The Otter family
“Two of the nicest folk on the river,” this tight-knit family unit does what they can to get by—odd jobs, laundry, making pies, knitting socks—but both Ma and Emmet secretly dream of buying the other lavish Christmas presents they absolutely can’t afford. The sad loss of Pa hangs over the pair; from what we learn of him, he was a bit of a rascal who lived by one creed: “a person’s got to take some chances or life will never come to nothing.” Eventually Pa’s proven right, but even when Ma and Emmet seem on the verge of losing everything, we know the love that binds them is somehow going to get them through.
