"I have no name
I am but two days old.--
What shall I call thee?
I happy am
Joy is my name,--
Sweet joy befall thee."
-William Blake, Infant Joy, The Songs of Innocence
"My mother groand! My father wept.
Into the dangerous world I leapt:
Helpless, naked, piping loud:
Like a fiend hid in a cloud."
-William Blake, Infant Sorrow, The Songs of Experience
Dawn broke over the slanting grass in a myriad of colors that danced into a warm gold as the sun rose over the Great Litchfield Down. Nestled among the tall grasses, along a slight rise in the ground, were a dozen or so small round holes connected by slight worn paths above ground and many well-worn tunnels below. In the entrance to one of these runs were two rabbits who had been conversing in the dim pre-dawn light. Their conversation was halted by the dazzling display which brought the day to the down. After a moment the smaller of the two spoke.
"Frith puts on a display for someone's benefit this morning, Aspen-rah."
The older rabbit watched the smaller one gagingly, "Aye, perhaps he is looking for a mate, Elderberry. That may be why he puts on such a show."
Elderberry focused on something far across the field and attempted to change the subject, "By Frith, look at the size of that cowslip over there. I'm surprised I haven't seen it before."
The elder was not to be shaken so lightly, "Elderberry, that's the same cowslip that's been here since the beginning of the season. It's nearly stripped bare." he paused for a moment, then asked, "Have you spoken to her yet, Elderberry?"
Elderberry was quiet for a moment then he answered, "No, Aspen-rah."
The chief rabbit looked inquisitively at him, "Why not?"
The small rabbit was slow to answer, "I believe that Burdock has already claimed her."
"Didn't you tell me yesterday that she told you that she was free?"
Elderberry nodded then added, "Yes, but Burdock told the whole Owsla on duty fu inle last night that she was already his."
Aspen was discontented with this answer, "You haven't spoken to her?"
Elderberry shook his head.
"Then you have no proof that she is taken. Burdock is wont to say things before they are true. He is far too impetuous to have a command under you. I told you that when you wanted him as a captain," reminded Aspen, taking a few steps out to silfay in the new sun. The earliness of the morn kept their conversation private.
Elderberry followed his chief rabbit, "I know Aspen-rah. He is very impetuous and rather young to have a command. However he is a good pupil and has an excellent sense when dealing with elil. His instincts are remarkably on target for one so young. I think the wisest way to teach him is to let him have his own command. He is doing well at it and it puts him in very little danger. The responsibility is doing him good."
Aspen was not convinced, "You see too many of his assets without seeing his faults," he warned, then continued, "But I respect your judgment and agree that he will be given the benefit of the doubt. However, I do not think you should give up all prospects of taking Primrose as a mate until you are absolutely certain that she has chosen Burdock or some other buck."
Elderberry was somewhat brightened by this and he asked, "Do you think it's likely that she's still free?"
Aspen answered sagely, "A doe like Primrose has many admirers. Some may be very intelligent, some may be very personable, and some may be experienced fighters. However, very few are likely to be all three as you are, my friend."
Elderberry, his hopes renewed, thanked his friend before hurrying off, "You have lifted a great weight from my mind Aspen-rah. You are a wonderful chief rabbit and a better friend."
The Captain of Owsla took his leave of his chief and hurried off to find the doe that his worries had been over. The older rabbit took a few more hops out into the middle of the field, passed hraka and then began to silfay seriously. After a few moments, he looked up and studied the sun for a moment then added,
"May Frith bless you as he has blessed me, Elderberry. You certainly deserve it."
***
As Frith rose to his zenith, he beheld many rabbits out at silfay on the Great Litchfield Down. In particular, a small cinnamon-colored doe was busily searching about for a few leaves of dandelion. A large, but young, buck had settled in beside her and was firing off questions in her general direction.
The doe didn't seem to pleased with the conversation and was on the verge of leaving and joining a nearby party of rabbits who were talking and sunning themselves. She was having trouble stringing together a complete thought because the big male interrupted her musings again and again with his incessant interrogation.
"You see Primrose, this is the best way of doing things. I'm a big buck and on the Owsla now and likely to be promoted. Did you know that I'm one of the youngest captains Therean's ever had?" he asked taking up a position blocking her escape.
