On the other side, the wind was awful! It blew like a hurricane blowing from her left to her right. She crouched down to avoid being blown away. She felt she must get away—she must go back! She looked around, but the wind was thick with fog. Then up ahead, once again, she saw the shape of the lady. She was hard to see—almost ghost-like through the wind, and she again beckoned for Francine to come forward as she herself kept walking backwards until out of sight.
After moving forward, Francine looked to her left and under a bush and between two large boulders, mostly hidden from view, she spied a large hollow log. She crawled toward it and took shelter inside. “Oh, what a relief!” she thought. It was quiet inside the log, and she closed her eyes and rested.
Francine was still sitting inside the hollow log and heard a woman’s voice say, “Come inside.”
Francine’s eyes shot open, and she looked through the opening on the other end of the log, from where the voice had come. She saw a lady’s legs and feet pass by.
* * *
Talkin and Root watched from behind a bush as Francine crossed the log and struggled as she entered the wind. They were too far away to see the lady in the wind though. Francine then disappeared behind a rock and bushes.
“Wow, what’s she doing that for?” Root questioned.
“She must be crazy going into that wind,” Talkin added.
By then it was 3 p.m., and they decided they had to turn back to get home by dinnertime.
“I didn’t know you could go inside that wind,” Root said. “Let’s come back when we can go further.”
“Yeah,” replied Talkin, “I want to see what’s inside.”
* * *
As Francine crawled through and went out the other side of the log, the lady whom she had seen was nowhere around. “Did I just imagine her?” she thought. “But the voice was so clear.”
There was no wind on this side of the log, and the clearing she entered was peaceful and beautiful. Everything was greener, and the sky . . . the beautiful sky! It was not only light blue but faded colors of the whole rainbow! And as she watched it, the sky moved in constant slowly swirling waves . . . it was gorgeous!
As she marveled at the sky, something darted across it above her—tumbling and rolling . . . and yelling!
* * *
It was Chisel Hedgehog who was out of control, flying his flying skateboard above The Hidden Clearing, which Francine had just entered. Then, a gust of wind hit him, and he finally lost hold of the skateboard and fell down through the sky toward the trees. The flying skateboard landed in one tree and he in another—lightly hitting one branch after another until a vine caught his leg and left him hanging upside down, tangled in the ivy growing on the tree.
The branch of the tree he was now hanging from was five feet directly in front of Francine, and Chisel hung a few feet above her. She looked at the thing hanging there, closed her eyes and rubbed them, and looked again. It was a fully clothed hedgehog!
Chisel grunted. His head was reeling with dizziness. He opened his eyes, but everything was blurry. He pleaded, “Excuse me please! Is there anyone who could provide assistance? Oh please, I am in need of help!”
Had she just heard him talk? “Umm, Uhh, yes I can help,” she stammered.
Chisel was shocked to hear someone standing right in front of him. A crashing sound from high in the tree to their right then interrupted them, and Francine looked up as something fell through the tree branches. She jumped to her left just before the object hit the ground with a thud three feet away. She studied it with amazement it was a skateboard with handlebars, wings, and a fan on the back!
She forgot about the hanging hedgehog until a voice stated, “Umm, excuse me, but all the blood is going to my head here! Could you offer some assistance?”
Francine shook her head and answered, “Umm, yes . . . yes, sorry! Let me move this rock under you and help you down.”
Once she positioned a rock underneath him, she stood on it and reached up and untangled him. Then she lifted him down and carefully put him on the ground.
Chapter 7
The Hidden Valley
Chisel sat down on the ground and put his hands on his head. “Oh gee, my head hurts!
They looked at each other.
“You’re a hedgehog that talks!” Francine said.
Chisel raised his eyebrows. “And, I’m sorry, but you’re the ugliest animal I’ve ever seen—since you lost all the hair on your face.”
“I’m not an animal. I’m a person from outside the valley.”
“Outside!” Chisel exclaimed. “How’d you get in?”
Francine pointed at the hollow log.
“How did you learn to talk?” asked Francine. “Because animals don’t talk where I’m from. And not only that, but you speak the same language I do!”
Chisel squinted his eyes and thought about The Mystery of the Valley, of not knowing how it was started. “Have I stumbled onto a major clue here? Maybe I’ll be the hero of the valley if I solve it—the first one in a hundred years to know the answer!” He then told her that all the animals in this valley talk.
Francine said, “I should introduce myself. I’m Francine—Francine Anabel. I’m from Maple Street in the people’s-city.”
“I’m Chisel Hedgehog,” Chisel smiled.
The sun was about to set. Chisel stood and pointed at a branch in the tree they were under. “Climb up with me to that branch and I’ll show you the valley.”
Sitting on the branch, the scene was beautiful as the sun set—little farms and pastures and streams and dirt roads lined by trees. They watched as house lights came on and the little specs of new light spread across the valley.
“When did this all begin? And how did animals learn to talk?”
“No one knows. That is The Mystery of the Valley!”
They sat for a while, and then Chisel asked, “Are you going home tonight?”
