he mountain lion sniffed the air and looked about, then dipped his mouth into the water and took a few laps before turning on his tail and padding slowly back into the forest. Moments later the otters swam quickly to the surface, gasping for breath. Once they were sure the big cat had gone, Papa Brown and Papa Black led the pups home.

Woody and Sooty felt a little shaken, but they were mostly thrilled to have had such a close encounter with a dangerous animal and couldn’t wait to brag about it to the others. But the impact of their bragging was somewhat ruined by the cuddles and kisses from Mama Brown and Mama Black.

“You are never to go to that stream again,” said Mama Black, hugging Sooty so hard that he squeaked. “It’s much too risky with a lion prowling the forest.”

“The same goes for you,” agreed Mama Brown, licking her paw and flattening the ruffled fur on Woody’s head. “We can all live without crayfish.”

“But—” started Grandpa Bruno, who was promptly silenced by a look from Grandma Maple.

Later that day the otters left the safety of the lodge to forage for more food and the elders insisted that they all stay close together. There was a chance that the mountain lion could try its luck again, now it knew there were otters this side of the river.

“Everyone keep an eye on the riverbanks,” said Papa Brown, who led the trail of hungry otters across the river, like a mother duck followed by her ducklings. “Any sign of movement and you screech at the top of your voice and dive under.”

The youngsters did as they were told, but seemed more excited than frightened by the danger.

“That mountain lion is lucky I wasn’t there,” Chestnut said to Woody, throwing air-punches like his grandpa. “I would have bopped him on the nose and sent him yelping back into the forest.”

“Yeah, right,” scoffed Nutmeg. “I would have been much braver than you.”

“I would have jumped on the big cat’s back and ridden him through the forest,” said Jet, grooming his Mohawk fur-do. “You two are so lucky to get close to a real mountain lion!”

“It was pretty scary,” said Sooty, enjoying the attention.

“His paws and claws were huge,” said Woody, flexing his own paws and spreading his claws wide. “Not to mention his teeth. I think he could have gobbled us all up in one go!”

“He was so fast!” said Chip. “I’m glad you got away!”

The otters were startled by the voice and looked around to see the young beaver kit behind them. They were so surprised at his sudden appearance that they nearly gave the alarm screech.

“You saw it too?” asked Woody, swimming over to his friend.

“We came up over the dam just as you all dived in,” said Chip. “The mountain lion was right behind you!”

“We could hear his paws on the ground!” said Sooty, swimming over to join them.

“And his loud breathing,” added Woody, doing an impression of a panting lion with his tongue hanging out, which made everyone laugh very loudly.

The rest of the otters swam over to hear what Chip had to say about the predator. The kit appeared to be out in the river alone, so they made sure not to crowd around and frighten him.

“Has your family seen him since?” Grandma Maple asked kindly.

“Yes, ma’am,” Chip replied shyly. “We’ve seen him stalking at the edge of the forest. Dad says to keep a constant lookout and stay close to the river.”

Just then Chip’s dad rose out of the water, followed by Twiggy and their three daughters. Chuck looked as bad-tempered as ever. He motioned for his son to join his sisters, who all tutted with disapproval as Chip approached them. Twiggy’s mood didn’t seem any better and she nudged her husband to say something to the otters.

“We wouldn’t need to look out for mountain lions if you lot hadn’t led one to the river where we live!” growled Chuck, picking at his huge front teeth with a fish bone.

“Well, we wouldn’t have been chased by a mountain lion if you hadn’t built that stupid dam,” growled Papa Brown, waving a paw at the enormous wall of wood.

“How do you work that out?” scoffed Chuck.

“We only happened upon the mountain lion because you stole all our fish and forced us into the Wild West!” retorted Papa Black. “It was the only other place we could get a decent meal to feed our families.”

There was silence for a moment, broken only by snorting and snuffling from both camps, and much puffing out of chests as the situation turned into a stand-off between the otters and the beavers. Grandpa Bruno swung his paws, while Grandpa Jack held him back.

“No one is entirely to blame,” Mama Brown said firmly.

“Well, if you ask me—” said Twiggy.

“If we asked you,” interrupted Mama Black, smiling hopefully at the beaver, “I’m sure you would agree that no good can come from our husbands fighting. Especially when we have young ones to protect against a common enemy.”

Twiggy screwed up her nose and frowned as she thought about what had just been said to her. Then she looked at Chuck and her children and nodded in agreement.

“So I propose that we put all our differences aside for now and join forces,” added Mama Brown, smiling at the beavers. “And I would like to invite you all back to Cottonwood Lodge, where we can tackle the problem of the mountain lion … together.”