The Bravest Squirrel Ever

Chapter 8

  ITTY-BITTY

  Pippi jumped to the floor and ran to Lana. “What are you doing?”

  “I eat when I’m nervous,” she said, her mouth so full of seeds Pippi could barely understand her. “So what? It’s Max’s fault we’re stuck in here. Why shouldn’t we eat his food?”

  “Why can’t you run when you’re nervous?” Now she was as mad at Lana as she was at Max. “We could have gotten out of here if you’d run when I told you to.”

  “I panicked. I freeze when I panic. I eat when I’m nervous. These seeds are good. Want one?”

  Pippi shoved it in her mouth, amazed at the sweet and tangy flavor. No wonder Max liked to steal from the birdfeeder. The seeds were delicious. She helped herself to another one.

  A bang sounded from outside. Lana dropped her seed and hugged her tail. “What was that?”

  “Thunder. It’s going to rain,” Pippi said.

  “Are you sure?” She stroked her tail with her paw. “What if Max is flopping in a bag, and Fred drives away with him.”

  “He’s not.” Fred might be driving away, but she was sure Max hadn’t flopped. This time.

  Lana let go of her tail and shoved another seed in her mouth. A couple minutes later raindrops pattered against the ceiling.

  Pippi giggled.

  “What?” Lana gulped down a huge mouthful of seeds.

  “I thought getting trapped in here would be awful, but it’s not.” She twirled around. “We’re in the perfect nest. It’s dry and warm. We have tons of food. And best of all, Max is outside getting soaking wet.”

  Lana giggled and twirled too. “Serves him right.”

  They ate until they were so stuffed they couldn’t eat another bite. Then they made beds in the insulation and rested. When Pippi awoke, she walked around the nest. She sniffed the vents in the roof and listened to the rain falling.

  Had Max gone to Lana’s nest, or had he found somewhere else to keep dry? Wherever he was, Pippi knew he wished he was with them.

  Even though he’d been mean to her, she felt sorry for him. If he’d stayed here, he could have been warm and dry too.

  When Lana woke up, they played tag. She wasn’t as much fun as Max, but Pippi didn’t tell her. After they were done, they ate more seeds and rested again.

  For a few days everything was wonderful. The rain beat down on the roof, reminding them how lucky they were to be in a cozy home with plenty of food.

  The rain finally slowed to a few drips. Then it stopped. The sun came out. Pippi could see the brightness through the cloudy fiberglass on the pipe. When she pressed her face to it, she could almost feel its warmth. But the rest of the attic stayed as dark as ever.

  “I’m bored,” Lana said. “I want to go outside and collect more acorns for my nest.”

  “You don’t need your nest anymore. You have this one.”

  Lana looked at her like she was crazy. “I’m going back to mine when I get out of here. I need enough acorns to feed my babies for when I’m grown up.”

  “Babies! Why do you want to have dumb babies?” That was the worst idea Pippi had heard in her life. First Mama, now Lana.

  Before she could answer, scratching came from the ceiling. Squirrel scratching! They ran up the ramp. In the pipe on the other side of the cloudy cover, Max tugged on the wire with both paws as hard as he could.

  “Can you get it?” Pippi asked. She scraped the corner where the ceiling and fiberglass connected.

  He grunted and bit the wire. Then he pulled it with his teeth.

  Pippi pushed her head and paws against the fiberglass, trying to help. Her head hurt, but she kept pushing.

  Some dust fell in her mouth. She brushed her paws over her mouth to get it out, but more yucky dirt and dust got in. Fred was right. Squirrels couldn’t bend or break this thing. The humans had blocked their only exit.

  “You better not eat my food.” Max panted. He wasn’t trying to open the hole so he could help Pippi and Lana get free. No, he wanted to get inside for himself.

  “Do you expect us to starve?” Lana shouted at him from where she sat halfway up the ramp.

  “That’s my stash for the winter.” Max tugged the wire with his claws, but it didn’t move.

  “The winter? You don’t have enough for two weeks, let alone all winter.”

  Pippi stopped scratching and looked at her sister. She couldn’t be serious. Pippi dropped to the floor and ran to check the supply. The pile in the corner had dwindled to half the size it had been when Fred trapped them in the nest. She lifted the insulation to find the rest of Max’s stash, but the floor was bare.

  Lana was right. The food wouldn’t last.

  Pippi had wanted to get outside to enjoy the sunshine. But she thought they had everything they needed in the nest, so she hadn’t worried about not being able to get out.

  Now she panicked. She and Lana would starve if they didn’t find a way out before the food disappeared. She ran back up the rafter. “Max, do you have more seeds hidden in here?”

  “No, and I wouldn’t tell you if I did.”

  “This is serious.” Pippi stomped her paw. “What happens when we don’t have any more to eat and can’t get out?”

  “You should have thought of that before you tricked me.”

  “I didn’t trick you. I’m stuck in here because I tried to save you.” Tears filled her eyes. She pressed her front paws against them, trying not to cry.

  When she lifted her paws, Max had moved away from the pipe, and she couldn’t see him anymore.

  “You have to help us,” Lana pleaded, sounding close to tears too.

  Max didn’t answer.

  Lana shuffled to the pile. She picked up a seed and started nibbling. Pippi followed and yanked the seed out of her mouth.

  “Hey,” she yelled.

  Pippi threw the piece of seed on the floor and stood between her sister and their food. “Bite your claws if you’re nervous. From now on, we can only eat when we’re hungry.”

  Lana picked up the seed again and stuck it in her mouth. “I’ll eat whenever I want. You’re not in charge of me. You can’t tell me what to do.”

  Pippi puffed out her breath. She didn’t want to be a bossy mama, but she also didn’t want to starve. “We have to make the food last until we can figure out how to get out or get more seeds in.”

  Lana reached around her, picked up an acorn, and started nibbling. “How are we going to do that? There’s no way to get in or out.”

  “So listen to me, and stop eating!” Pippi tried to take the acorn from her, but Lana scurried away.

  Pippi didn’t want to fight her for every bite. Plus, she was too upset to be hungry. “Let’s split the pile in half, so we both get the same amount. Then you can eat as much as you want from yours and I won’t say a thing.”

  Lana turned toward her, her cheeks stuffed with the acorn. “Okay, but this one doesn’t count.”

  They spent the rest of the day counting seeds and nuts and acorns. Pippi carried her pile across the nest, one piece at a time. Then she retraced her steps to make sure she didn’t drop anything along the way.

  Afterwards, she was exhausted, but at least they each had the same amount to eat. They even split the last seed in half. She lifted the insulation and stared at her itty-bitty pile.

  Her stomach growled. She bet she could eat the whole stack right now. She forced herself to only eat the tiny half of a seed that she and Lana had split.

  Tomorrow she would look for a way out, and she would do it without Max’s help.