Crossing The Poisoned River

“I don’t understand what’s happening. The sun’s out but, at the same time, it’s definitely getting darker.”
And then a curious thing happened. It became even darker, with the light quickly disappearing all around the animals.
The deer began to settle down as though it were night-time, preparing to go to sleep.
Soon, it became darker still.
“What’s happening?” Honeybear cried out. “It can’t be night yet, we’ve only just woken up!”
Gerumph turned his head and pointed at the sky. “I don’t believe it,” he said. “The sun’s turned black!”

In book 12, Honeybear and Gerumph travel towards the Red Circle Ranch. On their way, they encounter a very strange, dangerous creature, but also their old friend Douglas the owl.

Together they must survive a bewildering experience when the sun goes out, plunging them into total darkness in the middle of the day.

Eventually they come to a poisoned river, where some greedy raccoons bar their way, demanding payment to let them cross the only bridge. Gerumph refuses and tries to cross anyway – which is when he discovers the raccoons have a swarm of stinging wasps on their side.

With no other option, the friends reluctantly pay the toll and continue their journey, but Douglas comes up with an unlikely way to get revenge.