New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow

by Jessica Redland

  I nodded. He’d been so brilliant. He’d kept his promise and not chased me about the ‘homework’ he’d set. Even when we’d talked in depth about what Dad revealed and how I felt about it, he hadn’t taken that as an opportunity to push the baby agenda. He said he chose me whatever my decision, and I believed him.

  On Friday morning, a winning hedgehog logo arrived by email. Finally! A first year called Devansh Chandra had designed a delightfully happy cartoon hedgehog with grey eyes and glasses – a tribute I wanted to Thomas – and had taken it a step further by also designing a wife and four hoglets.

  ‘Thomas, Gwendoline and the four babies they lost,’ I whispered, tears clouding my eyes as I scrolled through the images of each character and then scenes of them together in the wild. They were simply perfect.

  I sat back in my chair, smiling. Life was pretty close to perfect at that point. Long may it continue.

  61

  Samantha

  Saturday arrived and, as I worked, a feeling of melancholy settled over me. This evening we were going to release Mr Snuffles.

  I’d known the day would come eventually but I’d been dreading it. He’d been our second admission before we’d opened for business, before I’d even moved into the farmhouse, before the fire. Brought in with a broken leg, he’d been the first patient to need an operation and, as a result, had become our longest-staying guest.

  For me, Mr Snuffles had also signified a new beginning. He’d arrived a few days after Mum told me she’d never wanted me and chose to cut me out of her life. His arrival had lifted me and given me focus. But now he was fully healed and it was time to set him free.

  As dusk fell, Josh and I took the carry crate to Thomas’s bench and sat for a moment. The sun was sinking over the fields to the west but wouldn’t disappear for another hour or so. The light was beautiful, bathing everything in a golden glow.

  ‘Big moment.’ Josh patted the crate.

  ‘Huge. I know it’s a good thing but…’

  ‘He’s been with us since the start. It was always going to be harder saying goodbye to Mr Snuffles. You’ll probably be the same when Gollum has to leave, although he won’t be going anywhere if those spines don’t grow back.’

  Gollum had rapidly become another favourite. He was such a character and the thought of him leaving made me feel sad too.

  ‘Do you think we’ll see Mr Snuffles again?’

  Josh laughed lightly and indicated the collection of hedgehog houses and feeding stations positioned round the garden. ‘If you were a hedgehog and had five-star accommodation on hand like this, would you go far?’

  I smiled. ‘Probably not.’ Deep breath. It’s time to let go. ‘Okay. Let’s do it.’

  I carried the crate across to the fence between the garden and meadow, lay it gently on the ground, pulled on my gloves and lifted Mr Snuffles out.

  ‘Goodbye, little one,’ I said, my voice catching in my throat. ‘Stay safe out there.’

  I placed him on the grass pointing towards the meadow. He raised his nose in the air and sniffed. He explored the immediate garden for a few moments, then shuffled along the side of the meadow, suddenly ducking between the stems. And that was it. The last of the original admissions was back in the wild where he belonged.

  I didn’t need to say anything. Josh reached out and pulled me into his arms while silent tears rained down my cheeks which quickly turned to sobs.

  ‘He’ll be fine,’ he whispered. ‘He’s exactly where he should be.’

  When the sobs finally eased and my body stopped shaking, he gently pulled me to my feet and Ied me over to the bench where we had a couple of cold bottles of lager waiting to toast the occasion.

  ‘To the second hedgehog the badass hedgehog saviour rescued. May he have a long and happy future.’

  I clinked my bottle against his. ‘To Mr Snuffles.’ Then I raised it towards the meadow. ‘And to Quilly, Ripley, Luke and the other hoglets who crossed the rainbow bridge to be with Thomas and Gwendoline.’

  The tears started again and Josh cuddled me to his side.

  ‘I love it out here,’ he said after I’d composed myself.

  ‘Your mum thinks it feels magical.’

  ‘My mum’s probably right. Especially when you’re here.’ He tilted my face towards his and kissed my damp cheeks before his lips met mine.

