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- Herausgeber: Little Tiger Press
- Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
A delightful collection of festive animal tales, with a sprinkling of magic, starring a lost wolfcub, some mischievous mice, a magic camel and a dog called wizard!
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Seitenzahl: 89
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CONTENTS
THE WINTER WOOD FEAST
The mouse and the rabbit huddled together as they tugged their sledge through the snowdrifts, away from Winter Wood. It was the night before Christmas, a time when the woodland animals usually gathered for their festive feast, but a sudden blizzard had frozen the soil and locked away their underground stores.
“We should be singing songs around a crackling fire,” sighed the young grey mouse, glancing back at their furry friends who had gathered to wave them off. “We should be eating nuts and berries and mince pies and plum puddings!”
“I know,” said the brown rabbit, giving one last wave to the hopeful animals through a veil of falling snowflakes. “But we volunteered to take the sledge out to search for food, so everyone is counting on us.”
The mouse and the rabbit trudged bravely up the hill to their favourite foraging ground. But when they reached the top, a thick blanket of snow covered the meadow, with white lumps and bumps where the bushes had been.
“Everything is frozen,” sighed the mouse.
The rabbit nodded sadly and was wondering where they might go next when his ears suddenly twitched at a distant sound. In the still winter night he caught the merry chime of sleigh bells, and a moment later the mouse heard it.
The pair looked up to see a trail of lights sparkling in the sky.
“It’s Santa Claus!” gasped the mouse, as the lights drew closer to reveal seven reindeer pulling a silver sleigh. “He’s sure to bring us food for the woodland feast, all we have to do is wish.”
“Santa grants wishes for human children all around the world,” said the rabbit. “I don’t think he has time to visit woodland animals, too.”
“Oh, I’m sure he would if he knew we were hungry,” said the mouse, clasping his paws together and closing his eyes tightly. “Please bring us some food, Santa Claus,” he whispered, and then blinked up at the sky as the man in red soared overhead.
“He must not have heard,” said the rabbit, comforting his friend as the sleigh continued across the sky, heading for the valley where the humans lived. “Though I’m sure he would have helped us if he could…”
“LOOK!” gasped the mouse, pointing upwards. As the reindeer dived into the valley, a parcel tumbled from the sleigh and landed in the snow. “Santa did hear my wish and has sent us some food!”
The mouse and the rabbit hurried across the sloping drifts, pulling the sledge behind them, until they reached the parcel. The mouse immediately tore at the wrapping paper, but when the gift was revealed he squeaked with alarm as two sleepy brown eyes stared up at him.
“Hello,” said the teddy bear in the parcel. “Is it Christmas morning already?”
The mouse slowly shook his head and then looked at his friend. The rabbit was surprised, too, but quickly helped the bear to his feet. The mouse searched the wrapping paper and eventually found a shiny gold label with writing on it.
“The present wasn’t for us!” gasped the mouse.
“Santa must have dropped it by accident!” gasped the rabbit.
The bear scratched his head as the animals scampered to the edge of the meadow and peered down at the small, sleeping village in the valley. Santa’s sleigh had left tracks on the snowy rooftops, but he was already long gone.
“We’ll have to find Sara and deliver her gift,” said the rabbit.
“But what about the food?” asked the mouse, because all of the excitement and running around had made his belly rumble. “We still haven’t found anything for the woodland feast.”
“Christmas is a time for helping others,” said the rabbit, as they made their way back to the sledge and the bear. “This teddy doesn’t have a home and there’s a little girl without a present for Christmas morning.”
“But how will we find her?” asked the mouse.
“I have some friends who are sure to help,” said the rabbit. “Magical creatures from Winter Wood, who leave their treetop homes once a year to make sure all of the children in the valley have a wonderful Christmas.”
“Who are they?” asked the mouse.
“You’ll see,” smiled the rabbit.
The mouse and rabbit helped the teddy bear on to the sledge and pushed it to the edge of the meadow. Then they jumped up front, tipping the sledge and sending it sliding towards the village. The two animals soon forgot their hunger, laughing as they ploughed through the drifts in a shower of snowflakes. And the teddy bear laughed, too, trusting his new friends to find his home.
“WEEEEEEEEE!” they cheered as the ride picked up speed.
