DARN YOU MARSHAL. Would you believe that stupid squirrel moved out of my town? And we were at the best friend status! Best friends shouldn't be able to move out of towns. :( Now whenever I write him I feel a little sad…oh well, this is why Dizzy will always be #1.
Chapter 7
The next day, Dizzy was having coffee at the café with Marshal when he brought up his encounter with Hip. At the mention of another human in town, Marshal frowned deeply into his coffee. Dizzy finished the story, leaving out the part about Hip's warning. Only then did Marshal speak up.
"That's strange," The white squirrel mused, leaning his face into his hands. "I've seen the house you're talking about, but I don't think I've met this Hip character. I didn't even know anyone lived there."
"I think he's a recluse," Dizzy said, adding more sugar to his drink. "Well…his personality didn't really strike me as such, but why else wouldn't he leave his house?"
"Maybe he's a fugitive," Marshal said in all seriousness. "Maybe that's not even his house. Maybe he killed whoever was living there and took it for himself!"
Dizzy's eyes went wider than a pizza. "No! You think so?"
Marshal laughed, "No, that was a joke. I'm sure he's a cool guy. You should invite him out to play sometime!"
"Yeah…maybe I will," Dizzy said slowly.
Marshal winced and clutched at his stomach. "Sounds good. Ugh…you think we could stop by the store and grab some medicine on the way home? Something's not sitting right."
It was another cloudy day, just like yesterday. Animals retreated into their homes at the threat of rain. Dizzy was one of the few that didn't, choosing instead to wallow in the mud and cool off. The air was thick with humidity. He could feel beads of moisture running down his gray skin.
After a good soak in the mud, he headed towards Main Street. He wondered how Gracie would react if he stomped into her boutique looking like this. Well, only one way to find out…
Before he could arrive, he ran into two familiar faces.
"Dizzy!" TayTay yelped with unexpected excitement. She sprinted a few yards forward, and then stopped dead, as if rethinking her greeting. Dizzy braced himself for another tackle-hug, but she didn't come any closer.
Alexann came trotting up behind her. "Hi!" She greeted cheerfully.
"Good morning," Dizzy said, forcing himself to relax.
"Good afternoon," Alexann corrected.
Dizzy cast an uncertain glance upwards. "Oh. Mr. Sun isn't here so I can't tell time."
"That's okay. Hey, do you want to play a game with us?" Alexann said, green eyes lighting up with excitement.
TayTay perked up as well, looking between Alexann and Dizzy, fidgeting anxiously as she awaited his answer.
Dizzy hesitated. They're not dangerous, he told himself, taking a closer look at the two girls. They were a good deal shorter than him. There was really nothing to fear. Except maybe an axe in the back of your skull.
"Sure, I'll play!" Dizzy burst out, speaking loudly to drown out the voice of doubt. There was nothing wrong with these two humans. Nothing at all.
TayTay clapped her hands. "Yay! Let's play hide-and-seek!"
"Good idea," Alexann said, beaming. "But we need at least one more person."
"Leave it to me!" Dizzy declared, pounding his fist on his chest. "Maybe Marshal or Peanut will want to play."
Dizzy couldn't find Marshal out and about, so he stopped by his house. He could see puffs of smoke rising from his chimney, signaling that he was at home. Dizzy stepped forward and knocked on the door. To his surprise, Peanut was the one who answered.
"Hey Dizzy!" She said, biting her lip and casting a glance over her shoulder. "You better not come inside. Marshal's not feeling well so I'm taking care of him."
"Really?" Dizzy said, frowning. "But he was fine this morning!"
Marshal lifted his head from a heap of blankets piled on his bed. His white fur was slick with sweat and his cheeks were redder than usual. "It came on fast," The poor squirrel croaked. "My immune system has always been a little bit squirrely. Heheh…see what I did—"
"Oh, stop it!" Peanut scolded. "You're sick, this is no time for cracking jokes!"
"Cracking jokes? I prefer…to crack nuts," Marshal said weakly, flopping back down onto his bed. Peanut turned back to Dizzy.
"So did you need something, slacker?"
Dizzy had nearly forgotten why he had come. "Oh yeah! I was gonna invite you guys to come play hide-and-seek."
Peanut's tail drooped with disappointment. "That sounds fun, but I'm going to stay here with Marshal. Sorry."
"Don't worry about it!" Dizzy said cheerfully. "I hope you feel better, Marshal. Get well soon!"
Marshal gave him a weak thumbs-up from the bed. Peanut offered Dizzy a parting wave, and then closed the door.
"Marshal's sick?"
With a gasp, Dizzy whipped around to see Alexann and TayTay standing directly behind him. They were both looking highly concerned for their little friend. Dizzy took a moment to regain himself and answered, "Yeah. He has Peanut taking care of him, though, and we bought him some medicine."
TayTay looked at her sister, he lower lip pushing out in a pout. "Who else can we ask to play?"
Alexann just shrugged.
Dizzy paused to think for a moment. "Hmm…" he said slowly. "How about Hip?"
Both TayTay and Alexann turned to look at Dizzy blankly. "Hip?"
"Yeah. He's a human, like you. His house is at the river bend—"
"HIP'S BACK!" TayTay shrieked excitedly. Bursting with energy, she went sprinting into the woods. Alexann was hot on her heels, a wide grin plastered across her face.
"Hey, w-wait for me! Woo-oo!" Dizzy cried out, scrambling to keep up with them.
By the time they arrived at Hip's house, Dizzy was gasping for breath. He flopped over in the mud and lay there, panting, as TayTay banged on Hip's door repeatedly. She didn't stop until it had opened and a familiar face peeked out.
