Post on 26-Feb-2021
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This is a Quack Quack publication
First published on line in 2017
Soon to be published in hard copy.
I have been aided in my endeavours by two talented people:
Sylvia Pitman
Our illustrator who brought the stories to life.
And
Robyn Popaditch
A very able IT graduate specialising in Web based design.
There are more Quack Quack stories in the pipeline so watch this
space……
We hope you enjoy the stories as much as we have enjoyed writing
them.
Copyright © John Peter Kelly 2016
Quack Quack doesn’t understand copyright so I have done it for him.
Copyright © John Peter Kelly 2016
The right of John Peter Kelly to be identified as the
Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
The right of Sylvia Pitman to be identified as the
Illustrator of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
All rights reserved.
ProtectMyWork.com
Reference Number: 030516S004
Print design and Typeset by Robyn Popadich
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J.P.Kelly
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Story 4
The Raft
“Grandad,” asked Leila the following night,
“did they build their raft?”
“Not yet,” I replied. “We left them walking up the
meadow towards the wood, where Roger
Rook had seen some broken branches on the ground, much better for floating on the pond.
So…..”
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As they walked up the meadow, Quack Quack, Billy
Bunny, Sammy Squirrel and Tommy Dormouse
started to sing:-
“Fie fo fiddle de dee,
It’s off to build a raft are we,
Seeking broken branches free,
Fie fo fiddle de dee.”
As they reached the edge of the wood, Roger Rook
turned to the left and they followed him until they
came upon the broken branches. They were all
shapes and sizes, but nothing that Billy Bunny
couldn’t handle.
“We need to cut some of these they’re too long,”
said Billy Bunny as he inspected the branches.
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“Ollie Otter could do that for us,” said Quack
Quack, “with his sharp teeth.”
“But he’s not here,” added Tommy Dormouse.
“We’ll have to find some other way of cutting them
then,” said Quack Quack.
The friends sat down to think.
“Grandad,” said Syd., “they need a knife.”
“Yes, but they don’t have them in these stories.
So how do you think they can cut the branches?”
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“They need someone with sharp teeth,”
continued Syd thoughtfully.
“So, who in the animal world has sharp teeth apart from Otters?”
“Sharks!” shouted Leila gleefully.
“Yes, but we don’t have sharks in the pond; they are only in the big oceans. Anyway, even if there
were sharks in the pond – which there aren’t –
they couldn’t breathe on land because they
breathe water, not air. And they couldn’t get to the branches as they only have fins that are for swimming in the water and not for walking on
land.”
“Who else has sharp teeth?” I asked.
“A fox!” cried Syd triumphantly.
“Yes, a fox. Freddy Fox. Also, one of the
friends.”
Now, Freddy Fox lived in a lair – because that is
what foxes’ homes are called – in amongst the roots
of one of the trees in the wood.
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“Let’s get Freddy Fox to help,” said Quack Quack.
“We can use his sharp teeth to gnaw the branches,
and help to make them the right size.”
“Good idea,” added Sammy Squirrel, “I’ll go and
find him and bring him to help.” And off he
scampered, climbing the nearest tree, before leaping
from branch to branch, and tree to tree, until
arriving above Freddy Foxes home. He scampered
down the tree trunk and stood at the entrance of
Freddy Foxes lair, and shouted for Freddy. Mrs Fox
came out of the tunnel.
“Oh, hello, Sammy, are you looking for Freddy?”
“Yes, Mrs Fox,” replied Sammy.
“Freddy,” shouted Mrs Fox, “Sammy is here for
you.”
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Freddy came to the entrance.
“What’s up Sammy?”
“Nothing Freddy. We’re building a raft to float on
the pond, and would like your help in cutting the
branches to size.”
“That’s great Sammy. Mummy, can I go with the
boys?”
“Just so long as you don’t get into trouble,” replied
Mrs Fox. In an instant, Freddy Fox was out of the
tunnel entrance and running down the track with
Sammy.
When they arrived where the others were waiting,
Freddy Fox quickly sized up the situation. “How
long do you want the raft to be?” he inquired.
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“So long that we can all get on it,” replied Billy
Bunny, before adding,” OK. That size,” pointing at
one of the branches, which looked as though it
could take Billy Bunny and Freddy Fox seated
behind each other.
They agreed that seemed almost right, and set about
collecting all the same size branches together. But of
course, they were different sizes, and Freddy Fox
started chewing the ends of those that were too long
to make them all the same size.
Soon the branches had been completely cut, but
they needed some more to finish off.
“Those long ones over there are too long for me to
chew,” said Freddy Fox. “We need to cut them in
half first.”
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“How do we do that?” queried Quack Quack.
“Well, see that stone over there,” continued Freddy
Fox. “We need to put the branches on it at the point
where we need them cut. If everyone stands on one
end holding it down then Billy – being the heaviest –
can jump on the other end. That would make the
branch bend and it should snap in the middle.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Quack Quack. And they
set about moving one of the large branches into
place. Tommy Dormouse stood on one end of the
branch, giving out instructions to the others, while
they lifted it and placed the middle over the stone.
Seeing the branch in place, Billy Bunny took a hop
and a jump and landed on the end sticking in the air.
The branch came down to earth with a thump, while
the other end with Tommy Dormouse on rose into
the air sending Tommy into the sky.
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“Help!” Came a strangulated cry from Tommy
Dormouse as he continued his upward flight.
The others watched in horror as Tommy Dormouse
soared into the air, his arms flailing. Quick as a flash,
Quack Quack flapped his wings and flew up into the
air after Tommy Dormouse. Just as Tommy’s
upward movement stopped and he started to fall
back to the ground, Quack Quack arrived
underneath Tommy and caught him on his back,
preventing him from falling to the ground and
hurting himself. Tommy clung onto Quack Quack’s
feathers as slowly they glided back to the ground to
the relief of everyone.
