The Piano
                                                                   ~Part 9


     The foxes crouched, preparing to strike. Tom cringed, covering his head and turning away, expecting the fatal blow to land any minute.
      "Wait!" a voice called. Tom looked up, fearfully, then gasped. Another fox appeared, slightly limping.
      "Slerge? But, I thought..." Tom trailed off. Finally, he finished."I thought you were the bad guy. But, somehow, I'm not sure a bad guy would save me."
      "Correct, and incorrect. Yes, I am Slerge, but no, I am not the bad guy,"Slerge affirmed. The other foxes bounded off. Slerge motioned for Tom to follow him which Tom did, cautiously.
      "Let me guess. Zaro told you that he's the good guy and I'm the bad guy, right?"
      Tom nodded. Slerge smiled.
      "That Zaro! Always mixing things up. Though he really must have meant it this time. Poor guy." Slerge shook his head sympathetically.
      "What do you mean 'poor guy'?" Tom asked.
      "Well, a while ago, Zaro was a really nice guy, always helping people. But, then, one day, he went out into the woods alone on an errand. He didn't come back for a while so a search party was sent out and found him lying, unconscious. When he woke up, he was different, distracted. He got confused a lot. He went out into the woods by himself a lot, but he never said what he did. He was more mean, snapping at foxes when they asked him to do something. Then, one day, he stole something. I caught him and then when asked, Zaro blamed me. Well, they banished him and no one heard from him for a while. After a while, I went out to see how he was and he kept running away until he vanished in the bushes by the lake where I followed him and found you."