Hook to Book, Round 3-Sheriff Sam Rabbit

"Invalid Item"  Season 3 Law Enforcement
Application Blurb
The Adventures of Sheriff Sam Rabbit

Word Count 100

Have you ever wondered about the life of forest animals when you’re not around? Well, sit back and enjoy the tales of Sheriff Sam Rabbit as he helps Kat the Rhyming Rat find her rhymes. A quarrel between neighbors can get dangerously out of hand if there’s not a peace-making bunny in the mix. Meet these creatures along with a host of other woodland characters and their problems that the good sheriff tries to help them solve.

“I don’t know,” said, Mrs. Fox. “A rabbit guarding my carrot cake?”

“I’m not just any rabbit, I’m Sheriff Sam Rabbit,” he smiles.

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First Chapter
Word Count 1499

The grey bunny pinned a silver star to his vest. This bunny was Sam Rabbit, Sheriff Sam Rabbit, the law of these here woods.

Now, Sheriff Rabbit, or Sheriff Sam, as most of the animals called him, was a young sheriff. He’d only become sheriff when old Sheriff Badger decided to retire in the middle of his term. It was decided, out of convenience, that Deputy Sam Rabbit would take over as sheriff until the end of the term when a proper election would be held.

How he became sheriff made no difference to Sam. The fact was, he was sheriff and he took his job very seriously. Each night he’d polish his star and iron his vest. Each morning he’d don his vest and pin that shining star to it. It was a ritual he quite enjoyed. He followed that with a hop through the woods to check on the other animals and see if anyone was in need of his help.

“Good morning, Mayor Squirrel,” said Sam with a little bow. He’d been meaning to get a hat he could tip on such occasions. He felt that would be quite sheriff-like.

“Good morning, Sheriff Rabbit,” she answered with a smile as she sat perched on the branch of a large oak. She, too, seemed to be surveying the forest for trouble.

Sam continued on, greeting one animal after another as he hopped along. First, he greeted Jimmy the Shrew who was searching for his breakfast grubs. Next was Ollie, the possum who seemed to be in everyone’s business.

“Sheriff Sam,” said Ollie with a nod.

Sam returned the greeting with his own nod and a smile.

“Sheriff, you might want to stop by and see Kat today. She seemed quite frantic when I saw her at the creek this morning.”

Kat the Rhyming Rat was known for her curious way of always speaking in rhymes. Though it annoyed some animals, most found talking to her quite fun.

“Thank you, Ollie. I’ll stop by and check on her.” Sam waved good-bye and headed off in the direction of Kat’s home.

Before he was even half way there, Kat came scurrying up, “Sheriff! Sheriff! I need your help!”

Sam immediately noticed there was a problem. She wasn’t speaking in rhymes.

“Sheriff! I’ve lost them!” She began to cry.

“Lost what?”

“My rhymes! I’ve lost my rhymes!” she howled in tears.

Now, Sam wasn’t quite used to this sort of emotion. He was rather uncomfortable with it, but as the Sheriff, he felt it was his duty to seem at ease with every animal and in every situation, so he patted her shoulder as his father used to do to him.

“There, there, Kat. We’ll find them. Don’t cry. Where did you leave them last?”

“I didn’t leave them anywhere. They left me! Please, Sheriff Sam! You’ve GOT to help me look for them!”

“Of course, Kat. I’ll be happy to help.” Dutifully, he left with her in search of her rhymes.

Now, Sam didn’t want to admit it, but he had no idea what he was looking for. He’d never seen a rhyme before. As far as he was concerned, they looked exactly like Kat herself since the only rhymes he’d ever encountered were those she, herself, spoke. But he wasn’t about to tell Kat he didn’t know what he was doing, so as they walked, he’d stop and turn over a rock or look inside a log as Kat continue to sob.

Eventually they began to hear a bit of noise up ahead and saw Oscar the Skunk scurrying up.

“Sheriff Sam! Come quick! A baby wood mouse fell into the ravine and can’t get back out!”

