Prone To Wander (rough draft)

Chapter Seventeen

The next morning, when Niki opened her eyes, she saw Quinn staring at her again. The expression however, wasn't the same as the previous morning, it was much softer. After a moment, she realized that what the raccoon was really staring at, was the kits. Cavan and Kelly were still sleeping snuggled up against her side.

Quinn got to his paws and walked quietly over to the dog, “I really don't give Ruben and the other squirrels enough credit,” he said.

“Does that have something to do with me?” Niki asked.

“It does. If you wanted to hurt them,” and Quinn pointed to his niece and nephew, “Or anyone else, I couldn't really stop you. I'm not sure how Ruben does it. I'm constantly messing with him, and Malaki, and he's never worried... even though he knows I could kill him.”

“It's called trust,” Niki said.

“Yes, I just didn't realize how much trust it takes. I've never made friends with a creature who could kill me with one bite... It's unnerving, being the little guy.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?” Quinn asked.

“I'm sure it took a lot of trust for you to walk away last night, and leave me watching over the others.”

Quinn was relieved to see the others start to stir, as he didn't know how to respond to Niki. He was a bit surprised to see that Jacob was the first to his paws, and quietly approaching.

“Good morning,” he said to both of them, then turned to the raccoon. “Quinn, I know you're busy with your own building, but would you be able to help us for awhile today? The kits have been wonderful, but we could really use someone taller. If there's anything I can do to return the favor...”

“Of course I'll help,” Quinn interjected, “That's what brothers are for, right?”

“Thank you,” Jacob replied, “But if you're going to do the “brotherly” thing, why not let me be brotherly in return?”

Quinn grimaced, “It's nothing personal, I'm just not used to being the one who receives help. I suppose I have to learn now.” He glanced from Jacob to Niki, “I don't know about anyone else, but this whole adventure has changed my life far more than I ever thought it would.”

Jacob's ears fell flat and he shook his head, “I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about,” he said with a smile.

By this time the others were all finally awake and on their paws, and came to see if the three early risers were making plans. It was agreed by all that they would work on the squirrel's homes first, then, since Quinn was helping them, the squirrels would help with building the raccoon's tree house. The den didn't need anything more, so Niki said she would just follow the others and stand guard. It was familiar work for her, and she was glad to offer her new friends some protection, so they didn't need to worry while working.

There wasn't much for breakfast, so Quinn returned to the stream he'd found the night before and went fishing. As promised, he took Ruben along and the squirrel was glad to learn that it really wasn't far from their new home.

“I wonder if we couldn't find a way to bring back a drink for some of the others,” Ruben said.

“What, like Malaki's little trick with the sap and the bag?” Quinn asked, though his eyes stayed on the stream, searching for the next fish.

“Something like that,” Ruben replied, “I suppose the best we can do for now is bring everyone down here after working. I can't imagine we could ever haul enough water to give Niki a proper drink.”

After the fish had been caught and everyone had some sort of breakfast, the work began. The squirrels were putting up roofs on the two little homes they were building. Having Quinn to hold up the pieces while they secured them made the job significantly easier. The kits wanted to help, but they had to lean on the tops of the little houses to hold the roofing in place, which blocked some of the work, and risked knocking the walls down. Quinn however had no issues holding everything up and giving the squirrels room to move around.

When it was time to start on the raccoon's home, the work was much the same. Quinn still needed to build a roof himself, so he would hold up the branches one at a time and the squirrels would secure them. They tied the branches in place with vines, and once they were in place, the entire top was covered with a layer of tree bark, then a layer of pine needles and other plants. In the end, all the roofing was completed, but there were still no doors.

No one had built a place for fires in their homes, they knew constructing a fireplace would take a long time, and required materials they didn't yet have. It seemed that for the time being, if they wanted a fire, they would have to settle for their campfire. But Jacob suggested creating a place in the clearing to start something bigger.

“Quinn could start it,” Jacob insisted, “I'm sure he could get it going bigger than we could. Then we could just keep it going, and it would be available for everyone to use.”

The idea was approved by the others. With one change. Ruben suggested getting Niki to dig a ditch to build the fire in. This way they could very easily kick the loose dirt over it, if they needed to put the fire out. It worked perfectly. Quinn was especially excited about it. He searched the trees and found several long slender branches, which he set aside for skewering fish with later, so he could roast them over the fire.

When Quinn started talking of cooking, the others started talking about food too. Blackberries were lovely, but they all needed more than that to survive.

“Back in the colony,” Ruben said, “There were always hunting and foraging parties going out. We'll have to do the same thing here I suppose.”

“Except we don't have a colony, brother,” Jacob replied, “And we can't all go out to hunt and forage everyday. We'll be doing nothing else.”

“There's enough of us,” Ruben retorted, “Especially if Quinn and the kits can help.”

Quinn shook his head, “We have to hunt too, and to be perfectly honest, I don't want to take you along.”

“But brother...” Ruben began. Quinn stopped him.

“No. For one thing, I can't image you'll be thrilled to watch if I catch a water rat or a mouse, or something of that nature. For another, if I run into any others of my own kind, I would have a bear of a time keeping them from killing you. I think the only possible exception to that rule would be Liam, he'd probably be friendly if he recognized you.”

Ruben had been silenced, but there was a shaky little voice that asked, “Would you really eat a mouse, uncle Quinn?”

The raccoon looked down to see Gabriel, half hidden behind his father. “Well, yes. I'm not picky. I'll eat whatever I can catch... present company excluded of course.”

“What about other squirrels?” Ruben asked, clearly hoping for particular answer.

“No, that wouldn't sit well with me, and I'm sure it wouldn't sit well with anyone else here either.”

“All this talk is getting us nowhere,” Kalah interjected. “We can't form a proper hunting party, and it's dangerous to go hunting with the raccoons, fine. We can still forage at least, there's berries, and greens, and mushrooms and birds eggs, and... I think we'll be alright. I'm more concerned about Niki. Quinn can't keep feeding her forever.”

“You're right,” Niki said, “I appreciate the help, but I really have to find something I can hunt on my own. Maybe it would better if I pressed on.”

“You need to stop talking like that,” Ruben scolded, “We don't want you to leave... and where would you go anyway? You'll have the same problem no matter where you travel. The only difference would be that you'd leave the rest of us here, wondering if you're alright.”

The dog bowed her head, and gave the squirrel a lick. Ruben shook off and looked up with a smile, “Remind me not to get sentimental around you though.” Niki surprised him with another licking, and Ruben shook off all the harder.

“Alright, the topic was food,” Quinn said, trying to bring the conversation back to its point. “For the moment, we're stuck with fishing and foraging. We'll have to make it work while we search for better options. I would also like to purpose a rule for this little community of ours... There will be no eating of squirrels, or raccoons, or dogs by anyone in the community... not that anyone's likely to go after a dog, but fair is fair.

“This also means we're not going to go make friends with every creature we encounter. If you squirrels make friends with the mice and chipmunks, and I go make friends with the opossums and pine martins, we'll all end up in trouble. Can everyone abide by that rule?”

The rule (which was really two rules), made sense to everyone whether they liked it or not. So, in the end they all agreed.