Part Eighteen - Grotto's Peace
"In righteousness you will be established; Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you." Isaiah 54:14, NIV
Winston was in a good mood. He owned a debt-free farm for the first time in his life. At present, he was holding the still-nervous Hopkins in one gloved hand and held the phone in the other. "Hello, Linda? I was wondering if maybe I should clear a birthday gift that I had planned for little Cassidy with you and Dwayne first." He was hoping that his sister and her husband would agree to the gift. He was otherwise fresh out of original ideas for his niece's birthday this year. "Oh, it's a cute baby bunny that my, uh... former landlord caught a few days ago... Oh?... Are you sure?... I see... Well, I guess that settles that, then... No, I didn't know about her allergy. Not to worry, I'll find something else, then... Well, good day then, and say hello to Dwayne and Cassidy for me... All right... Good bye."
Winston held up the young rabbit. He noticed that Hopkins was starting to cry again. "Don't worry, little one," said Winston softly, "I know just what to do with you now." He then called out to his new employee, "George! Get up already; it's seven o'clock! I need you to go to the hardware store and do some shopping around. We have to have the walls and roof on the new barn before winter sets in, and as long as we're out of nails, we're not getting anywhere!"
As George cursed loudly into his pillow, Winston made his way outside with Hopkins.
***
It took about two days for all of the hail to melt away; the drifts against the buildings taking the longest to disappear. After this was left the flattened grass, stripped trees, battered roofs, flecked outer walls, and boarded windows to tell the tale of the storm.
Those remaining in Grotto Warren had remained on edge for some days. As time went on and the would-be destroyers still didn't return, the mood finally began to settle down. And the mood took a definite turn for the better when one of Grotto's own that was thought lost forever came home.
"Marli! Guess what!" Bryony practically flew into his burrow and crashed into his sleeping marli's side.
"Ow! Bryony, how many times have I told you not to run into here like that? You're going to get a cuff if I have to warn you again!"
"Sorry, marli," mumbled Bryony, and then picked up his voice again, "But guess what?!"
"Oh, I'm sure I don't know," sighed Murrelet, who knew that she wasn't about to get back to sleep.
Bryony poked his head out into the run and whispered, "All right! Come in!" He could hardly contain his gleeful giggling.
Murrelet had almost regained her sleep when again Bryony crashed into her. "All right, young buck! I've had it with you!" She had her paw raised to discipline her mischievous son when she suddenly recognized in the darkness that the giggling kitten that had just bumped her wasn't Bryony. It was... "Wren! Wren! Wren!" was all that she could say, as she nuzzled and licked her daughter's face and burst into joyful tears. "Oh, how can it be! No one never comes back from man!"
"But, marli, he let me go," said Wren, as she tried to avoid getting soaked by her marli's zealous attention.
Murrelet paused for a moment and replied, "What?"
"The man let me go - on purpose, marli. He didn't hurt me, but I thought he was never going to let me go. But, he did, marli - on purpose!"
Drawn by the commotion, Chief Walnut-rah poked his head in and observed, "So, I hear that we've regained a 'lost' little doe?"
"Oh, it's wonderful!" Murrelet burst out, recovering from her sobs. She turned back to Wren and prompted, "Are you sure he let you go? Didn't you just escape?"
"No, marli," Wren urged, "he really let me go - on purpose!"
"What's this?" said Walnut-rah, "He caught you and let you go again? Why did he keep you for so long? It's been hrair days!"
Wren replied, "But Chief, sir, it was another man that caught me. It was a man I hadn't seen before. The man that has been around forever was the one that let me go."
Walnut-rah chuckled, "Well, I don't think he's been around forever, but I know he was here before our oldest residents were born, including me. But this has me thinking. The 'good' man, if I may use the term, had never hurt us for all these hrair seasons. This new man - the 'bad' man, if you will, shows up and suddenly we're under attack. Hmmm..." Walnut-rah considered this for a moment, then turned to one of his companions. "Beet? It was the new man that shot you, correct?"
"Oh, yes, sir; I'll never forget that ugly face!"
"But, wait a minute!" protested Restharrow, "It was that so-called 'good' man that shot at me! He tried to kill me!"
Fawn nuzzled her mate and replied, "Yes, dear, but he missed, didn't he?" She made it clear by her pronunciation what she was implying. "Perhaps he was warning you without upsetting that new man, who was probably his chief. I'll bet that man-chief has just taken over this area and is now ordering our warren to be zorn."
"Zorn?" cried Wren in surprise, "We're going to be zorn? What's happening?"
"Easy, dear," soothed Murrelet, "Some bad things did happen, but we're still here."
While Murrelet was comforting her daughter, Walnut-rah was pondering. "You know, Fawn, I'm thinking your way," he agreed, "It may very well be that this man-chief is responsible for our woes. He probably asked those other men to come with their hrududil and make our warren zorn." He paused again, and asked to no one in particular, "So, why did they leave?"
"If I may, Chief," offered Beet, "I think I may have an explanation. We know that man will often ignore us until we raid their gardens, in which case we can expect trouble. Well, of course these men had their garden inside of a strange thing made from solid air. We couldn't get in to eat their plants. Now, this new man-chief must have thought that we would somehow get in, and decided to strike first.
"But, the storm changed everything. The ice balls must have broken the solid air apart, because it is no longer enclosing the plants. I went to investigate and found the stuff lying shining in Frith's light all over the place." Beet looked at a small wound on his paw and added, "It's really sharp stuff. Best to stay away from it, let alone walk on it. Anyway, we could get into their garden now if we wanted to, save for cut paws, but there would be no point. The plants inside have been ruined by those same ice balls. Their garden is gone, and maybe - just, maybe - the reason for the man-chief to want us dead."
"Ah! Good thinking!" enthused Walnut-rah, "You have a very good point there, Beet." His voice became more solemn as he added, "However, we know that the man-chief is around still, and I wonder if he might still attack."
Restharrow spoke again, "Speaking of man-chiefs, has anyone noticed how the man-chief seems to obey the older man now?"