She took an exasperated breath and answered, "Yes Burdock, you've told me that three times this morning."
Burdock was not to be put off, "So, what's your answer?"
"I've told you hrair times. I don't want to be your doe. We wouldn't be good for each other." She answered, attempting to get around him.
He moved again, to intercept her, "You can't mean that. If you do, you're not as intelligent as everyone around here thinks you are. What are you expecting that could be better than me?"
Primrose's gaze had drifted past her tormenter and they lingered on a small rabbit across the field. The rabbit seemed to be giving orders to some rabbits almost twice his size, strange for a rabbit of his stature.
Burdock followed her gaze, "Or who should I ask? You can't seriously think that Captain Elderberry would want a little no-name doe like you. Everyone knows that he's going to take one of the Chief Rabbit's daughters as his doe. He and Winterberry have been friends for years."
Primrose's temper flared righteously, "What right do you have to criticize me? Everyone knows that the only reason they made you a captain is because Elderberry felt sorry for you and wanted to give you a chance. Frithrah! You don't have the sense he gave to yonil!
You! You would call me no-name! You were born a hlessi and only because of the grace of Aspen-rah did the warren even accept you! As for my lack of merit, if that is true then I ask you why you are so anxious to have me?"
Burdock looked as if he were about to say something he might regret, but a quiet voice beside him stopped all action. There, in his shadow, sat Elderberry, solemnly regarding the entire scene with repressed elation.
"Is there a problem, Captain?" asked Elderberry simply.
"No, none at all, Primrose and I were just having a discussion . . ." Burdock trailed off as he realized that the doe was still seething.
"And Burdock was just leaving," she finished off, glaring at him.
"I was not!" protested Burdock and he again looked as if he were about to add something but Elderberry again stayed him.
"If she doesn't want to speak with you then you should leave her alone," counseled Elderberry.
"But, Sir, this is a private matter." Burdock continued to fight a battle he knew that he would loose.
"Dismissed, Captain," Elderberry said quietly, but with a note of finality.
"But, Sir!" he continued.
"Dismissed, Captain," Elderberry raised his voice a degree, which was uncharacteristic.
Burdock's ears dropped and he knew his battle was lost. After one last backward glance, he moved off dejectedly. After he was out of earshot, Elderberry turned his attention back to Primrose. Now that her anger had receded a bit, she looked uncomfortable in his presence, something that was entirely new to their relationship.
She started to explain herself in a rapid manner, nervously twitching her ears, "Whatever you heard Burdock say, I assure you, it was all nonsense. He doesn't know what he's talking about. I was serious when I told him he didn't have the sense Frith gave a yona . . ."
She trailed off as Elderberry raised a paw, "Forget that twaddle, Primrose. I didn't hear a thing that in any way lowered any of my opinions about you. You are right, Burdock seems to lack any sense of tact, especially when dealing with other rabbits. However, I have some hopes for him." He directed his gaze upward at the sun. "I didn't come to talk to you about Burdock,
Primrose."
"I had guessed as much," she agreed, "To what do I owe this honor, Sir?"
"I have come to have a grave talk with you about your future," he spoke slowly, "And mine as well. This is a difficult question for me to ask and that is why I haven't before."
He paused, and Primrose hung on his every word.
"Primrose, would you do me the honor of being my mate?"
There was a dead silence between the two of them, which was finally broken by a small surprised sound that the young doe made.
Elderberry held his breath, "Am I to take that as a yes?"
Primrose answered by moving closer to him and tentatively nuzzling the fur under his chin.
That night, Elderberry was the most contented rabbit in the warren.
***
The weeks passed uneventfully for the Therean warren. The warren remained relatively elil free and although there was an incident with one wandering homba, disaster was averted by one of Elderberry's cunning plans. Burdock distinguished himself during the conflict and was awarded a commendation by Aspen. After finally learning some responsibility and humility, he took a mate, the lovely Winterberry.
Eventually, after he once again proved himself by adequately handling a problem with a large tom cat with only a few support rabbits, Elderberry promoted him to head of the warren's elil patrols. His patrols had been going well and he had located and helped drive off a young stoat before even the first week was out. However, his rise in fame was not destined to continue it's assent.
