Book 2: The Unexpected Visitors (preview)

After a surprisingly cold and windy spring, the sun was finally shining down on Knotwood Village. Most of the animals were outside enjoying the warm weather. Of course, this included the Chestnut family. The children of Knotwood Village would normally be at Timber Academy, their school, but it was the summer holidays and so they had a few weeks off. Charlie Chestnut was enjoying a nice swim in the pool while his parents, Holly and Pip, were relaxing in the soft summer grass. The pool was a deep, wide and peaceful part of Serene Stream. The area around this part of the stream was very open. There were few trees to give shade from the sunlight, and so the flowers were full of life.

In the spring, there had been a new arrival to the Chestnut Family. Holly and Pip decided that Megan would be a suitable name for the young kitten. Megan Chestnut looked just like a miniature version of her mother. She had red fur, tufted ears and like all members of the Chestnut family she had a very fluffy tail. Megan had already learnt to talk and was a very curious young squirrel. She was paddling at the edge of the pool.

The animals were always finding useful bits and bobs in the mill and with each other’s help, they created all sorts of new and interesting things. The Millers, a group of field mice, lived in an abandoned mill and researched the humans who lived and worked there before them.

The Kingfisher Carpenters, a team of woodpeckers led by a kingfisher, had helped to build many of the homes in the village, including the Chestnuts'. Pip had become a designer for the Kingfisher Carpenters and even designed a pair of glasses for himself to improve his sight.

The stream was usually very calm, and on this very peaceful day, the water’s surface was almost completely smooth.

“Hey!” Charlie heard a familiar voice shout. It was Caroline Sciurus, his grey squirrel friend. He looked around but couldn’t tell where her voice was coming from. “Look out below!” she called. Charlie looked up and saw Caroline dive from a low tree branch. She curled into a ball and did three somersaults before creating a huge splash that even managed to soak Pip and Holly. All the squirrels gave a round of applause for Caroline’s performance.

“You even wear your hat when you swim?” she laughed as she swam to Charlie who was still wearing his acorn shell hat.

“Yep. It um, keeps the hair out of my face.”

“But I bet it doesn’t keep the water out of your face!” giggled Caroline as she splashed Charlie again. Megan joined in with all the fun.

“I love playing in the stream!” she said. "I think it might be my favourite place." The three squirrels splashed, swam and played games in Serene Stream until it got dark. They went home with their parents and thought about all the fun they would have at Serene Stream the next day.