"Yes, I have, dear," replied Fawn, "It's as if the roles reversed somehow. In fact, the man-chief threw a stone at me yesterday, and the other man seemed to get very angry with him for doing it. It's a good sign, I tell you."
"Then perhaps the older one is now the chief," ventured Walnut-rah, "and if he doesn't harm us, and he's in charge, then perhaps - I hope - we might be all right here. Of course, only time will tell."
Wren had been silent for a bit, but for during the last part of the discussion, had been trying to draw attention to herself, saying, "But... I... You... They...", but was unable to find a break in which to speak, in addition to being constantly licked about her face by her over-attentive marli. Finally, as Walnut-rah finished his last thought, Wren managed to speak, "There's something else I wanted to tell you," she said meekly, "It might seem silly, but it happened."
"What is it dear?" prompted Murrelet, pausing for a moment.
"Well, after that bad man caught me, he gave me to the other man, and he put me in a big place, inside of a box made of wires. I was there for three days or so, and then one day the bad man came back. He grabbed me from the box and was hurting me, so I bit him. That must have made him really mad, because he put some hard skin on his hands so I couldn't bite him anymore, and he wrapped my legs in some stuff and then left me hanging by my legs. Then he went away and left me there.
"I was trying to call for help, but I knew no one could hear me. But, a homba did hear me, and came right inside the place where I was trapped. Oh, marli, I was so scared!" Tears were starting to run down Wren's cheeks, but she continued, "But, marli, the homba didn't hurt me. She bit the stuff off of my legs and told me that I could go." Wren finished quickly, without waiting to hear any skepticism, "Marli, it's true! It happened!"
"I know it is, dear," replied Murrelet softly and sincerely. Wren was surprised, not expecting that she would be believed. Murrelet added, "I don't believe that you've heard the story of The Promised Friend yet, have you?"
Wren mumbled simply, "No."
"Well, I'll tell it to you tonight. First, I'll explain about what has happened while you were gone from us. Then, after I tell you the story tonight, maybe tomorrow you can ask Pipit and Fawn to tell you about what happened to them and many of the others who left with them. You may have noticed that some of your friends were gone."
"Not yet," replied Wren, "I've only just returned. But they've returned too, haven't they? Pipit and Fawn are back."
"Pipit and Fawn are the only ones who came back. But don't worry, dear. The others will be fine, they are at Cloudtree Warren right now. And you know the homba that helped you? One of her daughters was helping them get there." Sensing her daughter's confusion, Murrelet added, "But there is so much to explain. You'll understand everything soon enough. The Promised Friend story will help."
"But, marli, they're dead... The bad man killed them; I saw everything."
"We know about that, dear. But, one of them wasn't there. And that one was helping the others escape to Cloudtree. Perhaps I should tell you the story now; then it will be easier to explain."
***
Wren greatly enjoyed her marli's telling of the Promised Friend tale. Indeed, she began to understand all that had transpired in recent days. Pipit and Fawn also explained how Gina had kept them safe until they reached the river, and how they had returned to Grotto without seeing what had happened to the rest of their friends. They were quick to assure Wren that the other Grottons were most certainly safe at Cloudtree Warren.
Many others in the warren told Wren their tales of what had happened to Grotto: Beet about being shot, Restharrow about being almost shot (he was still not entirely convinced that the man who had shot at him wasn't trying to kill him), and by many others about the attempted assault on the day of the storm.
After some more days had passed, and summer was in its waning days, the remaining Grottons decided that they were going to be safe, after all. The apparent new man-chief, the older one, had apparently had an argument of some sort with the former man-chief. The younger man had left and not returned.
Given this new scenario, Beet and Walnut-rah decided to make a trip to Cloudtree Warren to visit General Hrairah and invite the refugee Grottons to come back home. Hopefully, the evidence of them being alive after all this time would be enough to convince the others to return.
***
General Hrairah was delighted when Oaktrunk finally returned. He was surprised, though not upset, to also see that hrair rabbits - all from Grotto - were accompanying his Owsla Captain.
"Oaktrunk, what's happened? Why are they all here?"
"Chief, sir, all I can say is that it's a good thing that I went to Grotto when I did. There's been trouble there - man attacked the warren, and I think that they may all be dead. Just like Sandleford Warren, I'm afraid."
General Hrairah was heartbroken. "Chief Walnut? Please don't joke..."
"Sir, I'm sorry. Chief Walnut-rah stayed. He saw it as his duty. So did Beet and Restharrow. The others, the families with nursing kittens, stayed as well - an honourable warren, they are... or, were." Oaktrunk looked down at the last bit.
A tear soaked into General Hrairah's cheek fur. "Just when I thought that I might get over Flax' death, now this happens."
Oaktrunk looked back up at his Chief. "But, these ones will be all right. And, I've met two new friends..." He nodded at Arum and Meadow. "Sir, we also met some other friends... You'll love to know this, but they're... oh..."
"What is it?" urged General Hrairah.
"Sir, we actually met the promised friend - a homba, believe it or not - and her three children."
General Hrairah's eyes grew wide. "A homba?! Are you certain?"
"Well," Oaktrunk managed a smile, "The mother homba - Mara - saved Arum and Meadow here, and one of her daughters - Gina - saved me from becoming the dinner of another homba. And Gina helped us escape Grotto. So, yes, we're all quite certain of who they were."
"Well, where are they? I want to meet them!"
Oaktrunk looked away, the pain evident on his face. "Sir, I'm afraid they're dead. The same men that attacked Grotto killed Mara and two of her cubs. Gina survived, but another homba - the one that Gina saved me from - killed her. And, sadly, it was Mara's father - Gina's grandfather - that did it."
"You mean...?"
"I'm afraid that we've already lost our promised friends, sir."
"I see," replied General Hrairah, swallowing a lump, "You can tell me about them later. Right now, we've got to dig our friends some burrows to stay in. Oh, how I wish that I could count them so that I could know how many to dig. As it is, I guess we'll dig until we have enough room." Stop it!, General Hrairah scolded himself as he tried in vain to remember the numbers which a year before had come so easily, that's in the past. I've got to let it go.
