Chapter SEVEN - The Dark Before the Dawn
Hazel felt annoyed, and the sight of Bigwig and Bluebell returning only served to deepen his irritation.
"There were four of you looking after Stitchwort," he pointed out. "Surely that ought to have been enough to have kept him out of harm's way. What happened, anyway?"
Holly sighed.
"Well, you see, Bigwig and Silver had been talking to him for a bit; trying to get him to snap out of it, 'sort of thing, but they didn't seem to be getting anywhere, really. Then, all of a sudden, he sat bolt upright and hared off down the hill towards where we'd taken Blackavar earlier. Of course we went after him, but he'd startled us so that there was quite some ground to be made up. Silver has a handy turn of speed in him, though, and managed to get himself within earshot - I could just hear him calling after Stitchwort that he was running himself into trouble."
At this point, Silver himself appeared, utterly exhausted. Rabbits do not sweat, but the dishevelled fur and mottled patches of dry earth that clung to his heaving pelt told an eloquent story. After recovering his breath, he took up the story:
"Somehow I knew that Stitchwort could hear me, although he showed no sign of replying, so I kept on calling. But he just carried on running - it was all I could do to keep up with him. That rabbit has - had, I suppose I should say - a fine pace, I can tell you.
"After a bit, we arrived at the road near Ashley Warren farm. The smell of dog and man was so strong it was almost unbearable, but I forced myself to go on for Stitchwort's sake - for some reason he didn't seem to be affected by it at all. But there was also a great roaring noise - louder than a farm hrududu; it even put me in mind of the Messenger that saved us from the Efrafans. Stitchwort was out of his mind with fear - and he was in the middle of the road.
"The others had caught up with me by now, and we were all squatting in a ditch by the side of the field, wondering what we could do. It was quite out of the question to go into the road and try to force him back to us - all we'd have done is to end up fighting again, and we had to avoid that at all costs. Oh, if only we'd had a Blackberry or a Fiver amongst us to think up some clever way to rescue him.
"We were all pressed up close in this ditch, and suddenly I felt Holly beside me tense his whole body. I looked at him, and he was staring, not at Stitchwort, but a little way farther down the road: it was clear he had the real horrors. I asked him what was the matter, and he just managed to force out, 'Inlé! Inlé in its paws!' I had no idea what he was talking about, and I started to worry that now, of all times, he was going mad.
"Then we saw it. Moving along the lane, quite slowly, was a huge hrududu. I noticed that it was the colour of charlock, and suddenly I understood what Holly had meant. This must have been much the same sort of hrududu as the one that destroyed the Sandleford warren."
None of the rabbits said a word; there was no sound in the burrow but for sharp, shallow breathing and quick, tense pulses. Most of the rabbits present had heard that dreadful tale from Holly's own mouth, while Vilthuril had seen horrors of her own in Efrafa to equal any that Hazel's veterans might have known. In the intense quiet, the hooting of an owl from far above could be clearly heard.
It was Holly himself who broke the silence.
"Remember how Bigwig once told us about the white lights these hrududil carry at night?" he asked. "Well, this one had those all right, but it also had two great flashing horns upon its head that cast strange shadows all about on the hedges and walls. And its front paws had great pads of long, straight, tough fur, and all the while they revolved with the most deafening sound. And there was Stitchwort sitting tharn not a fieldsbreadth away as it bore down upon him. From where I was, I couldn't see any more-"
"I could," interrupted Bigwig. "I'd got myself around to the front of the ditch, to see if there was any way I could attract Stitchwort's attention. It seemed a pretty hopeless case, but I felt I couldn't just sit there like a fool if there was anything I could try, however unlikely, that might save him. By this time, the lights on the hrududu's head were almost blinding me - the constant flashing meant that I couldn't get a clear idea of what was going on.
"But one thing I did see was the hrududu reach Stitchwort. One of those great rotating paws Silver mentioned hit him, and he was scooped straight into its gaping maw. All the while, he never made a sound. I'm telling you, Hazel-rah, it was the worst thing I've ever seen; even when I was in... Efrafa, I don't believe I've ever been quite so frightened. To be honest, I thought I'd go tharn myself."
"What terrible allies men make," said Vilthuril quietly.
* * *
The next morning, Hazel sought out Frogbit and Knapweed, and explained what had happened to Stitchwort, stressing that neither he nor Hyzenthlay would allow them to be victimised ("no, not even by Bigwig. ESPECIALLY not by Bigwig," he answered Knapweed's faltering question). Hazel was relieved to find that neither blamed him in any way, and both assured him that their days of insubordination were now firmly behind them. Frogbit, a rather nervous rabbit at the best of times, even went so far as to call Hazel, "Sir", for which he was gently but firmly rebuked.
