3. Lost Security

It had been many months since Red had departed from his old home. The seasons had shifted twice and it was now the middle of autumn. A biting winter's chill was clearly evident on the wind. Red had travelled south, crossing over the river near his home. He turned at this point and followed its flow for many miles. He moved at a brisk pace and didn't stop until he was sure he was well out of his father's territory.

Initially he had found being independent very difficult. No fox should be out on their own at his age and with such limited survival experience. In fact the only experience he had to draw upon was a single solitary lesson in hunting. This meant that the rest of life's lessons would have to be learnt the hard way, via bitter experience.

Red had grown in size and was now equally as large as his father, but was yet to have reached adulthood. He had become a very impressive looking animal, with both strength and cunning beyond his years. During his journey so far he had encountered many obstacles, rivers, roads, cars, towns, but had always managed to overcome them taking only minor knocks. Although these would be described as trivial to most well travelled foxes, Red due to his age saw them as mammoth achievements and proof that he didn't need anyone else's help to survive. A final test still awaited him though, as of yet he had not experienced the cruelty of man.

As far as companionship went on his journey, there was none. Red had barley spoken a word since leaving his home, this suited him for a while but as the months dragged things started to get a little boring. To keep himself occupied he'd devise intricate and sometimes bizarre games to play. Probably the strangest, at least for a fox to perform came to him one day whilst watching a family of squirrels running up and down their tree.
"How do they do that" Red thought to himself craning his neck upwards to look.
"And why can't a fox do it, doesn't look too hard"
That was it his mind was made up, he'd occupy his time learning to climb. "Imagine the benefits, the possibilities for trickery were endless" this thought brought as smile to his face.

For the next month Red divided his time between climbing practice and continuing to follow the river. Climbing had turned out to be much harder than he had initially thought, his respect for squirrels jumped up a notch or two. Eventually he had devised a feasible way to get into some of the lower branches. By running flat out and leaping onto the tree and then following up with some frantic clawing, he could haul himself into braches that were up to ten feet off the ground. This was good enough and should give him even more of an edge when hunting or trying to protect himself.

As autumn began to draw to a close Red found himself on the doorstep of another town near the river. It was late evening and all was quiet. He looked up to the stars.
"Looks like winters here" he thought feeling a blast of icy wind buffet him. "Might be time to find a place to settle till it's over"
He studied the terrain on his side of the river, there looked to be a good sized wood off in the distance just beyond a few fields.
"Looks as good place as any" he said to himself as he set off in its direction.

He reached the wood on the cusp of the next morning having stopped to hunt along the way. With his stomach full all he wanted to do now was sleep. Taking a quick look around it was obvious there were no empty earths nearby.
"Looks like I'll be sleeping up on high again today" he thought looking up to the trees.
Red had slept on tree branches a number of times during his long journey, actually finding it quite comfortable. He climbed up into a large oak tree and immediately fell soundly asleep on one of its thick branches.

