The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly (8 page)

For us it would be dark in the crystal cave, but
Pepper Pot could see by crystal light. For him the garden was filled with
lights of many colors and hues. Pine Cone and Pepper Pot are crystal seeders.
They grow seed crystals in their underground garden. Then other gnomes come and
take the seeds when they need them.

Pepper Pot stood in the middle of the cave and hummed.
As he hummed he stood stiller and stiller, and the stiller he stood the
brighter he shone. The brighter he shone the more the stars in the sky could
see him and the cave became filled with starlight and crystal light. Pepper Pot
wove the starlight into the crystals with his singing and the crystals grew.
Where there was space new seed crystals sprouted on the rock—just like seeds in
soil. At last Pepper Pot stopped humming, and only crystal light glimmered and
glinted in the air.

Up, up the stairs he climbed; round and round he went
till he came to the cellar door. Then he pulled off his boots, climbed into
bed, wrapped his beard around his head, and fell fast asleep.

In the morning the Sun shone brightly through the
forest. A sunbeam reached in and touched Jeremy Mouse on the face.

 “Wake and rise, Master Mouse,” said the Sun. “It’s
time to wake the sleepy heads in this house.”

Jeremy Mouse yawned and stretched. He reached over and
held Tiptoes’ hands till she opened her eyes.

 “Good morning, Tiptoes,” he said. He loved Tiptoes
very much.

Jeremy Mouse went to Pine Cone and Pepper Pot. They
were snoring in bed. Their beards were still wrapped round their heads, and
only their noses stuck out. All he saw were bushy beards, sticking up noses,
and red caps. Jeremy Mouse pulled their toes, and said, “Wake up, you lazy
legs. It’s time to get up.”

Pine Cone and Pepper Pot grunted and groaned. They
stretched their arms over their heads and yawned. Then they unwound their
beards, put on their boots, and washed their faces in icy cold water.

“Look!” cried Tiptoes from the window. “Jack Frost
came last night. It’s his first visit.”

Sure enough, frost covered the ground, and ice
crystals glittered in the morning sun.

“Is Jack Frost a gnome or a fairy?” asked Jeremy
Mouse.

“A gnome,” answered Pepper Pot.

“A fairy,” said Tiptoes at the same time.

“He’s certainly a gnome,” declared  Pepper Pot, “he
makes crystals.”

“He’s definitely a fairy,” said Tiptoes. “He flies
through the air breathing frost on leaves and branches.”

“Why don’t you ask him yourselves?” said Jeremy. “Then
you’ll know for sure.”

“Good idea,” they agreed.

“So where does he live?” asked Jeremy.

Tiptoes and Pepper Pot looked at each other. They
shook their heads and shrugged. “We don’t know.”

“Oh goody! We’ll have to go adventuring!” cried Jeremy
Mouse. “Can we eat first?”

All the frost had vanished by the time they finished
breakfast. They marched through the forest towards Running River. Tiptoes
thought Running River might know where Jack Frost lived. Running River was not
very wide, but she was long; maybe she knew something. When they arrived at her
banks Tiptoes sang:

“Running River, O so wild,

Let me see your spirit child.

Can she say

Where Jack Frost dwells?

Show yourself and Tiptoes tell.”

Out of the water rose the Spirit of Running River. She
had a long, silvery body like a snake, with soft, blue-gray wings, and a water
nymph’s dreamy head. She was very beautiful, with gentle eyes and flowing hair.

“You want to find Jack Frost?” asked the Spirit of
Running River.

“Yes,” said Tiptoes, “we want to know if he’s a fairy
or a gnome.”

“I can’t tell you that,” said the Spirit of Running
River, “but the Old Woman of Snowy Mountain knows where he lives.”

“How do we find the Old Woman?” asked Jeremy Mouse.

“You see me as a young woman now,” replied the Spirit of
Running River, “but you must sail on me until I become a girl. Then follow me
till I grow younger still and babble like a baby. And there, where I am born
from my Mother Rock, you will find the Old Woman of Snowy Mountain.” Then the
Spirit of Running River slipped underneath the waves again.

“I didn’t know Running River was born from a rock,”
said Jeremy Mouse, as he untied their latest boat and pushed out from the
shore. This boat was made of half a coconut shell, a twig for a mast, and a big
beech leaf for a sail.

Tiptoes called out:

“Blow, wind, blow,

Blow as best you know,

To Snowy Mountain we shall go!”

And the wind blew, and up Running River they sailed.

Running River meandered this way and that, but the
wind blew steadily, and always at their backs. Once the wind made a mistake as
they sailed around a bend and they crashed into Beaver’s house.

“Hey!” cried Mr. Beaver, slapping his tail on the
water. “Watch where you’re going!”

“Sorry, cousin Beaver,” cried Jeremy Mouse. “It’s not
easy for the wind to blow us around corners.”

“Oh, I see,” said Mr. Beaver, and he pulled them out
into current again.

“Bye, bye,” they all called, “and thank you.”

Beaver splashed his tail goodbye and disappeared out
of sight.

“I wish I could swim like him,” said Jeremy Mouse,
“but his tail is too flat. I wouldn’t like a tail like that.”

Running River flowed through a wide valley. They
passed Farmer John’s, but they didn’t see the pumpkin patch. They sailed
through fields and meadows. They saw a big black and white cow called Maggie
standing on the riverbank. She moo’d hello and they all waved back.

Running River became smaller and narrower. The banks
grew wilder and hills pressed in on the sides. Now it was really hard for the
wind to blow them properly, and they all grabbed sticks to stop the boat from
crashing into rocks. Soon the hills turned into mountains, and one mountain
loomed extra large. Its peak was covered with ice and snow which glinted in the
sun.

“That’s Snowy Mountain,” said Pine Cone. “Look how
tall she is.”

At last they came to a waterfall. Running River fell
down, and down, and down, and splashed into a huge pool.

“We can’t sail any further,” said Tiptoes. “We’ll have
to walk.”

So they tied their boat to the shore and climbed up
the side of Snowy Mountain.

Up and up they climbed, following Running River. She
got smaller and smaller, splashing and singing as she ran down the side of
Snowy Mountain. They came to a big rock sitting all by itself. On top stood a
mountain ram. He had curly horns growing out of his head.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“We’re going to the Old Woman of Snowy Mountain,”
Tiptoes replied.

“Keep climbing,” said the ram. “Running River will
lead you there.”

Running River turned into a babbling brook and led
them to a tall, rocky cliff. She flowed right up to its rocky face and
disappeared inside.

“That’s where Running River is born,” said Jeremy
Mouse, pointing. “She does spring from a Mother Rock!”

Next to where Running River sprang from the rock was a
cave. It was covered with moss on the outside and was as dark as night on the
inside. Tiptoes called:

“Mountain Woman

Answer me—

It’s Jack Frost we’ve come to see.”

Out came the Old Woman of Snowy Mountain. She looked
very old, as old as the mountain itself. Her hair was snowy white, her dress
was the color of heather and stone, and her voice sounded like craggy peaks and
waterfalls.

“Jack Frost lives high on the mountain,” she replied.
“If you climb up to the snow you won’t have to look for him—he’ll find you and
try to nip your fingers and toes,” and she went back inside her cave.

The sun was low in the sky when they reached the snowy
heights. The snow crunched underfoot as they climbed, and ice crystals glinted
like glass.