~~Chapter Three

 

Four-year-old Faith Brooks whimpered as a roll of thunder clashed from outside. Her twin sister Jessica was never scared of thunder and had told her earlier to go back to sleep but Faith just couldn't sleep. Each time the thunder clashed outside, it made her even more scared than she was before.

 

Faith tiptoed carefully so she wouldn't wake up Jessica and went out of their room. She walked down to her father's room since Mark was old and needed a lot of sleep and Dave, while funloving during the day, would get really cranky if woken up really early unless it was Christmas or his birthday.

 

Daddy sure talks a lot when he's sleeping Faith thought to herself when she went in her father's room and tried to wake him up. His random mumbling couldn't help but make her forget what she doing as she started giggling at the words he was saying except for one word and it was grace. The world "grace" as she and Jessica could understand, made their daddy very sad and whenever they would ask about their mommy, he would answer them with sad eyes. He would tell them that their mommy was very pretty, had the same blonde hair and blue eyes as they did, and was very kind to others.

 

Faith tried to wake her father up again and was successful this time as he rubbed his eyes with his paws to see who had awaken him from the horrible nightmare that was playing in his mind over and over again.

 

"Faith, what are you doing up? You and Jessie should be sleeping," Charles said while thanking softly to himself that Faith had woken him up before the screams of their late mother played in his head again as he had to watch her be killed and couldn't save her or else he too would've been killed by Bernard in cold, dark blood.

 

"I'm sorry Daddy but the thunder scared m-me," Faith whimpered as another roll of thunder clashed from outside. Charles couldn't help but hold Faith close to him as she started crying when a third roll of thunder had clashed from outside. Jessica and Faith were his pride and joy and if anything were to happen to one or both of them, Charles would pick up some names and kick some tails faster than horse jockeys on their horses trying to win in a race.

 

"Want me to sing your and Jessie's lullaby?" Charles asked as Faith answered him with a sniffle since she couldn't stop crying. It was harder for him to sing the lullaby with just Faith with him but Charles tried his best as he touched his daughter's blonde hair softly and began to sing as gently as he could while trying to keep his voice from choking at the last line.

 

I will protect you every passing day

I will protect you and help you find your way

Don't be afraid cause I am near

To chase away the fears and dry away the tears

I will protect you and I'll promise to never leave

Now nighty-night, sleep tight

Sleep and dream away

Sleep and dream away

 

Faith's crying stopped as her blue eyes began to close as the last note of the lullaby was sung. Charles softly kissed her forehead as the thunder had finally died down, allowing the both of them to get a good night's rest.

 

...

 

Eighteen-year-old Beth Victors reread the letter that she had gotten from Charles a few days ago.  He wrote that everyone was fine but he was slowly getting depressed as the weeks of the third anniversary of Grace's death were approaching. His and Beth's relationship for the last ten years had slowly turned from small greetings into a blooming friendship, despite their species and size.

 

When Grace died, Beth felt sorry for Charles as she had written letters of comfort for him and little songs to sing to his daughters at bedtime. However, she didn't tell him that her father, Bernard, was Grace's killer but he had already known it was him due to the gray fur and the laugh he made when Grace was pleading with him to let her go. That made Beth sick to her stomach and it also made her hate her father for what he had done to Grace, Charles and their friends and family. He had ruined their lives and their future.

 

Why did you had to leave Mom? Beth thought angrily as a tear fell down her cheek, soaking her cream fur in the process. Her mother died when she was seven due to an illness and when her mother had died, Beth immediately saw a change in her father and his heart. He was no longer kind and caring. He hated women and hated children. Especially children because he thought they were pests.

 

The only person that he ever loved and cared for was Beth which made her hate him even more. Beth did love him because he was her father but not for his actions. His actions were getting her new dresses or whatever else she wanted as he killed or tried to kill innocent people. If there were ever children involved, he would starve the younger ones if they disobeyed him (except for babies) and would work the older ones until they either died or had fallen terribly ill from the cold room he would place them in. Beth would try everything that she could to help the children that her father would capture but her plans always failed. No matter what she could do.

 

"Beth, Beth!" A voice called from outside her bedroom door as Beth swapped her flowing red hair over her shoulder, put the letter from Charles inside a drawer, and changed into her light purple nightgown. Her father's sickenly sweet voice made Beth shiver a little bit as she let him inside and gave him a polite gesture.

