It is the Winter Solstice and Sarah Sands is sitting by her father’s bedside, bracing herself for loss. What her father needs to do, she thinks, is conserve his energy – to curl up and hibernate like a hedgehog in its bed of leaves.
 

A few days earlier, Sarah and her grandson had found a maggot-ridden hedgehog in the garden and taken it to the local hedgehog sanctuary. They named her Peggy, and her fate had become a matter of pressing concern. When death looms, it's easier to talk about hedgehogs…