Glenda goes matchmaking.

[Palustris]

Glenda goes matchmaking.


Early one morning, Glenda was sitting outside her nest. She was so deep in thought that she did not notice Glen, her boyfriend, come out of their home.

"Good morning," he said. Glenda gave a startled jump.

"Oh. Good morning," she said. "I did not hear you coming."

"What are you thinking so deeply about, then?" Glen asked.

Glenda sighed. "It was something Gertie said when we were finding a cure for Walter's knots. She said that when her grandfather was alive, there were trees as far as the eye could see, and Wendles could roam as far as they wanted to."

"I have heard that said before," said Glen. "But so what?"

"Well, I was just wondering if there were Wendles still living in what is left of those woods." Glenda said.

"We know that there are none in the Furze," said Glen.

"And there are none in Big Wood, or Marcie Mossmummer and her brothers would have mentioned them," said Glenda.

"Wilfred did not meet any in the woods beyond the straight river either," added Glen.

Glenda gave a nod. "But there are lots of other patches of woods where there could be Wendles."

"Maybe,” agreed Glen, "But getting to them would be very hard, even for you."
"True," said Glenda, "but I was just wondering, that's all."

Glen stood up and said, "Well, you just carry on wondering, I am going to collect some berries." Glenda nodded and watched him go.

He had not been gone for long when Glenda had some visitors. Marty and Morry Mossmummer joined her. Glenda was so deep in thought again that she did not notice them.

"Good morning," said Marty.

Glenda jumped. "Oh, sorry," she said. "I was miles away. Good morning. What brings you two to this part of Feggy Wood?"

Both the Mossmummers shuffled their feet. "It is a bit awkward," said Morry. "We have been helping Bob and Marcie at the Black Pool and it suddenly struck me that it is always pairs of people who come to enjoy the early grey leaf tea and the nice scream buns while looking at the lights."

Marty nodded. "It's true that most of our visitors are couples. We got to talking and we realised that everyone we know has a partner. Our sister. Marcie is with Bob, you are with Glen, Brenda is with Bren." He stopped for a breath.

Morry carried on. "There are two grizzlers and Gordon the Galumfer has Malcolm. Nearly everyone we know has a partner, except us." "There are no other Mossmummers or Fenwanglers in Feggy Wood."

"There were no more Mossmummers in Big Wood either,” added Marty. "And Wilfred did not mention seeing any in the woods on the other side of the straight river." "And I don't think there would be any in the Furze as sap suckers bite us as well as Wendles."

"One of those big hunter birds flew into the tower tree a few days ago. We had to pull it out of the water. When it had dried off and recovered from the bang on its head, we got talking to it," said Morry. "It said that there were lots of sets of trees like Feggy Wood. We asked if there were mosses in any of them, but he did not know. He said that he usually hunted around the edges of the trees and did not fly into them because the branches made it hard to see."

“That gave us an idea. We asked the long necks if they knew of anywhere else like the blackpool,” said Marty.

“He said that his brother had a pool like ours in a patch of wood. He thought it was called Home Wood.

"We asked him how far away it was, but he could only say how long it took him to fly past it on his way to Blackpool." went on, Morry.

"Very interesting," said Glenda. "But what do you want from me?"

"We were rather hoping that you could go and look to see if there were any Mossmummers or Fenwanglers living there," said Morry rather breathlessly.

"Why can't you go yourselves?" asked Glenda. "You did come with me for the herbs for Walter."

"That was me," said Marty. "And I have never been so frightened in all my life. I don't think I could go out in the open ever again." He took a deep breath. "You have to understand how Mossmummers hide from danger. We are the same colour as moss and our fur looks like moss, so when we feel there is danger we lie down in moss and disappear."

"When you need to hide," went on Morry. "You just stand next to the hedge and as you look like a bundle of twigs, nothing can see you."

Glenda nodded. "Let me get this straight you want me to go and find this other pool and search for Mossmummers."

"Or Fenwanglers," said Marty.

"It is odd," said Glenda. "I was just sitting here thinking about going to see if there are Wendles anywhere else and you come along and ask me to go searching too."

"Will you go?" asked Morry.

"Yes," said Glenda. "I think I will."

"Thank you," said the Mossmummer brothers and they left to go home.

Before she could set off, though, Glen brought the berries that he had been collecting. "I have just seen Marty and Morry," he said. "What did they want? They don't usually leave the Dampling Fen."

Glenda explained that she was going to go looking for Wendles and Mossmummers.

Glen shook his head and sat down next to Glenda. "I am not sure that is a good idea. I can see a few problems. You don't know where Home wood is, or how far away it may be. It could be very dangerous."