 

"Yes, Dad?" Beth asked but in her mind, she wanted to call him off and feed him to the loving and amiable owl named Mama, that she had met as a small kitten, who deeply hated him for what he does to poor, lost, and innocent children. Especially to the orphaned ones.

 

"I just wanted to check on you that's all." Bernard looked at his daughter's jewel green eyes that were now puffy red. "Sweetheart! Are you alright? Have you been sneezing? Are you ill?"

 

"No I'm alright. I was just thinking about Mom again."

 

"Beth, I know it's been hard on you since your mother died, but I'm trying to be the best dad that I can be. I know that you're grown now and no longer need to hear me say this but I love you sweetie. You're daddy's little cupcake and I don't want to lose you."

 

"I know Dad, Goodnight." Beth said as she hugged her father.

 
"Night princess." Bernard told his daughter as he left to go to his bedroom and scheme a clever scheme that would destroy the already ruined lives of his most hated enemies and their friends forever.

 

2: Chapter Two

Chapter Two

 

Seven years later

 

Ten-year-old Zoeanna Cunnings tossed and turned in her sleep. She was having another nightmare about her late parents. Zoeanna could only remember her father placing her down on a pile of leaves as he suddenly disappears. She tried to find both of them but it's no use. She screamed out loudly as her aunt came into her room.

 

"Zoeanna, what's the matter?" Sarah asked.

 

"I had another nightmare about Mom and Dad," Zoeanna answered as her light green eyes filled with tears.

 

Sarah hated to see her niece cry because it would always break her heart. Zoeanna was getting older now and no longer believed that her parents' death was an accident like Sarah had told her when she was little. She knew now that when a loved one or close friend dies, they never come back as parents have to make up excuses on how that person died so they won't scare their kids or blame themselves for it.

 

Once Zoeanna was calmed down and got out of bed, Sarah took her niece to one of her bedroom windows as one of the stars in the night sky began to flash brightly. Zoeanna wondered about the flashing star as she asked her aunt about it.

 

"It's a message from your parents in heaven." Sarah explained as Zoeanna looked at her with both excitement and confusion. "So if you ever for example: have another nightmare or begin to lose hope, look for the star and it will comfort you through whatever's going on."

 

"Thank you Aunt Sarah," Zoeanna said as Sarah gave her a hug goodnight and left the room which allowed Zoeanna to go to her bed and fall asleep peacefully as the flashing star stopped flashing, knowing that she was alright.

 

...

 

"Zoe, what's wrong? You look a little blue." A snow white furred mouse with long golden curls named Tressa Turner said as she tried to catch up with Zoeanna and a red-headed squirrel (whose hair was in braids) named Cindy Williams. The three girls were going to a meeting of Kid Rodent Society or KRS for short which was a club they had made when they were eight years old along with a squirrel named Spike Young, a light furred chipmunk (who Zoeanna had a cursh on but wouldn't admitt to anyone else) named Stanley Russel, and a dark furred mouse named Dan Denter.

 

"It's nothing," Zoeanna said softly even though in her mind it was a little more than nothing. As she walked with Tressa and Cindy, Zoeanna thought back to her first day of kindergarten where they had befriended her as Tressa told her that she didn't have a daddy and Cindy admitted that her mommy went to heaven when she was born. Ever since that day, the three girls had remained really close.

 

"Settle down!" Tressa called as another meeting of KRS had finally begun. "Now, time for business and I don't mean the water balloons from last time."

 

Dan began to protest as he stood up from his teacup chair, "It was an accident!"

 

"An accident alright. You got Zoeanna soaking wet to the point where she started shivering. Tressa was lucky enough to have some blankets around so Zoeanna could stay warm." Stanley complained as he gave Zoeanna a small smile between the two of them.

 

Spike jokingly laughed. "Aw! Defending your girlfriend Stan?"

 

Stanley got up from his chair which was an empty stool of thread, adjusted his glasses, and looked at the eyes of the grinning squirrel with little hints of anger. "Zoeanna is not my girlfriend, she's just a friend that's a girl."

 

"Sure she is," Spike teased.

