I had to do something. Tell her something... make it believable. Something that held us back...We were approaching the corner where they were waiting for us, my stomach began to rumble, a dull ache sank to the lines of my abdomen. I searched my brain for liable excuses, but nothing came up.
Great. Things would go smoothly, and I couldn't even drum up an excuse.
Okay Burrow, remember to act as if everything is fine. Because everything is fine!! Cheesy is unharmed, we have our share of the hunt, and nothing went wrong. Absolutely nothing..
I straightened my shoulders, fixing the cotton bag of food over my back.
"Ouch..shit" mumbling between gritted teeth, a warm, relaxed smile plastered over my face as the weight of the cotton bag pressed against the back of my tender, palpitating head. It hurt to the touch from how hard my head slammed against the wall, but as far as she knew, nothing of that sort happened. She knew it was quite unusual for me to show up so late at our meeting spot.
Ever since Mother started carrying us in the Kichen with her I was always punctual, coming at the end of the second bell. It was different this time, and without us even saying anything, she could sense that something bad had happened.
We walked up to her and Sharp, placing the bag before her feet. Bringing my head up and my eyes forward, I gazed at Mother with my usual nonchalance, indifferent to my previous struggle. Cheesy scuffled beside me, and with a quick side eyed glance, I could tell that he was nervous. Mother turned away for a second to talk to Sharp and as she did, I opened my eyes widely at Cheesy, nudging him in his side and warning him to act normal. He shook his head way too vigorously, giving a half-witted smile.
Rolling my eyes I sighed, already sensing that this plan was going to shit. What was I expecting anyway?? Things never went well when I was around Cheesy.
"What took you guys so long?? Burrow I know you haven't been out with us for a while but..you do know that you were supposed to be here on my third whistle, right??" She asked inquisitively, her brows knitted as her eyes looked earnestly at our stances for even the slightest giveaway. I stood there, my body and facial expressions rooted in normalcy, an immense headache panging from the exterior of my head. I grinned my teeth and folded my hand into a fist to bare the pain, staying with the same expression. Cheesy looked up at her, blinking in a frenzy, shifting from side to side and being unable to even look at her directly in the eyes.
"I hope nothing happened while you guys were out there. You know you're supposed to scout for food and come straight back home, immediately. No stopping, no lounging, no idling. Did anything out of the usual happen...Cheesy?" Cheesy ripped his gaze from the floor and looked up at her, shoulders hunched, his tail in his hand.
Oh no. He was about to mess this up. Cheesy was a horrible liar. In fact, he couldn't lie even if it was to save his own life. The moment he opened up his mouth he would blurt out the entire truth and put both of us in even more hot water than we already were in.
I can't let that happen.
As he opened his mouth to speak, I jumped in, cutting him off before he could even get a word in.
"Mother I humbly apologize for our lateness. We were on our way here and the cotton sack ripped, some of our food was scattered all over the floor and it took me a while to gather them up. Cheesy was no help of course because his legs hurt from how much we were walking. Else we would have gotten here sooner..." I sprung out a single claw, gliding it down the side of the bag behind my back while I held her gaze, her eyes fixed on mine intently as I lied. Hopefully, this would be convincing...
Mother folded her arms, hovering to the side. I finished ripping the bag just as she took a long look at the bag. She bent down, taking her hand and inspecting the freshly torn medium sized hole.
"Hmmmmm....'' she kept striding her hand against it, inspecting it carefully. The back of my head was blasting now, the pain immeasurable. The hole was twice as big as my arm, and it was a good thing I came up with that idea so quickly and jumped in when I did. Now, all Cheesy had to do was agree.
She got up, one hand twisting the tip of her pointy whiskers, the next resting on her hip. Her stare wondered back up to Cheesy, she continued surveying his reactions.
"Is that true ...Cheesy?" she hauled out her words, adding more tension to the already intense situation.
"Huh?Oh umm-" Cheesy's eyes bulged out in surprise as she asked that question, his attention brought back from staring out into space.
"Ye- yes Mother. It's all true. The bag tore an- the food spilled out" Her eyes scanned him from head to toe as she circled him with the most calm, unconcerned air of authority. He squirmed under her surveillance like a wretched, wriggling worm exposed to the burning lights of a blasting sun on a concrete sidewalk.
"Yes, yes. That's what happened. My fault for not helping Burrow haha. Lazy me.." Cheesy babbled on as Mother stopped between the both of us, facing us directly. Her gaze slithered from me to Cheesy, like a slow, cautious, snake.
"Okay my son, if you say that it is that way. I believe you"
.................................................
We were back in the holdings now, Mother and Sharp unpacking the food at the dining table, Cheesy and I unloading our food sacks unhurriedly, a few spaces away from where they were. The pain in my head had subsided into a dull ache. I guess most of my pain was anxiety induced.
"You think she believed us Burrow? Gosh I hope she doesn't think we were making a run for it" Cheesy inquired, voice filled with desperate hope.
"Nah. She definitely smells spoiled Cheese. But who cares? Doesn't look like she's going to confront us about it anytime soon. Knowing our mother, she would have typically peeled our furs off of our skin right there on the spot" I concluded, not giving one once of a damn. Besides, I was already on her watched list from asking her about going outside. What difference would it have made if she reprimanded us? What baffled me even more, was why didn't she do it there and then? She knew we were lying...
