Marlon bit into the sandwich and fell over on his back. His eyes rolled into the back of his head in bliss. “Ahhh, boys, this sandwich! It’s…it’s special.”

Isaac turned to his brother in disbelief. “We went through all the trouble of getting this stupid boy’s collar just so the boss could eat a sandwich?”

“I’m not stupid.” Benjamin smiled.

Isaac’s eyes lit up. “The human understands us!”

“Of course he does,” Roscoe said.

“How?” Benjamin grinned as he pointed at the collar on his wrist. The raccoon gasped. “That is a special collar!”

“Indeed, raccoon,” Paco smiled.

“What were those buzzards doing here?” Benjamin asked Marlon.

He looked away. “Oh, them. They just stopped to see if we had anything dead lying around.” His eyes shifted back and forth. “You know how nasty buzzards can be.”

Paco looked up at the sun. “We need to get going, Sire. I’m afraid we’ve lost too much valuable time already.”

“Which way, Paco? The creek is dried up!” the pig complained.

“Marlon,” Paco asked, “can you tell us which way the river flows? We need to follow it upstream.”

Marlon looked suspicious. “Where to, boys?”

“I’m afraid we’re not at liberty to say.”

The raccoon stared strangely at Paco, then smiled. “Fellas, I can do better than that! I can give you a guide for your journey.”

“What’s he talking about?” Malcolm whispered in his brother’s ear.

“I have a bad feeling it involves us,” Isaac replied.

“A guide?” Paco asked. “Why would we need a guide just to follow the creek?”

“Well, the creek forks up a ways,” Marlon answered.

“Just tell us which one takes us to the road,” Clementine butted in.

“Road? What road?” Marlon squinted.

Roscoe indiscreetly blurted out, “The old road close to Faran–”

“It’s probably been covered over with grass and weeds,” Paco interrupted, shooting sidelong daggers at Roscoe. “Marlon, which way is upstream?”

“But haven’t you heard what’s out there, fellas?”

Paco rolled his eyes. “Yes. Something nobody’s ever seen–”

“Except that white skunk!” said Clementine.

“Right. But that’s not stopping us.” Paco glared at the pig. “We’re leaving.”

They turned to walk away. Marlon stood up. “Alright, boys. As a token of my thanks for the peanut butter and jelly, I give you Malcolm here, as guide and protector.”

“Me?!” Malcolm said.

“Him?!” Isaac was insulted. “Why him?”

“My boy, look at you. You’ve just scrapped with a band of crazy crows.”

“There was forty of ‘em, boss!” Isaac hung his head.

“Exactly,” Marlon replied. “You’re limping around and you keep making these,” he hunched over as he imititated Isaac, “Unnnh noises that frankly are starting to annoy me, capiche?” Isaac frowned. “Take the rest of the day off. Put your feet up. Throw back a few honeycombs.” Marlon patted him on the back.