Mia the Mouse Read online

He spun his little wings and leaped into the air, flying swiftly toward the edge of Misty Wood. Mia followed him, and soon the trees began to thin out and she saw a long, leafy hedgerow.

  There wasn’t a basket to be seen. In fact, there wasn’t anything at all beginning with B!

  “Why did we come out here, Buzby?” she called out.

  “Follow me,” he buzzed, “and you’ll see!”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Follow the Song!

  “Come on,” Buzby called, pointing with his front legs as he flew up to the top of the hedge.

  Mia raced after him. “Wow!” she gasped.

  Hundreds of tiny, glittering dewdrops dangled from spiderwebs on the other side of the hedge. They looked like strings of diamonds.

  “Those dewdrops are beautiful!” Mia cried. “What a shame they don’t begin with B. Mom would love them!”

  A white kitten with pale blue wings flew up to Mia. She was carrying a little basket made from woven flower stems.

  Mia’s whiskers began to twirl. “You’re a Cobweb Kitten, aren’t you?” she said.

  The kitten nodded.

  “It’s your job to decorate the spiderwebs,” Mia went on.

  “That’s right,” purred the kitten.

  “You’ve done such a lovely job!” Mia said.

  “Thank you.” The kitten smiled. “Do help yourself to some of my dewdrops.”

  “It’s a bazket we need,” Buzby interrupted. “We’re looking for thingz beginning with B.”

  Mia nodded. “My mom asked me to bring her something beginning with B, and I’ve forgotten what it is,” she explained to the kitten. “We’ve found some lovely blackberries, but there are too many for us to carry. If we had a basket to put the blackberries in, we’d have two things beginning with B!”

  “You can have my basket if you like,” the friendly kitten said. “It’s very light, and I’ve got loads more at home. I’ll just hang these last few dewdrops.”

  Mia watched as the kitten flew up and strung the bright droplets on the spider silk.

  “Blackberries—how delicious,” the kitten purred as she handed the empty basket to Mia. “I bet your mom will love them.”

  “I think so, too,” Mia said. “I just hope they’re what she asked me for. Thank you for your help!”

  “Good luck,” called the kitten as Mia and Buzby headed back to the blackberry bush.

  “I hope we will be lucky,” said Mia when they got back to the bush and began filling the basket.

  “Shhh!” whispered Buzby. “Lizzen!”

  High above their heads, a bird was singing.

  “Twee-twee! Twee-twee-twee!”

  Mia looked up. A little bird with bright blue feathers the color of a summer sky was circling high above them.

  “A bluebird!” Mia cried. “Maybe that’s what Mom wanted. Quick, we’ve got to catch up with him!”

  Gripping the basket tightly in her paws, Mia flew as fast as she could. But the little bird was too quick. His blue feathers flashed through the treetops as he darted away, singing, “Twee-twee! Twee-twee-twee!”

  “Follow the song!” cried Mia.

  “Phew!” panted Buzby, spinning his wings so fast they disappeared in a blur. “We’ll never catch up with him!”

  Suddenly, Buzby slowed down and sniffed the air. “Ooh, Mia—what’z that lovely smell?”

  A beautiful blue carpet of flowers stretched out on the ground below them. Mia and Buzby were flying over Bluebell Glade. But Mia didn’t have time to think about lovely smells. She just wanted to catch up with the bluebird.

  “Come on, Buzby! Don’t slow down!” she called.

  “I’ve never seen so many flowerz before,” panted Buzby.

  “Twee-twee!” sang the bluebird, far ahead of them. His voice was getting fainter.

  “Quick!” cried Mia. “We’re going to lose him!”

  “I wish we could go and pick some,” Buzby sighed, looking down at Bluebell Glade. “They smell so nice.”

  “Buzby, forget the flowers!” Mia cried. “Come on!”

  But, try as they might, Mia and Buzby couldn’t keep up with the bluebird. They whizzed along until they came to Heather Hill. The bluebird had disappeared. They couldn’t even hear his song anymore.

  “Do you think we could stop for a minute?” puffed Buzby. “I’m not used to flying so fast.”

  They flopped down on a patch of grass in among the heather. Lots of little yellow flowers were growing there, but Mia didn’t notice them. She felt really sad. She was quite sure that her mom had asked her for a bluebird, and now they had lost him.