One morning, as a warm dawn blanketed itself over the down, Burdock led a patrol across a field bordered by two copses. The patrol had proved uneventful thus far, yet Burdock was loath to let his guard down. He was flanked by two fairly experienced Owsla officers and a young runner in training, yet even the experienced bucks under his command were as ease.
They were nearly back to the warren and so their ease was understandable. One of the bucks, Clover, even bantered back and forth with the small doe runner. The constraint Burdock felt was somewhat alleviated by this casual conversation, so even he lightened up a bit and stopped slinking to the ground. They were nearing the center of the field when suddenly disaster struck.
When questioned closely, afterwards, the runner was unable to describe anything but the terrific noise and her ensuing terror. The shots rang out close together. One splintered a branch off a tree in the copse to the left of the rabbits, another thudded dully in the dirt. By this time the two officers had bolted for cover, leaving only the Captain calling for the tharn runner to do just that. He realized almost immediately that she would not run, and in an attempt to save at least his own life, he turned to bolt as well, when suddenly the third shot rang out.
The marksman had apparently finally found his range because the third bullet buried itself in Burdock's side. He screamed, and his body bent back unnaturally. His eyes flashed wide and he fell into the dust, sending up a small cloud. He kicked a few times, making odd figures in the sandy dirt, and then was still.
Her captain's scream woke her from her tharn state and suddenly the only thought that filled the doe's mind was a simple one. Run. She did just that. The doe runner took off blindly in the opposite direction of the warren. Two more shots thudded into the ground in her wake, but El-ahrairah was with her and she made it into the copse on the other side of the field.
***
When a patrol finally located the doe two days later, she was in a sorry condition. She was huddled in the remains of an oak stump, still tharn, and soaking wet. She had to be led back to the warren by one of the multiple patrols that Elderberry had sent out. When she was finally brought to her senses by a few days stay in a warm burrow, she had little to add to the report that he had already gathered from the officers.
This encroachment of men into their peaceful warren did not bode well with Elderberry. Not only did it hold the worry of more men in the near future over the head of a chief rabbit who had never seen a man before, but it had also cost Elderberry a friend and valuable captain.
Elderberry had heard stories from hlessi about warrens that were completely wiped out by a single man. He generally regarded these as exaggerations, but it was true that a lone homba could devastate a warren, so it was also likely that a lone man could do the same. He was sorely tempted to counsel the chief rabbit to move the warren to a safe place. However, Primrose was heavy with kittens, as were many of the does in the warren. Some does were already nursing kits in small fur-lined burrows. He knew very well that these marlis could not be persuaded to leave their kittens and would have to be left behind. It was not a sacrifice he was willing to make.
Thankfully, this evacuation was only a last resort that he need not seriously contemplate as yet. There was also the comforting thought that the tharn runner had led the man presumably away from Therean. There certainly had been no other human activity in the area since the time that Burdock had stopped running, and Aspen-rah was keeping a tight hand on everyone in the warren. Rabbits were only allowed at morning and evening silfay in short shifts, a few at a time.
Elderberry sighed. He hated military states, but that was how it had to stay for now if he wished to keep the warren safe. Most likely this whole thing would blow over quickly and nothing would come of it. Normal routine would return. Aspen-rah would console Winterberry. Perhaps she'd take another mate. His kits would be born in their due course. Nothing would come of it. Hopefully.
***
Several more weeks passed, and Elderberry's kittens were born as the warren slowly resumed the common pace of things. There were two does and two bucks, four in all, a nice number for a doe's first litter. One of the bucks was the same cinnamon color of his mother, the other was his father's shade of brown. Both promised to be large, strong bucks. Of the does, one was of average size and a peculiar light fawn color. The last kitten born was a doe, and she was the smallest of the litter. She was of the same slight build as her father with his camouflaging brown agouti on her back, however, her legs were a fiery auburn like her mother. Her under coloring was pale ruddy cream, and even as a kitten, Aspen-rah marked her as a somewhat strange, but lovely doe.
Of the four, the red buck was named Chestnut, the brown Farrow, the fawn doe Paisley, and the small doe was named Parsley. They grew quickly, and were soon able to mewl out a few words and crawl along the edges of their fur lined burrow.
