Robert Runnels

From MeiLinWiki

Deputy Robert 'Rabbit' Runnels is a character in the serial Scryer's Gulch. He is the brother of John Runnels and works as the deputy sheriff of Scryer's Gulch under his brother. Rabbit is sweet on Emmy, the help at the Hopewell Hotel, while Emmy is in turn sweet on his brother John.

Deputy Runnels is a were-hare, i.e. he turns into a terrier-sized showshoe hare on the full moon, although his nickname significantly predates the condition. John gave him his nickname; he could not say 'Robert' when his little brother was born. Rabbit got bitten by a showshoe hare, which he had caught in a wire trap, shortly after the family came to Scryer's Gulch about a year before the story starts. The hare upon its death turned out to actually be a native Indian were-hare named Laughing Man, who was attracted, like many magical creatures are, by the hermetauxite deposits in the area. Laughing Man and his wife had also been driven from their tribe after becoming were-folk.

Rabbit features in the stand-alone story 'Fears Moon Woman,' which is contained in the Circlet Press anthology 'Like a Moonrise: Shapeshifter Erotica.' As the title might infer, the story is NC-17, unlike the rest of the Gulch which is resolutely PG-13. In that story he develops a brief, bittersweet relationship with Little Bird, Laughing Man's widow.