Chapter 11

'On Thin Ice'

There was now twice as many of them in the group of animals when they had set off on their long journey to White Deer Park. Plucky and Scarlet, the two foxes, Dash and Bolt, the newly engaged hare couple, the squirrel twins, Woody and Jester and Perry the peregrine falcon. All of them now taking part in the lengthy expedition to the safe haven nature reserve of White Deer Park.

It had been a few days since Bolt, Woody and Jester had joined the group on their journey. While the mountains were still far behind them in the distance, they were still on highland terrain, where there was a mix of exposed grass plains and more woods, all of which was still covered in snow. The thick snow had kept the groups pace fairly to a minimum even on their most energetic of days. On these most difficult days it wasn't best to travel on an unplanned route. Perry had taken it upon himself to fly ahead to scout their route and would return to tell the others what he'd discovered and would discuss their travels for the next day. It was a good system which gave them a goal to achieve consecutively each day.

On this one particular day it was lightly snowing but was clear enough for Perry to fly. He had seen a large body of water that blocked their path. From his initial inspection it was big enough that it would take the ground dwellers almost a day to get round it at the pace they were going. He personally knew how privileged he was that he could just as easily fly over it, but of course he owed that to the others, as they had helped him learn to fly. He swiftly turned around in the air and returned to the rest of the group to inform them of the lake. When he arrived they were all there taking a rest underneath a pine tree, which sheltered them from the calm snowfall.

"There's quite a big lake in our way," the falcon announced, perching on a branch above them.

"How big?" Plucky asked.

"I couldn't really tell from up there, but it's big... very big," Perry continued.

"I think that counts out swimming across it," Woody said quickly, he himself wasn't very fond of swimming.

"It'll be too cold to swim anyway," Bolt interjected.

"And I don't fancy almost freezing to death again..." Scarlet said impassively.

"Well let's just get there first and then we'll decide what we do," Plucky asserted.

The group continued through the pine forest, Perry flew above the canopy, while Woody and Jester scrambled through it, enjoying being in the trees again. The two foxes and two hares kept a brisk pace along the forest floor. After a few hours they reached the bank of the lake but when they arrived they were surprised to see, instead of liquid water, it was covered in a thin clean layer of fresh ice.

"Well it wasn't frozen earlier when I flew ahead," Perry announced bewilderedly.

"That means the ice will be quite thin," Dash assumed.

"There's no way this could have frozen over in a few hours..." Bolt said sceptically.

"Well I was looking at it through the snow... and I was quite high up, it might have already been frozen and I didn't realise, sorry guys..." Perry said remorsefully.

"Don't be Perry, you did well," Plucky reassured the bird.

"Is it safe to cross do you think?" Scarlet asked out to anyone.

"Well there's only one way to find out," Jester said before impetuously jumping down onto the ice.

"Jester be careful!" Bolt shouted hastily.

"Don't worry, it's perfectly fine," the squirrel replied after rushing around and jumping up and down at points of the frozen lake. Woody soon joined his brother on the ice and did the same.

"He's right, it seems solid enough," Woody confirmed Jester's conclusion.

"It's alright for you two, and Dash and Bolt probably, but me and Plucky are much bigger and heavier than you," Scarlet enlightened them.

"We'll go across anyway, it'll cut a huge corner off our path," Plucky soon cut in, taking charge, "but we'll cross at night when it's colder, make sure the ice is more firm."

The group took the chance to rest from their day's travels, especially if they were going to travel through the night instead. The group watched as the weather soon changed and the snow clouds passed by. The sky was still overcast but the air was cold, clear and clean. By sunset the clouds had cleared from the sky and a bright, glimmering orange from the setting sun shone on the flat expanse of ice and crisp snow covered canopy of the surrounding woods. When night fell the sky was replaced with a deep black spotted with only the brightest stars. A glowing gibbous moon also shone down illuminating the landscape, providing much light from the reflection off the white snow. The temperature was also much cooler now it was night and it was clear, as Plucky had said. There was an eerie silence around them. It was only interrupted at times by the whisper of an arctic wind that channelled itself across the frozen lake as it raced across the land. They collectively decided, now it was clear and cold would be the best time to cross the lake before the weather could change again.

"Let's get going," Plucky asserted, "and stay spread out."

"I'll go up front," Bolt volunteered to take the lead.

"I'll be right behind you," Dash whispered to him affectionately as they quickly nuzzled each other.

