by Avi
“Okay, then,” said Miranda. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Next moment, Poppy heard a flutter of wings. She stared into the darkness. “Is…anybody here?”
“Just me,” said Luci. “Miss Poppy, I just wanted to say again how dumb I was for thinking you were a moth. Can I help you with anything now?” she asked.
“Is there something to eat?” said Poppy.
“What do mice eat?”
“Seeds.”
“Oh dear,” said Luci. “I don’t think we have any. Sorry! See you later. Bye!”
Poppy heard her flap into the air.
“What about some water?” Poppy called out. “I think I heard water trickling nearby!”
“Right over there!” came a distant call.
“Right over where?” No answer came. “Luci?” called Poppy. “Luci!”
But the young bat had apparently gone.
For a few moments, Poppy peered into the darkness. “Nothing to see,” she whispered, though she did feel an occasional slight drift of cold air. “Nothing to eat.” She listened hard, too, but aside from a tiny splash of water coming from somewhere, she felt surrounded by a great hollowness.
“No one to talk to, either.” She sighed. “I’m not sure if I should be frightened or not.”
Since there was nothing to do but await Luci’s return, Poppy curled up in a ball on the cold ground, tucked her nose into her belly, and wrapped her tail around herself. As she closed her eyes, she recalled how earlier that same day she’d wished that she were cool and that her life would change.
She sighed and, though feeling increasingly drowsy, said, “I certainly got my wish.”
CHAPTER 11
Above Dimwood Forest
HIGH OVER DIMWOOD FOREST, in the swirling mists of the night’s deep darkness—very much higher than Poppy had flown—the day’s thick humidity caused clouds, clogged with drought dust, to gather. The dust particles turned, tossed, and tumbled, rubbing one against another, and by so doing, charged the clouds with electricity. The electricity grew until it needed to release.
Atop Bannock Hill, on the hazelnut tree, hung Ragweed’s earring. The earring’s loop of metal was isolated enough, high enough, to draw lightning like a magnet.
With a great crack! a bolt of lightning shot from the clouds down toward the earring at enormous speed. When it struck, the earring’s purple bead exploded into dust and its metal wire instantly vaporized into a shower of tiny sparks.
One solitary spark landed on a dry leaf. The leaf began to smolder. When the smoldering leaf became hot enough, it burst into a small bud of flame.
And continued to burn.
A second leaf soon caught fire…. And then a third. And then a fourth…a tiny blaze in the dark night.
CHAPTER 12
Ereth Shares the Awful News
ERETH DID NOT SLEEP much that night. He got up, he lay down, he turned around in circles, all the while wishing night would last forever. When day arrived, he would have to inform Poppy’s family about what had happened to her. The mere thought of it made him moan. “Cauliflower Ca—No! No more swearing!” he cried. “Never again!”
Twice during the night, Ereth heard thunder rumble. Once, while squatting by the entryway to his log, he saw and heard a crack of lightning. Agitated, he listened for the sound of falling rain. None came. “Just lightning.” He sighed. “No rain. No Poppy…only misery.”
Through half-lidded eyes, the exhausted porcupine watched the eastern sky’s gray glow proclaim the day’s new dawn. As the light grew stronger, birds began to chirp their reedy songs. Rays of sunlight sliced through the forest like flaming swords. The long shadows cast by the forest’s tall trees gradually withdrew, as if sliding back into their own roots. And slowly but with certainty, the morning heat proclaimed another scorching day.
Weary and tense, a panting Ereth closed his eyes. “I must tell them. Now.”
He got up slowly, feeling a deep hunger. The only thing he had eaten the day before was a solitary dry twig. He searched his log but discovered nothing to eat. “Salt,” he whimpered. “I need some salt!”
Having run out of excuses, the porcupine waddled out of his log. He blinked at the hot, bright sun and scanned the sky in search of clouds. Not one was in sight. “Bright is bad,” said Ereth. “Night is nice. I don’t have to look at anything.” Then he muttered, “And no one can see me.”
