“Mr. Balfour?” The animal’s dark little eyes peered up at him.
He glanced around. What was a bal-for and why did this furry mammal want one?
Apparently the hedgehog wanted one really bad, because he advanced and stopped on the same step as him. Did he want help with this hunt?
“Come now, sir.” The hedgehog rested his paw on Colin’s arm. “I can help you.”
Help? With the bugs? Colin cocked his head. Made sense. Hedgehogs ate bugs.
“Let me help you, my good fellow.”
Colin opened his mouth to agree, but all that came out was a grunt. Good enough, or must have been, for the hedgehog guided him down the rest of the stairs. The stoat stood near the open door, in a gown of all things! As he passed, he patted the animal on the head. Maybe that would calm the puffed-up little creature.
Outside, the world was grey. Shadowy. Like the gloom might drop from the sky and wrap them all in a tight, black counterpane. His step faltered, but the hedgehog didn’t seem to mind the looming darkness at all. His footsteps tapped steady, leading him onward, towards a half box on wheels. But as they neared it, the attached beast flared its great nostrils and screamed. Hooves clacked sharp, grating on his ears.
Hands to his head, he reared back. What if that monster broke loose? Charged him?Atehim?
“Help!” he cried. Or so he hoped. By the time the word flew out of his mouth, it didn’t sound the same as when it had been in his head.
“Now, now. Steady on.” The gutsy hedgehog stepped between him and the creature. “That is what I’m here for. Soon your pain will be over. You would like that, would you not?”
Who wouldn’t? He nodded.
“Then up you go.” The hedgehog pointed to the rolling box.
With a last glance at the frightful monster in front, Colin climbed up. The whole thing listed dreadfully to the side, and for a moment he feared it might tip over, but it held. Thank God it held!
The fuzzy little hedgehog clamored up beside him and grabbed a set of long ribbons in his tiny paws. He snapped them, and the wheels moved. Colin grabbed the side, stomach roiling. This wasn’t good. This wasnotgood!
“Be at peace,” the hedgehog soothed. “This won’t take long.”
And it didn’t. The box stopped shortly thereafter, near a line of trees. The hedgehog jumped down and held out his paw. “Out you go. Soon your pain will be gone forever.”
Colin stared at the tiny claws a good long time before testing the strength of them with a poke of his finger. Spindly and frail, just as he’d suspected. Forsaking it, he instead gripped the side of the box and lowered to the ground.
But still the man held out that paw. “Come along.”
Colin shook his head. He wouldn’t touch that naked flesh again.
“Very well. Follow that path.”The hedgehog swung his arm towards a break in the trees. “I’ll be right behind you. It won’t be long now.”
Good. The nipper bugs were back. Prickling their spiky feet over his scalp, but he’d learned by now not to slap his head. It hurt too much.
He stalked into the woods, and a few paces in, he gasped. He knew this place, but why? How? He upped his pace, flashes of pictures in his mind. A boy. Flaxen haired. Giggling. No. Wailing. A woman screaming. A man with a gun.
A gun?
He bolted.
“Wait!” The hedgehog squealed behind him.
No. No!
He tore ahead, and there was the woman. Brown gown. Grey cape. Braided hair tucked up in a bonnet. What to do? Should he hide?
Too late. Her eyes bulged, her mouth opening into a cavernous O as she stared at him, making him feel ashamed. Dirty. As exposed and vulnerable as the hedgehog’s bare paws. A scream rent the air, one that climbed inside him and jiggled his innards. She had to stop it.
Stop it!
