Then Benjamin understood! He grabbed his wrist. “Oh no!” he panicked, then he remembered he’d taken it off. He looked behind the backpack but nothing was there. He shook the pack and frantically scanned the ground. “It’s gone! The collar’s gone!!”

“It seems our King has lost the royal collar,” Paco said.

“Uh-oh,” Roscoe said. “That means he can’t understand us.”

Benjamin shrugged. “Sorry. I can’t understand you.”

“Give me a minute.” Paco scanned the surroundings then saw two black feathers on the ground. “Crows!”

“Crows?” the pig asked.

“They stole it! They stole the King’s collar while we slept!”

Benjamin watched in frustration. I should never have taken it off last night!

“Oh no! What are we gonna do?” Roscoe cried helplessly.

Clementine took a deep breath and yelled, “Heeelllllp! HEEELLLLLP!”

It was quiet for a few seconds then they jumped at the sound of snapping sticks. The noise grew closer and closer. Roscoe gulped. “I hope help doesn’t come slithering on its belly.”

What’s that noise? Benjamin stared at the grass.

A bushy-tailed squirrel ran out. “Someone in trouble?”

He took a second to catch his breath, then saw Benjamin. “Human! Run for your lives!” His tail, twice as bushy as before, stuck straight out in terror.

Benjamin stepped back. “Can you hear me? I’m with them!”

“No, no, squirrel,” Paco said. “The human belongs to us. He’s harmless.” The squirrel’s eyes darted from dog to boy. “I’m Paco. And this is Clementine and Roscoe.”

“I’m Thomas. Did–”

“Nice to meet you, Thomas, and thanks for answering our call for help.”

“Did you see it?” the squirrel asked impatiently.

“What?” Clementine asked.

I hope the squirrel knows where my collar is, Benjamin thought.

“I heard through the squirrel chain last night it was wandering in the woods.”

Roscoe suddenly realized what he might be talking about. “Do you mean that big, nasty boar? Don’t worry, little squirrel. I killed it.”

“You?!” Clementine’s eyes twitched. “I believe it was I who killed the beast!”

“Quiet, you two!” Paco said.

“A giant boar?” the squirrel asked. “Oh! You mean old Walter?”

“If that boar’s name was Walter then, yes, we killed him.”

The squirrel laughed. “Walter was a menace to the forest. But even he was frightened of this thing.”

The pig gasped. “You mean Farang–”

Paco kicked Clementine’s leg. “So it could still be out there?” Thomas nodded. “Well, then we’d better be quick about getting back our collar,” he said under his breath.

“What’s this all about?” Thomas’s eyes darted to the boy behind them.

Benjamin kept his distance. “I’ll just stand back here, guys.” He could tell something was wrong by his friends’ reactions.

“Thomas, our king had a shiny collar stolen last night by the felons who left these.” Paco held up the feathers and gave them to Thomas.

“They’re from crows,” Clementine said.