A Place to Call Home Read online

  But as Hedgehog studied the creature, she realized they didn’t look exactly alike.

  This hedgehog had white whiskers on its face.

  Its nose was a bit pointier.

  And it looked wobbly on its feet.

  “H-hi,” Hedgehog stammered.

  “I don’t think we’ve met,” the other hedgehog said. “The name’s Grandhog.”

  “Hello, sir.” Owl extended a wing. “My name is Owl. These are my friends Beaver, Mole, and Hedgehog.”

  Grandhog looked directly at Hedgehog. “You checking in?” he asked.

  “Checking in?” Hedgehog questioned.

  “To Hedge Hideaway,” Grandhog said. “The place where all our kind come to hibernate.”

  “Hibernate?” Hedgehog still didn’t understand.

  “Hibernate,” repeated Owl. “To spend the winter sleeping.”

  Grandhog puffed out his chest. “Hedge Hideaway is the best hibernation retreat. I built it with my own two paws.”

  Beaver looked impressed. “Can we have a tour?” he asked.

  “Sure, mate,” answered Grandhog. “Follow me.”

  When Beaver, Owl, Mole, and Hedgehog stepped through the hedgerow, there was a whole village—rows and rows of tiny houses, and lots of hedgehog look-alikes scurrying about! They were carrying bags and bundles into their houses.

  Owl was reading the names off the doors: “ ‘Heatherhog, Howardhog, Harperhog, Hectorhog, Hugohog, Hildahog.’ ” Hedgehog could hardly believe her eyes.

  Grandhog read the large sign at the entrance:

  “Whatcha think now?” Grandhog asked Hedgehog. “Great place to hibernate, eh?”

  “Umm. Sure,” Hedgehog squeaked. She had never hibernated before. A nap that lasted the whole winter sounded way too long.

  As Beaver asked Grandhog questions about the tiny houses, Hedgehog whispered over to Mole, “Mole, do I have to hibernate?”

  Mole patted Hedgehog on the back. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, dear.”

  Normally, Mole’s steady words helped calm Hedgehog, but this was different. If all hedgehogs were supposed to hibernate, and if Hedge Hideaway was the best place to hibernate, that meant Hedgehog should stay, didn’t it?

  “Look, Hedgehog,” said Beaver, “there’s only one empty hedge-house left.”

  “Does it look like home?” Mole asked.

  “Well…” Hedgehog hesitated.

  “It’s up to you.” Grandhog smiled. “But it’s first come, first served here at Hedge Hideaway.

  “Tonight we have our annual Hibernation Feast. A large community meal before the big sleep. You can get to know your neighbors there. Not that you’ll see them much during hibernation.” Grandhog chuckled.

  Hedgehog knew that staying the winter at Hedge Hideaway meant not seeing her friends. Not playing with them in the snow. Not going to Owl’s read-alouds.

  But at Hedge Hideaway she’d be among her own kind.

  She repeated Grandhog’s words in her head: Home is where the hedge-heart is.

  Well, I am a hedgehog. So I guess this is supposed to be home. Hedgehog’s heart wasn’t quite feeling it yet, but maybe this place would begin to feel like home soon.

  “Okay, I will stay,” said Hedgehog to Grandhog.

  “Brilliant!” Grandhog gave her a slap on the back as her friends stood in silence.

  “We are going to miss you, Hedgehog,” Mole said after a somber pause.

  “Exceedingly,” Owl said with a nod.

  “Yup, yup,” muttered Beaver.

  “But I’ll see you once hibernation is over,” Hedgehog said, forcing a smile.

  “Yes. We will come to pick you up,” said Mole in a more cheerful tone.

  Hedgehog walked Owl, Beaver, and Mole back to the raft. She hugged them quickly, holding back her tears as they piled on. Hedgehog squeezed Mutty tight to her chest as she watched her friends drift downstream, far away from Hedge Hideaway. Far away from her.

