Introduction
“I need you to find someone for me.”
“Then get out your money, we’re not cheap! Who do you want us to find?”
“Have you ever heard of Chisel Hedgehog?”
Anger covered the Mean Minks’ faces and Milford snarled, “Don’t you ever mention that name in front of us again!”
“Why’s that?” asked Mr. Otter.
“Because of that thing—that happened back then.”
Mr. Otter gulped. “How much would it cost to catch . . . uh—that guy?”
Milford was too mad to answer, so his brother slowly replied, “That guy is free!”
* * *
“For me, meeting Chisel was one of the highlights of the year. What I expected to be a pleasant editing project turned out to be an adventure in the hidden world around us. Though far from being a book that preaches, there are embedded lessons--simple truths that have proven applicable throughout time and cultures. The animals of Chisel’s world learn that a good heart prevails though life’s journey may be hazardous. This is a fun, upbeat book that children of all ages will enjoy.” Lynda Lotman
Title/Copyright
Chisel Hedgehog Crazy Great Summer Book 1
Search for the Past
By Perry Crompton
* * *
Published by McKellen-Caffey
Text, Song, Illustration, & Audio file copyrights 2012 by Perry Crompton. All rights reserved.
No part of this book, words, songs, illustrations, or audio content may be reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of Perry Crompton. For information write to:
[email protected] * * *
To Jessica, Megan, Cory, and Keleny—the first kids on the block that heard of Chisel’s crazy, great adventures.
* * *
Summary: An awful mistake begins a summer-long crazy, great, and tragic adventure to search for clues to solve a mystery, and pure optimism in spirit and song maintains hope for forgiveness and success.
Table of Contents
Title/Copyright
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Worms for Dinner
Chapter 2: Hedgehog Soup
Chapter 3: The Eerie Fog
Chapter 4: Trouble at the Lighthouse
Chapter 5: The Flying Skateboard
Chapter 6: A People-Person
Chapter 7: The Hidden Valley
Chapter 8: The Bootle and Chisel Creed
Deleted Scenes
Credits
CD Music Tracks
Map
Product Information
Chisel Hedgehog
Crazy Great Summer
Book One
Search for the Past
Chapter 1
Worms for Dinner
Wednesday, June 2, 11 a.m. Flying in the sky, a fly passed high above farms, pine trees, and a river. Then it was sucked into a large swirling mass of wind. Leaves and cloudy air whizzed by it, and the fly began turning and tumbling wildly until suddenly it was blown out the other side—like a spit wad shot out of a tube.
The sky it was blown into looked very different from the other side. It was rainbow-colored. The fly was dizzy and fell down toward the ground, until it landed on handlebars attached to a pole that was connected to a skateboard. A fan was attached to the end of the skateboard, and wings were sticking out of the bottom sides of it.
Looking at the flying skateboard was a hedgehog who looked to be about eight years old. He was wearing blue pants, a lime green T-shirt, orange suspenders, and wearing a purple backpack. Chisel Hedgehog then turned and went inside the house.
“Oh, there you are, Chisel,” his mom, Mazy, said. “Mr. Otter is at the front door and said he wants to see you.”
Chisel gasped, with fear on his face, and exclaimed, “HOOT BALOOT!” As he ran out the back door, he yelled, “BYE MOM, I’M GOING TO VOLCANO ISLAND.” He ran down the backstairs, grabbed his flying skateboard, flipped the fan switch, and pushed it toward the street. When he built up speed, he pulled on the ropes to pull out the wings all the way, and, SWOOSH, up he went.
On the front porch, Mr. Otter saw a blur fly into the sky to his left. It was spinning out of control, rolling and flipping, and making high-pitched screaming noises as it rose in the sky. It sounded like . . . Chisel Hedgehog! Mr. Otter yelled up at the disappearing object, “I’LL GET YOU, CHISEL HEDGEHOG!” Soon Chisel was out of sight, flying high above Shady Road Street toward Shady Glen.
He was over The Beach Trail when he lost hold of the handlebars and fell through the sky. Luckily he landed in a deep, thick, mud puddle, which stopped him from getting hurt.
Chisel didn’t see, but from behind some bushes a little ways to his left, a pair of eyes watched him intently—unblinking. The leopard glared at Chisel, as his eyebrows lowered—looking mean, and mad. Behind the leopard, deep in the shadows of the pine tree forest, something watched the leopard. The shape was hard to make out in the darkness, but almost looked see-through—like a ghost.
Chisel looked around but couldn’t tell where he was. “I’ve got to get to the lighthouse and then to Volcano Island. It’s urgent!” he thought. “I’ve got to escape and solve the mystery.” He climbed a tall, dead tree to look around, but when he pulled himself over the bundle of sticks at the top, to his surprise, four eaglets were looking up at him. Chisel was covered with mud so it was hard to tell what he was, and the eaglets started chirping for food.
“No, no birds, I’m a hedgehog, not your mom,” Chisel said.
When he didn’t feed them, they became mad and started pecking at him. Then he looked up and saw the mother eagle coming in for a landing.
