A ride home on a bus that delivered our heroes to a strange and unfamiliar landscape was not quite what the rabbits had in mind for their journey home. The vehicle had stopped at a motel to let off passengers, some of them needing their personal belongings out of the luggage trunk, making the rabbits assume this was their stop to get off, only to find themselves lost in a rural country unknown to them. They concealed themselves in the thick brambles to avoid the humans passing by. As soon as the coast is clear, the gang crept out of the brambles and studied their surroundings.
"Where do you suppose we are?" asked Pipkin.
"How should I know? I'm not the one who told us to get off the hrududu!" Hawkbit fumed irately at the culprit responsible for ordering everyone to leave their last ride home: their chief rabbit.
"It's not as if I wanted us to get off at the wrong spot!" Hazel defended himself.
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway." As usual, Blackberry remained as reasonable as ever. "We should perhaps wait for the next hrududu to come."
"But that would take... eh, a very long time to wait. What say we go on from here?" Once his feet made contact with the ground, Kehaar collapsed from exhaustion after all that flying and chasing the bus left him tired, and he hoped silently for a moment to rest his wings.
"We can't just sit here," Silver moped, "but going on in the open could be more dangerous! What if an elil attacked us while we're waiting for a hrududu?"
"I agree, we need to find some sort of shelter..." Hazel fixed his attention to the sky, for it grew dark with each passing minute as the clouds blocked out the sun. "...And soon."
Nobody paid attention to what Lily had been doing. She came to a cross-road and a sign post - To Whitchurch, 20 miles. To Hare Warren Farm, 11 miles. To Ridgeway Farm, 2 miles. Lily's heart jumped in her throat. The name of her old home, Ridgeway Farm, is on the sign post, and 2 miles was not a long journey. She re-read the sign post to make doubly sure this was not a trick. Tears of joy shed from her overjoyed blue eyes. An invisible force seemed to pull her down the road longing to return home, the yearning of returning to her long-lost home made her spirit soar like the song of the yellowhammer in the breeze.
Her squeals of delight alarmed the group of rabbits she left behind at first, believing a hawk was swooping in to attack, except noticing a member of their band had impulsively ran off.
"LILY! What in Frith's name are you doing?!" shouted Bigwig, then he took after her when his voice fell on deaf ears.
Hazel rounded up the rest of the gang when he recognized the situation, he bellowed, "Follow her!" and they raced frantically in the direction she had gone, hoping to outrun the doe.
"Ugh, here we go again." Kehaar groaned, as he picked himself up and spread his wings, then he took to the skies for another pursuit.
It grew darker by the second. The wind whistled sharply, making the trees creak slightly. A distant rumble sounded off. The rabbits understood when a storm was approaching, and the most important thing to do right now was to find shelter. Except in the case of the careless, reckless actions of a member of their group, there was no chance of finding shelter from the upcoming storm.
After an hour's racing, Lily easily remember the right turn and several more to find a very familiar stone wall that blocked her view. Heart pounding, the doe picked up speed to run for the entrance. I know it is gone, but I want to see my old home... one last time. And I want to see Henry again, she thought, eagerly. But when she rounded the bend to the farm's entrance, the ginger furred doe found yellow tape had been sealed up to prevent trespassers from entering. There was no gate anymore. Confused but not deterred, Lily managed to squeeze under the tape and her eyes were met by a peculiar sight.
Where once stood a magnificent house and a beautiful red barn, now barricaded by the wreckage of the old barn, and the house had been left to rot before the humans cleaned up the mess. Chances of rebuilding them seemed close to perfection, except the house and the barn appeared quite different than the last ones. The fire had done its damage of destroying the lives of innocent people.
Suddenly, her ears cocked up. Something was approaching, and quite rapidly by the rush of pitter-pattering paws. Standing back up on all four feet, a shocked Lily gasped when she saw a huge dog racing through the construction works toward her, barking with excitement. It was a huge St. Bernard, panting with a large grin on his muzzle and his paws muddy from the dirt he trampled over. Lily turned, breaking into a desperate run to escape, but she was well aware of how large dogs can be faster. The St. Bernard was gaining on her, pouncing upon her small fragile form. The doe released a terrified squeal, fearing her end will come when the dog spoke to her.
"Is that any way to greet an old acquaintance, dear lass?" the canine's voice was a deep masculine tone, yet despite his gigantic and intimidating appearance, his expression was good-natured and friendly.
