Текст книги "Nostradormouse"

Автор книги: Chris Tinniswood

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Chapter Nine

Four directions has The Great Woods; 

Four Branches has the ancient tree,

Four seasons burst upon the earth

And bring an end to eternity.

The tree creaked and groaned, as if it was trying to talk to the gathered animals. The fissure in the trunk grew larger, and light continued to flood from its heart.

‘I can see movement in there!’ exclaimed Clethrion, clasping her hands to her mouth.

‘Oh, yes!’ said Arvic, ‘can you make out what it is?’

‘Arvic, I’m scared. Hold me!’

Arvic put his arms round Clethrion and held her to him. It felt good to protect her. It felt natural.

There was a fluttering of feathers, and a young hawk surged out of the fissure and alighted on the large branch to the east of the tree. A gasp of wonder rippled across those gathered.

Nostradormouse stepped forward and said, ‘Tell us who you are, friend! Why have you come to The Great Woods?’

The Hawk replied, ‘My name is Spring! I bring you new life! Look to the tree and see what I have wrought!’

Another gasp came from those nearest the four branches, and every creature turned to see what the commotion was. Small flower buds were growing on them, which quickly opened into thick bunches of purple ash flowers. The hawk flapped his great wings, creating a wind which whipped up the pollen from the flowers, scattering it over everything. After the wind had died down, the hawk gave a cry and flew off into the east. When those assembled looked back at the branches, they saw the purple flowers wither and fall off, revealing beneath them feather-like green leaves, hanging from long stalks.

‘Look!’ said an excited pine marten, who was pointing to the main trunk, ‘there’s something else moving inside!’

As the assembled throng gazed in fascination, a stag leapt from the fissure and landed gracefully on the ground in front of the tree. It let out a triumphant cry, and the four stags gathered at each branch cried in unison. This stag was larger and more majestic than the others, and they bowed their heads to it in awe and respect as it moved to the southern branch.

‘My name is Summer!’ it said, ‘And I bring you the heat of the sun and the ripening of the earth! Look to the tree and see what I have wrought!’

Again, all eyes fell on the branches as black leaf buds sprouted from the wood. They quickly and gracefully opened up into beautiful, feathery light green pairs of leaflets with toothed edges. As they grew larger, they deepened in colour and grew stronger with each passing moment, until each leaf was revealed in all its glory. All those present felt warmer. The sun’s rays, filtering through the branches of the trees in the great wood, became more intense.

The stag gave another cry and galloped off into the south. Every creature listened to the sound of its hooves fading into the distance and felt a great longing for its return.

All eyes immediately returned to the fissure in the trunk, waiting for whatever would emerge next. For a while, nothing happened. Then, the light emanating from the cleft began to change in hue, growing dimmer and darker. As if in answer to this change from within, the air around the gathered creatures began to grow colder and fresher.

Once again, silence descended upon the clearing, and with it came a feeling of unease. Many creatures became agitated. Nostradormouse stepped forward into the clearing, yawning quietly to himself.

‘Do not fear,’ he said, ‘the waters of the four streams have stopped flowing, but it won’t last for long.’

Even as he spoke these words, the water began to flow again. A sigh of relief was felt all round the clearing, then a chorus of excited voices cried, ‘Its flowing the other way! The streams have changed direction!’

Then, with a blur of movement, something flipped out of the fissure and somersaulted through the air, landing with a splash in the stream that flowed past the western-most branch of the ancient tree. A head bobbed to the surface, and all could see that it was a salmon.

‘My name is Autumn!’ said the salmon, ‘and I bring you the harvest, and the approaching darkness. With me come shorter days and cold winds. Look at the tree and see what I have wrought!’

The circle of creatures looked to the branches and watched the leaves turn from dark green to yellow, then drop silently to the ground. The air grew colder, and for the first time, those gathered could see their own breath.

The salmon leapt up into the air and came down with a splash, then swam away to the west. Nostradormouse felt drained of energy and began to move back towards the crowd, but he never reached them. Instead, he sat down suddenly, and crawled up into a ball, falling into a deep sleep. Many other creatures followed his example.

Another rumble emanated from deep within the tree; it was a throaty growl, and those who had not succumbed to sleep’s comforting embrace watched as a great bear leapt from the fissure and landed on all fours in front of the tree. He paced across the clearing until he reached the northern-most branch, then stood on his hind legs and let out a roar. Every creature took a step back, fear in their hearts. Some scampered behind larger creatures, some hid their faces. All were in awe of the mighty mammal.

‘My name is Winter!’ said the great bear, ‘And I bring death and sleep, but also the promise of days to come! Look upon the land in my time and see what I have wrought!’

