"What do you mean?" Rat exclaimed. "Everyone likes Mole!"
"Of course everyone likes Mole, no doubt about that. I'm rather fond of him myself." Toad strokes his jacket. He wasn't nervous, of course not! Just…slightly perturbed. "It's only to say some animals may hold a bit of a grudge against him."
"A grudge? Whatever for?"
"It seems he was rather rude to some rabbits, and they, they may have taken it personally. But see here," he hastily said, seeing Rat's face begin to darken, the silky whiskers quivering, "never mind that! They're just rabbits! Pooh to rabbits, I always say, always in a huff over something. Really, I never should have brought it up. Now airplanes, those are a subject worth discussing! I–"
"Toad, do shut up," Rat said sharply. "I'm trying to think."
Toad shut up and retreated to a chair on the other side of the fireplace, from which discontented, but quiet, muttering soon came.
"You know I have nothing against rabbits," Rat said abruptly. "Perfectly friendly creatures, mostly, and always say good morning when we pass, but a bit odd. They tend to keep grudges, and aren't the most trustworthy of creatures."
"Hear, hear!" Toad enthused. "Never been too fond of rabbits myself, in fact my great grandfather–"
"If the rabbits have a quarrel with Mole," Rat interrupted, "then I'd like to know about it."
"Quite right, Ratty!" Toad then looked at the seat never to Rat as though he'd only just noticed it was empty. "Where is Mole? I never see you without him these days!"
"Oh, he had an invite out for a day on the River," Rat replied absently. "Just him and a couple of…rabbits."
Toad and Rat looked at each other.
As one, they sprung to their feet and headed to the dock, desperate to reach their friend before it was too late.
"Mole's not a good swimmer, you know." Rat rowed with strong, hurried strokes, keen eyes searching for any sign of another boat. "He's still more used to moving though earth than water."
Toad sat in the stern, eyes fixed on the banks. Much as he was flighty and irresponsible, he was rather fond of Mole, and even more fond of Rat. For all his faults, Toad would do anything for his friends.
"The rabbits won't really hurt him, Ratty," he tried to cheer Rat up. "They're strange, but they're not weasels."
"They don't have to do much, just tip him out of the boat mid-River," Rat said grimly. "With it as high as it is now, he wouldn't be able to swim to shore."
Toad gulped, and moved his gaze from the banks to the water below. Privately, he wondered if Rat would still be able to stay on his beloved river if it took Mole from him.
They were nearly all the way back to Rat's home when they heard high mocking laughter, carrying across the water.
"Faster, Ratty! Faster!" Toad yelped, nearly tipping the boat over in his excitement.
Rat didn't spare a breath to admonish him, just rowed faster than before. The closer they came, the louder the laughter grew, and the sound of splashing could be heard beneath it. Finally, they rounded a bend, and a small party of rabbits came into view, laughing at something dark in the water.
"Villains!" Toad shouted, shaking his fist. "Scoundrels!"
"Mole!" Rat's agonised cry stopped even the rabbits in their tracks. Their jeering cut abruptly short. Rat didn't care. The cry was barely out of his mouth before he was overboard and swimming with all his might to reach the struggling Mole.
Strong rower Toad as not, but Rat had at least managed to impart enough knowledge to him that he could bring the boat closer without either tipping it over or himself out of it. As soon as he was close enough, he reached out, helping Rat get the soaked and shivering Mole into the boat.
"How dare they treat any friend of mine like this!" he blustered, trying to help Rat get Mole out of his drenched jacket. "I'll go to the police, just see if I–"
"Toad, can you row us back to my house?" Rat interrupted. Jacket finally off, both of his arms were now around Mole, who looked rather shellshocked.
Toad blinked, then recovered himself. "Of course I can, Ratty! But wouldn't you rather do it?"
Rat briefly shook his head. "I'm more useful here, keeping Mole warm."
Toad had to agree; his own amphibious nature made him quite unsuited for the task.
"Hurry, Toad! We need to get Mole into some dry clothes. He's not used to swimming in this weather, not like us."
For once, Toad was quiet, convinced by the urgency of the task. Rowing with little finesse but much enthusiasm, they were soon back at Rat's house, where Rat and Toad worked together to get the sodden and trembling Mole out of the boat and indoors.
"Put the kettle on, Toady, while I help Mole into some dry clothes," Rat instructed.
"Kettle?" Toad blinked. "Kettle! Don't worry about a thing, old Ratty, I'll have that kettle on in no time!"
He went to the kitchen, where he was fairly sure kettles loved, and searched through Rat's cupboard, pulling things out and examine them before tossing them away when they wouldn't reveal any useful kettle-ness. Finally, he found a teapot, which he assumed was essentially the same thing, and filled it with water.
He stepped back triumphantly, then frowned as he realised the water wasn't hot.
"Aha!" Poking the gently smouldering fire, he made a space in the coals for the teapot, placed it there, then returned triumphantly to the sitting room.
"There you are, Toad." Rat and Mole were back downstairs, out of their wet clothes, and huddled under a pile of blankets. Mole was still shivering, but Rat's arm firmly around his shoulders seemed to be helping. "What was all that banging?"
"Your 'kettle', as you call it, was rather difficult to find." Toad settled himself into the armchair opposite, watching Mole. He hadn't said a word since they'd rescued him, and though he did tend to be a quiet animal, this felt excessive.
