Though the clumps of wet mud sticking to his prickly back made him extremely heavy, Ereth began to heave himself out of the creek.
“Pull harder!” yelled Poppy.
Ereth continued to pull up on the branch until he was out of the mud.
“Now,” Poppy urged, her own rear legs just grazing above the mud, “move toward dry land.”
Clinging to the branch, Ereth edged toward the creek bank.
“You’re almost there!” Poppy shouted.
The moment Ereth saw that he was over firm ground he let go of the branch.
But as Ereth fell, the branch whipped up like the released arm of a catapult. The sudden movement caught Poppy completely by surprise, flinging her with such enormous force that she went shooting straight up in the air.
“Oh my goodness!” Poppy gasped as the wind rippled through her fur and bent back her whiskers. “I’m flying!” Sure enough, she was soaring up in the air, dizzyingly high.
She darted a look below. From the banks of Glitter Creek, Ereth was staring up at her, openmouthed in astonishment. Even in the moment she looked at him, he became smaller.
Poppy glanced toward the west. The twilight sky offered a glowing sunset—all red, purple, and orange.
“Oh my!” she cried. “So this is what the sky is like. It’s really quite lovely. And flying is very cooling. No wonder birds like it.”
Poppy looked down again. The individual treetops were melding together to become a vast expanse. “Goodness! It’s the entire forest!” she exclaimed. “How different everything looks from a distance!”
Then she felt herself slowing. That brought a frightful realization: If I stop rising, I’ll start falling. And since I’ve gone up such a long way, when I hit the ground it will most likely be the death of me.
For a fraction of a second, Poppy hung suspended in the air. Then she began to drop—plummeting faster and faster. Though her heart pounded, and she closed her eyes, her thoughts were very clear: Who would have ever guessed that I’d end my life by falling out of the sky?
CHAPTER 8
Luci in the Sky
POPPY WAS STILL FALLING when she suddenly felt her skin pricked and then grabbed. Not only did she stop dropping, she was actually rising in short, jerky movements.
Bewildered, she opened her eyes. She was being held higher than she had been before. The forest below was moving by very quickly. I’m not going to die by falling, she decided. I’m going to be eaten by some bird.
She twisted her head around and looked up. To her complete surprise, the creature carrying her was not a bird. At first glance it appeared to be a mouse! Not much bigger than she, it had brown fur and bright black eyes. But the creature’s nose was large for its pushed-in face, had flaring nostrils, and was not sharp like a mouse’s. Its ears were very large and pointy.
Most astonishing of all were the great leathery wings extending from the creature’s body, wings that whipped the air with such rapidity they were hard to see.
A bat had grabbed her.
Poppy quickly recalled the things she had heard about bats—that they were strange, perhaps even magical creatures given to violent and erratic mischief; that they guided themselves through the air in a mystifying fashion; that bats, for no good reason at all, constantly attacked other creatures—even ate them!—and that they entangled themselves in animals’ fur, biting, scratching, and spreading all kinds of ghastly diseases. In short, bats were to be absolutely avoided.
What to do? Clearly, she could not get away, not unless she wanted to fall. Perhaps speaking to the frightful thing would help.
Poppy took a deep breath and called up, “Hello, there! Can you hear me?”
“Oh hi!” the bat squeaked. “Were you talking to me?”
“I was,” said Poppy. “Are you a bat?”
“Oh sure.”
“What’s your name?”
“My full name is Myotis Lucifugus. But my friends call me Luci.”
“Luci?”
“I think it’s nicer than Fugus,” the bat went on. “Or My. And Otis is a boy’s name and I’m a girl. Oh, what’s your name?”
“Poppy.”
“Boy or girl?”
“Well…girl.”
“Miss Poppy! I like that.”
“I suppose I should thank you for catching me,” said Poppy. “Otherwise I’d have fallen. Probably been killed.”
“That would have been awful,” agreed Luci.
Poppy hesitated for a moment and then said, “Luci, why did you grab me?”
“What a question,” said Luci, her voice full of surprise. “What do you think? Because I’m going to eat you.”