 

"That's enough you two. We don't need another fight like last year," Tressa said sternly as she remembered Zoeanna and Cindy holding down the two battered and bruised nine-year-old boys by their shoulders which resulted into Zoeanna getting hit in the eye thanks to Spike which didn't suit well with Tressa, Cindy or Dan to the very least.

 

Since there was no business as the result of no one raising their paw to answer which was usual unless for an emergency, the KRS was officially over with as Zoeanna, Tressa and Cindy walked to their respected homes while saying saying goodbye to each other when one of them had reached their home.

 

Being an orphan for seven years, Zoeanna would always feel left out by seeing her friends with their parents. It wasn't that she didn't like her aunt and uncle, she thought that they were the best replacement parents she ever had, but it was because it reminded her of memories of her late parents which were now faded and fuzzy in her mind.

 

Once she was home, Zoeanna waved to her aunt and asked. "Does Charles need us to babysit Jessica and Faith today?" Jessica and Faith were Charles' four-year-old twin daughters. Zoeanna thought they were sweet little angels but were a handful according to Charles. Dave and Mark ,who were helping Charles raise them, sometimes thought that way on cretain days.

 

Sarah looked at Zoeanna with a loving smile as she was chopping up pumpkin seeds. "No, sweetheart. That's next week."

 

Zoeanna blushed in embarrassment. She had completely forgotten that Charles was going to an interview to the preschool that he wanted Jessica and Faith to go to. There were no preschools in the forest when she was their age so Zoeanna had a reason to be forgetful but not embarrassed about it.

 

...

 

Later during the night, Zoeanna couldn't sleep as she lightly played with the bow on her light blue nightgown. It wasn't that she was having another nightmare which were slowly deceasing as she got older but she was worried about Charles. She considered him to be a loving father to Jessica and Faith but ever since Grace died almost three years ago, he's been very depressed. Zoeanna didn't even know how Grace died but knew well enough that Charles would never get over it, especially during her funeral where he had brawl his eyes out after he gave an emotional speech on Grace and how she was the sweetest and most caring person that had ever lived.

 

After Grace's funeral, Charles, Dave, and Mark decided to quit the Helpful Rescuers for concerns over Jessica and Faith and for other reasons that Zoeanna could mostly understand since she only went on one case with them when she was five and had watched them almost get killed in the process by a trap that was made by a gray-furred cat named Bernard but thanks to a nice female cat helping Zoeanna, they were freed.

 

"You may have won again Helpful Rodents but I'll get that little brat that saved your sorry tails if it's the last thing I'll do!" Zoeanna remembered Bernard saying angrily as Charles, Dave, and Mark called Zoeanna a hero while she was happily held in the air by Grace. Luckily for Zoeanna, Bernard hadn't found her yet because if he ever did find her, he could be ominous to her life in many ways.

 
Zoeanna looked for the flashing star that she had seen the night before with her aunt but it never showed. Sighing, she went to bed as she wished that for just once everything would be alright. She thought that with no one dying, no one being all alone or without a mom and dad like her, and with no one suffering, life would be a lot easier and happier for everyone that she knew and loved within her heart.

 

3: Chapter One

 

Chapter One

 

One day was a good day. Two young chipmunks named Nancy and Alexander Cunnings and their three-year-old daughter, Zoeanna, were having a nice time with each other as they played hide and seek on a warm afternoon in the fall. The two chipmunks thought nothing could happen to them until the fire came.

 

The fire erupted after dinnertime. Zoeanna cried as she clunged to her mother's leg. Alexander noticed that the fire was getting worse as he got Zoeanna off Nancy's leg. Nancy looked at him with panic in her eyes.

 

"Alexander, don't do this! She needs us!" Nancy cried.

 

"Nancy, Zoeanna won't survive if she stays here any longer, " Alexander explained. "I'll climb down and place her away from the fire then come back and get you." Nancy kissed Zoeanna on the forehead as Alexander climbed down the tree with Zoeanna carefully in his arms.

 

Zoeanna whimpered as her father placed her down on a pile of leaves. She wondered where he was going until seeing him go back to the tree to get her mother. Later that night, Zoeanna looked for her parents but couldn't find them. She started to cry as she used a leaf as a blanket and went to sleep.

 

...

 

"Did you guys hear something?" Charles Brooks asked as the only female member of the Helpful Rescuers, Grace Millard, looked around. The Helpful Rescuers were on break from a hard week of crime fighting and were enjoying a peaceful walk together before the sound of crying interrupted them.