  Mia tried to cheer herself up by thinking about her story for Grandma. Maybe in the next part of the story, Archie the Ant could come to Heather Hill to search for his friend Clarissa. Maybe he’d look for her through the dark, shadowy places beneath the heather.

  Mia peered between the twisty roots, imagining the little ant scurrying back and forth. There was no sign of Clarissa, but Mia noticed something else. Something blue.

  “Buzby, what’s that?” she said, pointing her paw at it.

  “I’m not sure,” Buzby replied. “I’ll see if I can get it.”

  Buzby flattened his wings and squeezed between the heather plants. He came back holding a beautiful bright blue feather in his antennae.

  “It must have fallen when the bluebird flew over the hill,” he said.

  “It’s so soft.” Mia stroked the feather with her paw. “Maybe Mom wanted a bluebird’s feather,” she said, placing it in the basket. “But we’d better keep on looking for other things that begin with B.”

  “I begin with B!” a voice called out.

  Mia was so surprised, she dropped the basket on her paw. “Who said that?” she squeaked as she rubbed her toe.

  But there was no one there, just the little yellow flowers growing in the grass. Mia stared at them. They were buttercups. And buttercups began with B! It must have been a buttercup that spoke to her.

  Mia picked some of the flowers and put them in the basket on top of the blackberries and the bluebird’s feather.

  “No!” came the voice again. “Not them, me!”

  The voice was calling from up above. Whoever it was sounded very mad.

  “Who’s that?” Mia squeaked in her bravest voice, and she half covered her head with the basket.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Seeing Stars

  “Please don’t hide,” said the voice.

  Mia peeped out from under the little basket. An insect with big purple wings was floating in the air, gazing down at her with huge eyes.

  It was a beautiful butterfly.

  “Hello!” the butterfly said, swishing her wings. “I only shouted at you because I was so excited. You see, I didn’t always begin with B. In fact, up until last week, I began with C.”

  Mia and Buzby stared at the butterfly, puzzled.

  “What do you mean?” Mia asked.

  “Well, I used to be a caterpillar. But now I’m a beautiful, brilliant, brightly colored butterfly—so I most definitely begin with B!”

  Mia’s heart gave a big jump inside her. “Your name isn’t Clarissa, is it?” she asked.

  The butterfly looked surprised. “No. It’s Buffy. Why do you ask?”

  “Oh, never mind. It’s just something to do with a story,” Mia said. “It’s very nice to meet you, Buffy. My name’s Mia, and this is my friend Buzby.”

  “Nice to meet you, too,” said Buffy.

  Mia put her basket down and began to explain how her mom had asked her for something beginning with B. “I just can’t remember what it was, though,” she finished with a sigh.

  “It might be blackberriez,” Buzby said. “Or buttercupz. Or possibly a bumblebee like me. Or perhapz a bazket, or a bluebird’z feather, or—”

  “A butterfly!” Mia interrupted, her whiskers wiggling with excitement.

  “Really?” Buffy looked pleased. “Well, of course, I am one of the most beautiful butterflies in Mi
sty Wood, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it is me your mom wants. Why don’t I come along with you?”

  “Oh yes, would you?” Mia cried. “I know my mom would love your gorgeous wings.”

  “You could help us look for other thingz beginning with B, too,” Buzby said, and he got up from the grass and stretched out his little legs. “Come on, let’z head back into Misty Wood!”

  Buzby and Mia flew up to join Buffy as she fluttered off toward the trees. But Mia was so busy admiring Buffy’s dazzling purple wings that she didn’t look where she was going. All of a sudden—oomph!—she flew straight into a big tree trunk. “Ouch!” squeaked Mia as she slid down the trunk and landed with a thud.

  “Oh no! Did you hurt yourself?” asked Buzby, landing softly on the ground beside her.

  “Oooh,” said Mia, “what lovely twinkly stars … pink ones and silver ones and—”

  “Starz?” said Buzby, looking around. “Where?”

  “She’s seeing stars because she bumped her head,” Buffy explained, fanning Mia with her wings. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I think so,” Mia said, sitting up carefully. The stars had all disappeared now. “It wasn’t a bad bump. Thanks, Buffy.”

