Scary Stories for Young Foxes

As told by the storyteller:

Caught in the trap, Mia finds a fox paw writhing with maggots. She realizes that the last fox who was caught must have gnawed off their own leg to escape. She considers doing the same when Uly appears and urges her not to. Together, Mia and Uly manage to spring the trap. Uly reveals that the night before his mother dragged him up the cliffs, she had gone below to visit him. Together, they found a shortcut from the cave to the den above. Then, Mercy dragged him into the open, presenting him to Wynn. Mercy only pretended to shake Uly, and, as planned, she dropped him so that he would land safely on a ledge and could then climb back down to his cave. As Mia and Uly consider how to rescue Mercy, Mia remembers the paw.

Wynn awakens, annoyed by the sound of scratching, and discovers a rotting fox’s paw, roiling with maggots. Odette denies knowing where it came from. When Wynn retires for bed the next day, the paw is lying on his resting spot. Odette swears she buried it. He orders her to drop it into the rock’s chasm.