“Eat me?” cried Poppy, her worst fears confirmed. “Why would you want to do that?”
“I think everyone eats something,” said Luci, only to add, “Don’t they?”
“I suppose,” admitted Poppy, “but I don’t think you’d get much pleasure in eating an old mouse.”
“Mouse!” cried Luci. “No way! Are you a mouse? Really?”
“From the tip of my nose to the tip of my tail!” Poppy hastened to say.
“Miss Poppy,” squeaked the bat. “I am so embarrassed! This is my first solo flight and I thought you were a…a moth.”
“How could you possibly mistake me for a moth!” Poppy sputtered.
“Well, there you were, right up in the air over the forest,” said Luci. “That’s where moths are, right? They are really tasty.” The bat giggled. “See, I’ve never met a mouse before! But now I know that mice fly, too. I’d be happy to let you go.” Luci started to loosen her grip.
“No, don’t!” cried Poppy. “I can’t fly!”
“Can’t you?” said the bat. “Then…then how did you get up in the air?”
“It’s…it’s too hard to explain,” said Poppy, looking down at the darkening earth. “Do you think you could just put me on the ground, gently?”
“Sorry,” said Luci. “I can’t. I’m late.”
“Late for what?”
“Mom told me to take my first flight, grab a snack if I could, and then get back home. I know. Hard to believe that at my age I actually have a curfew—but I do.”
“How old are you?” Poppy asked.
“Three weeks.”
“And did you say this was your first flight?”
“Really exciting, isn’t it?” said the bat as she made a sudden sharp turn, abrupt enough to startle Poppy.
Poppy, resigned to being carried along, caught her breath and looked down and about. The last rays of the setting sun were cutting across Dimwood’s treetops so that the whole forest seemed edged with gold. The sky had been transformed into a panoramic, multihued rainbow of blue, orange, and pink. How huge the sky is! thought Poppy. How beautiful. This is certainly a lovely way to see the world!
As always, seeing something lovely made Poppy think of Rye, who would have written a poem about such an extraordinary sight. But these pleasant thoughts were cut short when Luci abruptly plunged to a lower altitude. They were now just skimming over the treetops.
“Oh my!” exclaimed Poppy, almost breathless.
“Am I flying poorly?” Luci asked.
“Just fine,” Poppy managed. She tried to determine where she was, telling herself she would need to return home on her own. Luci, however, was going so fast it was hard to pick out landmarks. Besides, the sun was all but down. The only light was coming from the far west.
Luci dipped deeper among the tall, dark trees, darting around them with such sharp turns and shifts, Poppy became giddy. “Do you live in a tree?” she asked.
“Oh no, we live in a cave.”
Even as she spoke, the young bat broke away from the trees. Flying swiftly if somewhat erratically, Luci was now heading right toward a high cliff. As far as Poppy could see, it was a wall of solid stone.
“Luci!” cried Poppy. “There’s a rock cliff straight ahead! Shouldn’t you turn?”
“I don’t think so,” said
Luci, continuing to fly straight toward the face of the rock.
Poppy had no doubt the young bat was about to crash. She closed her eyes and said, “Good-bye, world!”
CHAPTER 9
What Ereth Thought He Saw
“I’M SAFE!” Ereth shouted when he plumped down from the branch and landed on the creek bank. With a quick shake of his head, body, and tail, he flung off the mud that coated him. Only then did he look around for Poppy. He was actually going to thank her.
Poppy, however, was nowhere to be seen.
Puzzled, Ereth peered up at the branch that Poppy had managed to pull down. That was when he saw his friend streaking straight up into the twilight sky.
“Poppy?” he gasped, watching with disbelief as the mouse soared upward. “Is that…you?”
Ereth stared into the sky until the mouse appeared to stop rising and then began to fall.
The porcupine held his breath.
The very next moment something—Ereth wasn’t sure what it was or even if it was something—appeared out of the sky, snatched Poppy away, and then—vanished.
