Chapter 4
"Surly, can I speak to you alone for a moment?" Andie said to him sternly.
Season after season of living in the same park as Andie told Surly that it wasn't easy to make her cross and, somehow, acting kindly towards Hayden managed to anger her. It was a rate sight indeed, and not one that Surly was proud to have created.
Andie grabbed his fluffy cheek and dragged him away from Hayden and outside behind the roots of the tree nearby. As he was pulled away, he gestured towards Hayden to wait a moment and held up one appendage from his paw. Hayden was confused as to what was going on but she just sat quietly and waited on Surly. She had faith that he knew what he was doing.
Once they were at the tree outside the mill Andie let go of Surly's cheek and he immediately rubbed it as he groaned in pain but he had no way of checking to see if it had turned red.
"What was that for Andie?!" Surly exclaimed but tried not to yell as it would alert Hayden
"Look Surly," Andie began, the same level of subsided rage burning from within her eyes "I see what your trying to do here."
Surly's tail puffed at this statement.
"You do?" he asked her
"Yes, and I must say that this is the craziest, dumbest and absolutely terrible scheme you've ever had!" Andie Scolded
"What? What scheme?" Surly asked in confusion.
"Don't play dumb with me Surly, you think that by kidnapping this human child, holding her randsom here in this park and waiting for her parents to pay us in food is going to make you the new hero if the park? Even if it means putting this child's life on the line?!"
At first Surly was speechless but he quickly reacted by saying "Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's not what you think!" First off, I did not kidnap her, I brought her here willingly, without force. Plus it was Buddy's idea. Second, the kid's an orphan we found on the streets, third, I would never put anyone's life on the line. Not even Buddy! And finally, believe it or not, she can talk to us. You know, understand what we're saying."
Andie was taken back by what the dark furred squirrel had said, especially the last part and said "Impossible… no one has… it… it defies everything we were told about."
"If you don't believe me, go back into the mill and ask the kid yourself." Surly said "Just don't expect me to catch you when you faint."
"Alright, I will." Andie said "But if this is a joke…"
"It's not, I'm telling the truth here." Surly said "Go ahead and speak with her, oh, and by the way, he name's Hayden… in case you were wondering."
Andie's nose twitched as she turned away from Surly and ran back to Hayden. Once she returned to the inside of the mill the orphaned girl spun to look at her and Andie felt a short sensation trinkle down her spine. It took her a moment but she realized that she was actually somewhat scared of Hayden. What bothered her the most was that there was no indication of action aginst the girl. There she sat, motionless, and just plainly staring Andie down. It reminded her of the way a hawk glances upon its prey before diving down to sweep it up. Andie huffed and tucked her paws against her chest and as she did this, her ears fell back.
"Hi… Hayden, is it?" I'm Andie. You might day I'm a friend of Surly's." the squirrel said. There the girl sat, and was only staring at her, it was as if she'd no idea what had just been said to her.
'I knew it' thought Andie.
"Andie? Isn't that a boy's name?" Hayden asked.
Andie went stiff and her tail curled up around her body. Her ears perked back up, and her breathing accelerated. "You… you can understand me." She said as she pointed at Hayden in shock and surprise.
"Well Yeah," she said "Surly did tell you I could, he wouldn't lie."
Andie's shock was watered down by disbelief.
"Oh, I wouldn't bet on that, Hayden." Andie said and gestured her paw for Surly to come back over to her.
Surly approucher her and said "I did tell you, didn't I tell you?"
"Yeah, you did." Andie said "Wait… why is she here anyway?"
Surly looked uneasy as he scratched the back of his head "Well, you might not like this but… the kid's going to be staying here and living with us in the old mill."
"WHAT?!" Andie asked in shock.
"It's the only place big enough for her, and besides it's not like she has anywhere else to go. Just look at her." Surly said.
