"It was a chilly morning at the end of autumn." "A cold grey mist hung in the silent air." "Wilfred hurried towards the Weavers' cottage." "He'd woken up from a dream about exploring." "A dream which reminded him of a book the Weavers had." "Thank you, Primrose." " That's four blankets." " I'm finishing number five." " So this one will make six." " We can't match the yellow." "But we've used up the special lichen." "And no other dye comes close." "I don't know how to find more." "It grows in the mountains." "But only Great-Grandpa Blackthorn could find it." " (Knocking )" " Oh, er... come in!" " Hello, everybody!" " Hello, Wilfred!" " Have you come to help?" " Help?" "We're making blankets for the voles." "The moths have made holes in all their quilts." "And they've no time to make new ones before winter." " Um..." "What can I do?" " Nothing, really." " We've nearly finished." " Oh, good." "May I read "Daring Explorers Of Old Hedge Days" ?" " Again?" " Here it is." ""One famous explorer was Sir Hogweed Horehound."" ""He set off alone to look for gold in the High Hills."" " Hello!" "Hello, Grandpa!" "There you are, Papa." "Flax is working on the last blanket." "Good." "We must leave soon to get to the High Hills before dark." " It's a very long way." " The High Hills?" "Oh, Mr Apple, may I go too?" "Please?" "It's not for me to say, Wilfred." "We'll have to ask your parents." "Oh, may I go too?" "Please?" " Well..." " Please, please, please!" "All right." "You may go." "As long as you're helpful and do as Mr Apple says!" "I will, Mum!" "Thank you!" "( Snores )" "OK, I've got my rope, whistle, firesticks, groundsheet..." " What do you need a kettle for?" " As Sir Hogweed says..." "" A good explorer takes all he needs to survive an adventure."" "Survive an adventure?" "!" "You're taking blankets to the voles." "But we're going into the High Hills!" "I'm off!" " Is Wilfred coming?" " Here I am!" "Wilfred, do you really need all that...equipment?" " It looks terribly heavy." " Leave some behind." "But..." "I must take everything!" "How can I be an explorer without my pack?" "Oh, all right." "But don't ask anyone else to carry anything." "Goodbye, Wilfred." "Take care, son." "Bye-bye, Wilfred." "Passing the Store, he wondered what adventures he'd have." "Maybe we'll be cut off by a rockslide, or chased by an owl." "Wilfred!" "This way!" "Sorry, Mr Apple!" "As they got to the Old Oak Palace," "Wilfred decided to write a book about his explorations." ""The High Hills:" "My Mountain Adventure."" "At last they reached the stones crossing the stream." " Steady, Wilfred!" "Thanks, Mr Apple." " Lunch?" " Yes, please!" " Whoaaa!" " You know, Wilfred..." "You can leave some of that here and pick it up on the way back." "No, thank you." "As an explorer, I must be prepared for anything." "( Groans )" "All right." "Have it your way." "Are we prepared to start climbing?" "The sooner we leave the bottom, the sooner we get to the top!" "Thank you, Mr Apple." "When the mice set off again the path became steeper... and steeper." "Oh, look at that!" "Yes." "We don't call these the High Hills for nothing." "By tea-time it was getting dark and cold and the hills around were shrouded in mist." "Wilfred didn 't want to admit it, but he was feeling tired." "(Panting ) Look!" "A light!" "(Delighted gasps )" "Coming!" "Pip!" "Fancy you climbing all this way with a bad leg!" "We couldn't leave you without blankets now, could we?" " Come in!" " Come on in!" "Come right in!" "Let's get you sat down in front of the fire." "Anybody want any more?" "This is the best bilberry soup I've ever tasted!" "(Yawns ) It's delicious!" "This way, young mouse." "Before you fall asleep in the bread basket!" " There you go." "That's it!" " (Yawns )" "Will you wake me up at dawn so we can go exploring?" "Oh no, no." "I think we all deserve a lie-in." "And then after breakfast, we'll head back home." "(Yawns )" " Sweet dreams." " 'Head back home?" "!" "'Lf I'm going to be an explorer I must do some exploring.'" "(Yawns ) But how?" "When dawn crept over the hillside, there was no sign of life in the cottage." "Only when the sun was well up did voles and mice stir." "O-ho!" "The sun's out!" "It's a hard life up here in the hills." "But we wouldn't want it any other way." "It would be nicer if it didn't get so cold." "And in the mist we're quite cut off." "Wilfred tried to work up the courage to ask if they'd ever gone exploring or found gold." " Erm..." " Mmm!" "Another delicious meal." "J ust what we needed to send us on our way." " Time to get back to work." " But..." "Mrs Eyebright will be wanting her blanket." " We haven't even started it!" " But..." " Very kind, all those blankets." " Very thoughtful." "They'll keep the cold out." " Aren't we going exploring?" " Sorry." "We must get back." "But you don't have to get back, Mr Apple." "Well, I do, but not..." "Can't we do a little bit of exploring?" "Please?" "J ust a little." "There are junipers beyond the crag." "Mrs Apple loves junipers!" "Let's find some for her." " Please?" " Ohh..." " (Laughs ) Why not?" " Yes!" " Goodbye, then." "And thank you." " Take care." " Goodbye, now." " Bye." "Wilfred!" "At last!" "I get to do some real exploring!" "Now, which way is the wind blowing?" "Hmm." "The wind isn't blowing." "So that means I'd better go...this way." "I wonder how real explorers walk?" "Like this!" " Wilfred?" " This way, Mr Apple!" "" 'My Mountain Adventure" , by Wilfred Toadflax." "It was a sunny day when I started my explorations." "Hmm." "I wonder what's up there." "( Gasps ) Wilfred!" "Wait for me!" "Wow!" "What's this?" "( Gasps ) Gold!" "(Mr Apple ) Wilfred!" " Come down from there!" " Mr Apple!" "I've found gold!" "Don't be silly." "There's no gold." "Come down at once!" " I can't!" " Are you sure?" " Positive!" " Right, then don't move." " I'll come up and get you." " (Frightened cries )" "Oh, I really am much too old for this." "Slowly..." "One paw at a time." "And don't look down." "Be careful, Mr Apple!" "It's all right, Wilfred." "I'm almost there." " Here we are." " Now what?" "Now we find an easier place to climb down." "Follow me." "Ohh!" "Be careful how you go." "I bet this happens to real explorers all the time." "I'm sure it does." "But don't think about that now." "J ust think about putting one paw in front of the other." "Oh, no!" "This is just what we need!" "If we had some rope, we could tie ourselves together." "I've got some rope!" "Essential equipment in my pack." "Very good, Wilfred!" "Now, turn to the rock face and we'll ease our way along." "One paw at a time." "Lily!" "Flax!" "You're back!" "Where are Grandpa and Wilfred?" "They stayed behind." "Wilfred wanted to do some exploring." " They'll be back after dark." " Oh, good." "I'll watch for them." "Primrose would be watching for a long time." "Her grandfather and Wilfred were nowhere near home." " At least we can see now." " But it won't do us any good." "I have absolutely no idea where we are." " You don't?" " No." "Wilfred..." "We're going to have to spend the night on the mountain." "( Groans in pain )" "Let's hope there's some place nearby to camp." "Even though Wilfred knew it would be cold and dark, and even though he knew Mr Apple was not enthusiastic, he couldn 't help but be excited." "He was going to camp out." "Just like a real explorer!" "Yes." "I think this will do." "It's perfect!" " If only we could make a fire." " We can!" "Essential equipment, remember?" " (Lord Woodmouse ) Primrose?" " Over here." "What are you doing?" "Waiting for Grandpa and Wilfred." "It's very dark now." "They probably came home a different way." "And are sitting next to the fire in the cottage while we're freezing our tails off." "Why didn't I think of that?" "Let's go!" "I'm glad that your essential equipment included food." "All I had were two sandwiches the voles gave us." "It was in Sir Hogmead's book." "It told me all about essentials." "I think you're the most essential thing around here." "Will you tell me the story about how you got your