An Autumn Adventure

Breathless and Quickly had nothing to do.
They had spent the whole morning making their snug little home spick
and span. They had collected a fine store of food that would provide
them with all their meals for weeks to come. No matter how hard they
tried they could not find any more jobs that needed doing.
You could tell Breathless was bored because he scurried about
frantically. He sorted out things that didn't need sorting. He tidied
things that weren't untidy and cleaned things that were already clean.
He straightened the cobweb curtains. He picked out all the stalks and
leaves from the store of grass seeds in the larder. He made the beds at
least three times and swept the floor until his tail was sore. But
still he was bored.
Quickly watched him and shook her head with dismay. She always knew
how to enjoy herself when there was no work to be done. She was
painting a still-life study of acorns, conkers and sweet chestnuts
which she had decided to call Fruits of the Forest. It was a
masterpiece, she thought, her best work yet.
She ignored Breathless when he came into the room and stood behind
her, fidgeting and muttering to himself. She hoped that he would soon
get tired of this and leave her in peace but just as she was putting
the finishing touches to her painting Breathless spoke for the first
time.
"Can we do something? he asked plaintively.
"I am doing something," Quickly replied.
"No, I mean can we do something together," said Breathless.
Quickly rested her tail on her easel and spoke patiently. "If you're
bored find something to do.
"I'm not bored," Breathless protested. "I just thought we could do
something together that would stop us getting bored."
"But can't you see that I'm painting?" said Quickly.
"Yes. Very good it is too."
Quickly turned back to her painting. Talking to Breathless only
encouraged him and she had work to do.
"We could go out," said Breathless.
"Out?"
"Yes. We could go out for a bit of a jaunt."
"A bit of a jaunt?"
"There are some wonderful berries on the bramble patch," said
Breathless. "It would be a real treat."
"And what happened the last time we went down to the bramble patch?"
asked Quickly.
Breathless thought for a moment and then for a few more. Remembering
things was not one of his strong points.
"Have you forgotten?"
"Well, a lot of things happened" said Breathless, playing for
time.
"Shall I remind you?" said Quickly.
"If you don't mind."
Quickly rolled up her tail until it stood as upright as a mouse's tail
can stand. She arched her back, threw back her head and gave a
frightening imitation of a cat's miaow.
Breathless shrank back as if a real cat had suddenly appeared. His
insides felt like a jelly that hadn't set properly.
Quickly relaxed and groomed her whiskers casually. She was rather
proud of her performance and especially pleased with the effect that it
had had on Breathless.
"Well," she said. "Do you remember now?"
"Yes," said Breathless quietly.
"You were snatched from the jaws of death and a very nasty death it
would have been too," Quickly reminded him.
"But if we're careful," pleaded Breathless. "If we keep a look out for
danger, we'll be all right. Just think of all those blackberries - big
as plums and brimming with juice. We could eat our fill."
Breathless knew Quickly's weak spots and ripe, juicy blackberries were
definitely one of them.
"We could bring some of them back and you could use the juice for your
painting," he said, looking at the painting. "It could do with some
pink tones."
Quickly knew when she was beaten. "Very well," she said, dipping her
tail into the water pot and giving it a jolly good swizzle. "But we
must be careful. Stay close to me and don't take any risks!"
&;#353;

As soon as the mice pushed their way through the broken air-brick that
was their front door they were plunged into bright sunlight. They both
blinked madly until their eyes were used to. All the time they were
sniffing the air for any scent of danger.
Then they scurried through the shrubs that grew long the wall of the
house. Quickly stopped for a moment to bask in the perfume of a
lavender bush but Breathless was impatient and hurried her on. When
they came to the edge of the lawn they their time to check there was no
danger before making a mad dash across the open ground to the safety of
the long grass that grew beside the pond.
After a refreshing drink Quickly lay down to watch the pond skaters
spinning across the surface of the water and the dragonflies darting
amongst the reeds. Breathless couldn't sit still. He kept running to
the water's edge to sneak a look at his reflection. This never failed
to amuse him. Once Quickly had tried to explain about reflections but
Breathless didn't really understand. He found it hard to believe there
wasn't really a mouse just like him in the bottom of the pond.
What annoyed him most was the he only ever saw the head of the other
mouse. He wondered if he'd be able to see more if he climbed up the
stalk of a marsh marigold that was growing by the water's edge. He
glanced over at Quickly to check that she wasn't watching and then
clambered up the stalk. When he got near to the top he looked down into
the water and was delighted to see the whole of the other mouse. What
was amazing was that he was hanging on to a marsh marigold stalk as
well.
"It's a much better view from up here," he shouted down to
Quickly.
"Be careful," she warned, watching the stalk start to bend as
Breathless climbed further and further out.
"I'm fine," said Breathless boldly.
"That won't hold your weight for much longer," said Quickly. She had
hardly completed the sentence when she saw the stalk give way and
Breathless plunged into the water.
There was tiny splash. Perhaps it wasn't as deep as Quickly had feared
but not many mice can swim and she felt sure that Breathless was a
natural sinker. Then Breathless popped his head above the surface of
the water with a great deal of spluttering and sneezing. He flapped his
legs about in panic and this seemed to be keeping him afloat.
"This way!" Quickly yelled. "Head over in this direction!"
"How do I do that?" asked Breathless just before he disappeared under
the water again.
When he resurfaced Quickly told him to grab hold of the fallen marsh
marigold stalk. At least that would keep him afloat while she thought
of what to do.
"Whatever you do," she called. "Don't panic!"
Up to that moment Breathless hadn't thought about panic but now that
it had been mentioned he could think of nothing else.