As he finished speaking, the sun disappeared behind the trees, leaving the clearing in darkness. Then, soft white flakes of snow fell from the sky in flurries. The awe-struck creatures of The Great Woods had never seen such a thing before and it filled them with wonder. The great bear let out another roar, and then something truly amazing happened. He simply burst into a shower of stars which flew in all directions, making shadows dance amongst the crowd. Then, they flew up into the blackness and became one with the night.

The tree groaned and creaked once again, and a glow radiated from the fissure, rapidly growing in intensity. Then, there was a flash of brilliance and the sun appeared once again in the sky, melting the snow and thawing the frozen heart of the earth.

Nostradormouse stirred. His eyes flickered open and he gave a great yawn. As he stood and stretched, all the other sleeping creatures woke too. From above the clearing, a cry was heard and all heads gazed upwards to see a hawk circling in the cloudless sky.

Spring had returned to The Great Woods for the first time.

Epilogue

The tree returns to life; the tail ends with a point,

Rumours worm their way into The Great Woods,

Families are reunited; a lost couple find their way

And the prophet reveals a great bear in the stars.

Later, in the centre of The Great Woods, the animals had all left. Apart from the steady flow of water from the four streams, there was no sound or movement in the clearing where the great tree stood. The Nidhog was sleeping soundly at the roots of the tree trunk, and Ratatosk had taken shelter in the hollow where he had made his nest. Even the Golden-feathered bird was quiet; what they felt could not be put into words.

The fissure at the base of the trunk had closed up, but there was still a scar there, as a reminder to all who saw it that time was moving on. It would take a few moons before the creatures of The Great Woods realised just what this meant to them, and many moons more before the effects of the seasons were felt.

But for now, things were not too different. The air in the morning was colder than before, and the days were shorter, and there were leaves upon the trees, even if they were still small, and curled up into buds.  But spring had definitely arrived, as the circling hawk announced at every new sunrise.

There were, however, dark clouds on the horizon. They swirled and threatened to spill over the edge of the world, but hadn’t yet summoned the courage to carry their inky blackness over the spring skies.

Under the earth, too, were signs that more change was on its way. In parts of The Great Wood, those animals that lived underground were often woken in the night by rumbles. Soft, gentle rumbles, and yet discomforting all the same. There were rumours, of course. There were always rumours. There was talk of a gigantic worm that eats everything in its path; a worm so huge that it would split The Great Woods into a thousand pieces.

But rumours are for fools, aren’t they? And anyway, there were those who put their faith in a more reliable source, and he hadn’t said a word.

Yet.

A few nights after the events at the centre of The Great Woods, Arvic and Clethrion arrived back at his burrow. They were very tired from their long journey, but Arvic was keen to introduce Clethrion to his cousin Pitamus, and to reassure him that his gift had been delivered.

Pitamus and his wife, Lina, were standing at the entrance to their burrow, gazing up at the stars, when they heard the familiar voice of Arvic.

‘Pitamus!’ he called, as he came round the corner, ‘I’m back!’

‘So I see,’ replied Pitamus, ‘and you’re not alone!’

Arvic gave Pitamus a broad grin and proudly introduced Clethrion. Both Pitamus and Lina gave her a big hug, for they knew from Arvic’s demeanour that Clethrion was someone very special to him.

‘We were just looking at the stars, Clethrion,’ said Lina, after introductions were complete, ‘and there appears to be some new ones!’

Clethrion and Arvic exchanged knowing glances. ‘Will you tell them, or shall I?’ said Clethrion.

‘Tell us what?’ asked Pitamus.

‘Well…’ began Arvic, and then looked at Clethrion. He could see that she was eager to tell her new friends of the magical events that had transpired at the centre of The Great Woods. ‘You tell them, my love,’ he said.

The four of them sat by the entrance to the burrow, and Clethrion excitedly related their story: how she and Arvic had first met, how they followed the stream to the tree, and how Nostradormouse had appeared to everyone there, and rode on the back of a serpent to let out the seasons with the staff that Pitamus had made.

‘He used my staff?’ said Pitamus. ‘My staff?’

Clethrion nodded. ‘He knew you were making it for him,’ she exclaimed.

‘That doesn’t surprise me in the least!’ said Lina.

‘Tell them about the bear,’ urged Arvic.

‘Oh, yes,’ continued Clethrion, ‘and this is the best bit of all! The bear was called “Winter”, and it burst into stars!’

‘Stars?’ said Pitamus. ‘Are you saying that the new stars we noticed in the sky this evening…were once a bear?’

Arvic and Clethrion said ‘yes!’ in unison.