After a long day or digging by both the veteran Cloudtree rabbits and their new guests, the burrows had been expanded enough to accommodate all of the refugee Grottons comfortably. When the work was done, all of the rabbits in the newly-expanded Cloudtree Warren got together for a general meeting - for getting to know the new guests, for storytelling, and for reflecting on the recent events. Tears were shed for Chief Walnut and the lost friends of Grotto, as well as for the hombil whom all of the rabbits except Oaktrunk, Arum and Meadow hadn't even the honour of meeting.
Following that, life in the new, bigger Cloudtree Warren went on; and things began to return to a somewhat normal routine. Oaktrunk and General Hrairah almost decided once to visit the ruins of Grotto, but couldn't bring themselves to it. In deciding not to go to Grotto, the shock that awaited them was delayed by a number of days, until their lost friends decided to pay a visit.
***
"Chief," began Beet, scratching at his damaged yet healed ear, "I'm certain that we'll be safe here now. I've been thinking that we should go to Cloudtree, just you and I - I'm sure that Oaktrunk and General Hrairah believe we're all dead."
"Well, we thought we were dead, too, didn't we? At least I thought we were." Walnut-rah paused. "Beet, I never really thanked you for helping keep us all calm." He went on, hearing a familiar throat-clearing from a buck that had just wandered in, "And you, too, Restharrow. Without you two, I'm sure many of our rabbits would have tried to escape from the warren. We would have lost many out on the silf, for certain. I must admit, I was really at the end of my wits."
"I was pleased to be of service to my Chief and my warren," replied Beet.
"I as well, sir," echoed Restharrow, "So, you two are going to Cloudtree? I hope you find that Oaktrunk and our refugees made it there safely."
"So do I," replied Walnut-rah, "Restharrow, as vice-Captain of the Owsla, you will be in charge while Beet and I are away. Hopefully, we can convince our rabbits to return. It might take a while to convince all of them to come back, though. We all had quite a scare."
Restharrow beamed at the newly-invented title that Walnut-rah had just bestowed on him. "Thank you, Chief, sir, I'm honoured!" Then he quipped, patting Beet's ear, "But, I guess that means I'm still subordinate to the holy one here. Get it? Hole-y?"
Beet turned to Walnut-rah and pleaded, "Please, Chief, just one cuff?"
"Nah," smirked Walnut-rah, "You'd better make it two. One for me, too."
"Ow! Help! Ouch! OW!! Hey! That's three!" laughed Restharrow.
"Oops," said Beet in mock apology, "I thought the Chief meant two AND one cuff for him." The three laughed until they could hardly breathe.
When the tears had cleared enough from their eyes, Walnut-rah called a quick assembly to inform Grotto of his intentions. Then, he and Beet left for Cloudtree Warren at a brisk pace, eager to relay the glad tidings with General Hrairah's rabbits and their Grotton guests.
***
"G-Gen-Gen'ral H-H-Hra'h! You've got to see this!" Oaktrunk's words were barely understandable due to his being out of breath from running and being interspersed with apparent laughter.
"Oaktrunk? What's so funny? What's happened?"
"General Hrairah, you've got to see this!" Oaktrunk repeated after recovering himself, "Out on the silf! Come here!" With that, he disappeared back up the run leaving General Hrairah confused in his burrow. When the Cloudtree Chief finally emerged from the warren, he found a gathering crowd - and not all of the rabbits were among the ones that had been living in his now-larger warren for some time now. He recognized the two visitors instantly.
"Chief Walnut! Beet!" He froze with his mouth open, struggling to think of what to say next. Finally, he managed to blurt out, "You're here!"
"Why, yes, we are," replied Walnut-rah smugly, "We've come to make sure that you're treating our fellow Grottons properly."
Laughing just as Oaktrunk had just been, Chief Hrairah bounded playfully at Walnut-rah, bowling him over. "How did you manage to survive Grotto becoming zorn?" The thought that they might have abandoned their warren at the last minute never entered anyone's mind; that was clearly impossible.
"Well, quite simply, Grotto isn't zorn. The humans didn't attack; they left, and they haven't returned yet." Walnut-rah replied while dusting himself off.
Beet was quick to add, "And not only that, but we believe that the new man- chief that was responsible for the whole attack was turfed from his position by one of his subordinates - the peaceful man who has lived on by our warren for hrair seasons. And, I doubt that he will ever attack us. The other man, we haven't seen him in some time; I doubt he's coming back."
By now, almost the entire warren of Cloudtree was aware of the visitors and were out on the silf, staring in disbelief. Walnut-rah finished, "Please, my fellow Grottons. It's time to come home. I promise you that you will find our home safe and sound. We've repaired what damage the men did, which wasn't much. And best of all, we didn't lose any rabbits in the attack - mostly because the attack was cut off, apparently by the big storm that day.
General Hrairah remembered the storm that had sent his warren underground some days after Oaktrunk had left. That had to be the one Walnut-rah was referring to. "Yes, I believe I remember that one. We all do. We had some flooding here, and even some ice fell from the sky. And the wind and thunder were something else."
"That's the one," confirmed Walnut-rah, "And the ice balls totally covered the ground by Grotto. The grass, the gardens, the fields, the trees - all were flattened or stripped of green."
"And we think that may be one reason why that man-chief left; why we haven't been attacked again. There was nothing left for him to protect - and his idea of protecting his fields and gardens must have been to kill us all," said Beet.
"So," called out Walnut-rah, "Who's going to come back to Grotto with me?"
The gathered Grottons were overjoyed, and many were in tears at the thought of seeing friends that they had assumed were dead. About half offered to leave right away, after a hasty thank you and farewell to their kind hosts.
"Now, wait just a minute," said General Hrairah in mock aggravation, "You're not going anywhere without us having a proper send-off first. This calls for a celebration. Stories, flayrah, bobstones, you name it. Oh, and a special surprise for you, Arum."
Arum had just wandered to within earshot and his ears perked up. "What's that, Chief?"
