Chapter 14
SEVEN
“Jump,” Pippi yelled as Natalie stood at the top of the steps outside the building, holding her curled-up, quivering sister. “You’re free, Lana. Jump.”
She didn’t move. Pippi couldn’t tell if she’d even opened her eyes to know she was outside.
“Give the blasted creature to me,” Fred demanded, coming out the door.
“Lana, jump, please. Get away, and you’ll be safe,” Pippi begged. She had to think of something to wake her sister out of her panicked, frozen state.
Natalie walked down the steps and lowered her hands, setting Lana on the edge of the grass, instead of giving her to Fred. Sweet, wonderful Natalie was the best human in the world.
“I’m getting that poison, and I’m going put it on every acorn on this property,” Fred announced. He marched down the steps, his big feet coming inches from stepping on Lana, but Natalie stood guard.
Not even Natalie would be able to save Lana from the tasty acorns though.
“Thank you for your help, Fred,” Mother-Honey said. “But now that the squirrels are out of our house, you don’t need to do anything more.”
That’s right, Pippi thought.
“I will not let these animals make a fool out of me. We are a higher species.”
Humans were bigger, but from what Pippi had seen, they were far less evolved. They didn’t even have fur to protect their skin.
“I’m sure we can handle any future squirrel trouble on our own,” Mother-Honey said. “Natalie seems to have a special way with the creatures.”
“You won’t have any more trouble from me,” Pippi said. Everything Mama had warned her about going into human territory was true. In fact, it had been worse than her warnings.
She sniffed something under her paws and suddenly knew how to unfreeze Lana. Pippi dug in the dirt then lifted an acorn out of the ground. “Lana, look. Acorn.”
Finally, Lana opened her eyes. Pippi held the acorn up then shoved it in her mouth. Lana squealed and dashed toward her.
With the acorn between her teeth, Pippi ran across the yard and over the fence. She could feel Lana’s breath on her back paws as she darted through more grass and up a tree. She didn’t stop until she was inside her sister’s nest.
Pippi spit the acorn into her paws and held it out as Lana joined her.
She took the acorn, rubbing it around in her paws until it shone. She lifted it to her mouth but then lowered it and pushed it toward Pippi instead. “You need this more than I do.”
Pippi took a bite, letting the delicious nutty sweetness settle against the inside of her cheeks. Then she pushed it back to Lana. “We both need it.”
They shared the acorn in silence. Pippi was so happy to have food in her stomach again.
Lana yawned. “I’m going to take a nap. Do you want to cuddle with me?”
Pippi stood on her hind legs and stretched. “No, I’m going to look for more food. Maybe I’ll run into Max.” Or Natalie. She really wanted to tell the girl ‘thank you’ for saving her sister.
“Thanks for helping me get out of the human house,” Lana said. “You can share my nest and my acorns anytime.”
“Thanks.” She might sleep in Lana’s nest when the weather turned cold or they were lonely. But Lana had worked hard to build up her food supply. Pippi couldn’t take it from her. She needed to find her own. She knew how it felt to starve, and she would be prepared so she never did again.
She wandered down the tree and around the yard, breathing in the fresh air, sniffing all the smells she’d missed—nuts, pine, moss, even a faint whiff of skunk.
She nibbled at the tree bark and grass. Everything smelled and tasted so good. After days in the dark nest, the world outside seemed unbelievably bright.
She scampered in a wide circle around the deck at the back of the house until she arrived at the birdfeeder where Max hung upside down stuffing his cheeks. “Hi Max.”
His back legs kicked free, and he fell to the ground on his head.
“Are you okay?” She dashed toward him.
“Yeah.” He rubbed the top of his head. “How did you… I thought you…” He seemed too surprised and confused to complete his thought.
“We escaped through the inside of the human building.”
His eyes widened. “Is it full of seeds and acorns?”
“I didn’t see any, but I didn’t really look.” As hungry as Pippi had been, she’d been too worried about poison to think of eating anything. “If you see the scary guy Fred, you need to hide. Don’t eat anything he puts out. I think the other humans made him leave, but he threatened to poison us all.”
