My route to and from a friend's house at the top of Beechen Cliff takes me up and down the steps depicted on the cover of The Badgers of Beechen Cliff. Tonight, on the way there, the sun was setting, creating fiery red splashes on the trees and the ancient walls. Coming home, I half expected to meet a badger on the path. It's happened before. But not tonight. The route takes me down Holloway and eventually past St. Mark's Church. The footpath passes between two graveyards no longer used or consecrated. On the right, by the railing, there was a sudden scuffling among the leaves. I froze. I could see two badgers, one only a few feet away which was quickly reacting to my scent - hopefully, my human scent, not just the cheap aftershave.
I stood stock still for about five minutes in the light of a waning moon as they snuffled among the leaves, grass and wild flowers, stopping every now and again to examine things more closely. Eventually, one came within a metre of where I was standing, scrabbled around, stopped and peered up at me. If, you could read my mind, I thought, you'd realise I've written a story about you. But it scurried off and I left them to it.
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