"Jeez, TayTay. You nearly gave me a heart attack."
With an overexcited squeal, TayTay launched herself into his arms. Hip rolled his eyes, but a good-natured smile was on his face as he hugged her back. TayTay let go and Alexann hugged him next saying, "It's good to see you. It feels like it's been forever."
Hip chuckled. "Maybe for you, it does. So what's up?"
"We were wondering if you'd like to come play hide-and-seek with us," Dizzy groaned, finally finding the strength to rise to his feet.
Hip's eyebrows lifted as he noticed Dizzy's presence. "Oh, hey. Dumbo, right?"
"Dizzy," Dizzy said, staring at him incredulously. "We just met yesterday."
"Well, we can't all have elephant memories," Hip snorted.
"Elephant memories?" TayTay echoed curiously.
"You know what they say. 'An elephant never forgets.'"
TayTay didn't respond, instead opting to stare at the ground by Hip's feet. After an awkward silence, the human boy spoke up again.
"Anyways, I'm going to turn down your offer of hide-and-seek. Sorry."
"Come on, Hip," Alexann interjected. "You can't stay holed up in here forever, eating nothing but stale candy canes. Come play with us." Then, in a low voice, she added, "I promise nothing bad will happen. Not if I have anything to say about it."
Dizzy's ears twitched. Alexann probably hadn't meant for him to hear that, but nothing escaped these ginormous flappers. Why would something bad happen? The elephant wondered while Hip mulled it over in his head.
"Please, Hip? Pleeeaaase?" TayTay begged, clasping her hands.
Hip sighed, "Fine. I've been neglecting my workout anyways. And besides…I can't turn down a pair of gorgeous ladies."
TayTay let out a cry of delight and sprang straight up, like an overactive dog. Alexann grinned and motioned for everyone to follow her. They went to the to the town square. Dizzy noticed Hip fidgeting out of the corner of his eye, casting nervous glances over his shoulder every ten seconds. Maybe he wasn't the only paranoia-inflicted villager.
As soon as they were situated, Alexann raised a hand and began her speech.
"Usually, when we play hide-and-seek, the seeker is always a human and the animals hide! But since our numbers are a little skewed, we will be doing it differently this time around!"
It took Dizzy a minute to catch on. "…Am I the seeker?" He asked.
"Yup!" TayTay said cheerfully, smiling at him, eyes sparkling.
"Count to sixty seconds. When you're done, you have ten minutes to find us all," Alexann instructed. "We won't hide in buildings, so you don't have to bother with those. Just search outside only! Okay?"
"Okay, woo-oo." Dizzy agreed.
"Ready?" Alexann grinned at the rest of her team.
TayTay bent over in a runner's crouch. Hip cast one more uncertain look behind him, then forced a smile and nodded. Dizzy covered his eyes and prepared to count.
"GO!"
A flurry of footsteps took off in each direction, striking loudly against the cobblestone. Dizzy listened until they had faded away. Then he began to count silently in his head.
Suddenly, a cool wind blew through, parting the curtain of humidity. A few seconds later, a raindrop plinked onto his forehead. By the time he finished counting, more were starting to fall in a steady stream. The rain, which had been threatening Taytown all day, was finally coming to pass.
"I'd better hurry," Dizzy mused. He didn't mind rain so much, but he knew humans were very picky about their hair and the clothes they wore. They wouldn't enjoy getting soaked.
So Dizzy selected a path he thought one of the humans took and followed it. With each step, the rain came on heavier and heavier until it had created a fine mist. Visibility was becoming harder for the young elephant. A shiver ran up his spine. He couldn't tell if it was because of the rainwater or…because he felt like he was being watched.
He looked around warily, struggling to see through the mist. "TayTay?" He called. "Alexann?"
No response. He continued on, each step he took deafening to his ears. Is it my imagination, or is it getting darker? Indeed, the clouds seemed to be taking on a darker hue. He was beginning to regret agreeing to this game of hide-and-seek. The feeling of being watched was beginning to grow heavier and heavier, until it weighed down on him.
Mud squelched somewhere behind him. Dizzy whipped around. "Who's there?!"
Again, no response. And it was impossible to see through the mist.
Wait. Was that a dark shape, moving towards him…?
With a terrified cry, Dizzy turned and began stampeding away, his feet slamming loudly into the mud. Aside from that, all he could hear was the patter of rain and his own panicked breathing. Where am I? He screamed internally, dodging around trees. Nothing was recognizable. For a moment, he felt sure he would die out here in the mist.
But then, the feeling faded as quickly as it had come. Dizzy stood there, panting, looking all around. But there were no more unidentified sounds or shadows coming towards him. In fact, he could hear the river in the distance. As long as he had the river, he knew he could find his way home.
Dizzy let out a huge breath, then followed it up with a small laugh at how skittish he was. This was Taytown. Its residents were kind, albeit strange. He had nothing to fear.
He took a few steps forward, preparing to head towards the river, when his foot brushed something cold. Dizzy sprang back, eyes going wide. A human was lying facedown on the ground, soaked to the bone. His dark hair was matted to his skull. Tendrils of rainwater ran off it and into the grass. He wasn't moving.
"Hip?" Dizzy said, reaching towards him. "Are you okay? This isn't the best place to hide…"
With a gasp, he stopped short. His stomach began churning madly, threatening to surrender its many contents.
A single wound had been carved on the back of Hip's neck. It was gushing blood, but the rain was working hard to wash it away. It looked he had been attacked by someone wielding a sickle or a sword, or…
Or an axe.
Dizzy stumbled backwards, no longer able to keep his lunch from spewing forth.
