Chapter Two
It didn't take long for Surly and his friends to return to the mill where the animals had gathered some food to survive the oncoming winter but as Surly looked around, he realized that Andie, the new leader, was missing. That was strange since she had never been absent or late for food gathering before. Surly was wondering what could've happened to her when he spotted Mole, Andie's right hand man, taking over Andie's position in passing out food for the others.
Surly walked over to Mole and said "Hey Mole, where's Andie? I thought she was suppose to be here, it's one of her favorite things do to."
"I thought so too." Mole said "The last time I saw Andie she said that she was going on a walk but that was three hours ago. You don't suppose something could've happened to her do you?"
"I don't know but I'm going to find out." Surly said.
Once he left the mill Surly and Buddy began to search the park for Andie. Surly wondered why Andie left for so long and why she didn't tell anyone about leaving before suddenly a familiar dog that they met at their first heist, a pug named Precious, ran into the park, barking like crazy as she cried for help.
"Help! Help! Somebody help!" She cried.
"What is it?" Surly called down from the tree he was in "Did you misplace something of yours again?"
"No, worse! Andie's been kidnapped by humans!"
The moment he heard that he practically zoomed down the tree and stopped in front of the pug's face as he shouted "WHAT?!"
"Andie came over and said that she needed my help to find this person Addison," Precious explained as she panted while Buddy joined the pair "We were halfway there, or somewhere close, I don't remember... Anywho, we made a turn and suddenly these human kids pounced on us! They played mind games with me, tossed me like I was a bean bag, caught Andie in a net and carried her away! Luckily I know where they're going, I overheard them talking and they said that they were heading back to their home."
"Where is it?" Surly asked.
"It's the local orphanage, and if we hurry we might be able to save her before they turn her into Squirrel Stew! That's what they plan to do with her!"
Without wasting another moment Surly and Buddy got on the pug and rode her all the way to the local orphanage, the Oakton Orphanage for human children who have no parents or homes and are saddled to make their home in the orphanage until a couple comes along to adopt them. The problem was that with no parent to control them, the kids were basically wild and uncontrollable and those with bad tempers or are just angry, took out their pain on anything they wanted, including animals. Surly had heard awful stories about the animals they tortured there and knew that Andie had to be rescued before she ended up (And Surly really hoped it wasn't true) becoming a meal in some human's stomach!
Once they jumped over the toy littered front lawn and passed the sign, they walked over to the window and peeked in to see if they can find any trace of Andie but all they saw were some more toys and a butterfly net.
"There's the net!" Precious exclaimed "There's the net!"
"But where's Andie?" Surly asked
The three ducked down when they heard someone coming and the front door opened to reveal the orphanage's nanny leading the children outside as she said "I hope you all have had a wonderful lunch dears, but just wait until dinner, that's something truly special."
"Lunch? Dinner?" Surly asked.
"Oh no, we were too late! They ate Andie! Or they're saving her for Dinner! Either way she's as good as dead!" Precious exclaimed in alarm.
"Mrs. Scott?"
The trio ducked again and this time they watched as a little nine year old boy came into view holding a cage that had Andie inside. The boy had chocolate brown hair, light brown eyes, a face full of freckles and wore a green shirt with dark blue pants and red and white shoes. The animals looked at boy as he held up the cage with Andie inside saying "If it's alright with you, I'd like to stay inside and take care of my new friend."
"Oh, of course you can sweetie." Mrs. Scott said as she pushed back of strand of her blonde hair behind her ear "At least someone respects animals enough not to treat them like toys."
"Oh whew, she's okay." the pug sighed as the boy and the nanny walked back into the building.
"But Andie's in a cage." Surly said "We gotta get her out of there and out of this place."
Luckily the doggie door allowed them entry and the pug fallowed the scent all the way to the bedroom where they watched as the boy placed the cage on the table and opened the cage and Andie climbed out of the cage and into the boy's hands as he smiled and said "I'm glad you came Andie, I was getting really lonely."
Surly couldn't believe what he saw nor what he heard. How did that boy learn Andie's name? It was impossible for humans and animals to talk to each other due to the 'language barrier' as he called it and any decent squirrel would've just ran out the door the moment they were set free, but Andie wasn't scared at all. In fact she looked very happy. What was going on?
Andie crawled under the boy's clothes and began to tickle him, making the child giggle as Surly watched with his jaw hitting the floor in shock. And just when he thought it couldn't get anymore weirder the boy noticed them and said "Oh look Andie, you're friends are here!"
Andie climbed out of the boy's shirt and ran towards her friends before she embraced Surly in a hug and said "Oh Surly, you would not believe the last several moments I've had since coming here and this child, he's so wonderful I can't help but love him!"
"Whoa whoa whoa! Time out!" Surly said as he gently pushed Andie away "What are you talking about? Aren't you in serious danger?"
"Oh no, let me explain." Andie said "I was in trouble the moment I was taken here but then Noah, that's this young boy here, saved my life and he's now my friend."
"I thought you said that all human kids were monsters." Surly said
"That was before I met Noah." Andie said "He's the sweetest little boy I've ever met. He's kind, understanding, gentle and he loves animals of all kinds."
"He's also a human and meanwhile back at Liberty Park everyone's wondering where you went." Surly said "Now let's go."
"Don't go Mr. Surly, stay a while! I want to talk to you!" Noah said as he got on all fours and crawled towards them.
Surly, Buddy and Precious did a double take at that comment and Surly began to stammer as he said "How... how does he know my name?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you... you see Noah's not like any other human in Oakton." Andie said with a smile "You see... he has a gift... he can talk to animals. He can actually understand what we are saying!"
