A third book in my SHELBY F SQUIRREL series!!
Here is the first part of Chapter 1:
CHAPTER 1
Sunlight poured into the nest hole as Shelby F. Squirrel reluctantly stirred from a deep sleep. It was the middle of March, trees were still bare, and the snow was fast disappearing. The air was fresh, with a definite feel of Spring just around the corner. He rubbed his eyes and blinked.
Petra was already up, busy tidying the corner where winter supplies were stashed.
“How are you?” Shelby asked as he yawned, always concerned for her. She had told him there would soon be babies in their little home.
“I’m fine, fit as a fiddle!” she answered with a bright smile. Petra felt like the luckiest flying squirrel in the whole world. Unlike other females about to become mothers, her man was still with her. Shelby wanted to be there for her and their babies, and he was looking foward to being a father. He told her it was about time someone changed things. Deserting her was out of the question.
* * * *
“Quick! There’s a call for help from someone,” cried Rosie Robin. She arrived breathless at the nest where Shelby and Petra lived. Suddenly Shelby was wide awake.
“Who? Where?” Petra wanted to know.
Shelby just said, “Let’s go!”
Rosie led the way. At a far edge of the forest, beside a field stubbled with remnants of last year’s corn, they found a pair of flying squirrels they hadn’t met before.
“I’m Red,” said the bigger of the two, “and this is my mate, Sal. We’re missing one of our children!” Red was large for a flying squirrel and his coat had a hint of a reddish tone. His face was pinched with worry.
“She’s lost, we don’t know what happened!” said Sal, who was close to a full-blown panic attack. She was smaller, with typical gray predominating her thick fur. Petra moved closer to Sal to try and calm her, and the two males went a short distance away to talk. Rosie stayed with Petra and Sal, making soft chirpy sounds as she shook her head sadly.
A smaller form snuggled close to his mother. Sal introduced them to her son, Edward . He looked very glum, and Sal explained how much he missed his sister.
Just out of hearing range of the ladies, Shelby said, “Hello, Red, I apologize for not making you and your family welcome! We try to be more friendly than that here.”
“Oh my, don’t worry,” Red replied. “We’ve only been here three days! Let me explain.
“Our two children are almost a year old. Edward has fur like mine but Virginia’s is white! A lot of the animals where we were living weren’t nice to Virginia. They laughed and pointed and played tricks on her. She used to cry herself to sleep every night! Edward couldn’t even cheer her up. Now he blames himself for letting her get lost.
“Everybody we’ve met here has been very kind, and Virginia was beginning to respond. Then yesterday she just disappeared!”
Sal had joined them by now, “We’re so worried and we don’t know where to begin!” she wailed. Petra and Rosie had not managed to calm her at all. They stayed where they were looking at each other with grim expressions, talking softly, trying to find a way to help.
Red told them they had last seen Virginia around noon the day before. She had ventured out on her own, and actually Red and Sal had felt relieved to see her do so. Hiding in the nest wasn’t healthy for a young squirrel. She needed to get out.
But she had never come home, and they had searched and called her name until they were near exhaustion. Asking for help was admitting defeat, but this was their child!
Eleanor Lawrie, Author 