  Something had fallen off the tree as Mia slid down it. She picked it up. It was a piece of bark.

  “Maybe it was some bark Mom wanted!” she said.

  She turned the bark over and saw that it was covered in swirly lines and circles.

  “What a beautiful pattern. A Bark Badger must have made it,” Buffy said.

  “Hey!” a gruff voice called.

  Mia jumped in surprise. A stocky Bark Badger with a black-and-white-striped face and shiny silver wings was coming toward them. It must have been his tree she’d bumped into! “I’m so s-s-sorry!” she stammered. “I didn’t mean to knock your bark off the tree. It was an accident, I promise.”

  The badger threw back his head and gave a loud, hearty laugh.

  “Don’t worry, little Moss Mouse,” he said in a booming voice. “You can keep that piece if you like.”

  Mia heaved a sigh of relief. “Thanks!” she said. “My friends and I are collecting as many things beginning with B as we can find—for my mom.”

  “I see.” The Bark Badger nodded kindly. “Can I help?” he asked.

  “Wait a minute!” Buffy’s purple wings started to quiver. “It might be a Bark Badger that your mom wants, Mia.”

  Mia looked at the badger’s big shoulders and his rough gray fur. It would be a tight squeeze fitting him into the burrow—but maybe Buffy was right.

  “It could be a Bark Badger,” she said. “But I’m not sure. Oh, I wish I could remember!”

  The badger smiled. “Well, why don’t I come with you?” he said. “Just in case it is a Bark Badger you need. My name’s Barney, by the way.”

  “Thank you so much!” Mia cried. “Look at everything we’ve collected!”

  She held up her little pink paws and began counting on her fingers.

  “A bumblebee, a butterfly, a Bark Badger, a bluebird’s feather, a piece of bark, and a basket full of buttercups and blackberries!” She looked at her new friends and smiled. “I think we must have everything beginning with B in the whole of Misty Wood. Thank you, everyone!”

  The others smiled.

  Buzby looked up at the sky. “The sun’z going down,” he said. “Iz it teatime yet?”

  “It must be,” said Mia. “Come on, let’s head back to the burrow. I bet Mom’s made a cake.”

  Barney picked up the basket, and the four friends flew off through Misty Wood, with Mia leading the way.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Two Happy Endings

  Mia scampered down the tunnel that led to her burrow, her new friends close behind her. “Come meet my mom, everyone!” she called.

  Mia’s mom looked up in surprise as first Mia, then Buzby, then Buffy, and finally Barney squeezed into the burrow.

  “Well, I’m very glad I made such a big cake for tea,” she said. “Mia, did you remember to bring—”

  But Mia didn’t let her mom finish.“I’ve brought lots of things!” she squeaked excitedly. “Let’s go over to Grandma’s bed, and I’ll show them to you!”

  Mia’s mom looked puzzled.

  Mia scampered over, with Buzby flying along at her side.

  “I do hope we got the thing my mom wanted,” she whispered to him.

  “I’m sure you did,” Buzby hummed, close to her ear. “We have so many thingz beginning with B.”

  Grandma’s little black eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw all the visitors.

  “Well, well, well!” she said. “This is a surprise! Pull up a cushion, why don’t you? There’s plenty of them.”

  Barney the Bark Badger grinned as he sat down. He was much too big to stand up in the burrow. He kept bumping his wings on the ceiling.

  Mia looked at her mom. “I know you wanted something beginning with B,” she started to explain, “but I forgot what it was. So I brought you everything beginning with B that I could find. There’s a bumblebee.…”

  Buzby stood up and gave a little bow. “Buzby, at your service, ma’am,” he said.

  “Lovely to meet you, Buzby,” Mia’s mom said. “But I’m afraid it wasn’t a bumblebee I wanted.”

  “Well, how about a butterfly?” asked Mia. “This is Buffy.”

  Buffy gave a twirl so that everyone could see her pretty lilac wings.

  Mia’s mom shook her head. “You look lovely, Buffy. But it wasn’t a butterfly I was after.”

  “Oh, dear.” Mia was beginning to feel worried. “Was it a Bark Badger, Mom? Because I brought Barney just in case.”

  Barney raised a front paw. “How do you do?” he said grandly. “I’m very happy to help out however I can.”