“EEEEEK!” gasped the mouse and the rabbit, when the sledge began to wobble.
“This is almost as fast as Santa’s sleigh!” chuckled the bear, taking hold of the reins. Being the biggest, he was able to guide them over the steeper slopes, and as the sledge neared the narrow streets of the village, he planted his furry feet in the snow to bring them to a gentle stop.
“So who are your magical friends from Winter Wood?” asked the mouse, scuttling up to the nearest house, where coloured lights twinkled on the Christmas tree in the window. “Are they mice like me or rabbits like you?”
“They’re not animals at all,” said the rabbit, gently tapping on the windowpane.
As the mouse, bear and rabbit watched in wonder, the Christmas tree quivered and a tiny fairy fluttered down from the topmost branch. Delicate wings shimmered in the light as the fairy opened the window and smiled at the visitors.
“Can I help you?” she whispered, so as not to wake the children sleeping upstairs.
“Does a girl called Sara live here?” asked the rabbit, bringing forward the hopeful looking teddy. “Her gift got lost and we have to deliver it by morning.”
“I have a boy called David and a girl called Meg, but there’s no Sara here, I’m afraid,” said the fairy with a concerned frown. “You could ask my sister who watches over the house next door.”
“Thank you,” said the rabbit. “And Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” said the fairy, and closed the window.
The rabbit, mouse and bear tried the house next door, and the one next to that, and the one next to that. They kept on going until they had tapped on every bright window in every street, asking all of the tree fairies if they knew the little girl. But as each fairy listed the names of their children, none of them was called Sara.
“I don’t think Sara lives in this village,” sighed the mouse.
“She could live anywhere in the world,” sighed the rabbit.
The mouse and rabbit looked around for the bear, but he was no longer behind them. He had been very quiet during the search for Sara so they thought he would be sad and in need of comfort. But when they followed his paw prints in the snow, they found him smiling and waving at something and he seemed very happy.
“What’s he doing?” whispered the mouse, as the bear began jumping up and down.
The rabbit looked at the post office across the street. No Christmas tree could be seen through the wooden shutters, but there was a little girl in a pink nightgown in the window above. She spotted the bear and started smiling and waving back.
“Could that really be Sara?” the mouse and rabbit said together.
Suddenly the girl disappeared from the window and moments later the door burst open. The mouse and rabbit quickly hid behind the sledge as the girl ran out into the street.
“I knew Santa wouldn’t forget me,” said Sara, scooping the bear into her arms and hugging him tightly. “I saw him visit all the other houses, and worried that he wouldn’t find our flat above the post office. But here you are, my very own bear!”
The teddy peered over the little girl’s shoulder and waved a paw to say “thank you” to his friends as Sara took him inside and closed the door behind her.
The mouse and rabbit were very happy to have delivered the gift, but now they were left in the snow with a long walk home.
“We should have asked for some food for our trouble,” said the mouse, as they climbed back up the steep valley slope, dragging the empty sledge behind them. “The little girl might have brought us something nice from the kitchen.”
“Doing something good is reward enough,” said the rabbit.
“I guess you’re right,” sighed the mouse, as they made their way across the meadow. “I just hope our woodland friends will understand when we return home with nothing for the feast.”
It was long past midnight when the mouse and rabbit approached Winter Wood. There was no one waiting for them, and as they made their way through the winding paths, the place was quiet and still.
“Where is everyone?” asked the mouse.
The rabbit tipped his head and twitched his ears. Then he dropped the sledge, took the mouse by the paw and hurried through the trees in the direction of distant sounds. When they reached the clearing at the centre of Winter Wood, all of the animals were gathered around a large parcel.
“It arrived a short while ago!” said the deer.
“Santa dropped it from his sleigh!” added the badger.
The mouse and rabbit approached the gift, thinking Santa Claus was awfully clumsy this year. They also wondered how they would heave such a large parcel on to their sledge to take it to its real owner.
“This was tied to it!” said the owl, fluttering down with a gold label in his beak.
The rabbit took the label and read it aloud.
“Santa did hear my wish!” gasped the mouse, leaping on to the parcel and tearing away strips of wrapping paper. The other animals all joined in and the rabbit watched with joy as they tugged and ripped to reveal a hamper filled with nuts and berries and mince pies and plum puddings, and everything needed for a wonderful feast.
