by Gitte Spee
He sighed, but suddenly had a solution.
“I have a better idea,” he said. “Everyone gets a lump of cake, with a little mix of everything.”
He dug into his backpack and shaped lumps, as big as snowballs, one each for everyone.
“Strawberry almond with chocolate sugar cream,” he said.
Everyone was very pleased and satisfied.
To escape from the fox
Yes, it was a real party! Buffy and her mother sat stroking each other, smiling.
“I think we need to go home now,” said Gordon, “otherwise the parents of the small police will be worried. It was nice that we found you and very good to know that everything is fine.”
Buffy’s mother looked at him. “But everything is not fine!” she said. “Fox is horrible! We thought you had come to save us.”
“Oops,” said Gordon. “I didn’t understand.”
“Chief Detective Gordon,” said Buffy, standing up. “I think we should take them home with us to the forest.”
“Chief Detective Buffy,” said Gordon. “So we should! That is exactly what we responsible toads and mice must do. But where should they live? It’s getting cold, and there’s not room in the prison.” Gordon stopped at once when he saw the mother’s horrified expression. “Yes, our snug little former prison...”
Now Gertrude began to jump up and down. She saluted and said, “We small police have found many uninhabited holes where they can live.”
Gordon saluted her back. “Good, then we can set off immediately! But how will we cross the water?
Sune now spoke up to say, “I noticed a small boat tied to a stake. Just off the beach. We can swim to it.”
One of Buffy’s siblings explained that the boat was theirs. The oars were hidden in a shrub on dry land. But they had not used the boat for a long time, because they were a little scared.
“Bravo! Let’s go!”
But the mother still had objections. “We don’t dare,” she said. “Fox is here, outside. He’ll eat us up.”
Gordon pondered.
“We have police hats for each of us, so I don’t think the fox will eat us,” suggested Gertrude.
Think, thought Gordon. Sometimes you want to not only think, but also know. Especially when it comes to being eaten up. But he said nothing. He might think of something if the fox appeared. Or should he be more worried?
He stood between Gertrude and Sune, took off their police hats and put his hands on their heads. One hand on Sune’s bare and smooth, slightly chilly head. The other hand on Gertrude’s soft warm fur.
“My fine small police!” he said, and he put their hats back on.
And off they went. Buffy went first, looking and sniffing. No, there was no hint of fox on the air. A long line of mice came after her. Each was carrying a pillow. They all walked down to the beach where the boat was moored.
They stood with the wind in their faces. Buffy sniffed. No, still no smell of fox.
Suddenly Gertrude caught a glimpse of something behind them. What was moving in the bushes? No, no smell. Who was approaching against the wind so they wouldn’t notice?
“Fox!” cried Gertrude, pointing.
Yes, there he was! The fox was sneaking quietly over, wriggling like an eel on bent legs, his bushy tail hidden in the grass.
“Hello there!” cried Gertrude. “We’re just the police. Twenty police officers with lovely hats.”
But the fox did not hear. He approached rapidly and opened his mouth.
“It’s just us, and we’re talking to you! We’re not food,” she cried again.
But the fox didn’t care.
“Help, he’s closed his ears!”
They had to save themselves. Otherwise all the poor mice would be eaten up this fine morning on Cave Island.
“Let’s run back!” cried one lot of mice.
“No, there’s no time. He’ll catch us,” cried another lot.
Things were looking very bad.
Gordon and Sune looked at each other and nodded.
There was one thing the fox was afraid of.
“Into the water!” they shouted.
“No, he’ll catch us there!” answered the mice.
“Don’t worry! He’s scared of water.”
And just as the fox was about to snatch the nearest mouse, they jumped straight into the water. Plop.
The fox turned around and tried to snap up some of the others. But they also threw themselves into the waves. Plop. Plop. They tried to keep the pillows above their heads. Ah well, if the pillows got wet they could dry them again. It was a matter of life and death.
The fox ran for Buffy’s mother and some others. But they jumped in, right in front of his snout. Plop. Plop plop.
“Rats,” snapped the fox.
Now all the mice were in the water.
Sune jumped in too; he swam for the boat. It was not so far away.
Gordon was left alone on the beach. The fox ran to the water’s edge and stopped short, so as not to wet his feet. He howled his disappointment.
“Listen here, Fox,” said Gordon. “We’re leaving now. I’ll just get the oars.”
But the fox was cross and gnashed at the air with his sharp teeth.
“Better watch out,” said Gordon, “or I’ll jump right into your mouth. I’ll be the most disgusting thing you ever ate!”
The fox snapped his mouth shut.