  While the others were gone, Annika Mae, Hen, and Chicks were occupied with very important Friend Fort business.

  The chicks marched around the fort, keeping guard. “Cheep. Cheep. Cheep-cheep-cheep!”

  Inside the fort, Hen and Annika Mae were admiring the shelves Beaver had carved with his teeth. “Beaver is an excellent woodworker!” Hen clucked.

  “Yes, and he knows it!” Annika Mae laughed.

  Beaver hadn’t hung all the shelves yet, so Annika Mae decided to surprise him. How hard could it be to hang up a shelf?

  “Hen, would you hold this bracket while I hammer?”

  “That sounds easy,” said Hen, taking her place.

  As Annika Mae swung the hammer, Hen shrieked, “My wing!” and dropped the bracket.

  “I wasn’t going to hit your wing!” Annika Mae said. “If you’re going to help, you’ll need to hold still.”

  “Okay, okay,” agreed Hen, “let’s try again.”

  This time, Hen did not let go. But the sound that came out of her beak frightened Annika Mae so terribly that she struck too hard, splitting the bracket right in half.

  “Oh no!” Annika Mae cried. “I broke it!”

  Hen picked up the other bracket. “But look, there’s another.”

  “I know, Hen, but we need two brackets to hang the shelf. One won’t work.” Annika Mae pouted.

  Hen felt bad. “Oh. Well, finding things is my specialty,” she said. “I can find you another brackamajiggy.”

  Hen waddled outside and began sorting through her treasure pile, Annika Mae following behind.

  “Nah…”

  “Won’t do…”

  “Too clunky…”

  “Too flimsy.”

  Annika Mae began to lose hope.

  Hen disappeared under the pile, and when she came back, she was wearing a wooden fruit crate.

  “This!” she cheered. “This is exactly what we need.”

  “I don’t think so, Hen,” Annika Mae said doubtfully. “That is not a bracket.”

  “I have a vision,” said Hen with a twinkle in her eye. “Do you trust me?”

  Annika Mae was a little skeptical, but she had never seen Hen so excited.

  “Okay, Hen,” she said. “Let’s give it a try.”

  Hedgehog sat Mutty down inside their new home. It didn’t feel very homey. If she was going to stay here all winter, she’d better cozy things up.

  Outside her window, other hedgehogs were lugging leaves and straw into their houses.

  “I’ll be right back, Mutty.”

  Hedgehog smiled at a few kind faces along the way, and they smiled back. It felt strange to see so many hedgehogs in one place when only yesterday she hadn’t seen even one other hedgehog.

  As she walked home with an armload of leaves and nesting grasses, she noticed the sky. It was layered with cotton-candy clouds.

  She felt the air. Still and cold. Was it going to snow?! She was so excited that she ran all the way back to her tiny house.

  “Mutty! Snow!” Hedgehog grabbed Mutty and brought him outside to see the sky. “Well, it’s not snowing yet,” she told him. “But I don’t want to miss the first flakes!”

  Then she heard Grandhog’s voice echoing over a loudspeaker:

  “Attention, hibernators!

  Due to an incoming snowstorm, we have decided to begin the annual Hibernation Feast a little early. Please join us in the picnic area before sunset. Toodles!”

  “I was right!” Hedgehog cheered. “The first snow really is on its way!”

  She gave Mutty a squeeze.

  “Let’s go make some new friends.”

  Hedgehog was in such a hurry to get to the feast, she stumbled over a stick in the path. Oooh, this would make a perfect snowhog arm! she thought.

  When Hedgehog and Mutty arrived at the feast, it was even grander than Hedgehog had imagined. New faces always made her nervous, and there must have been a hundred in this room alone! She looked for empty seats but didn’t see even one.

  Then Hedgehog heard a familiar raspy voice. She turned to see Grandhog beaming her way.

  “Greetings, Hedgehog! Quite an impressive spread, eh? Here, let me find you a seat.”

