Tales From the Glades of Ballymore (7 page)

Conner launched the kite into the wind.  The breeze caught it, and soon the two chipmunks were soaring over the pond.  What a view they had!  Now, they knew what it was like to be a bird.  It was great fun!

But then, a strong gust of wind hit the kite, and to everyone’s horror, the string broke.  The kite immediately went out of control and headed north over the pond.

Conner yelled, “Oh, no!  Help!”

Stoddard and the bluebirds, took off immediately and went after the kite.  There was nothing Conner could do but hope.  The three birds quickly caught up with the kite, but they didn’t have a rescue plan.

Stoddard saw that there was still a short piece of string attached to the frame.  He thought that if he could grab the string, he could pull the kite back towards the island.  Unfortunately, he couldn’t get close enough.  When he tried, the draft from his flapping wings pushed the kite away.  He was too big.

Branna saw what was happening and had another idea.  Branna yelled, “Britt and I are going to try to land on the crossbar and pick them up.”

Stoddard yelled, “Okay, good luck.”

The kite bobbed and weaved, darted and plunged unpredictably in the wind.  Branna and Britt made several approaches in trying to land on the crossbar to which the chipmunks were tightly clinging.  To do that, they had to hover briefly above the crossbar and then stop flapping their wings so that they could settle down onto it.  Unfortunately, the kite would turn this way or that, and the bluebirds would end up falling through the sky until they could start flapping again to stop their plunge towards the pond.  It was a difficult trick.  A hummingbird might have been better suited for the task, but Branna and Britt were bluebirds, and they did the best they could.

Finally, the kite sailed smoothly for a brief time, and the bluebirds were able to land on the crossbar next to the frightened chipmunks.  The period of calm didn’t last long.  Now, they also had to hold on tight.  The birds didn’t want to have to land on the crossbar again.

Branna yelled, “The next time there’s some calm, Colin, you jump on my back, and wrap your paws around my neck.  Keep your rear paws together so they don’t interfere with my wings.  Craig, you do the same with Britt.”

About a minute later, they had an opportunity.

“Go!” yelled Branna.  

Colin jumped on Branna’s back and hung on tight, but before Craig could jump, another gust of wind hit the kite.  Both bluebirds were knocked off of the crossbar.  Craig was left hanging by his short claws.  Branna immediately plummeted towards the pond as she was not used to the extra weight.  She used her strong wings to break the fall and regain control.  She was then able to fly back up to the kite.  

Bluebirds Rescuing The Chipmunks

Britt was circling and waiting for an opportunity to get back on the crossbar.  After another minute she was able to land, and this time Craig successfully jumped on her back, and they soon joined Branna and Colin in mid-air.  Then, both birds did a wide, slow turn and went into a long glide.  Two minutes later, they landed right next to Conner.

Colin and Craig let go and fell off of the bluebirds’ backs to the ground, safe but very tired.  It was so good to be back on the ground.  They hugged each other and thanked Branna and Britt for their heroic efforts.

Conner thought that winning 1st prize would be the most exciting part of his day.  It didn’t turn out that way.  Sometimes, things happen that you don’t expect.  Luckily, and with a lot of help, the day ended well.

The chipmunks’ kite riding days were over.  As the sun set, the now abandoned kite continued to dip and dart away until it was out of sight.

CHAPTER TWO

Spring Creations

Rhonda Rabbit liked to wear her big, green apron when she tended her flower garden.  It had nice, over-sized pockets to hold snippers, trowels, and flowers.  The large garden covered nearly an acre behind her cottage.  The forest began just beyond the garden.  From March through October, it produced the most beautiful flowers in Ballymore.  It was April now, so tulips, lilies, lilacs, marigolds, and others were coming into bloom.  The animals frequently visited to choose bouquet baskets for their homes.

Not only was the flower garden beautiful, its scents wafted over the whole south side of the pond.  Combined with the sweet sap from the forest pines, the effect was delightful.  Her immediate neighbors, the squirrels, were well pleased with their location.  Grenby Groundhog also enjoyed the fragrances but wouldn’t admit it.  He wasn’t being mean.  He was just being Grenby.

Caring for a garden that size required a lot of effort, and her children Robbie, Rachel, and Rain frequently worked with her.  They planted, weeded, watered, cut, and arranged.  The chipmunks also stopped by occasionally to help.  That is, when they weren’t riding on kites or some other such foolishness.

Rhonda was planning her annual flower basket distribution.  It was one of her favorite projects.  For everyone her spring creations were one of the rites of the season.  Each one was homemade and filled with gorgeous flowers and colored eggs.  A pretty bow was attached to the handle to complete the gift.  This year, there would be fifteen baskets in all. 

This morning, the children went into the woods to gather sticks for the baskets.  They each carried a sturdy cloth bag.  There were a lot of sticks and twigs on the ground from the winter storms, but most weren’t suitable for flower baskets.  They needed to be a certain shape, diameter and length.  Color didn’t matter as the baskets would be painted.  The children first hopped south, away from the pond, and stopped in a glade that looked promising.  As they were searching the area, a voice startled them.

