Part Thirteen - No Time Left
"Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert." Jeremiah 48:6, NIV
As Oaktrunk started out with the evacuees, several rabbits squealed and then the whole band began to dive back into the warren's holes. Arum and Meadow went with them without bothering to confirm why they were doing so, and Oaktrunk was following when he saw the reason for the rabbits' panic. A homba vixen was walking towards the warren, and she was apparently in tears. "Oaktrunk! Oaktrunk! Mother, Carol, Mark... I think they've been shot..."
The shots! Oh, no... thought Oaktrunk, adding, "Gina! No..."
"They went into that building and the man trapped them in there. Please, I don't know what to do..."
"Wait, here Gina. I'll be right back." He darted back into the warren, calling for Arum. When he finally tracked his friend down, Oaktrunk said, "Don't worry; it's Gina out there. But, something terrible has happened. I think her family is trapped by one of the humans, and they may have been shot."
"Mara? Carol? Mark?"
"I'm afraid so..."
Arum swallowed a lump in his throat. "Let's go find out then, Oaktrunk."
"Father? May I come too?"
"No, Meadow. We'll be right back."
Oaktrunk and Arum reemerged from the warren; Arum gave Gina a mournful look. "Gina, I'm so sorry," was all he could manage.
"It's this way," said Gina tearfully.
When they reached the barn and carefully crept inside, the scene that they found was grim. Mara was obviously dead, and at that point, their worst fears were realized. Their hearts sank, and tears came to their eyes. Gina was now weeping uncontrollably. But they still had to find the others.
Carol was laying by some bales in a corner, also dead. Now, they knew that a similar fate must have befallen Mark, as well. And indeed, Gina's younger brother was found under some haphazardly-stacked bales with three bleeding wounds in him. However, Mark was still barely conscious.
"Are... they..." he gasped, able only to utter one word per breath.
Oaktrunk, in horror at Mark's wounds and in sorrow at the turn of events, replied, "I'm sorry, Mark, Your mother and Carol are..." He looked away, unable to say the word.
Mark merely nodded in understanding, with tears in his eyes.
"Mark... What have they done? Don't die, please..." Gina wept.
"Sorry... Gina... didn't... stay..."
"You couldn't have known, Mark. Just stay with me. Fight."
"Should... have... known... Rabbit... bait... trap..."
Gina remembered the squealing that they had heard. She tried to understand what Mark was saying. "There was a rabbit, wasn't there? To lure us? Where is it?"
"Man... gun... kill... Mother... Carol... other... man... come... yelled..." Mark paused to catch his failing breath, then continued, "Seem... to... fight... other... man... took... rabbit..."
"Two men? They argued? One of them took the rabbit away?" Gina was not only trying to find out what had happened, but was trying to keep Mark alive a little while longer, as though she believed that he would not die without answering a question.
"Yes... Yes..."
"Are they coming back? Was the rabbit all right?" Gina knew that Mark couldn't know the answer to at least the first of those questions.
But, having held on long enough to see Gina again, Mark managed to whisper, "Good... bye... for... now..." and stopped fighting.
After several minutes of silence except for Gina's sobbing, Oaktrunk finally spoke again. "Gina, I know I have no right to ask this now, but we need your help. I'm only asking because Grotto is in danger." Gina looked up at Oaktrunk and waited for him to go on. "It's the men. They've attacked Grotto warren recently, and we fear they're coming back to finish us all. And now, after what's happened here now, I am even more afraid. We're going to get those who can leave out of Grotto and get them to Cloudtree. We need you to help keep away the elil. Please, Gina. We need you."
Gina paused, then replied, "I can't bring Mother or Mark or Carol back now," she said, "And I can't just stop living. I'll be glad to help, Oaktrunk."
The walk back to Grotto was slow and quiet. When they reached the warren, Oaktrunk and Arum went back inside to explain to the others about Gina, while the young vixen waited outside.
***
"Friends, we need to leave now," said Arum after quieting the murmuring crowd.
"Arum, the homba is out there," said one of the bucks, "What were you thinking, going back on the silf?"
"Father, I tried to explain, but they thought I was just being silly," offered Meadow.