  ‘Definitely magical,’ I whispered when we pulled apart, my heart racing and butterflies swooping and soaring in my stomach.

  I cuddled into his side again and looked towards the meadow, straining my eyes in the hope of a last glimpse of Mr Snuffles.

  ‘Oh my gosh!’ I jumped up. ‘Look!’

  I crept to the edge of the garden, captivated by two adult hedgehogs and four hoglets who’d emerged from the meadow and were scurrying towards one of the feeding stations. It was like a scene from Devansh’s winning logo entry and most unexpected as hedgehogs were solitary creatures so it was unusual to see adults together.

  ‘Thomas, Gwendoline and their lost babies,’ I whispered. My heart melted as the hoglets clambered over each other in an effort to get to the food and one of them tumbled over another, face-planting the bowl before quickly righting itself.

  ‘Isn’t this amazing?’ I realised Josh wasn’t beside me and turned to face the bench. My stomach did the most enormous backflip as he smiled and lowered himself onto one knee.

  Oh my gosh! Is he…?

  ‘I’ve been carrying something round all week trying to find the right moment and I can’t think of a better one than right here in our favourite place at sunset, overlooking the Micklebys’ meadow with one of our original hedgehogs returning to the wild. I love you, Sammie. I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love another human being.’ He smiled. ‘You met an angry, stubborn man and you turned him into someone who cries saying goodbye to a hedgehog.’

  ‘You were crying too? You big softie. That’s so sweet.’

  ‘I told you. You’ve changed me. I didn’t like the person I’d become. It wasn’t me and you helped me find the way back to the real me. I’m so proud of everything you’ve done here, how quickly you’ve learned, how caring you are. I’d always planned the future for the practice but never for my own life because I’d never found someone I wanted a future with. Then this crazy brunette banged on my door and accused me of being an idiot for parking too close.’

  He reached into his pocket and removed a ring which he held out towards me. ‘This was my grandma’s and the man who gave her it made her so happy. I’d like to do the same for you. Will you marry me?’

  I thrust out my left hand towards him, barely able to speak. ‘Yes,’ I squeaked. ‘Yes I will!’

  He slipped the ring on my finger then caught me in the most tender heart-melting kiss.

  ‘You’ve made me cry again,’ he said, wiping his cheeks as he pulled away. ‘What have you done to me?’

  ‘It’s not me. It’s this place. Magical.’

  We stood in front of the bench, arms round each other, looking towards the meadow. I held my hand in front of me and twisted it from side to side to catch the fading light on the trio of diamonds.

  ‘Do you like it?’

  ‘It’s exquisite.’ I bit my lip, feeling the need to confess. ‘I thought that the first time I saw it.’ The morning after Josh and I got together, he’d been called out, leaving me alone at Wisteria Cottage. Not wanting to get a taxi back to Rich and Dave’s in my party dress, I’d raided his drawers for some suitable clothes and found a framed photo of Beth and the box containing the engagement ring. He knew I’d seen the photo because I’d had a wobble about how beautiful Beth was compared to me, but I’d never mentioned seeing the ring.

  Josh stepped back, eyes wide with surprise. ‘When have you seen it before?’

  ‘When I was looking for some clothes to come home in the morning after we got together. That photo of Beth wasn’t the only thing I found in your drawers. I know it was in a box but I couldn’t help peeking
. I’m sorry.’

  He smiled and drew me to my side. ‘It was obviously calling to you. You do realise that it was coincidence that the ring was with Beth’s photo? Even when I discovered she was pregnant and, for the briefest of moments, thought the baby could be mine. Even when I could hear my granddad’s voice in my head telling me I should “do the right thing”, I could never have given Beth my grandma’s ring. It was always meant for you because I was always meant for you just like this farm and the hedgehogs were always meant for you.’ He kissed me again and my body felt like one with his.

  We returned to Thomas’s bench and Misty-Blue jumped up beside us and laid half on Josh’s knee and half across mine, demanding attention. We both tickled her tummy as we watched the hedgehogs, chuckling at the hoglets. ‘Oh my gosh!’

