Mole wanted to meet Mr. Badger for a long time. Everyone said Mr. Badger was very important. He was a famous animal, but he stayed hidden. Mole asked Water Rat to take him to visit Mr. Badger. Water Rat always said no.
Water Rat said, "Mr. Badger will come here one day. He is a good fellow, but you must wait." Mole asked to invite Mr. Badger to dinner. Water Rat said Mr. Badger would not come. Mr. Badger did not like parties or dinners.
"Can we go to his house?" asked Mole. Water Rat was worried. He said Mr. Badger was very shy. Mr. Badger lived in the middle of the Wild Wood. Water Rat did not want to go there.
Summer ended and winter came. The river was very full and fast. No one could use a boat. Water Rat slept a lot during the winter. He wrote poetry and talked to friends by the fire.
The animals talked about the beautiful summer. They remembered the flowers by the river. They remembered the warm sun and the morning swims. Mole had a lot of free time. One afternoon, Water Rat was sleeping in his chair.
Mole decided to go to the Wild Wood alone. He wanted to find Mr. Badger. The sky was grey and cold. The trees had no leaves. Mole walked into the Wild Wood.
At first, the wood was not scary. Mole saw old logs and strange mushrooms. But then it became dark. Everything was very still. Then Mole saw the faces.
A small, mean face looked at him from a hole. It was a weasel (a small animal with a long body and sharp teeth). Then the face disappeared. Mole walked faster. He saw another face with mean eyes.
Suddenly, there were faces in every hole. All the animals in the wood looked at Mole. They did not like him. Mole left the path and ran into the deep woods. Then he heard the whistling.
It was a sharp, loud sound. It was behind him and then in front of him. Then he heard the sound of feet. Pat-pat-pat. Many little feet were running toward him.
A rabbit ran past Mole. The rabbit looked very scared. "Get out of here!" the rabbit shouted. Mole began to run too. He fell over old trees and hit his head.
Mole found a big old tree with a hole in it. He hid inside the tree. He was very scared. He stayed in the dry leaves and listened to the whistling. This was the Terror of the Wild Wood.
Water Rat woke up by his fire. He looked for Mole but the house was quiet. He saw that Mole’s cap was gone. Mole’s goloshes (rubber shoes that keep feet dry) were also gone. Water Rat saw Mole's tracks in the mud.
The tracks went straight to the Wild Wood. Water Rat was very worried. He put on a belt with two pistols (small guns used for protection). He took a big, heavy stick. He ran to the Wild Wood.
The wood was dark. Mean faces looked at Water Rat. But they saw his stick and his guns. They stayed in their holes. Water Rat shouted, "Mole! Mole! Where are you?"
Water Rat looked for an hour. Finally, he heard a small cry. He found Mole inside the old tree. Mole was very happy to see his friend. "I was so scared, Water Rat!" Mole cried.
"I understand," Water Rat said. "You should not come here alone. We river animals always come here in groups. You must know the secrets and the passwords of the wood. If you were a badger (a strong animal with grey fur and a white stripe on its face), you would be safe."
"Would Toad come here alone?" Mole asked. Water Rat laughed. He said Toad was too scared to come here. Mole felt better and he stopped shaking.
Mole was too tired to walk home. He slept in the leaves for a while. When he woke up, it was snowing. The snow covered everything in the wood. It was very beautiful but they were lost.
They walked for a long time in the snow. They were very tired and wet. They sat on an old tree to rest. "We must keep moving," Water Rat said. "The snow is very deep and it is very cold."
They went down into a small valley. They looked for a cave or a dry hole. Suddenly, Mole fell and hurt his leg. "Oh, my leg!" Mole cried. He had a deep cut on his skin.
Water Rat looked at the cut. It was a clean cut. "A tree did not do this," Water Rat said. "This was done by a piece of metal." Water Rat began to dig in the snow with his paws.
Mole was impatient. "Come on, Water Rat!" he said. Suddenly, Water Rat shouted "Hooray!" He found a door-scraper (a piece of metal used to clean mud from shoes).
"Why are you happy about a door-scraper?" Mole asked. He thought Water Rat was crazy. "It is just a piece of trash."
"Don't you understand?" Water Rat asked. He kept digging. Soon, he found a door-mat. Mole still thought it was just rubbish. He wanted to go home.
"Dig!" Water Rat shouted. They both worked hard in the snow. Ten minutes later, they found something. It was a small green door. There was a bell and a small plate.
The plate said: MR. BADGER.
Mole was very surprised. "Water Rat, you are a wonder!" Mole cried. "You are so clever. You saw my cut and you knew a door was near. You are a genius!"
"Don't just talk," Water Rat said. "Pull the bell!" Mole pulled the bell and Water Rat hit the door with his stick. They heard a loud bell ring deep inside the ground.