Chisel was so scared that he opened his mouth very wide and yelled, “AAAAGH!” The Mama Eagle looked at Chisel who was covered in mud and figured he had fallen from the nest into mud, and then made it back to the nest. That was the loudest chirp she had ever heard, and since Chisel’s mouth was open much wider than any of the other eaglets, she knew he was the hungriest. So she stuffed into his mouth and down his throat a whole mouthful of plump, brown worms, slurpy, slimy slugs, and warm, gooey snail guts. This stopped him from hollering, but he had the most disgusted look on his face.
After she flew off, Chisel decided he better get out of that nest—and fast—so down the tree he climbed and he ran toward town.
As Chisel came running down Main Street he saw all his friends, who were on lunch break from school. “You guys will never believe what just happened to me!” Chisel erupted. “This eagle thought I was one of her babies and made me eat worms, slugs, and snail guts.”
This tale was one of the best that Chisel had ever told them, and they all started laughing loudly.
“No, really,” Chisel assured them.
As he kept talking, the group slowly all looked above and in back of Chisel. When Chisel finally looked around to see what they were looking at, it was too late. Mama Eagle had found her baby chick that she figured had fallen out of the nest again, scooped him up with her claws, and started flying back toward the nest.
Mama Eagle flew back to the nest, stuffed Chisel back in, fed him more snail guts and worms, and again left. When she left, those eaglets started pecking at him even harder than before because he had taken their dinner again! Chisel then headed over the sticks and down the tree (a little slower this time, though, because his stomach was so full of snail guts and worms)! This time he ran under trees on The Beach Trail, where he finally escaped.
From then on, he never seemed to like spaghetti quite as much!
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br /> * * *
Meanwhile, Mr. Otter had traveled to the Mean Minks’ house in The Big City. No one liked the Mean Minks. When they were around, you better look out for a slurpy, wet, spit wad being shot in your ear, being hit by a muddy-water balloon, or being tripped by a leg that suddenly came out from a bush.
The four Mean Mink brothers answered the door.
“You have a bad reputation,” Mr. Otter said.
“Thank you,” the oldest mink, Milford said smiling, thinking they were being complimented.
“I need you to find someone for me,” said Mr. Otter.
“Then get out your money, we’re not cheap! Who do you want us to find?”
“Have you ever heard of Chisel Hedgehog?”
When Mr. Otter said this name, all their eyes popped open wider, and then anger covered their faces. Milford lunged forward and grabbed Mr. Otter by the throat with his right hand. He snarled, “Don’t you ever mention that name in front of us again!”
Mr. Otter gulped, “How much would it cost to catch . . . uh—that guy?”
Milford let go of Mr. Otter, but was still too mad to answer, so his brother slowly replied, “That guy is free!” and the other three nodded in stern-faced approval.
Mr. Otter then asked, “I knew you were mean, but not that you hated that guy so much. Why’s that?”
The Minks looked at him—very upset. Then Milford growled, “Because of that thing.”
“That thing?” asked Mr. Otter.
“THAT THING!” Milford yelled, “that happened BACK THEN.”
Mr. Otter decided he better not ask what “THAT THING” was. . . . Then the Minks started packing for their trip to catch Chisel Hedgehog.
Chapter 2
Hedgehog Soup
Chisel walked on The Beach Trail under a beautiful canopy of leafy tree branches high overhead. He breathed deeply, and sighed happily. “If I can get to the lighthouse on the beach, they might have a boat I can sail to Volcano Island in,” he thought.
Chisel was constantly experimenting trying to make his own gum. Today, as he walked down The Beach Trail, he tried a mixture of taffy and peanut butter, but he only ended up with a huge sticky, messy glob of . . . something that stuck his teeth together and caused drool to flow out of his mouth and down his chin.
Just then a couple of deer passed him. They were disgusted, “What a dirty little beast!” one of them said.
That night Chisel camped under a big old maple tree, and in the morning he boiled up some of the tree’s sap into maple syrup to put on his pancakes. After washing up, he stored the extra syrup in his cooking pot and brought it along as he continued walking.
At about three in the afternoon, he knew that he was getting close to the beach, but something seemed wrong. Then he realized that the birds were not chirping anymore in the trees around him. Then he heard a terrible growl, and out of the bushes jumped the meanest-looking bobcat Chisel had ever seen.
“Well, aren’t you a plump little hedgehog,” Bobcat said as he looked at Chisel’s body from head to foot. Bobcat laughed. “Do you know that I have not had hedgehog soup in many, many years . . . I have the salt! I have the pepper! I have the water. But there is one ingredient that I have been missing.”
“What is that?” asked Chisel.
“HEDGEHOG!” Bobcat yelled and then started laughing. He patted Chisel on the head, being in a very jolly mood. “I’m sorry you are the main ingredient, but that is the recipe! And since it is dinnertime, I am going to eat you.”
After thinking for a second, Chisel said, “You wouldn’t want to eat a hedgehog. With these spines on my back, I would be very uncomfortable in your mouth.”
Bobcat replied, “I was fooled by that trick last time a hedgehog came through here, and I promised myself not to be fooled by it again.”
Chisel nodded his head, pressed his lips together, and replied, “Well then, I was wondering if before you eat me, I could eat one last meal. This would be nice for me, and it would plump me up a little for you.”