  Grandhog walked Hedgehog and Mutty over to the very last empty seat. He looked at Mutty and then back to Hedgehog.

  “I’m sorry, only one seat left,” Grandhog apologized.

  “Thanks, Grandhog.” Hedgehog smiled anxiously and took a seat at the table, placing Mutty and the snowhog stick on her lap.

  “Enjoy the roast turnip, it’s my favorite!” Grandhog called as he scuttled away, leaving Hedgehog among strangers.

  Hedgehog looked around. There was so much food, the wood planks bowed under the weight of it all. There were plump strawberries and long sprigs of cranberries, whole carrots and yellow squash, dandelion greens and roasted asparagus, blueberry tarts and purple sweet potato pie. Hedgehog had never eaten a rainbow before!

  “Hi, my name is Heatherhog,” said one of Hedgehog’s tablemates, noticing her surprise. “You must be a first-timer at Hedge Hideaway.”

  “You are right,” Hedgehog giggled nervously. “My name is Hedgehog, and this is Mutty.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Heatherhog extended her paw. “This hog stuffing his face is Hugohog.”

  “Howdy!” Hugohog mumbled through a mouthful of strawberries.

  “Howdy,” Hedgehog repeated back. There was a pause. Hedgehog didn’t know what to say. Then she remembered the stick on her lap.

  “I was wondering…,” Hedgehog ventured.

  “Do you like to build snowhogs?”

  “Snowhogs?” Hugohog questioned.

  “I mean, when it snows—do you like to build hedgehogs out of snow?”

  “Ohh. Snowhogs!” Hugohog guffawed. “No way, y’all. I never go in the snow. It’s too cold for a thin-blooded fella like me.”

  “My favorite thing about snow is sleeping through it,” snorted Heatherhog.

  The two were laughing, but Hedgehog didn’t get the joke. How could they not like snow?

  For the rest of the meal, Hedgehog munched carrots and cranberries while listening to the others chitchat about hibernation. Not even one liked snow. Every hedgehog sounded so happy to sleep through the entire winter. They would miss snowball fights, snow tubing, and most important of all, snowhogs. Hedgehog could not imagine sleeping through all of that! These hedgehogs might be made of the same spines and snouts, but their hearts spoke different languages.

  Back inside her tiny house, Hedgehog built a nest out of leaves and straw, and curled up against Mutty.

  She thought about the snow that would soon arrive.

  She pictured the happy faces of the other hedgehogs at Hedge Hideaway.

  She wished for that kind of happiness again—the kind she shared with her friends.

  It was just after dawn when a cold draft jolted Hedgehog awake. She bounced out of bed and straight to the window. The world outside was as white as a new sheet of paper. It was snow! Actual snow. Softly falling from the sky and blanketing the ground. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

  Hedgehog leaped out the door.

  She scooped up pawfuls of snow and launched them in the air as high as she could.

  Then she packed a huge snowball, scrambled to the top of a snowdrift, and tossed it into the sky.

  Plunk! Her snowball bounced off the welcome sign, knocking some snow off and revealing the words Grandhog had spoken yesterday: home is where the hedge-heart is.

  Hedgehog listened to her heart. This time it was louder than before.

  She slid down the snow hill and raced inside.

  Leaf by leaf, Hedgehog built a map. It went all the way from Hedge Hideaway to the Friend Fort. When Grandhog and the others came out of hibernation, they would know exactly where to visit her.

  She turned to Mutty. “Let’s go home.”

  The white snow brightened their path as Hedgehog carried Mutty downriver. Hers were the only footprints as far as the eye could see.

  Once they reached Beaver’s dam, they stopped to take a short break. Snow was still falling all around them.

  “If this keeps up, we’ll have to tunnel our way home!” Hedgehog told Mutty.

  They continued on their way.

  Hours passed, and the snow made it difficult to see ahead. Finally Hedgehog heard the faint sound of voices. Then up in the sky she spotted Owl circling among the falling flakes.

