Rascal grew from an unmarked newborn baby to a twenty-five-pound raccoon before he was turned outdoor. He didn't know he was a raccoon and tried to do what people do. The book contains suspense and many laughs.

Rita and Rascal

By Autum Agusta

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2013 Autum Agusta
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-6971-1

Contents

Chapter 1: Coon Hunting.................................1Chapter 2: The Find.....................................6Chapter 3: Taking Care of Baby..........................14Chapter 4: A Visit to the Mountains.....................30Chapter 5: Visiting the Neighbors.......................42Chapter 6: Summer Camp..................................61Chapter 7: A Trip to New Mexico.........................72Chapter 8: All about Animals............................86Chapter 9: Who Knows?...................................101

Chapter One

Coon Hunting

"Cool!" Danny exclaimed. "Did you just say that your grandpa wants you to go out to his place on the creek and try to find a baby raccoon for a pet? With an unusual pet like that I could be as important as my big brother that is a football hero!"

"Grandpa said those critters get into his garden and pull up his vegetables. He said he would like to get rid of them and this is the time of the year for the babies to be born," Alan explained.

"My mom is at the school lunchroom fixing food for the sports banquet tonight. Since the high-school teams won three championships this year, it will be a big event. I will have to go by there and ask her if I can go coon hunting with you," Danny said.

The two twelve year old boys jumped on their bikes and rushed to the lunchroom.

Rita looked up from a pile of pealed potatoes when her slender, freckled-faced, redheaded son came running through the door. "Before I say yes, how far is it to your grandpa's farm, how will you get there, and when will you be back?" she asked.

"It is only six miles, we will ride our bikes, and we won't be gone very long," Alan answered.

"If you aren't back by dark I'll come looking for you," Rita said.

It's awful hot so let's stop by my place and get some water before we leave town," Alan said.

The boys were putting water containers on their bikes while Alan's mother fixed two juicy peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches for the boys. She also put in some cookies and apples into the sacks to complete the meal. Mrs. Willie handed the sacks to the important hunters.

Danny followed Alan through town and onto a dirt road leading north to the creek. They came to the first creek two miles from town. Parking their bikes on the only hill for miles, the boys ate their lunch. "Please let us find a baby raccoon," they prayed before they ate.

The country was starting to turn green after a cold winter, but the boys were too excited to notice. All they could think about was having a raccoon for a pet.

"I wonder what kind of animal that hawk is searching for over there?" Danny asked, pointing his finger west.

"I don't know, but maybe we can keep a baby coon from becoming some big bird's meal," Alan answered.

Thirty minutes later Alan and Danny saw the creek where grandpa lived.

"Are you going to go to your grandpa's house first?" Danny asked.

"No, he will want us to stay and visit and we just don't time," Alan said with a feeling of importance.

The boys hid their bikes in some bushes not far from the road. They motioned to each other to be quiet, and tip-toed through the tall, dry grass to the creek. Their exciting hunt had begun.

The creek was not running but there were several water holes in the lowest places. The boys started their hunt on the east side of the bridge. They walked around the first water hole. Sure enough, there were two different kinds of tracks. One set of tracks looked like a rabbit's hind foot and the tracks that went with them looked like a baby's tiny hand prints.

Yep, there in coons around here all right," Alan whispered.

The tracks seem to lead to nowhere. The boys decided that the animals went over some hard ground that didn't make foot prints. Alan pointed to the west side of the bridge. Danny shook his head to agree.

"There are more trees and water on that side," Danny whispered.

The boys found more coon tracks and tip-toed around every water hole. They were as quiet as the animals around them.

Alan pointed to a huge rock. "Let's crawl up there and look on the other side," he whispered.

Alan and Danny climbed the huge rock and looked over the edge. Underneath the high side of the rock was a porky pine digging in the dirt. The boys shook their heads "No" and quietly crawled back down.

The young hunters felt disappointed as they searched more areas of the creek, and didn't find any wild animals except for the tiny minnows in the water.

