Chapter 1: Builders and Adventurers
Barty Badger was having a wonderful day. He wasn’t even adventuring and it was a wonderful day! Barty loved fall. It was the only time of year you could jump out of a tree and land in a cushy pile of leaves instead of the hard ground. That’s way better.
A dark cloud rolled over the sun and Barty thought he heard thunder in the distance, but then it went away and Barty felt great again. Until he heard pounding. And sawing. And building. Ugh, he thought. The Builders are at it again.
Barty trundled around the bend and saw what he first heard. There was a work crew building a house, right in the best clearing in the whole forest! The house had two stories, a covered veranda, even an al fresco dining area in the back. “Why can’t they just live in a burrow like every other good adventurer!?” Barty said, not realizing he said it out loud.
Mr. Mole was the foreman (foremole) of that building crew. He was actually the Foremole of all the Builders. He heard Barty’s question and said, with more than a little irritation, “Well, Mr. Adventurer, not everyone wants to galavant around the forest all the time. Some self-respecting animals want to stay put and build a nice life right here.”
Barty’s badger paws curled up. “Adventuring is the best!” He said, almost growling. “We Adventurers have been in this Forest longer than you.”
Now Mr. Mole’s paws curled up and he stared up at the badger. “No you haven’t, we builders have been here the whole time! You just never stopped to notice.”
Things were getting tense. They had been tense for a long time now, Barty realized. Builders vs Adventurers.
And now here was a house in the best clearing, in the most sunny spot, dangerously close to Barty’s favorite boysenberry bushes.
Adventurers started to gather on Barty’s side. Builders started to gather on Mr. Mole’s side. Animals were yelling, and somebody threw a boysenberry when a massive bolt of lightning crashed into a tree. The tree smashed into the ground, destroying the house, separating the Builders from the Adventurers. Everything went silent.
Old Raven, that huge black bear, stood up on the fallen tree. His booming voice said, “I am so glad that all of you are here.” Animals started to talk, saying how one side did this or the other side did that, but Old Raven kept going. “I’m thankful that you’re all here. I’m going to need all of you. In a few months time, a terrible storm will hit. It will be very dangerous to be out unprotected. We need to help as many animals as possible get to the safety of our forest.”
Barty stepped forward. “I’ll go and help. Adventurers always help! But we don’t need those Builders to do anything.”
Mr. Mole stepped up. “What are the Adventurers going to do against a storm? We’ll build the biggest and strongest shelter ever! No need for Adventurers.”
Old Raven smiled. “My friends,” he said, “Whose forest is this? You’ll all help. Some of you will go out and find other animals. Others will work on that shelter. We need to help each other to meet this challenge.”
Barty Badger and Mr. Mole grumbled, nodded, and got to work.
Well, that’s what the legend says, but I know one thing is true: no matter how far apart two sides feel, we can still listen to the same voice.
