Pike Island

By Malcolm Whyman

Originally, Pike Island was attached to a large area of intensive farming land, that we called Dead Acres. It was a thin tongue of land sticking into the river. then on one wet stormy winter the river rose and swept around the base of the tongue of land and formed a wide channel, which created an Island.
Sniggy the hedgehog is probably best described as a media person, who takes his calling very seriously ie. Gathering and disseminating the news among and to his fellow animals. His unique position as neither prey or predator is fundamental to his work, which often requires him to embed himself in the action, in order to get to the truth of events. With that in mind the story opens with Sniggy surviving a near death experience in an allotment compost heap. He has wandered onto the allotment, cultivated by the human Snuffy, the previous summer, and then decided to stay and hibernate until the next spring, in order to study the human Snuffy and his relationship with his two pet animals Garth a huge Main Coon cat and Nipper a small Yorkshire terrier. He then makes his way back to his birthplace on Pike Island. He is woken from his hibernation by the screaming and posturing of the psychopathic polecat Zorcan, a pet of the dead acres farmer. Zorcan is intent on wiping out all the islands residents. Sniggy agrees to help the animals to get rid of Zorcan and thus embarks upon an adventure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Malcolm Whyman
• Release date: Feb 25, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370496433

Malcolm Whyman

Malcolm Whyman has worked and lived in the Nottingham area for the majority of his life. He was a well known face on the Nottingham folk/session scene for many years, personally organising a Monday night sing and drink for a decade. He began writing his biography in 2008, which is now available for free download. He is currently writing two other fictional works, and is near completing a series of folk poems.

Book preview

Pike Island

Sniggy of the tribe Thorneyball, hedgehog of this parish, awoke with a shudder. Something cold was sliding through his spines and brushing his skin. Close by a dog barked furiously as though warning of some intruder. He could hear a cat howling and scratching somewhere above him. The warm vegetation in which he was sleeping was being thrown to one side. A pair of hands, wrinkled and sunburned lifted him out into the bright sunlight. Fingers were searching among his spines and a voice, that even in his dazed state, Sniggy recognised as that of the human Snuffy, was tut tutting sympathetically.

We nearly lost you there, said Snuffy, nodding at the wicked looking garden fork he had hastily thrown to the ground.1

Compost heaps can be death traps for hedgehogs.

The dog was jumping up and down and despite the danger of Sniggy’s spines, was trying to lick him. A huge cat, as long as the garden fork, was peering at him. His usually inscrutable, big amber eyes full of concern. Snuffy placed him on the ground, where Sniggy obligingly took a few steps toward the two animals. Snuffy, now satisfied that he was uninjured moved off towards his shed.

Hello Garth, err hum hello Nipper Sniggy croaked, still half asleep and slightly embarrassed, what’s all the fuss about?

What’s all the fuss about!? repeated Nipper, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. You only nearly got yourself killed, that’s all.

Snuffy’s shabby little figure emerged from the shed with a tin bowl, which he filled from the allotment tap; he then placed it down in front of Sniggy. He was thirsty and slurped it down noisily and gratefully.

Talk about a charmed life growled Nipper, sideling up to him. You don’t want to go sleeping in them places. In spring, Snuffy forks that smelly stuff all over his vegetable patch. If you’re in it, you get forked as well.

Snuffy once again returned to his shed and came out clanking three tin bowls together; signalling it was meal time. Nipper, Garth and Sniggy clamoured around him. From under his arm he took three brightly coloured metal tubes and tore their tops off, emptying their contents into the bowls.

There you are Sniggy he said, Your favourite, tinov Chunky Chicken, I’ll bet your hungry after your hibernation.

The sight of the ‘tinovs’ brought back memories of the time he had first ambled on to Snuffy’s allotment, the summer before. At first he had been shocked at the sight of these strange animals. After all, their insides contained meat and yet they had no heads, no tails and no legs. The only sound they made was a slight grating noise when Snuffy tore off their ends. Garth and Nipper were sure that the humans had bred them like that, but assured Sniggy that they felt no pain and tasted delicious. Sniggy was too hungry to feel any misgivings. Greedily and messily he devoured his chunky chicken Garth watched him with distaste; he had never seen such a filthy eater.

