The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly (10 page)

“They’re salmon swimming back to where they were
born,” replied Tiptoes. “When they swim home they change their color and shape.
Then they lay thousands of eggs and die.”

“Just like plants,” said Pine Cone. “They blossom with
colorful flowers, then scatter their seeds and die too.”

As they drifted on they saw more and more salmon. By
the time they reached Farmer John’s there were so many fish it seemed that two
rivers were flowing: Running River winding down to the sea, and the salmon
river urging to the mountains. They watched for a long time as the silvery
salmon swam silently towards Snowy Mountain.

Pine Cone and Pepper Pot waved goodbye. They were
going home to their Pine Tree. Tiptoes and Jeremy Mouse were going home too.
The wind had started to blow, and the leaves swirled and scattered this way and
that.

“I’ll be glad to get home,” said Jeremy Mouse. “I’m so
hungry I could eat a field of wheat.”

A crow cawed in a nearby tree.

“Hello, Mr. Crow,” said Tiptoes. “How’s Pumpkin Crow?”

“He’s fine,” replied Mr. Crow grumpily, “but
every-body, even the blackbirds and magpies, are talking about how his head got
stuck in a pumpkin twice. It really is a most embarrassing thing,” and he flew
away.

Soon the Great Oak Tree came into sight. It looked so
big and strong that they stopped to look at it.

“If I was an oak tree,” said Jeremy Mouse, “I would
want to look just like that. It must be very old.”

“He’s far, far older than anyone could ever guess,” said
Tiptoes.

Just then the wind blew hard and cold.

“Brrr!” said Jeremy Mouse, “it feels like it’s going
to snow. Do you think Jack Frost is going to come often this winter?”

“Oh, yes,” said Tiptoes, “he’ll come lots, and the
Snow Queen will visit too.”

“What’s she like?” asked Jeremy. “I’d love to see
her.”

“You’ll see her some day,” said Tiptoes with a smile,
and off she flitted to her acorn house.

BOOK THREE

Lucy Goose and the Half-Egg

In the springtime the wind blew Tiptoes’ house back
and forth like a bell—but it didn’t fall down. She’d glued the acorn’s stem to
its branch with a charm:

“Acorn house,

As small as can be,

Always stay stuck

To the Great Oak Tree.”

Now the wind could blow as hard as it liked, but her
acorn house always hung on tight.

Today was spring-cleaning day, and Tiptoes sang as she
cleaned:

“Wash the windows,

Sweep the floor,

Shoo the spider out the door.”

Then she shook her feather bed to fluff it up. Her
feather bed was made of just two feathers. They were extra soft and downy. Lucy
Goose had given them to her specially—one to lie down on, and one to cover her
up. She had the best sleep every night and was never cold.

“I wonder where Lucy is?” thought Tiptoes. “I haven’t
seen her for ages. Perhaps I’ll go find her,” and she flew out the window.

Lucy the Goose lived on an island in the middle of
Soggy Mire. It wasn’t a big island, but big enough for a goose. It had tall
reeds all around and a scraggly willow grew in the middle.

 “Lucy Goose, Lucy Goose,” called Tiptoes as she flew
around the island. “Where are you?”

  “Honk, honk,” replied Lucy, “honk, honk”—which was
her way of saying: “Here I am.” Lucy was sitting on a nest hidden deep in the
reeds.

“Where have you been Lucy?” asked Tiptoes. “I haven’t
seen you for ages.”

“I’m sitting on eggs,” she replied. “I’m going to have
baby gooselings.”

“So that’s why I haven’t seen you,” said Tiptoes. “How
many eggs do you have?”

“Three and a half,” said Lucy Goose proudly.

“Three and a half! You can’t have three and a half
eggs!”

“Yes, I can,” said Lucy, standing up to let Tiptoes
see.

Sure enough, there were three and a half eggs: three
big goosey ones, and a small, round one, half the size of the others.

“That small one doesn’t look like a goose egg,” said
Tiptoes, surprised. “Is that your egg?”

“I found it and it’s mine,” replied Lucy Goose.

Tiptoes scratched her head. This was very strange.

“Where did you find it?” she asked.

“I found it on the riverbank. It was covered with mud and
no one was sitting on it, so its mine now,” Lucy replied, and she got all
broody, with a far away look in her eyes.

Tiptoes knew it was no use talking to a broody goose
so off she went to find Jeremy Mouse.

Jeremy Mouse was in the meadow gathering grass to make
a fresh bed.

“Jeremy Mouse,” said Tiptoes, “Lucy the Goose is
sitting on three and a half eggs, and the half one isn’t hers. What are we
going to do?”

“Let’s ask Quack the Duck if she is missing an egg,”
suggested Jeremy. “She’s only half the size of Lucy and perhaps it’s hers.”

Off they went to the House of Duck. She lived on the
banks of Running River.

“Have you lost an egg?” asked Tiptoes when they
reached her.

“One, two, three, four, five, six,” counted Quack the
Duck. “No, they’re all here. Did you loose an egg baby?” she asked Jeremy
Mouse.

“No,” he replied. “Lucy the Goose has an extra
half-egg—and besides, mice don’t lay eggs, we have pink mouselings.”

“Pink mouselings!” exclaimed Quack the Duck. “That
must be very pretty.”

“Let’s go to Henrietta Moor Hen,” said Tiptoes.

“One, two, three, four, five,” counted Henrietta when
they reached the House of Moor Hen and told her what had happened. “No, they’re
all here.”

All day long Tiptoes and Jeremy Mouse went from house
to house and nest to nest. They went to the House of Snipe, the House of Heron,
and even the House of Swan, but nobody had lost an egg.

“We’ll just have to wait till Lucy’s eggs hatch,” said
Tiptoes. “Then we’ll find out who lost her egg.”

Pine Cone and Pepper Pot were working in their garden.
They had planted wild strawberries, dandelions, carrots, beets and one
sunflower.  Pine Cone had found the sunflower seed underneath the birdfeeder
near Farmer John’s house and planted it.  It was already taller than the
gnomes.