It's time to head back," Alan said. "Maybe it is too early for the coon babies to be born," he sighed.

Danny agreed. As they were walking back to the place they had left their bikes, he said, "I'm going to look in that old tree stump over there before we leave."

"Aw, it's too close to the ground and too close to the road. I'm sure no coon would be dumb enough to have her babies in there," Alan said.

"Well, I'm going to have a look anyway," Danny said as he quietly walked toward the old tree stump.

Chapter Two

The Find

Danny quietly walked toward the tree stump. He could vision a fierce tiger coming through the tall dry grass toward him. He shuttered and put one foot on a bare root of the old tree and the other foot on what had been a low branch. Danny pulled himself up even with the top of the stump. The inside was much deeper than it looked on the outside. The bottom was covered with dry leaves. Danny slid both feet down the inside of the old tree. "I hope the bottom isn't too deep and nothing very wild is in here," Danny whispered to himself. He felt his feet hit the bottom and balanced his body and turned loose.

Running his hands through the dusty, brittle leaves from last summer, Danny touched something wet and warm. He jerked his had back. Something was hidden in the leaves. Danny carefully parted the leaves to see what he had touched. "It's probably some kind of a large insect," he told himself.

It was no an insect. Lying in the loose leaves was some kind of tiny animal. It was long, gray and alive. The animal looked kind of like a picture of a weasel Danny had seen in a book at school. The tiny animal's eyes were still closed so tightly that it was hard to tell where they were supposed to be.

"I found something but I'm not sure what it is!" Danny yelled to Alan.

The boys were too excited to be quiet now.

Alan slid down in the tree stump with Danny. "It must be a raccoon, but it doesn't look like one," Alan said. "The ones I've seen have black rings around their tales and black masks around their eyes that make them look like bandits."

"Whatever it is, there is only one, and there are two of us," Danny reminded Alan.

Alan ran his fingers through the leaves until he was convinced that no more tiny animals were in there. "Let's not get this one yet but look for another one before we leave," Alan said.

"No. The mother might come back and get this one while we are gone. I'm going to take him with me right now!" Danny exclaimed. He took off his shirt and pulled his undershirt off over his head. Danny put his other shirt back on and then gently picked up the wet, newborn baby and wrapped him up in his undershirt. He handed the baby to Alan. "Just hold him while I get out of here and then you can give him back to me while you crawl out," Danny said.

Danny tried to keep the baby warm by holding him under his shirt next to his own warm body. It was too late to look for another baby and the boys needed to start back to town. "The baby is getting cold and we need to hurry home," Danny said. He wrapped the baby tightly in his shirt and put him in the basket on his bike.

The sun was quickly going down and a cold wind was blowing. Two miles later Danny stopped his bike and put the baby next to his own body again. He tied his outer shirt at the bottom to keep the baby from falling out. Although they rode their bikes as fast as possible, it was almost dark when they reached the lunchroom.

Danny ran into the lunchroom. "Look what I found, mom!" he shouted.

"I was about ready to come looking for you. Well, let me see what you found," Rita replied. She reached for Danny's bundle and carefully opened the undershirt and looked at the strange creature. ""Son, I'm afraid you found a weasel not a raccoon," she said.

"I don't care what he is," Danny replied. "He's cute, isn't he," he asked.

"I guess," Rita answered. "Is this all you found?" she asked.

"Yes," Alan answered.

"The baby's head is so small and his mouth so large," Rita said. "And, do you know what else?" she asked.

"No what?" the boys asked.

"Do you know why he is wet?" Rita asked. "He had just been born when you boys came along and scared the mother. She ran away before more babies were born. She didn't even have time to give him his first bath," She explained. "It's a wonder he is still alive," "How are you going to feed something this tiny?" Danny's mother asked.

I hadn't thought about that," Danny answered.

"I better get home before my folks come looking for me," said Alan.

"I'm through working here for awhile. Let's take the car to Alan's house. It will be faster and maybe the baby won't get any colder," Rita said.