limp?" "Oh, Wilfred." "You've heard that one a thousand times." "It happened when you were exploring." "I went off on my own." "Though they warned me not to." " Because of the weasel." " You saw it." "And didn't run." "That was my first mistake." "You were trying to chase it away from Brambly Hedge." "That was my second mistake." "But I didn't realise it until I felt its teeth on my leg." "But you got away!" "Mr Apple, you must have been awfully brave." "And now..." "I'm awfully tired." "So the two mice crawled into their little cave." "The only sound they could hear was the murmur of a stream that ran through the valley below like a silver ribbon." "( Owl hoots )" "Whoever could that be at this time of night?" "Sorry to bother you, but..." "Grandpa and Wilfred aren't back." "Did they tell you about a change of plan?" "No." "Perhaps they did more exploring than they meant to." " And stayed with the voles." " See?" "No need to worry." "And no matter what, Wilfred is in safe paws with Pip." "We should go to bed." "If they're not back tomorrow, let's decide then on any action." "Mr Apple!" "Look!" "The mist's gone!" "And there's a path down the mountain!" "( Groans ) We'll have to take it slowly." "My leg is..." " Is very sore." " Here, put some of this on it." " What is it?" " Ointment." " Part of the..." " Essential equipment." "(Laughs ) I should have known." "When they didn 't return, Mr and Mrs Toadflax, Mrs Apple," "Lord Woodmouse and Primrose went to look for them." "Flax and Lily showed the way." " I hope they're all right." " Of course they are!" "Pip is experienced." "He'll be taking good care of Wilfred." " Are you all right, Mr Apple?" " ( Grunts and groans )" "It's funny how it's harder going down than it was going up." "Here." "Let me help." "( Groans )" "I'm sorry, Wilfred." "But I can't go any further." " Are you sure?" " ( Groans ) Positive." "But I can't go on and just leave you here." "And anyway, I don't know where "here" is." "This is all my fault." "If only we hadn't gone exploring." "What are we going to do?" " Is this the way you went ?" " Yes." "Then we crossed the stream at the stepping stones." "Meanwhile, high up in the hills..." "The way I see it, we can't go back and we can't go forward." "( Groans )" "That pretty much sums it up, Wilfred." "Wait a minute!" "I'm afraid I'm going to have to wait longer than that." "I've got it!" "We'll sail down the stream!" " We'll what down the what?" "!" " We'll sail down the stream!" "We'll make a raft." "J ust like real explorers." " It'll be great!" " (Laughs ) I'm sure it will." "I'm sure it will." "( Grunts )" "Come on, Grandma." "Let's go!" "Not too fast now, Primrose!" "( Grunts )" "There!" "What do you think, Mr Apple?" "I think Sir Hogweed Horehound would have been proud." " Really?" " Really, Wilfred." " Ready?" " Ready!" "( Grunts )" "Whooo!" " Watch out!" " Aagghh!" "Waagghh!" "Hang on, Wilfred!" "(Laughter )" "This is fun!" "(Laughs )" "I climbed a rock and looked and I still didn't see them!" " ( Gasps ) What's that?" " Hold on a minute." "There." " It's a hat!" " ( Gasps ) It's Wilfred's!" " I made it for his birthday." " Oh, no!" " What could have happened?" " You don't think...?" "(Wilfred, faintly ) Whooaaa!" "Wait a minute!" "Did you hear that?" " Whooo!" " ( Gasps )" "It sounds..." "like Wilfred!" " Oh, Wilfred!" " Look!" "Primrose!" "It is Wilfred!" "Wilfred!" "Grandpa!" "( Owl hoots )" "We never would have made it if it hadn't been for Wilfred." " Thank you, Wilfred." " It's all right, Mr Apple." "It was my fault for climbing and looking for gold." " And I found some!" " Did you?" "Let me look." " Where is it?" " Wilfred, that's not gold!" " It's not?" " No." "But it's just as valuable!" " Have a look, Lily!" " Oh, Wilfred!" "You found some of the lichen!" "The dye we use for our wool." "It's very, very rare." "And we'd completely run out." "Wilfred, this is better than gold!" "(Laughs )" "(Lily ) Oh, Wilfred!" "(Mr Apple ) Well done!" " What adventure!" " Next time, I'm going too!"