Totally baffled, Lily stared up at the dog looming above her and wondered why on earth would he claim himself as an old friend to her. Recognition crossed her face, her eyes lit up in surprised amazement. "Rascal! Is it really you?" she cried.
"In the flesh... err, fur... if you know what I mean." His tail wagging ecstatically, Rascal leaned in to give her a great big kiss, or rather a slobbery lick in the face.
All of a sudden, a familiar voice erupted in the atmosphere as a lion maned buck dashed past the open entrance and slammed his body full tilt against the St. Bernard's face, striking him at the muzzle. The unexpected attack made the dog rear his head back, crying out in slight pain.
"Stop it!" Lily threw herself between them, blocking him from continuing his assault.
"Run for your life, lass!" ordered Bigwig, desperately trying to urge her to make a run for it.
"No, Bigwig! You don't understand," Lily explained. "Rascal is an old friend of mine."
"WHAT?!" Stupefied, Bigwig couldn't believe his ears.
A few seconds later, the rest of the little rabbit band caught up with them. Their reactions at this startling revelation seemed impossible to believe. How can any rabbit claim a dog as his or her "old friend"? As for the dog himself, Rascal rubbed his face with his forepaws while glaring quite indignantly at the lion-maned buck.
"I'm so sorry about Bigwig..." Lily attempted to apologize on his behalf, only to get cut off.
"I should hope so! I cannot abide terrible manners, such as rudely interrupting a reunion between old acquaintances." The dog growled, speaking like an old-fashioned gentleman who's been aggravated by unwanted guests. "Impulsively assaulting an animal like that is inexcusable, especially when you come here without so much as an invitation. Haven't even been formally introduced to these... ugh, friends of yours, eh, lass?"
No one spoke or breathed a word to this giant canine. Lily couldn't blame them for distrusting the St. Bernard. After all they've been through against Duster and Bob, it's not easy to get acquainted with a good dog who'd never hurt a fly. "They're not just my friends, Rascal. They are my family." She pointed out each rabbit in order when making introductions. "This is Hazel, our leader... Fiver, his brother... Bigwig, my mate... Pipkin, our adopted son... Blackberry... Hawkbit... Bluebell... Dandelion... Silver... and, uhh, where are Kehaar and Hannah?"
As though an answer to her question, the gull circled the group with relief at finding their missing friend. That is, until he crash-landed a few inches in the yard. Hannah came tumbling off his back, somersaulting across the ground then stopped. Again, the embarrassed rabbits sighed and shook their heads at Kehaar's clumsy landing. Kehaar stood up and stretched his wings out to ease the pain.
Hannah put her paws on her hips and gave the doe a harsh frown that meant she was going to give Lily a lecture for her recklessness. "What the hell is the matter with you, Lily?! Running off into the night like a crazed wolf on the hunt!"
Stunned, Lily's ears drooped around her head. "I saw... I saw a signpost that would take me to my old home."
"What you did was very idiotic and careless!" Hazel scolded, sternly.
"I'm sorry, but I was only-"
It was by now that Bigwig grew infuriated with what he assumed to be a pathetic excuse. His angered green eyes glowered right through her timid blue ones, and his own lecture twice as harsh than the Chief Rabbit or the field mouse. "You think rushing off on your own is a good idea just because you found the farm you grew up in, except it never occurred to you that something bad would happen to you, such as an elil picking you off!" His voice was dangerously low. "Because we all recently heard you squeal. For a minute there, I assumed you were in danger... especially with a huge dog looming over you, I thought for sure..."
"Please, there is no need to rile yourselves further about it," Rascal interrupted, trying to be fair and reasonable before the situation could turn ugly. "I understand you are perfectly correct in your lecture, old chap. Although, you need not react so harshly. The lass hasn't been home for a few seasons."
Despite nobody else wishing to interact with the dog, the ever confident and friendly Pipkin took his chance as he spoke, "Father is just worried about Mother, that's all. Uhh, Mr..."
Rascal leaned forward to stick his paw out for the young kit to take. "Sir Collins Montclair Amadeus Ruffschild the Third… but my family and my owners call me 'Rascal.' Delighted to meet you, dear lad."
Though confused by the gesture at first, Pipkin recalled what Lily once told him about hand-shakes the humans would do to greet one another, so he grasped his tiny paws on the dog's larger one and politely shook it. "It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Rascal. I can't help wondering... Don't you... err, hunt rabbits like other dogs do?"