 

Grace walked a little further before noticing a little girl around three years of age on a pile of leaves. The little girl was sleeping soundly as Grace got a chance to look at the little girl's tear stained face. She felt heartbroken for the little girl that was all alone as Grace took her back to where Mark Hunterson, Dave Newton, and Charles were waiting.

 

Charles crossed his arms. "No Grace, not tonight. Get this little girl back with her parents." Grace gave him a look that told him that the little girl's parents may be dead and that they needed to help her. Charles uncrossed his arms as he, Mark, Dave, and Grace walked back to their home with the little girl in Grace's arms.

 

...

 

The next morning, Zoeanna didn't know where she was. The only thing she knew that she was sleeping with a patched up teddy bear and a doll with blue button eyes. Zoeanna thought the bed was better than the pile of leaves her father left her on. Then she heard voices from outside.

 

"Are you sure giving this little girl your toys from your cubhood was a good idea Grace?" A man asked but he didn't sound too happy.

 

"Charles, Zoeanna needed something to sleep with and besides, it's better than letting Beary and Ms. Dolly collect dust on a dresser shelf." The woman, Grace, answered in a soft voice.

 

"Wait a minute! You found this little girl's name! When did this happen?"

 

"Late last night after you, Dave, and Mark went to bed. I noticed that she was wearing a little locket around her neck but I didn't want her to choke on it while she sleeted. So I carefully took it off, opened it up and found a picture of her with her parents, along with a letter that said that if anything should happen to Zoeanna's parents, Zoeanna must be taken to her Aunt Sarah's tree, which is only two trees away from us, to live there until she's eighteen."

 

Hearing the name Aunt Sarah got Zoeanna's attention as she got out of bed, taking Beary with her. Outside, she saw two people that she didn't know at all and backed away from them, using Beary as a shield. Beary's owner, a woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes whose name was Grace, knew that Zoeanna was scared of them and gave herself an introduction.

 

"Sweetie, don't be scared. I'm Grace and the guy that you see in the hat and shirt is Charles." Grace said kindly. "We and two friends of ours are the Helpful Rescuers who help anyone in need, are good guys, and always tell the truth."

 

"Hi Grace, it's nice meet you. " Zoeanna said politely but then asked. "Where are my mommy and daddy?"

 

"Zoeanna, sweetie..." Grace began but stopped as she looked at Charles. Charles shrugged his shoulders as he gave her a look of hopelessness, knowing that it was going to be hard for the both of them to explain to a three-year-old little girl that her parents were dead and were never coming back.

 

An hour later, Zoeanna was on Dave's lap while Grace, Charles, and Mark, the oldest member of the Helpful Rescuers, were discussing plans of how to take Zoeanna to her Aunt Sarah as safely as possible.

 

"You sure about this love?"  Mark asked as he looked at the niece that he never had with concern.

 

Grace looked at the old chipmunk that had almost raised her along with her father. He would scold her when she did wrong, praised her when she did right, and even had beaten up the guy that caused her first heartbreak as a teenager. Although Mark wasn't there when her father had died two years before the Helpful Rescuers formed, Grace knew somewhere in her heart that he was deeply hurting and missed her father as much as she did.

 

"I'm sure Mark. Zoeanna needs to be with the only family she has left and you know that we can't raise a little girl while we're crime fighting. Charles wouldn't approve of it since me and him had just started dating." Grace told Mark firmly.

 

"Grace!" Charles shouted in embarrassment as he blushed under his light brown fur while Zoeanna and Dave started laughing. The journey to Zoeanna's Aunt Sarah's tree was on as Charles, Dave, and Mark walked along with Grace who was holding Zoeanna's right paw in a tight grip so she couldn't get separated from them, get herself lost, and be all alone.

 

Grace did say that Zoeanna's aunt's tree was only two trees away from us and that it wouldn't take us long to find it, so she's right. I guess me, Dave, and Mark will congratulate her with dinner that hopefully won't send her to the hospital again due to Dave's accidental mixing of dishwasher soap instead of flour for her birthday cake. I think he needs to take a cooking course to avoid another incident like that. Charles thought to himself as he, Dave, Mark, Grace, and Zoeanna had finally reached the tree of Sarah and Drake Jones.

