The wood moot

As he said these very words something passed through the wood like a sudden puff of wind, the leaves all trembled and whispered but no breeze moved them.
Wanda sniffed the air.
“Trouble.” She announced even though she didn’t have the faintest idea how she knew.
Griff and Niff both raised their noses and scented the air, the Hyoomin was absolutely right, the air was full of trouble.
“Oh my.” Niff murmured.
Wanda’s ears twitched, they really did twitch, as she heard a thin high call.
“They’re calling a wood moot.”
Two pairs of furry ears swivelled back and forth and they heard the shrill summons, someone was calling all the woodland creatures to a moot.
“We’ve got to go.” Wanda said decisively and turned around to bound away down the little animal trackway in great long liquid leaps.
“Hey ! Wait for us.” Niff squeaked and leapt after her.
“Oh crumbs.” Griff muttered before he pursued the other two. “Oh crumbs.”
Oh crumbs indeed. Griff had realised that despite the fact that Wanda was now quite weasely she was still a Hyoomin, looked like a Hyoomin, and more importantly, smelled like a Hyoomin.

Wanda was so delighted with the ease with which she could run in such long loping strides and with the way she could smell a million smells and hear a billion little noises that she quite forgot that she was a human and that she was about to gatecrash a wood moot.
She leapt over a grumpy badger who was giving a vixen a dressing down for bringing her noisy cubs to the moot and landed in the centre of the little bowl where all the woodland animals had gathered at the call of a very plump dormouse. Dozens of eyes widened in surprise, dozens of noses noisily sniffed at her and dozens and dozens of whiskers twitched in great agitation.
“Hyoomin.” The word was repeated over and over again around the ring of animals as they stared and glared at her.
“Er, hello.” Wanda said a little fearfully as she saw all the raised hackles about her.
“What are you doing here Hyoomin ?” A large sleek fox demanded to know as it looked down at her.
“I…”
“She’s with us !” Niff called out from the rear of the encircling animals.
“Gangway !” Griff demanded and nipped the surly badger to get him to move.
The two weasels skimmed under the fox and stopped on either side of Wanda looking out pugnaciously at their fellow woodland creatures.

“She’s with us.” Niff repeated to the fox.
“Indeed.” The fox murmured silkily and took a step forward to loom over the trio.
“Weasels is as weasels does.” Griff stated and pointed a claw at the fox. “So watch it Redpaw.”
“Are you threatening me Griff ?” Redpaw the fox sneered.
“Remindin’ you Redpaw.” Griff retorted. “This Hyoomin is Wanda and right now she’s weasel by wood mud magic, so you be polite.”
Redpaw took a step back, even he respected an animal that could cast wood mud magic.
“Apologies…Wanda.” He said and bowed his head.
“Accepted.” Wanda replied nervously and bowed back to the fox.
“Manners maketh the Hyoomin.” Redpaw commented upon seeing the bow and the air in the moot lightened as they all observed the Hyoomin being polite. “Please join the circle Wanda, Griff, Niff.”
A space was made for them between a group of rabbits and two very fat toads.
“The moot recognises Eeks.” Redpaw announced and the dormouse scampered into the centre of the dell.
“The Killer has returned.” It said in its high squeaky voice.
For a moment there was silence and then a great babble as every animal voiced its opinion at once. Wanda looked around and clamped her hands over her ears to block out the racket, what was the killer ?
The hubbub suddenly quietened at the dormouse’ gesture for silence and it turned to face Wanda.
“Your killer.” It pronounced as though passing judgement on her.