The sound of the hounds barking was loud and clear over the fields. The ring of aggression in their collective voices made the frightened little fox begin to run.
He ran until he came to the forest. The noisy dogs and their horse-mounted companions were not far behind. Desperately he looked left and right and raised his ears up to the sound of rustling leaves. There was one glimmer of hope. If only he could make it to the old oak by the river. The tree was as old as the forest itself and had a hollow hole inside the trunk. If he could get to it in time, he might make it another day.
He scurried past trees left and right, not as if his life depended on it, but because his life depended on it. Twigs crunched under his feet as he ran, causing a sharp pain but he paid this no mind. The oak was only a few yards away. Dogs were getting closer and he could hear galloping not far behind them. He approached the tree. An owl was sleeping in his nest in the hollow so that hiding spot was out of the question. No time to think, he quickly scurried up the back of the trunk of a nearby tree as quietly as he could and saw the leaves were thick around the branches just a few feet up.
Deciding to try and hide among a particularly thick patch he began to pray to the spirit of the great fox king. He could hear his shallow breaths come in and out and the pounding of his heart filled his ears.
Having a few free seconds, he sat and he wondered. Why were they doing this? He couldn't think of any reasons this group would be after him. Please! Just let me be. Frightened beyond thoughts, he curled up in a small ball and waited.
All too quickly the dogs and riders were upon the tree. The normally calming sounds of the stream bubbling up were drowned out by loud obnoxious barking. It turned out the dogs were not fooled by the tree tactic. They circled the tree barking. The little fox felt himself shaking.
All of a sudden, the dogs stopped and turned their attention away. A huge fox-like shadow leaped from the old oak and started moving quickly toward the dogs. Whatever it was had the effect of completely spooking the rambunctious canines. They took flight at once in the opposite direction. Their intense barking was replaced by whimpering. Perplexed, the riders reluctantly followed the hounds. A calmness came over the little fox and he knew that all would be right, the hunt was over, for him anyway, but not wanting to leave things to chance, he stayed his ground, or branch, for another hour.
Later that night he brought his choice kill of the evening over to the old oak and laid it at the base with gratitude.