Astonished, Ereth could not move. Instead, he continued to study the darkening sky where Poppy had been. Was that truly Poppy? If it was Poppy, how did she get up there? And if she did get up there, what happened to her?
Baffled, Ereth continued to stare at the sky, not sure he could—or should—believe what he had seen. Did I imagine everything? Ereth asked himself. Was I missing Poppy so much I just dreamed she saved me? No! He had seen Poppy rising into the sky, only to disappear!
No! That was impossible. But then, where was she?
Utterly mystified, the porcupine searched about the creek bank. He studied the mud. He scrutinized the sky again. Not a single sign of Poppy did he find.
I must, he decided, have imagined it all. A mouse in the sky…flying…disappearing…that’s just not…possible…. Unless I’m crazy.
Determined to convince himself that he had only imagined what had happened, Ereth galloped home, taking pains to follow the exact route he had used when coming to Glitter Creek.
It was dark and Ereth was quite worn-out when he reached the foot of Poppy’s snag.
“Poppy!” he cried. “Come out! It’s me, Ereth!”
There was no reply.
“Poppy!” he shouted with a mix of agony and rage. “Answer me!”
Still no answer.
“Poppy!” Ereth pleaded. “Please! All I ask is that you tell me you’re here! That you’re safe! Then I promise, I’ll go away. Forever!”
He waited, all the while watching the snag intently. “Maybe she’s just playing a trick on me,” he muttered, hardly knowing whether to be frightened or furious but desperately wanting some explanation.
“Yes, that’s it. She’s playing a practical joke on me. As if it’s funny to disappear like that. Leaving no trace. No note. Or words. No respect. No caring. No friendship. No love. No nothing! Well, I’ll do the same. I’ll ignore her. Forget her. Pluck her out of my memory. Out of my heart. Act as if she never existed. As if we never did anything together. As if I never cared for her. Ever!”
Sighing deeply, Ereth remained silent for a moment, only to lift his head and wail, “Poppy, please tell me what happened to you!
“But I do know what happened!” Ereth reminded himself. “She saved me and then went up in the air and…disappeared.
“But—how could that be?”
A new explanation formed in his mind. Perhaps Poppy had fallen into the creek and had sunk the way he did. In the twilight gloom he just hadn’t noticed.
Ereth’s heart gave a lurch. I must still try to save her.
He raced back to Glitter Creek. As he scurried along, his mind was a muddle of self-reproach: I should have checked more. I should have searched harder. What a dunce I am! What an idiot! How cruel and unthinking! There I was, only thinking about myself. How selfish! How vain! How stupid! How like me!
Panting and exhausted, Ereth reached the bank of the creek. Pale yellow moonlight filled the heavy, warm air and lay upon the empty creek bed like a golden carpet softening the rough edges of the drought-parched landscape. Crickets endlessly, mindlessly rubbed their legs together. Mosquitoes droned.
“Poppy!” Ereth cried into the darkness. “Are you here? Are you drowning? Please, please, please tell me you are drowning—so I can save you!”
The last words were spoken in the feeblest of voices, a voice tinged with complete despair.
Bleary-eyed and quite frightened, Ereth attempted yet again to make sense of what had happened. He closed his eyes. It was too extraordinary. Too awful. Too dreadful. Even so, there were a couple of things about which he was now quite convinced: he had seen Poppy fly into the sky, and then she had disappeared.
Poppy, in order to save her best friend—him—had sacrificed herself.
The painful fact made him groan. But since he was now convinced of what had happened, Ereth made himself say aloud the awful words he was thinking: “While saving me, Poppy…died!”
As he spoke, he began to fully understand what he had witnessed. Could it have been? Might it have been possible? There’s no other explanation! What I saw rising into the sky must have been…was…Poppy’s… ghost!
CHAPTER 10
In the Dark
I’M STILL ALIVE! thought Poppy, even though she opened her eyes to complete blackness. Luci had not crashed into the stone cliff and they were still flying, but in a deeper darkness than Poppy had ever experienced. What’s more, it was exceedingly cold.
“Hello! Luci!” she called. “Where are we?”
