Thomas' Adventures in Hiddlesgard

Tom gazed around in amazement at the vastness of the forest he was walking through. It was beautiful and the sounds coming from the moving leaves were very soothing. Wendy sat perched on his shoulder. She had fallen asleep again and was snoring. He stopped walking and looked upwards into the canopy above him. Shafts of golden sunlight filtered down through the leaves, casting dancing shadows on to the forest floor. He did a slow circular twirl, taking in every minute detail in front of him. He could just make out the crisp blue sky through the forest canopy. Tiny white clouds would occasionally drift past and then disappear. He sighed. This place was truly magical. He kept quite still and listened. The leaves still tinkled harmoniously but he thought he could just about make out the chatter of what he thought were birds up high above him. He looked ahead down the winding path and saw nothing but trees.

‘Ah well’, he thought,’ we won’t get anywhere unless I start walking.’ He set off again at a brisk pace, his footsteps crunching through the dirt and stones on the path.

Deeper and deeper then went into the forest. The canopy above seemed to Tom to grow darker, and the trees became more twisted and gnarled. Their trunks grew broader and more ancient looking. Tom tripped over a couple of roots growing a cross the path. With each step the path became less defined and trickier to negotiate, roots and brambles cross-crossed the path in a tangled mess. As he tried to regain his footing Wendy tumbled from his shoulder and fell into a nearby bush.

“Gosh I’m so sorry! Are you ok?”

Tom peered deep into the bush to see if he could see Wendy. He tried moving some of the branches out of the way, searching for any sign of her. He heard some discontented mumbling and looked at his feet as Wendy stomped out from the base of the bush. She looked up at Tom, bits of twig and leaves tangled in her whiskers. She shook the pieces free and grumbled up at Tom. He pulled a face and apologized again. Wendy fluttered her whiskers and floated up to Tom’s head. She was still mumbling as she flew slowly ahead of him. Tom thought it best not to push things so followed her quietly.

By now the path was very tricky to walk along. Every other step involved climbing over roots and branches. Wendy fluttered ahead and Tom found keeping up with her difficult.

“Hey!” he called out. “Please wait for me.”

Wendy stopped and hovered in mid-air, she didn’t turn around. Tom scrambled over some thick, gnarled branches and stopped below her. She was ignoring him. Tom hoped he had not offended her. He looked up and was about to speak to her when he heard her snort and then growl. She shook her whiskers and growled again. Tom looked towards where Wendy was paying attention. It seemed to be a clearing of sorts, well, the trees were definitely less dense and it looked brighter than their current location. Tom decided to walk on and carried on climbing over the roots until he made it to clearing.

Tom sniffed the air. He thought he could smell wood smoke. He turned back to look at Wendy. He saw her fluttering by the trees. He beckoned to her. She made no movement except to shake her whiskers.

Tom sighed. They couldn’t go back the way they had come, the moustache would just have to stay where she was or catch up with Tom.

At the far end of the clearing stood a battered old wooden hut and Tom could just make out movement in the doorway. Well whoever they are they might be able to help me, thought Tom. He glanced one last time at Wendy and headed off towards the hut.

As Tom approached the hut he noticed a tall, thin man, dressed in what looked like a brown uniform. He was wearing a brown cap and had a rather obvious moustache. He seemed confident and walked with a swagger. He looked up and smiled when he saw Tom.

“Helllooo” he said with a broad grin.

“I don’t often see visitors around here.”

“Let me introduce myself. My name is Steve!” the smile never disappearing from his face.

“Umm… I’m afraid I can’t tell you my name. I’m having difficulty remembering who I am” Tom said feeling rather embarrassed, he ran his hand threw his hair.

“Oh” said Steve rather puzzled. “Now that is interesting. A visitor with no name”

“Never mind though, not important. Please, please come in and sit down.”

Tom was about the step across the threshold when Wendy flew in front of him barring his way. She flapped her whiskers manically and chattered away at him.

“Hey!” exclaimed Steve

“What’s this?”

“Oh this, this is a friend of mine” Tom tried to explain. He thought he noticed Steve’s smile disappear for a split second, but he was probably wrong, so paid it no attention.

“Riiiiggght” said Steve not sounding convinced.

“Excitable little thing isn’t it”

Steve reached out a hand to touch Wendy but she growled and tried to nip his finger with her teeth.

“Hey calm down my little pretty! I won’t hurt you.” Steve said reassuringly.

Wendy hovered and spluttered around Tom’s head. She was a little calmer but certainly did not relax. She didn’t like this Steve. He seemed friendly but… she wasn’t sure...there was something not quite right. After what happened at the Tavern she wanted to keep Tom safe. She liked Tom very much and he was lost and needed her help. Wendy felt brave when she was with him. She was certain that if Tom stayed with Steve he would not be safe. She had to warn him.

Tom lifted a hand towards Wendy his palm facing upwards. She fluttered down onto it and quietly chirped. He tickled her whiskers and she started purring.

“You certainly have a way with those things” said Steve intrigued.

“And you say you have no idea who you are?” Steve said.

Tom nodded concentrating on Wendy more than Steve. Steve turned and walked towards his stove. He opened the door and poked the fire. He turned and gazed back at Tom who had his back to him.

“Say could I ask you a favour, friend?”

“Uummm…yes” replied Tom turning to look at Steve, a little puzzled.

“The fire in my stove needs more wood. There’s a log pile out the back could you fetch me some logs?”

“Sure not a problem” replied Tom. He set Wendy down on a nearby table and pointed a finger at her.

“Stay” he said in a strong voice.

Wendy grumbled and wiggled her whiskers but did as she was told. The door of the hut was open so Tom headed out towards the wood pile. Wendy watched him leave. She lost sight of him as he turned right at the end of the path.

“GOT YOU!” cried Steve triumphantly, trapping Wendy in a large net.

He cackled as he scooped up the net and Wendy. She growled and snarled at him, trying to bite him through the net, but she was trapped.

“Sorry my little pretty but you are not going anywhere”

He walked towards the back of the hut to where a rug lay. He lifted the rug and beneath it was a trap door. He quickly lifted the door and walked down some rickety wooden steps down to a basement filled with cages. The cages were empty. He walked to the closest one and tipped Wendy into it. She snapped angrily at the bars, bouncing off them. She was furious. She knew that Steve could not be trusted. What was going to happen to Tom if she was here, trapped. Tom was not safe. She growled through the bars at Steve. He tapped to top of her cage and smiled at her. He then turned and quickly headed back up the steps.

Tom stepped back in the hut carrying several logs. He walked over to the stove and dropped then in a neat pile next to it. Steve appeared next to him. Tom jumped.

“Oh, sorry didn’t see you there he said.”

Steve smiled.

Tom looked at the table. No sign of Wendy. He looked at Steve.
“Where did she go? He asked concerned she was not there.

“Oh as soon as you left she followed you, didn’t you see her?”

Steve put on his best acting voice, he needed to convince Tom Wendy had left of her own free will.

“No, I didn’t. I asked her to stay here.” Said Tom frowning, concern registering in his voice.

“I’m just going to go and look for her” he said heading to the door.

“That’s ok” Steve cried out after him. “I’m sure she just went out for some air, she’ll be out there somewhere.” He turned back towards the stove and placed several large logs on the fire and smiled to himself…