"And I'll go at the back, in case it does crack under my weight," Plucky said almost nervously.

Dash quickly gave him a look of concern which he noticed, but he just smiled back at her. They didn't exchange words but he knew she was worrying about him and she knew that he would say not to; they knew each other well enough for that.

"Don't go too fast either; we don't want to put too much pressure on the ice," Scarlet added on, speaking to all of them.

"That means you two," Plucky said jokily looking at Dash and Bolt.

"Ok, ok, no running... probably wouldn't want to slip over anyway," Dash replied sardonically.

"I'll stay in the air and warn you if there are any problems," Perry announced and took to the sky.

The ground dwellers walked onto the freezing ice, one by one. Bolt went first, followed by Dash, then Woody and Jester, then Scarlet and Plucky at the back. They kept a good distance between them and travelled slowly, both to not put any sudden pressure on the breakable frozen water and to not slip on it.

Plucky felt uneasy at times as he could hear the ice creak and moan under his footsteps. However it wasn't just him who was uneasy. At the head of the group Bolt stepped warily, carefully plotting a path across the ice. Not that it made any difference, he couldn't tell where the ice was thin or thick, nor could he tell the best path the take; the frozen lake was completely flat. Even Perry flying above them couldn't tell which way was the best to take, despite him having the best vantage point. The only way they all knew to travel was forward, to the opposite bank, and soon they were already halfway across. It was then, as they crossed the halfway point, when the lake decided to prove its maliciousness to the adventuring animals...

All of a sudden, as Plucky placed down his paw, he heard a very distinctive loud crack and stopped dead, as if turning to stone. He slowly looked down to see the fault line underneath his paw. The sound cut through the eerie silence and echoed across the ice as did the crack. It alerted the others too who looked back at him anxiously. Plucky looked back up at them with a pained look on his face. Before any of them could speak, he had barely moved a millimetre when suddenly the ice gave way and began to fracture around him.

"GO! RUN!" he bellowed.

The group followed his order instantly, hastily turning to run the rest of the way. Plucky backed up and jumped across the widening crack. He almost slipped but dug his claws into the ice to stop himself. The break had started to fracture across the whole width of the lake following the group as they ran. Chunks of the ice had begun to splinter apart into separate little islands. Suddenly it broke apart between Bolt and Dash and the two hares skidded to a halt.

"Dash!" Bolt exclaimed looking back worriedly.

"Just go!" Dash shouted back; Bolt reluctantly went on.

Woody, Jester and Scarlet soon caught up with her and too skidded to a halt, except for Plucky who had been cut off by the collapsing ice again and had to go round the edge of the part that broke away.

"Perry!" Plucky shouted up to the falcon, who was flying above them feeling powerless to do anything, "Get the others out of here!"

Perry flew off to the others "Follow me!" he called to them as he proceeded to direct the others safely across the broken pieces of ice, flying low.

Dash was looking around frantically, she knew Bolt was safe as he'd carried off to wait for them on the bank, but she couldn't see Plucky.

"Where's Plucky!?" Dash cried out, which had then distracted her from her footing and she slipped on the ice landing hard on her front.

Woody and Jester continued to follow Perry leading them along the ice, but Scarlet had noticed Dash's fall. The vixen dug her claws into the ice and slid to a standstill. She was about to go back for Dash when the bit of ice she stood on splintered off from the rest. She quickly jumped off and slipped as she lost her footing and the edge broke off underneath one of her back legs. She quickly pulled herself along and she was fine, but now she had been cut off from Dash. She felt like she had to do something but she could see Plucky quickly catching up, he came up behind the fallen hare having gone the long way around.

"Go! I've got her!" He shouted over to Scarlet who nodded and carried on across the ice.

The mass of ice was begging to drift from the wind having broken off from further up the lake. It had almost completely collapsed to the other bank, exposing the pristine cold water.

"Dash, come on!" Plucky said trying to get her to move.

"Ah... I think I've hurt my leg!" Dash said looking up at him.

"Can you walk?"

"It hurts... but, I'll try..."

Dash composed herself and got back up. She and Plucky then proceeded to catch up to the others but the piece of ice they were on suddenly broke off from the main part and quickly began to drift. Both the fox and the hare slid to stop but Dash at the speed she set off at almost fell in the freezing water until Plucky bit her tail to stop her.

"AH!" Dash exclaimed from the shock and the relief of not falling in. Plucky quickly pulled her back and slipped over himself hard onto his side, and released a small yelp.

