The Mystery of Raven's Moor by J Marie Beal

Author:J Marie Beal [Beal, J Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Golden Fleece Press
Published: 2015-08-21T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

What’s a Whistle-Pig?

Thomas picked his way back toward the main part of the neighborhood along the street. He had considered trying to follow Dupin and his friend to the University, but he’d never actually been that far out of the neighborhood, and he certainly didn’t want to do that alone.

That also wasn’t a trip he could convince Rabbit to make. If he was going to that far afield he’d need to take someone like Barnaby with him.

Also, he hadn’t seen them do it, but he rather suspected Dupin and his friend had hired a carriage to take them there, and he might have been perfectly capable of catching up to a human walking, he doubted he’d be able to catch a horse.

He also wasn’t particularly sure which direction they would have gone. He’d have to content himself with investigating inside the neighborhood. He could go back to Mrs. L’Espanaye’s and see if the furniture polish or anything else had a particular scent—

“You there, cat,” a voice called just above a whisper.

Thomas stopped, looking around him. It took him a bit to see the hole under the garden fence for the house he was just passing. A nose and two black eyes poked out of the hole and Thomas got the impression of an overly large squirrel, before it ducked away again.

Thomas walked over to the edge of the burrow and peered down. “You can come out. I won’t hurt you.”

The head came back up slowly, nose twitching wildly.

“You’re a ground-hog, aren’t you?”

“I’m a whistle-pig!”

Thomas blinked at him. “Aren’t those the same thing?”

It huffed softly, and came further out of its home.

“I’m Thomas, the neighborhood watch-cat. Did you just move here?”

“Is that a problem?”

“No,” Thomas assured. “I just know most of the animals in the neighborhood and we’ve never met.”

“Even the dangerous ones?”

“We don’t really have dangerous animals. The dogs are generally kind, and Olivia is a bit harsh—she’s an owl—but even she generally behaves herself.”

“What about the big red thing that was here earlier?”

Thomas twitched, and froze. “What big red thing?”

“I don’t know. I saw it on the street. It was big with orangey-red fur and it moved…it was strange.”

“And you’ve never seen anything like it before at all?”

“No.”

“Did you notice anything else about it? Was there a human with it or anything?”

The groundhog frowned, and swiped at its nose. “No. It avoided the humans. There was one coming down the street and it ducked into the alley to hide until the human was past. I don’t think it liked humans much.”

Thomas didn’t bother pointing out that just because the animal had avoided a human didn’t mean it didn’t like them.

“Okay. Thank you for your help…um…you didn’t tell me your name.”

“You didn’t ask.”

“I’m sorry. I’m Thomas, the local watch-cat. What’s your name?”

“Willy. Willy the Whistle-pig.” Willy tilted his head and frowned at Thomas. “What’s a watch-cat?”

“I patrol the neighborhood and help the animals stay safe and things like that.”

“Aren’t they afraid you’re going to eat them?”

“Sometimes, when I first meet them,” Thomas answered honestly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.