Sam immediately shifted his hind legs into high gear and sprinted toward the ravine, leaving Kat and Oscar in his wake. He skidded to a stop at the edge, sending rocks and leaves tumbling down dangerously close to the little wood mouse.

“Don’t worry baby wood mouse! I’ll save you!”

With that, Sam started down the treacherous embankment. Just moments after that, he lost his footing and began tumbling head over cotton tail down the steep ravine. He landed with an unceremonious thud at the base of a tree. He sat for a moment, reflecting on his very unsheriff-like entry to the situation, but decided he could redeem himself by saving the little wood mouse. At that point, no one would even remember how he got down there. Perhaps it didn’t even look as bad as it felt. Perhaps it even looked like he’d meant to do that. With that idea, he jumped up and waved to the growing crowd.

“Don’t worry folks! It was simply the fastest way to the bottom. In times like this, speed is of the essence.”

With that, he dusted off his silver sheriff’s badge and straightened his vest. Then he approached the tiny wood mouse who still had a look of shock on his face. One might have thought it was due to Sam’s abrupt entrance into the scene, but Sam knew it was simply the toll of his experience that was causing the little mouse to seem so surprised. Maybe he was even surprised that the mighty sheriff himself would come to his rescue, but Sam knew every forest animal was important and he would do whatever was necessary to protect them all.

“Hi there, little fellow. What’s your name?”

“Sebastian.”

“Well, that’s a mighty big name for such a little guy. I’m Sheriff Sam Rabbit, but you can call me Sheriff Sam.”

The little mouse simply stared at him. Poor guy, Sam thought. He’s so amazed the Sheriff came to rescue him, he doesn’t even know what to say.

“Well, little fellow, how about you say we get to the top of this ravine?”

Again Sam wished he’d had a hat. He felt sure that pushing his hat further back on his head would be just the right thing to do about now. Well, that was a problem for another time. Now it was time to play the hero.

“Climb on my back, little guy, and I’ll carry you to the top.”

The little mouse looked at him doubtfully, but did as he was told.

Sam waved heroically to the crowd one last time before beginning his ascent. He then took a tentative step up, but found the side of the ravine rather steep, rather too steep to simply walk up.

“Hmm…no matter. We’ll just crawl up,” he said more to himself than to Sebastian.

With that, Sam began to climb up on all fours, but with each step or so, he’d slide back down. Finally, he backed up and surveyed the situation, Sebastian still on his back.

“Well, Sebby…”

“It’s Sebastian,” the little mouse interrupted.

“It looks like you’re heavier than I’d realized. How about you get down?”

Annoyed, the wood mouse was more than happy to dismount his supposed savior.

With that, Sam began his ascent again, but again, he got virtually nowhere. He was beginning to get worried. How was a sheriff supposed to save a baby mouse if he couldn’t even get himself out of the ravine? Perhaps he could heroically throw the mouse to the top of the ravine, then wait at the bottom to die? No, that didn’t seem like a good idea. Chances were Sebastian was too heavy for Sam to throw. Not to mention, there might be some woodland advocate up there waiting to press charges against the sheriff himself. He’d have to think of another way out of this mess that the mouse had gotten him into.

Suddenly, a vine appeared out of nowhere.

“Grab the vine, Sheriff Sam!”

Sam knew that voice. It was Cara the Raccoon. She’d served in some sort of special forces for a while and was more than capable of thinking her way out of any situation. Apparently she was also more than capable of thinking Sam out of a situation as well.

Grateful, Sam grabbed hold of the vine, and began clamoring his way up. Part way up, he remembered something.

“Sebastian!” he called out.

“No need to yell. I’m right behind you.”

“I knew that. I just wasn’t sure how good your hearing was. Why don’t you climb on my back and I’ll give you a ride the rest of the way to the top.”

“No thanks.”

“Come on,” he coaxed, knowing it would look bad for the Sheriff to reach the top before the victim.

“It’s dangerous. I might fall trying to climb onto you.”