“Look out. Here I come, ready to be eaten! Mo-hoho-ho,” said Gordon spookily.
The fox backed away, terrified.
Gordon didn’t know quite what to feel. Glad he’d outwitted the fox? Or hurt that not even a hungry fox wanted to eat a disgusting toad like himself?
In the meantime, the mice had launched the boat.
Gordon carried the oars to the water. He carefully put one toe in. Oh, it was cold.
He stopped. Too scared to get in? He walked slowly, shivering, into the water. He swam out and was pulled up into the boat by many small, strong mouse arms.
The boat was so full of mice that his big body was pushed and squashed down between Gertrude and the stern.
“You should never trust the fox,” Gordon told her.
“Well, I do trust him,” she replied. “He never actually said that he wouldn’t eat the police. He didn’t lie.”
Gertrude pulled cheese sandwiches out of her backpack. She threw them onto the beach.
A small boat, full of eighteen mice and two toads, made its way slowly over the sea.
They had left Cave Island.
The fox sniffed the sandwiches.
“I’ll send you my fishing rod once I’m home,” Gertrude cried, and she waved.
Hop, hop, hop and hop
The autumn sun was shining when the boat landed on the beach at the other side. Two toads and eighteen mice stepped onto land, forming a long line and carrying their wet pillows. They all climbed the hill on their way home to the forest.
Buffy wrote a new song. The same tune as before, but much happier.
Hop, hop, hop and hop.
Hop, hop, hoppity hop.
Going home was much faster. It was such a joy that everyone had been found and rescued from the fox. They no longer had to sit trapped in a damp cave. Now they would each get a nice dry burrow, the ones found by the small police.
They went up the hill, full speed down the mountain, and into the forest. Gordon came last, puffing and leaning on Sune.
After an hour or so, they were back in their own piece of forest. And soon they could see the police station.
But what was this? Many animals were gathered outside the police station. The hedgehog was there, and around him were a lot of squirrels and rabbits, mice and crows.
They cheered when the long line of animals approached.
“Have you rescued the mother?” cried the hedgehog.
“Yes,” answered Gordon. “And all her children!”
What a loud hurrah there was!
“Bravo,” they cried. �
�Long live the police!”
“And the small police too,” said Buffy.
“Long live the small police!” cried all the animals.
And they began to sing and throw hats in the air. What a fantastic party! All that was missing was an orchestra.
“Welcome, you there,” said the hedgehog to a mouse. “And you!”
Gordon clapped his hands and said he had something important to say.
“All the mice must have names,” he said. “It is important to be someone. You can’t just be ‘you there’ or ‘you.’ So we must think of some lovely names.”
“Sunshine,” called someone.
“Blueberry and Birchleaves, Raspberry and Morning Breeze.”
So many fine suggestions!
All the mice were now choosing their names. Two wanted Blueberry and the one who didn’t get it was a little cross, even though she was given Rowanberry instead. And it suited her well.
But what would the mother be called?
“Summer,” cried Buffy.
A better name it was not possible to find. After all, it could be said that summer is the mother of sunshine, blueberries and the morning breeze.
Then it was time for everyone to find their holes. The small police ran ahead pointing them out and handing out searchlights. Summer should live close to the police station, they decided.
All the animals who’d met up at the station rushed off to collect things to give to the mice: a stool, a frying pan, a piece of apple cake, an ornamental pig and a wall hanging with Home Sweet Home embroidered on it in crooked letters.
Gordon was so tired that he sat down under a tree to rest. Buffy sat next to him.
“Thank you, dear Gordon,” she said. “Thank you for coming with me, thank you for going on and on even though you must have been really tired.”
Gordon couldn’t hold back a yawn. “You have to go on and on,” he said. “Never give up! We are the police.”
He closed his eyes. “But now I want to sleep.”
“I’ve been given the best thing of all,” said Buffy. “The thing that every small mouse longs for: to be Chief Inspector. And to have my mother close by.”
But Gordon had fallen asleep and was snoring loudly.
“Oh well,” said Buffy. “You may sleep a little, but then we have to go in and do some stamping with the small police. And we have some important things to decide...”
The very last chapter—coconut puffs
It was afternoon in the woods and the four friends sat at the desk, drinking a cup of tea.
“Is the Police Academy finished now?” asked Gertrude.
“The small police school is over,” said Gordon. “You’ve done very well and been a lot of help.”
Gertrude went over to the great Book of Law lying on a table. She felt it and tried to pick it up, but only managed to raise it by one corner.
“I thought we were going to learn the whole Book of Law.”
“Can you read then?” asked Gordon, his head to one side.
“No, maybe not really,” said Gertrude. “And I was wondering how to get that very big book into my small head. It won’t fit.”