“Oh yeah?” Of course, Max didn’t look scared. “What did you do to make him so mad? Jump on his head?”
“Lana did.”
“Lana?” Max laughed. “Man, I missed all the good stuff when I ran out of the nest.”
“I’m sorry we ate your food,” Pippi said.
“No, I’m sorry.” He sounded like he meant it. “Mama was so mad when she found out you and Lana were stuck in there and I didn’t call the squirrels together for a rescue mission.”
“Mama’s mad?”
“Not at you. At me. She’s been so worried about you.”
“Me?” Pippi couldn’t believe it. “I thought she was too busy with her babies to care about me.”
“The babies aren’t my only kids, you know.” Mama’s voice came from behind her. “I worry about all my little squirrels.”
“Mama.” She swung around.
Mama wrapped her paws around her and gave her a big hug. Then she sniffed the air. “I smell rain. It’ll be here in an hour or two. Do you need someplace dry to stay for the night?”
“I’ll be okay.” She could lie in the grass with the cold rain soaking her. Lightning and thunder could flash and boom all around her, and she’d be perfectly happy. Any weather, absolutely anything coming down from the sky, would be better than being stuck starving in the awful human nest.
“I’d like for you to stay with me, and I’ll need your help for a lot longer than just one night,” Mama said.
“You want me to come back to the hollow tree?”
“I had seven babies in my litter. I can’t take care of that many at once.”
Seven babies. Wow. Squirrels usually had three or four babies at a time, five at the most. But Mama had a lot more.
“They need a responsible big sister to help them grow up, and I need someone to help me out and babysit.”
“I can really move into your nest with you?” This was her dream come true, what she wanted more than anything in the world.
“Yes.” Mama smiled at her. “I’m sorry I didn’t check on you to make sure you were okay. With all the babies, I never get any sleep or eat enough food, so I’m always tired and crabby. If you live with me until the babies are ready to be on their own, next spring the tree will be all yours.”
Pippi didn’t know how anyone could take care of that many little squirrels, but it couldn’t be any worse than almost starving and trying to avoid getting trapped by humans. She definitely had plenty of bedtime stories to tell the babies. She grinned. Maybe Lana could help her babysit.
“Sure, Mama. I’ll live with you. No matter what Max says, your nest is better than the one in the human building.”
“I say you’re right,” Max said. “And you, Pippi, are braver than Uncle Louie. You’re braver than me. In fact, you’re the bravest squirrel ever!”
About the Author
When two squirrels moved into Sara Shafer’s attic, she went on a quest to figure out what they were doing. She knocked on the ceiling, and they scratched back. Imagining what they thought and felt, she wrote The Bravest Squirrel Ever and then continued their adventures with The Bravest Squirrel in the Forest and The Bravest Squirrel in School.
Although her attic is currently vacant, the squirrels outnumber the humans in her neighborhood and could decide to take over at any moment. She watches for signs of i
nvasion as she plots more stories of squirrel bravery.
For fun squirrel facts and other books by Sara Shafer, visit her website at https://www.SaraShafer.com.
The Bravest Squirrel in the Forest
Everyone thinks Max’s sister is braver than he is, and he’s sick of it. He’s determined to prove he is the bravest squirrel ever. He devises a plan for the humans to trap him, so he can rescue his Uncle Louie.
But things don’t go according to plan. First, he is forgotten in the cage and sprayed by a skunk. Then he is dumped out of a truck and abandoned in the forest with a hungry coyote hot on his trail.
Max has to give up being brave and beg others to help him. When he has the chance to save Uncle Louie or risk his life to save a friend, suddenly Max discovers just how brave he really is.
The Bravest Squirrel in School
Lana has no interest in being brave like her brother and sister. However, she would like to be cuddled by a human, as long as another squirrel is nearby to keep her safe and rescue her.
But the plan goes horribly wrong. She ends up in a school bus full of children with no other squirrel to take care of her. Inside the school, she is discovered by a crowd of children who think she is a toy to poke and toss around.
With no one coming to rescue her, Lana needs to stand up for herself against the playground bullies and figure out a way to get back home. If she’s not brave enough to rescue herself, she’ll be stuck in school forever.
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