Glenda nodded. "I will have to find someone who knows where these other woods are and ask them to guide me."

"But what about the danger?" protested Glen."

"I don't think there is that much danger," said Glenda. "After all, there is nothing that can eat a Wendle."

"Except sap suckers," grinned Glen.

"Except sap suckers," agreed Glenda. "I will take great care not to go near any furze bushes." She sat in silence for a minute, then said. "I will go through Feggy Wood and see if there is anyone who can tell me where Home Wood is and how far away."

Glen sighed. "If you really want to go, I cannot stop you. Just be very, very careful."

"I always am.,” said Glenda.

She wended her way through Feggy Wood. She asked everyone that she met if they knew where there were other woods. All of them shook their heads and said that they never went away from Feggy Wood. She came to the edge of the wood, where the woolly animals had made a hole in the fence and came into Feggy Wood. Crunch, the sheep chaser, was sitting by the fence.

"Good morning," said Glenda.

"Good morning to you," said Crunch.
"Do you go anywhere else other than this field?" Glenda asked.

"I go where the sheep are put. They eat up all the grass in a field and then I move them to new fields with fresh grass." Crunch replied. "Why?"

"There is one called Home Wood, which has a pool in it,” she said.

“I know where it is but I have never been in there,” said Crunch. “Why do you want to go there?”

Glenda explained about Marty and Morry and how she wondered if the Feggy Wood Wendles were the only ones. "Could you show me where it is?" Glenda asked.

Crunch shook his head. "Sorry, but I cannot leave the sheep. You know how they love to find holes in fences and go wandering about." He thought for a moment. "You need Wanda the wanderer."

"Who?" Glenda asked in surprise.

"She lives out in the fields and as her name says, she wanders all over the place. She goes as far as the other side of the woods beyond the straight river to the hills behind Big Wood," said Crunch. "You may not have met her, as she really hates not being able to see the sky all the time, so she would not go into Feggy Wood."

"Where would I find her?" Glenda asked. "And what does she look like?"

Crunch wagged his tail. "She could be anywhere. I will try barking her name. If she is anywhere nearby, she usually comes to say hello to me. She is a strange looking thing."

He stopped and scratched his stomach with a back paw. "She looks just like someone has bundled together a lot of grass stalks and dried leaves. She has small, dark eyes and pointed ears on top of her head. When she stands still next to the hedge around a field, you cannot see her at all."
He looked thoughtful. "Oh, and one other thing, don't ask her why she wanders. I did once and she did not speak to me for ages. Now cover your ears."

Glenda covered her ears.

Crunch barked very loudly. The sheep ran to the far end of the field.

"Idiots," growled Crunch. From under a nearby hedge, a strange figure appeared. It was exactly as Crunch had said, a bunch of grass stalks and leaves.


"You did not need to make so much noise," it said to Crunch. "Who is your friend?"

"This is Glenda," said Crunch. "She needs your help. I will let her explain."

Glenda said, "Hello, Wanda." She told her about wanting to go looking for Mossmummers and Wendles in Home Wood

"I know where that is," said Wanda, "and I am happy to show you how to get there, just as long as you don't want me to go in with you."

"Thank you," said Glenda. "If you take me to where it is, I will go and explore on my own."

"Fair enough," said Wanda. "Follow me then. I hope you don’t mind being out in the open. I have heard that Wendles prefer to have tree branches over their heads."

“I don’t like it, but I can do it,” said Glenda.

“We can either cross the fields or follow the hedge,” said Wanda. “The hedge way will be further, so it takes longer and I suppose you want to be back before dark.”

“Along the hedge is probably safer,” said Glenda.

They walked for about an hour. Wanda did not even turn around to see if Glenda was keeping up.

Suddenly, Wanda stopped and held up her hand to stop Glenda too. Wanda pointed along the hedge in front of her.

Sitting just in front of them was a large rufus bushy tail.


“You are out late,” said Wanda. “You usually hunt when the sun is just up.”
“The cubs need food,” said the bushy tail. “So I have to hunt all the time. I hope you two have not scared everything away.”

“We haven’t seen anything,” said Glenda. “And we both move very quietly.”

“Good,” said the bushy tail. "Now, if you don’t mind, I shall go and look on the other side of this field.” With that, she stood up and ran across the grass.

“How far is Home Wood now?” asked Glenda.

“Another half an hour or so,” said Wanda.
“You aren’t very chatty, are you?” said Glenda.

“Sorry,” said Wanda. “I am so used to wandering on my own that I forgot that you were with me.”

“I don’t mind,” said Glenda.

They reached the edge of a wood. “This is Home Wood,” said Wanda. “I will wait here for you, but if you get into trouble, I cannot come in to help you.”

