The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly (6 page)

BOOK TWO

Pumpkin Crow

Tiptoes’ house hangs by a stem near the top of the
Great Oak Tree. It sways back and forth in the breeze, but never falls down.
That’s because she stuck it to the branch with a magic charm. Tiptoes was
inside, combing her golden yellow hair and singing:

“Autumn wears a misty dress,

Every twig by dew drops blessed.

Leaves are falling, nights grow long,

Running River sings her song.

Crows are calling from tree to tree ...

And here comes one to bother me!”

“Caw!” said Mr. Crow loudly, looking in her window.

“Caw to you, Mr. Crow!” replied Tiptoes, putting her
hands on her hips. She was annoyed with him. He was so rude; he never knocked.
Then she noticed that Mr. Crow looked uncomfortable—which was not at all normal
for him. He hopped from foot to foot and wiped his beak on a branch.

“Do you know my great uncle Two-tails and his wife
Baldy?” he asked.

“I do,” replied Tiptoes.

“They have five children,” said Mr. Crow. “They’re my
second cousins on my grandmother’s side.”

Tiptoes nodded her head, but didn’t say a word. She
tried to look as bored and uninterested as possible. Crows live in big families
and love to talk about their aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, grandparents
and cousins five times removed. Don’t ever ask a crow about his family.

“My second cousin’s names are Black-feather Crow,
Black-eye Crow, Black-foot Crow, Black-toe Crow and … and …”

“And what?” asked Tiptoes. She was curious now.

“And Pumpkin Crow,” croaked Mr. Crow in a hoarse
whisper, peering around nervously.

“Pumpkin Crow!” cried Tiptoes, surprised.

“Yes,” said Mr. Crow, looking embarrassed. “He got his
head stuck inside a pumpkin last fall. That’s how he got his name. And now …
well …” Mr. Crow did not want to finish the story. It was such an embarrassing
thing for his family.

“I see,” said Tiptoes, who knew how proud crows were
of their kin. “So why are you telling me all this?” she asked.

“Well ... now ... it seems ...” he hesitated
nervously.

 Mr. Crow blushed bright red. (A blushing crow is a
really horrible sight!)

“Well … now…” he continued, “Pumpkin Crow has his head
caught in another one.”

Tiptoes tried not to smile.

“It’s not funny,” said Mr. Crow. “He’s really stuck!”

“Okay,” said Tiptoes, “I’ll come,” and off they flew.

Tiptoes and Mr. Crow flew high over the fields of
Farmer John. Some fields were green, some were golden, and some were dark, dark
brown. They saw Farmer John working in the orchard with his son, Tom
Nutcracker. They were picking persimmons. The persimmon trees had already lost
all their leaves, but were covered with bright, orangey-red fruit. They made
the orchard look like a Chinese festival with lanterns hanging in the trees.

Soon they came to the pumpkin patch. There were
hundreds of pumpkins, but they quickly found the right one. It was the only
pumpkin with a crow stuck to it.

“How are we going to get his head out?” asked Mr.
Crow.

“Let’s pull,” said Tiptoes.

Mr. Crow grabbed his cousin’s tail with his beak, and
Tiptoes stood behind Mr. Crow and pulled his tail feathers. They pulled
hard—but Pumpkin Crow was stuck fast.

“Can’t you use magic?” asked Mr. Crow, hopefully.

“I don’t know any spells for getting crows unstuck
from pumpkins,” replied Tiptoes. She scratched her head and twirled a lock of
her hair.

“I’ll get Jeremy Mouse,” she said at last. “Perhaps he
can help.”

Jeremy Mouse was in the wheat field gleaning grain
from the ground.

“Mr. Crow’s cousin has his head stuck in a pumpkin,”
said Tiptoes. “You have to help. We can’t pull him out.”

“Not again!” sighed Jeremy Mouse. “I’ll come quickly.”

He soon arrived in the pumpkin patch. Jeremy Mouse
scratched his head and pulled his whiskers for a long time.

“I don’t know,” he said. “This looks difficult.”

Poor Pumpkin Crow. Sometimes he pulled as hard as he
could, and sometimes he flapped his wings and said loud things which nobody
could hear properly. It looked like he was trying to teach the pumpkin how to
fly—but the pumpkin didn’t move an inch and sat as still as could be on the
ground.

“Let’s all pull together,” suggested Jeremy Mouse at
last.

So Mr. Crow grabbed Pumpkin Crow’s tail, Jeremy Mouse
grabbed Mr. Crow’s tail, and Tiptoes grabbed Jeremy Mouse’s tail, and they
pulled, and pulled, and pulled—but Pumpkin Crow stayed stuck in the pumpkin.

“Oh, dear!” cried Mr. Crow. “What are we going to do?”

Pine Cone and Pepper Pot were helping a squirrel to
store nuts in the hollow of a tree. Pepper Pot stacked the nuts neatly, while
Pine Cone gathered them from the ground. Mr. Squirrel ran up and down the tree
trunk with a nut in each cheek and one in his teeth. It wasn’t long before the
hollow was full to the top and Pepper Pot clambered down the trunk.

“All done,” said Mr. Squirrel, wiping his paws and
flicking his tail. “Now I have lots of food and won’t go hungry in winter
time,” and off he scampered to find dry grass to line his nest.

Pine Cone and Pepper Pot decided to wander through the
forest. A gentle breeze swayed the branches back and forth, and golden leaves
fluttered down. Mushrooms poked their heads up here and there, and the gnomes
searched under the pine trees for pine mushrooms. Pine mushrooms are delicious
to eat—especially in harvest stew.

“Oh, look!” cried Pine Cone, pointing up. “There’s
Tiptoes and Mr. Crow. Why are they flying so fast?”

 “Let’s go see,” said Pepper Pot, and off they raced.

They came to the edge of the forest just in time to
see  them landing.

“They’re landing in the pumpkin patch,” puffed Pine
Cone. He was out of breath.

At last they came to the pumpkin patch, but all they
saw were hundreds of pumpkins and withered vines. They climbed up the stalk of
the biggest pumpkin they could find and stood on top.

“There they are!” cried Pine Cone. “Over by the other
side!” and he pointed.

“Tiptoes, Tiptoes,” called Pepper Pot loudly.

“Tiptoes, Tiptoes,” called Pine Cone.

Tiptoes heard Pine Cone and Pepper Pot calling. “Over
here!” she shouted. “Come quickly! Mr. Crow’s cousin is stuck in a pumpkin!”

“Oh, my goodness gracious me!” said Pine Cone when he
saw Pumpkin Crow.

“By my beard!” said Pepper Pot. “Such a sight I have
never seen.”

“How will we get him out?” asked Mr. Crow.

Pine Cone and Pepper Pot scratched their beards for a
long time. They took off their red caps, pulled on their ears and put their
caps on again. That’s what gnomes do when they have to think hard.

“Let’s all pull together,” said Pine Cone at last.

So Mr. Crow grabbed Pumpkin Crow’s tail with his beak,
Pine Cone grabbed Mr. Crow’s tail, Pepper Pot grabbed Pine Cone’s coat tail,
Jeremy Mouse grabbed Pepper Pot’s coat tail, and Tiptoes grabbed Jeremy Mouse’s
tail, and they pulled and pulled together. Suddenly Pumpkin Crow’s head came
out with a POP!—and they all fell backwards in a heap!