The Dead Sea Squirrels Series
Squirreled Away
Boy Meets Squirrels
Nutty Study Buddies
Squirrelnapped!
Coming Soon:
Tree-mendous Trouble
Whirly Squirrelies
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Squirrelnapped!
Copyright © 2019 by Mike Nawrocki. All rights reserved.
Illustrations by Luke Séguin-Magee. Copyright © Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
Designed by Libby Dykstra
Edited by Sarah Rubio
Published in association with the literary agency of Brentwood Studios, 1550 McEwen, Suite 300 PNB 17, Franklin, TN 37067.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Squirrelnapped! is a work of fiction. Where real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales appear, they are used fictitiously. All other elements of the novel are drawn from the author’s imagination.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nawrocki, Mike, author.
Title: Squirrelnapped! / Mike Nawrocki.
Description: Carol Stream, Illinois : Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., [2019] | Series: The Dead Sea squirrels | Summary: When Pearl Squirrel is abducted, Michael’s family bands together to rescue her, and the Squirrels teach Michael about honesty and responsibility by sharing stories of the Apostle Paul’s life.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018050266 | ISBN 9781496435101 (sc)
Subjects: | CYAC: Conduct of life—Fiction. | Squirrels—Fiction. | Christian life—Fiction. | Family life—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.N185 Su 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018050266
ISBN 978-1-4964-3512-5 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-4964-3511-8 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-4964-3513-2 (Apple)
Build: 2019-09-03 16:49:55 EPUB 3.0
To Justin—
For sticking closer than a brother to Michael and for your contagious dedication to punctuality.
The best best friend ever.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Character Profiles
Dr. Gomez’s Historical Handbook
About the Author
CHAPTER 1
“Michael, can you please explain to me why you were dancing with squirrels?” Michael’s mom stood just inside the door with her arms crossed. She’d been waiting for Michael to get home from the roller rink.
He was wearing his backpack, with Merle and Pearl Squirrel huddled quietly inside, listening through the canvas. Earlier that evening, Mrs. Gomez had entered Michael’s room to discover him celebrating the almost-acing of his math test with Merle and Pearl. Pearl, who was quite the whiz with numbers, had tutored Michael for his test. However, before Michael could offer an explanation to his shocked mother, Justin and Sadie had showed up to take Michael roller-skating. Now he was back home, and it was time to come clean.
“You promise not to tell Dad?” Michael asked timidly.
“I will do no such thing,” Mrs. Gomez said. “You know they could have fleas?! I may have to fumigate your room.”
“I do not have fl—”
Pearl cut off Merle’s protest with a paw over her husband’s mouth. “Shhhhh, she’ll hear you!”
“Well . . .” Michael hesitated. His dad finding out about the squirrels was Michael’s biggest fear. If Dr. Gomez knew Michael had smuggled them home to Tennessee with him from the Dead Sea, he might make them go back—something neither Michael nor the squirrels wanted. “I was dancing with them because Pearl helped me pass my math test.”
“Who is Pearl?” Mrs. Gomez questioned.
“One of the squirrels.”
Mrs. Gomez raised her eyebrows. “A squirrel helped you with math?”
“Yup,” Michael replied.
“Michael Karl Gomez,” Michael’s mom began sternly, “if you expect me to believe for one mo—”
ZIIIIIP!
She stopped as the top of Michael’s backpack unzipped itself.
Pearl popped her head out.
“AHHHHH!” Mrs. Gomez shouted.
“What are you doing?!” Michael tried to crane his head around to see.
“Please allow me to explain,” Pearl said calmly. Mrs. Gomez’s face went as white as a sheet, and her knees weakened. Michael reached out to stop her from falling.
“Maybe you’d better sit down,” Pearl offered. The squirrels and Michael then told her the whole story of how Merle and Pearl ended up in 21st-century Tennessee.
CHAPTER 2
Mrs. Gomez sat down on the living room couch. Michael sat next to her, and Merle and Pearl climbed out of Michael’s backpack and perched on the ottoman while Pearl caught her up on the squirrels’ adventures.
“Oh, my.” Mrs. Gomez sighed. She turned to Michael. “You smuggled live animals out of a foreign country?”
“They weren’t alive! Or at least I didn’t think they were at the time,” Michael answered.
“So you thought you were bringing DEAD animals home?”
“Um . . . yes?”
“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!” Mrs. Gomez demanded.
“Because . . . they were cool? They didn’t stink or anything.”
Michael’s mom shook her head in disbelief.
“If I might add—” Merle interrupted—“we’re very glad he did.”
“Yes, we are,” added Pearl. “Very thankful.”
“And on top of it all, THEY TALK!” Mrs. Gomez cried.
“Not only that, but we’re over 2,000 years old!” Merle pointed out proudly.
“Merle!” Pearl jabbed him with an elbow.