"Well, then, I'll explain. Listen, everyone. That homba is not elil. Her name is Gina, and her mother Mara saved my Meadow's life - and Gina saved Oaktrunk." There was a collective gasp from the crowd, and Oaktrunk acknowledged the fact. Arum continued more somberly, "Unfortunately, Mara was just killed by the men, as were Gina's younger brother and sister, Mark and Carol."
Meadow burst into tears. "No, father! Please say no!"
Oaktrunk continued for Arum, "I'm afraid it's true, Meadow. But, Gina is still alive and well, and she's going to help us get to Cloudtree safe and sound."
"I'm not going out there!" shouted a doe, and several others echoed the same.
"Fine! Stay here then," said Oaktrunk angrily, "But anyone who wants to go to Cloudtree safely will come with us - and Gina."
"Besides," cut in Arum, "Haven't you heard of the promised friend?" There was silence. Arum continued, "You believe in El-ahrairah's stories, don't you?"
"Uh... yes, but..." sputtered another doe.
"But, nothing. Meadow, Oaktrunk, and myself are proof of it. Our promised friend awaits to get us to Cloudtree." With that, Arum left the burrow and started up the run, followed by Meadow and Oaktrunk. Slowly, the other rabbits that were due to evacuate began to follow, too, one by one, some bucks urging their hesitant does on, some does urging their stubborn bucks on, and many does and bucks nudging their trembling kittens ahead of them.
Finally, they all stood out on the silf, looking around at each other and the forlorn-looking homba that was right beside them. Despite having enough trust to emerge from the warren, many still were expecting Gina to pounce on them at any moment.
"Gina? Are you ready?" asked Oaktrunk in a soothing voice.
"Yes. We'd better be going, it looks like rain." Gina looked southward, where the sky had darkened to the point of being threatening. A patch of thick cloud had suddenly formed ahead of the distant main bank of cloud and was drifting directly toward them. Lightning would occasionally flicker through its midst and rumbles of thunder were beginning to reach the point of overpowering the usual noises of the nearby forest.
***
A limousine pulled into the farmyard, followed by two lorries carrying tanks. George got himself out of the limousine without waiting for Ken to open the door for him, then gestured at the lorry drivers. When they got out of their vehicles he called to them, "Thanks for dropping by so early. I just want this over with before it rains!"
Winston had exited the farmhouse when he had seen his former boss return, and called out, "Hey, George, I thought you said the gassing was at four o'clock? It's only two."
"What are you still doing here?"
"I haven't had enough time yet! Do you realize how many things I have to find?"
"Just get your things and leave, Winston."
"My pleasure!"
George's attention turned back to the exterminators. "Just drive up to the edge of the forest there. That's where those bloody rabbits are."
***
"There's two hrududil coming!" shouted one of the gathered bucks.
"We have to leave now," urged Oaktrunk, starting off towards his home, "Let's not wait and see what they're going to do. Gina, if you would, keep watch from the back."
"Of course, Oaktrunk." The grief in Gina's eyes were being overtaken by determination. Her family was lost, but she had friends to protect now.
Oaktrunk led the way, with Arum and Meadow right behind, then followed by a number of families, and a few single does and bucks. Gina followed the rabbits at a distance, keeping a vigilant watch for any signs of animals that would normally target rabbits as a meal. Only now was she beginning to wonder how she might fend off an animal larger than herself, let alone several at once. She hoped that such a situation would not arise.
All of the evacuees kept an eye on the approaching storm. A low cloud bank was rapidly developing and spreading out. It was a surreal sight: a deep purple that was almost black, with ripples that made it appear almost like a bizarrely coloured, upside-down ocean. Shreds of cloud that were tinged orange hung underneath, moving in various directions and speeds, swept by unseen winds. Despite the obvious heaviness of the cloud, relatively little rain appeared to be falling from it. As the cloud drew nearer, the land grew as dark as dusk, so that the lights of nearby farms began to turn on. Periodically, this darkness was pierced by a blinding lightning bolt that would leave a ghostly and broken image of itself hanging in the air for some seconds before vanishing, as though the air itself had caught fire, to be extinguished by the rain. The accompanying thunder grew from distant rumbles to deafening crackling roars.
A quiet yet clearly audible hollow rushing sound emanated from the storm, similar to the sound of wind in the tops of tall trees. The roar was made especially evident by the deathly calm in the air.
"Perhaps we should have waited at Grotto for the storm to pass," said one of the bucks.
"I'd rather be rained on than find out what man has planned for Grotto," replied a doe, presumably the buck's mate.