  I leaned forward, squinting my eyes, as one of the adult hogs turned to face the other direction, revealing her left side. ‘Look at her spines. I’m sure that’s Mrs Tiggy Winkle!’

  Another of the four hedgehogs I’d rescued from the fire, Mrs Tiggy Winkle had been our third patient brought in with a small cut on her face. She’d been easily distinguished from the others by a wiggly band of blonde spines – like a worm – on her right side. Her cut had healed quickly so Josh had released her on the farm while I was still in hospital.

  ‘I think you’re right. She certainly didn’t waste any time after she was released.’

  ‘How lovely that she’s had babies and brought them back here.’

  Lottie’s cry from the nursery filled the air and echoed across the fields. I glanced up at her window, across to Mrs Tiggy Winkle and her family, then at my beautiful engagement ring. Josh had proposed to me without an answer about having a family. He’d committed his future to me, accepting that the only babies we might have were prickly ones that couldn’t stick around. I pictured him on the Family Fun Day dressed as Mickleby telling me that, if ever I doubted how he felt, I should picture him in that costume because that was true love. I never had doubted him. I felt it emanating from him every single day.

  I looked back to the hedgehogs and across to the meadow and smiled. You sent them, didn’t you? It’s a sign. And I hear the message loud and clear.

  I took Josh’s hand in mine. ‘How many babies do we have on the farm at the moment?’

  ‘Lots of babies,’ he said, laughing.

  ‘I make it fourteen in the barn, two upstairs, four in the garden and goodness knows how many others on our land.’

  ‘It’s pretty special, isn’t it?’ He stroked his thumb gently over the back of my hand, sending tingles up my arm.

  ‘It is. Babies make the place feel alive. New life, fresh starts, and I think it’s time I made my own fresh start. You know that homework you set me? I did it.’

  Josh squeezed my hand. ‘What did you discover?’

  ‘Exactly what you thought I’d discover. What Dad said. What Hannah said. What I know deep down but am fighting to accept. So I’m going to ask your mum to put me in touch with a good counsellor. The truth is that I do want a family. It’s not because I’m a bit broody being surrounded by babies at the moment or because Thomas and Gwendoline would have wished for the farm to be filled with children. And it’s not because, even though you are the most incredible man in the world for putting me first, I know you long for children too. It’s because I want them. For me. But I’m scared. Mum never reached out for help but, as you’ve all said, I’m not my mum so I’m reaching out. I’m asking for help because I want this for us.’

  Josh’s eyes glistened. ‘Whatever you decide and whenever you decide it, I’ll help and support you every step of the way.’

  I knew he would. He was the man who’d sat by my bedside while I was in a coma, held me when we lost hedgehogs and cried when we released them. He was the man who loved me so unconditionally that he was willing to cast aside his own hopes for fatherhood to be with me. He was the man who Thomas and Gwendoline chose for me and for Hedgehog Hollow. And, boy, did they choose well.

  Epilogue

  One week later

  I sat on Thomas’s bench with a mug of tea in one hand, the other hand stroking Misty-Blue’s warm belly as she lay sprawled across my lap.

  ‘Listen to that,’ I said to her, cocking my head to one side. ‘Isn’t it so peaceful?’ The only sounds were the chirp of birds, the buzz of insects and Misty-Blue’s gentle purrs.

  ‘No babies crying for once,’ I added, not that I really minded.

  Closing my eyes, I tilted my head back towards the sun. It was a bright, warm Sunday in the middle of June so Paul and Beth had taken advantage of the gorgeous weather and driven Archie and Lottie to the coast. Josh had been called out to a goat emergency an hour ago so I was on my own at Hedgehog Hollow enjoying a rare and precious moment of tranquillity.

  After a few minutes, I opened my eyes and sipped contentedly on my tea. My heart fluttered as the diamonds on my engagement ring sparkled in the sun. We hadn’t made any plans for when we’d marry yet. It didn’t feel right to set the date until Paul had been through the next round of chemotherapy later this month and we were, of course, still hoping a stem cell donor would be found.