At this, the St. Bernard let out a roar of laughter. He calmed down and cleared his throat so that he could answer the question straightforward. "No offense, young kit, but I've laid neither claw nor fang on a poor rabbit in my life, nor will I ever. Vegetarian and pacifist since puppyhood, you know? We St. Bernards were bred to save such frail creatures, not like other breeds of my kind who were bred to hunt them for food or sport."
"Well, that's a relief," Hawkbit grumbled under his breath.
"So, Rascal, how do you know Lily?" Hazel asked softly, his fear and distrust at this gentle giant melted away.
"Ever since she was a kit," Rascal replied, smiling. "She was always an adventurous, spirited young rabbit. And the only one who ever approached me for the purpose of befriending me. When you're a canine of my stature and build, other creatures, well… let's just say the very breed I was born into is something akin to what the humans call a 'scarlet letter.'" The rabbits, mice, and gull (except for Lily who knew the reference well enough) looked at each other with slight confusion. "While our size and strength are somewhat of a turn-off, we St. Bernards are quite docile."
Rascal leaned down to give Lily a nuzzle, which lightly pushed her onto her back. "That being said, it certainly didn't stop a certain young kit from popping over to the farm next door, look me squarely in the eye, and ask why I had no friends. From then on, we had such times, even as I got bigger and bigger to her," he sighed with content at such memories. "…But I digress. Now do tell me, Lily, whatever happened to you after the Ridgeway fire? I tried to sniff about for you, but the ghastly smoke dared to offend my olfactory senses and cloud my every effort to trail you."
It took Lily some time to relay the entire story from the fire to this moment, and the gargantuan St. Bernard listened in and reacted accordingly to each detail, from the sorrow felt of Lily losing her short-lived friend Violet to the contempt at how horribly the Threarah, Cowslip, and this General Woundwort treated her and her friends, to the excitement over the fact that his dear friend found herself a mate (ironically the Bigwig chap who dared to strike at him without forethought) and had a litter of her own, being fond of children himself.
"…And so, after we left the Big Water, we hopped back onto the bus and rode on until I found a sign that pointed the way back to my old farm, and now we're all here."
After all was said and done, Rascal merely flopped to the ground, his jowls laying on the grass. "Well… that is quite a story. Well… at least you came out all right, Lily…" he looked away with a slight sorrow in his eye, "...unlike your humans." He sat up before he could continue. "After the fire was extinguished, the humans in white came along to look for your family. The man was found dead, most likely from being too greatly burned. The mother was felled by a stray piece of wood. And Henry… well, this is the odd part. From what I heard, some small animal went and shredded his poor throat. At first, I thought it was a weasel or stoat, but the men there said that the markings were that of a rabbit. Even though everybody doubted it. I mean… what kind of rabbit would be vicious enough to attack a human so violently, especially a child?"
An icy claw grasped at Lily's heart, as she stared at the giant dog, mortified. "No..." she sobbed. Her face drenched of color when she came close to a faint, only for Bigwig to catch her in his arms.
As the animals, excluding Blackberry, Bluebell and Fiver, were quite shocked and horrified to learn of the fate of Lily's human family, Hazel asked the large dog, "Pardon me for asking, but do you remember anything else about the fire?"
"Hmmmm… let's see…" The dog thought long and hard. "…Come to think of it… there was something, but I thought nothing of it at the time. You see, the smoke not only dulled my nose, but it blinded me in the haze. So much that I ended up getting bitten and scratched at the paws by something in the grass, forcing me to retreat back to my farm. But when I turned back around, I saw what I thought to be the largest and scariest rabbit I've ever seen, retreating into the forest. And it had some red juice on his lips." The eyes of all the animals, save for the three who knew the truth already, widened as they realized what had truly happened, recognizing the large rabbit in question.
Of course, Rascal was surprised by their shock. "What's the trouble, then? What did I-?" Suddenly, he put two and two together, realizing that the General from Lily's story oddly sounded like that same rabbit he described on the day of the fire. "Oh my goodness… Lily, I-I am so, so sorry… I don't know what you must be thinking."