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," General Hrairah winked, "I should have done it as soon as Oaktrunk told me about what you did by the river. Right now, though, we have a party to plan."
***
"Honestly, Winston, you're enjoying this entirely too much. It's six o'clock in the morning, for Pete's sake!"
"Well, I told you we had to get up early today. They're forecasting rain tonight, and I want the rest of the barn roof done before then. So, get up, already!" called Winston from the other side of the closed door.
George grumbled and called back, "Yeah, yeah, I'll be out in a minute."
Half an hour later, he stumbled out of his bedroom and into the kitchen, where he wolfed down four cold Pop-Tarts. He then took several swallows of milk right from the jug, as he was used to living my himself in his old mansion. After his "breakfast", he jumped into his boots, not bothering to even lace them up, grabbed his gloves, and went out to the emerging barn structure, where Winston had already been hard at work for some time.
The incident that made this George's last day on Winston's farm happened that afternoon. Winston had told George to drive into the nearest town with the lorry and flatbed trailer to pick up the lumber needed to complete the day's task. The drive in and picking up the lumber was easy enough. However, before starting back to Winston's farm, George failed to double check the coupling with the trailer. On one bumpy section of the road, the trailer unhitched and crashed into the ditch, and despite the sudden lurch or the suddenly lighter lorry, this went unnoticed by George, who was engrossed in his music. His favourite music was blaring at near-full volume, slowing damaging the speakers in Winston's lorry.
When George pulled into the yard and Winston pointed out the obvious, George merely shrugged and replied, "I don't know... It was there when I left town."
"Don't tell me..." started Winston, "All right, George, let's go back and find the trailer."
After a quick heated debate over who was at fault, both men got into the lorry and retraced George's route.
About five miles along, the found the upside-down trailer in the ditch, surrounded by plywood and two-by-fours, a good number of which were broken. The trailer had also suffered significant damage. Upon viewing this scene, Winston slapped his forehead and turned to George.
"Well, George, you know that you've done nothing but whine about hard work, and then what little you've done had usually been substandard at best. It's obvious that you don't like this work, so I guess you can have your wish."
"How's that?" asked George.
"You're fired," answered Winston simply and calmly.
George stood there silently for a minute, then nodded and replied, "Suits me. I can get my father to find me a real job at his company."
"Yeah, you're right, sweeping floors suits you perfectly," said Winston quite truthfully.
Shooting Winston an icy glare, George snapped, "I'm sure he'll make full use of my talents." With that, he turned and stormed off to a petrol station a mile up the road to phone him.
***
"Father, that idiot Winston fired me just now, for no reason."
"Of course, son. What does a thousand pounds worth of good lumber and a new flatbed trailer matter, anyhow?"
"Well, obviously, he told you his side of the story, but it's not my fault."
"Yes, I'm sure, son. So, what are you going to do now?"
"Well, I guess I'll come and work for you after all."
"Oh, wonderful!" his father replied, "Your first shift is tonight at-"
"NO, father, I'm not a custodian. I'm a businessman."
"Well, I only have a custodial position open for you. If you want to have a job so you can eat and have somewhere to live..." After a minute of silence during which Jim Castles could imagine his son steaming at the phone booth, he finally relented, "I'll tell you what, George. A friend of mine has a fairly high position in a multi-billion-dollar, multi-national corporation. I'm certain that he can find a position that will suit you perfectly. I told him about you, since I figured you wouldn't last long on Winston's farm. He'd be happy to have you at one of the company's premiere locations."
"Does it pay well?"
"Not at first, George, but there is much room for rapid advancement if you show that you can do the job well. You'll be part of a major public relations operation, so you'll need to use your people skills. And I must admit, there will be a lot of pressure put on you to perform well. And you'll also be working with the latest in technology."
"All right, Father, I'll take it; it sounds interesting enough. I guess I don't have much choice right now, anyway."
"Where are you? I'll send Ken over to pick you up, and we can talk more about this later."
************
Epilogue
"Arum, in recognition of your bravery in the face of danger, I proudly announce that you are hereby appointed the Owsla Captain-In-Waiting. Upon Oaktrunk's retirement, you will resume your duties as the Captain of the Cloudtree Owsla." After General Hrairah had finished his pronouncement, a wild cheer went up from the Cloudtree rabbits and the Grotton refugees.
Arum's eyes were brimming with tears as he heard Meadow say, "Wow, father! You've gone from being a hlessi to a real Owsla Captain! Marli must be so proud of you; I know I am!"
"That's Captain-In-Waiting, dear," replied Arum, "and yes, I'm sure she's sharing this moment with us, even if she's not with us physically."
The hearty celebration went on long into the night, with many stories being told, one of the favourites being The Promised Friend, told with gusto by Swather, who was pleased to relate the tale in much happier surroundings than when he had last told it. There were countless games of bobstones going on simultaneously, and the laughter of wrestling kittens. General Hrairah looked on dreamily; this would be one of the fondest memories that he would hold for all time.
The mood had been dampened, however, when Walnut-rah and Beet had received the news that Gina had been killed. "Don't doubt it," Oaktrunk had said, "She shares our joy tonight. She gave her life to save us, and that won't go unrewarded. I expect that El-ahrairah's warren has a special place for our promised friends."
Crystal turned to her mate and murmured, "Dear? Do you think we'll see the next promised friend?"
"In our lifetime? I don't know," replied General Hrairah, "But certainly our descendants will see another one. Frith has promised it."
***
"Well, George, indeed you are a skilled businessman," George admitted as he handed his former boss and former employee the appropriate payment, "You look like you're doing fine, even when juggling so many transactions in a day."
George entered Winston's request into the touch-screen console, then shot his client a fiery glare, but broke off when a person who he knew to be a manager with more rank than he tapped him on the shoulder. "You must be new here, Mr... Castles," said the manager, eyeing George's name tag, "Aren't you forgetting something?"
A sigh escaped George as he rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot," he replied, then, giving Winston his best "if you laugh I'll rearrange your face" look, added in a bitter tone, "Would you like some fries with that, sir?"