 

...

 

Sarah Jones heard knocking coming from the door of her oak tree home as she put her brown hair up in a ponytail. She thought that was unusual of someone knocking on her door in the middle of the afternoon. As she opened the door, Sarah saw a light brown furred male chipmunk, a dark furred male chipmunk, a white furred male mouse, a blonde, peach furred female chipmunk, and her niece standing outside the doorway.

 

"Charles! What are you doing here? I hadn't seen you since high school!" Sarah exclaimed as she and Charles hugged while getting stares from Dave, Mark, and Grace. Once he and Sara drifted from their hug, Charles explained to his teammates that they were old friends and had met each other sometime during their teenhood.

 

How come Charles didn't tell us that he was friends with Sarah on the way here? Maybe he just was too shy about it. Grace thought as she gently cleared her throat and asked Sarah, "Is Zoeanna your niece?"

 

"Yes she is," Sarah answered. "Why? Is there anything wrong?"

 

"Sarah, I'm afraid to tell you this but Zoeanna's parents died last night." Charles explained in a business like manner before Dave could protest and say that his conversation didn't involve any type of business. "Grace found Zoeanna all alone and asleep. Dave and I looked early this morning to see if we could find them. We didn't find anything except for a burnt tree and two dead bodies. That's when the both of us realized that they had died in a fire and could only get Zoeanna out."

 

"We better take the little love inside and show her around." Mark announced in order to clear the sudden silence around them as the five adults took Zoeanna inside Sarah's home. Zoeanna loved her aunt's house until she saw her nine-year-old cousin Justin looking at her unhappily. His face stared at her as Justin pushed Zoeanna hard, making her wail.

 

Hearing her niece's wail, Sarah ran into her son's room as Charles, Dave, Mark, and Grace also ran inside to see if Zoeanna had any bruises from her fall. Seeing the grin on Justin's face made Sarah filled with outrage on how her son just couldn't be nice to younger family members. Especially ones that were now all alone and no longer had parents to care for them.

 

"Justin Dakota Jones! What is the meaning of this?!" Sarah demanded as she watched Grace calm Zoeanna's wails by singing a lullaby that her father would sing to her as a little girl whenever she couldn't sleep or was upset.

 

"It's her fault! If the baby hadn't snooped into my room then I wouldn't had pushed her!" Justin exclaimed, putting his paws on his hips. Even since Zoeanna was born, Justin had hated her. She would always get his mother's attention whenever his Aunt Nancy and Uncle Alexander would come over. If Zoeanna did something, it was considered cute and innocent. Yet if if he did something, Justin would be scolded or sent to his room. Justin thought that it wasn't fair and now he thought that his mother scolding him for pushing Zoeanna was one of those unfair times.

 

"That's enough Justin! Your father and I will have a talk with you when he gets home this evening."

 

"But Mom!"

 

"No 'but Mom' me young man." Sarah said sternly as Grace gently rocked Zoeanna back and forth while Dave, Mark and Charles concluded that Zoeanna didn't have any bruises and was only scared from the fall.

 

The rest of the afternoon went smoothly as Sarah decided to make the guest room into Zoeanna's bedroom. Because of Zoeanna's small height, a rodent sized stool was placed beside the bed so it would be easy for her to get in and out of bed without any help. Charles, Dave, Mark, and Grace told Sarah to call them if she needed anything while leaving for their home later that evening.

 

When Drake got home, he, Sarah, and Justin had a talk about Zoeanna being apart of their family. Justin didn't seem to like the idea at first but then he imagined himself in Zoeanna's place. Being all alone, scared, and not understanding that your parents are no longer with you made him feel sorry for his only cousin as he promised himself (and his parents) that he would be a lot nicer to Zoeanna.

 

...

 

Later that night after a rough battle of putting Zoeanna to sleep, Sarah brushed a lock of brown hair out of her face as she thought of the brown-haired and green-eyed little girl that was going to apart of her family. Zoeanna was small in height for her age but engery filled and spunky like her mother had been when she was a cub. Sarah thought that her niece was almost like a mini version of her late sister except for the eye color but that didn't matter to her.

 
"Don't worry Nancy, I'll take good care of Zoeanna. I promise," Sarah said as she drifted off into sleep from exhaustion.