Danny and Alan jumped into the back seat of the Brown's car and Rita hurried across town to Alan's house. Danny kept the baby close to his body. The weather was feeling more like winter than spring now. The wind was blowing harder.

Mrs. Willie stopped fixing supper long enough to look at the new baby. "Mom, do you think he is a raccoon?" Alan asked.

"He is too young to tell for sure," Alan's mother said as she looked at Danny's prize.

"Mom, do think L.C. will let the baby get his dinner with her kittens?" Alan asked.

All we can do is try and see," Mrs. Willie answered. "We call our mother cat L.C. because her name is Lazy Cat," she explained.

Alan put the baby into the box with L.C. and her six kittens. Baby felt the warm fur of the mother cat and smelled her warm milk. He was so excited and hungry that he made a terrible screaming noise. "Screech, scratch!" squealed Baby.

The terrible noise scared L.C. right out of her box. She jumped high in the air and landed a foot away from the box. L.C. stood frozen on the floor with her fur standing straight up on her back. Her claws were sticking out in all direction. She was not going to get back into the box as long as that wild creature was in there.

"Well, it looks like you blew that dinner," Danny said. He lifted the baby out of the box and held him tight. "Now what are we doing to do?" he asked.

"Mrs. Willie, you wouldn't happen to have a doll bottle around your house anywhere, would you?" Rita asked.

"It has been so long since my three girls were small enough to play with dolls. I don't think we have anything like that around anymore," Mrs. Willie answered. "I'll look anyway," she said. Mrs. Willie returned a few minutes later. "I'm sorry, but I can't find any type of a small bottle," she said.

"We might have an old baby bottle around our house but I think it would be too large for the baby's tiny mouth. We'll just have to try it and see," said Rita. She started home and left the boys off at the lunch room to pick up their bikes while she hurried home with the baby.

Rita laid the bundled baby on the kitchen cabinet. By the time she found the old baby bottle, the two boys were riding their bikes into the driveway.

Alan and Danny watched Rita clean the bottle. She filled it half full of milk from the refrigerator and finished filling it with hot water. This made a warm watery liquid.

Danny held his new pet like a real baby and tried to put the bottles nipple into the tiny mouth. Everyone was surprised when the tiny mouth opened wide enough to get a good hold on the nipple. Baby was soon getting his tiny belly full of food.

"I think he's going to make it with an appetite like that," Rita said with a grin.

"Yeah!" Danny and Alan shouted

Chapter Three

Taking Care of Baby

After Danny's pet was full and asleep, Alan helped Danny fill a box with rags. The baby was put in the box and Danny placed the box next to his bed.

"You will have to feed him about every four hours," Rita told her son.

"I will have to set my alarm clock to do that," Danny replied. He set the alarm clock next to his bed to ring in four hours.

"I need to go home," Alan said.

"Would you like to come back later this evening?" Rita asked. "Mr. Brown and I are going to the athletic banquet tonight. You can come over and spend the evening with Danny, if you want," she said.

"Sure! I can help Danny take care of Baby!" Alan exclaimed.

Alan had just left when Danny heard his father drive up to the house. He was coming home from work.

"Look what I found today," Danny said. He led Ray Brown into his bedroom and parted the rags to show off his new pet. "What kind of animal do you think he is, Dad?" Danny asked.

"I have no idea, son, but I know it will take a lot of work to keep a baby that tiny alive," Ray Brown answered.

Danny shivered to think that maybe Baby would not make it or live long enough to grow up. "Please keep Baby alive Lord," he prayed.

While the Browns were at the Banquet that night, Alan and Danny spent the evening just watching the baby sleep. They didn't even take time to watch TV.

When the alarm sounded, Danny filled the baby bottle with cold milk and hot water just like his mother had done. He held Baby in his arms and pushed the nipple in the tiny animal's mouth.

Baby nursed almost all the milk without completely waking up.

"You are a good mother," Alan said, laughing.

