Hi everyone, Chapter 5 is the 2nd half of the time on Cowslips Farm and there is danger ahead. Something thought to have been solved comes back and is hunting for one of the Sandleford survivors!
Beecroft deserves a big thank you for suggesting the Cowslip farm story be divided up into 2 chapters. After thinking it over, my mind decides that it make sense. Originally the 2nd half of Cowslips Farm would have been one big event in chapter 4 but due to excessive editing and many words, I took his advice and split the 2nd and 3rd day here up. With that out of the way, onwards with the story for the 3rd Day!
Chapter 5: Snared At Sunrise
"Fiver?" A sudden shaking on his shoulder stirred Fiver from his slumber. "Fiver, wake up."
Fiver rolled over in his bunk, and found himself face to face with his brother.
"Oh, hi brother," he mumbled looking over at him.
In the bedroom quarters of the Sandleford lot, all the rabbits and mouse were awakening for the day. The first thing everyone noticed is the bed for Bigwig was empty.
"Did Bigwig start work early again?" Dandelion asked.
"Yes, he told me last night he would," Hazel answered. He turned to his brother, "I heard you muttering in your sleep last night. Bad dreams?"
"Ooh, a bit scary," shivered Fiver as he climbed down the bunk bed ladder. "Someone called out for help and I couldn't find out where the source of the voice came from." He shook his head fearfully.
"Don't worry, you're safe with us in the real world now," Hazel assured patting him lightly on his ears. "Come down to breakfast and maybe you'll see Silverweed too!"
He emphasized the last bit and grinned seeing his younger brother's ears perk up in excitement and his sad face morph into a happy one. Then before he could say anything else, Fiver dashed off to the dining hall.
"We better hurry up before he gets all the good food," joked Bluebell. Everyone laughed and after Blackberry put Hana onto her left shoulder, the others quickly walked downstairs to grab breakfast.
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Breakfast today consisted of Silverweed, Marigold and Hickory behind a table of steam trays holding pancakes alongside a separate table with sliced strawberries, grapes and oranges on a big platter, a tray of utensils, jugs of milk, pitchers of maple syrup and little butter containers. Everybody grabbed their own platters and filled up with what they had, each giving their morning greetings to the three as they moved in line.
Out of consideration for the others Fiver hung back, hoping to have a quick talk with Silverweed before sitting down.
"Hi there Silverweed," Fiver waved holding up his platter. "3 pancakes please."
"Oh sure," Silverweed replied picking up 3 pancakes with his tongs and dropping them gently onto his plate. "Listen Fiver, about that talk yesterday? I hope the both of us are still good friends."
Hickory and Marigold who were finishing up serving speedwell and Acorn happened to catch it and slowly turn around in their direction.
"You talking about that evening conversation in your room?" Fiver said quietly to him. "Well I'm not sure if I feel that way towards you but our friendship is still together if you're wondering and I wouldn't want to trade that for anything else."
"Oh thank Frith," Silverweed sighed. "You have a nice breakfast and I'll try joining you shortly."
Fiver nodded yes and scurried away quickly to his group's table to sit left of his brother. When Silverweed turned to his left, Hickory and Marigold looked back at him with smiles on their faces.
"You told him you liked him?" Hickory asked.
Silverweed was taken aback. "What? How did you- wait, I never said I liked him!"
"It's written all over your face, dear," said Marigold.
"What did he say?" Hickory asked.
"Well um," Silverweed stammered blushing and trying to get himself calm. Once he did, he motioned to the two of them to come closer to hear him whisper it. "I told him that my feelings for him went from friendship to romance in just a couple of days from our time together and he blushed while giggling a bit like a little doe because he didn't realize how obvious I was. He sadly though doesn't feel the same for me or at least I think."
"What do you mean by think?" wondered Marigold.
"He... said he's never felt that way about anybody," Silverweed answered. "I'm not sure how that works... he referred to himself as 'broken'."
Hickory and Marigold exchanged looks. "Maybe the poor dear just needs more time to come out of his shell," Marigold offered encouragingly.
"I would love it so much if that were true," Silverweed said sadly. "All I know is, he only sees me as a friend."
Silverweed turned away and started taking off his apron, before remembering he was still working and stopped himself. "Sorry."
"No, it's okay," said Marigold, "You go and join them, we'll do the rest of the serving."