"My kettle?" Rat looked at Mole, and they had a conversation with glances, while Toad pretended he wasn't desperately jealous that he couldn't do the same. Finally, Mole nodded firmly, and Rat untangled himself from the blankets to go to the kitchen.
"How are you feeling, Moley?" Toad asked cheerily, blithely ignoring the frustrated sounds emanating from the kitchen. "All warmed up now?"
"J-Just about." Mole's eyes had drifted off towards the kitchen, but now they came back to Toad. "I didn't think the river would be so cold in Spring."
"Yes, well, when you get to know the river like us Riverbankers, you'll know this is no time of year to be swimming!" Mole made a distressed sound, and Toad hastily corrected, "Not that you meant to be swimming, of course, but it's a good thing for you to know!"
"I don't think I'll be swimming for a long time to come."
"Not swim?" Rat, carrying a slightly scorched teapot and three mugs, had entered the room just in time to hear that pronouncement. Pouring a mug and handing it to Mole, he settled back down beside him, pulling the blankets around them both. "It's the River, Moley! The season's only just beginning. You can't give up on swimming!"
"Yes, I can," Mole said pettishly, and sipped on his tea.
"Quite right, Mole." Toad jumped in, never afraid to give his opinion. "Why, swimming is nothing at all compared to the pleasures of the sky! Just imagine, being up there amongst the clouds, besting the swallows and finches at their own game! What's swimming compared to that?"
"A good deal safer!" Rat retorted. Mole had turned faintly green.
"Alright, have it your way then." Toad said airily. He would not let his friends' disapproval dissuade him, as if it ever could. "I suppose not all of us can be brave enough to defy the laws of nature and take to the skies."
"Of course, Toad, neither of us have quite your experience at defying laws," Rat said with a perfectly pleasant expression. Mole smiled, and leaned closer to Rat.
Toad crossed his arms, scowling at both of them. They were probably holding hands under the blankets too, the rotters! "You needn't say it like that."
"And how would you prefer I say it? That you know how to defy laws better than the rest of us? That you have flying experience from when you flew from the police?" Rat kept the same pleasant expression throughout, even as Mole dissolved into giggles next to him.
"I don't know, just not like that!" Toad got up and went to the kitchen, leaving the two of them to their own little jokes that weren't nearly as funny as they thought. He spotted a biscuit tin and opened it, grabbing two big biscuits then, after further thought, a third. Really, some biscuits were the least Rat could give him after such treatment.
When Toad returned to the sitting room, they no longer looked quite so jolly.
"Toad, what was it you told me the rabbits had a grudge over?" Rat asked, looking intently at Mole.
"Mole refused to pay their bridge tax," Toad replied promptly. Gossip was always so much easier to remember than things from books, or Badger's silly old Latin quotations. "Really, old fellow, I quite understand. No one owns a bridge!" He laughed, then realised neither of the other two were laughing with him and stopped.
"You see, Moley? Even Toad knows that's a silly thing to keep a grudge over!"
"Even Toad?" Toad asked, offended, and was still more offended when neither of them took any notice.
"It might seem silly, but it was awfully rude of me, and it couldn't have been a lot of money." Mole pulled anxiously at the hem of the blankets. "If only I'd paid it, none of this would have happened."
Rat captured both Mole's hands in his, looking at him seriously. "Mole, they were watching you drown. However much it was, you are worth far more."
Toad crossed the room and sat back in his chair with a sniff. "Oh, Mole knows that! He's worth more than any of those rabbits – though not quite as much as me, of course, not that I thin any less of you for it, Mole. Being as handsome and talented as me would be a challenge for anyone!"
"Yes, I dare say it would," Ratty said, letting go of Mole's hands but sharing a look with him Toad didn't understand.
Toad dismissed it, and said in his best reassuring manner, "Don't worry about it, Mole. The rabbits have had their fun, they won't try again. They know that if they try, they'd have to face me!"
"And me," Rat said with such ferocity Toad was momentarily afraid for his own safety. "And Badger too, once we tell him."
"Oh, that does seem rather a lot of fuss, Ratty," Mole said, but with a small smile that seemed to say he didn't mind a little being fussed over. "I'm sure nothing else will happen." He suddenly looked rather anxious. "But then I didn't think anything would happen at all. They were very polite asking me out on the river, I had no idea they were going to-" He broke off. His paws began to shake again, nearly dropping his mug.
Rat rescued it, placing it on the table next to the teapot. "It's alright, Mole. You're here now."
"But I might not have been, Ratty." Deprived of a mug to hold, Mole's paws were curled in the blankets again, the tips of his claws beginning to poke through from how tight he was gripping. "They threw me in the river and just watched. Watched! They would have watched me drown! Over a few pennies!"
Neither Toad nor Rat said anything. It was rare to see Mole truly angry, and they both felt it was better to let him get on with it than to try and comfort and cajole him out of it.
"For a few pennies, I never would have seen my little home again, or had another picnic on the river, or played chess with Badger, or seen you again – oh, Ratty!" Mole fell against Rat's shoulder, sobbing.
Rat patted his back, whispering to Toad, "Toad, can you go tell Badger? I think Mole needs some privacy."
"Of course, Rat."
As he left, he was sombered by the scene he had witnessed, and how terrible the event must have been for Mole. The further he walked, however, the more his mind drifted into pleasanter channels, such as how he would get to tell Badger the whole story - with, perhaps, a few minor revisions!
