The Waddodles of Hollow Lake
Calamity on East Bay
by
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[Harriet is coming home, to her den on East Shore, after checking out her new home on West Shore. She is alone and eager to reach home.]
"Snap!" A noise resounded in the distance.
She stopped short; her eyes darted back and forth, searching for signs of danger. It grew quiet. "My! I AM jumpy!" She shook her head. "I am being silly! That noise was probably a dead limb falling or a small creature, like me, scurrying about hunting and minding her own business." She laughed at herself. "Guess that hot sun's really getting to me."
She stopped to listen; the area remained quiet.
Sighing, she shrugged her shoulders and inched forward, uneasily. I wish Clara and Zoe would come meet me, but I doubt they will. How would they ever find me now that I have taken the wrong path? "I must locate the brook, so I can get back on track; once I find it, believe me, I will not take a step away from it. I will follow it all the way home, then I know I will not get confused again."
By mid-afternoon, Harriet figured she was over halfway home -- a little on edge and weary, but happy. "I'm making good time in spite of taking the wrong path." She stopped to get her bearings. "That clearing ahead looks somewhat familiar -- I think it borders East Bay Territory -- but I am not sure. If it is the clearing I think it is, I will have to cross it to get to the brook."
All was quiet.
She left the comfortable shade of Pine Forest and headed across the clearing. "If I guessed right, there is just this field and a small patch of woods before my brook is in sight. Maybe taking the wrong fork was not such a bad mistake, after all."
Anxious to get into familiar territory, she made plans for her arrival home. "When I reach the brook, I will stop to drink, then take a quick dip to cool off; then, I will follow it home. There should be only a few bends before my den is in sight. While I tell the children about moving, I will soak my feet in the soothing cool water." She sighed happily, expecting to be home much sooner than expected.
"Crack!" Again -- “Crack! Snap! Crack, snap, snap!"
Harriet froze in her tracks, alerted by the threatening sounds coming from the wood ahead. Her heart skipped a beat. "I am not imagining those noises. It is either twigs snapping or gunshots -- either way, it means danger. I better find cover -- just in case."
Her heart beat faster, her ears perked high; her skin tingled, causing her fur to stand on end. Frantically, she searched for a nearby tree.
Then, "CRACK!" Again, "CRACK! SNAP! CRACK, SNAP, SNAP!"
She panicked. "Where will I hide?" she gasped.
The snapping grew louder.
"That is no small creature," she told herself, while scanning the clearing, seeking a safe retreat.
The field contained few trees and bushes. She spied a blackberry bush and darted towards it, and dove beneath the branches. "This doesn't offer me enough protection. I am too vulnerable on the ground. I must climb a tree -- but which tree? Where?" She trembled, shaking the bush, frantically looking for safer cover; her chest heaved as she gasped for air.
"CRACK! SNAP! SNAP! CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!" The sounds intensified, coming faster directly towards her.
Panicky, she searched the clearing. "I don't have time to head for those far trees, my only chance is to retreat to the wood." Quickly she waddled toward the pines she left minutes earlier.
"SNAP! SNAP! SNAP, SNAP, SNAP! CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, SNAP!" The noises closed in on her.
"Someone is chasing me," she gasped. Is it The Ruffin Twins or Old Mr. Grump and his hounds? It cannot be Mr. You-Know-Who -- could it? No! Clara and Zoe would have warned me -- somehow; but maybe they tried and could not find me because I took the wrong path. She trembled uncontrollably.
The crashing noises grew deafening.
"It is more than one enemy! I cannot take time to see who it is." Without a moment to waste, she hastily climbed the nearest tall pine, immediately wishing she had chosen a sturdier tree. "I hope these branches hold me." I should climb higher, but if I do they will see the branches move and know my hiding place.
The noises grew in intensity. “SNAP! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!”
"Who is it -- I must know." Terrified, she peeked through the needles of the lowest branch. Her heart hammered wildly; her temples thro
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About the Book
My husband died the day after Christmas, leaving four children, ages two to nine. Anxious how we would manage without him, too young to understand, my children asked, “Why my daddy?”
While vacationing at my brother’s lake cabin, in Michigan’s Northern Wood, we watched a mother raccoon and her babies feeding daily at the stump outside our kitchen window when the idea came to write my stories through the eyes of animals.
The first book in The Waddodles of Hollow Lake series, Law of the Woodland, is built on family values, tales of courage, love, hope and trust in each other.
The second series book, The Waddodles of Hollow Lake: Calamity on East Bay features more exciting adventures with The Waddodles and their friends, highlighting many episodes with their enemies, The Ruffin twins, Old Mr. Grump and “The Beast” Big Casey, the meanest black bear in all the territories circling Hollow Lake.
Will the Raccoon Waddodle Family have to move from their
rock den on East Bay to a safe new home?
How will The Waddodles have the courage to leave the only home they have
ever known and loved? Who will protect
Harriet and her children now that Theodore is gone forever? Read it to find out?
About the Author
Carole La Flamme Beighey is a writer, a Registered Professional Nurse and homemaker. She is married to Larry Beighey and has six grown children; Skip, Susan, Tom, Tim, Elizabeth and Anne and nine grandchildren.
She resides with her husband at Amelia Island, Florida and spends her summers at Hubbard Lake, Michigan.