The Fake Heiress and Her Purrfect Partner novel Chapter 155

Chapter 155

Chapter 155

“Look, there’s a groundhog’s burrow here,” Nina chirped.

Nina’s heart raced. “What if these little guys have been poisoned?”

However, she didn’t have any little critters with her who could squeeze in and check things out.

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Mr. Crow ruffled his feathers, leaning forward on Nina’s shoulder. “You don’t really know them, you know. If you try, you’ll just scare them all away.”

Nina’s eyes sparkled. “Mr. Crow, can you help me reach out to the Sentry of the groundhog family here?”

Crows and groundhogs might seem like worlds apart, but they could be friends.

They had a mutual warning deal going on-since both had lots of shared enemies.

Groundhogs couldn’t see well, especially anything far away or flying overhead, so anytime a crow gave the warning, all the groundhogs munching grass scrambled back into their burrows.

Crows worked like nature’s cleanup crew, swooping in to snack on the leftovers groundhogs left behind, and keeping the

burrow area neat.

Mr. Crow perked up, flipping his tail. “Stay here. I’ll go chat with my groundhog bro.”

Simon went to gather intel about the well, leaving Nina on high alert. She kept vigilant watch over their surroundings, keeping a close eye on Riley as he collected samples.

Before long, Mr. Crow fluttered back, looking all flustered and anxious.

He said, “I found a bunch of groundhogs nearby, but they all look sick.”

Nina jumped to her feet. “Take me to them.”

Mr. Crow led her just a short distance, and they found the groundhogs clustered by the edge of a grassy hill.

They looked totally drained, barely even bothering to munch on the grass. Their trademark buck teeth just gnawed at the leaves without any energy-gone was every trace of their usual spirited bounce.

Mr. Crow immediately squawked, “The doctor’s here. The miracle healer is here to save you.”

Nina’s cheeks flushed-this was definitely way too much.

The groundhogs’ eyes lit up, and they started crowding around her, shuffling over with excitement.

Nina quickly put on her mask and gloves, then gently but firmly waved them back. “Hold on, everyone. Keep your distance and line up-one at a time.”

She was extra careful because wild groundhog burrows were crawling with fleas, ticks, and all sorts of creepy crawlies.

They could even spread severe diseases like plague, so getting close could really put her at risk of catching something nasty.

The groundhogs shuffled into a line, clearing a path for their smallest, sharp-eyed friend. Everyone started talking over each other. “Come on, let Sentry go first. He’s having a rough day.”

Every time groundhogs headed out looking for food, they always sent a sentry up as lookout. If danger popped up, he squeaked out a loud warning that everyone could hear. It was the toughest job in the whole crew.

J

18:39 Tue, Jan 6 J.

Chapter 155

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Sentry darted over from afar, zipped past Nina, and, with a hoarse squeak, called out toward the scarecrow behind her.

He said, “My throat. Why is my voice all messed up?”

Normally, groundhogs had bright voices, but now this poor guy could barely do more than hiss, sounding like a squeaky toy that couldn’t squeak anymore.

He screamed, “My throat.”

Nina couldn’t help but sigh as she watched Sentry still pawing at the scarecrow’s leg.

Groundhogs were notoriously nearsighted-anything that was not moving just turned into a fuzzy blur in their eyes, but as soon as something shifted, they were quick to spot it.

The Chief Groundhog said, “You silly little thing. The doctor’s right over here.”

Worried, he hurried to shove Sentry away from the scarecrow and nudged him over towards Nina.

Nina crouched down and gently swabbed his throat. “The mucosa looks clearly ulcerated.”

She frowned, lowering her voice and asking gently, “Did you drink water from that well?”

Compared to humans, small animals were way more sensitive to toxins. Their tiny bodies and speedy metabolism meant they reacted to anything poisonous fast and hard, and they were much more vulnerable.

Sentry gave a weak nod, his big eyes brimming with hurt and misery. “The water. It’s bad.

“After I drank it, my throat and belly felt like they were burning.”

He tried to gesture, his voice barely more than a whisper. “I… I can’t even make a sound now. I can’t give the warning call anymore.”

He paused for a moment, then added in a small, proud voice, “Luckily, I only tried a little, knew right away something was off, and told everyone straight away to stop drinking it.”

The Chief Groundhog nodded hard, sounding still a bit rattled. “If it wasn’t for Sentry’s, none of us would have stayed away from the water.”

He pointed anxiously to the ground. “Our burrows are right next to the well. The soil might be polluted, too. These days, everyone’s feeling worse and more uncomfortable living here.”

“It’s the poison that’s made your throat all raw and messed up,” Nina said.

Nina had anticipated potential animal poisoning and brought activated charcoal suspension just in case.

This medicine acted like a tiny sponge, absorbing toxins in the intestines before they could be absorbed, eventually expelled with feces.

While she gently mixed up the medicine, Nina explained to the groundhogs, “This’ll help for now, at least. It can suck up lots of different poisons.

“The cops are still checking things out, but nobody knows for sure what kind of bad stuff got in the water yet.”

Nina let out a soft sigh and asked, “You guys live right by the well, right? Did you ever see anyone messing with the water?”

The groundhog clan shook their heads at the same time.

They said, “We’re only out during the day looking for food-never saw anyone shady hanging around.

J

18:39 Tue, Jan 6 ♪ F.

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