The red squirrel turned and watched as Buddy climbed up on Hayden's shoulder. She smiled at him before he scooped him up with her hand and gently gave his head a kiss. That had won her trust then and there. No human had ever kissed a rat before and from the way Buddy looked as he fell over and curled up in the girl's palm, he enjoyed the kiss as if he had just landed on cloud nine, just like the day the little rat himself was invited to stay at the park when he was but a baby abandoned by his own mother.
Then and there Andie knew she just couldn't say no, and then she said "Alright, she can stay… but somebody's going to have to take care of her."
"Good luck finding someone who'll want to… adopt a pet human." Surly said, ending his sentence in a whisper so Hayden wouldn't hear.
It was quite a while later that Hayden was brought before all the animals in the park. She had been moved into the mill officially by Andie, but it was difficult to conceal her so that she could make her debut in secrecy.
When Andie and Surly finally stepped before the small horde or animals, they were about ready to grasp each other's paws in a case of racked nerves. It was as if they were hooked up to electrical machines and it was sending tiny jolts down their spines.
Andie was especially nervous, as any fault found in the girl would be immediately placed onto her. She gulped, and Surly reached out and squeezed her paw tightly. The red squirrel looked to the purple one, and they nodded in unison. With that Andie stepped forward and faced the other animals.
"I know that you're all wondering why we've called you here on such short notice. We have a good reason, but…"
"Just get on with it!" A random voice from the crowd shouted. Neither Surly nor Andie could pinpoint who the voice belonged to.
"Right, okay then." Andie began again. "Surly and i… have… uh… we…" he thoughts suddenly became jumbled and, where she once was a mighty hawk, she had shrunk down and became a mouse.
"We… um…" Andie wasn't sure what to say. Surly was watching, and he started to tremble along with her. After a brief pause, and a rather awkward silence between the group and the duo, Mole stepped out and spread his arms.
"Congratulations on the engagement!" he cried and all the animals cheered and clapped.
"Right… wait… what!?" Andie and Surly both yelled in shock.
Andie and Surly didn't know why Mole ever suggested them being engaged but the next thing they knew they were surrounded with animals from all sides while Hayden hid in the shadows, waiting for Andie and Surly to call her.
"Surly, you sly dog you!" a chipmunk said "Who knew you had it in you?"
"Andie, what were your first thoughts when he proposed to you?" Asked an eager mouse.
"When are you two getting hitched?" A groundhog asked "Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Is next Tuesday too soon?"
"Wait a minute!" Surly exclaimed as he tried to explain, but the animals were too much. "We're not… this isn't what… it's not what you think! Buddy, help me out of here!"
Buddy clapped his hands and grinned happily.
"Not that kind of help!" Surly said as he kept pushing animals away from himself and Andie "The Kid! The Kid!"
Buddy yelped and ran into the shadows to fetch Hayden. Surly and Andie were too busy to care if the animals were ready for their surprising new resident but they were sure the animals would love them, and officially forget about the whole 'engagement' mess.
Buddy was quick to pull on Hayden's foot, urging her to move out into the light. Her arrival would stop the madness, and finally get her introduction over with. However, she was not as excited as she hoped she would be, and the more Buddy tugged, the more she found herself resisting and second guessing herself.
"I don't know about this Buddy." She said down to him, but Buddy only rolled his eyes and pointed out to the ruckus that was happening. Hayden knew that she had the power within her to stop it, but she was also worried that the animals would change the mob from Surly and Andie to her. Buddy tried his best to try and convince Hayden to do the right thing, but ultimately the decision was hers alone.
Hayden through she'd try to step out a little, to see if anyone would notice, but the second a measly fraction of sunlight shoned on her face, Surly yanked his arm out of the crowd and yelled, "Everyone… meet out friend, Hayden!"
Only two animals looked when Surly yelled, but their motionlessness eventually led to the other animals turning to look. Two became eight, eight became twelve and soon every animal present was facing in Hayden's direction. Many of them remained still, jaws dropped. There hadn't been a human inside the mill since it closed down, and ever animal present was speechless as far as what to say, how to react, even what they should do next. Hayden stood still as she could, and sheepishly fluttered a few of her fingers and peeped, "Hi…"
The animals were stunned by this and were about to freak out when Andie said "No, don't be afraid! She's harmless, and she's our new residence and… well, she's special because of one reason and one reason alone… she can understand what we're saying!"