“No. I was going to sleep here and go home tomorrow at twelve o’clock.”
Chisel squinted and slowly stated, “There is no such thing as twelve o’clock. Clocks only go up to ten o’clock!” He paused, “Or at least in The Hidden Valley.”
Then a chill went down his back as a memory entered his mind. He remembered outloud, “Last year by The Old Mill, I found a sundial overgrown with plants.” He looked at Francine. “The sundial has twelve numbers!”
They both knew what this meant. The sundial was from the people’s-city—a person had been here before! That made Chisel think of something. He said, “There are some very old houses on Dipagoo Highway that look different from any other houses in the valley. I wonder if they might give a clue to help solve The Mystery of the Valley. Maybe you could look at them and see if they look like anything from the people’s-land.”
Now the rays of the full moon lit the valley and all animals had gone inside. Chisel and Francine started hiking down the mountain toward Shady Glen. They followed The Old Mill Creek to Main Street, then went left on Pilafeefer Road.
Chisel talked the whole way about everything they passed. At about midnight, they finally turned left onto Ookanoo Way and, soon after, made it to the old houses on Dipagoo Highway. Francine thought she had seen similar houses before, so she studied them carefully to look for ones that looked the same in her city.
Then they turned around and started walking back toward Shady Glen. On their way, they took a back way to Chisel’s house, and Chisel showed Francine his house and yard.
At 5:30 in the morning, they left Chisel’s house, walked down Shady Road Street, and turned left onto Main Street. It was so fun for Francine to look at all the little shops. She was actually almost as tall as they were, so she felt like a giant. If any of the animals had seen her, they would have thought she was one.
Before they went into the trees, at the far end of Main Street, a door opened and Mr. Otter came out in his robe
to get the newspaper. Mr. Otter saw movement at the end of the street and looked up just as Chisel and Francine were walking into the trees. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, and they were gone. He laughed and told himself, “I thought I saw Chisel Hedgehog with what appeared to be a people-person. I must be seeing things. When I see Chisel next time, I’ll ask him what animal that really was!”
When they returned to The Hidden Clearing, Chisel once again thanked Francine for saving him from his tangled web of ivy. She told him she would research the Dipagoo Highway houses, and they agreed to meet in three weeks on a Tuesday when Chisel expected to return from Volcano Island. Then she would tell him the news.
Chisel replied, “I’ll keep a journal of my journey to Volcano Island, and I’ll let you read about my adventure when I see you next.”
Francine smiled. “I would love that!”
Chisel then grabbed his skateboard and walked down the trail.
Before leaving, Francine again climbed The Lookout Tree, and as the morning sunrays spread over the valley, she sat, looked, and smiled at the newfound wonder she had discovered.
Later that morning is when Chisel got himself into big, big trouble. . .
Chapter 8
The Bootle and Chisel Creed
It was a crisp, beautiful morning as Chisel walked back down the mountain. After leaving Francine, he felt like the happiest hedgehog alive after the excitement of the previous night and the great clues he was already finding. He hummed as he walked, and then mumbled some words to himself. Then he put both together, and as he sang, he skipped forward and back and shimmied to the side: [TRACK 4]
Here I go, go, go, yeah, one time again, well, here I go, go, go, um, over and again
Here I go, go, go, yeah, one time again, and over and over, and over again . . .
Yeah, here I go, go, go, one time again, and when I’ll be back, I can’t say for sure . . .
So here I go, go, go, yeah, one time again, well, here I go, go, go, um, over and again
Here I go, go, go, yeah, one time again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again! And again, and again, and again!
He walked past The Old Mill, and down Main Street to the schoolhouse. He arrived just a few moments before it was time to begin, saw Bootle, and excitedly told her, “You will never believe who I met!” The school bell rang then so he added, “I’ll tell you at recess.”
In Chisel’s class, the teacher stated, “This is a very important day. At the end of third grade, the Mayor of The Hidden Valley and his advisors, the Valley Council, visit all schools to tell them our most important law.”
The Mayor and Valley Council were sitting in the front of the class facing the students. The Mayor rose and spoke, “Most of you don’t know yet, but our valley is hidden from creatures on the outside called people.”
Chisel perked up when he heard this and started to raise his hand to say that he had met one last night, but before his hand got all the way up, the Mayor continued, “DON’T EVER TALK TO ONE! If they knew, about this valley they would turn us into a huge zoo, because on the outside of the valley animals don’t talk. The Law of the Valley is very strict. It has never happened, but any animal who talks to a person will be kicked out of the valley.”
Chisel’s eyes had slowly been opening further and further as the Mayor was talking, and Chisel’s hand had slowly sank to his side. Without moving his head, he moved his wide-open eyes slowly from his right to left to see if anyone was looking at him. His eyes met Mr. Otter’s, who was on the Valley Council and sitting with them in the front of the room. Mr. Otter was in charge of making sure all the laws were kept in the town of Shady Glen. He had been studying Chisel the whole time, and Chisel quickly looked down. The Mayor and Valley Council were excused then, and the teacher continued with another lesson . . . but Chisel heard nothing!