The End
************
"In righteousness you will be established; Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you." Isaiah 54:14, NIV
Winston was in a good mood. He owned a debt-free farm for the first time in his life. At present, he was holding the still-nervous Hopkins in one gloved hand and held the phone in the other. "Hello, Linda? I was wondering if maybe I should clear a birthday gift that I had planned for little Cassidy with you and Dwayne first." He was hoping that his sister and her husband would agree to the gift. He was otherwise fresh out of original ideas for his niece's birthday this year. "Oh, it's a cute baby bunny that my, uh... former landlord caught a few days ago... Oh?... Are you sure?... I see... Well, I guess that settles that, then... No, I didn't know about her allergy. Not to worry, I'll find something else, then... Well, good day then, and say hello to Dwayne and Cassidy for me... All right... Good bye."
Winston held up the young rabbit. He noticed that Hopkins was starting to cry again. "Don't worry, little one," said Winston softly, "I know just what to do with you now." He then called out to his new employee, "George! Get up already; it's seven o'clock! I need you to go to the hardware store and do some shopping around. We have to have the walls and roof on the new barn before winter sets in, and as long as we're out of nails, we're not getting anywhere!"
As George cursed loudly into his pillow, Winston made his way outside with Hopkins.
***
It took about two days for all of the hail to melt away; the drifts against the buildings taking the longest to disappear. After this was left the flattened grass, stripped trees, battered roofs, flecked outer walls, and boarded windows to tell the tale of the storm.
Those remaining in Grotto Warren had remained on edge for some days. As time went on and the would-be destroyers still didn't return, the mood finally began to settle down. And the mood took a definite turn for the better when one of Grotto's own that was thought lost forever came home.
"Marli! Guess what!" Bryony practically flew into his burrow and crashed into his sleeping marli's side.
"Ow! Bryony, how many times have I told you not to run into here like that? You're going to get a cuff if I have to warn you again!"
"Sorry, marli," mumbled Bryony, and then picked up his voice again, "But guess what?!"
"Oh, I'm sure I don't know," sighed Murrelet, who knew that she wasn't about to get back to sleep.
Bryony poked his head out into the run and whispered, "All right! Come in!" He could hardly contain his gleeful giggling.
Murrelet had almost regained her sleep when again Bryony crashed into her. "All right, young buck! I've had it with you!" She had her paw raised to discipline her mischievous son when she suddenly recognized in the darkness that the giggling kitten that had just bumped her wasn't Bryony. It was... "Wren! Wren! Wren!" was all that she could say, as she nuzzled and licked her daughter's face and burst into joyful tears. "Oh, how can it be! No one never comes back from man!"
"But, marli, he let me go," said Wren, as she tried to avoid getting soaked by her marli's zealous attention.
Murrelet paused for a moment and replied, "What?"
"The man let me go - on purpose, marli. He didn't hurt me, but I thought he was never going to let me go. But, he did, marli - on purpose!"
Drawn by the commotion, Chief Walnut-rah poked his head in and observed, "So, I hear that we've regained a 'lost' little doe?"
"Oh, it's wonderful!" Murrelet burst out, recovering from her sobs. She turned back to Wren and prompted, "Are you sure he let you go? Didn't you just escape?"
"No, marli," Wren urged, "he really let me go - on purpose!"
"What's this?" said Walnut-rah, "He caught you and let you go again? Why did he keep you for so long? It's been hrair days!"
Wren replied, "But Chief, sir, it was another man that caught me. It was a man I hadn't seen before. The man that has been around forever was the one that let me go."
Walnut-rah chuckled, "Well, I don't think he's been around forever, but I know he was here before our oldest residents were born, including me. But this has me thinking. The 'good' man, if I may use the term, had never hurt us for all these hrair seasons. This new man - the 'bad' man, if you will, shows up and suddenly we're under attack. Hmmm..." Walnut-rah considered this for a moment, then turned to one of his companions. "Beet? It was the new man that shot you, correct?"
"Oh, yes, sir; I'll never forget that ugly face!"
"But, wait a minute!" protested Restharrow, "It was that so-called 'good' man that shot at me! He tried to kill me!"
Fawn nuzzled her mate and replied, "Yes, dear, but he missed, didn't he?" She made it clear by her pronunciation what she was implying. "Perhaps he was warning you without upsetting that new man, who was probably his chief. I'll bet that man-chief has just taken over this area and is now ordering our warren to be zorn."
"Zorn?" cried Wren in surprise, "We're going to be zorn? What's happening?"
"Easy, dear," soothed Murrelet, "Some bad things did happen, but we're still here."
While Murrelet was comforting her daughter, Walnut-rah was pondering. "You know, Fawn, I'm thinking your way," he agreed, "It may very well be that this man-chief is responsible for our woes. He probably asked those other men to come with their hrududil and make our warren zorn." He paused again, and asked to no one in particular, "So, why did they leave?"
"If I may, Chief," offered Beet, "I think I may have an explanation. We know that man will often ignore us until we raid their gardens, in which case we can expect trouble. Well, of course these men had their garden inside of a strange thing made from solid air. We couldn't get in to eat their plants. Now, this new man-chief must have thought that we would somehow get in, and decided to strike first.
"But, the storm changed everything. The ice balls must have broken the solid air apart, because it is no longer enclosing the plants. I went to investigate and found the stuff lying shining in Frith's light all over the place." Beet looked at a small wound on his paw and added, "It's really sharp stuff. Best to stay away from it, let alone walk on it. Anyway, we could get into their garden now if we wanted to, save for cut paws, but there would be no point. The plants inside have been ruined by those same ice balls. Their garden is gone, and maybe - just, maybe - the reason for the man-chief to want us dead."
"Ah! Good thinking!" enthused Walnut-rah, "You have a very good point there, Beet." His voice became more solemn as he added, "However, we know that the man-chief is around still, and I wonder if he might still attack."
Restharrow spoke again, "Speaking of man-chiefs, has anyone noticed how the man-chief seems to obey the older man now?"
