Chapter 11
Ardo’s athletic build, tight and strenuous, allowed him to cruise many strides ahead of the rest of the pack. The rest of the pack which followed was bumbling and running towards their commune, or the Dreys as it was commonly and properly named. The wind rushed by the thick of his ears, which he held back to improve his aerodynamic shape. His jacket flopped open as he moved, which increased drag, but he did not have the time to zip it up, and although he could have easily discarded it in a second, his mind was elsewhere, thus the garment remained clutching to him for dear life like a fly catching a ride on a trotting mare. He took each bound intently; time being of the utmost importance so that he could warn his tribe, but when he reached the outskirts of the Dreys, it appeared like news had traveled faster than he was able to run.
The Sciurini village was an explosion of chaos and nonstop motion as gray fur blurred in every direction. Chattering, chittering, and commotion reigned; any elderly squirrel assisted by a hearing aid could have switched them off to conserve battery life and not had to worry about missing a thing. Ardo skidded to a stop and his eyes darted back and forth, at first trying to identify if evidence of an attack on his tribe was present and once he concluded that all was safe, he tried to spot the best individual to clue him in.
“Rose,” Ardo screamed over the deafening babble, but his words went unnoticed before he turned it up a notch. “Rose, Rose.”
“Ardo,” Rose turned, her eyes waterfalls, as she frantically dodged the heavy foot traffic to join her lifelong friend. “We heard. Ardo, I am so sorry.”
“Thanks,” Ardo was pushed back into the reality of loosing his father, which he temporarily and unfairly forced to the recesses of his mind. “Did whoever deliver the news explain that this was an attack on our tribe?”
“Yes,” Rose nodded. “The Chief called a tribe meeting by the Big Oak. Do you think he is going to declare war on the birds?”
“He can’t declare war,” Ardo shook his head in the disappointment that he had not previously considered that war was an option. “The birds aren’t smart enough to pull this off by themselves. They are always pawns, we can’t attack them unjustly.”
“But, Hemlock,’ Rose cried, obviously seeing more violence as proper retribution.
“Rose,” Ardo cooed so that he could keep the situation calm. “The birds are hired guns, they always have been. Name a swan you know that would not peck his own mother for a nibble of bread? This whole thing is a lark, and we are falling right into place. There has to be a bigger picture somewhere and let’s just hope that Bushy Tail knows this. Rose, let’s quit jumping to conclusion and make our way to the Big Oak.”
Chapter 12
Toby finished up using the fur dyer, unplugged it, and placed it back into its drawer. He pulled on his green plaid shirt, and decided that for this picnic he would put on a tie; you can never look too good when you are with your family.
Toby Furrows grabbed his keys, pulled his front door open and looked back into his home; a loving family was all he ever wanted and his life was perfect by all measures of squirrel scales. He flicked the lights off, pulled the door closed and locked up; remembering vaguely of a time when using a deadbolt on a nest was just unheard of, but now the threat of chipmunks and shrews was always at the back of everyone’s mind.
Toby scurried down the trunk of the tree neighborhood he was part of; it was not the biggest tree in the forest, nor was it the most laden with leaves, but it was perfect for his family, and the girls had plenty of friends to frolic with. Once he had touched down on the leaves that acted as the vestibule to the shared living space, he took off running. As he ran and breathed the sweet forest air through his nose he let his mind wander to work related issues. Thirty percent less acorns this year than the previous year, and that year was twenty percent less than the year before that. Toby did a quick computation in his head, factoring in the exponential growth of the tribe population as of late and he knew that their time of prosperity was quickly coming to an end unless they found more plentiful trees. Toby was always a planner and he was trying to figure the best way to hedge his resources so that his family would not fall on hard times, but the future held too many uncertainties.
Toby continued running, trying to come up with the best way to care for his family while the leaves of low bushes caressed his face, and then in a clearing the Big Oak sprung up like the mightiest tree in a forest, which is just happened to be. The Big Oak was the cornerstone of the Sciurini Tribe, acting not only as its village square, but the headquarters for the governing bodies, and the storehouse for all the acorns that were harvested. The Sciurini Tribe was set up around the notion that if each family donated certain portions of their harvest supply to be used in times of emergency, or to otherwise enhance the tribe that they would all be better off, and for the past few years that had been the case. The stockpile was nested deep in the recesses of the Big Oak, and there were very few squirrels that knew of the dwindling supply, and those few were sworn to secrecy until a solution was worked out; unfortunately Toby was one of these few.
Toby slowed his shuffling when he noticed the large crowd gathered around the large tree almost as if eagerly awaiting something of great importance. Each eye in the crowd was fixed, and the tension in the air was thicker than the produce of a maple.
“What’s going on,” Toby called back to a vaguely familiar face as he continued to try to push through to avoid being late reuniting with his family.
“Hem Rudolph was run flat,” the crowd member shouted after Toby with concern in her voice.
Hem finally met his maker; Toby shook his head in severe sorrow. Although Toby and Hem rarely had the chance to sit down and talk, Toby was quite aware of the great things Hemlock brought to the tribe, and he was grateful of the inspiration that he blessed the others with. I will send a fruit basket to his two sons, Toby nodded to himself and then stopped in his tracks as Chief Bushy Tail stepped out onto the pedestal branch of the Big Oak and a hushed silence fell over the tribe.