Bobcat thought it was the nice thing to do, so he helped Chisel gather some firewood to cook his meal. Soon Chisel had some golden brown pancakes cooking on the frying pan.
Chisel scooped the pancakes onto his plate then he got his knife and fork out and cut them up, watching how longingly Bobcat was eyeing the meal. “Oh gee, I almost forgot the maple syrup,” he said.
“Maple syrup? What’s that?” Bobcat asked. “I didn’t know you were supposed to put something on pancakes.”
Chisel poured the thick syrup heavily on his pancakes. The smell floated through the air and made the woods smell like a pancake restaurant. Bobcat’s eyes slowly opened and shut as he smelled the wonderful aroma. Chisel ate the first pancake slowly, savoring each bite and pouring extra syrup on each piece.
Finally it was too much for Bobcat. “Excuse me for disturbing you, but I was wondering if maybe I could have just one bite.”
“Are you sure it won’t spoil your appetite?” Chisel asked.
“No. No, I’ll just have one bite,” Bobcat assured him.
Bobcat ate that first bite and could not believe how incredible the fresh maple syrup tasted. He then asked if he could have just one more bite . . . and then a few more. Pretty soon, he had eaten nineteen whole pancakes and sat so stuffed that he could not eat another bite.
“Are you sure you don’t want anymore?” Chisel asked, and lifted some more pancakes up to Bobcat’s face.
“Oh please, put them away. I think I’ll throw up if I see any more food,” Bobcat insisted.
While Bobcat sat, leaning against a tree in agony at being so full, Chisel cleaned his pots and pans and repacked his pack. “I’m sorry the hedgehog soup didn’t work out,” Chisel said as he put on his backpack and stood up.
He shrugged his shoulders and said good-bye. Bobcat just lifted his hand a little and grunted—too full to say more.
* * *
Meanwhile, Mr. Otter had told the Mean Minks that the last place he saw Chisel, was heading toward the beach, so after quickly packing, the four Mean Mink brothers had set off and now were walking down Pilafeefer Road looking for Chisel. “I’m going to crunch that hedgehog when we find him,” said Milford. “He disappeared from The Big City last year, but now we know where he is!”
* * *
After continuing to walk for a little while, Chisel started smelling the fresh salt air of the ocean. He smiled and started singing to the trees, and also to his toes that got a little bored on his hikes. And as he sang, he leaned forward and leaned back. He leaned right and shuffled his feet sideways in an awkward-looking dance. As he danced and walked, he sang: [TRACK 3]
I don’t sing good, but it’s what I like to do, and my toes like the sound, and the beat of the music.
And I don’t always rhyme, but it’s what I like to do, so I sing out loud, to the trees that enjoy it.
And it’s what I like to do, in the morning and the evening, and I sing out of tune, and I smile as I do it—Oh yeah! Oh Oh Oh Yeah!
Finally, Chisel passed the last tree and came out on the sandy shore. It was a beautiful sight. The high clouds had turned an orangish-pink, and the sun looked so large as it was setting. He watched it steadily sink, until it was out of view. He could barely see the lighthouse on Dilper’s Point and decided he would camp on the beach and in the morning hike over to the Point.
He gathered some driftwood, started a little fire, and then ate a peanut butter sandwich as he watched the flames. Soon the stars appeared, twinkling brightly in the black sky and he felt himself relax.
If he had known what would happen the next day, he would not have relaxed so much though. But he didn’t, so after awhile, Chisel lay back on his blanket with his hands behind his head and looked up at the moon. He smiled, closed his eyes, and wandered off in sleep.
Chapter 3
The Eerie Fog
During the night there was a terrible windstorm. When Chisel awoke the next morning, the wind had ended, and a very thick fog had rolled in from the sea.
He looked through the misty fog at the forest’s edge where the trail was that he needed to take to the light house. Then he froze! Something was also looking at him! He looked closer and realized it was a leopard!
He was definitely not going to walk on the forest trail to Dilper’s Point now! Then a thought struck him. “What if I sail there?” He had seen an old raft up the beach, and with that, he could sail straight there. He realized, though, that he might also get lost out at sea in the fog. He told himself, “I don’t want to, but I gotta got to!”
Chisel then looked at his map and set sail at 166 degrees southeast.
After he had paddled for several hours, a seagull suddenly flew down and landed on the back of the raft. “WAHOWWWA!” Chisel yelled, surprised. She and Chisel were about the same height, and for a moment, they just looked at each other. Then, while waving both hands, Chisel shouted, “SHOO!”
The seagull just looked at Chisel for a couple of seconds. Then she promptly shrieked, “CAAAW!”
This shocked Chisel, and he stared back at the seagull. “SHOO!” he yelled louder.
“CAAW!” “SHOO!” “CAAW!” they yelled back and forth. Then they both turned in opposite directions and ignored each other.
Chisel started paddling again but after so much paddling, his arms were starting to ache, and he was getting scared that he would not make it all the way, and that the tide would take him out to sea where he would be lost forever. As he rowed, he listened to the soft splashing sound the oar made in the water and imagined them making a song: [TRACK 5]