Book 3: (preview)

Every day, the sun would rise over Warren Hill and set over Wildwood Forest; every day except this one, that is. It was a dark, misty evening, and the first signs of autumn were settling in. The golden crispy leaves left the trees bare as they fell. All of the squirrels were tucked up in their beds – all of the squirrels but one. Charlie Chestnut was camping in his tent for the first time. The only thing that he found more exciting than staying up late on a dark, windy night like this was exploring the remains of The Mill.

Not only had the humans worked in this mill, but at one point, the owner had lived there with his wife and daughter. When the humans abandoned the mill, they left many useful things behind, such as: books, materials, and clothes. From these old, abandoned objects, the animals would make brand new things for their village. For instance, a grey squirrel named Penelope had recently taken the humans' old clothes, cut them up, and sewn them together to make new clothing in much smaller sizes for the animals. She called this recycling.

This is also how Charlie had made his tent. It was simply a large piece of white shirt that Penelope cut out for him, a couple of large sticks to hold it up, and a few small twigs to use as pegs so that the tent wouldn’t blow away.

"Charlie," somebody outside the tent called. "Charlie!"

"Father?" Charlie cried back. A shadowy figure could be seen in the mist, and as it grew closer, Charlie recognised it as his father, Pip Chestnut.

"Charlie, come inside. It's not safe to be camping outdoors on a windy night like this."

A wave of disappointment swept across Charlie's face. "But father, I've waited forever to go camping. I'm old enough to look after myself."

"I'm sorry Charlie," Pip said. "I know you were looking forward to this, but there’s no choice. It's only a little wind now, but it's sure to pick up later and I'm not taking any risks. You can go camping later this week if the weather calms down." Charlie tied up his coat, blew out the candle, and grabbed his blue backpack before crawling out of the tent.

"Ok Father," he said and began to sulk as he made his way back to Hollowtree Heights. He opened the gate of the elevator, but his father placed a paw on his shoulder to stop him.

"No Charlie, it's too dangerous for us to use the elevator. The wind is starting to pick up. We'll have to climb up the trunk."

"But I like danger," Charlie said, trying to sound brave.

"You're a squirrel, Charlie, not a bear. Squirrels are sensible," said Pip. He walked past the sign that read Hollowtree Heights and stopped at the tree. "You first, son."

Charlie climbed up the trunk of the tree, and Pip followed. Behind them, the elevator creaked as it swayed back and forth. It's a good thing that we didn't use the elevator Charlie thought to himself. He stopped climbing to peer back down at his homemade tent. There was so much mist that he couldn't even see the ground. If that weren't scary enough, he could hear light raindrops beginning to pitter-patter on the few remaining leaves. Before long, everything was coated in water, including the bark.

"Keep climbing, Charlie. You don't have time to – " Pip was cut off by a large gust of wind. Both squirrels gripped the bark of the tree tightly and tried to shield their faces, but then something awful happened.

The wind caught the underside of Charlie's acorn hat and swept it away into the darkness, leaving his long ears to flap helplessly in the wind.
"My hat!" Charlie cried out. He tried to grab it, but instead slipped and fell...