“You won’t fall,” he encouraged. “Besides, if you do, the ground is soft. I loosened it up for you on the way down myself.”

Knowing they weren’t going anywhere until he complied, Sebastian climbed onto Sam’s back and Sam climbed the rest of the way to the top.

They were greeted with cheers and Sam bowed generously, enjoying himself.

“Sheriff! What about my rhymes?” Kat asked.

“Ah, yes. Back to that.”

**********
Last Chapter
Word Count 1451

It had been quite a day for Sheriff Sam and he was exhausted, but he simply couldn’t tell Kat he was going home before finding her rhymes. She’d followed him everywhere. Well, he was the Sheriff, after all, and if anyone could find those rhymes of hers, it was him. But he certainly wished they’d hurry up and show themselves. It had been a long day what with saving Sebastian the Wood Mouse, breaking up the argument between Red and Grey Squirrel, helping look after and then losing Mrs. Fox’s carrot cake, directing Rodney the new Robin to the stream, and taking a report for Tiny Bear’s missing teddy bear.

Then Sheriff Sam started thinking. That’s a lot of missing items for just one day. Perhaps whoever stole Mrs. Fox’s carrot cake and Tiny Bear’s teddy bear also stole Kat’s rhymes. It made sense. He wasn’t aware of it, but maybe there was an underground market for rhyme sales. Maybe there was a whole ring of folks selling rhymes, carrot cakes, teddy bears, and who knows what else.

Just then, his nose started to tingle. Then it started to twitch. Sheriff Sam had a scent. It was a scent of something delightfully carroty. Forgetting what he was doing, Sheriff Sam began taking in deep, delicious breaths and wandering off in a new direction.

Kat followed him, asking eagerly “Do you smell my rhymes?”

Coming to his senses, Sheriff Sam suddenly stopped.

“Um…no. I thought I did, but I was wrong. Let’s keep looking over this way, though.” He pressed on in the direction of the smell.

He wished more than anything that he could find her rhymes and make her smile again. Sure, if he never did, she’d eventually get over it. She’d move on with her life, but she’d have to change her name. She’d no longer be Kat the Rhyming Rat. She’d simply be Kat the Rat and that wasn’t nearly as much fun to say. And he was sure it wasn’t nearly as fun to be, either. No matter what, he had to find those rhymes. And though he didn’t know how, he was sure they’d have been found by now if he only had a sheriff’s hat.

As they wandered off in this new direction, that wonderful carrot smell grew stronger. Sheriff Sam did his best to focus on his job, looking behind large trees, looking under fallen trees, and up the trunks of the trees. He thought perhaps he should ask Kat if her rhymes could climb, but then thought that would only upset her to know that he could rhyme when she couldn’t. Not to mention, he didn’t want her thinking he knew so little about rhymes especially after searching all this time.

As they continued to roam around, they saw Claire the Weasel out for an evening jog and Sheriff Sam gave her a polite wave. He would have tipped his hat if he’d had one.

Claire changed direction and started heading for Sheriff Sam and Kat. When she arrived, she wasn’t out of breath at all.

“Howdy, Sheriff. Howdy, Kat.”

“Hi, Claire. How’s your run going this evening?” Sheriff Sam never jogged. After all, he was a rabbit and naturally fast.

“It’s great. I’m taking it easy tonight—just a short six mile run.”

Sheriff Sam made note that perhaps he should start jogging from time to time as he was certain he couldn’t run half that far and it simply wouldn’t do to have other animals in the forest who were in better shape than he was. As sheriff, he had an image to maintain and he certainly didn’t want to tarnish that.

“What are you two up to on this fine evening?”

“Sheriff Sam is helping me find my rhymes.”

“Oh, my. That sounds like a very difficult job.”

“It is,” Sheriff Sam agreed. “We’ve been at it all day.”

“Well, we’ve been at it some of the day,” Kat corrected.

“We’ve searched just about everywhere.”

Kat corrected him again, “We’ve looked a lot of place between the big rock and here, but just on this side of the ravine.”

