The Sasswood Chronicles: The Song Beneath The Stump (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798296505057)

The Song Beneath the Stump

From "The Sasswood Chronicles" by Gayle Allsop

Dip. Dance. Destiny.

Deep in the tangled heart of Sasswood Hollow, under lantern-lit leaves and beside a ceremonial snack stump, something ancient stirs-garlicky, glorious, and utterly uncalled for.

It was supposed to be a normal forest rave. There were glowworms in formation. DJ PrickleBeatz was laying down hedgehog-funk like a woodland legend. And the sacred hummus-golden, creamy, whispered to be blessed by the ghost of Parsnip Pete himself-was the centrepiece of the snack circle.

Until... it wasn't.

The hummus disappeared.

Now, in a forest where squirrels form conga lines and badgers use wind magic to power their tail-twirls, panic spreads faster than a rogue raisin in a couscous salad. Suspicion rises. Secrets are spilled. A sacred breadstick cracks under tension. And in the distance, a long-banished raccoon named Kevin limbers up to ruin everything.

As Queen Mabpie (part magpie, part monarch, all fabulous) declares a full inquest, Bartholomew the hedgehog clutches his emotional carrot, Mervyn the blind mole channels snack spirits through his colander hat, and Gary the dung beetle dons a monocle made of dew to solve the crime. The forest turns to legend, to ritual, and eventually... to war.

Enter Parsnip Pete. Ghost. Snack prophet. Possibly just a haunted root vegetable.

He speaks of prophecy. Of betrayal. Of a hummus thief with no tail, citrus-scented shame, and Tupperware ambitions. As the forest teeters between snacklightenment and salsa-fuelled doom, a rogue squirrel confesses to the unthinkable: sharing dip with a human.

Thus begins an epic journey of reconciliation, rhythm, and roasted chickpeas.

A Rave-Off determines the Hollow's fate.

A forbidden cheese wheel threatens to unravel the very fabric of forest society.

And Kevin-flip-flop-wielding, Bluetooth-speaker-blaring chaos incarnate-dares to challenge the forest's deepest code: never salsa where you dip.

But beneath the rave, under the root-laced moss and softly glowing fungi, an even deeper force begins to pulse. A song. A memory. A snack-fuelled hymn that only those who truly dance with honour can hear.

This is Sasswood like you've never seen it before. Wild. Weird. Full of flavour and friendship. Packed with crunchy drama and dip diplomacy, The Song Beneath the Stump is a story of lost snacks, found family, and the unstoppable joy of dancing like no squirrel's watching.

It's also a tale about love.

The kind of love that inspires a squirrel to propose to a breadstick.

Because in Sasswood, even carbs deserve a happy ending.