  “That’s very good of you,” Mia’s mom said. “But I’m afraid I don’t need a Bark Badger, either.”

  Mia bit her lip. This wasn’t going well at all. She picked up the basket.

  “How about this lovely basket?”

  Mia’s mom shook her head.

  Mia’s whiskers drooped down below her mouth.

  “Show her what’z inside the bazket!” Buzby buzzed quietly. “There are still lotz of thingz beginning with B.”

  “Okay,” Mia whispered. She pulled out the bluebird’s feather and showed it to her mom. “Was it this?”

  “No, Mia,” her mom replied. “But that’s a nice feather. I can weave it into the quilt I’m making for the babies’ cot.”

  “What about this?” Mia held up the piece of bark.

  “Bark’s always useful,” Mia’s mom said. “And I love the pattern. But I didn’t ask for a piece of bark. What I wanted was—”

  “These?” Mia squeaked, tipping up the basket so that all the juicy blackberries spilled out.

  “No, not blackberries, though they’ll be lovely to have with our tea,” Mia’s mom said.

  There was just one thing left.

  “Buttercups!” cried Mia, holding up the bunch of bright yellow flowers. “Please tell me you wanted buttercups!”

  Mia’s mom sighed. “No, Mia. I’m sorry, but it wasn’t buttercups I asked you to bring, either.”

  Mia sat back on her hind legs and sighed. “What in Misty Wood could it be? I thought I’d collected everything beginning with B.”

  “Bluebells,” Mia’s mom said gently. “I asked for some bluebells.”

  “Some bluebells?” Mia gasped.

  “Oh no!” groaned Buzby. He hid his face in his front legs. “Mia—we flew over hundredz of them in Bluebell Glade…”

  Mia nodded. “Yes, when we were chasing the bluebird. We didn’t stop to think. What do you want the bluebells for, Mom?”

  “To put on the cushion you made for Grandma,” Mia’s mom said. “All it needs are some bluebell decorations to make it quite perfect.”

  “Grandma, I’m so sorry!” Mia burst into tears. “I’ve been a silly Moss Mouse. Your cushion would h
ave looked so pretty with some bluebells to finish it off!”

  Grandma’s nose wrinkled in a smile.

  “Don’t cry, Mia,” she said. “I’m not upset that you forgot about the bluebells. Because you did bring some buttercups—and they’re my favorite flowers in the world!”

  “Really?” Mia sniffed.

  “Really and truly,” her grandma replied. “They’re so very bright and cheerful, they make me think of sunshine. I’d much rather have buttercups than bluebells on my cushion.”

  Mia wiped her eyes and fixed some of the buttercups onto Grandma’s moss cushion. They looked beautiful, and everybody clapped and cheered.

  “Well done,” said Mia’s mom. “You might have forgotten the bluebells, Mia, but you’ve made Grandma very happy with those buttercups. Now, shall I get the tea?”

  Buzby, Buffy, and Barney all said they would help.

  “I’ll come, too!” Mia said.

  Grandma shook her head. “Stay here with me, Mia,” she said. “I want to hear the rest of your story. Sit on the buttercup cushion beside me and tell me more about Clarissa the Caterpillar.”

  Mia jumped onto the cushion. “D’you remember, Grandma, how Clarissa disappeared, and her friend Archie the Ant couldn’t find her?” she asked.

  Grandma nodded.

  “Well…” Mia’s whiskers wiggled. She told Grandma how Archie had searched everywhere. He’d climbed up a big tall tree—how scary that was! And he’d hunted all through the roots of the heather plants on Heather Hill, but Clarissa was nowhere to be seen.

  “So where was she?” Grandma asked.

  Mia’s whiskers were twizzling so much. She knew Grandma would love the end of the story.

  “There was one place Archie hadn’t looked—Moonshine Pond. He trudged all the way there through Misty Wood. His legs were aching so much he could hardly walk.”

  “Poor Archie,” said Grandma. “I feel quite sorry for him.”

  “When he got to the pond, there was no sign of Clarissa,” Mia went on. “There was only a beautiful butterfly admiring her reflection in the water. Archie started to cry. ‘I miss my friend Clarissa!’ he said. The butterfly flew over and sat beside him on the grass. ‘Don’t be sad,’ she said. ‘It’s me. I’m Clarissa.’”