For a moment, they stood in awkward silence.
Then Sophie noticed Pippa was chewing. Her mouth was stuffed with berries.
No wonder! thought Sophie. She was trying to talk with her mouth full!
Pippa gulped them down and then giggled. “Let me try saying that again. I said, ‘It’s so good to see you! How have you been?’”
Before Sophie could answer, Pippa added, “Oh! How rude of me. Would you like some berries?” She opened her paw to reveal a few more.
The friends laughed.
“Don’t be silly,” said Hattie. “You need it! You’re filling up for your winter sleep!”
Sophie nodded. “We’re filling up at our house, too,” she said. “Except we’re filling up our pantry. You have to fill up your tummy!”
Pippa ate her last few berries. Then she motioned for the others to follow her. “Come on! You have to meet my family!” Pippa said.
The friends followed Pippa through the underbrush. Before long, they came to a mound of dry leaves and grass. Sophie remembered this: it was Pippa’s house!
Six more hedgehogs sat eating together out front. At first, they seemed alarmed to see strangers. But Pippa said: “Everyone! These are the snow-day friends I told you about!”
Pippa introduced her mother and father, and her sisters and brothers: Penny, Peter, Pearl, and Percy.