He gazed at Poppy’s snag. Oh, how lovely it would be if his friend came strolling out as she had done so many times. She’d give a cheerful wave and cry, “Good morning, Ereth!” Perhaps she’d ask about him. Perhaps a tiny, damp kiss on his nose.
Ereth’s vision became so blurry with tears he could almost see Poppy standing right in front of him. He closed his eyes.
“Good morning, Uncle Ereth!”
Ereth blinked open his eyes. There before him was Ragweed Junior. One of Junior’s children was with him. To Ereth, the youngster looked just like Junior.
Ereth glared at the mice. At that moment he hated Junior. Hated all mice who weren’t his beloved friend!
“Hey, Uncle Ereth,” said Junior. “This heat sure is something awful, isn’t it? Did you catch that lightning last night? Came close. Maybe before the day is out we’ll finally get some rain.”
“I suppose…,” Ereth mumbled, only to retreat into silence.
“This is my son Spruce,” Junior went on, bringing the young mouse forward. “I don’t think you ever met him. Thought it was about time. Spruce, say hello to Uncle Ereth. He’s Grandma Poppy’s best friend. “
“’Lo,” said Spruce, staring up in awe at the porcupine.
“Seems Spruce and Poppy have become great friends, too,” said Junior. “He’s bringing her a nut he found.”
Spruce held up a half-eaten nut.
Ereth frowned.
“Is something the matter, Uncle Ereth?” said Junior. “You look like…you’re in pain.”
Suppressing a swear, Ereth said, “Why did you come here?”
“Like I said, we’ve come over to see Poppy. Thought we’d say hello to you, too.”
“P-Poppy…,” Ereth stammered, “isn’t here.”
“Oh? She out?” asked Junior. “Gone off somewhere? Any idea where? When she’ll be back?”
Ereth cleared his throat. “Last time I saw her,” he said, “she…she was…d—” He could not get the fatal word out. Instead he said, “She was flying.”
Spruce stared at Ereth and then turned to look up at his father. “Dad, did…Uncle Ereth say Grandma was…flying?”
Junior did not seem to hear his son’s question. To Ereth he said, “My mom was…what?”
“Flying.”
“Flying? Where?”
“In the sky!” snapped Ereth. “Where else would she fly?”
Junior gazed at the porcupine. “Uncle Ereth,” he said after a moment, “has the heat gotten to you? It makes some dizzy. Confused. Especially old guys.”
“I am not old!” Ereth barked.
The force of Ereth’s words made Spruce back up a step and press against his father, but he never took his eyes off the porcupine.
“No, of course not,” said Junior. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Well, I guess Spruce and I had better get going. Come on, pal.” The two mice moved toward Poppy’s snag.
Spruce, staying close to his father, kept glancing back over his shoulder at Ereth, a perplexed look on his face.
“I’m telling you!” Ereth cried after them. “She’s not there.”
“That’s okay,” Junior called back. “We’ll just check for ourselves.”
“Maybe she is there,” Ereth whispered under his breath. He allowed himself a stirring of hope.
He watched closely as Junior and Spruce went inside the snag. He was still looking when, a few moments later, the two came back out, alone. As the mice returned to him, Ereth glanced away.
“Guess you’re right, Uncle Ereth,” said Junior. “She’s not there. Doe
sn’t look like she packed up, either. Must have gone in a hurry because things were just left about. Really, have you any idea where Poppy went or…or when she might be coming back?”
“How many times do I have to tell you?” said Ereth. “The…last time I saw her…she was…she was flying straight up into the sky.”
“Dad,” Spruce whispered, loud enough for Ereth to hear, “I think he really did say that Grandma Poppy was flying.”
“Yes!” bellowed Ereth. “That’s what I said!”
“Uncle Ereth, please, you don’t have to yell. Just explain yourself.”
Ereth gulped a draught of hot air, then said, “Yesterday I went down to Glitter Creek to take a bath but instead I almost drowned in the mud and called for help, so of course Poppy came and helped me—she cares for me—which I was grateful for except the next thing I knew she was gone. Vanished. Then I saw something that looked like her flying straight up in the air. Which is to say I’m pretty sure I did see her…” Ereth faltered.
