The bats immediately became calmer, and agreed that this might be better than going back to the draughty belfry to sleep among the clanging bells.
"It means, of course, that you would have to come back with us to the mountains," said the little wooden horse, "and while we make our way up to the witch’s cave you will have to arrange yourselves as best you can to pass the night in the rabbit burrows at the foot of the mountain. We shall do our best to arrange things to your best advantage, and you will have to play your part, as I have just said. I am sure it will all turn out for the best, for all of us."
The faith and confidence of the little wooden horse put new heart into Gobbolino as well as the bats, who agreed to go back to the mountains with the two friends.
"It is quite a long way," they said, as they arranged their ranks. "Wouldn’t you prefer to ride with us?"
The little wooden horse and Gobbolino were only too glad to accept their offer, and watched with interest while a number of bats formed two circles by hooking themselves wing-tip to wing-tip, while others spread their wings within the circles and hooked themselves on to the sides. The result was a couple of flying hammocks, and in these Gobbolino and the little wooden horse deposited themselves very comfortably.
They flew off, leaving the plain far below them. Even the church tower was lost in the clouds, while the Hurricane Mountains loomed nearer and nearer.
Long ago Gobbolino had flown away from these same mountains behind his sister Sootica, on her broomstick, but on that occasion he had his back turned to the crags, and had not noticed how steep and savage they were. Now, the closer they approached the more fearsome they seemed, and he shivered at the thought of scaling them to find his sister and her mistress in the cavern. Sootica’s message had been such a heartfelt cry, but her treatment of the bats was more like the normal practice of a witch’s cat — it did not sound like the behaviour of a creature in distress. He became terribly worried, not only on his own account, but because he might be leading his friend, the little wooden horse, into danger.
The great cloud of bats wheeled round the base of the mountains, flying in circles lower and lower, until it deposited them both on the grass. There were sandy banks here, and these were riddled with rabbits’ burrows.
The bats were rather dissatisfied with these, but they agreed to spend one night only in the holes, while Gobbolino and the little wooden horse did what they could to get possession of the caves for them.
The little wooden horse refused to go home until this was done. He had a growing feeling that Gobbolino would need all the help he could find in the next part of his adventure, and he did not mean to abandon his friend until it seemed quite safe to do so.
8 SOOTICA
Leaving the bats to find shelter for themselves in the rabbit holes, Gobbolino and the little wooden horse began to climb the very steep and narrow path between the rocks to the summit of the mountain.
Now that he was back again in this bleak and unfriendly country Gobbolino became very nervous, and said no more about sending the little wooden horse home. If his friend had left him Gobbolino would hardly have had the courage to climb on alone, so dark and angry were the crags, and so steep the track below them. The sun was rapidly leaving the sky, and the rocks were cold and blue.
For a short while they could still hear the squeaking of the bats below, but soon these sounds died away and they were terribly alone.
The path wound up and up and up. The sun went down, and the mountains seemed to be covered in a great black counterpane. The moon had not yet risen, and the stars were very faint. It was not a good place to be caught in at night, but neither of them wanted to arrive after dark in the witchs cavern.
Round a corner they came upon one of the many caves squeezed in between the rocks — caves that the bats had not been allowed to claim for their own. The cave was empty now, and the friends looked at one another with one single thought in their minds. If they crept inside and spent the night in the cave they might face the next morning with more courage, and in daylight. They did not need to say a word aloud to each other, but turning off the path they stole inside.
Gobbolino felt much safer when the walls of the cave were around him, and he was deadly tired. He lay down close beside the body of the little wooden horse, and almost immediately fell asleep.
The little wooden horse stayed awake only long enough to make sure that the cave was quite empty, and that no strange noises threatened them from the mountain above. His wooden heart beat pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, for he did not like this part of the country any better than Gobbolino did. But nothing would have persuaded him to desert his friend, although he could not help thinking very anxiously about his dear master back there in the forest, who would be daily expecting him to come home.
Their adventure had scarcely begun, since they did not know why Gobbolino's sister had sent such a piteous message, nor what kind of trouble she might be in.
"But there is nothing I can do about it till the morning," said the little wooden horse very sensibly, so he too went off to sleep.
When he woke up the cave was full of moonlight. It shone straight in from the entrance, and standing in the middle of it, looking straight at him, was Gobbolino.
The little wooden horse leapt to his feet. He thought Gobbolino must be leaving without him, taking advantage of the moonlight and not wanting to waste any more time waiting in the cave.
But Gobbolino was coming into the cave, not going out, and his face did not wear the kind and friendly expression that the little wooden horse had learnt to know so well. It wore a suspicious, rather fierce look, and he now noticed that the cat’s eyes were flashing with a green light, not blue, and that all its paws were black. It was so exactly like Gobbolino in every other way that the little wooden horse had to stare at it again and again to make sure he had not made a mistake, and this was his friend after all.
But if he had any doubts left these were quickly dispelled by a flurry of dark fur at his side. Three black paws and one white one sprang out of the shadows in a single bound, as Gobbolino’s voice cried joyfully:
"Sister! My sister Sootica!. Is it really you? Oh, sister! Sister! How glad I am to see you!"
The two cats fell upon each other, licking and purring. The green fire died down in Sootica’s eyes. She seemed overwhelmed with joy to see her brother. The cave resounded with their joyous miaows and purrs, and the little wooden horse was feeling slightly left out in the cold when suddenly Gobbolino remembered him, and proudly introduced him to his sister.
"My best, my most true and trusted friend!" he said. "I would not be here at all if it had not been for him!"
"Well, I never! Well, I never!" said Sootica, walking round and round the little wooden horse. It was quite evident that she had not seen anything like him before.
"Where do you come from?" she asked curiously. "And what are you doing here?"
"I came to help my friend Gobbolino in answering your plea," said the little wooden horse solemnly. He could not help noticing that Sootica looked perfectly healthy and able to look after herself. She did not appear harassed, or in distress, nor, in fact, in any kind of trouble at all.
"The owl brought me the message that you sent, sister!" said Gobbolino eagerly. "I started out that very same morning, and here I am! And why did you send for me, sister? Please tell me why!"
The eyes of the witchs cat half closed, and grew cunning.
"I was missing you, brother," she whined, looking at him through green slits, "I was feeling so lonesome without you! But I thought you would come by yourself! I did not expect you to bring a friend!"