The fox started to look better. It was gaining strength and seemed to be satisfied after eating its meal. The fox was still feeling shy and was staying in its bed. But thankfully, it was no longer shivering or trembling. The fox seemed to be getting really comfortable with the group of friends.
They knew that everything could change in a moment. They knew that they should not touch the fox, especially since it started to get its strength back. They could easily scare the fox, and it could jump overboard or even worse, it could attack them. So they just stayed close and watched.
Recuperating
They started to feed the fox the fish and crab that they had caught during the day. The fox did not want any of it though. Mallory continued offering food to the fox, and the fox refused. However, the fox did seem to be making a little bit of progress. They were hopeful that it was going to be able to make a full recovery.
As time went on the fox looked like it was getting more comfortable with the fisherman, the boat and his special little bed. Despite this, Mallory was still convinced it was hungry. They had some sausages on board, so she decided to try that. She gave the fox a little bit of water and a bowl of sausages.
Regaining Its Strength
While the fox may not have wanted the feast of fish and crab, it was definitely interested in these sausages. The fox perked up and went towards the bowl. To everyone's surprise, he started eating the sausages!
Thankfully, Mallory's persistence paid off. Everyone was so excited to see the fox eat and regain strength. The fox was very focused and eating every last bite of food that it was given. The friends could not stop watching with delight. For the first time since it got on the boat the fox was eating! Things started to look up for the fox.
Reaching The Dock
After what felt like an eternity, they could finally see that they were getting closer to land. They had to start to prepare the boat to be docked once again. Thankfully, after the fox was able to eat its meal, it was able to fall asleep. However, the sleep did not last for long, and the fox got woken up by all of the noises surrounding the act of docking the boat.
Their next seemingly impossible task was to get the fox off of the boat without anything terrible happening. They started to talk to the fox calmly. They knew that the fox would not be able to understand them, but they were sure they could get through to the fox simply using calm tones of voice.
Its New Home
The hard part was over. They got the fox home. They anchored the boat and secured it to the dock. Now they had to decide what they were going to do with the fox. They knew that the fox was finally out of danger now that they had rescued it. It seemed to be recovering, as well.
They knew that as much as they would want to, they could not take the fox home as a pet. After all, the fox is a wild animal. They wanted to keep the fox close to them and close to the dock where their boat was, so they began to brainstorm where they could release the fox.