He awoke to the sound of an alluring voice in the air. Blinking the sleep from his eyes he looked to the ground. It was another fox, in fact it was a vixen. Just sitting looking up at him totally bewildered by the site she was seeing.
"What on earth are you doing way up there" she said.
Red didn't know what to say, he hadn't spoken for so long that the words just wouldn't form in his mouth.
"What's the matter can't you talk" the vixen said cocking her head to one side.
"Of course I can" Red replied sarcastically.
"Well excuse me, someone certainly got up on the wrong side of the branch this morning" she started to walk away "Ill leave you in peace".
Red stood up and leapt to the ground following her.
"Hey wait……I'm sorry ok, its just I'm not very good at this" he shouted after her.
She turned to face him again "Not very good at what exactly?"
"Well, conversations I guess" Red replied shyly "Put it this way, it's been a while since my last one".
"I can tell" the vixen said with a smile on her face. "I've never seen you around before, what exactly brings you here?"
"First of all I'd like to know your name if I may" said Red with an expectant expression on his face.
"Well as I'm the only vixen around, everyone generally knows me as simply…..Vixen" She replied shrugging.
"Ok Vixen it is, my names Red and I'm here because I've got nowhere else to go" Red said honestly.
"Red? That's a peculiar name considering the circumstances" Vixen pointed out.
"Yeah I know…….It's something I'd rather not get into right now though" he said with a hint of sadness in his voice.
Vixen thought better of pursuing any further "Very well I won't press the issue".
"But you still didn't really answer my question, why choose such a perilous place to stay?" continued Vixen
"I didn't know it was dangerous here, it's so peaceful" Red explained looking around.
"And you didn't stop for a minute to ask why it's so quiet here?" exasperated Vixen.
"No, should I have?" said Red.
"Yes of course, well unless you don't fear the hunt" urged Vixen.
"I fear nothing" Red said seriously.
"That's pretty arrogant of you" Vixen exclaimed.
"No not arrogance, I just have no fear of death" replied Red "In fact death is probably nothing less than I deserve".
Vixen stared in disbelief, she couldn't fathom what he must have gone through to obtain such a mind set. Suddenly a blast of a horn clearly audible through the trees interrupted them. Both foxes looked in the direction the sound had come from.
"What's that?" inquired Red.
"It's the hunt, they've picked up a scent" replied Vixen as she scanned the horizon for movement.
"Which direction did you enter the wood from? Quickly tell me" demanded Vixen.
"From the opposite direction you did, why?" said Red.
Vixen sighed "It's me they've found then, you better leave now or they'll come after us both".
Red thought about this for a moment "Your right one of us is going to leave, but its not going to be me" he looked her in the eyes "What am I facing here".
It was then she realised he had not been lying, not a hint of fear emanated from him.
"A pack of vicious hounds, stirred on by a group of merciless humans, all hell bent on your destruction" she summed up.
"Just your usual everyday pursuers then" he said sending her a warm smile. "Now go and don't look back".
"Thank you………I wont forget this" Vixen took a final glance at Red and then disappeared deeper into the wood.
"You will" he whispered under his breath.
By now the barks of the hounds rang clear in the air, they were close.
Red began to limber up, he could ill afford his legs to cramp up now. He needed to be at his peak if he stood any chance of coming out on top today. A plan had begun to form in his mind, it was clever but would involve as much risk to himself as to the hounds. This was a gamble he was more than willing to take.

It took another few minutes before the hunt came into view. Red counted twenty hounds and five humans on horses all weaving their way through the trees. It was now or never. Red began to bark loudly, once he was sure he had their attention he turned and sprinted in the direction he had entered the wood from. It didn't take long before Red had left the wood and entered the fields he had crossed the previous evening. He stole a glimpse back, the hunt had just emerged from the wood. He had gained a bit more of a lead during their time amongst the trees, whether or not this lead would hold across the flat land was another story however. Red pushed himself harder than he ever had before, he had to win this. His stamina was holding there was no tiredness in his body. His breathing was controlled and regular, all the signs were pointing to him reaching his goal.

Finally it came into view, the town, his goal was mere minutes away. This spurred Red on to greater heights and hardened his resolve. The barks of the dogs had become a lot louder as the chase continued over open ground. The gap had begun to close. Soon Red could almost feel the hot breath of the hounds on the back of his neck, they were practically on top of him. At that point something changed, Red could guess what it was he'd been banking on the very thing happening. The humans had called off the chase, the hunt had taken them far to close to the town. But there was still a problem, ten problems to be exact. Half of the hounds were in such a crazed state that they ignored their masters commands and proceeded to follow Red into the depths of the town.

The chase entered the town. The outer streets were relatively quiet and the pursuit went on unhindered. Red made a beeline directly towards the town centre, he was going to need human assistance to get out of this fix. Eventually he came flying out onto the town's high street. There were humans everywhere, both sides of the road were teeming with them. He started to pick his way through the mass of legs on his side of the road, behind him less than ten meters away the hounds began to do the same.
"It's not working" Red thought to himself
The people on the pavement had now noticed the animals and were scattering, Red was going to have to take more drastic measures. At the nearest opportunity he leapt into the road and ran headlong towards the oncoming traffic. Trusting to his instincts he dodged in and out of the traffic. Cars and trucks swerved left and right trying to avoid the eleven animals now bounding up the main though fare of the town.