The four kittens were favorites of Aspen-rah and his doe Mulberry, as well as Winterberry and her three young kits, Cinnamon, Elm, and Burdock. Many of the does in the warren also kittened, so it was full of the soft mewling cries of newborn rabbits and the afterglow of the does. Another prosperous golden age had settled upon the Therean warren, and none save two, Elderberry and Winterberry, still thought of the threat that men had posed such a short time before.
***
The new morning was peaceful as Elderberry stuck his head out of his burrow into the new light. He was filled with a great sense of peace. His four kittens were all strong and healthy. He had worried much about the last born of his does because she seemed so small and frail, much as he had been as a kitten. However, she had soon doused those worries by having spirited tussles with both of her brothers. Her brothers were wont to bully her to get more attention from their marli, but she would have nothing of it. Elderberry had marked several occasions when she had soundly whipped both of her brothers, despite the fact that they were much larger than she was.
Frith bathed Elderberry in his light, and the rabbit was warmed comfortably. His thoughts drifted away from his favorite kitten and back to the news Primrose had shared with him last night. She was going to kitten again before the season was over. In other circumstances, this might have proved to be bad news, but their warren was growing. There was plenty of food, and plenty of room for expansion. He was pleased.
Suddenly a peculiar smell stopped all of his pleasant thoughts. It was strange, yet frighteningly familiar, and a distinct feeling of dread emanated from it. Elderberry froze, and then studied his surroundings carefully. The grass was pressed down in a strange way, and there was a strange marking in the soil near one of the burrows. All these things were unsettling, and bespoke that a new elil had discovered their warren. However, on the ground to his right was a small object that cemented the fear in his chest. It was a small white stick that gave off a peculiar smell.
***
"What do you mean the two sentries posted fell asleep?" fumed Elderberry. His Captain of the night watch and the two officers under his command flinched. They had never seen Elderberry angry, and, truth be told, he rarely was. However, he was furious at the three rabbits who sat in his burrow. The two officers cowered, ashamed, and the captain kept his head low.
"Don't you know that this warren is under threat from men? What made you think that it was all right to leave a sentry post unguarded at a time like this? Don't you remember our Captain Burdock? We've lost too many rabbits already, and I am not going to loose any more,"
Elderberry was angry and frustrated, and needed some time to think. He called an officer up from his place outside the burrow entrance, "Officer Redbud, please escort these rabbits to a burrow and contain them there."
He returned his gaze to the three rabbits, "You three are in detention until further notice, and you're very lucky I didn't take stronger measures."
Elderberry turned his back on the two officers and captain as they were led off towards a detention burrow. He sighed heavily and cursed himself.
"It's not your fault you know," remarked a quiet voice, as it continued, it grew in timbre, "I have never understood why you always blame yourself, Elderberry."
The voice generally had a calming effect on him, but at this particular moment, it only frustrated him more.
"It is my fault this time, Primrose. I knew very well what the consequences of a man finding the warren were. I chose to ignore them."
She was livid, "That's wrong and you know it, Elderberry. You had no choice, and still you made the correct decision. I will not let you goad yourself into a pit of self-revulsion at the moment when this warren needs you most."
He turned to face her and his eyes burned with a fire that was only matched in her own. After a few moments of this staring contest, he realized that a small bundle of fur had followed Primrose from their burrow. The little kitten managed to form the syllables of a word that affected the buck most profoundly.
"Papa?" asked Parsley.
Elderberry cast his eyes from Primrose down to their tiny kitten, and his gaze softened.
Primrose's voice was soft and comforting now as she counseled him, "You must go see Aspen-rah."
Elderberry let his gaze wander to the kitten once more, then nodded silently.
"I will, Primrose. I will."
***
Aspen was somewhat confused when Elderberry brought him the news. He was a good rabbit, and in bygone years he had been the lifeblood of the warren. However long years had dulled his senses, and now, venerable though he was, he lacked the capacity to make snap judgements. Added with the fact that he had never dealt with men in his long life, he was not the rabbit to be command of a warren during the present crisis.
"The sentries left their posts?" he asked, perplexed, "Why?"