Junior’s whiskers trembled visibly. “Saw…what?”
“Poppy’s…ghost,” said Ereth, barely whispering.
“Her…ghost?” exclaimed Junior.
“Yes!” screamed Ereth at the top of his voice. “Poppy’s ghost!”
“Are you trying to tell me” said Junior, “that Poppy’s…ghost went flying into the sky, which would mean that she must have…?”
“Died!” yelled the porcupine. “Yes! Died saving me! Who else would she have died for?”
Junior stared up at the porcupine. “Mom? Dead?”
Ereth looked everywhere except at Junior.
Spruce broke the heavy silence that followed. “Dad,” he whispered, “is Uncle Ereth saying Grandma Poppy…died?”
“Shhh!” Junior said gently. But to Ereth he spoke with some severity. “Uncle Ereth, is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes!” cried Ereth. “Yes, yes, yes!”
“I…I can’t believe it,” stammered Junior.
“Dad, how could Grandma be dead?” interjected Spruce. “I just met her.”
“Then how else,” said Ereth, still gasping from the effort of his long explanation, “can you explain the fact that I saw her ghost soaring up into the sky?”
“But where…when…how?” Junior continued to stammer.
Trying to keep from bursting into tears, Ereth slowly repeated the events of his trip to Glitter Creek.
“Uncle Ereth,” said Junior, now speaking in a soft, pleading voice, “are you…absolutely certain…you saw Poppy’s…ghost?”
“How many times must I say yes?” cried Ereth.
Junior turned to Spruce. “Spruce,” he said. “I think we need to go.” To Ereth he said, “I’ll check Poppy’s snag again more thoroughly and see if she left some kind of message.” Not waiting for a reply, he turned and led Spruce away.
Ereth watched them go. Then he gazed up at the sky, as if Poppy might be there. The sky was blue and cloudless, and the air so hot it seemed to quiver before his eyes. He felt dizzy. Sick. Miserable. The whole world—including him—was turning old. Drying up! He swished his tail and ground his teeth. He wanted to bite something or somebody. To swear. All he did in the end, however, was to turn slowly about and make his way into the deep, dark end of his log. There he hunkered down, trying desperately to understand what he should do.
“I need to make everyone know how much I cared for Poppy,” he whispered at last. “I’m the only one who really knew and understood her. The only one who truly loved her. How am I going to show that?” He thought hard. “I know! A funeral service! That’s what I’ll do for her. Yes! The biggest, best, most beautiful funeral service this forest has ever seen.”
“Uncle Ereth?”
With a start, Ereth looked up. Spruce had come into the log. The young mouse held a paw to his nose.
“What’s the matter with your nose?” Ereth demanded.
Spruce said, “It stinks in here.”
“Never mind stinks,” Ereth snapped. “Did you find anything about Poppy?”
“Dad is still looking,” said Spruce. “Uncle Ereth, do you really, really think Grandma Poppy was flying?”
“Her ghost was.”
“Then I think she’s fine,” said Spruce.
“How could she be fine?” demanded Ereth, quite sure this was the most irritating mouse he had ever met.
Before Spruce could reply, Junior came into the log. “I’m afraid you must be right, Uncle Ereth. Not one sign of her.” He sighed. “I’ll need to tell my brothers and sisters. The rest of the family too.”
“Good idea,” said Ereth, relieved that he would not have to do the task. Junior turned to go.
“Hold it!” cried Ereth.
Junior and Spruce stopped.
“What about a funeral service?”
“I guess,” said Junior, “but…”
“Your family will want something,” insisted the porcupine. “The whole family could gather. Pay their respects.”
“Well, if what you say is true, but—”
“It is true!” said Ereth with something like anger. “I’ll organize it.”
“Uncle Ereth, I need to check some more. But I’m sure it would be kind of you. You were her best friend. And if Poppy really…died…I’m sure the whole family would appreciate it.”
“I’ll give a speech about her.”
“Sure. Something short,” said Junior. “I imagine my brothers and sisters will want to speak too. Uncle Ereth, could you truly arrange things?”
“Of course,” muttered Ereth.