At recess, as Chisel walked out of the schoolroom, Bootle caught up to him, “You don’t look good, Chisel. Are you all right?”
Chisel looked at her and repeated his earlier statement, but this time with no excitement, “You’ll never believe who I met!”
Before he could tell her, Mr. Otter walked up. “I’ve been waiting for you Chisel.” He then started to laugh. “It’s really rather funny, but this morning I saw you with a really tall animal and I actually thought it looked like a people-person. Isn’t that funny?”
Chisel laughed nervously. “Yes . . . funny . . . gotta go!” He then ran toward Shady Road Street, grabbed his flying skateboard, which was leaning against a tree, and ran all the way home.
Mr. Otter yelled after him, “BUT WHAT WAS THAT REALLY?”
Half an hour later, Bootle found Chisel hiding in the shed behind his house. He was pushing something into his full backpack, zipping it, and placing it on his back.
“What’s wrong, Chisel?”
Chisel looked past her to the door of the shed. “Did anyone follow you?”
“I don’t think so,” she answered.
Chisel walked around her to the shed doors, peeked outside, and then closed them. Sunrays lit the shed through the spaces in the wooden slats that made the walls of the shed. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Of course,” she replied.
Chisel continued, “I’m in trouble. I have met and talked to a people-person.”
Bootle’s eyes popped open very wide and she exclaimed, “A people-people-person?”
Chisel nodded, “Yes.” He then told her the whole story about meeting Francine and taking her into the valley.
Bootle gasped. “Why’d you take her into the valley?”
“I didn’t know it was wrong, and I thought she might help us with The Mystery of the Valley. Remember that sundial with twelve numbers? I think it came from the people’s-city.”
“Oh, Chisel,” she said, “don’t ever talk to her again or let anyone know, or you’ll be kicked out of the valley. It’s the law, and I’ll never see you again.”
“I know,” Chisel replied. “But if Mr. Otter keeps asking me, I will have to tell him. I don’t tell lies. I tried it once, and it tasted like rotten eggs. And I won’t do it again.”
“Maybe if you don’t see Mr. Otter again until you get back from Volcano Island, he will forget about it.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
There was silence and then Bootle spoke slowly, “Maybe if we really do solve the Mystery of the Valley and who started it, they’ll have mercy on you and not kick you out.”
Chisel pressed his lips together, squinted, and stated, “It’s my only hope.”
Bootle added, “Every day we will start anew. We’ll cover every corner of the valley looking for anything that is old that might be a clue. Enough old things put together might tell a story!” She put her hand on his shoulder. “It might be hard and it might be long, but this I know. . . we can!”
Hope reappeared on Chisel’s face. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, and on the top he wrote, “The Chisel and Bootle Creed.” After writing the creed together, Chisel got out his little black book and wrote the first two clues:
Clue #1: People speak same language as us.
Clue #2: Sundial has twelve numbers, but Hidden Valley clocks only have ten numbers. Did it come from People’s city?
Then they went outside. Chisel rubbed his chin, thinking, and told Bootle, “Listen, you’ll need some money in The Big City for food and stuff. I’ve never told anyone this, but there is a treasure of gold coins in a dirty brown stream in a place called Pootan’s Forest near The Big City.” He then told her how to get there and where to find them.
Then they clasped their right hands and stated their Chisel and Bootle Creed together,
“On the journeys of discovery, we now do go, to find the clues, of the time before.
We shan’t return, till we find at last, the needed news, to find the past.”
They clasped their left hands together also and said, “This we p
romise, this we pray,”
They hugged and whispered in each other’s ears, “Good luck good friend, till we meet again.”
Bootle then left, and Chisel waved good-bye from his backyard.
At the same time Chisel was waving, Mr. Otter was knocking on Chisel’s front door to find out if he had talked to a people-person . . . and that is what started Chisel running for his life from Mr. Otter and others to Volcano Island, and what started Chisel Hedgehog’s Crazy Great Summer!
* * *
Saturday, June 5. Chisel blinked, and his memories of four days ago vanished. He looked around and remembered he was lying in the bottom of a sail boat heading to Volcano Island. He looked at the moon and wondered what Bootle was doing. . . .
* * *
Bootle was also admiring the moon at the same time that Chisel was from the boat. She also lay snugly under a blanket, but miles away from Chisel, on soft grass in a meadow in Pootan’s Forest. She was tired after her walk across the valley and her search for the treasure coins. But now she was comfortable, relaxed . . . and, a little richer!
The greatest treasure she found, though, was not the gold coins she would spend that Chisel told her about, but something else—far more valuable than gold.
Just before entering Pootan’s Forest, she stopped and turned her head around to look across the dirt road at the area known as The Haunted Woods. The moaning and groaning coming from the woods was awful, but she couldn’t see anything through the dense forest and overgrowth. When she was just ready to turn and run into Pootan’s Forest, she saw the sun sparkle on something shining on the dirt road just under the leaf of a bush. She hesitated, but couldn’t resist walking over to see what it was.