The air in the garage felt heavy. The crew worked late into the night, but they could not seem to fix the problem. No one laughed or whistled. No one even talked very much. They just said quick, gruff words in deep voices. The day felt long and dark.
Finally, Revver tucked himself into a pile of shop towels in the corner. Bill did not notice he was there or bother to fluff them, so Revver did his best to make them comfortable.
He felt very badly for the team. He felt very sorry for himself.
After a long time, Revver fell into a sad sleep.
28
He was sound asleep when he heard it: “Revver! Come quick! I need you!” Revver jolted awake and sat up, his eyes wide. What was that? WHO was that? He listened hard, but he didn’t hear it again. He looked around the garage, but it was dark and empty; the team had finally gone to bed. He didn’t hear anything except some crickets far, far away. After a while, he whispered, “Just a bad dream, I guess,” and he settled in again.
He fell back to sleep. “Revver! Help!” He bolted to his feet and listened again. Nothing. Silence. But this time, he remembered the voice. It was Sprite’s.
What a terrible dream! he thought. For sure, it was even MORE terrible because this was the first time that he’d had a bad dream without Sprite to comfort him and talk to him when he woke up. He remembered the bad day. He remembered the bad dream. He remembered Sprite. Now he really missed her.
He couldn’t tell if it was nighttime or very early in the morning, but there was no point in trying to sleep now. He was wide-awake.
He looked around the garage in the dim light. There was so much that he hadn’t noticed with all the action of the crew running around. He saw tall rolling carts and giant toolboxes containing all sorts of magical, shiny-looking things. He saw power tools, floor jacks . . . and, of course, the car.
The more he noticed, the more excited he got!
Slowly and carefully at first, he started opening doors and drawers. He felt nervous and excited. He carefully touched things. He gently held every interesting item he could find, pretending he knew how to use it, making sound effects as he went along.
He poked in corners and peeked into bins. He climbed up onto benches and ladders to get a better look. Soon, he’d forgotten all about the bad dream. He also forgot all about being careful.
Now he wasn’t nervous at all. This was fun! He felt happier.
There was a door he’d never noticed in the corner, so he pushed it open and went in. In the low light, he could see that, inside, there were many other doors. And there was just the right amount of space for a squirrel to easily crawl underneath!
He went under one of the doors and found himself in a little room. Most of the room was filled with a shiny white machine—some kind of engine maybe? It looked impressive! It must be very important to be in a room all by itself!
He jumped onto the round part and looked inside the machine and saw a pool of water. Strange, he thought, that’s the fuel? It had no wheels. How does it work? What does it do? Does this go INTO a car somehow?
The machine was cold. Obviously it hadn’t been running in a while. How do they start it? Revver walked all around the machine to inspect, and then he noticed a shiny metal lever near the top.
He jumped on top of the machine and tried moving the lever with his foot, but he couldn’t budge it. He dropped back to the floor and tried pulling on it. He was able to move it a little, and it made a small gurgling sound, like the engine was trying to fire up. He tried harder. He jumped and grabbed the lever and hung from it, and the machine made the LOUDEST, most impressive roar as it started! Revver watched with excitement. As he hung from the lever, he noticed the water moving into a circle and then disappearing deep into a hole at the bottom. Where did it go? Before he had a chance to wonder, the water came back! He let go of the lever. He tried it again. Again, the water circled, disappeared, and returned. He did it again. And again. And again! He tried hanging off the lever longer to see what would happen. And again. And longer. And longer. Finally, he just hung on the lever as long as he could, watching the water swirling around and around.
But then, the water didn’t disappear. Instead, it got higher and higher and began spilling out of the machine and onto the floor. Revver tried to stop it, but the lever wouldn’t budge. It was stuck. The floor got wetter and wetter. Somehow, Revver knew something was wrong. He decided it was time to leave the machine alone.
He hurried out of the little machine room and shimmied back through the crack in the big door. He pushed against the door to make sure it was closed and went back into the main garage. He continued exploring, and, when he noticed it sitting there, alone, his heart skipped a beat.
There, in the darkness, just waiting for him, sat THE CAR.
29
He never got tired of seeing it. Even sitting still, it looked fast! It was so beautiful. So glorious. So unsupervised!
Just as he had that first day at the track, he jumped onto the hood, onto the roof, and rolled into the driver’s seat. This time, he was careful not to get his foot tangled in the window net!
He picked up the pieces of the driver’s special seat belt, the “five-point harness.” It was a fascinating system: all the straps and connections that kept the driver safe. Revver remembered his ride in the car, being stuck against the back and then falling on his nose. He wondered if anyone could make a five-point harness for a squirrel.
He inspected every inch of the car. He touched and turned and wiggled absolutely everything. He went to the back, behind the driver’s seat, behind the metal can, which he now knew was called the “fire bottle.” He pretended the car was speeding around the track, just like that first day.
He kept exploring the inside of the car. He prodded and poked. He sat on the wheel well on the driver’s side and slid down, like a little slide. He did it again. Then again. That time, OUCH! He felt a zap! He was confused. I must have sat on a bee! He looked for the bee while he rubbed the stingy feeling out of his bottom but didn’t see one. He shrugged. I guess it flew away, he thought.