"Ah... Damn ice..." Plucky muttered in annoyance but then turned to Dash, "You ok?"

"Yea, thanks... did you have to bite so hard though?" Dash panted almost jokily.

"Sorry... I didn't want you falling in," Plucky explained himself.

They both stood up onto all fours carefully and looked around them. They could see the others safely on the opposite bank of the lake, but they were in the middle of the now exposed water. The ice to the opposite bank was almost completely broken apart and each piece was too far away to jump across it, never mind being too unstable.

"We're stranded..." Dash dismayed.

"Great..." Plucky huffed, "We can try paddling over there."

They both went the opposite end of the ice, it tipped up on Dash's end with Plucky being heavier than her. Hey both dunked their one paw in the water but immediately retrieved them as the water was freezing cold. Gritting their teeth, they dunked their paws in the water again and began to paddle across the water, but to no avail.

"It's no use; we're just going in circles, and we're barely moving," Dash exclaimed.

"I hate to say this... but we're going to have to swim it..." Plucky said reluctantly.

"Plucky... that water is freezing..." Dash exclaimed again.

"I know, but we don't have a choice..."

"Couldn't we just swim between the other pieces of ice and climb on those?" Dash asked trying to propose an alternative.

"That would just waste more energy; if we jump in we stay in until we get to the bank," Plucky explained.

"This is not going to be pleasant..." Dash sighed.

"Together?" Plucky asked.

"Together," Dash affirmed.

"On 3, 1... 2... 3...!"

Safely on the bank the others were catching their breath and warming their paws on a patch of bare earth, relieved to be off the treacherous ice. They could see Plucky and Dash stranded on the drifting piece of ice helpless to do anything. They were all shocked when they witnessed them both jump into the water and begin to swim.

"What are they doing! They'll freeze in that water!" Bolt exclaimed, fearing for both their safety, his eyes locked onto them.

At that moment Scarlet turned and ran into the pine wood without saying a word, adding to the surprise of the group.

"Scarlet! Where are you going!?" Woody called out to her.

"Come back!" Jester called out too. But the vixen had already disappeared through the wood.

Meanwhile Plucky and Dash were struggling through the subzero water; fortunately they were both strong swimmers. The cold however quickly overwhelmed them, the water drenching their fur and only their core body temperature kept the lake from claiming them... but was quickly dissipating. They both started to tire very quickly; with each paddle they lost more and more strength, the cold continuing to engulf them. Dash was struggling more so than Plucky on her recently injured leg. They were almost at the bank but suddenly Dash, completely exhausted, fell beneath the water line.

"Dash... DASH!" Plucky shouted full of fear having noticed his best friend no longer beside him in the water. He took a deep breath and quickly dived.

Back on the bank Bolt, watching anxiously, had seen his mate disappear under the water and Plucky dive down to save her, and without thinking he rushed into the freezing water to help.

Underneath the water the moonlight shone through, lighting up the underwater world. It was deep and, beyond the depth the moonlight could reach, dark. It was clear and excruciatingly cold, almost painful, as it stung the skin unmercifully. Plucky hadn't wasted any time to retrieve an unconscious Dash and caught her in his mouth by the ruff of her neck. Carefully he dragged her back up to the surface where Bolt had now arrived to help. They didn't exchange words, Bolt took Dash off Plucky who was almost ready to faint himself and they headed back towards the bank as fast as they could paddle. Plucky dragged himself out of the freezing water and shook off the worst of it before collapsing from fatigue, panting heavily, while Bolt dragged himself and Dash, still unconscious.

"Come on Dash, please be ok..." Bolt was whispering worriedly to himself, despite Plucky able to hear him.

Dash lying on the ground suddenly coughed up some water and woke up with a start, much to Bolt and Plucky's relief. Bolt embraced her, thankful she was ok, and Dash buried her head in his shoulder.

"Thank you..." she muttered weakly, "You came back for me..."

"Actually it was Plucky who saved you... I just helped," Bolt admitted humbly.

"Well... Plucky isn't my mate..." Dash said with an affectionate smile, and the two hare's nuzzled each other.

"Come on you guys... get a burrow..." Plucky chuckled, which caused Dash and Bolt to laugh too.

Just then Woody and Jester came rushing over and Perry landed on the ground next to them.

"Are you guys ok?!" Perry enquired hastily.

"We were worried sick!" Woody exclaimed.