  Everyone had been thrilled at the announcement of our engagement. We’d invited Dad, Connie and Lauren to join Paul and Beth for afternoon tea last Sunday so we could share the news. After that I’d called Hannah who’d squealed down the phone, delighted for me but extra excited because she’d always longed to be a bridesmaid.

  I tried my cousin Chloe next but she didn’t answer. Loyalty towards her after years of close friendship meant it didn’t feel right for Auntie Louise to hear first so I held off phoning her, trying Chloe repeatedly over the next few days but without success. On Thursday, fed up that messages and texts to get in touch urgently had seemingly been ignored, I phoned Auntie Louise who was also delighted. Then I texted Chloe:

  ✉︎ To Chloe

  Josh asked me to marry him! I’m so excited. I’ve been trying to get hold of you all week as I ideally didn’t want to tell you my big news by text but you haven’t responded to my messages and I’m worried. I hope you’re OK. HOT TIP! There’s a woman on a farm in Huggleswick who is always here for you. You know where she is if you ever need her xxx

  So far, she hadn’t responded and I was determined not to let it dampen my excitement. If Chloe had decided to have an epic strop, I wasn’t going to bend over backwards this time. I’d waved the white flag plenty of times and now it was her move.

  I’d also sent a quick text to Mum:

  ✉︎ To Mum

  I hope all’s well with you. Just letting you know that Josh asked me to marry him and I said yes. Not planning to set a date yet. Sam x

  She hadn’t responded but I hadn’t expected her to although I had hoped she might, even if it was just one word: ‘congratulations’. I wasn’t going to let her dampen my excitement either.

  I swallowed my last mouthful of tea. ‘Right, Misty-Blue, it’s back to the hoglets for me.’ She leapt off the bench and bounded towards the meadow to chase butterflies and I headed for the kitchen.

  As I rinsed my mug in the sink, I gazed out of the window and spotted a car driving at speed along the farm track. Hedgehog emergency? I wiped my hands and rushed to the farmyard to help, then stopped dead, heart thumping. Hang on! That’s Chloe’s car!

  She screeched to a halt with a spray of gravel beside me, yanked on the handbrake and leapt out. ‘Did you mean your “HOT TIP”?’ she cried.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You said you were always here for me. Is that true?’

  ‘Of course. What…?’

  She removed her sunglasses, revealing red, swollen eyes. ‘Good, because Samuel and I need to stay here. I’ve left James.’

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you so much for reading New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow – the second book in my Hedgehog Hollow series and my eleventh novel. Eleven! Eek!

  I usually end my acknowledgements by thanking my readers f
or their support, reviews and kind messages but I’m going to start with that because the outpouring of love I’ve received for the first book in the series – Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow – has been phenomenal. I’d worried about how readers might react to a move away from my usual Whitsborough Bay coastal setting but they have welcomed the farm, the meadow and the cast of characters – human and hedgehog – into their hearts. Finding Love… was released while I was writing New Arrivals… and the reaction to it gave me such a boost, especially as I was writing during strange and unusual times. Yes, New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow was written during the spring and summer of 2020 when the world as we all knew it changed beyond recognition.

  You’ll have noticed that, despite following a 2020 calendar (dictated by the first book – written pre-Covid – being set in 2019-20), New Arrivals… is set in a world without Covid-19. I’ve had so many messages from readers and read so many reviews expressing gratitude to me for writing uplifting novels that have provided much-needed escapism. It is therefore a conscious decision on my part to continue to provide this escapism with a book that isn’t set in a socially distanced world.

  My dedication for this book is to my brother-in-law, Richard Fisher, who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in June 2020 at the young age of fifty. The loss was devastating and lockdown restrictions meant reaching out to his wife – my husband’s sister – and two sons was challenging. At times like this, all you want to do is rush round and give your loved ones a hug and my heart breaks for anyone who lost someone they care for during this pandemic, whether that’s been Covid-related or, like in Richard’s case, completely unconnected. Restrictions and social distancing made an already challenging and emotional time even more difficult.