The sooner you get back to your garden pests, the better. he said grumpily, Watching you eat makes me feel ill.

Sorry, snuffled Sniggy through his chunky chicken, I’ll try to be more delicate in future but you try starving for a few months. Good manners would be the last thing you’d be thinking about.

Don’t worry about it, purred Garth, self-righteously preening himself. We all have our little foibles. Nipper smells and I’m sure he’s got fleas again.

Well I haven’t got flees snorted an indignant Sniggy, I know how to get rid of them. I’ll show Nipper the next time we go down to the river.

Sniggy looked up at the big grey cat. Garth was big last year but now he was enormous, with huge paws, large tufted ears and a massive jaw full of big, sharp pointed teeth. Sniggy had seen a few cats in his time but had never seen one like Garth before. Despite his insistence on cleanliness and good manners, Garth was gentle, loyal and good fun, and always ready for a game. Sniggy loved to watch Nipper and the big cat playing together rolling; around barking and howling just for the pleasure of it.

When Sniggy turned his attention to Nipper, he was disturbed to notice that he had stiffened up since the previous summer and that his tough, little, black and white body was covered in freshly healed scars.

What on earth has happened to Nipper? he whispered to Garth, making sure that Nipper was out of earshot.

He ran into the hunt last year, just after you’d gone for your long sleep.

Yes, said Sniggy, But how did he get all those scars?

He was out for a stroll with Fox. They were wandering down a lane minding their own business, when they heard the hunt coming down the road towards them. It was obvious from the baying of the hounds that they had caught Fox’s scent, so Fox suggested that they split up. They both dived through the hedges on either side of the road and dashed off in opposite directions. Unfortunately the hounds must have caught Fox’s scent on Nipper; for while one half of the pack set off after Fox, the other half went howling after Nipper. They eventually cornered him in an old barn and set about tearing him to pieces. Luckily for Nipper, an old farmer heard the racket from a field, behind the barn and drove them off with a pitch-fork. Nipper was in such a bad way, that the farmer took one look at him and drove him straight to the vets. He nearly didn’t make it, but after three days Snuffy brought him back to the allotment in his wheelbarrow. Nipper was in a terrible state. It took a long time before Snuffy and I got him on his feet again. Fox was luckier and managed to shake the hunt off. He came to visit Nipper nearly every day while he was recovering. I think he blames himself. He keeps saying ‘he’ll have his revenge’ but what can one old fox do against the might of the hunt?

Never underestimate Fox said Sniggy, he knows a lot of things.

Like what? said Garth.

I’ll give you an example, said Sniggy. When I was a young and cocky hedgehog, I used to taunt Fox; saying things like do you fancy a barbed wire sandwich and other stuff like that and then curling up, so that he couldn’t get at me. For some time, Fox took no notice of me and passed by without a word. Then, one day he turned back and in an instant he had rolled me into a ditch full of water. Of course I had to uncurl to swim. It was either that, or drown. Fox looked down at me and said

No problem getting my teeth into your pink, little tummy now. You thought you were invincible didn’t you? Now, you know you’re not. Don’t push your luck in future.

I see what you mean said Garth, chuckling I’ll remember that He paused, I wouldn’t say anything to Nipper about his brush with the hunt. I think he wants to forget the whole thing. I’m really angry about it growled Garth, I love that silly, little dog. I love Snuffy too, but if anything happened to Nipper, I’d miss him terribly. Garth wandered off shaking his head. Even talking about it upset him, but he was not one to show his emotions in front of others.

Sniggy had arrived on the allotment in late summer the year before and so had little time to satisfy his curiosity about all things human. Badger had many theories about the doings of the barefaces, as he scathingly called them. They were, in his opinion, the embodiment of evil and responsible for all the ills of the world, like roads, cars and lorries and men with snapping dogs that made his life miserable. However, the kindness with