“Home,” squeaked Luci.
“Where’s home?” asked Poppy.
“Our cave.”
“Is it big?”
“I guess,” said Luci.
“Where are we going now?”
“Actually, Miss Poppy, I’m going to set you down,” said the bat. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but you’re heavy.”
“That sounds wonderful,” said Poppy, wanting nothing more than to feel solid earth under her paws. Her back was getting a little sore, too.
She sensed they were descending. Then her toes touched the ground.
“Are you all right?” the bat asked as she released Poppy.
“I think so,” Poppy answered, a little breathless as she tried to stand on wobbly legs. Since she could not see anything, she felt about where she had landed. The surface was hard, with a cold, slippery dampness.
“Be back soon!” cried Luci. “Don’t go anywhere!”
“But…!”
Poppy heard a flutter of wings, followed by a whoosh of wind—then silence. Presumably, the young bat was gone—though Poppy had not actually seen her go.
Trembling slightly with the chill, Poppy smoothed out her whiskers, flicked her ears, shook out her tail, and took a deep breath. What a strange experience! she thought as her heart resumed its normal rhythm. First flying. Then to come to a place I can’t see, surrounded by I don’t know what, and not knowing what’s going to happen next. I’d hide, but it’s hard to hide since I can’t see where I am to begin with.
“Oh well,” she said, finding comfort in talking aloud. “I am alive. I helped Ereth get out of that mud. I’ve experienced being in the sky. That bat did not eat me. I’ve gotten away from the terrible heat. Nothing bad in any of that. As for Luci, what a pleasant name for such a creature. And actually, she’s nice too. For a bat.”
Poppy considered the question of other bats. Perhaps not all bats are so friendly. What if Luci went to get them? No, I don’t think I should relax too much.
“Hello!” came a squeak close to her ears. “I’m back!”
Startled, Poppy gazed in the direction of the voice. “Who…who’s there?” she asked.
“It’s me, Miss Poppy. Luci.”
“Oh,” said Poppy. “I…I was wondering where you went. Are you…alone?”
“I fetched Mom,” said Luci. “I really wanted her to meet you. She
’s right here.”
“Hello,” Poppy said, thinking how odd it was to greet someone she could not see. “My name is Poppy. I’m a deer mouse,” she added in haste, wanting to make clear that she was not a moth. “I’m very pleased to meet you.”
“How do you do, Miss Poppy?” returned a voice, high-pitched like Luci’s. “My name is Miranda. Luci’s mother. I hope you’ll forgive her.” The bat giggled. “She told me she thought you were a moth. We bats do of course eat insects: mosquitoes, moths, dragonflies, and the odd beetle, that sort of thing. Perhaps an occasional nip of nectar. But no mice,” she said, giggling. “Oh my, gracious no.”
“That’s what Luci explained,” said Poppy, wanting to be as friendly as possible. “And, Miranda—may I call you that?—I do know the young make mistakes. I’ve had a few children myself.”
“How many?” asked Miranda.
“Eleven.”
“Eleven?” cried the bat, laughing. “Luci! Did you hear? Eleven children! Oh my! One a year is good enough for me, thank you. So far, just five. But eleven! The most astonishing thing I’ve ever heard.” She laughed again.
Poppy, wondering what was so funny, only said, “Do you think it might be possible for me to get out of this cave?”
“You’d have to fly.”
Poppy recognized Luci’s voice.
“I’m sure Luci can take you back,” Miranda said. “However, I think our little Luci is all tuckered out for today. You know, a first flight is always an exhausting adventure.” She laughed. “Imagine Luci thinking you a moth! Anyway, tomorrow evening would be best. Now then, Miss Poppy, as for sleep, you’re welcome to join us.”
“How many of you are there?” asked Poppy.
“Oh, I couldn’t even begin to count,” said Miranda.
“If you join us, you’ll see. It’s very cozy,” said Luci. “But you’ll have to hang yourself.”
“Hang myself?” said Poppy.
“Hold yourself on the wall.”
“Thank you,” said Poppy in haste. “I better stay here.”