Chapter 2 - A Lost Friend

Bigwig was greatly dreading having to go back to the warren. He tried thinking of how to break the news. Try as he might, there was no way to soften the blow. Blackberry, one of the key founders of the warren and the popular thinker and problem-solver, was dead. It had happened so suddenly that there was no time to prepare. The whole concept was as strange as it was devastating.

Now alone, Bigwig crept along in the dark through the snow, numbed to the danger of elil. He kept the yarrow in his mouth; he was at least intent on getting back to the warren to help Fiver. It would be unthinkable to lose two members of the warren in the same season - and the winter was still young.

When he finally had climbed the slope of Watership Down and entered the warren, half the warren pounced on him with questions - "Did you find anything?" "Was there any elil?" "Did the storm trouble you?" It wasn't long before the inevitable question: "Where is Blackberry?"

Bigwig dropped the yarrow on the burrow floor, mumbling, "There. Blackberry found this. I'm sure that it will help Fiver." He paused, trembling, before adding, "But Blackberry won't be coming back. He was killed by a hrududu."

The warren fell into silence. Hazel-rah was the first to speak. "Bigwig... Are you sure? It can't be..."

"Oh, embleer FRITH, Hazel!" snapped Bigwig, "Of course I'm sure! Do you think I would lie? Do you think I'm blind? I saw it strike him down, I saw the blood, I saw the men take him away..." Bigwig's voice trailed off, and he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Hazel-rah. I didn't mean to... I can't..."

Clover, one of the hutch does from Nuthanger Farm that Blackberry, Bigwig and several others had helped break out, spoke up. "I'm very sorry to hear this, Bigwig - we all are. There's nothing we can do now... We have to go on without him." She hopped over and nuzzled the usually stouthearted fighter.

The news spread quickly throughout the warren; shock and grief were the common reaction. Even those who had not associated much with Blackberry were mournful at the news. But, there was one who did not react in that way.

As Vilthuril brought the yarrow to her barely-awake mate and started to nose bits of the plant towards him to eat, Fiver stirred and gratefully ate it and mumbled, "I'm glad that they went, I suppose. This shall help, there's no doubt. But, I fear for Blackberry greatly. He didn't return, did he?"

"He's dead," replied Vilthuril simply.

Fiver didn't show grief even at this point. "I told them not to go... not just then. They should have waited until tomorrow." He paused. "No, Vilthuril, Blackberry's not dead. But, he's in great danger. And I have no idea just what it is."

"Fiver, Bigwig saw the whole thing. A hrududu hit him. You know a rabbit wouldn't survive that. Besides, the men took him after. Even if he was alive then..."

"It's the men, Vilthuril... The danger is from the men... It's just not so clear..."

Of COURSE it's the men, thought Vilthuril, then added out loud, "Get some sleep, dear. You need it more than anyone." Vilthuril nudged her mate and settled beside him for some sleep herself. But sleep would be a while coming. Vilthuril, like everyone else, was thinking about the warren's loss, while Fiver was trying to understand what was troubling him about Blackberry.

He is alive. But where is he? What shall happen to him? Will we ever see him again?

*** In the morning, the news came about to Kehaar, the rabbits' seagull friend, as he returned to catch up on what the rabbits were doing. He had left his home by the sea when winter had cracked down suddenly and returned as just as he had promised after helping the rabbits escape from Woundwort.

"Meester Plackperry ees dead? Ees no good, no... Can't be true..." But, the forlorn look in the rabbits' eyes did not lie. "I'm sorry for you... ee vas good friend..." Truthfully, Blackberry had never been one of Kehaar's favourites. But, he knew that the loss of Blackberry would depress probably the whole warren, at least for a number of days.

Kehaar flew away again after that. He didn't want to stay in that place of mourning any more than a barnyard with a multitude of menacing cats. Some may have thought him a fair-weather friend, but the truth was, he couldn't imagine anything he could do or say to lift the spirits of his friends, so he thought it best to just leave for a while.

*** The shock had not worn off much in the warren, and most of the rabbits chose to stay silent during morning silflay. Dandelion was not telling a story as he might normally be doing, and Bigwig was not helping to train and pick for service the Owsla hopefuls as was his usual activity.

Meanwhile, Vilthuril was at least heartened to see that Fiver seemed to be showing some signs of recovery, although he was still quite ill. Vilthuril made sure that there was still enough yarrow left for further treatment if needed.

"You seem a bit better, Fiver. I think the yarrow is taking."

"Yes. Thank you, Vilthuril."

"Don't thank me. Thank Bigwig... and Blackberry."

At this Fiver sighed and added wearily, "If only I knew where he was, we could send the Owsla to find him. If we broke those hutch rabbits out of the farm, we can-"

"Fiver, I'll have none of this," snapped Vilthuril, "He's gone, for Frith's sake. We have to go on."

"But Vilthuril, I see these things. You know I've been right before - about the existence of this place, about Hazel not being killed by the farmer, about the danger of Bigwig and Blackberry going out yesterday..."

Vilthuril considered that for only a moment. "You're telling me that a rabbit can survive being crushed by a giant hrududu? And being taken by man for who knows what reason? Dinner, perhaps? There are limits, dear..."

"No, no, not dinner. Vilthuril, that's it! Let's go talk to the hutch rabbits. They'll tell you. Men often keep rabbits for companions. Just like dogs and cats..."

"I think you need more rest, dear. The more you sleep, the quicker you'll get better."