“Oh, my . . .” Mrs. Gomez repeated. She buried her face in her hands.
“That’s why you can’t tell Dad,” Michael pleaded. “If he finds out, he might think he has no choice but to return Merle and Pearl to the Dead Sea.”
“We don’t want to go back!” Merle begged. “It’s too dry, too hot, and waaaaay too salty!”
“We’re not even from there!” Pearl put in.
Mrs. Gomez sat in silence for a few moments. “I dunno,” she finally said. “I don’t feel right about not telling your father about this.”
“Mom!” Michael protested. “Please?!”
“But it doesn’t have to be right now. Dad is sleeping, and he needs to go in to work this weekend. I suppose it can wait until tomorrow night.”
“But, Mom—”
“In the meantime,” Mrs. Gomez continued, “I will
help make Merle and Pearl feel at home and keep them safe from the cat. Have you met Mr. Nemesis yet?” she asked the squirrels.
“HAVE we?!” Pearl answered. “I don’t think that cat likes us very much.”
Merle sniffed. “Well, the feeling is mutual!”
CHAPTER 3
The first Saturday morning after the first full week of school is probably the best Saturday morning of the entire year. While your brain is adjusting to school time, your body is still on summer time, and after a few days of getting up early, nothing could be sweeter than sleeping in!
“Michael? Michael?!?!” Jane called out. Loudly.
Having a four-year-old sister can put a damper on your first-Saturday plans.
“Whaaaaat?” Michael groaned. He rolled over and opened his eyes just enough to see the clock on his nightstand. “Leave me alone. It’s only eight o’clock.”
Jane danced into his room. “Guess what?! I’m going to a birthday party!” she chirped.
“That’s nice,” Michael responded groggily. “Have fun.”
“It’s for Kennedy, and there’s gonna be a piñata and a cake and a bouncy castle.”
“MOOOOOM! Jane won’t let me sleep!”
“C’mon, sweetie!” Mrs. Gomez called from the living room. “We’ve got to go. Let your brother sleep.”
Jane didn’t budge. “Guess what present I got her?”
“MOOOOOM!” Michael yelled out again.
“A Puny Puppy, with a windup bark. It’s SO cute.”
Michael pulled his pillow over his head. Jane finally got the hint and exited the room.
No sooner had Michael closed his eyes than he heard another familiar voice.
“So! What’s the plan?” Merle asked as he and Pearl bounced back into Michael’s room through the open window, carrying armloads of acorns.
Michael, realizing he wasn’t going to be doing any more sleeping on this first Saturday morning, rolled onto his back and opened his eyes. “You guys like soccer?” he asked.
“Can’t say I’ve heard of it,” Pearl responded.
Merle shook his head.
“Come with me.” Michael got out of bed and grabbed his soccer ball from the closet. If anything was going to drag him out of bed on a first Saturday when he should be sleeping, it might as well be soccer. He walked down the hallway, past the closed door of Jane’s room.
“Good morning, Mr. Nemesis!” Merle called through the door.
“Meowwwrrr,” Mr. Nemesis replied grumpily.
Once in the living room, Michael began juggling the ball with his bare feet. He wasn’t allowed to play soccer in the house, but with his dad at work and his mom and Jane on their way to a birthday party, he figured he could get away with it. Plus, he was still in his pajamas, so playing outside was not an option.
“Soccer is a game where you can’t touch the ball with your hands, so you have to be really good with your feet.” Michael juggled the ball, getting 10 clean hits before it fell to the ground.
“Nice!” Merle commented. “But what if you have four paws?”
“Just use your bottom ones,” Michael answered. Merle gave it a try. He got off a couple of hits before the ball sailed off his right paw and struck the side of the sofa. “Good try,” Michael said. “Watch this!” He began juggling again, bouncing the ball high in the air.
Pearl glanced around the room, noting all the items that could potentially be damaged by a flying soccer ball. “Wouldn’t it be better to do this outside?” she asked.
“You sound like my mom!” Michael laughed as he passed 15 hits. Feeling more confident, he bounced the ball higher. “My record is 50!”
“But don’t you think you might—?”
Before Pearl could finish her thought, the ball bounced off the side of Michael’s left foot and struck the top of his mom’s prized ceramic elephant table. The table teetered over and fell onto the hard wood floor, followed by the lamp sitting on top of it.
The wooden lamp was unharmed, its shade bent slightly. But the elephant table was in about 100 pieces.
“Oh no!” Michael gasped.
“Is that bad?” Merle asked.
“It’s worse than bad,” Michael said.
And just like that, Michael had two large problems to deal with: his dad finding out about the squirrels and his mom finding out about her busted elephant. So much for a relaxing first Saturday.
