any shady happenings in Gloria’s past, do you?”

“Goodness, no. I actually barely know the woman at all. She comes in here every so often, but not that much, and she’s only lived in town for a couple of years.”

“Hm, ok, thanks,” I said. The next day was Monday, which meant the vet clinic was closed, save for any emergencies. That would give Sophie and me time to go up to Portland, since it looked like that was where we were most likely to find our answers.

After spending the day taking care of the local injured animals, I packed up my things, said goodbye to Sophie and Karen, and made my way out to the local beavers’ lodge that had been vandalized. After all, I had promised them I would come by, and I wanted to have a look before the sun set, which in the winter was pretty early.

I worried slightly that I wasn’t dressed quite warmly enough for an outdoor escapade, but my worries were soon put to rest when I realized just how hard it was to wander through the thick forest to try and find the beavers’ lodge.

After scrambling through some bushes, swearing more than just a few times, and coming out looking like I’d just lost a fight to Bee—when really I had lost a fight to a number of branches and twigs—I found what I was after. The beavers’ lodge was on the larger side compared to others I had seen, about ten feet long and four, maybe five feet wide, spanning the entire width of the creek. All around the lodge were the remains of trees, the marks on them making it obvious that they had been cut down by the local beaver family.

Around the lodge was an elaborate dam setup to deepen the water level; the stream was naturally only about a foot deep here, which I was well aware wasn’t deep enough for a proper beavers’ lodge. The extra wood, mud, and rocks had been put in place to deepen the water, and past the dam, only a small trickle continued onwards toward the ocean.

While the lodge looked like it had been rebuilt, there were signs that what the beavers had told me the night before about it being wrecked was true. The mud near the creek was covered with footprints, and there were bits of logs scattered haphazardly about, like someone had grabbed them from the lodge and thrown them around.

Making my way carefully to the water’s edge, I looked at the footprints. They were definitely made by a man’s boot, and they were large. Maybe a size ten? Possibly eleven? I took pictures with my phone; the tread marks were fairly distinctive. In fact, the star shape on the soles looked familiar. I made a mental note to check at home and see if I could narrow down the brand at all.

“Hey, beavers, it’s me. Are you guys ok out there?”

The main beaver that spoke to me yesterday popped his head out and waddled over towards me. I had to admit, it was pretty cute the way the beavers stumbled along on land.

“We are alright. Thank you for speaking; we were worried that you might have been the bad human come back.”

“So, tell me what it is he wrecked,” I said. “I saw his footprints on the ground by the lodge.”

“Yes, he did wreck some of the lodge, but he also tore down some of our dam. That was where most of the damage took place, which meant that the entrance to our lodge was no longer underwater, and it became an untenable situation for us.”

“Right, because without the lodge being underwater you’re more susceptible to attacks.” I nodded.

“Exactly. There are coyotes in these woods, after all. We have to be careful, and we have to protect ourselves.”

“Do any of you remember exactly what the man looked like? Or where he came from?”

The beaver shook his head. “No. He came during the day, and we were all asleep. We woke up from the ruckus he was making, but only Naba dared to poke her head out and see what was happening until he left. That was why she saw him, but she didn’t get a good look at him.”

“Did you hear anything?” I asked. Beavers had terrible eyesight, but their other senses were heightened compared to human ones to make up for it.

“There was some muttering of some sort. It referred to the dam a lot, and there were some other words that the humans call curses.”

Alright, that was definitely something. It was possible that the person was actually saying “damn” rather than referring to the beavers’ dam, which I found more likely, especially if they were cursing as well.

“Good, that’s good to know. So it sounds like he was angry?”

“Oh, definitely. He was mad about something.”

That ruled out teenagers who were bored and creating random mischief just because they could. It sounded like whoever had come over here to destroy the beavers’ habitat had done it with purpose.

“Have you rebuilt completely, then?” I asked, looking around. While it was obvious that this place had come under attack, at the same time, it did look like the beavers had put most of it back together.

“Yes, we spent almost the whole night downing new trees and putting what we could back in place. However, it is hard work. Only three of us are fit to do it; the other two kits are too young.”