“Boo!  What ARE you doing?” asked the voice.  Then, the voice hopped off a nearby branch and landed between them.  It was Shane Squirrel.

“You, really should be more polite,” said Rain.

Shane laughed and said, “I’m sorry.  What are you doing?”

“We’re gathering sticks for the spring baskets,” answered Robbie.

“Can I help?  I know a place where there are a lot of sticks.”

Shane spent more time in the forest than they and knew better where to find things.

“Sure,” answered Rachel.

“I’ll climb up in the trees and lead you to them.  It’s not very far.”

In an instant he bounded up a nearby pine tree and sat on its lowest branch about fifteen feet off of the ground.  He said, “Let’s go.”  He jumped from branch to branch in a southerly direction.  Shane was a pretty fast branch jumper and had to slow down occasionally to let the rabbits catch up.  After about ten minutes he stopped and pointed down to a large pile of interesting looking sticks.  Unfortunately, the pile was on the other side of a creek that they would have to cross.  This was the same creek that flowed from the pond.

Shane saw the problem and said, “There’s a small tree that has fallen across the creek up there,” and pointed about twenty feet upstream.

The creek was about five feet wide at that point.  The tree trunk was pretty narrow, but they managed to hop across it safely.  Once on the other side, they went to the pile of sticks.  It was a very good collection.  Apparently, the sticks had floated downstream and had been trapped where the creek turned.  The rabbits dug through the pile and quickly chose all of the sticks they needed.

However, their bags were heavy now and a little difficult to carry.  That would make recrossing the creek more of a challenge.  Rachel went first, a little wobbly but successful.  Rain was next, a little wobbly but successful.  Robbie was last, a little wobbly but,”whoa!” he yelled as he tumbled in the air off of the tree trunk.  Splash!  Splash!  Gurgle!  He stood up in the cold water totally soaked and covered with some kind of weed, which was in the water.  Everyone but Robbie thought it was very funny.  He also lost his bag, but it was caught by the stick pile when it floated downstream.

As his stick bag was still on the wrong side of the creek, he had to go back and retrieve it.  Since he was already in the water, he couldn’t get any wetter, so he hopped down the creek and picked up his bag.  Then, he hopped back across the creek to where the others were waiting and still laughing.  He crawled up the bank and shook himself vigorously, thereby, wetting Rachel and Rain.  

“Hey,” they protested.  

Now, Robbie got to laugh.  After everyone settled down, his sisters helped him pick the weeds out of his fur.  Shane watched the whole comedy from the safety of a dry tree.  When they were finally ready to go home, they thanked Shane for his help and followed their own path back the way they had come.

 While the children were gathering sticks, Rhonda was tending the garden.  She got up early and was enjoying the day.  One of the pleasures of arising early, was to watch her bumblebees begin their daily routine.  Of course, they weren’t her bumblebees, but she liked to think of them that way.  A few years ago in March, she built four nests out of flower pots, hose, and a few other things.  She placed one nest at each corner of the garden and waited.  In a few weeks she had bees.  She was surprised at how quickly they arrived and always wondered from where they came.

Were they waiting patiently for her to build the nests?

Bumblebees are sociable creatures and they quickly formed a mutually beneficial relationship with Rhonda and her garden.  There were about a hundred bees in each nest, and each morning a squadron of bees could be seen leaving to begin their day.  After a quick flyover each group settled down in their quarter of the garden.  They kept busy with pollinating and nectar gathering.  It also seemed to Rhonda that the bug population had decreased since the bees moved in.  She was very pleased with the arrangement and, apparently, so were the bees.

As Rhonda hopped through the garden, she noticed that several leaves on her rose bushes looked brownish.  The leaves should have been a healthy, spring green.  She picked a leaf and examined it.  There was no evidence of insects; it was simply brown and dry.  That was most disturbing.  She reviewed the care she has given the roses.  The bushes were three years old.  They were properly spaced and watered as needed.  She was diligent in removing insects such as Japanese beetles, but it was too early in the season for them.  There was no obvious answer.

She decided to send a sample leaf to Bartholomew and ask him if he could look in his plant books.  But, right now, the weeds needed pulling.  As she was removing them from between the rose bushes, she felt like someone was watching her.  She turned to the left, and indeed, there was a worm staring at her from a small hole in the ground.  Only his head was above the dirt.  As soon as she looked at him, he disappeared down his hole.  She laughed and resumed the weed pulling.  A minute later, the worm was back.  Again, she turned and again, he hid.  Now, she kept her gaze on the small hole.  In another minute his little head appeared for the third time.

“Caught you,” she laughed, and down he went.  Are we playing ‘hide and seek’, she thought.  

“I would love to play ‘hide and seek’ with you Mr. Worm, but I have so many weeds to pull.  Perhaps, we can play later,” she said.

It was good to have worms in your garden because they aerate the soil, and plants love aerated soil.  There were a lot of worms in Rhonda’s garden.  A few minutes later the worm appeared again.  This time he crawled out of his hole and over to a small brown leaf that had fallen off one of the rose bushes.  He pushed the leaf to a nearby pile of weeds, which Rhonda had made.  Then, he turned around and looked at her.