7. Playtime

Igrene and Molly saw George Hedgehog and the baby hedgehogs coming towards them.

Then Molly shouted, “Oh dear!  I’ve lost the little mole already.  I looked down to pick up a worm for him, and he has gone.  Wait!  No!  There he is!  He has gone to meet the baby hedgehogs.”

 

“Be gentle with him, young hedgehogs!” warned Molly.

“Oh, they won’t hurt him,” said Igrene.

George explained that he had brought the young hedgehogs to them because he was ready to settle down for his midday nap.

“George, please stay and look after the young ones while we try to find out where his baby mole has come from.” pleaded Molly Mole.

George smiled.  “I can already tell you where he has come from,” he said.  “He will be young Mippy, from the forester’s lawn.  The burrow there was washed out by last night’s storm.”

“George listens to the swallows’ news tweets,” explained Igrene to Molly.

“Is Mippy’s family safe now?” asked Molly.

“Oh no,” said George, looking sadly at Molly, “I have to tell you that the forester and the storm have killed most of the moles.  Only Mippy and his father had survived.  This morning while his father searched for Mippy, the forester threw a garden fork at him.  It didn’t hit him, but Mortimer Mole went to hide in the hedge.”

“We must go to find my dad!” said Mippy.

“Come on then,” said George, and they all set off to find Mortimer Mole, and to visit Aunt Zaza too.