“When you grow up you should become real police officers,” said Buffy. “Then we’ll go through the law book.”
Sune stood up and said, “Except that everyone is the police. I said that to the hedgehog. And he understood. All members want to help.”
“Citizens,” Gordon corrected him.
Buffy went to get a box of cakes she’d been keeping in the bookshelf.
“Please have a taste,” she said. “Here we have banana cake with crispy sugar topping, and nougat rolls with mint chips. And these are the tiny coconut puffs.”
Everyone tasted all the different kinds of cake and then ate the cakes they thought were the best. Pretty soon the coconut puffs were gone.
“Thank you,” said Buffy. “Now we’ve voted for which cakes we should buy!”
“Voted?” said Gordon.
“Yes, we’ve eaten up the cakes we like the best. I’m going to order a lot of coconut puffs, quite a few nougat rolls and a couple of banana cakes.”
Gordon nodded. It was a very good decision, he thought.
Buffy wrote it down on a piece of paper, took out the stamp and placed it on the paper. She moved it a little to the right, then a little to the left. Everyone put their hands on the stamp and pushed. KLA-DUNK.
“Now we must just write down a few pieces of wisdom,” said Gordon. “That’s what police do.”
He took a piece of paper and at the top, he wrote: A Case for Buffy.
“Or a case for the small police,” Sune said.
“But it’s about Buffy’s mother and that is the most important thing.”
Gertrude and Sune agreed.
“Go on and write a few wise words, small police officers!” said Gordon.
They each wrote to their heart’s content. Long complicated sentences with fat round dots at the end.
“What does it say?” said Sune, handing the paper to Gordon.
“Hmm,” said Gordon, turning the paper this way and that. “I think it says that you must think about a poem and write it down.”
“That’s right,” said Sune. “A police poem.”
“What does it say on mine?” Gertrude gave her paper to Buffy.
“Hmm,” said Buffy. “In every child there is a whole world. That’s what it says.”
And so all together they stamped the wise words. KLA-DUNK. KLA-DUNK. Gordon put all three pieces of paper in the drawer for important notes. The paper about cakes was also quite wise, he thought.
“Now you need to go home to your mothers!” said Buffy.
“Thank you very much,” said Gordon.
But Gertrude wouldn’t go.
“Wait,” she said. “We never found out what a small mouse would do with an old badger who said ‘Snot child.’ Would the mouse be cross?”
“Or would he cry, like I said?” Sune asked.
“Hmm,” said Gordon. “I don’t know. But think of Buffy and the fox. What made the fox talk?”
“Buffy cried,” said Sune happily.
“Sometimes it’s best. Although the police can’t always go around crying.”
Now the two small police put on their backpacks.
“Don’t forget to send your fishing rod to the fox,” said Gordon to Gertrude. “I thought that you small police might find a solution. We cannot always be enemies with the fox.”
Gertrude and Sune stopped in the doorway and made a salute. “Let’s play again tomorrow.”
Now Detective Gordon and Detective Buffy were on their own.
Gordon got into his comfortable flannel pajamas.
“I must go to bed,” he said. “I shall think about our small wisdoms. And perhaps have a small sleep. I am very pleased that we had the small police academy. That means there will be police who can take over when we can’t manage any longer… There will always be new police. And I have the feeling that they will be even better. Good night.”
But Buffy stayed up, whistling a little to herself. It was only the afternoon. Time for more afternoon tea, perhaps?
She put all the remaining cakes into a box.
And then she sneaked out like a real chief detective while Gordon was snoring loudly.
Buffy could go and visit her mother with cakes.
She whistled happily all the way.
Print edition first published in 2018 by Gecko Press
This edition first published in 2018 by Gecko Press
PO Box 9335, Wellington 6141, New Zealand
[email protected]
English-language edition © Gecko Press Ltd 2018
Original title: Kommissarie Gordon: Ett fall för Paddy
Text © Ulf Nilsson 2017
Illustrations © Gitte Spee 2017
First published by Bonnier Carlsen Bookförlag, Stockholm, Sweden Published in the English language by arrangement with Bonnier Rights, Stockholm, Sw
eden
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted or utilized in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Translated by Julia Marshall
Edited by Penelope Todd
Cover design by Vida & Luke Kelly, New Zealand
Typesetting by Katrina Duncan
ISBN hardback: 978-1-776571-78-9 (USA)
ISBN paperback: 978-1-776571-79-6
Ebook ISBNs 978-1-776571-83-3 (epub); 978-1-776571-81-9 (mobi);
978-1-776571-82-6 (PDF ebook)
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