Maple, the gray squirrel, has returned for another adventure. Read her first story here. Maple’s friend, Stringy, has requested Maple’s help on an adventure, and she accepts. He plans on going into a house at night. Read the first part of this story here and the second part of her story here!

It was dark. I shivered and shifted my position from where I was sitting in a tree. I wasn’t used to being out so late at night, and I felt jumpy, like I was doing something my instincts hadn’t programmed. Stringy had told me to meet him, Footprint, and Shelby below this tree. We would have a planning meeting. They would come, he promised, as soon as the streetlights went on in the evening. The streetlights had buzzed to life a while ago, and I was still waiting. The quiet neighborhood had stilled around me and the night had settled like a blanket over the houses. Still I waited.

A shadow moved beyond the nearest streetlight and I jerked to attention. It was Stringy, hopping along down a front yard, and Footprint, who crawled warily across the grass. They were both going very slow to keep pace with the slow-moving possum behind them. Shelby. She was so old and small she looked like a young possum, but the way she hunched over as she walked and carried her tail crookedly gave her age away. “Where’s Maple?” I heard her croak.

I galloped down my tree. “I’m here!” I announced.

Footprint peered at me. He was not as old as Shelby and spent most of his time pawing through trash cans. Or staring at a fig tree. “Goodness, Maple,” he grunted. “You appeared so sudden, it was like you came right down from that tree.”

“I did,” I explained.

“Oh!” exclaimed Footprint. He cleared his throat and we were silent for a while, staring awkwardly at each other. “Well. When do we start planning?” Footprint inquired finally.

“Oh, there’s a change of plans. We’re not planning tonight. We’re going in tonight.”

I gawked at him incredulously. “How can we do it without a plan?” I asked him.

“Why are we doing it tonight?” Shelby cried.

“And how can we have a change of plans if we haven’t made any plans yet?” Footprint added.

Stringy flicked his whiplike tail, as if waving away their concerns. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. We go in tonight.”

To be continued!