Ray and Rita Brown came home at 10:30. Rita took Alan home and Danny set his alarm to ring again at 2:30 the next morning. He laid Baby in the box and petted him before he crawled into his own bed.

The alarm rang. Danny crawled out of bed and fixed Baby another bottle. Baby's tiny paws clutched the bottle. Danny thought that he could hear Baby purring like a kitten. He was so sleepy that he wasn't sure that was the sound that Baby was making.

It seemed to take Baby a long time to nurse all the milk. Danny even fell off to sleep a few times while feeding Baby and he was glad to see the bottle empty. He put baby in the box and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Danny woke up and sat up in bed. He had forgotten to set the alarm for Baby's next feeding. If he missed one feeding, Baby might die. "Oh Lord, help me not to forget again," prayed Danny.

Danny set the alarm to ring again at 6:30.

The alarm sounded. Danny felt sleepy as he fixed Baby's next meal. He heard his father getting up to go to work.

"It looks like you are taking good care of your new pet, son," Ray Brown said when he came through the kitchen. He watched the tiny animal for a few minutes. "He sure is an unusual looking animal," Danny's father said. "It will be interesting to see what kind of animal he is, if he makes it." "I'll see you tonight," Ray Brown said as he left the house to go to the local café for coffee and visiting with friends.

When Baby finally finished his bottle, it was too late for Danny to get any more sleep. He went to the bathroom and started to get ready for school. His mother had cereal on the table for Danny and his brother Ronny when Danny came out of the bathroom. The boys ate their breakfast while Rita got ready for work.

Rita Brown taught one of the sixth grade classes and she taught her son Social Studies and Math.

"Mom, could you feed Baby for me at noon while I'm at school?" Danny asked.

"Sure. One of the other teachers has playground duty today," Rita answered. "I can hurry home and feed him before I teach my afternoon classes, but when I have playground duty, you will have to hurry home and feed him." "Are you going to always call him Baby?" she asked.

"I'll have to call him Baby until he gets old enough to tell whether he is a raccoon or not, and then I can give him a proper name," Danny answered.

Ronny was old enough to drive his own car to school and work. "I wish I was old enough to drive to school, but I do have the most special pet in town anyway," Danny told himself. He felt real cool as he crawled out of his mother's car.

Rita let Danny out close to the playground so he could play with his friends before the morning bell rang. She parked the car in the area for teacher parking and hurried to her classroom and to prepare for a busy day.

Danny waited until the teacher and all the students were seated in the classroom before he made his announcement. "I have a new pet. It is a tiny baby, and we think it is a raccoon or a weasel. It is too small to tell for sure. I had to get up twice last night to give it its bottle. I have decided to call him Baby until he gets older, and then I can give him a good raccoon or weasel name," he told his class proudly.

"May we see your new pet when he is old enough to bring to school?" Mrs. Conley asked.

"Yes, mam," Danny replied as he sit down in his desk. He felt important.

Rita walked her students to the lunch room then hurried home to feed Baby. She held the tiny animal on her lap with one hand and held Baby's bottle with the other hand. Rita was surprised that Baby was strong enough to hold onto the bottle. He soon emptied the bottle, and Rita hurried back to school to teach her afternoon classes.

Danny rode home with his mother that evening instead of walking with his friend in order to feed Baby sooner.

Rita cleaned house and started supper. Danny fed Baby, and then went outside to shoot baskets in the back yard with some friends. He soon came back into the house. All of his friends were following him. The kids all went into Danny's bedroom where everyone took turns petting the sleeping baby in the box.

"I wish I had a pet like that!" Rita heard several children say. She also heard Danny say, "They are a lot of work, and will cause you to lose a lot of sleep."

During supper that night, Danny said, "Mom, I told the kids at school that I have a new pet, and they want me to bring it to school when it is old enough." "Is that all right with you, Mom?" he asked.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Rita and Rascalby Autum Agusta Copyright © 2013 by Autum Agusta. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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