“And in the ravine,” Sheriff Sam said.

“Only in that one spot,” she continued to correct.

“And we looked around the Gray and Red Squirrels’ trees.”

“I looked; you nearly got into a fight with them while trying to break up their argument.”

“Well, I asked Mrs. Fox if she’d seen them.”

“You said you’d only be gone a minute, but you were gone nearly an hour and apparently managed to fall asleep and lose her carrot cake as well.”

“I didn’t lose it. Someone stole—“ Sheriff Sam stopped. He realized that didn’t sound any better than losing it and perhaps even worse. Well, at least Kat believed that he didn’t eat it, unlike Mrs. Fox. “Well, we looked over by that new robins’ nest, Rodney is his name. He’s got a lovely wife named Ellen.”

“I looked while you gave him directions to the field when he asked for the stream.”

Sheriff Sam was getting frustrated with Kat’s insistence that he wasn’t doing his job very well. But he knew he’d taken the report of the missing teddy bear correctly.

“And we were over by the bear’s den while I took the report of Tiny Bear’s missing teddy bear.” Again he snickered slightly at the thought of a live bear having a teddy bear.

“And you laughed at him.”

“Did not…exactly.”

“Did too, exactly.”

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Well, that sounds like quite a bit of searching,” Claire said, politely interrupting. Well, I need to get back to my run. Good-bye and good luck.” With that, the weasel took off down the path.

Sheriff Sam let out a heavy sigh and continued his search and his sniffing of carroty treats.

Eventually they got to Albert the Porcupine’s home and they saw Albert going inside with a teddy bear stuck to his tail.

Sheriff Sam sprinted after him, following him inside his den, calling out, “Albert! Where did you get that teddy bear?” The scent of sweet and carrots was heavy in the air.

Albert turned around looking confused. Perhaps it was the question or perhaps it was the sheriff standing in his house without being invited in.

“Have I got things stuck to me again. This has been happening a lot lately, ever since I watched that scary movie the other night.” He started picking off and writing down the items, “Okay, now I’ve got a teddy bear and a carrot cake and a hat. I’ll have to find out who these belong to along with the rest of this stuff,” he said pointing to the large pile of odd items in the corner.

“Well the teddy belongs to Tiny Bear and the carrot cake belongs to Mrs. Fox.”

“Sheriff Sam? It’s dark in here. I can’t see.” Kat said as she approached. Apparently she bumped into Albert, “OW! Can we go find my rhymes now? Wow, is that it? Just walk around in a pit that’s poorly lit? I was about to quit.” Kat was rhyming again and her voice showed her excitement.

“It’s my den,” Albert’s quills raised even more.

“Your den? Well, then I must say, on a scale of one to ten, it’s quite a pigpen. It hasn’t been cleaned since I don’t know when.” Kat jumped around excitedly and kissed Sheriff Sam on the cheek. “Thank you! I was so blue I didn’t have a clue what to do.” With that she ran outside shouting rhymes happily.

“I can drop off the carrot cake and teddy bear,” Sheriff Sam offered, happy to be the hero again.

“Will you take the hat too? I have too many lost items already.”

“I can keep it until the rightful owner is found,” he offered, smiling at the brown hat that matched his brown vest…even if it was only temporarily.

“Thank you, Sheriff.”

“No problem, Albert. If you bring the rest of the stuff by tomorrow, I can help you find the owners for it as well. And you need to take a nice, long relaxing bath and get those quills to lay down again.”

“Good idea, Sheriff. Thanks for your help. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Bye, Albert.”

“Good-bye, Sheriff.”

Sheriff Sam rabbit hopped happily out of the porcupine den into the dimming evening light. He held a carrot cake in one hand and a teddy under his arm as he placed the hat on his head. He heard a voice calling out.

“Hello, Sheriff Sam.” It was Mayor Squirrel. He saw her outline against the setting sun.

“Howdy, Mayor Squirrel,” and he tipped his hat.