Elderberry was thankfully calmed by this point, "I don't know, Aspen-rah. One of them, Locus, says his kittens were born last night. Captain Hickory says that he allowed Locus to leave to be with his doe. I would have allowed that. However, Hickory didn't post anyone else with Dogwood. He stood guard by himself. Hickory was supposed to guard as well, but he counted that Dogwood would stay up and watch. Dogwood was sure his commander would watch, so they both took their leaves and went to sleep."
"And you said that they're all in detention? Even that Officer, Locus?" asked the chief rabbit, his ears twitching.
Elderberry looked a bit sheepish, "Oh, that's true. I had forgotten about him. I was angry when I sent them away."
He again called up Officer Redbud and sent him to let Locus out of detention.
"After all," reminded Aspen, "He had permission to be with his doe."
Elderberry sighed, then nodded, "An oversight. I've had so much on my mind recently . . ."
He trailed off.
"I know, I know, Elderberry. You shouldn't let it worry you this much. If men come we will deal with them, just as we dealt with the stoat and the homba. I know how you hate homba."
This was very true. Ever since the whispered tales had echoed in the warren about Elderberry's mother's fate, he had hated homba with a strange intensity. With men, it was a different story. Men had killed his father, at least that was what his mother had softly told him when she though he was old enough. He had stopped running long before Elderberry was born.
Elderberry's mother, Rosemary had been a wild and roving hlessi. His father, Beech, had been an accomplished Owsla rabbit in a warren whose name had been long forgotten. Beech was lured away from warren life by that strange and exotic doe rabbit with pale ruddy-cream fur.
They led a fine rollicking life, living where they pleased, both had an uncharacteristic fearlessness of the world, which is a strange commodity in rabbits. He was raiding a garden when it happened. Rosemary told her son that he probably ate some sort of poison, but she would not and could not tell her only son the details surrounding his death. They pained her too much, and she blamed herself.
Elderberry was suddenly snapped back from his musings by the comprehension that Aspen had asked him a question.
"What?" he asked, startled out of his revery.
"I asked if you think we ought to move some of the does to the abandoned holes a day's travel from here. You know, the ones Burdock dug for his patrols," repeated Aspen-rah.
Elderberry thought for a moment.
"That's probably a safe plan of action. Although only the heathiest should move, along with the most frail. The strongest will have no problem making the trip and the most fail will be of no use here if there is danger. It would be wise to select a few, tell them of the danger and then let them choose whether or not to go. I will send a detachment of officers to guard them on their way. Whatever we do, we must act quickly. It is unlikely the man will move to attack this quickly, but I am unfamiliar in the doings of men."
"Then we must decide which does to tell," concluded Aspen.
"That will be a difficult decision," remarked Elderberry quietly, "I do not relish it."
"Neither do I, my friend. Neither do I."
***
"I will not go," she said with a note of finality. She then busied herself with her active kittens, who had a mind to nurse.
"But Primrose, it's for your own safety," Elderberry attempted to reason with her.
"If I'm not safe in my own warren with my buck as Captain of the Owlsa, then I'm not sure I'd be safe anywhere," she responded with equal logic.
"But our kittens, Primrose," he trailed off for a moment, "You know how I feel about men . . ."
She was not to be coerced, "No, Elderberry. I know very well about your fears. I believe they are logical ones. However I think moving the kits would be the worst possible course of action. To get to those other warrens we'd have to pass very close to the field where Burdock stopped running. That is not a place I would stray to with four kittens who haven't much experience outside at all."
"Winterberry's kittens are younger than ours and she is moving them . . . they're going to travel all of this evening and I have confidence in them," he was vainly grasping at straws at this point.
"No," she said simply, "I will not risk it. You may have no confidence in yourself, but I do. If you commanded me as Captain Elderberry of Therean's Owsla, I would not budge. If you sent in an escort of Officers, I would not budge. I will not leave, Elderberry. I am your doe, and believe it or not, we need each other. I am staying."
With that, she began cleaning Fallow's ears, swiftly and thoroughly, and Elderberry knew the matter was closed. Although it unsettled him, deep inside he was filled with a deep warmth that came from Primrose's confidence. He would not fail her. Their lives depended on it.
***
The next few days were spent in tense dread. A double guard of sentries was posted inside the entrance to each run. The Owsla worked in shifts, with a day guard and a night guard. This meant that at any given time the Owsla was only at half strength, but those rabbits on duty were always well rested and in good condition. Elderberry needed rabbits that were alert and watchful, and tired, overworked rabbits were not up to that task.