"I do feel tired still. Just promise me that you'll talk to them. They'll tell you what it's like to be a human pet. Ask them if they would kill Blackberry or not. He isn't dead Vilthuril, I know it. I wouldn't lie to you."

Vilthuril growled then said, "All right, if that will calm your mind. I'll talk to Clover." With that, she turned and made her way down the run towards Clover's burrow.

*** "Please don't die, Mr. Bunny. You'll be okay." Josh kept the rabbit on his lap and wrapped in an old blanket found on the car floor. He kept urging it to stay alive the entire way home.

As soon as the Whitting's parked in their garage, Josh immediately began looking for a place for his new pet. He wanted to keep it in his bedroom, but his parents firmly insisted that it stay in the garage for the night. There weren't many places for it to hide or get into to cause trouble when it woke up. A cage would have to be found for it later.

After asking his mother for some more old blankets that had been used as Rascal the puppy's bed, Josh made a quick bed in one of the corners of the garage. Josh stayed with the rabbit until his mother called him for dinner (which was later than normal that day due to the pageant).

During dinner, Josh suddenly announced that he had a name for his new pet. "I'm calling him Hopscotch."

"Who?" Greg looked up at his son. "Oh, right. Your little rabbit friend. Well, I suppose that's as good a name as any."

"But it's not even from Scotland, I bet," smiled Karen.

"How do you know? It might be..." protested Josh.

"Well, was it carrying bagpipes with it?"

"Aw, Mum!".

After dinner, Josh went back to the garage to check on the still-sleeping Hopscotch. He was still there, petting and talking to the rabbit when his mother called him in for bed.

"But, Mum, tomorrow's Saturday."

"It's ten o'clock, dear; you need some sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow with finding a Christmas tree. Don't worry, the rabbit's not going anywhere." I hope it wakes up, thought Karen, losing two pets will be too much for him.

Before going to bed however, Josh found some lettuce in the refrigerator and put it on the garage floor by Hopscotch.

*** It was several hours after the family was asleep when Blackberry finally roused. The first thing that he was aware of was a throbbing ache that seemed to fill his head. He then thought that he must have fallen very ill, and called weakly for his mate. He tried to get up, but the headache only doubled in strength. Laying quickly back down, Blackberry became aware of something else that was amiss.

He wasn't in the his burrow at Watership Down anymore. He couldn't be. The smell was all wrong. The nest wasn't packed dirt and fur, rather it was a strange, soft, and warm material. It was like some cloth, a blanket, some man-thing. Had his mate found this and dragged it into the burrow? That explained everything; he was home after all. Opening his eyes, he called for his mate again. It was nearly pitch dark, all except for strange patches of half-light, made blurry by his vision. Now, how was light getting into the burrow? He got up to investigate, then shrank back down in pain, as well as fear as a smell began to strike a memory. It was a man- smell, from something that could only be around men. What was that smell?

It dawned on Blackberry - it was a hrududu. There was a hrududu in his burrow. No, that was silly. What was going on? By this time, he became aware of something else - that he was in a very large burrow - and it wasn't Watership Down after all, without a doubt. When he had called for his mate, not only had there been no answer, but the echoes had suggested an immense size to this burrow. It had to be large, to contain a hrududu.

And why was he here, then? He thought back to what he remembered doing last. Normally, that would have been listening to stories in the Honeycomb before heading to his burrow. But that wasn't the case this time. His mind began to clear a little, and he remembered being far out in the snow with Bigwig. Perhaps they had been forced to find shelter here for some reason.

"Bigwig? Are you in here?"

There was no response. It was futile, as there was no hint of Bigwig's scent anyway. Whatever had happened, whatever had caused Blackberry to be in this place, had taken Bigwig away. Why was he kept here? If there was a hrududu here, there must be men, as well. Did the men know he was here? Had they brought him here? If that were so, why couldn't he remember it?

Before drifting back to an uneasy sleep, Blackberry caught the scent of some greenery nearby. To his surprise, he recognized lettuce. How could there be fresh lettuce in midwinter? Feeling hungry, he forgot the strangeness of this and crawled over to the lettuce for a few mouthfuls. As long as it was there, he wasn't going to fret about it. He found the strange, hard floor much colder than the soft nest he woke up in, so returned to the blanket and fell fast asleep again.

*** "Good morning, Hopscotch. Did you like the lettuce?"

Blackberry heard strange noises within his slumber, and alarm instantly kicked in. Upon opening his eyes, he noted that the huge burrow was awash with light, and then alarm turned to terror when he saw a young human crouched beside him and reaching to grab him. Letting out a screech, Blackberry leapt up and bounded for the nearest shelter he could find: which was underneath the huge hrududu.

Unfortunately, this burst of activity redoubled the pain of his injury again, and he became disoriented as his vision blurred. He didn't see the boy reaching under to grab him again. He was aware of being grabbed and dragged by the boy's hands. He was too tharn at this point to do anything, until he was hoisted high into the air.

Blackberry had never been far off of the ground before unless he had climbed up on something sturdy like a rock. Being away from the ground was unsettling and terrifying. And what was this boy's intention? Not wanting to discover it the hard way, Blackberry got over his shock, turned his head, and bit into one of the boy's hands.

At this the boy yelled and suddenly dropped Blackberry. While this is what Blackberry was hoping for, he was not hoping to land roughly on the hard burrow floor. The wind was knocked out of him, and coupled with the splitting headache, he blacked out again.