***
"So, are you going to start soon, Bill?"
"Mr. Castles, we're looking for all of the holes right now. We're plugging them up except for the two that the hoses go in. That'll keep the rabbits and the gas inside their warren," replied Bill, then turning to his co- worker, asked "How are we doing, James?"
"I've covered the holes that I could find. Now we just have to set up the equipment," said his colleague.
"Well, hurry up, it's going to rain soon!" George's command was followed by a bright flash and several seconds later by a crackling thunder that ended in a loud and almost satisfying boom.
"Why the rush? We could always do this after the rain, Mr. Castles," observed Bill.
"No, now! How long does it normally take?"
"Twenty minutes of gas should be plenty to ensure that they're dead, sir," James replied, eyeing the darkening sky.
"Great! Get going!"
***
"Get back! They're filling in the holes!"
The warren became lost in a crowding of panicked voices and sobs from distraught marlis and kittens.
"Restharrow, isn't this what they say it was like at Sandleford?" asked a trembling doe.
"That's what the stories say," he replied, shouting as best he could above the din, "Everybody get as far down as you can! Stay away from the surface!"
"Restharrow, I can do my job just fine, thank you!"
"This is no time, Beet! We have to work together on this! Please!"
Beet paused, then added, "You look after this half; I'll take the other side."
"Consider it done... sir." replied Restharrow. Oh, I hope Fawn and the kittens are all right, he thought, and I hope I can see them again. Beet was simultaneously having the same thoughts towards his family.
Both Restharrow and Beet searched along the upper runs of the warren, shooing any rabbit they found further down, until the heart of the warren was crowded to the maximum extent. Whenever they found a lost kitten, they took it the nearest marli that they could find and asked them to care for the sobbing little ones.
Many of the rabbits had second thoughts about staying in Grotto at this point, but even if they thought that survival here was impossible for anyone, at the same time they knew that survival for their tiny kittens on the way to Grotto was also impossible. They knew that they couldn't live with themselves if they abandoned their crying kittens in the last minutes of their lives. And the bucks felt the same way toward their does. And so, all of them stayed, out of sheer duty - choosing honour over their own lives.
************
"Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert." Jeremiah 48:6, NIV
As Oaktrunk started out with the evacuees, several rabbits squealed and then the whole band began to dive back into the warren's holes. Arum and Meadow went with them without bothering to confirm why they were doing so, and Oaktrunk was following when he saw the reason for the rabbits' panic. A homba vixen was walking towards the warren, and she was apparently in tears. "Oaktrunk! Oaktrunk! Mother, Carol, Mark... I think they've been shot..."
The shots! Oh, no... thought Oaktrunk, adding, "Gina! No..."
"They went into that building and the man trapped them in there. Please, I don't know what to do..."
"Wait, here Gina. I'll be right back." He darted back into the warren, calling for Arum. When he finally tracked his friend down, Oaktrunk said, "Don't worry; it's Gina out there. But, something terrible has happened. I think her family is trapped by one of the humans, and they may have been shot."
"Mara? Carol? Mark?"
"I'm afraid so..."
Arum swallowed a lump in his throat. "Let's go find out then, Oaktrunk."
"Father? May I come too?"
"No, Meadow. We'll be right back."
Oaktrunk and Arum reemerged from the warren; Arum gave Gina a mournful look. "Gina, I'm so sorry," was all he could manage.
"It's this way," said Gina tearfully.
When they reached the barn and carefully crept inside, the scene that they found was grim. Mara was obviously dead, and at that point, their worst fears were realized. Their hearts sank, and tears came to their eyes. Gina was now weeping uncontrollably. But they still had to find the others.
Carol was laying by some bales in a corner, also dead. Now, they knew that a similar fate must have befallen Mark, as well. And indeed, Gina's younger brother was found under some haphazardly-stacked bales with three bleeding wounds in him. However, Mark was still barely conscious.
"Are... they..." he gasped, able only to utter one word per breath.
Oaktrunk, in horror at Mark's wounds and in sorrow at the turn of events, replied, "I'm sorry, Mark, Your mother and Carol are..." He looked away, unable to say the word.
Mark merely nodded in understanding, with tears in his eyes.
"Mark... What have they done? Don't die, please..." Gina wept.
"Sorry... Gina... didn't... stay..."