"No way, I don't believe that." Surly said
"Believe it Surly." Noah said with a smirk on his face "Andie told me all about you."
This time Surly just stood there in shock and then he toppled over and fainted. Buddy fainted as well, on top of Surly. Precious walked over to Noah and said "Wait a minute, you... you can understand me... us... you actually can talk to animals?!"
"Yes, since birth." Noah said "And you must be Precious, Andie told me all about you and the nut store and Lana and... why do you look pale?"
The pug only groaned in response and waddled this way and that before tipping over, falling over onto her back and fainted.
After a few hours of explanation Noah took them to the basement where they were to meet someone that Noah called 'Uncle AJ'. The animals were led past some old boxes and junk and Noah revealed an elderly dog, a Maltese, resting on an old pet bed before he let out a yawn and said "Hello again Noah, how are you doing my boy?"
"Great, guess what? I met some new friends, meet Surly, Andie, Buddy and Precious." Noah said as he got down on his knees and crawled over to the dog.
AJ began to lick the little boy's cheeks lovingly and tenderly as the boy giggled at the touch while Surly and the others watched. When the dog stopped Noah's stomach rumbled and the dog nudged it with his nose saying "My boy, sounds like you're hungry. Why don't you go upstairs before you miss dinner. I'll stay here and talk to your new friends."
Noah smiled as he ran upstairs to get something to eat and Andie, who had been smiling the whole time, sighed as she said "Oh how sweet, you love him enough to let him call you uncle."
"Naturally," AJ said "I'm the last member of his family. I'm all he has left... his parents and my owners Hailey and Blake were the best parents any boy and pet could ask for... but then they died in a car accident and we both ended up in the orphanage. Noah convinced them to let me stay as a guard dog... but I'm so old that I don't really guard as well as I used to."
"Guess that means you're too old to chance anything huh?" Surly asked.
"Yeah, so I don't bother." AJ said "But there is something very important I want to talk to you about."
"What is it?" Andie asked in concern.
AJ let out a sigh and said "I haven't told Noah yet... but I can't bring myself to stay it... it'll break his little heart if he found out that I'm going to die any day now."
Andie's paws shot up to her mouth as she gasped in shock while the others stood there with wide eyes.
"You see, I am dying and one day I will officially die and pass on to the afterlife." AJ explained "When that happens, my poor little Noah will have no one to care for him. No one to take care of him, nurture him, no one to make him smile or giggle... the poor thing will be crying for a long time and I want to make sure that he is in safe hands and away from those other humans."
"Why?" Surly asked the dog "Don't they take care of him?"
"They do, the people here do," AJ said "It's just that, Noah's gift is special, a one of a kind treasure... but there are bad people who would love to use it to their advantage. I don't trust humans at all, not since the day that some adult humans tried to force Noah to use his gift against us... and those monsters abused him... I tried to help as best I could..." tears of sadness filled the elderly dog's eyes as he remembered that horrible ordeal Noah once went through long ago "The poor little thing... my poor little boy... now I fear that the orphanage will hand him off to a human family and when they find out about Noah's gift... the poor child will be used again... But there is a way such a horrible fate can be averted."
"How?" Andie asked.
"You have to get Noah out of here," AJ said "Take him and hide him somewhere safe and hide him there, where no selfish human would ever find him."
Andie thought about it and said "I know, we can take Noah to the mill back in Liberty Park! Nobody ever goes there and that will be the perfect place to hide him!"
"What? Are you mad?!" Surly asked "How are we going to care for him? It's hard enough getting enough food to everyone else at the park but a human's belly is bigger then ours! And where is he going to bath? Or sleep? or anything like that?"
"Addison didn't give up on us, she took care of us, no matter what." Andie said.
At the mention of Addison, Surly stopped and sighed sadly. He remembered how Addison had to sometimes struggle with a few other things while they were under her care but no matter what she always smiled at them and told them that she loved them... slowly a smile crept over Surly's face before he said "You know... if a human can care for squirrels, squirrels can care for humans."
Andie smiled and eloped Surly in a hug, glad that he was on the same page before Buddy joined in on the hug. AJ smiled before he said "Oh yes, one more thing. There is one person that I especially do not want anywhere near Noah at all coasts... Amanda."
"Who's that?" Surly asked.
"The local bully of the orphanage." AJ said "She is a horrid, vile and cruel eleven year old girl who the other orphans fear and hate the most. They say that she's so horrible that not even her own parents could stand here so they left her hear and moved to Florida."
"She's that bad?" Surly asked.
"And more." AJ said "Now promise me this, promise to keep Noah safe and sound at all coasts, promise to care and raise Noah as your own son, and most of all, keep Amanda away from him. If she found out he can talk to animals, she will turn his life into a living nightmare."
"Don't worry AJ," Andie said "You won't regret this, we will do our best to care for Noah and keep him safe in the park community."
"Yeah, and who knows, by the time we're done with him, he'd be more animal then human." Surly said.
AJ smiled and the animals left through another doggie door and into the backyard. While their pug friend walked them all the way home Surly and Andie were brainstorming, figuring out what to do and how to break the news to the animals when the time came for Noah to move in.
"So, any ideas?" Surly asked "Cause I'm stumped."
Andie smiled "I think I have an idea, and it will take everyone working together for this."
And with that, they continued heading towards their beloved park home and both squirrels knew that the other animals in the park were going to be in for a big surprise when they got there.