CHAPTER 4
Eventually, most people, if they are wise enough, learn that you are better off dealing with problems sooner rather than later. A problem hardly ever just goes away. Even some kids have learned this lesson. Sadly, Michael was not one of them. No sooner had the broken pieces of the elephant settled on the floor than Michael had collected them in a box and moved them to the garage workshop.
“Maybe Mom doesn’t need to find out,” Michael said.
“How could she not?” asked Merle. “This elephant is in a million pieces.”
“Glue.” Michael started pulling drawers open.
“What’s glue?” Merle asked.
“Nothin’. What’s glue with you?” Michael laughed.
Merle looked puzzled. “What’s so funny?”
“Never mind. Just a silly joke. Glue is a sticky liquid that you can use to put things back together.”
“Like sap?”
“Sap?” Michael said.
“Not much. What’s sap with you?” Merle and Michael both laughed.
“That actually kind of works,” Michael said.
“You two are hilarious.” Pearl shook her head. “How is glue going to keep your mom from finding out you broke her elephant?”
“We’ll glue it back together, and hopefully she won’t be able to tell it was ever broken,” Michael said. “She’ll never need to know what happened.”
Pearl frowned. “Like not telling your dad you smuggled two rodents out of Israel? I’m sensing a pattern here.”
It took the better part of two hours, but with Merle’s help, Michael was able to put the elephant back together, piece by piece. In the end, it mostly looked like an elephant, depending on where on an elephant you expected the trunk to be. Merle had become fascinated by glue during the process and had succeeded in creating a rather interesting sculpture out of items he found lying around the garage.
“Okay!” Michael dusted off his hands. “Help me put the elephant back, guys. Be careful, the glue isn’t completely dry.”
CHAPTER 5
“What is that hideous thing?” Mrs. Gomez asked as she came into the kitchen from the garage, carrying an armload of shopping bags. Jane skipped in behind her, holding a pink-and-green cupcake on a paper plate. Michael sat at the kitchen table, trying to act casual, as the squirrels hid on top of the cabinets.
“Umm . . .” Michael stammered. He realized he should have hidden Merle’s experimental sculpture. “Just . . . stuff . . . with glue.” Before his mom had a chance to ask any more questions, Michael changed the subject. “Thanks for bringing me a cupcake, Jane!”
“It’s not for you,” Jane said. “It’s for Mr. Nemesis.” She headed toward her bedroom to deliver her present to the cat.
“Where are the squirrels?” Mrs. Gomez whispered. Michael motioned to the cabinet above the countertop. Mrs. Gomez frowned and called out, “Jane, please don’t let the cat out!”
“Why not?!” Jane complained from the living room.
“Just leave Mr. Nemesis in your room for now, please. You can give him the cupcake later,” Mrs. Gomez said. She turned to Michael and the squirrels and smiled. “Look what I got!” She took a large box from one of the shopping bags. The box had a picture of a big hamster house. “And there’s more in the car.”
“Nice!” Michael said.
While Michael and the squirrels checked out Merle and Pearl’s new house, Jane spotted the soccer ball next to a wall in the living room. She began to lightly tap it around with her feet, still holding the cupcake. She passed by the elephant table, which Michael had rec
ently put back in place. He hadn’t put the lamp back on it yet, knowing it probably couldn’t take the weight until the glue dried. The soccer ball rolled under the coffee table. Jane set the cupcake down on the elephant table. As she reached under the coffee table to grab the ball, the weight of the cupcake brought down the elephant.
CHAPTER 6
“Jane!!! What did you do?!” Mrs. Gomez yelled as she ran out of the kitchen toward the sound of clinking porcelain. The elephant lay at Jane’s feet in dozens of pieces, the cupcake in the middle. The soccer ball was in her hands.
“I . . . cupcake . . .” was all that Jane could say.
“What?” Mrs. Gomez crossed her arms. “You know not to play ball in the house!”
Jane began to cry as Michael and the squirrels peeked around the corner. “The cupcake broke it!” she cried.
“Cupcakes do not smash tables!” Mrs. Gomez said. “Why were you playing ball in the living room?”
“But I just kicked it a little! I didn’t hit the elephant,” Jane cried.
Pearl nudged Michael. “Tell her,” she whispered. “You’re not going to let your little sister get in trouble for this, are you?”
Michael shrugged. This was going much better than he’d planned. “I dunno? Maybe?”
Pearl put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
“You go to your room right now, young lady. You need to think about obeying the rules and also about telling the truth.” Mrs. Gomez pointed Jane toward her room.
Jane, still crying, went to her room. As she opened the door, Mr. Nemesis charged out and raced for the kitchen.
“Eeep!” Merle yelped as he and Pearl ducked behind Michael.
Mrs. Gomez grabbed the cat just before he made it into the kitchen. Mr. Nemesis squirmed and complained as she brought him back to Jane’s room and closed the door.
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