"You couldn't have known, Mark. Just stay with me. Fight."
"Should... have... known... Rabbit... bait... trap..."
Gina remembered the squealing that they had heard. She tried to understand what Mark was saying. "There was a rabbit, wasn't there? To lure us? Where is it?"
"Man... gun... kill... Mother... Carol... other... man... come... yelled..." Mark paused to catch his failing breath, then continued, "Seem... to... fight... other... man... took... rabbit..."
"Two men? They argued? One of them took the rabbit away?" Gina was not only trying to find out what had happened, but was trying to keep Mark alive a little while longer, as though she believed that he would not die without answering a question.
"Yes... Yes..."
"Are they coming back? Was the rabbit all right?" Gina knew that Mark couldn't know the answer to at least the first of those questions.
But, having held on long enough to see Gina again, Mark managed to whisper, "Good... bye... for... now..." and stopped fighting.
After several minutes of silence except for Gina's sobbing, Oaktrunk finally spoke again. "Gina, I know I have no right to ask this now, but we need your help. I'm only asking because Grotto is in danger." Gina looked up at Oaktrunk and waited for him to go on. "It's the men. They've attacked Grotto warren recently, and we fear they're coming back to finish us all. And now, after what's happened here now, I am even more afraid. We're going to get those who can leave out of Grotto and get them to Cloudtree. We need you to help keep away the elil. Please, Gina. We need you."
Gina paused, then replied, "I can't bring Mother or Mark or Carol back now," she said, "And I can't just stop living. I'll be glad to help, Oaktrunk."
The walk back to Grotto was slow and quiet. When they reached the warren, Oaktrunk and Arum went back inside to explain to the others about Gina, while the young vixen waited outside.
***
"Friends, we need to leave now," said Arum after quieting the murmuring crowd.
"Arum, the homba is out there," said one of the bucks, "What were you thinking, going back on the silf?"
"Father, I tried to explain, but they thought I was just being silly," offered Meadow.
"Well, then, I'll explain. Listen, everyone. That homba is not elil. Her name is Gina, and her mother Mara saved my Meadow's life - and Gina saved Oaktrunk." There was a collective gasp from the crowd, and Oaktrunk acknowledged the fact. Arum continued more somberly, "Unfortunately, Mara was just killed by the men, as were Gina's younger brother and sister, Mark and Carol."
Meadow burst into tears. "No, father! Please say no!"
Oaktrunk continued for Arum, "I'm afraid it's true, Meadow. But, Gina is still alive and well, and she's going to help us get to Cloudtree safe and sound."
"I'm not going out there!" shouted a doe, and several others echoed the same.
"Fine! Stay here then," said Oaktrunk angrily, "But anyone who wants to go to Cloudtree safely will come with us - and Gina."
"Besides," cut in Arum, "Haven't you heard of the promised friend?" There was silence. Arum continued, "You believe in El-ahrairah's stories, don't you?"
"Uh... yes, but..." sputtered another doe.
"But, nothing. Meadow, Oaktrunk, and myself are proof of it. Our promised friend awaits to get us to Cloudtree." With that, Arum left the burrow and started up the run, followed by Meadow and Oaktrunk. Slowly, the other rabbits that were due to evacuate began to follow, too, one by one, some bucks urging their hesitant does on, some does urging their stubborn bucks on, and many does and bucks nudging their trembling kittens ahead of them.
Finally, they all stood out on the silf, looking around at each other and the forlorn-looking homba that was right beside them. Despite having enough trust to emerge from the warren, many still were expecting Gina to pounce on them at any moment.
"Gina? Are you ready?" asked Oaktrunk in a soothing voice.
"Yes. We'd better be going, it looks like rain." Gina looked southward, where the sky had darkened to the point of being threatening. A patch of thick cloud had suddenly formed ahead of the distant main bank of cloud and was drifting directly toward them. Lightning would occasionally flicker through its midst and rumbles of thunder were beginning to reach the point of overpowering the usual noises of the nearby forest.
***
A limousine pulled into the farmyard, followed by two lorries carrying tanks. George got himself out of the limousine without waiting for Ken to open the door for him, then gestured at the lorry drivers. When they got out of their vehicles he called to them, "Thanks for dropping by so early. I just want this over with before it rains!"