“Thank you,” said Glenda. “I will do my best to keep out of trouble.”



She wended her way through Home Wood. It was very quiet and empty to begin with, until she met a spiny grubbler walking along the path towards her.



“Hello,” said Glenda.

“Hello yourself,” said the spiny grubbler. “You are new. I have not seen anyone like you in these woods before. What are you?”

Glenda was disappointed. “I am a Wendle, Glenda the Wendle. I was hoping that there might be Wendles living here.”

“Sorry,” said the spiny grubbler. “If there are, I have never seen them. You could ask the Mirewigglers. They know everyone in these woods.”

“Mirewigglers?” asked Glenda.

The spiny grubbler nodded. “They live right in the middle of the wood in the otter’s pool. Just follow this path and you can’t miss it.”

“Thank-you,” said Glenda. She carried on along the path and as the animal had said, she soon found herself standing on the bank of a large pool.


There was a path leading around the edge of the pool. She had not gone far when a head peeped out from a bush on the bank. It was a fish eater.

“Hello,” said Glenda.

“Hello,” said the otter. “What brings you to my pool? I thought that you lived in Feggy Wood.”

“I do,” replied Glenda. “And I met you by the straight river when I was looking for my friend Brenda.”

“I go where the fish are,” said the otter.

“I was hoping that there might be Wendles living here,” said Glenda.

The otter shook its head. “No, sorry. I have only ever seen your kind in Feggy Wood. You could ask the Mirewigglers if they had seen any.”

“Where are these Mirewigglers?” Glenda asked.

“Follow this path around the pool until you see a tree stump in a patch of grass. They live around there.”

“Thank you,” said Glenda.

“Good hunting,” said the otter. "Now, if you don’t mind, I need to catch my supper.” With that, he slid into the water and disappeared.

Glenda followed the path. It was quite a big pool, more like a lake, but eventually she found the tree stump.

She sat by it and looked out over the water. There was a pair of long necks paddling about in the middle.

“Hello,” said a voice from behind her. She twirled around. Wendles have extremely good hearing, but she had not heard the owner of the voice come up to the stump.

“Hello,” said Glenda. Then she gasped. Standing next to her was a Mossmummer, looking exactly like Marcie.

“Oh,” said Glenda. “You are a Mossmummer.”

The person shook its head. “I have never heard of them, I am a Mirewiggler, Polly Mirewiggler. Who and what are you and why are you sitting by our tree stump?”



Glenda explained that she was looking for more Wendles and Mossmummers for Marty and Morry.
"I've never seen anyone like you before,” said Polly. “But your Mossmummers sound interesting. There are not enough male Mirewigglers to go around here. Colly and I would be very interested in meeting your friends.”

“I am sure you would like the black pool where they live,” said Glenda. “I could take you there if you like.”

“No Mirewiggler has ever left Home Wood,” said Polly. It would be a big adventure. How far is it?”


“About two hours if we go along the hedges, but if we went across the fields, it would be a lot quicker,” said Glenda.

“You mean go out in the open, with no trees over us?” trembled Polly.” She shook her head. “We could never do that.”

“When my friend Brenda was blown across the fields, she managed to walk back with a branch over her head, perhaps we could try that,” said Glenda.

Polly nodded. “I will ask my family if I can go with you.”

Another Mirewiggler came to join them. “This is my sister, Colly,” said Polly.

“Hello,” said Glenda. “Mirewigglers do not make any sound at all when you walk.”

Colly grinned. “I have been here all the time. If we can cross the fields with branches over our heads, then I would love to come and meet Marty and Morry. If we don’t like them, you can bring us back here, can’t you?”

Glenda nodded.

“Wait here then,” said Polly. She disappeared into the bushes behind the stump. She returned a few minutes later. “The family says, ‘Good luck’” she said.

“Wanda the wanderer is waiting for me at the edge of Home Wood,” said Glenda. “She will show us the way. Don’t ask her why she wanders, she might get upset and leave without us.”


Wanda was waiting, as she had promised. They made their way across the fields to Feggy Wood.
Wanda would not come in, though. Glenda said, “Thank you,” and Wanda wandered away.

Polly and Colly put down their branches. “That was scary,” said Polly.

“I hope Marty and Morry are as nice as you told us,” said Colly. “I don’t think I could go back to Home Wood even with a branch over my head.”

Marty and Morry, Marcie and Bob the Fenwangler were waiting for them at the black pool.

Glenda left them to get to know each other. She wended her way home. Glen was waiting for her. “There are no Wendles in Home Wood,” she said sadly.

“Never mind,” said Glen. “There are still lots of other woods where they might be. And you do have lots of Wendle friends here.”