Otter Chaos! Read Free Page A

faces.
    â€œCheer up, otters!” smiled Papa Black, with a twinkle in his eye.
    â€œLast one home’s a bubbly fish fart!” smiled Papa Brown.
    Both otters winked at their pups before diving down with a splash. They soared underwater at high speed, taking the lead as they raced everyone home. The grandpas, always keen to show how fit they still were, also joined the race.
    â€œOur dads seem strangely cheerful,” frowned Sooty.
    â€œThat must mean they’ve got a plan!” exclaimed Woody, and the two friends shared a happy high-five, before diving underwater with a double splash and zooming after the others.

ll otters gather in the central chamber!” yelled Papa Brown, leaping out of the river and on to the mooring pad, with Papa Black following close behind. The rest of the returning group clambered after them and hurried into Cottonwood Lodge.
    When everyone was assembled, Papa Brown called for quiet and then addressed the two families. Sooty and Woody sat at the back and couldn’t wait to hear their fathers’ plan of action.
    â€œOur meeting with the new neighbours did not go well,” said Papa Brown gravely. “In fact, it went very badly indeed. The beavers refuse to move their dam and we don’t know what to do about it.”
    The otters all gasped and stared, wide-eyed, at him.
    â€œHowever …” prompted Mama Brown, elbowing her husband.
    â€œHuh?” said Papa Brown, who was always bad at giving speeches.
    â€œThe good news is that we all have different skills and talents!” Mama Brown continued, opening her arms wide. “And if we all put our furry heads together, we’re sure to come up with something brilliant!”
    â€œHOORAY!” cheered the otters.
    Papa Black stepped forward and began to scratch on the mud wall with a stick.
    â€œThere are six beavers in total,” he said, drawing six beaver-shaped blobs in a line and in order of size. “And the dam stretches the entire width of the river, blocking the flow of fish to us,” he added, drawing a wiggly line with a bend in the middle and two thicker lines cutting across the top.
    â€œWhere are we?” asked Nutmeg, raising her paw.
    â€œDon’t you know where you are?” chuckled Chestnut, mocking his twin sister as usual. “Nutmeg doesn’t know where she is!”
    â€œI meant in the diagram, nitwit,” Nutmeg groaned.
    â€œWe are right about
here
,” said Papa Black, following the river bend with his stick and drawing a cross to mark the location of Cottonwood Lodge. “And the water flows in
this
direction, from
here
to
here
,” he added, drawing a curved arrow from the dam to the lodge.
    â€œNow we just need to find a way to make these go away,” said Papa Brown, pointing at the pictures of the beavers. “Or to make
this
go away,” he said, pointing to the dam.
    â€œTurn the beavers into toads!” giggled Storm.
    â€œOr turnips!” giggled Shadow.
    â€œTurnip toads!” they giggled together.

    â€œThank you for your input,” sighed Papa Black, shaking his head and casting his eyes over the sea of black and brown fur. “Does anyone have any non-magical solutions?”
    â€œCan’t we ask them nicely to go away?” whispered Beanie.
    â€œI’m afraid we’ve already tried that, my darling,” smiled Mama Brown. “Though, I suspect if the female otters and female beavers got together, we might still arrive at a sensible solution.”
    â€œHear, hear!” said Mama Black.
    â€œYou didn’t see the female beavers!” said Grandpa Jack. “I think they were more into chomping than chatting. What did they call the three daughters?”
    â€œThe Saw Sisters,” said Papa Brown. “They were pretty scary.”
    â€œWell, I think we should set a pack of wolves after them!” growled Grandpa Bruno. “The only danger there would be making sure