Then Revver went back up to the front seat of the car. He flipped a switch. He pushed a button. He flipped and pushed and pressed more things. R-rrrrrrrrrrrr! Something made the car roar to life! It surprised him, but it was AMAZING! The sound echoed through the garage. Oh, it’s magical! he decided. He jumped down to the gas pedal on the floor, and the engine roared louder. I just love that sound!
He was dying to make it move! He wanted so badly to go fast again! But he knew he wasn’t big enough to work the shifter by the seat with the clutch and the pedals on the floor. Bill had explained it to him: the driver had to work all of it together to make it go. Maybe tomorrow, Revver could try asking Bill to let him ride in the back, like he had that first day. Hopefully, Bill would be in a better mood tomorrow.
With the engine still racing, Revver jumped out the window opening.
There, in a corner, was what the team called a “creeper”—a little sled with wheels that some of the crew used to work under the cars. This gave Revver an AWESOME idea! He pushed it forward as he ran along behind, and then he jumped on. It rolled a few feet. “Vrooooom!” said Revver, imagining that he was driving a race car, moving ahead in the final turn.
I want to go faster! Revver decided to try a longer run. He pushed the creeper with his front paws and ran farther and faster before he jumped on. This time, he was able to get up some real speed! “Woo-hoo!” he squealed, imagining crossing the finish line to a checkered flag. Revver looked around for an even better, longer runway. He pushed some things out of the way until he had the perfect, clear space for a long, LONG run. He started up again: push-run, push-run, push-run, JUMP ON! He glided on the creeper, loving the feeling of air blowing through his whiskers!
Uh-oh! Revver bailed off just before the creeper hit the concrete wall ahead of him. The momentum threw him backward, and Revver went flying through the air, end over end over end—right into a tall rolling c
art full of tools.
Bash!
Clankety!
Clang!
Clash!
Kaboom!
Revver, the cart, and the tools all crashed to the ground.
Revver heard a click, and a light went on. He heard someone yell, “WHAT IN THE . . . ?”
And there, with bulging eyes and a dark-red face, stood Grumpy Jack! Now he did not just look grumpy—he looked MAD.
Uh-oh, Revver thought. Jack’s eyes met Revver’s for a split second. Revver saw the veins on Jack’s forehead, vibrating like branches in the wind. Jack made a grab for Revver’s neck. Revver ducked just in time.
The white machine had continued leaking, and now the water started oozing under the door and into the main garage, soaking the shiny floor. Revver started running, feeling the cold water on his paws. Jack ran after him. More lights flicked on. All around him, Revver could see that crew members were running in, yelling as they stumbled over tools.
Jack almost caught Revver again, but Revver zigzagged. This time, Jack slipped and fell on the wet floor. Jack yelled again, and it was the loudest yell Revver had ever heard anything make, almost as loud as his own. Revver wanted to turn to look, but he didn’t dare. Revver heard Jack get up and start the chase again. Revver kept running, zigzagging every which way and climbing and jumping where he could, just like Mama had taught him.
Then Revver thought about Bill. Where was Bill? Bill could help him! Revver lost focus for a fraction of a second while he considered this, and then Revver couldn’t breathe! Jack had caught him! He gripped Revver TIGHT around the neck, squeezing hard.
Jack was screaming at Revver. The car was roaring. The crew was yelling. Tools and equipment clanked and bashed. Revver caught the quickest sight of Bill, looking confused—and maybe even a little scared. Their eyes met just as Jack took Revver to the door, threw him into the air, and kicked him HARD across the rear with a steel-toe boot. Now Revver’s yelping added to the chaos.
Revver landed, rolled, and came to a stop a long way from the garage. It was dark outside, except for a little bit of moonlight. He rubbed his bottom, which was now sore from the zap! AND the kick.
Revver sat, trying to sort his thoughts, when a horrible, familiar smell caught his attention. Revver looked up. There, standing right in front of him, was Farty.
“Revver, you have to come with us RIGHT NOW. Lick!”
“He means ‘quick.’”
“I mean lick-spit!”
“He means ‘lickety-split.’”
Bounce had appeared. Revver was still trying to collect himself and make sense of the last few minutes. “But h-how d-did you know where to find me?”
“It was easy.”
“Mama helped us.”
“B-but how did she know where I’d be?”
“Mama said, ‘Just listen for trouble, and you’ll find Revver.’”
“And here you are.”
30
Bounce and Farty led the way. As they ran, the brothers told Revver what they knew. “Sprite fell,” they said, panting out the details.
“. . . a hole . . .”
“It’s deep . . .”
“There’s water . . .”
“. . . And we can’t get to her.”
“We heard her calling for help.”
“Mama said we need all the help we can get . . .”
“There are coyotes . . .”
The idea of coyotes made Revver shudder.
Revver thought about the dream that had woken him up. He remembered dreaming that Sprite was calling for help. Could it have been real? How could he have heard her from so far away? How would that be possible?