The animals gasped, forgetting all about the engagement and now focusing about what their new leader had told them. How could it be possible for a human to understand them? Was this a prank? Was their leader losing it?
"Well, I know it sounds crazy but it's true!" Surly said, "Me and Buddy heard it clear as day! If you don't believe me, why don't you come up and talk to her about something?"
There was an ominous silence before a voice said "I'll do it!"
It was one of the Bruisers, Jimmy Groundhog. He pushed his way pash the animals and marched up to Hayden as he said "There's been one question I've always been meaning to ask a human." He looked at Hayden in the eye and said "Ok human, answer my question: How do humans bathe? I've always seen some humans lick their mouths clean after they eat, but do they lick the rest of themselves?"
"No we don't, that's just gross!" Hayden exclaimed in disgust. Surly sighed in annoyance; such a typical question from one of the Bruisers.
"Oh really, cause i…" Jimmy's eyes bulged out when he realized he was talking to Hayden and yelped before he nearly fell over, but Hayden caught him and held him as she said "And don't worry about me, I promise I won't be much trouble. I promise I'll help you in any way I can."
The other animals could barely believe what it was that they were listening to. There was a live human being standing in their presence, speaking to them on equal terms as species! It was nearly too hard for them to believe. What was more difficult through was that Hayden soon found herself being bombarded with questions upon question of all different kinds about being human. The birds wanted to know what human food tasted like, the chipmunks wanted to know where humans sleep, Grayson asked if there were any humans as awesome as he was and Mole was asking how humans walk about in the daylight without getting blinded by sunlight.
Through all of this, it was apparent that Hayden was in no short of dangerous, but rather, simple bewilderment. In the midst of this Surly grabbed Andie's paw, and while she initially didn't know what was happening, she soon found herself standing in a dark corner of the mill with Surly in front of her. She came to, and crossed her arms again. Somehow, she knew that this was the part where Surly told her his 'master plan'.
"Alright, here's what I'm thinking," he began strongly "There's this giant building a few blocks from here. I think the humans call it a mall. And get this, it's just loaded with food! If you thought the nut joint could feed the park for years, then this place could feed it for decades." Andie liked the idea but she was skeptical, so she withheld her enthusiasm.
"Okay Surly, do you have a plan to get at this? Or better yet, how to get it all back to the park?"
"That won't be necessary Andie," Surly retaliated with "I admit there is way too much food to move all at once, so all we need to do is get the kid to sneak us in, grab enough, have her sneak us out, and then rinse and repeat. Like Autumn, like Winter…" Surly had a sly grin painted on his face while Andie had been impressed with the simplicity, yet authentic-sounding reverence of the plan, she detected one flaw.
"Seems solid, but does Hayden know that you're using her?" She asked
"Using her? That's an ugly word, don't you think? I prefer… ignorant assistance…" the purple squirrel said. There were fingers slowly coiling around Surly's waist, and before he knew it, Hayden had scooped him up and planted a smooch on his head. Surly wriggled out of her hands, and then plopped down near Andie and aggressively wiped off the fur on his head. "Hey kid!" he cried in annoyance "What was that for?"
But the human girl only gave him a sweet smile. "I was just thanking you is all."
The words took a moment to register in Surly's mind "Huh? You're thanking me? For what?"
"For the new home; I owe it all to you Surly." And with that she happily skipped off.
Andie cut in front of Surly as he stared at the back of Hayden's figure as she slowly moved away to continue mingling with the other animals in the mill. She perched herself onto two legs and tuck up her tail behind her. The devious squirrel looked as her, and what he received was only a smirk. "Surly, I'm starting to think the only ignorant one around here is you." And she scurried off.
