Meadow Flowers & Butterflies by StarSpray

Funny Little Thing

A strange man comes into town looking for livestock.

Written for 2019 Back to Middle-earth Month bingo, for the prompt Animal Companion on the Original Characters bingo card.

News passed quickly through the animals of the woodmen living in the vales between the Anduin and the Greenwood. The biggest gossips were of course the horses and ponies, for they had more opportunity to travel between the villages and so learn all the most interesting pieces of news, which they then passed on to the dogs that lived in the stables with them, and the cats, and sometimes even birds and mice, although the chickens were never very interested and wild birds had their own concerns, and the mice did not often come out to hear the news for fear of the cats.

So the animals in the village of River Bend were aware of the stranger that had come down out of the mountains well before he arrived in their home. As was the nature of gossip, especially among animals, he was not quite as the tales said. He was somewhat smaller, though not by much, and hairier, although again not by much, and he did not smell exactly like a bear, although it was immediately agreed that he did not smell quite human either.

The people greeted him in the usual way, with a mixture of wariness and welcome. It soon became clear that he had staked a claim of land out for himself somewhat north of them, just on the other side of the river, and as the animals all knew, he was looking for livestock: for hounds and horses, and cows and sheep.

Crooked-tail had listened to the rumors about the big strange man come down out of the mountains, but without much interest. He was curious, of course, but he was the smallest of his litter—and with a crooked tail to boot—and everyone was sure that the stranger would choose one of his bigger and prettier brothers or sisters to take away with him across the river. You had to be big and strong to survive across the river, where there were bears and orcs and other things that would swallow up a too-small puppy in one gulp. But when their master whistled for them he trotted out into the yard behind the rest, but he did not reach their master before being distracted by a butterfly that flitted across his nose, begging to be chased.

He had almost reached the fence around the garden when a large hand closed around him, lifting him disconcertingly high by the scruff of his neck. It was the stranger of course, with his not-quite-human and not-quite-animal musky smell. The skin around his eyes creased with laugh-wrinkles as he held Crooked-tail up in front of his face. Crooked-tail wiggled and licked his nose, making him chuckle—a nice sound, deep and rumbling.

"You're a funny little thing," he said. And then to the master, "I'll take this one."