Saturday morning and no school for two whole days! The sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing high up in the tree tops and Timmy and Tommy Mouse were playing in their garden. Hearing the sound of a little bell tinkling, the two brothers looked down the lane and saw Mrs Squirrel coming along on her bicycle; she was going to the village shop to buy some nice fresh nuts.

She stopped when she saw Timmy and Tommy Mouse, and said, "Good morning boys, lovely day, isn't it?  I am sure Cyril would love to come out and play with you. When I came out, he was still fast asleep, so you had better knock on the door very loudly," she said, with a little chuckle. "I think his first week at school has quite tired him out."

Now that surprised Timmy and Tommy Mouse, because Cyril the Squirrel hated staying in bed; he liked to be out in the sunshine, it didn't matter how tired he was.

"If you can't wake him up when you knock on the door, you had better shout out his name. Very loudly!"

Mrs Squirrel pedaled away to the shops, and Timmy and Tommy Mouse walked off down the lane to the tree house where Cyril lived. Tommy went up to the door and banged so loudly, the tree shook!

"That will wake him up!" he said, and stood back looking up at Cyril's bedroom window.

"He's taking a long time," said Timmy.  With a big grin, he went over and banged on the door even louder than Tommy did.

"I know, let's throw a pebble up to his window, and we can shout his name as well. That must surely wake him up."  Tommy bent down and picked up a few small pebbles; he didn't want big ones, because they might smash the window and Mrs Squirrel would be very cross with them.
The pebbles rattled the window, and Timmy and Tommy shouted and shouted, until...

"What's all that noise?"  A very unhappy Cyril leaned out the window and stared at his friends. "What's the time?"

"It's very late," said Tommy.  "Why are you still in bed?  Get up, you old sleepy-head and come down and open the door."

Now, Cyril wasn't feeling very well. His head hurt and his eyes didn't want to stay open, and his long bushy tail just didn't bristle like it normally did.  He felt awful!  But he went downstairs and opened the door.

"Oh, Cyril!"  Timmy and Tommy Mouse stared at their friend. "What have you done to your face?  It is covered in big spots!"

Cyril touched his face and felt the spots. His eyes opened wide; he was suddenly very frightened.

"Oh dear!  Oh dear!  What has happened to me?  What are all these spots?  Where is my Mum?"  Cyril the Squirrel was so upset.  "They are on my arms too, look!"  he cried out even louder.

Just then, Mrs Squirrel cycled up the lane and smiled when she saw her little boy standing there, covered in spots.

"Don't worry," she told her son, "you have got chickenpox.  I have just met Mrs Mole; she told me Millie woke up this morning with the spots on her face.  The doctor said it was only chickenpox and they would soon go away."

Cyril's eyes got bigger and bigger, "Chickenpox!  Am I going to turn into a chicken?"  He was so shocked by what his mum had told him.  Even Timmy and Tommy looked worried.

Mrs Squirrel laughed, she nearly cried because she was laughing so much. "Of course you won't  be a chicken, silly!"  She went over and gave him a big hug.  "It's just a name for the spots. But it spreads very fast," she told him, looking at Timmy and Tommy.  "So you two had better be going home.   You can come and play with Cyril when his spots are all gone."

As Timmy and Tommy Mouse were about to walk away, Tommy stopped and looked at Cyril,  "We will see you soon.  Get better quickly."

Cyril looked so unhappy, but he put on a very brave smile, "I hope it doesn't take too long."  He looked up at his mummy as she ushered him indoors, and waved goodbye to his friends.

As the boys walked away, they heard Mrs Squirrel say to Cyril, "Come along now, it won't be long before you are back out there playing with your friends again."
  "Let's go and see if Reggie the Rat can play with us?"  Timmy Mouse said,  "He should be okay, then we could go down to Popsicorn Bog."

"Good idea." Tommy replied.

It wasn't far down the lane to get to Reggie the Rat's house.  When they got there they saw Mrs Rat in the garden hanging up her washing on the washing line.

"Good morning, Mrs Rat," they both said politely. "We have come to see if Reggie can come out to play with us."

Mrs Rat finished putting the last peg onto the sheet she was hanging on the clothes line, and then turned to the two boys.

"I am afraid Reggie can't play today, he has caught the chickenpox. You had better go home."

"We could try Vickie the Vole,"  Timmy suggested.  But they began to think she might have it too. Sure enough, when they knocked on Vickie the Vole's door, Mrs Vole opened it.
  
"Oh dear, no."  She shook her head.  "Vickie has chickenpox; she won't be out today.  I think you should both go home!"

By now, Timmy and Tommy Mouse were beginning to feel very miserable.

"Everyone is telling us to go home!" moaned Tommy. "It has given me a headache."

"Me too!" sighed Timmy. "I think I want to go home now, anyway."

They both wandered down the lane, both really unhappy that their lovely weekend was now ruined. When they got to their gate, their mum was waiting for them.

"Come on, you two. It's off to bed for a couple of days. I see you have caught the chickenpox too!"

"What a horrible weekend," they both moaned, as they gladly climbed the stairs up to bed.