"Well I think I can say we've been better," Plucky stated glumly.

"I'm so cold," Dash mumbled, shivering having set in.

"We need to find some shelter, otherwise this cold..." Bolt began speaking frantically.

"I know Bolt, I'm freezing too, and me, Scarlet, Dash and Perry have been through this already on that damn moun- "Plucky stopped suddenly, "...wait... where is Scarlet?" he asked stuttering, having noticed the lack of the vixen's presence.

"We don't know... she just took off and abandoned us..." Jester explained.

Plucky's mood suddenly drooped when he heard this. He refused to believe that Scarlet had abandoned them, not after all they had been through together, if she had run off, it must have been for a reason. A while passed by where the group just rested, Plucky and Dash were still too exhausted from their freezing swim to move. Suddenly Scarlet reappeared with a rush through the snow dotted forest floor.

"Where have you been!?" Plucky asked her aggressively while the others listened.

"Bargaining for some shelter," Scarlet defended herself, "came across some grumpy old badger and... persuaded him to open his set for us for the night."

"Persuaded how?" Plucky asked warily.

"Offered to do his hunting for tonight and tomorrow morning," Scarlet explained.

"Nice work," Plucky said changing his tone to a calm one, "sorry I asked so harshly,"

"It's ok... yet again have we gone through a death defying ordeal and all come out the other side," Scarlet stated.

"Too true... too true," Plucky said solemnly, he felt like today's dilemma was his fault, it was his idea to cross the lake after all and it was his fault the ice broke apart.

"Come on, it's not far... follow me." Scarlet smiled.

The group followed Scarlet through the pine wood, away from the treacherous lake, towards the shelter she had bargained for. Plucky and Dash were still shivering but at least Dash had Bolt to keep her warm, he had entered the water too but for much less time so he was still cold but not as much as they were.

They soon reached the badger set and Scarlet proceeded inside to inform their host they had arrived. After a time she popped her head back out and called the others to come inside. On the interior of set, the old badger was lying in the far corner, looking at them judgingly. It was large inside and much warmer than outside.

"You didn't say there would be this many of you..." the elderly badger complained upon seeing the rabble enter his set and gather in the opposite corner.

"You never asked," Scarlet replied with a snide smile.

"Just so we are clear... I want you lot out by morning," the badger continued to complain, not bothering to argue with Scarlet's response, "After of course you pay your... rent."

"Yes I understand clearly," Scarlet replied in annoyance to the badger, who then looked away and lied his head down to go to sleep.

The group huddled together in the opposite corner of the set to stay warm. Dash and Bolt lay together and Dash, still exhausted, fell asleep right away. The squirrel twins were next to them and went to sleep too. Perry, uneasy about being underground had settled near the entrance peering into the night. He was still too awake to sleep and contemplated going out for a night fly. Instead he decided to stay with the others, but insisted he would get some sleep eventually.

Plucky had settled lying on the earth making a barrier between the sleeping old badger and the hares and squirrels; on the off chance he couldn't be trusted. Lying on the floor he tried to get to sleep, placing his head on his front paws, curling his tail around him and closing his eyes; but he couldn't stop shivering, despite it being much warmer in the set than outside. He was then pleasantly surprised when he could feel the form of another fox lie next to him.

"Come on, my turn to warm you up..." Scarlet whispered warmly, curling up next to him, referring to the time on the mountain when he had saved her from the blizzard and kept her warm.

"Thanks," Plucky smiled, still with his eyes closed. Scarlet's warm dry fur quickly heated his shivering figure and content with each other's touch, they too drifted off to sleep.

The morning quickly crept up on them. It was dull outside due to the large pine tree canopy and the fact the sky was full of puffy white clouds, threatening to snow again. Plucky and Dash had recovered from their freezing swim and Dash's leg had gotten better after her fall on the ice, luckily it was only a small sprain that had healed during the night.

As soon as the light had partially lit up the inside of the set the group was awake and departed outside to appease the grouchy badger's wishes who was still dozing. Scarlet quickly went out to hunt for the badger as she had promised and returned not long after with several water voles which she claimed from a nearby stream. She placed them in the entrance of the set but dared not wake the badger... he'd probably prefer to not see them off.

After heading to the stream Scarlet had just been to, the group grabbed a refreshing drink before setting off again. They travelled at a slow pace, taking it easy after the previous day's events but with determination and courage they continued their long journey to White Deer Park.