2 Ted goes a-windering and a-wandering

CHAPTER TWO Ted goes a-windering and a-wandering Ted chuckled to himself as he pranced through the woods. There hadn't been a dull moment since he and Nancy had moved to Grimwood. If he wasn't saving injured squirrels, he was helping Titus make Crazyhorns Power Juice, going for bumpy car rides with Wiggy or starring in shows with Ingrid's theatre group, the Grimwood Players. He was a very happy little fox, but (and be warned, because this is quite a big BUT) he wished he knew where his mum and dad were. They had left Ted and Nancy all alone as little cubs, in a park in the Big City. Ted didn't know why. Nancy had looked after him ever since. And even though the cubs had settled in Grimwood, Ted still wrote letters to their parents and posted them back to their old den in the Big City. Just in case. Dear Mum and Dad

Nancy is getting SO GOOD at treebonk! Frank reckons she is 'a natural'. Oh, and do you remember the mayor, Titus? Well, I've been helping him with his new recipe for Crazyhorns Power Juice. It's got nettles in, and it tastes disgusting, so I might chuck in some lemonade when he's not looking. Willow is still my very best friend. These are our latest hobbies: 1. Doing dance routines 2. Making daisy chains 3. Running around laughing Ingrid the duck is really grumpy at the moment because Pamela accidentally blew up her stage. Remember Pamela? The weird eagle who's always blowing stuff up? Anyway, it means no more rehearsals for our theatre group, the Grimwood Players. BOO! I miss you both loads. Nancy doesn't say it much, but I know she misses you too. I am so tall now that I reach her armpit. I wish you could see. It would be nice to know what you look

like, too. And maybe have some cuddles! (When nobody is looking Nancy lets me cuddle her, which is nice.) Anyway, I have to go because Willow wants us to look for pebbles that look like faces. I have drawn another map in case you want to find us. I love you Ted xx When Ted arrived at the Small Pond, Ingrid was sitting on top of a very dizzy squirrel on an island in the middle of the murky water. The rumour was that in the olden days, when Ingrid was a mere child of a duck,* she had been a glamorous movie star. 'It is entirely true!' she would quack if anyone asked her about it. 'You don't believe me? HOW DARE YOU!' Then she would thwack them with her handbag, to show how annoyed she was.

'Tell the owl to keep his ridiculous tree-bonkers under control!' shrieked Ingrid, flapping her wings in annoyance. 'This squirrel landed on my nest while I was putting on my eye make-up and NOW LOOK AT ME.' 'Sorry, Ingrid,' said Ted, expertly hopping from one shopping trolley to another until he reached them. He lifted Ginger by the tail, shoved an orange slice in her mouth and

plopped her into his rucksack. 'I can't wait for the Grimwood Players to start meeting again! When do rehearsals begin?' Ingrid sighed dramatically and brought an elegant wing to her brow. 'Darlink, I just cannot find the va-va-voom to carry on. Not since the destruction of our beautiful theatre. SOB!' 'I'm sure we can build a new theatre, Ingrid,' said Ted brightly. But Ingrid just sighed. 'I've lost my inspiration,' she said. 'And what good is an actor without inspiration? What is a duck without her quack? Oh! I despair, how I despaaaaaaaair.' And she snapped on a silk eye mask and waddled back to her boudoir. 'Bye then!' said Ted. He bounded through the forest with Ginger safely tucked inside his rucksack, sniffing the slightly eggy smell that sometimes wafted through the air and hopping over some discarded tyres. Soon, he found himself in Bunnyville, which was a village full of cows. Not really, it was full of bunnies, don't be silly. There were hundreds of them boinging about all over the place. 'Hi, Ted!' said about fifty of them at the same time. 'Hiya!' said Ted. He noticed a big pile of grey squishy mattresses. The bunnies were climbing high up into the branches of an extremely tall pine tree and leaping off like it was a massive diving board… before BOINGING onto the mattresses. It looked like great fun. 'A hoomin must have just dumped them here,' squeaked Tyler, who Ted recognized as one of Willow's 147 brothers.

'It's brilliant!' Tyler hitched up his shorts, wiped his nose on his paw and scampered back up the tree. Ted chuckled to himself and carried on through Grimwood. But as the trees crowded around him, he started to feel just a tiny bit… well, not scared, exactly. Things just looked darker all of a sudden. And, apart from the dozy squirrel in his rucksack, Ted suddenly felt a little bit too alone. So, he started to sing a song to himself, which was a very Ted thing to do. Just hoppin' through the forest It's a nice and friendly place Nuthin's gonna get me Or try and bite my face The trees are nice and branchy