"I say, Mole, what's say we go visit Badger? Before the first snow?" Toad asked one chilly evening as he and Mole were finishing their tea.
"Oh, yes, we haven't seen him in a few weeks." Mole said, smiling.
"What about Rat?" He asked.
"Oh, you know Rat. He's probably getting his precious boat ready for winter. We'll be just fine without him."
"But suppose the weasels-"
"Stuff and nonsense. They shouldn't be a bother. They're probably still scared we'll wack them with sticks after the attack on Toad Hall." Toad said, smiling.
"Well, all right. Let us be off!" Mole said standing.
"Splendid!"
After grabbing their coats, Toad and Mole were on their way to the Wild Woods, positive that no one would dare mess with them.
Meanwhile, the Water-rat was resting in his chair in front of the fire after making some winter preparations, when he heard a knock on his door.
Groaning, he sat up and opened it to see the young mouse, Rose.
"Hello, Rose, what are you doing out on this chilly evening? Shouldn't you be home?" Ratty asked.
"Yes, sir, I was on my way when I saw Mr. Toad and Mr. Mole walking towards the Wild Wood!"
Rat frowned. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir!"
Ratty groaned again as he reached for his coat and opened the drawer where his pistols lay. Quickly grabbing one, he checked to see if it was loaded.
"I'd better go after them."
"But, sir, the weasels!"
"Which is exactly why I must go."
Ratty said before noticing the worried look on Rose. Smiling, he patted her head. "You'd better be off home now, young lady. Before it starts snowing." Ratty said before starting on his way to the Wild Woods.
WITW
Mole nervously twisted his scarf as he and Toad trudged through the woods.
"Toad, maybe we should turn back. It's starting to snow!" Mole said as a snowflake fell onto his nose.
"Stuff and nonsense, Moley, we'll be all right!" Toad replied. Suddenly, they heard a twig snap and Toad could swear he see eyes peering through the dark of the woods. "Then again."
Mole gulped as they heard laughing. Suddenly, weasels started to appear.
"Well, well, well, lookie here! It's Mister Toad, the richest animal in the woods." The chief weasel sneered as the snow started to fall harder.
Toad nervously laughed. "Haha, surely you don't want to mess with the mighty Toad!" He said.
The weasels smirked.
Mole yelped as he coward behind Toad.
"Haha, yeah. Come on, boys. I bet he has loads of money in his pockets." One weasel said.
Toad and Mole backed up until they hit a tree. Frightened, they covered their heads, ready for the punches.
"Get 'em, boys!" The leader cried.
Toad winced again, ready for them, but nothing came, instead, they heard the weasels cry out in pain.
Opening his eyes, Toad saw Ratty fighting, swinging his walking stick and striking the weasels to the ground.
Smiling, he stood and urged his friend on. "Get 'em, Ratty! Atta boy!" Suddenly he gasped when he saw a weasel sneaking up on them. Yelping, he grabbed a stick and struck him whilst Mole grabbed his own stick.
Ratty was dealing with his own problems as he wrestled the chief weasel.
"You should know better then to mess with friends of Badger's!" Ratty growled. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain to his side and looked down to see the weasel pulling a small knife from his side.
Toad saw the whole thing as he watched his friend fall to the already snowy ground.
"Ratty!" He cried.
Mile heard the frightened tone in his voice and gasped as he saw their friend.
The Chief weasel laughed as they started to approach Toad and Mole. They quickly jumped them and pinned them to the ground whilst others began to picked their pockets.
Suddenly, a bullet struck the tree, making the weasels jump.
They all turned to see Ratty, sitting up, blood dripping in to the snow, a pistol in his paw, with smoke drifting out.
"All right, that's enough." He said as he stood. "Get out of here before I hit my target." He said, aiming his pistol.
"Hey, come on, Rat-" One weasel said, but Rat interrupted.
"Go!" He yelled.
The weasels yelped as they struggled to get away, tripping over one another before disappearing into the woods.
"Haha! Good show, Ratty! You'd better run, weasels! Unless you want me to sick Rat on you!" Toad cried
"Toad!" Mole cried, tugging on his coat.
Toad turned to see Ratty collapse onto his knees, his hand to his side.
"Ratty!" Toad cried racing to his friend. "Mole, go get Badger! Quickly!"
Mole nodded before racing off.
"Hang on, Ratty."
"I'm fine, Toady, it's just a scratch." Ratty said before wincing.
"Stuff and nonsense, Rat, this much larger then a mere scratch." Toady said noticing the Crimson red spreading along his coat. "Here, take my arm." He said, helping his friend up.
They were nearly to their friend's tree when they saw Mole and Badger running to meet them.
"Ratty, my dear friend! Mole told me everything! Come on, let's get you back home." Badger said, taking his friend's arm.
Ratty winced as he struggled. "I assure you, Badger, it's not as bad as it seems!"
"I'll be the judge of that."
WITW
"Ratty, this is more then a simple scratch." Badger said as he began to clean and wrap the wound. "You're lucky to be alive. A wound like this could have surely killed you."
But Ratty ignored, his attention elsewhere. "What were you two thinking going out on a day like this, with weasels about?" Ratty asked Toad and Mole who were sitting across from him drinking some cocoa.
"We wanted to see Badger before it started snowing." Mole said.
"You should have stayed home." Rat said before wincing and glancing down at his vest. "This was my favorite vest too."
"Honestly, Rat, we're sorry! We thought that maybe the weasels were still fearful of us!" Toad said.
Ratty sighed as he shook his head. "Well, nothing to be done now." He said standing and grabbing his coat. "We'd best be off, before the snow gets worse."
"You three aren't going anywhere, especially you, Ratty. I have spare beds, you three can stay here for tonight." Badger said, crossing his arms.
"Thank you, Badger." Mole said.
Ratty sighed. "All right."
As Badger was leading them to their rooms, Toad came to a halt and turned to his friend.
"Ratty, I wanted to apologize again for my stupidity. I should have known the weasels wouldn't have let us pass. Anyway, thank you, my friend, from saving us."
Rat laid his paw on Toad's shoulder. "It's nothing, what are friends for, eh?" He said.
Toad smiled. "Course I wasn't scared at all, I knew you would save us. Good old Ratty!"
Ratty shook his head, smiling as they continued down the hall.