Eventually he reached the end of the high street, it terminated at a bridge crossing the river. Red had trusted to luck when he jumped into the road and it held. He came out of the ordeal without a scratch. The same could not be said for the hounds. Three of them had been hit by traffic whilst in the road, their hunting days now firmly over. Three more had been spooked by the loud noises of the traffic and had bolted in random directions forgetting all about their quarry. The remaining four, although now quite a bit behind had managed to stay on Red's trail. Red had stopped to catch his breath at the rivers edge, thinking he had escaped. It only took one bark to shatter that illusion, the four hounds had found him.
"Great" muttered Red
He didn't even turn to look, he knew all to well what was behind him. Getting to his feet he started to run again. Wearily Red ran along the river bank constantly looking at the churning water. It was time for another roll of the dice, but would they land in his favour one last time? Into the river he went, the water currents were merciless, pulling him around like a leaf in the wind. It took everything he had left to get to the opposite bank, once there he was exhausted. He had to keep going though, at least until he found a place to hide. Limping away from the river Red set out towards a small copse he had noticed on top of a steep hill. By now the hounds had reached the point at which Red had crossed the river, they were unsure if they should follow and started to argue about it.

Red mean while had made good progress towards the copse on the hill considering his current state. Walking was very painful now. If the hounds made it across the river his chance of survival was minimal at best. Eventually he reached the cover of the trees, and collapsed keeping his eyes fixed on the river. The minutes started to pass, everyone that went by boosted Red's confidence that he would not be followed. Then his heart sank, two of the dogs emerged from the river bank and started to make there way directly towards his position.

The few minutes rest the dogs arguments had given him had done some good. Red was confident that he could manage one more burst of action before his body gave up. He started to back up to the rear of the copse. Suddenly he noticed the copse essentially had no rear, it was just a sheer drop at least thirty feet down.
Red sighed "uhhhhhggg". He had only one option left and that was to face the hounds in direct combat.

It took the pair of hounds longer than expected to climb the hill, both were clearly tired. They knew exactly where Red was hiding and decided to spread out to attack from both sides at once. For some reason the dog attacking from the right got to Red first. Instead of waiting for his accomplice to arrive the hound decided to attack straight away and charged Red as soon as he was in full view. Red didn't move, he could see that the dog hadn't noticed the sheer drop that he was practically sitting on. Right at the last second just before the hound was about to strike, Red flattened himself to the floor. It was only then that the hound could see his folly. His front legs clipped Reds back. This coupled with his unstoppable momentum caused him to go head over heals straight down the drop. The hound landed with a thud and never moved again. By this point the second dog had arrived on the scene, watching its companion die angered it greatly. Things were finally a little more even.

Red had to wrap this fight up quickly he didn't have the stamina for anything more. He turned and ran in the direction the first hound had come from, the second hound chased after him thinking he was going to try and run away again. That was not Red's intention at all, he aimed directly for a large tree at the edge of the copse. He leapt on to it and dug his claws into its trunk. Red turned his head and looked down. Once he saw that the hound was within a meter of the tree he pushed himself backwards and released his grip. Flipping in mid air Red landed behind the hound, he wasted no time and jumped at the dog. The hound was caught completely unawares by this move and was knocked sprawling. Red knew he didn't have the energy left to pin the dog while he killed it, so he decided to do the next best thing. While the hound was still stunned he grabbed hold of one of its back legs in his jaws and wrenched it back at an angle it shouldn't be able to move in. There was a sickly cracking sound and the dog cried out in pain. Red let go and backed off, even an injured dog could be lethal. The hound started to whimper and lick at it's now broken leg. Red though better of hanging around until the hound's attention fell back to him and slipped away at the fastest possible pace he could manage.

Once he reached the bottom of the slope leading to the copse he looked around for somewhere he could rest. The only other cover in the area besides the copse was a lone tree not too far away. It would have to do. He painfully made is way there. At every step he just wanted to collapse. Red knew that if he let this happen in all likely hood he would never get up again. It was the hardest thing he'd ever done, but the reward was well worth it. Just next to the tree was an earth, it had a strange wooden plank over it but Red was just too tired to care about what that might mean. He staggered inside. As he cleared the threshold something on the floor made him trip. There was an almighty clang a gate had fallen across the earth's entrance. A stark realization hit Red, he was trapped.