The warren was in dire need of some good news, and so the return of Hyzenthlay just after ni-Frith lifted spirits a good deal. Hazel was elated to see his mate again, and was happy to hear that the Wide Patrol had gone without a hitch. Word of Blackavar's demise had reached her, in mangled though recognisable form, from a couple of fieldmice, but she had not known anything of Stitchwort's challenge to Hazel, or of his grisly demise, and she was deeply saddened by the loss of two rabbits within such a short space of time.
More was to follow. Kehaar appeared unexpectedly just before sunset, and informed Hazel and Hyzenthlay that he had met a party of buck and three does - hlessil who had banded together for protection, they said - at the foot of the hill, who had expressed their wish to join Watership. Hazel sent Bigwig and Blackberry to meet them, and they returned with the news that they all seemed young, strong and intelligent, were possessed (in Bigwig's forthrightly expressed opinion) of a good bit more common sense than most of Watership's existing residents, and should make an excellent addition to their warren. The loss of Blackavar and Stitchwort had compounded the problems which had arisen when Flyairth and many does had left, so Hazel was delighted. The new rabbits had made scrapes for the night where they were, and would arrive in the morning.
As if this were not enough, Léaozen now felt well enough to rejoin the daily life of the warren. She was still upset, and only half-heartedly joined in the games which Hawkbit and Speedwell put on for her, but Clover and Thethuthinnang made sure that she always had companionship, and she clearly enjoyed Dandelion's recitation of "Rowsby Woof and the Fairy Wogdog," which even Bigwig, who considered himself something of a connoisseur on the matter, believed was the finest he had heard.
All in all, thought Hazel, as he lay close beside Hyzenthlay after the evening silflay, things could have been a great deal worse. Had it really been just a day ago that he was facing a crowd of rabbits who wanted him out - indeed, some of whom wanted him killed? Stitchwort's death had shaken everyone, but the forthcoming arrival of four new rabbits would compensate for that and more. They had all seen today what the Black Rabbit could bring down upon them; yet they had also known the protection and help of Lord Frith. Hazel gazed once more at the sleeping form of his mate and, by degrees, himself drifted into the balm of unconsciousness.
Hazel felt annoyed, and the sight of Bigwig and Bluebell returning only served to deepen his irritation.
"There were four of you looking after Stitchwort," he pointed out. "Surely that ought to have been enough to have kept him out of harm's way. What happened, anyway?"
Holly sighed.
"Well, you see, Bigwig and Silver had been talking to him for a bit; trying to get him to snap out of it, 'sort of thing, but they didn't seem to be getting anywhere, really. Then, all of a sudden, he sat bolt upright and hared off down the hill towards where we'd taken Blackavar earlier. Of course we went after him, but he'd startled us so that there was quite some ground to be made up. Silver has a handy turn of speed in him, though, and managed to get himself within earshot - I could just hear him calling after Stitchwort that he was running himself into trouble."
At this point, Silver himself appeared, utterly exhausted. Rabbits do not sweat, but the dishevelled fur and mottled patches of dry earth that clung to his heaving pelt told an eloquent story. After recovering his breath, he took up the story:
"Somehow I knew that Stitchwort could hear me, although he showed no sign of replying, so I kept on calling. But he just carried on running - it was all I could do to keep up with him. That rabbit has - had, I suppose I should say - a fine pace, I can tell you.
"After a bit, we arrived at the road near Ashley Warren farm. The smell of dog and man was so strong it was almost unbearable, but I forced myself to go on for Stitchwort's sake - for some reason he didn't seem to be affected by it at all. But there was also a great roaring noise - louder than a farm hrududu; it even put me in mind of the Messenger that saved us from the Efrafans. Stitchwort was out of his mind with fear - and he was in the middle of the road.
"The others had caught up with me by now, and we were all squatting in a ditch by the side of the field, wondering what we could do. It was quite out of the question to go into the road and try to force him back to us - all we'd have done is to end up fighting again, and we had to avoid that at all costs. Oh, if only we'd had a Blackberry or a Fiver amongst us to think up some clever way to rescue him.
"We were all pressed up close in this ditch, and suddenly I felt Holly beside me tense his whole body. I looked at him, and he was staring, not at Stitchwort, but a little way farther down the road: it was clear he had the real horrors. I asked him what was the matter, and he just managed to force out, 'Inlé! Inlé in its paws!' I had no idea what he was talking about, and I started to worry that now, of all times, he was going mad.