Rabbits went up to silfay two at a time and very near the holes. This worried Elderberry, because it made the holes more noticeable. It was a price he had to pay though, the rabbits had to eat, and they needed the protection of their holes.
The gradual balding of the grasses in front of the warren preyed upon his mind, but he could find no feasible solution for it, until Primrose suggested an idea to him. The does who had stayed at the warren were getting restless, she said. Was there nothing they could do to occupy themselves? Primrose thought so. Elderberry had remarked on the feeding problem to her several times, and now she though she had reached a possible solution. Was it not possible to create a long run that would come up in the copse to the south of the warren? The does that were nearly though with their litters still had the urge to dig, and this long run was ideal underground tunneling. Feeding in the copse would not draw attention to the warren, and the copse provided more low cover than the down did. It was true that many of the rabbits would feel a bit uneasy feeding in the cover, but that was a cheaper price to pay that were the blatant signs of a warren that were developing outside the north holes.
After talking to Aspen about it, Elderberry agreed to the plan and set Primrose as the over seer. He told her to did a straight tunnel in the direction of the copse. The run would start from the main burrow and then tunnel forward. The tunnel should go neither up nor down, but as straight as possible. When the does felt that they had reached an adequate place, a sounder would be sent to the copse. He would stamp, and if the stamp could be heard clearly in the tunnel below, then a slight upward curve would be dug. The sounder would dig a scrape of a tunnel under a bush and meet the upward tunnel. Thus would Therean's backdoor be built.
The plan was ingenious, but would take a few days' time to complete. In the meantime, the warren was slightly less tense, because the does' attentions were being occupied. They too worked on shifts to get the work done as quickly as possible. The excess dirt that could not be pressed flat was moved into the empty burrows that the outpost does had left behind. When the crisis was over and the other does returned from their haven, the burrows could be redug.
All of the does that were sent away had arrived safely at the scrapes. Half of their escort had returned to the warren, leaving only four strong does and a large buck to guard the little hideaway. All of the does were in fine condition, save a small frail one name Celfairy. She had carried no kittens, but a been so small and weak that she had been put in the care of Winterberry, who had assumed command of the small group. Although Celfairy was exhausted, she was not ill, and Winterberry was hopeful that she would recover with only adequate rest and food.
So the tense days passed uneventfully. Three days, now four, until a whole week had passed. Elderberry finally began taking a positive outlook on things. He became hopeful that the man would not return. It was but a slight ease on his burdened mind, but a helpful one at that.
***
It was the eighth day that was the disastrous one. Elderberry slept peacefully in his burrow, guarding his kittens. Their mother was on duty, supervising the digging of the long run, and the two young bucks were restless without her. Yet they slept easily enough. It took the sentry three times to successfully wake Elderberry, and even then it took a few moments for his mind to register what the sentry told him. It did not help that the sentry was nearly tharn.
"Sir! Sir! They've come, sir. They did it. It's so horrible, and it smells, oh it smells like the black rabbit. But Inle-rah, it's still warm. Whatever they did to it, it may still be alive, because it's still warm!"
Officer Redbud was babbling. When Elderberry finally understood what had happened, he was terrified.
A man had come in the early morning and placed a dead rabbit in the entrance run that lead to the great burrow. The rabbit was only recently dead, and still warm. The deceased animal was misshapen from disease. Its eyes were swelled and filled with pus. Its coat was soiled with its own excrement, and a discharge moistened its swelled nose. Its ears hung heavy and bloated with a clear fluid. The rabbit died from myxomatosis, a disease caused by a tiny virus. It is incurable, and was introduced solely for the purpose of controlling rabbit populations. It is always fatal.
Elderberry recognized the symptoms immediately as a disease that strikes terror and revulsion in all rabbits.
"The white blindness . . ." he murmured softly. The moment of tharn had passed, and now his mind worked quickly. "Don't let anyone go near that body. Did you say it is in the run?"
The Officer confirmed it.
"All right then, I need a team of the fastest diggers to go to the entrance to that run, two above ground, two below. We must collapse that run as quickly as possible."
