The Tale of a No-Name Squirrel by Radhika R. Dhariwal

Author:Radhika R. Dhariwal
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

“There’s nothing here!” exclaimed Des, his neck wilting in dismay.

Squirrel’s throat trembled with frustration. They had flown all day, without stopping, without eating, without speaking. The violent sun had scorched their fur; cruel air pockets had somersaulted them through the sky, tossing their empty stomachs into their throats; the thin air had made their eyes feel like dry rocks. And why had they gone through it all? For nothing.

Squirrel watched Azulfa. She was perched on the edge of a barren hilltop and was swinging her shoulders to get her blood flowing to the tips of her wings. Her beak was pursed and her bushy eyebrows were narrow with pain. Ordinarily, Squirrel would have felt sorry for the tired, old crow. But not now. Right now he was happy she was suffering.

Azulfa must have felt the chill in Squirrel’s gaze, for she turned around, her beady black eyes spearing Squirrel’s cool blue ones. Quickly Squirrel looked away, his heart pounding. He had just realized how unsafe it was for him and Des to be stuck on an empty hilltop with a muscular ex-Kowa, who probably wanted to wear his head for a crown and his fur for a coat.

“I don’t see any tea estates here!” groaned Des, kicking at the parched yellow earth.

“Maybe we misread the map. Or maybe Azulfa flew too far ahead,” Squirrel said, happy to blame the crow. He squinted into the dusk, wondering where to go next.

“We’re in the right place,” said Azulfa, the treble in her voice shaking the loose rock on which they stood.

“How do you know that?” asked Des, massaging his mouth and cheeks. He had not chewed a morsel of food all day, and his jawbone seemed to ache from disuse.

“Look at that tunnel over there,” said Azulfa, pointing to the valley at the base of the hill on their right. A passage had been punctured through the sandstone hillock.

“There is a carriageway!” cried Squirrel as he saw two tracks snaking from the valley to the tunnel. A sign of civilization at last!

“Let’s go,” cried Des, jogging toward the valley. Squirrel was at his heels, bounding clumsily down the rocky hill.

“STOP!” yelled Azulfa.

“Why?” asked Des impatiently.

“Don’t tread so heavily. The rock is weak; your steps could easily cause a landslide. Look,” she said, banging on the stone. As she banged, the hill groaned and shook.

Massive chunks of orange rock and rubble came pelting toward Squirrel and Des. Just before they were pulverized to a bloody mince, Azulfa lifted them off the ground and careened wildly through the air toward the tunnel in the valley.

Squirrel’s heart spun with confusion. What was Azulfa playing at? First she had warned them against the landslide. Then she had started the avalanche that almost minced them to nothingness. And, finally, she had swooped in and saved them. He could simply not figure her out: If she wanted him dead, why did she keep saving him?

They entered the dim tunnel. And there, in the darkness, Squirrel saw the whole ugly truth.

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