by Sara Shafer
Chapter 2
THE BEST NEST EVER
“Ahhh, help! I’m being eaten by humans!” Max screamed.
Then he laughed. “Nobody is going to trap me, you scaredy-rats. I’m warm and dry with no people anywhere.”
Pippi bit her claw as she looked at Lana. She couldn’t believe her brother could joke about the danger.
After Uncle Louie flopped, Mama had forbidden them to go into human territory. If Pippi followed Max, she might flop. Or she could stay outside and cuddle in the rain with Lana while a cold waterfall dripped off her tail onto her head.
Lightning shot out of the sky, followed by a humungous booming sound. Pippi jumped into the pipe and clawed at the wire. It scraped her cheek in the same spot where the branch had scratched her.
She lifted the wire high enough to stick her nose inside. Frantic to get away from the horrible noise and gigantic flashes of light, she tugged the hole bigger with her teeth, then wiggled her body to get through.
Rain stopped falling, and warm dry air surrounded her. She couldn’t see anything, so she used her paws and claws to feel her way. Moving her body out of the hole gave her enough light to see. She crawled upside-down on a piece of wood along the ceiling of the most gigantic nest she’d ever seen.
“What do you think?” Max’s voice came from below.
“I don’t know yet.” She jumped down next to her brother and landed on something softer and squishier than leaves. Dust puffed up and tickled her nose. She rubbed her paw over her sore cheek.
“Pippi? Max?” Lana’s voice sounded very faint outside the pipe.
“Don’t tell her where we are.” Max grinned. “She’ll be a party pooper.”
“I don’t know where we are,” Pippi said. She’d visited other nests besides Mama’s, but she’d never seen anything that didn’t get wet in the rain or shake in the wind.
“We’re in the top of a human house. They call it an attic, and they never go in it.” Max knew all about the humans from sneaking out to follow Uncle Louie.
“What is this squishy stuff?”
“It’s insulation, kind of like foam. It keeps the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer.”
“Magic foam,” she murmured. “Okay Smartie, why are the branches all straight and smooth?”
“They aren’t branches. They’re boards made out of wood. The ones that make a ramp up to the ceiling are called rafters.”
“Whatever they’re called, they look perfect to run on.” She’d never seen a nest big enough to run in before. She’d never imagined such a thing existed. “Families of squirrels could live here, and no one would have move out when they grew up. It’s perfect.”
“Pippi, get out here right now, or I’m telling Mama,” Lana yelled.
“I told you she’s a party pooper,” Max grumbled.
Her sister had followed her across the wet grass, instead of abandoning her. Pippi couldn’t leave her alone in the rain with the scary flashes of light and booming noises.
She crawled up a slanting rafter to the ceiling. It ended a couple steps from the pipe that led to the outside. Digging her claws into a board, she twisted her body to look up the pipe.
Angry clouds swirled above her. She pushed her head under the hole in the wire mesh, spraying her fur with cold water. “Lana, you have to see this. It’s the best nest ever.”
“Get out of there. The humans will get you.” Her panicked voice came from somewhere close by.
Pippi wiggled all the way up the pipe. A raindrop hit her in the eye. She flipped her tail up umbrella-style again, already missing the warm, dry attic.
Lana trembled on the edge of the roof, ready to leap onto the tree branch. “Let’s go. Hurry.”
“No. You have to see this. There are no people,” she promised.
“Uncle Louie—”
“If he’d found this place, he never would have tried to make his home in the weird tunnel along the outside of the roof and got caught in a trap,” Max yelled from inside.
“Please come to the tree with me,” Lana begged. “It’s safer.”
Pippi didn’t want to disturb the people and end up like Uncle Louie. Spending the night cold and wet was better than flopping and being carried away in a bag. She crawled out of the pipe toward her sister.
A massive, bright lightning bolt shot across the gray sky. Pippi screeched and dashed for the nearest shelter—the pipe she’d just come out of. She tumbled down the hole. The horrible thunder echoed through the pipe, hurting her ears as she squeezed under the wire.
She scrambled along the long board that made a ramp from the ceiling to the floor and then jumped into the squishy stuff. Lying flat, she shivered, while Max crawled down another rafter and nibbled on a seed. Human territory might be dangerous, but outside was a lot scarier.
Scratching and rustling came from the pipe. A person was coming through the hole. If she didn’t hide fast, she’d fall into a trap and flop. She dug her claws into the insulation and glanced frantically for a hiding place.
“I’m just staying until the rain stops. Then I’m going to build my own nest.” Her sister clung to the wooden board with her claws.
“Lana!” she cried, too relieved to argue about building leaky nests when they could have all this warm dry space instead.
Max tucked his seed against the inside of his cheek and scampered toward Pippi. He whipped his fluffy tail across her face. “Tag! You’re It.” He dashed off.
She darted after him along the smooth boards and through the squishy foam until she trapped him in a corner. He tried to go sideways, but she swung her tail across his paw and scampered away. He started to run after her but changed directions and went toward Lana instead.
“Hey, I’m not playing,” she complained. Darting to the side, she laughed then shrieked as Max tagged her. Too busy nibbling on acorns and worrying, she hadn’t joined in anything fun since they’d moved out of Mama’s nest. But now she giggled and chased Max across the room.
They played for hours, long after the pitter-patter of rain on the ceiling stopped. Finally, they collapsed into the insulation, too tired to move a paw or swoosh a tail.
When she awoke much later, Pippi had never felt happier. With no humans anywhere, they had no reason to be afraid, and the nest protected them from the cold and storms. The only thing she didn’t like was the sun couldn’t shine inside, making it dark all the time.
Over the next few days, she scampered outside during the day to enjoy the sunshine. But when night came, she snuck down the pipe to sleep.
No matter how gorgeous the weather, Max stayed inside, except to gather food from the birdfeeder. He stored it in a corner under the insulation and wouldn’t let her go near.
Every day, Lana added leaves and rearranged sticks to make a nest in her favorite acorn tree. But no matter how hard she worked, her home leaked in the rain, so she went down the pipe to stay dry.
Pippi loved the rainy days where they played tag or hide-and-seek. Then at night they snuggled together to sleep. She wanted to stay like this forever.
As long as the humans never showed up.