Winston had exited the farmhouse when he had seen his former boss return, and called out, "Hey, George, I thought you said the gassing was at four o'clock? It's only two."
"What are you still doing here?"
"I haven't had enough time yet! Do you realize how many things I have to find?"
"Just get your things and leave, Winston."
"My pleasure!"
George's attention turned back to the exterminators. "Just drive up to the edge of the forest there. That's where those bloody rabbits are."
***
"There's two hrududil coming!" shouted one of the gathered bucks.
"We have to leave now," urged Oaktrunk, starting off towards his home, "Let's not wait and see what they're going to do. Gina, if you would, keep watch from the back."
"Of course, Oaktrunk." The grief in Gina's eyes were being overtaken by determination. Her family was lost, but she had friends to protect now.
Oaktrunk led the way, with Arum and Meadow right behind, then followed by a number of families, and a few single does and bucks. Gina followed the rabbits at a distance, keeping a vigilant watch for any signs of animals that would normally target rabbits as a meal. Only now was she beginning to wonder how she might fend off an animal larger than herself, let alone several at once. She hoped that such a situation would not arise.
All of the evacuees kept an eye on the approaching storm. A low cloud bank was rapidly developing and spreading out. It was a surreal sight: a deep purple that was almost black, with ripples that made it appear almost like a bizarrely coloured, upside-down ocean. Shreds of cloud that were tinged orange hung underneath, moving in various directions and speeds, swept by unseen winds. Despite the obvious heaviness of the cloud, relatively little rain appeared to be falling from it. As the cloud drew nearer, the land grew as dark as dusk, so that the lights of nearby farms began to turn on. Periodically, this darkness was pierced by a blinding lightning bolt that would leave a ghostly and broken image of itself hanging in the air for some seconds before vanishing, as though the air itself had caught fire, to be extinguished by the rain. The accompanying thunder grew from distant rumbles to deafening crackling roars.
A quiet yet clearly audible hollow rushing sound emanated from the storm, similar to the sound of wind in the tops of tall trees. The roar was made especially evident by the deathly calm in the air.
"Perhaps we should have waited at Grotto for the storm to pass," said one of the bucks.
"I'd rather be rained on than find out what man has planned for Grotto," replied a doe, presumably the buck's mate.
***
"So, are you going to start soon, Bill?"
"Mr. Castles, we're looking for all of the holes right now. We're plugging them up except for the two that the hoses go in. That'll keep the rabbits and the gas inside their warren," replied Bill, then turning to his co- worker, asked "How are we doing, James?"
"I've covered the holes that I could find. Now we just have to set up the equipment," said his colleague.
"Well, hurry up, it's going to rain soon!" George's command was followed by a bright flash and several seconds later by a crackling thunder that ended in a loud and almost satisfying boom.
"Why the rush? We could always do this after the rain, Mr. Castles," observed Bill.
"No, now! How long does it normally take?"
"Twenty minutes of gas should be plenty to ensure that they're dead, sir," James replied, eyeing the darkening sky.
"Great! Get going!"
***
"Get back! They're filling in the holes!"
The warren became lost in a crowding of panicked voices and sobs from distraught marlis and kittens.
"Restharrow, isn't this what they say it was like at Sandleford?" asked a trembling doe.
"That's what the stories say," he replied, shouting as best he could above the din, "Everybody get as far down as you can! Stay away from the surface!"
"Restharrow, I can do my job just fine, thank you!"
"This is no time, Beet! We have to work together on this! Please!"
Beet paused, then added, "You look after this half; I'll take the other side."
"Consider it done... sir." replied Restharrow. Oh, I hope Fawn and the kittens are all right, he thought, and I hope I can see them again. Beet was simultaneously having the same thoughts towards his family.
Both Restharrow and Beet searched along the upper runs of the warren, shooing any rabbit they found further down, until the heart of the warren was crowded to the maximum extent. Whenever they found a lost kitten, they took it the nearest marli that they could find and asked them to care for the sobbing little ones.
Many of the rabbits had second thoughts about staying in Grotto at this point, but even if they thought that survival here was impossible for anyone, at the same time they knew that survival for their tiny kittens on the way to Grotto was also impossible. They knew that they couldn't live with themselves if they abandoned their crying kittens in the last minutes of their lives. And the bucks felt the same way toward their does. And so, all of them stayed, out of sheer duty - choosing honour over their own lives.
************