Redbud left. Elderberry knew that the blindness was carried to rabbits by fleas and flies and things that bit, and he knew that he had to have the body rapidly buried to curtail the risk of infection. After another moment, he left as well.
Only one of the kittens was awake. Unfortunately, she was the most adventuresome of the four, and so, Parsley slowly followed her father towards the open air.
***
It took nearly twenty minutes to close off the run containing the dead rabbit. Elderberry watched from a slight distance, keeping the small kitten behind him. Once he discovered that she had followed him, he had no mind o take her back into the warren. The two rabbits on topside, a doe and a buck, were named Mayweed and Ilex, respectively. They were both strong diggers and finished the job of collapsing the front of the run just as the other two finished the job of sealing the end of the run, underground.
After a few moments, the two does who had collapsed the bottom emerged from a side tunnel. Primrose followed them out. Elderberry's eyes widened.
"Primrose, what are you doing over there?" he asked sharply.
"I helped collapse that run," she replied grimly.
"Are you mad! Do you know what killed that rabbit?" he fumed.
"Yes, I do," she replied quietly, "It died of the white blindness."
"Then why did you endanger yourself that way? The other four rabbits collapsed that tunnel efficiently," he cried, angrily.
"Because I helped, the job got done faster and the warren was protected faster. The does at the bottom were not keeping up with the ones at the top. If I had not helped then all the bad air that was with the rabbit that stopped running would have flooded back into the great burrow. That would have made everything worse."
"Why didn't you send someone else? That was much too dangerous for someone in your condition," he growled.
"There was no on else that could have kept up. I have as good a right as any to protect my warren and my kittens," she answered shortly.
Elderberry would not listen, "You have done a terrible thing, Primrose. Don't you care about what you could do to your kittens? Don't you care about giving them the white blindness?"
He did not wait for an answer, but stormed off, carrying Parsley by the scruff of her neck. "We will be sleeping elsewhere tonight."
***
Elderberry was feeling less than pleased with himself by the next morning. True, what Primrose had done had been extremely dangerous, but if he had been in her position, he would have probably made the same decision. He resolved to make up with his doe, and admit that he had overreacted to an action that was noble, if not slightly mad.
The spare burrow was cold. The entrance into the main burrow was nearly blocked off by the loose excavation dirt from the long run, and a hastily dug tunnel to the surface drew in a chill breeze. Parsley had slept fitfully, and he fretted over her now. She needed her mother, and they needed a warm burrow. Elderberry picked up his daughter and ventured into the cold pre-dawn light. After a short hop over to his own burrow's entrance, he descended once more.
In the entrance, he froze, and his nose twitched. Something was wrong. Something smelled bad. Very bad. A fear swelled into Elderberry's chest and he gripped Parsley tightly. The half-awake kitten squealed out crankily. The pitiful cries of other kittens could be heard a short distance away, but these cries were wrong. They were not the cries of nearly month-old juveniles, but the cries of pitifully sick rabbits.
Something stirred at the entrance to his burrow, and a form laboriously drew itself up. Ragged breath echoed in Elderberry's mind as his eyes grew accustomed to the dimness of the run. The form in his burrow was a perversion of a rabbit. Its ears had started to swell and a slight discharge already dripped from its nose. Its eyes were half shut in pain, and it seemed to be crying, for a white trail traced down where its natural tear-lines should have been. It was whimpering pitifully.
Elderberry's whole body froze. He stopped breathing as watched the animal in revulsion. Every bone in his body screamed "RUN!" to him, but he stood, rooted.
The animal opened and shut its mouth in an attempt to communicate something, but its vocal cords were swollen as well. Elderberry would not and could not recognize the word the rabbit tried to form over and over again. He refused to even think about the identity of the rabbit, but Parsley did not understand. As she dangled from her father's mouth, a sudden realization dawned upon her.
"Marli?" she cried, uncertain.
It broke the moment, and Elderberry succumbed to his instinct. He ran. He ran straight out of the burrow, unconscious of the little doe that he still carried. He ran fast and far, not stopping, until at last, he fell exhausted, in a heap beside his daughter, nearly two miles from his warren. He did not think of the warren as he slept, and he did not think of it when he awoke. The warren was dead, or would be shortly. There was no use worrying over it. It was past. Only he and the little doe were present, and they never returned to the home that was now a barren trap of disease.