Bigwig hopped over to share his sentiments to Lily. "As am I. We all know Woundwort to be a slave driver and a killer… but to do that to a young lad who saved your life… I understand if you're hurt and angry, but-"
A crashing wave of memories came back to Lily in an instant, remembering the house on fire, Henry's parents brutally killed separately and the poor child gasping for air. She lay on the floor, helpless. The giant monstrous rabbit approached her with a look of pure malice. As Lily gazed up at him in horror, she could see his scarred white eye, even though the black smoke shielded his gigantic appearance. And now, looking back on her imprisonment in Efrafa, General Woundwort had the same white eye. And if what Rascal said is true, there's no mistaking such a large rabbit who fits his description of Woundwort. Her shock changed to anger, which soon developed into utter rage. Woundwort was responsible for murdering her family. He was the culprit behind the loss of her home and loved ones. Why he didn't recognize her, she had no idea. But she didn't care. All she cared about now was killing the General for ruining her life.
When Bigwig tried to speak to her, nobody could register nor sense Lily instinctively striking him across the face, but she did, and this action frightened everybody as she glared furiously at her mate. "Why act like you care?! You never understood my pain because in your eyes, HUMANS are the killers, not rabbits!" The doe appeared as though she was about to claim her pound of flesh. This unseen side of her rage she had hidden for so long terrified her friends, especially Bigwig and Pipkin. Even Rascal drew back, startled.
Afterword, Lily gazed down at a puddle in the earth, noticing how her seething rage and anger changed her features. Teeth bared. Eyes red with fury and full of tears. For a second, she thought her image changed drastically to Woundwort's gruesome face. Fiver's words rang in her ears when he had seen the General's traumatizing past in his visions and what he told her during his time in Efrafa, "Woundwort's full of hate, fear and loss." This is exactly what drove Woundwort to become the monstrosity he is today. All thoughts of killing him left her as quickly as it came. Lily shook her head, shocked by what she had seen in her reflection, and her unfair reaction toward her mate made her feel worse.
"I'm sorry," Lily mumbled her apology to Bigwig, who gave her a saddened frown. She shouldn't have lashed out at him like that, Bigwig is her mate and all he did was try to comfort her. True, there are humans who destroy rabbits for cruelty, so he did have a reason for distrusting them. At least, Bigwig is attempting to respect her feelings. Her apology cause the rabbits, Kehaar, Hannah and Rascal gaze sympathetically at her.
"I had a little suspicion in my heart that Henry was dead, but I refused to believe it." Wiping the tears from her eyes, Lily took a deep breath to calm herself. "And even though I will never forgive him for it… I fear that if I walk down the path of vengeance… I'd be no better than Woundwort." The ginger doe turned to face her friends, large and small. "I want Woundwort to pay for all his cruelty and tyranny as much as all of us do… but I also want to have it done the right way. Our way. The way of Watership Down."
The Watership Down rabbits, Hannah, Kehaar, and Rascal were awed by her speech, that Bigwig was the first to speak up. "Well said, my darling. And together… we'll do it. We'll put a stop to Woundwort… together."
The rabbits, mouse, and gull voiced their agreement while Rascal merely gave her a happy pant of his lagging tongue.
Lily smiled, her heart soared with the love and support of her friends. "Thank you. All of you. I just know that when we get back home, we will-" Before she can continue, thunder from far off could be heard a long way off, as well as approaching dark clouds. "Well… I believe that is a sign that we need to move on. The rain will be coming in soon."
"And where are we gonna go? We've not enough does for digging scrapes," Hawkbit griped to his Chief Rabbit, earning him a glare from Lily and Blackberry.
Rascal thought long and hard for a moment, then his eyes lit up when something came back to him. "Come to think of it, I seem to recall overhearing some woodlanders outside the farm, letting mention of a warren somewhere around here... Oh yes, by the human cemetery just a little further down the lane from here. Last time I heard of it, there were some rabbits wandering about the area."
All of the animals gaped at him, hopefully.
"Do you know these rabbits?" inquired Hazel.
"Heavens, no! My master never allowed me to go in there because it was closed down, the poor place having been abandoned for years now," explained the St. Bernard. "However, I remember this one time my owner had taken me out for a quiet stroll when we passed the cemetery. My master was currently occupied having a tiff with the local pasty purveyor when I happened to notice a few rabbits hiding behind some of the tombstones. One of them, a buck from what I could smell, was blind, the second being a buck, he somehow appeared deaf for he never heard my approach, except his friend pulled him out of sight. I figured the poor creatures resided in such a foreboding abode, especially since I happened to catch a much stronger scent of other rabbits beyond the fence. No doubt about it, chaps. There is a warren hidden within that lonesome place."
