Derek and McEwen rode as fast as they could through the trees, trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the humanoids pursuing them. After the group had split up on the edge of the forest, they had no idea what was happening with the rest of their companions, or if they had made it. Finally, they returned to the bank of the unnamed stream. It was deserted. Where was everybody else?
They couldn't risk using flares to attract attention, so instead the two men split up, following the stream in opposite directions, looking for the rest of their companions along the bank. It didn't take them long to spot the rabbits emerging from the forest in small, scattered groups, out of breath but overjoyed to have made it. Soon, they had all regrouped: Acorn, Speedwell, Buckthorn, Blackberry, Bluebell, Violet, Strawberry, Nildrohein, Hawkbit, Dandelion, Holly, Silver, Fiver and Bigwig, who was carrying Pipkin; the dwarf rabbit, unfit and unaccustomed to such running had been falling behind, and in danger of being caught by the pursuing natives, prompting the mighty veteran to carry him to safety.
Clover and her two friends Boxwood and Haystack had also made it through unscathed; although weak and malnourished from their long captivity, being born hlessil, they were swift runners, easily outrunning the humanoids. Now that they were finally out of danger, the three new rabbits were staring dumbstruck at these strange, talking humans, which these strangers were so intimate with, not knowing what to make of it.
"Everybody all right? Did we make it?" Bigwig asked as he put Pipkin down and looked around, making sure everyone was accounted for. Derek undid his shirt collar, breathing a sigh of relief, "Phew, that was a close shave. I thought those savages would follow us all the way to Land's End. Though I must say, Al…Al? Where is he?" It was then that they suddenly realised that Alan was no longer with them.
"I last saw him running back for Hazel," said Bigwig, remembering how the man had doubled back to help Hazel, who had been hit by a spear during the chase. Derek felt his insides turn to ice. Fiver gasped, "And where's Hazel? Where's my brother? Hazel!" But Hazel was nowhere to be seen either.
They all felt their hearts sink at the thought of what had probably happened to their two friends – if they had been caught, then they had unquestionably gone out the same way as Pimpernel. This time, it seemed Alan had finally pulled one heroism too many. At that moment, the group was caught by surprise by a large shadow moving across the moon, casting its shadow upon them.
Floating in the sky above their heads was a bulbous-shaped object, barely visible against the night sky. The rabbits, confused by this peculiar phenomenon, stood petrified with fear, not knowing whether that thing up there was a threat to them or not, "What in Frith's name is that?" But McEwen, who had grabbed the binoculars for a closer look, uttered a yell of excitement.
"My God, it's a hot-air balloon! There are other people here!" Overwhelmed with excitement at the realisation that there was another group of lost time travellers in this world - one that had made it through with their ride intact – the Royal Air Force pilot grabbed his flashlight and signal-mirror, trying to attract attention, "Ahoy, upper there! Help! We're down here! Ahoy!"
Derek rolled his eyes, "You're wasting your breath, Major. They can't hear us!"
But McEwen, desperate for a chance of seeing his family again, desperately continued signalling. Unfortunately, the balloonists, whoever they were, didn't seem to notice his light. Soon, the balloon had drifted away, heading towards the south, and was lost from view. McEwen cursed, "Damn, this could have been our only chance for rescue…!"
"Good luck to those poor bastards," Derek interrupted him sharply, "But it's not us who need rescue right now, it's Alan!" Realising it was no use trying to signal those balloonists, McEwen gave it up and turned to the rabbits, who were all staring at him, almost as if recognising his authority in Alan's absence. He considered for a moment, trying to determine the best course of action.
"No point all of us taking the risk by doubling back. Shaw and I will go and see what there is to be found; I will also require three more volunteers to tag along, to help us carry the wounded. If the five of us can't bring those two back, then they're beyond help." Bigwig instantly volunteered, eager to be on the front lines on this one, along with Blackberry and Fiver, who insisted on helping in the search to find his brother. As they turned to set out, Bigwig spoke to Holly, who would be in charge of the rest of their group in his absence.
"Keep everyone together and stay low until we return. If we aren't back by sunrise, then leave without us." His former mentor smiled. "You're truly living up to be a destined Captain of Owsla, Thlayli." Before Bigwig could return the compliment however, they were all startled by a familiar moan; Fiver had suddenly gone rigid, his eyes glassed over from another vision.
"The race is on; only the lone brother can save his sibling and heart-brother. Whether they'll be taken by the Black Rabbit of Inle, only Frith knows..."
They all looked at each other; their seer's latest premonition made it pretty clear that they were running out of time. Derek frowned, "Looks like we better hurry. Come on!" Leaving their horses with the rest of the group, as not to attract attention, he and McEwen, led the way back to where they'd gotten separated, hoping it wasn't too late…
Hazel slowly felt himself return to consciousness. He felt terribly weak and light-headed from, what he soon realised was, severe blood loss. Even in his semi-conscious state, he could feel the warn trickle of blood still oozing freely from the spear wound on his hind leg, making him feel about to pass out again. He was lying in a ditch, surrounded by bushes and heather, completely obscuring him from view, explaining how the humanoids had missed them. But that was of little consolation however, as he realised he was trapped; Alan's heavy body lay on top of him, pinning him to the ground. His head was all bloodied and battered, but Hazel was relieved to see that he too was still breathing, still alive.
