The Farthing Wood Collection 1 Read Online Free PDF

view.’
    ‘We shall see,’ the second remarked. ‘Do you detect any sign of change?’
    There was no answer. Sage Hedgehog said, ‘I sense disaster. I beg you, all of you, to be on your guard.’ He went on his way, and left his fellows to make of his dreams what they would.
    Other animals in Farthing Wood were to learn of the vision of the white deer. Some of them were impressed and felt concern, others were openly scornful. It didn’t take much to unsettle the squirrels and rabbits who were always jumpy, whereas the weasels and stoats laughed at Sage Hedgehog behind his back.
    ‘There’s no fool like an old fool,’ Quick Weasel chortled. ‘That we should be taken in by his tales!’
    Sly Stoat’s wily mate commented, ‘Time will tell. If his warnings prove correct we shall remember them ruefully. In any case, what provision could any of us make?’
    ‘He’s ancient and his mind wanders and makes up pictures,’ Quick Weasel chattered. ‘There’s always been a Farthing Wood and there always will be. We have the otters to thank for that,’ she added explanatorily.
    ‘Yes. That’s their habitual refrain, isn’t it?’ Wily Stoat said. ‘My mate and I are sick of hearing it. And what if one day there were no otters? Have you thought of that?’
    ‘Of course,’ Quick Weasel answered. ‘But I don’t worry myself. Otters don’t suddenly disappear and they’ll be around for as long as we are.’
    The dispute over food and prey continued to occupy the foxes and otters. They had no time to take account of dreams or predictions. Smooth Otter hunted alone now. He had realized it was as well not to have witnesses to his success or failure. He steered clear of the mature, canny foxes, and concentrated on filching titbits from younger or weaker animals. His skill and dexterity usually paid dividends. The other otters were capitalizing on the spring gathering of frogs and newtsin the water courses. For a while there was plenty for all, then abruptly the amphibians’ brief mating season was over and the survivors dispersed throughout the Wood and surrounding grassland.
    Smooth Otter ignored the frogs. He loved to pit his wits against rivals and whenever he bested them he never failed to crow about it.
    A young badger, a male cub a few seasons old from the set where Stout Fox and his vixen lodged, fell victim to the dog otter’s gibes. The badger had been about to eat a pigeon fledgling which had fallen from its nest. The otter had been shadowing the bulkier animal for a while without arousing suspicion, waiting to see what food the badger might turn up. The feeble fluttering of the injured fledgling had attracted the young badger’s curiosity and, just as he was about to seize it, Smooth Otter dashed in, flicked the bird to one side with his paw and made off with it.
    ‘Oh, how you woodland animals suffer when we otters are on your heels,’ Smooth Otter boasted. ‘You’re a cumbersome lot, heavy-footed and ponderous.’ He trotted to a distance of a few metres in case the badger was inclined to react.
    Young Badger, however, was nonplussed. ‘Why do you do this?’ he asked with genuine bewilderment. ‘Why do you make a game of everything? Eating isn’t a game; it’s how all of us keep the threads of life together.’
    ‘Except when there’s an otter on your tail!’ the other animal laughed.
    Young Badger looked sulky. ‘It’s no laughing matter,’ he said. ‘There’s a time for play and – and –’
    ‘And why didn’t you join in our games, then, in the snow?’ Smooth Otter interrupted. ‘You wouldn’tcome, any of you. I came looking for high-spirited animals like you!’
    ‘Oh yes, mock all you like,’ Young Badger remarked, aware of the sarcasm. ‘We can’t all be athletes and swimmers, can we? We are as we’re made. But you know, you’re really rather silly. You seem set on annoying everyone. What for? It might rebound on you. My father, the kindly badger, always taught us