“Here we are at last!” cried the two small figures, giggling.
It was a baby toad with a blue cap and a little baby mouse who hopped ceaselessly up and down. Gordon recognized them at once from the forest kindergarten.
“We’re going to be police, we too!” squeaked the baby mouse.
“We crept here very quietly,” said the baby toad.
Hmm, thought Gordon, I could hear you all the time. But he said nothing.
He slowly got out of bed and asked the two young ones to turn around while he got dressed and put on his police hat.
“Good morning, small police!” he said happily when he was ready, and he gave them a salute.
The baby toad answered with a salute, but he used the wrong hand. The little mouse went on hopping up and down in excitement.
“Good morning, big police!” squeaked the baby mouse.
Gordon had an idea. He remembered how poorly he’d done recently at interrogating children. He hadn’t really understood them, that time the two little ones had disappeared. Now he had a chance to talk to some children and get to know them better. What if he could start a school, a small police school…
“Very good, small police!” said Gordon, stretching. “The first lessons of the small police school will begin in ten minutes. And we’ll carry on till tomorrow. But first of all, small police must run home and ask their mothers if they are allowed to sleep overnight…”
The two of them disappeared in a flash.
“…and then they must come back here,” Gordon continued to himself. “It will be good, Buffy, if I train some new police for the future. Small police, I mean.”
Buffy said nothing. She sat quite still, looking down at the papers on the desk. She felt very dark inside.
Gordon filled his mouth with special cakes: apple muffins with caramel toffee. And he started to walk back and forth across the floor.
“Gruff gruff creeping, gruff gruff guard watching,” he muttered and a few toffee crumbs flew from his mouth. “Hmm, salutes! That’s it!”
He had been planning lessons. And exactly then his two police students returned, each carrying a backpack.
Their parents had given them permission.
“Mama has put pajamas and a toothbrush in my pack,” said the young toad, whose name was Sune.
“I have to wash before I go to bed, my mother says,” said the small baby mouse called Gertrude. “My mother’s so nice! She gave me cheese sandwiches too.”
Buffy seemed to sniff again and her head fell a little towards her chest.
Hmm, thought Gordon.
“My name is Detective Gordon.” He showed which hand to use for salute.
“My name is Sune,” said the baby toad, doing a very good salute.
“Police Student Sune,” Gordon corrected.
“Police Student Gertrude,” said the small mouse, saluting even as she jumped up and down.
“Do not hop when you are doing a salute!” said Gordon, and Gertrude stopped hopping.
After that they made a tour of the forest. They followed paths and saluted everyone they met. All the mice and frogs were very surprised to find the police force marching around their paths.
On their way back they chorused: “Good morning, ma’am, how can we help you?” to every surprised crow or mouse they met.
Lesson number one was finished; both students had managed it excellently.
The next lecture was about creeping.
“You absolutely must not giggle and you should not walk on rustly leaves,” said Gordon.
The little ones crept three, four times around the house. Then they were given the task of spying on an old rabbit limping along the path. Where was he going?
A quarter of an hour later the police students returned to the police station.
“He went home,” Gertrude and Sune reported. “He walked really slowly.”
Then there was a lesson in how to watch a hole.
“I have certainly watched a few holes in my time,” said Gordon, shivering at the thought. “You have to sit completely still, and stare at the hole with ever lasting patience.”
Gertrude and Sune watched a woodpecker’s hole in a tree. After an hour’s intent staring they had fulfilled their task. They were patient police students, you’d have to agree.
The last lesson of the day was about daring to investigate deep crannies. The students were each given a searchlight, and told to find a cranny and creep down into it. Off they went.
Gordon felt rather tired and lay down on his bed to rest his legs a little. Sadly, he fell asleep and dreamed about a cake his mother had baked. Not sadly that he dreamed about the cake, but sadly that he fell asleep while the young ones were out looking in crannies.
He didn’t wake until the dirty youngsters came back to report that they had investigated twenty crannies, which were all completely empty, although very earthy.
Yawn. “Bravo,” said Gordon. “Then we must make you small hats. With gold stars.”
Buffy was still sitting at the desk, her head hanging and her eyes blank. She didn’t seem to notice the others. The young ones spun her around in her chair, while she sat completely stiff and still.
Gordon took out a piece of thick blue paper, scissors and glue. The young ones set about making police hats for themselves. On the front they stuck a star cut out of gold paper.
“Write WE ARE ALL POLICE! on the gold stars,” said Gordon.
The little ones each grabbed a pen and scribbled on the stars.
Of course, thought Gordon, they can’t write yet.
Then the young police continued to cut out blue hats and gold stars. It was so much fun that they didn’t stop until they had made twenty-five. There were a whole lot of extra police hats. Gertrude put them in her backpack.
“How clever you are!” said Gordon.
Then he came to thinking about Buffy, who had rolled her chair back into the corner. How was she? She didn’t usually sit still so long, thinking.
“How are things, Buffy?”
“My mother’s gone!” Buffy said quietly.
Suddenly her eyes filled and tears fell straight down her cheeks.