“Thank you,” said Junior. He went out of the log, Spruce by his side.
As the two mice left the log, Ereth heard the youngster say, “Don’t worry, Dad. I’m going to find her.”
Alone again, Ereth snorted, “‘Something short’! I’ll show them what a best friend can do. I’ll show them a funeral that no one will ever forget!”
Next moment Ereth became quiet. Then he said, “Of course if Poppy hadn’t died, I wouldn’t have to do any of this! She should have known how much I dislike making speeches. Lazy creature! If I died, I’d be making my own speech!”
CHAPTER 13
The Bat Cave
POPPY WOKE SLOWLY, trying to understand why she was so cold. Has the heat wave finally broken? She opened her eyes. Why is it so dim? Where am I?
Next moment she recalled everything that had happened the day before: spending time with Spruce; visiting Bannock Hill; saving Ereth; being catapulted into the sky; Luci, the young bat, catching her; flying into a cave. And now here she was.
She sat up and stretched. Licking her paws, she washed her face, starting with her nose and ending with her ears, inside and out. Only then did she really look about, sniff the cold air, and listen.
Unlike when she’d entered the cave, it was no longer completely dark. A beam of light burst through the high, jagged rock wall so that Poppy could see a little. As she looked on, the light steadily increased, becoming brighter and broader: the rising sun shining through a high hole. The light cast a soft golden glow that illuminated most of the cave.
“Oh my!” Poppy exclaimed. For what she now saw was a vast, vaulted, irregularly shaped open space with countless nooks, crannies and cracks, steep rock walls, a rough and pebbly floor, and a ceiling mostly shrouded in darkness. From the ceiling hung stone cones, some small, others huge. Thrusting up from the floor of the cave were just as many cones. Some of these cones—above and below—met and stood ground to roof, like lopsided pillars.
As the light grew brighter, Poppy noticed other shapes: a cluster of berries, not edible ones such as she knew but more curious stone formations. Overhead, long stone ribbons were arrayed like partially dropped curtains. In two other places Poppy saw what appeared to be delicately intertwined threads—like loosely woven birds’ nests—but, again, made of stone. The stone, shining in various tints of gold, seemed alive and flowing, changing form as the light shifted.
“H
ow magical!” Poppy whispered. “How wonderfully strange. I never could have even imagined such a place! I’m so lucky to see it!”
Aware now that she was standing on something like a stone platform a few inches off the ground, Poppy crawled down upon the cave’s cold, hard floor and moved in and about the stone teeth. She soon came upon a small pool of clear water noiselessly bubbling up from below.
She took a sip and found it cold and sweet. But while the water quenched her thirst, it reminded her how hungry she was. Her stomach gurgled.
She looked about. As beautiful as the cave was, there appeared to be nothing growing or, for that matter, even alive—except her. And the silence! It was the deepest, purest silence she had ever heard—as if the whole world was holding its breath.
Poppy wondered where Luci was. She assumed the bats were somewhere near. She shuddered a little at the thought.
Poppy looked up at the beam of sunlight again. As she watched, the light gradually shifted its angle downward—an indication that the sun was just rising. Poppy supposed the light was coming from the same hole Luci had used to enter the cave. That gave her an idea: if she had arrived through that hole, surely she should be able to leave the same way.
As Poppy considered the hole, she began to think about her family. They might be wondering where she was. Ereth, too, of course, though she did not think the grouchy porcupine would worry much about her.
And the cold was really bothering her. While it would be fastest to persuade Luci to take her home, Poppy asked herself if she really wanted to fly back. Luci was just a beginner, and the young bat had said Poppy was heavy. What if she dropped me? thought Poppy.
No, best to do it on her own. That’s always been my way of doing things, she told herself. The thought gave her strength.
Poppy scrutinized the wall until she spotted a zigzag path leading from the floor of the cave up to the entry hole. When she drew closer, she saw that the path was actually a small ledge on the stone wall’s face. It required very little effort to climb onto it. Though the ledge was narrow and rough, Poppy was able to move along with ease until she stood several feet above the floor of the cave. There the path ended.