The Meadow Series

© 2014 The Meadow Series. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/14/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6546-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6970-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014904112

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Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

# 1 SERIES

Chapter One

THE MEADOW

THE EXCITING SUMMER

Phyllis and Luke, the prairie dog couple, (who lived in the corner of the field) spent the morning searching for food. They noticed the other families breakfasting, and stopped to visit a moment, and say hello. Fine morning, said Luke to a neighbor close by. Very fine, was the return statement. Luke and Phyllis walked a little further on, eating and enjoying the sunshine.

Hey neighbor, said a familiar voice. Luke looked up, and saw Jimmy the postman coming toward him. Got a letter here for you, he said, handing Luke the letter. Then he turned to Phyllis. Mother Rabbit said come over on Sunday, she has the new quilt finished. Phyllis looked excited. Thank you very much Jimmy, have some breakfast? Jimmy shook his head. Already had mine. Well, got to be going, mail to deliver. He waved as he walked away, across the meadow. Oh Luke, isn’t it wonderful that Mother Rabbit would make a quilt for the babies? Luke grunted and went on with his eating. The place where the Prairie dogs lived would be what people called Prairie Dog Town.

Phyllis had left her little ones in their soft, warm beds deep in the burrow. Their home underground was spacious, and a tunnel led outward, then upward to the opening above. The door to their burrow was surrounded by brush, which made not only a good concealment, but was a very good source of food.

The seeds were very tasty, and filling. One parent always stayed close by the opening, while the other one might roam a little farther out in search of food. They knew the danger of roaming too far away from the safety of their home. All of the little folk in Prairie Dog town knew the dangers, and taught their children the rules of survival. Phyllis was a good mother, but she was also of a very curious mind. She loved the scents brought to her by the breezes of the good earthy smells and the fresh flowers that grew over the meadow. But sometimes there were smells she was not quite familiar with and her curiosity would get the best of her and she would have to follow her nose.

Luke, her husband, often had to remind her of the dangers of roaming to far from their home. Then Phyllis would return and try to be a good obedient wife. On this particular morning it paid to be safe, for there was danger above them. Talon, the Great Eagle, was circling overhead, also looking for food, which wasn’t seeds! His eyes were sharp and he could see in the far distance, but he had not yet spotted Phyllis and Luke, who at this moment were not moving around. They had found a nice bunch of seeds just under the bush closest to their opening. Out over the Prairie Dog town, all the other little folk were scurrying to their burrows. They had seen Talon and were getting out of sight, for they knew what the eagle liked to eat. Phyllis moved from under the bush toward a bunch of seeds that had fallen to the ground. As she ate she wandered farther and farther away.

Talon saw Phyllis just as Luke spotted Talon. Luke started running toward Phyllis as the eagle soared down on her.

Phyllis, look above you! Run! Luke yelled. But Phyllis didn’t hear Luke, she just kept eating. Then the eagle’s shadow came across the ground in front of her. She looked up and saw the danger right over her head. Phyllis started to run back to the burrow, Luke was running toward her as fast as his legs would go… Help! cried Phyllis, somebody help me! She was frantic. The eagle was almost touching her as she ran across the ground. From all directions came prairie dogs, running straight at the eagle, yelling and banging on pans and throwing rocks at him. They were making all the noise they could. Talon was confused, he didn’t know just what was going on. All he knew was it was something he didn’t like. He soared off up in the air, away from the clatter, deciding he could get easier food somewhere else. Phyllis was shaking and crying, so shook up she couldn’t control herself. That was close, someone said. The danger is gone now Phyllis, said another. Phyllis looked up at her good friends. Thank you all so much, if you had not come running out when you did, he would have gotten me for sure. Again she shuddered. Phyllis, are you alright, did he hurt you?" ask Luke.

I’m OK. said Phyllis, he didn’t hurt me. Luke put his arm around her and took her indoors. He stopped at the door. Thank you so much, you saved her life, we will never forget that. Jimmy nodded, We’re just glad she is OK. Luke." Then they all walked back to their homes, and went indoors. They had had enough excitement for one day. Phyllis had been lucky, but it could have been any one of them. They would have to be very careful.

In the trees, across the meadow, sat two self important birds. An odd pair actually, Gypsy, the magpie, and Rose, the blue jay. These two ladies just loved to fly into other folks business and then fly out again, across the far meadows spreading news, which much more than not wasn’t anything that could be of any use to anyone, unless of course they were gossips themselves. Needless to say, these two were not very popular with their neighbors. But being unpopular didn’t discourage these two, not at all. Even at this moment they sat in a big cottonwood tree, discussing the tidbits of news they had gathered that very morning. Would you believe it, said Rose, this very morning Mother Rabbit received a visitor, and everyone thought she would never be interested in marrying again. Gypsy nodded. and did you hear about that silly Phyllis almost getting herself eaten up by Eagle? She giggled, just to think her husband has to look after her, just like he would a child. Rose tilted back her head and laughed. Boy, wait till all the forest folk hear what we discovered this morning. Oh yes, they had really been busy flying all over the meadow and forest until they finally felt they had found something worthy of their attention. But they had worn out their welcome at Digger, the badger, who lived at the edge of the marsh. He had threatened to pull out their feathers and drag them up the hill and throw them over if they ever came back around him. Digger was a very fussy, grouchy old bachelor, who didn’t much like folk and never invited any company. He stayed to himself and minded his own business and never had much to say to anybody.

Oh yes, there is one very important person we must not forget to mention. Important to all of the forest and meadow folk. Mr. Telemore, the wise old owl, who lived in the hollow of a big Sycamore tree, at the edge of the marsh. Anytime anyone had a problem they couldn’t solve, or if they just needed advise, they came to Mr. Telemore. Now, Mr. Telemore was very wise and he knew everything about EVERYTHING! All of the forest and meadow folk respected and admired him. He had even solved a few disputes over Gypsy and Rose. That was quite a