"A warren so close to Man? Hmmmm…" Hazel wondered, thoughtfully. "It might be best to avoid it, especially if some of them are blind or deaf… Quite strange."
"Well, suppose if they're struck with the..." Bluebell stuttered before he gulped fearfully, "the White Blindness."
"It might explain why those two rabbits had such afflictions," added Blackberry.
Again, there were those strange unfamiliar words that she heard from Dandelion's story of the Black Rabbit of Inlé. Lily raised her eyebrow, then exchanged a puzzled frown with the dog, the gull, and the mouse. "Uhh, what is this White Blindness?"
For a moment, silence filled the air with a gloomy atmosphere, then Dandelion decided to give the ginger doe an explanation, "The White Blindness is a deadly disease carried by fleas in rabbits' ears. They pass from the ears of a sick rabbit to those of their companions. Once infected..." the blonde buck refused to continue as he noticed how scared Pipkin reacted, "well, I can't say much of the symptoms for some of our young. But know that all with the White Blindness have it for a brief hrair days, until… you're finally called to the Black Rabbit himself."
Lily stared at him in brief horror. Her body trembled and her ears drew back, deeply shaken. "And how many is… is hrair days?" she asked, a little confused about the word hrair.
"About three times you can count on your paw," Dandelion pointed out.
"You mean… twelve days? You mean once you get it, a rabbit only has twelve days to live before…?"
While not understanding the word 'twelve,' given how rabbits' numbers go only up to 'four' and anything higher is called hrair, Dandelion nodded, assuming she understood how deadly this disease.
"Not to worry, everyone!" boomed the voice of the St. Bernard behind them. "We canines have an exceptional olfactory sense. A proper nose much like yours, don't you know? Anyhow, those rabbits hadn't smelled of any sickness as far as I could tell. In fact, the whole area surprisingly had a strong scent of health about it."
"Well, thank Frith for that," sighed Bluebell, greatly relieved.
A distance shrill whistle sounded out in the distance beyond the farm, alerting the rabbits and catching Rascal's attention when his ears pricked up.
"Oh, dear! I must be on my way. My master is calling for me." Before leaving, Rascal gave Lily one last affectionate nuzzle. "Goodbye, dear lass. And good luck on your journey homeward."
"It was wonderful to see you again, Rascal." In return, Lily gave the St. Bernard a friendly lick on the nose to say farewell. "May Frith let our paths cross again."
"Yes, indeed. It was very nice to meet you," said Hazel, giving the great canine a respectful nod.
"Err, sorry for striking you earlier," Bigwig apologized, though he still felt a bit uncomfortable to speak like that to a dog.
Luckily for him, Rascal understood his reckless actions were out of concern for his mate. "All water under the bridge, dear chap. Just be sure to take care of our lass… and her kits, hmmm? Perhaps one day should I come around to this Watership Down, I might pop in for a visit, eh?"
As the animals said their goodbyes, the St. Bernard turned and bounded off for the open meadow where his master waited patiently for him. Once he arrived, the Man put a leash on his collar and led the giant dog home.
"Friends with a dog! Ha, ha! Frith in a hrududu." Bigwig chuckled, as he couldn't believe his group had become friends with a dog, one whom his mate had known for in her childhood. "First a pig, then a puffin, and now a dog. This is turning out quite the holiday we're having, eh Hazel?"
"Quite, Bigwig." Hazel took one look up at the sky, and he began to feel concerned as it grew darker when grey clouds loomed ahead. "We'd better get moving if we're going to find this warren in the abandoned cemetery."
While the entire group left the rebuilding construction site, Lily paused to take one last glance at what used to be her former home. The truth of Henry's death wretched at her insides, but why on earth would the General kill her child and destroy her home? Hopefully, she'll discover the truth when Efrafa falls for good. Sure, it was good to see Rascal again, but the memories of all the animals and her human family stayed with her. Now it was time to set them free. Lily had a new home in Watership Down, and all of the rabbits who became her dearest friends and family. She remembered what Clover told her when Primrose found her old warren, Redstone, abandoned when the Great Sickness killed them all. The ginger doe felt a kindred spirit with Primrose, hopefully she can tell her this upon her return home. "Goodbye, everyone..." she whispered, "and thank you." And then she left.
