Urchin and the Rage Tide Read Online Free PDF

could already hear their conversation.
    “It’s a good thing we have Brother Mossberry to look after us.…” one squirrel was saying. “He told me my poor mother’s still watching over me from beyond the grave, and that’s such a comfort.”
    “He’s good like that,” said a hedgehog. “And he’s not proud. He came to my tree root and let me cook his tea for him.”
    “I don’t know what we ever did without him,” said another, who was a little jealous because she had never cooked tea for Mossberry. “It’s so good to have someone like that, a leader, telling us what’s what.”
    “Yes,” agreed a mole. “The king should listen to Mossberry.”
    “He really should,” agreed a hedgehog. “He doesn’t understand things the way Brother Mossberry does. Brother Mossberry will help him. Brother Mossberry will keep him right. The king’s lucky to have him.”
    “But Brother Juniper’s a good priest, isn’t he, Auntie Cherry?” asked a small squirrel called Twirl.
    “Oh, he’ll do, I suppose,” admitted her aunt, “but he’d do so much better if only he’d listen to—” she began, then gave a smothered shriek of delight. “He’s here! Our master, Brother Mossberry!”
    As Mossberry appeared in the cave the animals rushed forward, crying out with joy and reaching to take his paws, kissing his claws and pulling him farther into the cave. They smoothed his fur, sat him down, brought him wine, and settled hopefully at his paws, gazing up at his face.
    “The Heart hears me!” he proclaimed, raising his paws as if giving a blessing.
    “The Heart hears you, Brother Mossberry!” they responded.
    “The Heart has spoken to me,” he said. “Dear animals, the Heart has chosen me to protect you. Listen to nobody else. All others are deceivers and deceived. Don’t trust them!”
    “We can trust Brother Juniper, can’t we?” asked Twirl.
    “ Brother Juniper?” cried Mossberry. “How can he call himself that? He refuses to train me as a priest because he is afraid of me! He knows I am the true priest of the island, so he fears me. They all do.”
    There were murmurs and shaking of heads from the animals. Mossberry went on, “Do you know what they’ve done? They’ve ordered me to do common work, fetching and carrying, that any stupid animal could do!”
    There was a long “Oh!” of indignation. Somebody murmured, “Oh, Brother Mossberry!” Mossberry held up a paw for silence.
    “Please, dear friends, do not misunderstand me,” he said. “It’s not that I mind doing menial, humble tasks for the island. I’m not too proud to load up boxes of turnips, or take curtains down. I will willingly do any service for the island. But they’re cunning, those tower animals. Captain Docken gives me these jobs to humiliate me—and, in humiliating me, he insults the chosen one of the Heart! When he insults me, he insults the Heart!”
    The animals gasped.
    “Yes, the Heart is angry!” cried Mossberry. “Angry with this island and angrier still because the king and the priest will not listen to me! But fear not. This is what the Heart tells you: Love Brother Mossberry. Obey Brother Mossberry—whatever he says—for you can trust him. Do nothing without the permission of Brother Mossberry. So you see, dear animals, the Heart has placed you in my care. I will save you from the anger that is to come. I will lead you to safety. And my command tonight is this—leave separately, one or two at a time, and take different routes. Nobody must know of our meetings, or the king will have me killed.”
    The animals moaned and shook their heads. Mossberry put his head on one side and stretched out his paws.
    “Let me be your…your leader,” he said. (He nearly said, “your king,” but decided not to.) “Your priest, your prophet, your guide, and your captain.”
    “Did you fight in the Raven War?” piped up Twirl, and her aunt slapped her.
    “Dearest Twirl,” said Mossberry, smiling down at her, “I