"Yes, I have, dear," replied Fawn, "It's as if the roles reversed somehow. In fact, the man-chief threw a stone at me yesterday, and the other man seemed to get very angry with him for doing it. It's a good sign, I tell you."
"Then perhaps the older one is now the chief," ventured Walnut-rah, "and if he doesn't harm us, and he's in charge, then perhaps - I hope - we might be all right here. Of course, only time will tell."
Wren had been silent for a bit, but for during the last part of the discussion, had been trying to draw attention to herself, saying, "But... I... You... They...", but was unable to find a break in which to speak, in addition to being constantly licked about her face by her over-attentive marli. Finally, as Walnut-rah finished his last thought, Wren managed to speak, "There's something else I wanted to tell you," she said meekly, "It might seem silly, but it happened."
"What is it dear?" prompted Murrelet, pausing for a moment.
"Well, after that bad man caught me, he gave me to the other man, and he put me in a big place, inside of a box made of wires. I was there for three days or so, and then one day the bad man came back. He grabbed me from the box and was hurting me, so I bit him. That must have made him really mad, because he put some hard skin on his hands so I couldn't bite him anymore, and he wrapped my legs in some stuff and then left me hanging by my legs. Then he went away and left me there.
"I was trying to call for help, but I knew no one could hear me. But, a homba did hear me, and came right inside the place where I was trapped. Oh, marli, I was so scared!" Tears were starting to run down Wren's cheeks, but she continued, "But, marli, the homba didn't hurt me. She bit the stuff off of my legs and told me that I could go." Wren finished quickly, without waiting to hear any skepticism, "Marli, it's true! It happened!"
"I know it is, dear," replied Murrelet softly and sincerely. Wren was surprised, not expecting that she would be believed. Murrelet added, "I don't believe that you've heard the story of The Promised Friend yet, have you?"
Wren mumbled simply, "No."
"Well, I'll tell it to you tonight. First, I'll explain about what has happened while you were gone from us. Then, after I tell you the story tonight, maybe tomorrow you can ask Pipit and Fawn to tell you about what happened to them and many of the others who left with them. You may have noticed that some of your friends were gone."
"Not yet," replied Wren, "I've only just returned. But they've returned too, haven't they? Pipit and Fawn are back."
"Pipit and Fawn are the only ones who came back. But don't worry, dear. The others will be fine, they are at Cloudtree Warren right now. And you know the homba that helped you? One of her daughters was helping them get there." Sensing her daughter's confusion, Murrelet added, "But there is so much to explain. You'll understand everything soon enough. The Promised Friend story will help."
"But, marli, they're dead... The bad man killed them; I saw everything."
"We know about that, dear. But, one of them wasn't there. And that one was helping the others escape to Cloudtree. Perhaps I should tell you the story now; then it will be easier to explain."
***
Wren greatly enjoyed her marli's telling of the Promised Friend tale. Indeed, she began to understand all that had transpired in recent days. Pipit and Fawn also explained how Gina had kept them safe until they reached the river, and how they had returned to Grotto without seeing what had happened to the rest of their friends. They were quick to assure Wren that the other Grottons were most certainly safe at Cloudtree Warren.
Many others in the warren told Wren their tales of what had happened to Grotto: Beet about being shot, Restharrow about being almost shot (he was still not entirely convinced that the man who had shot at him wasn't trying to kill him), and by many others about the attempted assault on the day of the storm.
After some more days had passed, and summer was in its waning days, the remaining Grottons decided that they were going to be safe, after all. The apparent new man-chief, the older one, had apparently had an argument of some sort with the former man-chief. The younger man had left and not returned.
Given this new scenario, Beet and Walnut-rah decided to make a trip to Cloudtree Warren to visit General Hrairah and invite the refugee Grottons to come back home. Hopefully, the evidence of them being alive after all this time would be enough to convince the others to return.
***
General Hrairah was delighted when Oaktrunk finally returned. He was surprised, though not upset, to also see that hrair rabbits - all from Grotto - were accompanying his Owsla Captain.
"Oaktrunk, what's happened? Why are they all here?"
"Chief, sir, all I can say is that it's a good thing that I went to Grotto when I did. There's been trouble there - man attacked the warren, and I think that they may all be dead. Just like Sandleford Warren, I'm afraid."
General Hrairah was heartbroken. "Chief Walnut? Please don't joke..."
"Sir, I'm sorry. Chief Walnut-rah stayed. He saw it as his duty. So did Beet and Restharrow. The others, the families with nursing kittens, stayed as well - an honourable warren, they are... or, were." Oaktrunk looked down at the last bit.
A tear soaked into General Hrairah's cheek fur. "Just when I thought that I might get over Flax' death, now this happens."
Oaktrunk looked back up at his Chief. "But, these ones will be all right. And, I've met two new friends..." He nodded at Arum and Meadow. "Sir, we also met some other friends... You'll love to know this, but they're... oh..."
"What is it?" urged General Hrairah.
"Sir, we actually met the promised friend - a homba, believe it or not - and her three children."
General Hrairah's eyes grew wide. "A homba?! Are you certain?"
"Well," Oaktrunk managed a smile, "The mother homba - Mara - saved Arum and Meadow here, and one of her daughters - Gina - saved me from becoming the dinner of another homba. And Gina helped us escape Grotto. So, yes, we're all quite certain of who they were."
"Well, where are they? I want to meet them!"
Oaktrunk looked away, the pain evident on his face. "Sir, I'm afraid they're dead. The same men that attacked Grotto killed Mara and two of her cubs. Gina survived, but another homba - the one that Gina saved me from - killed her. And, sadly, it was Mara's father - Gina's grandfather - that did it."
"You mean...?"
"I'm afraid that we've already lost our promised friends, sir."
"I see," replied General Hrairah, swallowing a lump, "You can tell me about them later. Right now, we've got to dig our friends some burrows to stay in. Oh, how I wish that I could count them so that I could know how many to dig. As it is, I guess we'll dig until we have enough room." Stop it!, General Hrairah scolded himself as he tried in vain to remember the numbers which a year before had come so easily, that's in the past. I've got to let it go.
