on,’ said Oak, his cautious nature asserting itself. ‘It may be a trap.
Squirrels – to survive
Never act impulsively.
Look before you leap.’
To which Just Poplar replied, quoting a Kernel that Old Burdock had taught him,
‘Fear can paralyze.
Zupprezz it and ACT. He who
Hezitatez iz lozd.’
They looked at the Tagger, Clover, for clarification.
‘These Kernels do seem to contradict one another,’ she said. ‘I wish Old Burdock were here – she knew how to resolve these things. I suppose that it depends on the exact circumstances. Now if…’
The arguments went back and forth, the light in the Bunker dimming all the time.
Finally, Oak remembered the Leaders’ Kernel –
Indecision kills.
Act positively and lead.
Action is the Key.
‘We’ll go and kill the Marten,’ he said, then realising that in a few minutes it would be completely dark outside, added, ‘in the morning.’
Blood awoke. It was warm on the leaf-pile but the magpies were now inside his head and chattering incessantly. He stood up, fell over, then stood up more slowly. It was dark. He moved onto the snow and pushed his face into the coolness of a drift. The magpies in his head were not quite so loud now and, as he headed unsteadily for home, they almost, but not quite, stopped pecking at the inside of his skull.
At the door of the church he paused, pushed his face into the snow once more, pulled the peacock feather from the snowdrift and urinated on it, then went into the dark nave. He brushed against Mogul’s tail, thought of giving it the usual tug, but his head told him that it could not take the inevitable screech.
He climbed the rope to his den in the tower. After the third fall he gave up, crawled under a pew and slept noisily amongst the dry peacock droppings and feather moult.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Tansy had pressed Marguerite to tell her when the Woodstock could be taken to Ourland to deal with the pine marten on the assumption that, with her own parents in danger, Marguerite would drop everything and leave at once.
Marguerite’s first reaction had been to do just that, and her busy mind started to organise the venture. Then she realised that she was not a free agent. She was the selected Tagger of this community, responsible for important aspects of their lives. She also had youngsters of her own, rather young for the hazards of winter travelling. It would need more that the efforts of Tansy and herself to take the Woodstock any distance. This, and the unknown future behaviour of Chip’s family and the Greys, made the whole project impossible. But then she had been taught that nothing is impossible. The Kernel said –
If you think you can
Or if you think you cannot,
Either way it’s true.
So far she had not thought that she could.
‘Tansy-Friend,’ she said, ‘we will find a way to get rid of the pine marten, but there is a lot of planning to be done first. There are many details for me to work out. Rest and sleep while I think about these. Nothing more can be done while this snow lasts. Try to sleep now. Leave it to me.’
Juniper had been watching the shadows of the trees at High Sun as they reached out across the snow-covered ice on the Blue Pool. ‘They’re getting shorter,’ he reported. ‘The Longest Night is gone. We can have the Midwinter Celebrations any time now.’
Chip was exquisitely warm in the drey, constantly and pleasurably aware of the close contact with the other squirrels, especially Tansywistful, who was in a deep sleep next to him. He asked in a whisper, ‘What happens to the Sun in midwinter?’
Marguerite explained. ‘Every autumn the Sun, who is tired after shining so hard for us all summer, finds it harder and harder to climb up high in the sky. But, in the middle of the winter, his strength starts to come back, ready for the next year.
‘We can tell
Squirrels – to survive
Never act impulsively.
Look before you leap.’
To which Just Poplar replied, quoting a Kernel that Old Burdock had taught him,
‘Fear can paralyze.
Zupprezz it and ACT. He who
Hezitatez iz lozd.’
They looked at the Tagger, Clover, for clarification.
‘These Kernels do seem to contradict one another,’ she said. ‘I wish Old Burdock were here – she knew how to resolve these things. I suppose that it depends on the exact circumstances. Now if…’
The arguments went back and forth, the light in the Bunker dimming all the time.
Finally, Oak remembered the Leaders’ Kernel –
Indecision kills.
Act positively and lead.
Action is the Key.
‘We’ll go and kill the Marten,’ he said, then realising that in a few minutes it would be completely dark outside, added, ‘in the morning.’
Blood awoke. It was warm on the leaf-pile but the magpies were now inside his head and chattering incessantly. He stood up, fell over, then stood up more slowly. It was dark. He moved onto the snow and pushed his face into the coolness of a drift. The magpies in his head were not quite so loud now and, as he headed unsteadily for home, they almost, but not quite, stopped pecking at the inside of his skull.
At the door of the church he paused, pushed his face into the snow once more, pulled the peacock feather from the snowdrift and urinated on it, then went into the dark nave. He brushed against Mogul’s tail, thought of giving it the usual tug, but his head told him that it could not take the inevitable screech.
He climbed the rope to his den in the tower. After the third fall he gave up, crawled under a pew and slept noisily amongst the dry peacock droppings and feather moult.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Tansy had pressed Marguerite to tell her when the Woodstock could be taken to Ourland to deal with the pine marten on the assumption that, with her own parents in danger, Marguerite would drop everything and leave at once.
Marguerite’s first reaction had been to do just that, and her busy mind started to organise the venture. Then she realised that she was not a free agent. She was the selected Tagger of this community, responsible for important aspects of their lives. She also had youngsters of her own, rather young for the hazards of winter travelling. It would need more that the efforts of Tansy and herself to take the Woodstock any distance. This, and the unknown future behaviour of Chip’s family and the Greys, made the whole project impossible. But then she had been taught that nothing is impossible. The Kernel said –
If you think you can
Or if you think you cannot,
Either way it’s true.
So far she had not thought that she could.
‘Tansy-Friend,’ she said, ‘we will find a way to get rid of the pine marten, but there is a lot of planning to be done first. There are many details for me to work out. Rest and sleep while I think about these. Nothing more can be done while this snow lasts. Try to sleep now. Leave it to me.’
Juniper had been watching the shadows of the trees at High Sun as they reached out across the snow-covered ice on the Blue Pool. ‘They’re getting shorter,’ he reported. ‘The Longest Night is gone. We can have the Midwinter Celebrations any time now.’
Chip was exquisitely warm in the drey, constantly and pleasurably aware of the close contact with the other squirrels, especially Tansywistful, who was in a deep sleep next to him. He asked in a whisper, ‘What happens to the Sun in midwinter?’
Marguerite explained. ‘Every autumn the Sun, who is tired after shining so hard for us all summer, finds it harder and harder to climb up high in the sky. But, in the middle of the winter, his strength starts to come back, ready for the next year.
‘We can tell
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