"Swing your tail around and I'll try to grab it," Quickly cried. This
ought to have been a good plan but Breathless seemed unable to control
the swings of his tail. He never got it anywhere near Quickly's
outstretched hand.
Suddenly a strange sound froze both the mice. It was a flip-flapping
sound like heavy washing in the wind. Then a giant shadow passed over
the pond and something splashed noisily into the water, something huge,
grey and white.
Quickly was scared now but she tried not to show it. She knew that
Breathless was in far more danger than a rather unpleasant ducking. She
plunged into the water and started to swim out towards the spot where
Breathless shivered on the flower stalk.
Nipping him by the neck she pulled him back towards the bank just as
the great shape shifted and plunged into the water beside them like a
giant arrow. When it emerged a few second later it was clutching a
wriggling goldfish. By then Quickly had pulled Breathless through the
reeds and onto dry land. They found a safe haven in some long grass
where they both speedily restored themselves with a good
grooming.
"What was that?" Breathless eventually asked.
"That, my damp friend, was a heron. A hunter who will eat most things:
fish, frogs, eels, and even mice who are foolish enough to end up in
the water. You have had a very lucky escape."
"Too right," agreed Breathless.
&;#353;
Once they felt sufficiently recovered they headed off through the
grass towards the bramble patch. About half-way there Breathless tugged
on Quickly's tail.
"I've just thought of something," he said. "How did I get out of the
water?"
"Don't you remember?" asked Quickly.
"Not really. That heron thing sort of put everything out of my
mind."
"Well, it doesn't matter," said Quickly setting off again.
"I just remember being in the water with you," Breathless suddenly
became very excited. "You were swimming! But mice don't swim!"
"It's just a little trick I picked up many years ago from a water-vole
friend of mine. I knew it would come in handy one day," said
Quickly.
"You are an amazing mouse," said Breathless shaking his head in
wonder. What else was there to discover about his friend, he thought.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again. You are a truly amazing
mouse."
&;#353;
Soon they were in the deep jungle shadow of the bramble patch.
Breathless quickly scaled the stout bramble branches using the thorns
as a ready-made ladder. He plucked the ripest fruits and tossed them
down to Quickly. He then settled down to eat some straight from the
bush.
Sometimes his enthusiasm got the better of him and he chewed his way
through a berry while he was still hanging on to it and went tumbling
through the branches to the ground below. When this happened he shook
himself to check that he was still in one piece, looked around to see
that Quickly hadn't seen his disgrace and then just climbed back up
again.
Once her stomach was full and she was in a good mood Quickly picked up
a large leaf that she thought would be ideal for a painting. She dipped
her tail into a particularly juicy berry and began to make a sketch of
the bramble bush. She was beginning to think that this jaunt was a good
idea after all.
Breathless had climbed to the top of the bush and was feasting on a
heavy crop of berries he found there. Suddenly he saw a movement out of
the corner of his eye. It was a soft, gingery movement. It was a
movement that whispered alarm and danger in his ear.
"Oh dear, oh dear. What am I to do?" he thought. He started to shake
so much that he had to hang onto the branch for dear life. He could see
that the cat's green-eyed gaze was fixed on Quickly. But she only had
eyes for her painting.
"She's had it! One pounce and she'll be done for." He felt helpless
and hopeless. After everything she'd done for him. She'd saved his skin
so many times. He must do something to save hers this time.
Then he had an idea. He plucked another ripe blackberry and tossed it
down to Quickly but his aim was poor and she didn't even notice
it.
Breathless threw more berries down and managed to score a hit on
Quickly's back. He saw her fur smeared with juice but she still didn't
look up.
"This is no good," thought Breathless. "She's never going to realise
the danger she's in." Drastic measures were called for. He climbed onto
a fork of the bramble so that he could use both hands. He picked two
hard, unripe berries and with a tremendous effort launched them both at
the same time - one towards Quickly and the other towards the
cat.
Luck was on his side and he scored direct hits on both targets. One
berry bounced off the cat's nose. He screwed his face up angrily. The
other hit Quickly on the top of her head and as she looked up to tell
Breathless what she though of him she saw the smudge of ginger through
the undergrowth. She threw down her painting and disappeared in a
flash.
The cat took a second or two to recover and, although he tried to
follow the fleeing Quickly's trail he soon lost interest and flopped
down in a sunny spot to sleep off the afternoon's excitement.
Breathless stayed in his bramble perch for a long time. It was dark by
the time he dared to come down. He made his way cautiously back home
steering clear of the pond in case the heron was still there.
Strangely, he found a trail of blackberries that guided his path back
to the house.
&;#353;
When he crept in through the air-brick he found Quickly busy with
another painting. An especially big sycamore leaf was propped up on her
easel and she was energetically daubing it with paint. She was so
absorbed in her work that she didn't seem to notice her friend come
in.
Breathless cleared his throat to announce his presence.
"There you are," said Quickly. "I've been wondering where you'd got
to."
"Well, you see, I had to wait until everything was safe. I remembered
what you said about not taking risks."
"Quite right, too. Would you like to see my latest masterpiece?"
Quickly lifted the sycamore leaf from the easel and turned it slowly
round. It was a fine portrait of Breathless with a blackberry in each
hand looking very brave and determined.
"I call it The Hero Of The Hour," said Quickly.
"Well, thank you," said Breathless, quite overwhelmed by his friend's
tribute.
"You deserve it," said Quickly. "You saved my life."
Breathless looked suitably modest. "It was nothing really. Just what
you would have done in the circumstances."
"Time for supper I think," said Quickly. "What shall we have -
blackberry pie?"
"I think I've had enough of blackberries for the time being," said
Breathless and both of them laughed heartily.