Soon, they saw Mama standing at the base of a huge tree. They were much closer to the track than to their home tree. She was wringing her paws. Her eyes were red and her face was damp. Revver could tell that she had been crying.
“Why was Sprite over here?” Revver whispered, noticing how far they were from her walnut tree.
“She’s been checking up on you.”
“She has?”
“Mama told us to keep an eye on one another,” Bounce said as Mama nodded. Revver had been so caught up with his own adventures he hadn’t considered that. When he thought about Sprite, his heart hurt.
“Are the coyotes still there?” Bounce asked Mama.
Mama just nodded.
Quietly and carefully, Mama and the boys led Revver a few trees away, and, without making a sound, they climbed up to look. They could see two coyotes below looking down into a deep hole with a metal grate on top. Revver could see how little Sprite could have easily fallen in the holes in the grate. She was so tiny. Mama, Bounce, and Farty whispered, “They were chasing her.”
Mama sniffled. “She wasn’t watching. She fell in while she was running away.”
“I don’t even think she could get out if they left. It’s so steep and slippery in there.”
“But they won’t leave.”
Revver thought about Sprite being chased and almost being eaten. He thought about her falling through the metal grate and into the deep hole. He thought about all the times she had been there for him, all the times she had saved him. This had happened because she was checking on him—because she cared about him. His thoughts were spinning. But Revver said nothing.
He didn’t know what to do. He took a deep breath and sat down to think. Wait! he thought. Stop and think! That’s right! That’s one of my lessons! He quickly sorted through all the other notes in his brain burrow for help. He needed ideas!
Revver looked through his notes carefully:
Revving is good SOMETIMES. He needed to give this some serious thought. If revving is going to help, I have to be careful with it. I have to use it wisely, he decided.
Everything is connected to everything else. He thought about the dream and how he had heard Sprite’s voice. He thought about the team. He thought about his family. He thought about his work at the garage and all that he had learned. NOW he needed to take all that and help Sprite. This idea started to feel important.
No pooping in the garage. Ugh! That won’t help now! He threw that note aside.
Learn from mistakes. Revver thought about this one a long time. He remembered all the times he’d done things without thinking and all the trouble it had caused. I need to be careful. I need to be smart. Sprite’s life depends on it.
Little pictures of the past few days sparked through his brain like lightning bolts. Falling out of the tree. The hawk. The wall. Sprite. Working with the crew. The teamwork. The garage. The team owner. Wires and engines and hoists and tools . . .
Suddenly, energy ran through him. It was very un-Revver-like to plan, BUT Revver had a plan! He thought through the details one more time to be sure. It could work. It has to, he decided.
“We need to be a team,” Revver said. “We can only win if we work like a team.” He heard something in his own voice that was new. He sounded a little like Sprite when she used her serious “big sister” voice with him. He even sounded a little like Grumpy Jack when he barked orders at the team. It surprised him to hear himself.
Revver went on. “Everyone has an important part to play, and everyone has to do their job exactly right.”
He had so much sureness in his voice that his mother and brothers didn’t even question him.
“First, vines,” Revver said. “We need vines. The strongest ones you can find: wild grapevines or bittersweet or creeping Charlie. We need to gather up as many as we can and bring them up top. Quietly. Don’t let the coyotes hear or see you. And hurry!”
The three boys and Mama set about gathering vines and carrying them up to the treetop. Revver began winding, braiding, and weaving the vines to one another, making them into chains, exactly like he had seen Sprite do. He worked until the vines looked strong and thick like the chains in the garage. He twisted them together the way he’d seen Susan twist wires. He kept checking the pile of vines and kept looking at the distance down and
into the hole. Again and again, he checked while he braided, twisted, and tied, trying to make sure he had enough.
“Now, while I’m doing this, fetch nuts. The biggest ones you can find. Farty, FETCHING, not eating.” Farty nodded with his cheeks full of food.
“Bounce, wait. First, I need a rock, flat and very sharp. Can you find one?”
“On it.”
In the meantime, Revver looked. He looked down at the drooling coyotes who were staring into the hole where Sprite was trapped. He looked around at the tree. He remembered what he’d learned from his almost cannonball into the nest. He remembered what he learned from all the midair grabs of the lug nuts—it was all about space and timing. He looked hard at the distance, and he finally decided that he needed the coyotes just a little closer to the tree. He adjusted the plan again. Then he thought through everything one last time. With everyone listening, Revver told them exactly what needed to happen.
Grumpy Jack popped into Revver’s head, and Revver understood what the team owner must feel: it was important that everyone do their job exactly right. It was the only way it would all work. In racing, it was the only way they could win. Here, it was the only way to save Sprite.
The plan was set. They were ready to go.
31
“Back away RIGHT NOW, or you’ll regret it!” Mama stood at the base of the tree. The coyotes looked up from the hole, surprised. They laughed at Mama and did not move.
“I said, BACK AWAY FROM THERE—OR YOU’LL BE SORRY!” she said again, louder.
Instead of backing away, the two coyotes raised up and inched toward Mama, licking their chops and drooling. From his spot on the branch, Revver could see that they were now in the perfect position.
Revver the Speedway Squirrel Page 7