  “Mutty, we are almost home!” she called.

  With each step, the voices of her dear friends got louder and clearer.

  “Gotcha!” she heard Beaver chuckle.

  They were having a snowball fight!

  Hedgehog ducked into the brush and snuck as quietly as she could sneak. She scooped up a pawful of snow and packed it tight. Then she hurled it at Beaver, hitting him square between the eyes.

  “Oof! Beaver down!” Beaver fell backward into the snow.

  The rest of the friends spun around in surprise.

  “Umngani! You came back!” Mole cheered.

  “Peep! Peep!” the chicks cheeped.

  Beaver popped up. “I knew you’d come back.” He grinned. “Also, nice throw,” he whispered, leaning in. “You can be on my team.”

  Owl swooped down, flapping his wings with excitement. “Hedgehog! You’re just in time for the first story time in our new fort.”

  “We’re waiting on Annika Mae to finish her design,” Beaver grumbled. “She won’t let us inside until she and Hen are ready for their ‘big reveal.’ ”

  Hedgehog was exhausted from her journey. She wanted nothing more than to curl up, but there was something she had to do first.

  “While we wait for story time, I have something I want to show you!” Hedgehog exclaimed.

  “Ooooh, a surprise?” Owl called.

  “Yes! But I could use some help.”

  Hedgehog sent the friends for supplies.

  While they were off collecting, Hedgehog carefully built her very first snowhog.

  She knew exactly how to make it, thanks to all the drafting she had done on her island.

  Owl brought two sticks.

  Beaver fetched a pile of twigs.

  And Mole and Chicks each returned with one pebble.

  Hedgehog placed lots of spines,

  two arms,

  two eyes,

  and one nose.

  She stepped back to admire her creation.

  “Well, look at that!” Owl hooted. “I see what it is now.”

  “It’s YOU!” Beaver whooped.

  “It’s a snowhog.” Hedgehog blushed.

  “It’s absolutely marvelous!” praised Mole.

  The friends gave Hedgehog a big round of applause. A split second later, the Friend Fort door flew open.

  “What’s all this commotion?” Hen clucked. Then she spotted Hedgehog, and her eyes grew wide with delight.

  “You are home!” Hen announced. “Annika Mae! Hedgehog is home!”

  Annika Mae dove through the Friend Fort door, squeezing Hedgehog and Mutty so hard, their insides nearly became their outsides.

  “I missed you both so much,” she cooed.

  Hedgehog felt her heart swell. There was no place else she’d rather be.

  “Well, now that everyone is here, shall we reveal the Friend Fort?” Annika Mae smiled.

  “We’ve only been waiting all day!” Beaver harrumphed.

  “Okay, Mr. Impatient, you can help me with the ribbon cutting.” Annika Mae pulled a long red ribbon out of her pocket.

  “To celebrate the official opening of our amazing new clubhouse: a place we can all call home.”

  Beaver took one end of the ribbon and stretched it across the fort entrance.

  “Hedgehog, would you do the honors?” Annika Mae handed her a pair of scissors.

  Hedgehog cut the ribbon right in the center, and everyone cheered triumphantly.

  “Okay, NOW can we see the fort?” Beaver persisted.

  “Yes, Beaver. But close your eyes before you go in.”

  One by one the friends filed into the fort.

  “Okay, on the count of three, open them. One…two…three!”

  “Oooh!” they all gasped. “Aaaaah!”

  Owl fluttered to the bookcase. “Look at all these books!”

  “And you did it without my help.” Beaver nodded with approval.

  There was a hodgepodge of pillows and poufs and even a perch for Owl. Most importantly, there were enough seats for everyone. They sat down and looked around, taking it all in.

  “There’s one last surprise,” Annika Mae announced, reaching for a bag. “Since it’s winter now, you each need something warm to wear.”

  She pulled out a ball of scarves.

  “Blue for Mole, orange for Owl, teal for Hen. A peach one for Hedgehog—”