Reed peaked between the green shrub leaves of his favorite hiding spot. He had taken it upon himself to observe all the new arrivals set up camp. After all, his whole family relied on his uncanny diversionary skills for extra food from campers, therefore he needed to be prepared. For each heist, he only liked to use a few assistants, so targets wouldn’t get spooked. Usually he had gotten to choose these marmots, but recently he had been continually stuck with his bratty sister, Jade.
So far, these people seemed organized and put together, but not overly protective of their wares. The man appeared to be in charge while the woman sat, talked constantly, and didn’t get up once. However, she did drop quite a few crumbs which was promising. This was going to be an easy target for food; hopefully they planned to stay for a while.
Reed faintly heard leaves crunching behind him and presumed Jade was finally joining him. Seconds later a pile of fur pounced boisterously on his back.
“Be quiet!” he hissed through his buck teeth as he roughly pushed her off. “Where were you? If I am going to be forced to work with you, you could at least be on time. They are almost finished setting up and, like always, I was left doing your share of the work.”
“Calm down. I’m here now, aren’t I? Fill me in on what you’ve seen so far. How do they look?” Jade uttered.
“No dogs and the people look pretty harmless. Don’t worry. I’ve made a good plan for us. It should be a pretty easy score.”
“I’m sure you’ve thought of every detail. If you think it’s going to be so easy, what do you need me for? Can’t the almighty Reed do it by himself? Just as soon as he gets out of his bath that is.” With that. Jade shot him a sly grin and, with a flick of her tail, threw dirt all over his pristine coat before disappearing through the shrubs.
She’s gonna pay for that, Reed furiously muttered to himself. He liked to keep his rare auburn-brown fur impeccable, and now it was covered in filth from the forest floor. Whipping his tail across his back, he attempted to brush the dust off, but that only beat it further into his thick undercoat. Feeling the little particles dig deeper and coat his skin, he knew it was a losing battle.
This is pointless. I’m merely grinding it in more. I feel exceptionally icky and need to get to the lake. A good soak and scrub will wash the dirt off. The other marmots laughed at him for bathing so much when he lived underground, but his unsullied pelt was what attracted and distracted unsuspecting campers. They should be thanking me. I make their jobs so much easier.
Dashing out of the cover of the underbrush, Reed raced on his stubby legs across a dirt footpath to the rock wall surrounding the water. Scuttling down to the blue pond, he dove in and tried to wash his silky coat. Surfacing, he flipped onto his back and floated for a bit while he cleaned his golden-haired belly. Not many marmots could swim, much less float on their backs, but he was a pro. It was simply another trick in his arsenal.
When he finally felt refreshed, Reed left the water and entered the labyrinth of tunnels running beneath the rocks. These supplied cover and quick passage along the entire shoreline with entrances and exits masterfully concealed between the ashen, misshaped stones. All marmot colonies were allowed to use them, along with their chipmunk cousins, as long as they stuck to the tunnels and avoided private dens.
Looking to exit the tunnels quickly, Reed poked his head out, squinted his beady eyes and looked around. The first thing to catch his attention was another family setting up camp. Unlike the first, however, this group didn’t look the least bit promising. There was a yippy little dog and two older boys. They were shooting rocks at the ducks in the water with some rubber band contraptions in their hands.
I’ll have to be sure Jade stays away from that camp. She gets herself into trouble if I don’t take care of her. I don’t think any of us dare go near there for that matter or count on any food.
Yanking his head inside, he ran farther down the tunnel before popping back up. This time, the exit looked safer, so he climbed out of the dirty tunnel. Before running off, Reed noticed a few of his fellow marmots peeking out of holes nearby. Being the benevolent neighbor he was, he chirped a quick hello and warned them about the rock shooting boys. He feared they were merely getting started with ducks.
Along with being unclean, the cool underground passageways prevented his coat from drying. A run in the sun would dry it and leave it with a natural sheen. He had barely run ten feet when he heard screaming coming from the camps. Fearing he had been seen, Reed froze mid-stride. Luckily, after a few moments, he realized it was merely a family squabble. He waited until all was quiet for a few minutes, then slowly clambering down to a rock near the water’s edge. Flattening his still damp stomach against the warm granite, he savored the radiating heat.
Soaking in the sun is nearly as enjoyable as soaking in the water. Reed thought serenely. He marmot-napped until the breeze turned cool and then headed to the family den. Tomorrow would be eventful, and he needed to get to sleep.
The next day, Reed and Jade waited until they saw the couple trudging up the hill before scuttling over to check under the campsite’s picnic table. Sure enough, there were morsels and tidbits galore dropped from the humans’ breakfast.
Reed looked around at all the scraps on the ground, “How can they survive if they eat so little and drop so much?”
“Duz id willwe madder?” Jade said around a mouthful of food.
Realizing she had made a good point for once, he dove into the bounty. After gorging themselves until solely dirt was left under the table, they shuffled back to the safety of the rocks right before the campers came back.
“So, what’s the plan for the day?” Jade questioned as she lounged in the sun.
Stretched out beside her, Reed regarded the two humans setting up chairs by the rock wall before answering, “I think our best approach with these two is distraction. I can keep them busy with tricks and cuteness while you creep in and look for food.”
“Seriously? We did that last time. Is that all you can come up with...parading yourself in front of the camera? Why do you even bother scouting?” she groused.
Reed chose to ignore her and dozed peacefully in the sun. He relished these early days of summer when he could spend more time outside, and Jade wasn’t going to ruin one second of it. Unfortunately, the familiar sound of crinkling food wrappers and the delightful smell of treats would cut his time in the sun short. Recovering from the last and preparing for the next big sleep was always a priority.