"That's certainly not like Mother at all"
"It definitely isn't Cheesy. It definitely is not." I affirmed. Cheesy sat beside me while I made sure everything that I had found under the couch was in the Knapsack. The fries, the pork, the biscuit crumbs.... I counted all the food items, shaking the bag. He had been quiet the whole walk back, not uttering a word to me because he knew how upset I was. Apart of me felt guilty for how harshly I had pushed him, and how I talked to him. Sigh. I had to say something.
"Cheesy''
"Yes Brother?" he answered humbly. He turned his body to me, his innocent eyes waiting for what I would say. I turned to him and began to speak.
"Look I-." I hesitated. Apologizing was never anyone's favorite thing to do.
"I'm sorry for being extra mean to you just now. I didn't think I would get so upset. You're my brother, I just want to keep you safe. I don't want anything harmful to happen to you" I explained in a low tone, resting my arms gently on his shoulder. He inhaled deeply, shaking his head.
"No, it's my fault Burrow. I should've kept at my station and stood on the lookout for anything suspicious. Doing that and risking my life over food was not worth it. And I know that. Please forgive me Brother" he uttered softly.
"It's just sometimes I- never mind" Cheesy turned around, placing his attention to Sharp and Mother on the counter in front of us.
"No what is Cheese? Tell me" I urged him. He sighed and shifted uncomfortably, turning to me. He continued.
"Well, it's just. I can't help myself sometimes you know?" He paused, his mind racking as he tried to find the right words to say.
"You're the smart one Burrow. The responsible one, the leader. Sharp is quick on his feet. He's our fighter, our military. The muscle of the group. Mother is guiding us because she's lived longer and knows how harsh the world can be...but where do I fit into that?" I narrowed my eyes still focused on him, listening to every word that he said. His tone was sad now.
"What I mean to say is. Everyone is talented Brother Burrow. Everyone has a special gift that adds to the family. But me? Not so much."
"Cheesy that's not true- "
"Yes, it is! I can't run as fast as you, I waddle. If I do move quickly, I tire even faster. I can't climb up on those wooden cupboards, my claws hurt when I try to sink them into the wood. And I still don't even understand all the rules of Dratsmate plus I keep getting myself into trouble, like today. How do I add to the Family? What am I good for? Nothing. Therefore, I eat. Cause there's nothing else I can do" he sighed and began to frown, looking out into space with the most hopeless look in his eyes.
My heart began hurting for him, and that explained why Cheese acted the way he did. He felt helpless, like he was a burden to our family. Pangs of guilt began to wash over me as I remembered how I tagged him as a walking, talking burden..But he wasn't. He just needed some guidance.. plus he filled another role. The most important one.
Cheesy may not have realized this, but he was the glue that kept our family together. He hated it when we fought and weren't speaking to each other and was quick to resolve things, he was always making sure we stuck together and found the positive side of everything, even if it didn't seem so.
"Awwww Cheesy that isn't true. Your very important to us! If it weren't for you Sharp and I would still be upset with each other from the last time. There will always be a role that you play in the family, and that's the caring one. You keep us together for sure" I came closer to him and wrapped my arms around his torso, giving him a quick, gentle hug. When I eased off to face him, he looked at me, smiling.
"Awww thanks my brother" He responded. An idea went off in my head and I remembered something.
"Oh! I have something for you" I searched around in the bag and took out the Cheese that I found for him, his eyes lighting up as he saw. He had already eaten the Cheese he almost died for, so giving him another piece I bet was a treat. He gasped joyfully.
"Woooooowwww Burrow! Did you find this under the couch???" I nodded my head in agreement, giving him the cheese.
"Thank you!" with not even a second to waste, Cheesy dug into it, biting chunks of it into his mouth and swallowing whole. I never saw anyone that had a love for this food like he did. To me Cheese tasted really bland, it didn't even taste that good, but whatever made my brother happy I was willing to get it for him.
That didn't erase the fact of what happened today though. I was happy that I caught him in time from the trap, but what if I hadn't? Mother had showed us how those traps worked time and time again, and Cheesy still played ignorant to the consequences. And he couldn't keep up. Cheese was bigger than me and Sharp, and as the days passed by it was becoming more and more difficult for him to get through the hole that led to our holdings. He couldn't sprint or climb walls with that weight, and whenever we went out to get food, he was more of a load than a teammate.
I hated to admit this, but Cheesy was right. Apart from the loving kind brother that I know him to be, that wouldn't be enough. He was a rodent. The Giants didn't like us, the cats are trying to eat us, the birds are trying to eat us, the world was out to get us. And if he didn't wise up, God knows what could happen to him. I looked over at him smiling away like a child, as cheese crumbs clobbered all around his mouth, his two cheeks puffed up with the food.
I had to help him somehow.
"My sons!!" Cheesy and I looked over at the dining room table before us, Mother called out to us as Sharp helped her place the food in her Knapsack.
"We have an abundance of food! Food, food, food! There's so much of it!" she laughed wholeheartedly, her laughter shaking the whole room.
"Mottthherr!! We found the biggest, juiciest pieces of Cheese today! '' Cheesy shouted back, smiling. Mother laughed and told us we would sit down to eat in a minute, as soon as we stacked all the food away.
I couldn't possibly tell Mother about what happened with the trap today. She'll just let Cheesy stay inside and forbid him from coming out for a while, which will make things worse. He'll be stationery, and he'll eat even more, which will make him even heavier and even more lazy. Cheesy needed to be more independent, not relaying on others so much. I needed to do something that would help him. And I knew just the person who would help me with that.