“You were supposed to wait until we were all on
one end, Billy,” said Quack Quack.
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“Sorry, Quack Quack,” replied Billy Bunny. “I got
excited and wanted to try it out. I never thought you
weren’t ready.”
“No harm done,” added Sammy Squirrel. “But only
because of Quack Quacks quick action. Well done
Quack Quack. Now, shall we get started?”
They replaced the branch and carefully Quack
Quack, Sammy Squirrel, Freddy Fox and Tommy
Dormouse got on the one end. When they were
ready, Billy Bunny took a hop and a skip and
jumped on the end sticking up. Snap went the
branch in the middle. Billy Bunny landed with a
thump on the ground on his bottom. “Ow,” he said.
But he was OK. Success.
The boys kept snapping branches until they had
enough to finish the raft. Then Freddy Fox chewed
the ends to make sure they were all the same size.
Their next job was to carry them to the pond.
Freddy Fox and Billy Bunny lifted the thickest
branches, while Sammy Squirrel pulled a narrower
branch. Quack Quack couldn’t move anything as his
bill was not made to pull anything, so he and
Tommy Dormouse contented themselves by
supporting the others. Soon they had all the
branches down at the pond beside the remaining
weeds.
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“Now what can we do?” asked Billy Bunny.
“We tie them together,” replied Quack Quack.
“How do we do that?” continued Billy Bunny.
“We use reeds, intertwining them between the
branches, and then tying them at the ends. Sammy
has the best, nimblest hands for doing that,”
continued Quack Quack.
“No problem,” said Sammy Squirrel. “But I’m
hungry.”
“Later,” said the friends together. “We’ll eat later.”
“Oh. OK,” said Sammy Squirrel sadly. He felt so
hungry. But he always felt hungry.
So, they got to work, laying the branches side by
side. Then Sammy Squirrel got a reed and wove it
first under a branch, then over the next branch and
so on until the ends of the reeds stuck out on each
side of the line of branches. It was beginning to look
more like a raft all the time. When he had finished
weaving the reeds in between the branches, he started
to tie the reeds together at the ends using his sharp
claws.
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“There. Finished,” he said, as he stood back and
looked at the now complete raft.
“Something’s missing,” said Quack Quack.
“What is it?” queried Tommy Dormouse.
“There’s no sail,” he replied.
“What’s a sail?” asked Tommy Dormouse.
“Well a sail catches the wind and blows the raft
across the pond. It’s just like my wing feathers,
which catch the wind underneath them and it allows
me to rise up into the air and fly.”
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“What do we use as a sail then?” queried Billy
Bunny.
“A sycamore leaf should be big enough,” replied
Quack Quack.
“There’s a sycamore tree near the chestnut tree at
the side of the woods. I’ll go and get one,” said
Roger Rook and he flew up into the air heading
towards the wood to find the sycamore tree.
“Can you bring me a chestnut?” shouted Sammy
Squirrel at Roger Rook.
“No!” said the others. “We’ll eat later.”
“What’s a chestnut, Grandad?” asked Syd, still
wide awake.
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“Well it’s the fruit from the chestnut tree –
sometimes called a horse chestnut, and they
taste very sweet,” I replied.
“Oh!”
“Now we also need a pole, just in case the raft gets
stuck,” said Quack Quack,” and a paddle to push
the raft forward just in case there is no wind.”
“We’ve got a spare branch here,” said Freddy Fox.
“Yes, that will do,” replied Quack Quack.
“What about a paddle?” queried Billy Bunny.
“We use a short stick and tie some twigs to it with
reeds,” said Quack Quack.
“What do we do with it?” asked Tommy Dormouse.
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“Well we put it in the water and move it backwards and forwards. It acts just like my webbed feet in the water,” added Quack
Quack.
“That’s a great idea,” said Tommy Dormouse.
“We’ll all be little ducks like Quack Quack,” he
continued.
“Not quite,” said Quack Quack, “but the same
idea.”
Roger Rook returned with a large sycamore leaf held
in his mouth.
“That’s great,” said Quack Quack. “Just the job.”
“How are we going to fix it to the raft?” asked Billy
Bunny.
“How do you think kids?” I asked.
“Glue,” said Leila.
“Sticky tape,” said Syd.
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“Good answers – but they don’t have glue or
sticky tape in the animal world,” I replied, “Just
listen…”
“Sammy, you hold the leaf upright by its stem. I’ll go
to the middle of the raft and put my beak between
two of the branches, prising them slightly apart.
When I do that, I want you to carefully push the
stem of the leaf into the hole and hold it there. I will
pull my beak out slowly and the sticks moving back
together should hold the stem in place, leaving the
leaf standing upright” instructed Quack Quack.
“OK?”
“OK, Quack Quack,” replied Sammy.
So carefully Quack Quack stood on the raft and
pushed two branches slowly apart. Sammy Squirrel
pushed the stem of the leaf into the gap made by
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Quack Quack, and held it there while Quack Quack
removed his beak, and the branches sprang back
together. The leaf stood tall above the raft. The leaf
had now become a sail.
“Time for a sail on the pond,” said Billy Bunny
excitedly.
“No. Time to go home and have some food," said
Quack Quack. “We can go sailing tomorrow,” he
added.
“Wonderful!” exclaimed Sammy Squirrel. “I’m
hungry and I need something to eat. All this work
has made me very hungry.”
“I think that’s a good days’ work,” said Quack
Quack. “Well done guys. See you in the morning for
school, and then in the afternoon we can go
sailing……”
“Goodnight everyone.”