It didn't take him long to realise he was in quite a fix; with his leg injured, not to mention being pinned beneath an unconscious human, more than twice his weight, Hazel knew the elil could smell blood and would soon be upon them in large numbers, attracted by the scent. He had to get out of here and fast!
He nudged his unconscious friend in the neck, trying to revive him. Alan didn't stir, "Alan, wake up! Please, you have to wake up!" It was no use; the man, having taken a heavy blow to the head in his fall, remained completely unresponsive.
Growing desperate, Hazel, using every last ounce of strength he could muster, struggled tooth and nail to push Alan off of him; but the man was too heavy to budge, much less in his weakened state, and was only rewarded with further pain in his injured leg. As he paused for a moment to catch his breath and try again, he suddenly picked up a scent in the wind that chilled him to the bone; a weasel was lurking nearby and getting closer, probably having picked up his scent.
Fighting the urge to panic, Hazel continued to struggle in vain to wriggle out, all the while urging his friend to awake, "Come on, Alan, please! I need you now!" Then he heard a faint growl, which sent shivers down his spine. Turning, he saw a weasel standing on the rim of the ditch, staring down at him with evil eyes and gleaming yellow teeth, dripping with saliva, ready to help itself to an easy meal…
Derek, McEwen, Bigwig, Blackberry and Fiver cautiously made their way back the way they had come, expecting to run foul of the humanoids, probably still lurking around the forest, at any second. Suddenly, Bigwig signalled to the others to halt, "Someone's coming! Get down!" They all ducked into the thick foliage for cover, listening to something thrashing about in the bushes a short distance away.
McEwen took out Robbins' revolver, removed the empty magazine and reloaded the single spare Robbins had been carrying on him. As he cocked the gun, ready to fire, they heard it again; it wasn't a humanoid or elil, but the whinnying sound of a horse. As they inched closer, Derek's flashlight revealed a wondering stallion, with its reigns tangled on the branches of a tree.
"It's Alan's horse!" the engineer gasped as they approached the trashing horse and with some effort, managed to calm it down and free it from its entrapment. But, to their utmost dismay, there was no sign of its rider, other than a stain of blood on the side of the horse's mane, which Bigwig identified by scent as Hazel's. The search party's hopes of finding their two missing companions alive instantly plummeted at the sight of the abandoned horse, "So, he got Hazel, placed him on the horse and then what…?"
"Let's follow the horse's trail backward," suggested McEwen, "If the savages had caught them, they would have taken the horse as well; perhaps they managed to take cover somewhere, waiting for us to come and help them." Although sceptical at putting themselves in, what would probably turn out to be, more unnecessary danger, they decided to extend the search just a little farther. Simply abandoning their friends to their fate felt too heavy on their conscience, especially after what had happened to Pimpernel.
At that moment, a growl was heard in the distance, followed by a familiar voice, crying out for help. Without exchanging a word to each other, they rabbits hurried in the direction of the cry, to the rescue, while Derek and McEwen, finding themselves falling behind by the swift-moving rabbits, mounted Alan's horse and followed.
Meanwhile, Hazel lay staring into the gleaming, murderous eyes of the hungry weasel, which, finding him trapped, was slowly advancing on him, almost as if taking its time to torment him of his upcoming doom. The weasel was really near him now; he could see its ghastly yellow teeth gleaming in the moonlight. Although it couldn't speak, its evil eyes spelled out to Hazel something along the lines of, "Welcome to hunting ground, longear!"
Giving himself up for lost, Hazel shut his eyes and covered his head with his forepaws, bracing for the inevitable. Would it be quick? He envied Alan, who would undoubtedly be sharing his grim fate, except he wouldn't suffer as much, as he was unconscious. He wondered if elil could eat humans like they did rabbits, a question which, ironically, he'd soon find the answer to.
The weasel stood on its hind legs, unsheathing its claws and baring its teeth, ready to strike... But instead of feeling those sharp teeth and claws sinking into his flesh, Hazel suddenly heard a familiar battle roar, followed by the weasel's painful cry… Opening his eyes, he saw Bigwig had tackled the monster to the ground. Help had arrived in the nick of time.
The weasel, surprised by this sudden counter-attack, struggled furiously against Bigwig, who fearlessly continued fighting to restrain it, while Blackberry and Fiver hurried over to help the trapped Hazel. Just as they succeeded in pulling him free from under Alan's body, the weasel cuffed Bigwig across the face, knocking his attacker off of him, and turning its attention back to its intended prey.