After a long day or digging by both the veteran Cloudtree rabbits and their new guests, the burrows had been expanded enough to accommodate all of the refugee Grottons comfortably. When the work was done, all of the rabbits in the newly-expanded Cloudtree Warren got together for a general meeting - for getting to know the new guests, for storytelling, and for reflecting on the recent events. Tears were shed for Chief Walnut and the lost friends of Grotto, as well as for the hombil whom all of the rabbits except Oaktrunk, Arum and Meadow hadn't even the honour of meeting.
Following that, life in the new, bigger Cloudtree Warren went on; and things began to return to a somewhat normal routine. Oaktrunk and General Hrairah almost decided once to visit the ruins of Grotto, but couldn't bring themselves to it. In deciding not to go to Grotto, the shock that awaited them was delayed by a number of days, until their lost friends decided to pay a visit.
***
"Chief," began Beet, scratching at his damaged yet healed ear, "I'm certain that we'll be safe here now. I've been thinking that we should go to Cloudtree, just you and I - I'm sure that Oaktrunk and General Hrairah believe we're all dead."
"Well, we thought we were dead, too, didn't we? At least I thought we were." Walnut-rah paused. "Beet, I never really thanked you for helping keep us all calm." He went on, hearing a familiar throat-clearing from a buck that had just wandered in, "And you, too, Restharrow. Without you two, I'm sure many of our rabbits would have tried to escape from the warren. We would have lost many out on the silf, for certain. I must admit, I was really at the end of my wits."
"I was pleased to be of service to my Chief and my warren," replied Beet.
"I as well, sir," echoed Restharrow, "So, you two are going to Cloudtree? I hope you find that Oaktrunk and our refugees made it there safely."
"So do I," replied Walnut-rah, "Restharrow, as vice-Captain of the Owsla, you will be in charge while Beet and I are away. Hopefully, we can convince our rabbits to return. It might take a while to convince all of them to come back, though. We all had quite a scare."
Restharrow beamed at the newly-invented title that Walnut-rah had just bestowed on him. "Thank you, Chief, sir, I'm honoured!" Then he quipped, patting Beet's ear, "But, I guess that means I'm still subordinate to the holy one here. Get it? Hole-y?"
Beet turned to Walnut-rah and pleaded, "Please, Chief, just one cuff?"
"Nah," smirked Walnut-rah, "You'd better make it two. One for me, too."
"Ow! Help! Ouch! OW!! Hey! That's three!" laughed Restharrow.
"Oops," said Beet in mock apology, "I thought the Chief meant two AND one cuff for him." The three laughed until they could hardly breathe.
When the tears had cleared enough from their eyes, Walnut-rah called a quick assembly to inform Grotto of his intentions. Then, he and Beet left for Cloudtree Warren at a brisk pace, eager to relay the glad tidings with General Hrairah's rabbits and their Grotton guests.
***
"G-Gen-Gen'ral H-H-Hra'h! You've got to see this!" Oaktrunk's words were barely understandable due to his being out of breath from running and being interspersed with apparent laughter.
"Oaktrunk? What's so funny? What's happened?"
"General Hrairah, you've got to see this!" Oaktrunk repeated after recovering himself, "Out on the silf! Come here!" With that, he disappeared back up the run leaving General Hrairah confused in his burrow. When the Cloudtree Chief finally emerged from the warren, he found a gathering crowd - and not all of the rabbits were among the ones that had been living in his now-larger warren for some time now. He recognized the two visitors instantly.
"Chief Walnut! Beet!" He froze with his mouth open, struggling to think of what to say next. Finally, he managed to blurt out, "You're here!"
"Why, yes, we are," replied Walnut-rah smugly, "We've come to make sure that you're treating our fellow Grottons properly."
Laughing just as Oaktrunk had just been, Chief Hrairah bounded playfully at Walnut-rah, bowling him over. "How did you manage to survive Grotto becoming zorn?" The thought that they might have abandoned their warren at the last minute never entered anyone's mind; that was clearly impossible.
"Well, quite simply, Grotto isn't zorn. The humans didn't attack; they left, and they haven't returned yet." Walnut-rah replied while dusting himself off.
Beet was quick to add, "And not only that, but we believe that the new man- chief that was responsible for the whole attack was turfed from his position by one of his subordinates - the peaceful man who has lived on by our warren for hrair seasons. And, I doubt that he will ever attack us. The other man, we haven't seen him in some time; I doubt he's coming back."
By now, almost the entire warren of Cloudtree was aware of the visitors and were out on the silf, staring in disbelief. Walnut-rah finished, "Please, my fellow Grottons. It's time to come home. I promise you that you will find our home safe and sound. We've repaired what damage the men did, which wasn't much. And best of all, we didn't lose any rabbits in the attack - mostly because the attack was cut off, apparently by the big storm that day.
General Hrairah remembered the storm that had sent his warren underground some days after Oaktrunk had left. That had to be the one Walnut-rah was referring to. "Yes, I believe I remember that one. We all do. We had some flooding here, and even some ice fell from the sky. And the wind and thunder were something else."
"That's the one," confirmed Walnut-rah, "And the ice balls totally covered the ground by Grotto. The grass, the gardens, the fields, the trees - all were flattened or stripped of green."
"And we think that may be one reason why that man-chief left; why we haven't been attacked again. There was nothing left for him to protect - and his idea of protecting his fields and gardens must have been to kill us all," said Beet.
"So," called out Walnut-rah, "Who's going to come back to Grotto with me?"
The gathered Grottons were overjoyed, and many were in tears at the thought of seeing friends that they had assumed were dead. About half offered to leave right away, after a hasty thank you and farewell to their kind hosts.
"Now, wait just a minute," said General Hrairah in mock aggravation, "You're not going anywhere without us having a proper send-off first. This calls for a celebration. Stories, flayrah, bobstones, you name it. Oh, and a special surprise for you, Arum."
Arum had just wandered to within earshot and his ears perked up. "What's that, Chief?"