"Then we saw it. Moving along the lane, quite slowly, was a huge hrududu. I noticed that it was the colour of charlock, and suddenly I understood what Holly had meant. This must have been much the same sort of hrududu as the one that destroyed the Sandleford warren."
None of the rabbits said a word; there was no sound in the burrow but for sharp, shallow breathing and quick, tense pulses. Most of the rabbits present had heard that dreadful tale from Holly's own mouth, while Vilthuril had seen horrors of her own in Efrafa to equal any that Hazel's veterans might have known. In the intense quiet, the hooting of an owl from far above could be clearly heard.
It was Holly himself who broke the silence.
"Remember how Bigwig once told us about the white lights these hrududil carry at night?" he asked. "Well, this one had those all right, but it also had two great flashing horns upon its head that cast strange shadows all about on the hedges and walls. And its front paws had great pads of long, straight, tough fur, and all the while they revolved with the most deafening sound. And there was Stitchwort sitting tharn not a fieldsbreadth away as it bore down upon him. From where I was, I couldn't see any more-"
"I could," interrupted Bigwig. "I'd got myself around to the front of the ditch, to see if there was any way I could attract Stitchwort's attention. It seemed a pretty hopeless case, but I felt I couldn't just sit there like a fool if there was anything I could try, however unlikely, that might save him. By this time, the lights on the hrududu's head were almost blinding me - the constant flashing meant that I couldn't get a clear idea of what was going on.
"But one thing I did see was the hrududu reach Stitchwort. One of those great rotating paws Silver mentioned hit him, and he was scooped straight into its gaping maw. All the while, he never made a sound. I'm telling you, Hazel-rah, it was the worst thing I've ever seen; even when I was in... Efrafa, I don't believe I've ever been quite so frightened. To be honest, I thought I'd go tharn myself."
"What terrible allies men make," said Vilthuril quietly.
* * *
The next morning, Hazel sought out Frogbit and Knapweed, and explained what had happened to Stitchwort, stressing that neither he nor Hyzenthlay would allow them to be victimised ("no, not even by Bigwig. ESPECIALLY not by Bigwig," he answered Knapweed's faltering question). Hazel was relieved to find that neither blamed him in any way, and both assured him that their days of insubordination were now firmly behind them. Frogbit, a rather nervous rabbit at the best of times, even went so far as to call Hazel, "Sir", for which he was gently but firmly rebuked.
The warren was in dire need of some good news, and so the return of Hyzenthlay just after ni-Frith lifted spirits a good deal. Hazel was elated to see his mate again, and was happy to hear that the Wide Patrol had gone without a hitch. Word of Blackavar's demise had reached her, in mangled though recognisable form, from a couple of fieldmice, but she had not known anything of Stitchwort's challenge to Hazel, or of his grisly demise, and she was deeply saddened by the loss of two rabbits within such a short space of time.
More was to follow. Kehaar appeared unexpectedly just before sunset, and informed Hazel and Hyzenthlay that he had met a party of buck and three does - hlessil who had banded together for protection, they said - at the foot of the hill, who had expressed their wish to join Watership. Hazel sent Bigwig and Blackberry to meet them, and they returned with the news that they all seemed young, strong and intelligent, were possessed (in Bigwig's forthrightly expressed opinion) of a good bit more common sense than most of Watership's existing residents, and should make an excellent addition to their warren. The loss of Blackavar and Stitchwort had compounded the problems which had arisen when Flyairth and many does had left, so Hazel was delighted. The new rabbits had made scrapes for the night where they were, and would arrive in the morning.
As if this were not enough, Léaozen now felt well enough to rejoin the daily life of the warren. She was still upset, and only half-heartedly joined in the games which Hawkbit and Speedwell put on for her, but Clover and Thethuthinnang made sure that she always had companionship, and she clearly enjoyed Dandelion's recitation of "Rowsby Woof and the Fairy Wogdog," which even Bigwig, who considered himself something of a connoisseur on the matter, believed was the finest he had heard.
All in all, thought Hazel, as he lay close beside Hyzenthlay after the evening silflay, things could have been a great deal worse. Had it really been just a day ago that he was facing a crowd of rabbits who wanted him out - indeed, some of whom wanted him killed? Stitchwort's death had shaken everyone, but the forthcoming arrival of four new rabbits would compensate for that and more. They had all seen today what the Black Rabbit could bring down upon them; yet they had also known the protection and help of Lord Frith. Hazel gazed once more at the sleeping form of his mate and, by degrees, himself drifted into the balm of unconsciousness.
