Chapter Five

The walk back to the park was quiet as the animals led Noah back to their home but they soon arrived at their destination with Noah looking a little tired after their escape. Andie had just finished decorating the inside of the mill before she heard Surly, Noah and the animals walking in. Andie quickly ran up to Surly with a relived look on her face before noticing that they were one animal short.

"Where's Buddy?" Andie asked in worry.

"Don't worry, he's fine." Surly replied as Noah took Buddy out of his pocket and set the rat down on the ground. "We'd hit a little snag back at the orphanage and Buddy bruised his arm, but other then that everything went according to plan."

"What do you mean a little snag?" Andie questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll tell you about it later, right now let's get Noah settled in." Surly said.

Andie nodded her head as she led Noah over to some old blankets that she and the other animals had found yesterday and had created a comfortable nest for the boy to sleep in. Noah climbed into the nest and instantly fell asleep with some of the park animals, including Buddy, cuddling around him. Surly then gestured for Andie to follow him outside so that they could talk with each other in private. The two squirrels made their way up to the roof of the mill and sat down together as Surly faced Andie, who looked at him for an explanation about what kind of snag that he and the other animals had faced at the orphanage.

"Okay Surly, what exactly happened?" Andie asked.

Surly took in a calming breath before he answered Andie's question.

"AJ died right after we'd left the orphanage." Surly answered.

Andie gasped at the news of the old dog dying when they had left the orphanage and tears began to form within her eyes.

"Noah took it pretty hard." Surly continued sadly "As for the snag well... let's just say that the orphanage had hired two new dogs to be guard dogs. Luckily I had the dog whistle with me otherwise we would have all have ended up being dog chow by now."

"I'm just glad that everyone is okay," Andie said with a sad smile "But I feel sorry for Noah though, AJ was the only family member he had left."

"Yeah... I know," Surly said with a sad frown "But we did make a promise to the old dog to take care of Noah."

"Yes," Andie replied with a nod before smiling again "But at least we have enough nuts for Noah to eat here in the park."

Surly bit the bottom of his lip as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. Andie noticed this and quickly became worried.

"What's wrong?" Andie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Andie... uh... Noah can't eat nuts." Surly answered as he looked at Andie with an uneasy look on his face "Noah is allergic to nuts so if he eats any kind of nuts he'll wind up getting sick."

When Andie heard this, she let out a sigh as she ran her hand down in front of her face in disbelief. This was going to be a problem for them.

"This is not good," Andie voiced as she turned away from Surly and sat down. "How are we going to feed Noah when winter comes around?"

Surly sadly looked at the red squirrel before he walked up to Andie and sat down by her side. Surly gently placed an arm around Andie's shoulder as he tried to comfort her as best as he could as he began to think about their situation a little more.

'How are we suppose to look after Noah if he has an allergy to nuts?' Surly through to himself.

Suddenly Surly remembered the picnic basket that he and Buddy had stolen from the humans and that was when an idea came to him.

"I think I might have an idea." Surly said.

Andie perked up at what Surly had said and turned to look at him with a questioning look on her face. Surly quickly stood up and crouched in front of Andie as he began to explain his plan.

"We can steal some food from the humans in the city and bring the food back to the park." Surly explained with a smirk.

Andie was a little unsure about that idea and voiced her thoughts to Surly "But Surly," Andie reasoned "There are some foods out there that have nuts in them."

"Then we'll have to be very careful when we do steal the food," Surly said as he stared firmly at Andie in determination "I promise Andie, that i'm going to make sure that Noah will be safe and that no harm will ever come to him."

Andie looked at Surly in surprise when he said those words to her before a smile appeared on her face. She was about to say something when Buddy suddenly came running up to them. The rat quickly stopped in front of the two squirrels and began to wave us arms franticly around.

"What's wrong Buddy?" Surly asked with a frown.

Buddy quickly motioned for Surly and Andie to follow him as the pair of squirrels ran close behind him to follow him. Once they were back inside the mill they saw Noah whimpering as he tossed and turned within his makeshift bed. Surly quickly ran up to Mole, who was standing beside Greyson and the Bruisers.

"Mole, What's going on?" Surly asked as Andie and Buddy came up behind him.

"We don't really know," Mole answered helplessly "Everything was quiet for a while, but then Noah started thrashing around all of a sudden."

Surly was confused about why Noah would suddenly start thrashing around in his sleep, but his confusion was quickly placed with worry when he suddenly heard Noah crying. Surly looked at Andie for a moment before he quickly made his way over to Noah and stood near the edge of the boy's makeshift bed and heard what the boy said in his sleep.

"Mommy... Daddy..." Noah whimpered.

Surly's heart clenched within his chest as he sadly stared at the boy before him. Andie, who had also come up to check on Noah, also heard what the boy said as she sadly held her hands to her chest. Surly soon made the first move as he climbed into the nest and stood next to Noah's right cheek and gently placed a paw against it. Surly saw a few tears running down the boys face before he began to gently speak to the boy.

"It's alright Noah, I'm here, Daddy's here." Surly said as he gently wiped the tears away.

Andie watched in amazement as Surly comforted Noah as the boy began to settle down. Andie soon joined in with comforting Noah, stroking his cheek while gently placing a kiss on the boy's forehead. Once Noah settled down, the animals began to cuddle with Noah again with Surly and Andie joining them as well. Soon, everyone was asleep as the animals cuddled around the boy to keep him warm during the night.