Urchin and the Raven War Read Online Free Page B

care for each other.”
    Large tears formed in Catkin’s eyes. “But that’s all I try to do!” she protested. “I only try to help! I’m not bossy!” She looked at Crispin and Cedar in turn, hoping that they would say, “Of course you’re not!” but they didn’t, so she looked at Sepia, who took her paw.
    “You never mean any harm,” said Sepia gently. “We know you only want to look after other animals, we just want you to know the best way to go about it. And sometimes, Princess, it’s best to leave them alone.”
    A fat tear rolled down Catkin’s cheek.
    “I try to do everything right,” she said, and sniffed. Sepia took a pawful of petals from a dish and offered them to her. Catkin dried her eyes and looked up at her parents with reproach in her pink-rimmed eyes, pouting dramatically. “It’s not easy being a princess.”
    Cedar looked down at her paws to hide a smile. Crispin knelt on the floor beside Catkin and hugged her.
    “I wouldn’t know,” he said. “I’ve never been a princess. But I think you’re a very nice one.”
    Catkin wriggled free. “You’re laughing at me!” she said. “Nobody on this island has ever been a princess, so nobody can tell me what it’s supposed to be like!”
    Crispin realized that she was right about this. “She has a point there,” he admitted.
    “Just be yourself, Catkin,” said Cedar.
    “But I don’t know what that is,” said Catkin, in a much smaller voice than usual. “I want to be a really good princess—I mean, I want to be a very good whatever I am, but I never get the chance. I want to do—you mustn’t laugh—something really brave, and special, and noble, and exciting !” She looked her father in the eyes. “Everyone’s always talking about the things you did, riding a swan and fighting Lord Husk, and all that stuff with Whitewings, and then the floods—and you, Mum, you did all those really dangerous, exciting things when you lived on Whitewings. And you saved animals when there was fouldrought. And Urchin and Needle, and you, Sepia! You rescued me when I was a baby! Wasn’t that exciting?”
    “I don’t remember being excited,” said Sepia. “Just very frightened.”
    “All the same,” said Catkin, “you’ve all done wonderful, scary, dangerous things, and I don’t get the chance, because you’ve done the exciting things already!”
    “Your parents have made this island a safe place to live,” said Sepia. “I don’t think you’d like it if it were different.”
    “Yes, but it’s so safe I never get to do anything really special!” wailed Catkin.
    “Of course you do!” said Cedar.
    “I mean, really special! Hero sort of special! Daddy, you’re laughing at me!”
    Crispin bit hard on the inside of his lip before answering. “No, darling, I’m not.”
    Catkin looked at him suspiciously, but went on. “The only adventure I ever had was being stolen when I was a baby, and I was too little to do anything about it. I can never go anywhere on my own for long. I want to do things for myself, by myself. Big, brave things.”
    “Most of life is doing little things,” said Cedar gently, “and doing them really well.”
    “They might be little brave things,” said Crispin.
    “I’m sick of little things,” snapped Catkin. “I wish I were a Voyager; then I could go anywhere. A Voyager can go away through the mists and come back again as much as they like.”
    She didn’t know why she’d said that. There had only been three Voyagers in the entire history of the island, and none of them had been squirrels. It wasn’t fair. She wrinkled her nose again and scowled. Crispin looked at her, and went on looking at her. She tried to keep the scowl on her face, but couldn’t—a smile was growing inside her, and she couldn’t hold it back, so she covered her face with her paws and found that the smile was too big for her, and she was laughing. She tolerated a hug.
    “We’ll have to think hard about this, Catkin,