Chapter 13
“My fellow squirrels,’ Chief Bushy Tail called out to his public before turning to his assistant and motioning for him to turn up the volume on the speakers. “It is with great sorrow that I deliver the news of Hemlock Rudolph.”
The Chief held for a moment to allow a moment to mourn, and to allow for those in the crowd who were not informed yet to be filled in by their neighbors. When the murmuring died down, the Chief continued.
“Some of you may think that Hemlock lived a life of adventure with no regard for safety and that his death was nothing short of expected,” the Chief looked over from above and studied the faces and expression of those receiving his message. “While this may be partially true, we must not discount the fact that what he did was for the benefit of the tribe, and that his life was nothing less than a gift to those who knew him. It is also with the heaviest heart that I inform you that his death was in no way an accident.”
The shocking breaths inhaled about the furry mob, the cries of pain exploded amongst the scruffy sorrowed, and the befuddled looks throughout the crowd let Bushy Tail know that to many this information was not properly relayed and that he should appropriately explain. All the greats know how to feed the public, and this particular Chief was nothing short of one to be considered up there with them.
“Just as my father before me, who served the Sciurini Tribe as Chief with all his heart, and I like him, give the tribe nothing but all my love and dedication, and not just to the tribe, but to each of its individual squirrels. I loved Hemlock, not just as the symbol he stood for, but for the loving father of two, Boro and Ardo, that he was, and for the plentiful acorns he contributed for the stock over his cherished lifespan, but most of all, because he was part of our family. Just as each of you hear me now, know that I love each of you, and when I learned that a winged beast of terror soared down and interfered with Hem’s greatest day, it tore me apart. My family, there was interference and this was undoubtedly premeditated.”
The Chief paused his speach temporarily again, not to study his delivery this time, but because of a peculiar sound that he heard grinding away subtly. Were others hearing this as well? Was it just feedback from the speakers? Perhaps he should have the tribe invest in a better announcement system. Their last systems upgrade was two, maybe three years ago, what was the functional life of a sound system?
“We all know the times we live in are, for lack of a better word, troubled, and we also know that the birds are not to be trusted. Always hunting us from above. They prey of us, as we pray to remain unseen, but to take it to this new and unthinkable level and to strike not for food related reasons, but just to kill for killings sake; I don’t even think I have the appropriate words to relay what we are all feeling. Now I know we are all woodland creatures and are quite familiar with the bushes, so I will stop beating around it. The birds have gone too far this time, and I am officially declaring that we will not stand for it. If we do nothing then the savage assaults will continue and our numbers will dwindle down to extinction. I will not allow that, for my love for each of you is far too strong. We will use of bravest warriors and hunt out these cowardly birds and put an end to their tyranny once and for all. If they cannot coexist in these woods, then there is no place for them in it. There is no forest for the wicked.”
Chapter 14
Tress looked out of the window of Toby’s office and tears welled in her eyes and she listened to Chief Bushy Tail deliver his speech. “How could he?” Tress said to herself, but as most parents learn early on, nothing said in the earshot of a child ever goes unheard, especially when it was intended to be kept to oneself.
“Mommy, how could he what?” Sam looked up, and her two sisters, Sally and Ren, reformed the trio at her side. Six wide eyes focused; all intently devoted to knowing how it was that he could.
“Well um,” Tress stammered, but then decided that the original intentions of parenting that her and Toby wanted to raise the girls with was that truth was always the best. “The Chief has declared war on the birds.”
“Why?” Ren asked with a shrug, not grasping the implications in her innocence.
“Because one of them killed Hemlock Rudolph,” Tress answered.
“But birds eat us all the time,” Sally chimed in. “That’s just the way things are, aren’t they?” Simple, factual, and hard to argue against.
Tress had to fight back gasping out in a cry; her girls seemed so grown up all of a sudden. “Yes, but this was different. Hemlock was killed not for food, but for something else.”
“Like homicide?” Sam’s eyes filled with the wonder of a child.
“Yes homicide,” Tress nodded. “And no more crime dramas for you; you should not know of such words at your age. You should be thinking of leaves and jumping, and playing, and tag.”
“But if one bird killed one of us, why would we attack all the birds?” Ren looked confused. “Aren’t most of them innocent?”
“I,” Tress stopped. There it was again; the Big Oak appeared to be rumbling. Toby’s stapler tumbled to the floor and little tiny C’s sprinkled everywhere as it sprung open. Were the heating ducts in need of repair? What was going on?
Chapter 15
“Everything went according to plan.”
“Excellent.”
“The athlete will be the first of many. They have had their time in the woodlands, now it is our time to put things back to the way they were intended.”
“Indeed. What of the bird?”
“He went up in a fiery inferno.”
“Good, he is looking down upon us from paradise now. What of phase two?”
“Phase two is in motion. They immediately called their meeting, wasted no time as expected, so it is only a matter of minutes now.”
“Excellent, those damn squirrels need to learn to keep their twitching noses in their own damn affairs, and if all goes well, this forest will be rid of the furry gray nuisances once and for all.”
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