Three Hundred Conkers
It starts with a little idea…
Oscar (child)“We found loads of conkers. I tried counting them but Dad moved the bag. Can the fox get three hundred? That’s loads. And one’s hiding somewhere, but he doesn’t know where.”
Fox is determined to collect three hundred conkers. He is only one away when the weather changes. Can he save his collection — and find the missing one?
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A very large number
Fox wanted three hundred conkers. Not a basketful. Not a heap. Exactly three hundred. He liked their shiny brown coats and pale round patches. He liked the little clack they made when they knocked together. Most of all, he liked counting them. All morning, conkers dropped from the horse-chestnut tree. Fox gathered every one he could find.
One more
By lunchtime, Fox had counted two hundred and ninety-nine. Mouse arrived with a leaf almost as big as herself. “Can we make a treasure trail?” she asked. “After I find the last one,” said Fox. “Please don’t move anything. I’ll lose my place.” Mouse sat beside a root. Fox searched beneath the leaves. One more. There had to be one more.
Something inside
Mouse found a green, prickly husk wedged between two roots. She nudged it with a twig. Something rattled inside. “Fox, look at this.” “In a minute,” said Fox. He was peering under a bramble. Then the wind lifted his tail. The leaves turned over, showing their pale undersides. A drop of rain landed on his nose. Then another.
The rolling begins
Rain drummed on the tree. A thin stream ran down the slope, straight towards Fox’s collection. One conker rolled. Then three. Then so many that Fox stopped counting. He tried catching them with both paws. More slipped past. “Mouse!” he called. “I need help!” Mouse tucked her prickly husk safely beneath a root and ran towards him.
A better way
“We can’t catch them all,” said Mouse. “Let’s stop the water.” Rabbit pushed a fallen branch across the little stream. Hedgehog packed leaves into the gaps. Mouse showed them where it leaked. The water curled round their dam and flowed away from the conkers. Fox spread his tail across the slope. Clack, clack, clack! The last rolling nuts stopped against it. Nobody had counted anything. But they had saved the collection.
Start again
When the rain eased, the four friends carried the conkers beneath the tree. “How will we count them now?” Fox asked. “Little groups,” said Rabbit. “Ten in each.” They made twenty-nine groups of ten, with nine conkers left over. “Two hundred and ninety-nine,” said Fox. “Still one short.” Behind Mouse, something went rattle. Fox looked down. “What have you got there?”
Three hundred
Mouse rolled the prickly husk into the middle of the circle. “It’s what I wanted to show you.” Fox pressed gently with a stick. The husk split along a little crack. Inside lay one smooth, shining conker. The missing one. “Three hundred!” Fox cried. Then he looked at Mouse. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen.” “Can we make the treasure trail now?” she asked.
Something better to count
They made a trail that curled between the trees, round a puddle and over a mossy log. Mouse chose the hiding places. Rabbit made the clues. Hedgehog guarded the treasure. Fox laid the shiny conkers along the path. He still knew exactly how many there were. But that afternoon, he counted something else as well. One mouse. One rabbit. One hedgehog. Three friends. And not one of them was missing.
An illustrated example of the experience we are developing. Talebrix is still in development; this book was not printed by the device.