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," General Hrairah winked, "I should have done it as soon as Oaktrunk told me about what you did by the river. Right now, though, we have a party to plan."
***
"Honestly, Winston, you're enjoying this entirely too much. It's six o'clock in the morning, for Pete's sake!"
"Well, I told you we had to get up early today. They're forecasting rain tonight, and I want the rest of the barn roof done before then. So, get up, already!" called Winston from the other side of the closed door.
George grumbled and called back, "Yeah, yeah, I'll be out in a minute."
Half an hour later, he stumbled out of his bedroom and into the kitchen, where he wolfed down four cold Pop-Tarts. He then took several swallows of milk right from the jug, as he was used to living my himself in his old mansion. After his "breakfast", he jumped into his boots, not bothering to even lace them up, grabbed his gloves, and went out to the emerging barn structure, where Winston had already been hard at work for some time.
The incident that made this George's last day on Winston's farm happened that afternoon. Winston had told George to drive into the nearest town with the lorry and flatbed trailer to pick up the lumber needed to complete the day's task. The drive in and picking up the lumber was easy enough. However, before starting back to Winston's farm, George failed to double check the coupling with the trailer. On one bumpy section of the road, the trailer unhitched and crashed into the ditch, and despite the sudden lurch or the suddenly lighter lorry, this went unnoticed by George, who was engrossed in his music. His favourite music was blaring at near-full volume, slowing damaging the speakers in Winston's lorry.
When George pulled into the yard and Winston pointed out the obvious, George merely shrugged and replied, "I don't know... It was there when I left town."
"Don't tell me..." started Winston, "All right, George, let's go back and find the trailer."
After a quick heated debate over who was at fault, both men got into the lorry and retraced George's route.
About five miles along, the found the upside-down trailer in the ditch, surrounded by plywood and two-by-fours, a good number of which were broken. The trailer had also suffered significant damage. Upon viewing this scene, Winston slapped his forehead and turned to George.
"Well, George, you know that you've done nothing but whine about hard work, and then what little you've done had usually been substandard at best. It's obvious that you don't like this work, so I guess you can have your wish."
"How's that?" asked George.
"You're fired," answered Winston simply and calmly.
George stood there silently for a minute, then nodded and replied, "Suits me. I can get my father to find me a real job at his company."
"Yeah, you're right, sweeping floors suits you perfectly," said Winston quite truthfully.
Shooting Winston an icy glare, George snapped, "I'm sure he'll make full use of my talents." With that, he turned and stormed off to a petrol station a mile up the road to phone him.
***
"Father, that idiot Winston fired me just now, for no reason."
"Of course, son. What does a thousand pounds worth of good lumber and a new flatbed trailer matter, anyhow?"
"Well, obviously, he told you his side of the story, but it's not my fault."
"Yes, I'm sure, son. So, what are you going to do now?"
"Well, I guess I'll come and work for you after all."
"Oh, wonderful!" his father replied, "Your first shift is tonight at-"
"NO, father, I'm not a custodian. I'm a businessman."
"Well, I only have a custodial position open for you. If you want to have a job so you can eat and have somewhere to live..." After a minute of silence during which Jim Castles could imagine his son steaming at the phone booth, he finally relented, "I'll tell you what, George. A friend of mine has a fairly high position in a multi-billion-dollar, multi-national corporation. I'm certain that he can find a position that will suit you perfectly. I told him about you, since I figured you wouldn't last long on Winston's farm. He'd be happy to have you at one of the company's premiere locations."
"Does it pay well?"
"Not at first, George, but there is much room for rapid advancement if you show that you can do the job well. You'll be part of a major public relations operation, so you'll need to use your people skills. And I must admit, there will be a lot of pressure put on you to perform well. And you'll also be working with the latest in technology."
"All right, Father, I'll take it; it sounds interesting enough. I guess I don't have much choice right now, anyway."
"Where are you? I'll send Ken over to pick you up, and we can talk more about this later."
************
Epilogue
"Arum, in recognition of your bravery in the face of danger, I proudly announce that you are hereby appointed the Owsla Captain-In-Waiting. Upon Oaktrunk's retirement, you will resume your duties as the Captain of the Cloudtree Owsla." After General Hrairah had finished his pronouncement, a wild cheer went up from the Cloudtree rabbits and the Grotton refugees.
Arum's eyes were brimming with tears as he heard Meadow say, "Wow, father! You've gone from being a hlessi to a real Owsla Captain! Marli must be so proud of you; I know I am!"
"That's Captain-In-Waiting, dear," replied Arum, "and yes, I'm sure she's sharing this moment with us, even if she's not with us physically."
The hearty celebration went on long into the night, with many stories being told, one of the favourites being The Promised Friend, told with gusto by Swather, who was pleased to relate the tale in much happier surroundings than when he had last told it. There were countless games of bobstones going on simultaneously, and the laughter of wrestling kittens. General Hrairah looked on dreamily; this would be one of the fondest memories that he would hold for all time.
The mood had been dampened, however, when Walnut-rah and Beet had received the news that Gina had been killed. "Don't doubt it," Oaktrunk had said, "She shares our joy tonight. She gave her life to save us, and that won't go unrewarded. I expect that El-ahrairah's warren has a special place for our promised friends."
Crystal turned to her mate and murmured, "Dear? Do you think we'll see the next promised friend?"
"In our lifetime? I don't know," replied General Hrairah, "But certainly our descendants will see another one. Frith has promised it."
***
"Well, George, indeed you are a skilled businessman," George admitted as he handed his former boss and former employee the appropriate payment, "You look like you're doing fine, even when juggling so many transactions in a day."
George entered Winston's request into the touch-screen console, then shot his client a fiery glare, but broke off when a person who he knew to be a manager with more rank than he tapped him on the shoulder. "You must be new here, Mr... Castles," said the manager, eyeing George's name tag, "Aren't you forgetting something?"
A sigh escaped George as he rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot," he replied, then, giving Winston his best "if you laugh I'll rearrange your face" look, added in a bitter tone, "Would you like some fries with that, sir?"
The End
************