“Rest time is over. Jade, go get ready. I’m going to go strike my first pose.”
Rolling her eyes, she hurried across the path and hid in some bushes behind the unsuspecting duo. Reed moved behind a rock that was in front of them, but slightly to their right. Sitting on his back legs, he leaned forward, crossed his arms on top of the stone, and stared straight ahead. He heard the woman point him out, so he knew they had taken the bait. Moving to his next pose, he climbed up and over the rock and scrambled to a nearby tree. He stood upright on his back legs, stared at a point in the distance, and remained perfectly motionless. The typical ooohs and aaahs started, with a few ‘He’s adorable’s’ thrown in. Out of the corner of his eye, Reed saw Jade stealthily sneak up and slip a bag from underneath the man’s chair with her teeth. Now she had to safely skedaddle.
To keep eyes focused on him and give Jade plenty of time to slip away, Reed moved into one more posture. Leaning forward slightly and placing his front paws on the rock in front of him, he stuck his white-frosted nose in the air and transformed from the thinker to the sniffer- much to the delight of his audience. When his sister had successfully made it into the shrubbery, she whistled signaling an end to his modeling duties. Without further ado, he darted off to join her and regroup before their next, more challenging, act.
“Did we get anything good?” He anxiously asked as he tried to peer over her shoulder.
Pilfering through the bag, Jade pitched out bags that had pictures on them of the salty wafers all campers seemed to enjoy. She then pulled out bags of mixed nuts and fruit.
Tossing one to Reed, she queried, “It looks like they went foraging, but I have no idea where. I don’t recognize half of these.”
He opened the bag and stuck his nose in to grab a mouthful, “It’s better than anything around here. Eat up so we can get back out there.”
They inhaled their snacks before Reed went over the next strategy.
“I saw them set packages on the picnic table when they returned. I can distract them with tricks in the lake and with hole-hopping while you go investigate. We’ll probably only get one shot at this, so get as much as you can. We need to share this take with the others.”
Jade stuck out her stubby arms and stated wistfully, “These can only hold so much, and I can’t run well with them weighed down.”
As he turned to leave, Reed exasperatedly emphasized, “Then make more than one trip and drag it with your teeth.”
As he cautiously moved down the footpath, he decided to do hole-hopping first so he could clean up afterwards. Crossing the trail to the rocks, he quickly turned to make sure his sister was ready to go before diving into a tunnel entrance. Reed had these well-travelled tunnels memorized, thus he had no problem popping his head out of the rocks right in front of the couple’s lawn chairs. He kept his head above ground long enough for them to see him, and for him to glance quickly in Jade’s direction. She was already rummaging on the table, so he pulled his head in and began the game.
Crawling down the tunnel a bit, Reed emerged from a new hole. He continued this pattern—up, down, tunnel, up, down, tunnel—in either direction from their chairs until his body ached. For some reason, humans seemed to be vastly entertained by this. Every time he stuck his head up, he tried to glance in Jade’s direction. For all he could see, things appeared to be going ok, so he followed the tunnel that exited in the lake. He would try to keep an eye on things from there.
The cool, clean glacier water felt extremely soothing on his skin and muscles after the dingy tunnel entertainment. He gracefully rolled through the water, drenching every strand of fur, before finally floating on his back. The sounds from the shore seemed vastly encouraging, until he heard the man shouting in alarm. Reed wasn’t sure what the fuss was about, but he whistled a warning to Jade just in case. Hoping he had given her enough time, he headed for the shore.
Joining her back in the shrubbery stash house, Reed was astounded by her haul.
“Impressive. Some apple cores—they waste so much—soot covered meat patties, orange peels, and so much more...the den is going to eat well tonight.”
“Well, they have to come get it, because I refuse to drag this any farther. I think I chipped a tooth and broke a nail,” Jade retorted bitterly.
“We can arr....” Reed stopped mid-sentence and tilted his head to listen to his neighbor’s distinctive chirping. It would seem the campsite next door had left and forgotten to put their trash and food away. The place had turned into a marmot buffet, and everyone was invited. He had made Jade promise to steer clear of there, but as he caught her eye, he knew there was no stopping her. All he could do was go protect her and pray no one found this food.
As they approached the campsite, Jade went to join the feast, but Reed’s attention was drawn elsewhere. The rubber band contraptions the boys had used to torment the ducks were lying on one of the table’s benches.
If they shoot rocks at ducks with those things, what’s to keep them from shooting the closer targets like marmots and chipmunks?
He went over to the bench and pulled down the torture devises. While everyone was on the table eating, he sat under the bench and gnawed each band of rubber into multiple pieces. No camper had the right to come to his lake and attack his friends. He might steal food, but he had not and would not hurt anyone.
When Reed had finished, he went to join the almost finished festivities. Jade had cunningly saved a few things for him that he hurriedly gulped down. They rushed back to their private stockpile and thankfully found the food untouched. Reed had seen a few family members at the banquet and had asked them to return with him. Everyone, except Jade, quickly moved the provisions into the den.
As they were getting ready to go underground for the night, Reed and Jade heard screaming and wailing coming from the direction of the boy’s camp.
“We need to steer very clear of that camp tomorrow,” Reed said.
Jade gave her brother a look, “What did you do?”
“I’ll tell you inside. Go!”
“Did you do something naughty?” Jade said laughing. “I’m so proud of you. Even if you are full of yourself.”
Reed playfully shoved his sister towards the entrance. Working with her was turning out to be not too bad after all.
Author: Katie Yusuf
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