“Do you think they’d give me a couple clams now?” Dab asked plaintively. “I don’t think I can wait. I’m going to ask the guard. Watch my pack.”

The white Duck person waddled toward the dripping cart, her gaze fixed on the big mound of clams that poked up above the tall side walls. She barely noticed as a Rarebit, ears poking through a floppy red hat, threw a swollen bladder at the unsuspecting guard Duck. The bladder exploded, covering the hapless guard in thick, sticky honey. “My feathers,” squawked the guard. “Help!”

Dab watched, slack-jawed, as a brown Mouse in a purple robe leapt from behind the Rarebit, climbed onto the driver’s seat, snatched the reins, and said, “Hurry up, Gin, let’s get these clams to Squealer!”

“Ready,” said the Rarebit as he hopped over the wagon’s sidewall and landed atop the heaped pile of clams. “Go!” The Mouse snapped the reins and the Hostrich instantly leapt forward, jerking the cart along and heading straight for Dab.

“Stop, you can’t steal those clams!” Dab yelled as she drew her sword and brandished it. Her eyes widened as the Hostrich-drawn cart barreled toward her, and then jumped aside, rolling in the dark sand. The Duck regained her footing in time to watch the cart as it rumbled westward and into the streets of the island city, shadowed by the late afternoon sun.

“Char, come on, we’ve got to get those clams,” Dab called to her Dwarg companion as she waddled after the cart on her webbed feet.

Char grabbed Dab’s pack, jammed his cow bone into his mouth, and began chasing after his feathered friend, sturdy canine legs quickly closing the distance between them.

~~~

"Clambake Calamity" is a fun and lively novella set in the lands of Middle Aesopia! Follow Duck warrior Dab and dog-folk Dwarg priest Char as they try to stop rabbitish rogue Rarebit Gin and mystical Mouse Rascal from ruining the monthly clambake ... and discover that there is more than meets the eye and even viler villainy at work! This story is also a preview of Skirmisher's upcoming "Aesopia: RPG Adventures with Animal People" and contains a significant amount of background and setting information related to it (and ties in with its Gold-bestselling "Quactica: Battles for the Soul of Middle Aesopia" miniatures game).