“Of course.” There was a reason ‘busy as a beaver’ was a saying, and these guys were proof of it.

“So do you know who did this to us?”

“I don’t,” I replied slowly. “However, I have an idea.”

“Yes?”

“I want to come by tomorrow, or whenever I get a chance, and put some security cameras in here. That way, if whoever it was comes back, I’ll have his face on video, hopefully, and I’ll be able to track him down.”

“That’s too bad. I was hoping you would be able to tell us straightaway who it was. We heard from the other animals that you are quite skilled as an investigator; it’s why we came to you first.”

“Was the other part of that reason the fact that I’m the only human in the area who can talk to animals?” I asked with a smile.

“That factored in as well,” the beaver said. “However, we expected your work to be faster.”

“Unfortunately, detective work isn’t entirely about working hard; it’s also about getting lucky,” I replied.

“Well, here in the beaver world, it’s all about working hard. Luck doesn’t factor in; if you’re diligent in building your dams and lodges in time, then everything gets done.”

“Finding a vandal is a little bit more complex than building a lodge.”

“Please, like you could build anything remotely as complicated as this series of dams.”

“Ok, fine, complex was the wrong word. But it’s not a guarantee.”

“These sound like someone making excuses for failing to find the person who did this to us.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You know, seeing as I’m doing you a favor here, you could show just a little bit of gratitude.” I had no idea that beavers were so blunt.

“We do appreciate what you’re doing. We would just appreciate it more if your plan didn’t involve our lodge being attacked again at some point in the future.”

I thought about a solution for a minute. “Alright. Well, why don’t I put a protection spell on your lodge? That way, as long as your family stays in the lodge, nothing from the outside will be able to hurt you. It won’t protect the dam, but if he comes back he won’t be able to wreck your lodge, and he won’t be able to reach those of you who are inside. I can leave the spell on for as long as it takes, so if he comes back in a few days, you’ll be safe. Would that help?”

“You humans have that power?” the beaver asked, obviously impressed.

“Not all of us. Only those of us with magical powers, like me. The same magical powers that allow me to speak to you.”

“So with this spell, no matter what, so long as we are inside our lodge, we will be safe?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “I’m going to the city tomorrow, so I can buy some security equipment then. I will come back tomorrow night and set it up, and then if he comes by and attacks your place again, I will be able to find him.”

“Good,” the beaver said, nodding. “That is acceptable to us.” His formal tone combined with his slight lisp from the size of his front teeth was kind of funny, but pretty adorable at the same time.

“I’ll come by tomorrow, then,” I said. “Now, let me cast the spell.”

I thought for a second about the proper spell to use, thinking that maybe it would be slightly different for a beavers’ lodge than for a normal human house, then settled on the words.

“Praesidioroa domum,” I said, pointing my finger towards the lodge. “There. It’s protected.”

“Are you sure?” the beaver said, giving me a skeptical look. “I didn’t see anything change.”

“I am sure.” I nodded, making my way to the lodge. “Watch.”

I went to grab a piece of wood from the pile, but it wouldn’t budge, no matter how hard I pulled. It was like it had been embedded in concrete.

“Wow. That is impressive,” the beaver said as he waddled back towards the creek. “Maybe you do know what you’re doing after all.”

I hid a smile as I said goodbye to the beaver and struggled through the brush on my way back to the park. Who on earth would destroy a beautiful beavers’ dam and lodge like that? I knew they could be a little annoying sometimes, sure, but the beavers had just as much of a right to be there as we did.

Now I had two mysteries to solve. At least now the beavers would be safe, so long as they stayed in their lodge when the attacker came back. If it had been simple vandals, I wouldn’t have expected the attack to be repeated, but the fact that whoever had done this seemed to be in a rage made me think that maybe this wasn’t going to be a one-time thing.

I hoped I was wrong, but the way things were going, I had a feeling I wasn’t. At least the next time someone tried to attack the beavers, we would be prepared. I wasn’t going to let someone get away with hurting these animals and making them more at risk to predators.