‘You’re having us on!’ said Pitamus, and laughed heartily. Then he noticed that both Arvic and Clethrion were looking quite serious. He gazed up into the night sky again and quickly found the new stars; they were easy to spot as they were glowing brighter than the others. But however hard he focused, he could not see that they had ever been a bear.

A short distance away from the Voles, two weary mice stopped by a stream for a drink. They, too, had been travelling for days, and now they were exhausted. Initially, they had followed the stream from the centre of The Great Woods, because they’d thought that it would lead them back to their home. However, they had not taken into account just how meandering the stream had become. After only a short while (mice were not accustomed to measuring time) they had come to a tributary. Which arm of the stream should they take? On the way to the centre, the stream had only one arm. Now it had two.

They had followed what they considered to be the original arm of the stream, but the further they walked, the more uncertain of their decision they’d become. Things took more of a downturn when they discovered that the stream branched off again. Now they were well and truly lost.

‘What are we going to do?’ cried one of the mice. The other mouse gently held her in his arms, and comforted her as best he could.

‘There, there, dear,’ he said, ‘it’ll be all right,’ but his thoughts were not as reassuring.

Just then, the moon came out from behind a cloud. On the hill beside them, it revealed a figure silhouetted against the night sky. It was wearing a cloak, and carried a staff. It started to walk towards them, and as it got nearer to them, they recognised their only son.

‘It’s our boy!’ said the father.

‘My son!’ said the mother, running forward to greet the hooded mouse.

The three mice huddled together and hugged for a long time. When they finally parted, the mother said, ‘I looked for you at the great gathering, my son, but you had disappeared!’

‘Where did you go?’ asked the father, ‘your mother was so worried!’

‘I’m sorry if I upset you,’ said Nostradormouse, ‘but I knew that I would be inundated with creatures wanting to know their future, so I took refuge in a hollow of the great tree until things calmed down.’

‘Well, you’re here now,’ said his mother, ‘and it’s so good to see you!’

‘It’s good to see you, too,’ he replied, ‘but I’m afraid I can’t return home just yet.’

Both his parents looked crest-fallen at this news, but they knew, as all parents learn, that their only son had his own life to live.

‘You are not lost,’ he told them, ‘and you haven’t much further to travel.’ He pointed to the left arm of the stream. ‘Continue along this stream and it will lead you back home.’

‘Thank-you, son,’ said his father. ‘I want you to know we’re both proud of you. Take care, and keep in touch if you can.’

‘Or even better, visit!’ said his mother, ‘our home isn’t complete without you!’

Nostradormouse smiled warmly at them both, and then kissed his mother goodbye. But when he kissed his father farewell, he whispered something to him. They watched him make his way through the trees, until he became a silhouette once more. He climbed a bank, and then turned to look at them on the brow of the hill. He waved, and then vanished into the night.

His father wiped a tear from his eye, and then looked at his wife.

‘What did he whisper to you?’ she asked.

‘He told me our names,’ he replied.

‘But what have we done to earn them?’ she said. ‘You have to earn your name, don’t you?’

Her husband looked at her lovingly. She was so modest.

‘Who did we bring into the world?’ he asked her.

‘Our son, of course,’ she said, and then she realised just how important he had become. ‘Oh!’ she exclaimed, and blushed. ‘So what is my name?’

‘Raini,’ he said, ‘and my name is James.’

‘It suits you!’ she said, and laughed.

Just over the brow of the hill, Nostradormouse had stopped to listen to his parents. He smiled to himself when he heard their reaction to their names. Soon, there would be enough names in the world for its inhabitants to name themselves. As he continued walking, the sound of other voices drifted through the darkness, and he recognised them. He walked into a familiar glade, and before him stood Pitamus, Lina, Arvic and Clethrion. When they saw him, they greeted each other as old friends.

‘I hope you’re all well,’ said Nostradormouse.

‘Very well, thank-you,’ replied Lina. ‘Piney would love to see you!’

‘And I him,’ he said, ‘but I am merely passing through.’

‘You were right,’ said Arvic, ‘Clethrion did know her name.’

‘Of course,’ he said, ‘and the two of you look very happy.’

Clethrion and Arvic held hands tightly.

‘Will we see you again?’ asked Pitamus.

‘Oh, yes,’ said Nostradormouse thoughtfully, ‘our destinies are intertwined like the stems of ivy on an oak tree.’

‘Go well,’ said Pitamus, and shook the dormouse’s hand warmly.

Together, the four voles watched their friend walk away. Then, they saw him stop and point his staff up to the sky. Their eyes followed its direction, and they all saw the new stars once again, but this time they could see the bear quite clearly.

When they looked back, however, Nostradormouse had gone…

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