Free Urchin and the Rage Tide by M. I. McAllister Page A

out of this remarkably well. There’s a hole in the roof of Juniper’s tower, all the pennants and the flagpole are down, and we’ll have to find a small first-floor room to use as a prison for Mossberry.”
    There was a scrabble of paws outside, and Prince Oakleaf arrived to perch on the windowsill.
    “Father,” he said, a bit out of breath, “everyone’s accounted for, apart from Sepia, of course, and two small hedgehogs. Very small ones. They weren’t with Mossberry. They’d gone to safety.”
    “Names?” asked Crispin.
    “Furtle and Ouch,” said Oakleaf. “Myrtle’s younger sister and brother.”
    “Myrtle!” cried Needle in alarm. “Our little Myrtle who does the Threadings!”
    “Yes, Needle,” said the prince. “Her sister, Furtle, and their little brother, the one they call Ouch. They’ve disappeared together. The parents say they’ve always been close, they’re always wandering off together, and they always come back safely, but of course they’re worried.”
    “I should think so, in the middle of all this!” said Needle. “And they’re so small!”
    “Where were they last seen?” asked Crispin.
    “They were perfectly safe in a hillside burrow with a lot of other hedgehogs,” said Prince Oakleaf. “It was dark, of course. They were reported missing at dawn.”
    “Your Majesty,” said Needle, “we could look at the Threading Myrtle’s been working on. There could be a clue in there. We stored them all in Se—the cave above the waterfall.” The cave above the waterfall was Sepia’s song cave, but she didn’t want to think about Sepia just now.
    Prince Oakleaf looked from one to the other.
    “Sorry,” he said, “how would that help?”
    “There’s something about Myrtle’s Threadings,” said Crispin. “When she’s sewing, she…” He stopped, hearing the swish of paws and tail in the corridor, followed by a call from Padra. “Padra! We’re in here!”
    Padra appeared in the doorway and bowed to the king, but, seeing his grim expression, Needle felt a fear that made her legs weaken. She felt sick. She had never seen Padra look so grave.
    Oh, Heart, please, please, she thought. No more bad news. Please.
    “I must speak to you alone, Your Majesty,” said Padra.
    “Shall Prince Oakleaf and I go to the cave to find Myrtle’s Threading?” offered Needle quickly.
    “Yes, please do,” said Crispin. “Explain to him about Myrtle’s Threadings, while you’re at it.”
    When they had gone, Padra took a step back. He drew his sword, laid it across one paw, and lifted off his circlet. Then he bowed his head and, in the floodwater, knelt and offered the king his sword.
    “Padra, what’s this for?” said Crispin.

CHAPTER SIX
    ORR THANKED THE HEART for Fingal. Fingal had told him, as they had prepared for the rage tide, “More than enough Mistmantle boats have been smashed to firewood in storms before this. We should get as many boats as we can out of the way, so we need all the strong animals we can find to carry them inland. Got any big strong brothers, Corr?”
    On Fingal’s instructions, Corr’s own little boat had been tied up in one of the galleried caves above the underground lake, and it was still undamaged. Launching it would not be as difficult as he had expected—the water level had risen so high that he would be able almost to drop it onto the lake when the time came. He whisked in and out of empty tower rooms, paying particular attention to the kitchen, and filled up his boat with all the food and fresh water it could safely carry. He’d need an extra cloak, too, but there was no point in searching through the chambers he shared with Urchin at the Spring Gate. Anything left in there would be floating by now. Anxious to get away quickly and unnoticed, he ran upstairs to see if anything had been left in the workshops.
    The Threadings had been removed, but he climbed up to a high cupboard, and tugged hard at the door. It was stiff and opened suddenly, so