Tales of Terry 2 (part 2)

Terry blinked and pulled in to his shell to think for a moment. Then a voice in the blackness.
   "Hello again. Sorry I didn't stop before. Couldn't. On the trail of breakfast and could not stop. They might move slowly but they certainly know how to hide."
            Terry slowly poked his head out and prised open one tightly closed eye and then the other. It did not help, it was just as black, just as empty. Then it moved.
The Blackness moved.
Or at least something black moved in the Blackness, Terry thought. There must be different shades of blackness! But how.....?
   "Cann't you talk? Cat got your tongue?" asked the Black something, cheekily.
    "Well?" it asked. Not nastily, not impatiently, Terry thought, so he tried to answer. It was not words that came out but a loud hiss, which made the Blackness jump hastily backwards.
    "What are you?" it asked in a scared voice. "A snake?"
Terry swallowed and tried again.
    "No, of course not. Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. Only, you frightened ME!"
The Blackness came closer to Terry again and peered at him. Light was reflected from somewhere in the alley and Terry could just make out two small eyes, one either side of a pointed nose. It gave the animal shape and he realised it was not much bigger than himself.
   "What are You?" he asked curiously, then added "sorry" as he remembered his manners.
He tried to stand a little higher. "My name is Terry", he told the Blackness bravely, politely. "And I am a tortoise."
   "Really?" said the black shape. "How interesting. I have only ever met one other of your kind and she was a big yellow boss pot who chased me out of her garden. Foreign, she was, spoke funny." He fell silent.
Probably thinking about the bossy tortoise, thought Terry. I hope he doesn't think all tortoises are bossy.
   "My name is Peasy," said the shape, "I am a hedgehog. I expect you knew that."
   "No," said Terry, "I can't see very much at night. Well, nothing at all, really. All I can see are black things surrounded by blackness. And," he hesitated. Would Peasy think him stupid? Brainless? Oh well, it was a chance he would have to take, there was no use pretending. He took a deep breath.     "And I don't know what a hedgehog is."
The night time was silent as Peasy thought about this.
  "Well," he finally said. "Well! I thought tortoises knew everything! That Boss Pot certainly thought she did!"
Terry thought Peasy sounded disappointed, so apologised again.
  "I am sorry, perhaps she did know everything, but I do NOT know everything and that includes what a hedgehog IS. I probably know lots and lots of things and one of them is not all tortoises are bossy."
  "I'm sure they are not" replied Peasy quickly, not wanting to upset this new friend. He changed the subject.
  "As you can not see me, can you smell me? Is that how you get about at night?" he asked curiously.
Terry shook his head. "I don't get about at night. I stay in the bicycle shed." He stopped. "Used to stay in a bicycle shed. Used to," he amended sadly.
Peasy decided to ignore the last bit and moved closer to Terry.
  "Then perhaps you would like to walk around me, get to know what a hedgehog is like".
Terry smiled gratefully and began to walk around the prickly ball, a long prickly ball. The spikes tickled his shell and they grew all around the animal. Except for his front. Terry lifted a hard scaly paw to Peasy's face and gently felt around the small area of thick skin and the soft, damp, pointed nose. He replaced his paw on the ground.
  "Thank you" he said. "Your nose, is that how YOU get around at night?"
  "Yes" confirmed Peasy. "And now I am hungry. Are you?"
  "Oh yes"' said Terry, surprised to find he was.
  "Well, come with me. There is a place down here, it is a garden belonging to a house and the Humans there keep animals. All sorts of different animals. There is always plenty of food there, bound to be something you like. Always something I like! Come on."
Peasy scurried off and Terry tried to follow. "Don't rush. Please wait!" he panted, afraid of being left behind. Being in the dark by himself again.
                 But he need not have worried. Peasy was waiting patiently  for him by the entrance to the garden. Terry looked up.
    "No door?"
   "No" said Peasy. "Sometimes there is a gate, to keep the dogs in, but not tonight."
  "Dogs?" asked Terry, warily. He did not like dogs.
  "Not tonight" reassured Peasy. "Now come over here. Lettuce and such things, that's what you like, isn't it?"
   "How do you know that?" Terry asked, surprised.
  "Easy peasy - Mrs. Boss Pot of course!" he replied. "Now here it all is, next to the rabbits. Tuck in!"
  "Wont anyone mind?" asked the cautious tortoise.
  "No. I will just be over here if you want me, getting my own dinner. Don't go rushing off now, this is a nice place to stay at night. There are quiet corners where no-one comes. I will clear a space for you and then you can rest. And be safe."
Peasy smiled and Terry was very happy. A friend, food and a safe place to hide during the dark time. But he couldn't help whispering, "Boss Pot!"
Peasy only chuckled. "Yes, a little. Do you mind?"
  "No. We are friends, aren't we?"
  "Yes" replied Peasy. "And I don't know about you, but this friend needs feeding. See you later."

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  "Was he always bossy?" asked the child.
  "'Course he was" said the squirrel, "hedgehogs always are."
  Prickles grunted, too sleepy to argue.
   "Where is he now?" asked the child, "and what did you eat? Did you always sleep there? Are the rabbits still there? How many were there? Can anyone get food in the garden? And.......?"
  "Questions, questions" sighed Terry. "They will all have to wait until tomorrow. Now shoo, all of you. Your parents will be expecting you back and I need my sleep."
  "But I want to know....." cried the child.
   "No, not today" interrupted Terry, "although......" he relented, "I will answer one question." He smiled. "One you did not ask. And then you must promise to go."
Reluctantly the child nodded agreement and the animals followed suit.
  "Peasy" Terry began, "Peasy was a girl."
  "A girl!" the child exclaimed, "how boring!"
  "Not at all" smiled Terry, "it made no difference. In fact it was a long time before Peasy told me she was female. It was not obvious, with all those prickly bits."
  "Like shell" muttered Prickles, as he fell soundly asleep.

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