Although free from his entrapment, the spear wound on Hazel's leg wouldn't let him to limp more than a few paces, let alone outrun the attacking weasel. Blackberry and Fiver, supporting the crippled Hazel from either side, trying to get him to safety, froze in terror. Blackberry turned to Hazel, about to apologize that they would be forced to abandon him to save themselves, when suddenly a bullet came flying between the buck's erect ears and struck the charging weasel directly between the eyes, killing it instantly. McEwen had caught up and, on an impulse, had shot the weasel dead, despite having Blackberry directly in the line of fire. Sure enough, the black-tipped ear buck rounded on McEwen in shocked outrage.
"What…what in Frith's name did you do that for?" he half-gasped, half yelled, nursing the crown of his head in alarm, now sporting a powder mark; although the bullet hadn't touched him, it had almost grazed his scalp, allowing the buck to actually feel the heat of the deadly pellet flying past his head!
McEwen looked incredulous, "What do you mean, what did I do that for? I was saving your bloody life, of course!" To his utmost surprise, Blackberry only looked furious, and with good reason.
"You could have killed me! Frith and thunder, I felt that thing almost touch me!" McEwen frowned, starting to feel very annoyed.
"And what exactly was I supposed to do?" he retorted coldly, "Another two seconds and that beast would have been upon you! If anything, it was a damned necessary risk…!" Unfortunately, it didn't seem to rest well with the other rabbits either.
"What were you thinking, you fool?" growled Bigwig sternly, backing up Blackberry, "The chum is right; that was one foolish and unnecessary risk! Besides, I had everything under control…"
"Not from where I'm standing..."
"That gadget is a vile, unnatural thing!" Blackberry snapped back at McEwen, "To have the power to kill or destroy anything at will is one dangerous temptation! Can you imagine such power falling into the clutches of someone willing to exploit it for his own selfish ends? It could mean death and destruction beyond comprehension! How you humans can build such contraptions so that you can play Frith at every turn, without the slightest qualm of the price you're bound to pay someday, is beyond me…"
"That's enough, Blackberry!" interrupted Hazel sternly, breaking up the argument, "Reckless or not, it just saved our lives, and I, for one, am truly grateful. And, currently, we have more important problems to focus on!" he said, gesturing in the direction of Alan, still lying bleeding and unconscious nearby, his breathing shallow.
Bending down over him, flashlight in hand, McEwen examined the ugly wound on Alan's head. Although fortunately not deep enough to cause serious brain damage, he had definitely suffered a concussion, judging from his bloodshot eyes, which was keeping him unconscious. However, for the second time in one day, Alan had been lucky. He would live. As for Hazel, McEwen was able to remove the splintered spearhead from his leg using a pair of sterilized tweezers.
"Heavy bleeding, but no damage to the bone or major vessels," McEwen diagnosed, as he gave Hazel an antiseptic shot and applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, until they could get him to a safer place, "With a couple of stitches and some rest, he'll be back on his feet shortly; Dr Johnson will be all right too, as soon as the brain swelling goes down. But until then, neither of them is in any condition to walk; we shall have to move them somehow..." That's when they realised they had a big problem; they had no stretchers handy and they couldn't carry both Alan and Hazel out of here on their backs.
"That's too risky," said Bigwig, "That would hold us up, and we're still way deep in dangerous territory…" Then Derek appeared, bringing Alan's horse, "This lady is strong enough to carry the both of them. We can do this." At that moment, they heard a distant rustling through the trees; no doubt, the weasel they had just killed wasn't the only thing out here looking for an easy meal.
McEwen cursed, "Bloody hell, it must be those damn humanoids again! We have to get out of here right now or we'll be chops and livers to them!" Quickly finishing patching up the injuries, they placed Alan and Hazel side by side on the horse and set off in a hurry.
Fortunately, they encountered no further trouble as they made their way back to the riverbank, where the others were waiting for them. Now it was time to make tracks.
McEwen took charge, "We shall make our way downstream - that way, the savages and their hounds will lose our trail in the water." They set off downstream, wading through the water, as not to leave behind any tracks or scent for the humanoids or any other enemy to follow. McEwen and Derek rode on horseback, also leading Alan's horse along by its reigns, which carried its unconscious rider and Hazel, who couldn't walk because of his injured leg.
They didn't stop until they had put a good couple of miles between themselves and Cowslip's warren. By the time the first light of dawn had started appearing on the horizon, they finally found a safe spot to set up camp. After making Alan and Hazel as comfortable as possible, the group settled down to sleep, thinking of their adventure, now finally drawn to a close. Despite their two injures companions, and still mourning the loss of Pimpernel, they felt their luck had finally taken a turn for the better; they had found several new recruits, including Strawberry, Nildrohein and the captive rabbits they had liberated from the humanoid village, and they were only another day's journey away from their new home. For now, things couldn't get any better.
Author's notes: This scene takes place between chapters 14 and 15; just like the previous one, I cut it for pacing reasons. This also ties in with several other smaller scenes I added to the original text, in case you're interested. Enjoy and please review!