"Thanks!" Silverweed loaded up his own plate and went to the Sandleford group's table, sitting down next to Fiver.
"So, is everyone enjoying themselves this morning?" Silverweed Asked as he opened his butter containers for his pancakes. He made note to avoid crushing Hana who was walking by his plate with some red grapes.
"Um…" Hazel started, not knowing how to begin telling the group what Bigwig had told him last night.
"Quite lovely dear chap," Dandelion answered.
"I'd be a bit happy to trade turnip duties with someone else though," Hawkbit mumbled. "2 days of pulling them almost make me hate the sight of them and I love turnips!"
"Cowslip surely won't mind," Silverweed said finishing up his butter spread. "As long as the job is done, trading duties is nothing that bothers him provided you either ask him or get Strawberry, Marigold and Hickory to tell him that."
"Gotta say, these pancakes are amazing!" proclaimed Speedwell, popping some in his mouth, "I haven't had pancakes since I was a kit!"
"Well, I'm so glad you like them," Silverweed smiled in appreciation.
Then he looked at Fiver, who next to him was resting his head on his paw and massaging his temples. "And what about you, Fiver? You seem tired today."
"Oh, just some bad dreams," said Fiver.
"Bad dreams?" Silverweed asked. "Screams by a rabbit I couldn't see and couldn't find anywhere," shivered Fiver. Silverweed quickly hugged him and some "Aws" silently came from Violet, Pipkin, Hana and Blackberry. Even Hazel felt impressed at how quickly the silver seer protected him.
"Do you think it was more visions?" Silverweed asked.
"I don't know; I've had dreams before that I thought would come true but they didn't," Fiver answered, "I've always been prone to nightmares."
"Me too; I think it's part of being a seer," said Silverweed, holding onto Fiver's shoulder, "It's part of our cross to bear."
Fiver looked reassured by the thought, and leaned warmly into Silverweed's shoulder.
Seeing how close the two were as the silvery buck comforted his little brother, Hazel swallowed the words he had been meaning to say to the group. They had to leave soon, but he couldn't say it right now, not when Fiver looked happier than he had ever been with another rabbit besides him. He felt so conflicted; leaving for everyone's safety was such an obvious choice, but Fiver's happiness meant so much to him. Just a little longer, he told himself.
"Um Silverweed, you uh.., you're lucky to have found another seer to be friends with and um Fiver?" Hazel said as he choked up a bit. "I'm happy you now have another seer to hang around with."
Without saying much more, Hazel quickly did group hug with the two seers.
"Thank you Hazel," said Silverweed, greatly appreciating the gesture, "I sure wish I'd had a brother like you growing up."
And with that the group resumed eating their breakfast, and once finished Fiver and Silverweed reported to the kitchen while the rest went out to the fields. Hazel made a mental note back in his mind, the sooner a better time came about to say it, the sooner he'd tell the group they'd need to find new work.
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Soon again, Fiver found himself in the kitchen for a 2nd time with Silverweed in his red apron tackling the breakfast load of dishes. His choice of clothes this time were a light blue t shirt and orange shorts given the Sandleford lot had their free choice of free clothes back home after the swirling wind destruction and his choices were mainly simple.
"So Fiver, are all of you still enjoying farm work here?" Silverweed Asked carrying the first done load of dishes to the drying rack.
"All of us have settled in nicely Silverweed and adjusted well in the short time since our arrival," Fiver answered. "It's good for us."
Silverweed was pleased to hear that, hoping it meant the group would stay on the farm longer than they had originally planned.
"Do any of your lot have plans beyond the farm for future work?" Silverweed asked as he came back with his empty tray and began stocking more pancake plates in.
"Oh many of us do," Fiver said. "Dandelion aspires to be a writer, Blackberry wants a job in the medical field saving lives and Bigwig apparently desires some position of fighting against the bad I believe. Not too sure about the others though."
"And what about you and your brother?" Silverweed asked. "I don't know about Hazel, he never really talks about stuff like that," Fiver answered, "Back in Sandleford he worked in the town hardware store to support us. He didn't seem to like it much, but he never talked about wanting to do anything else. Father died right after Hazel finished high school, so he never got to go to college or anything. I'm hoping he'll try that when I get older, he's so smart. Personally I think he'd make a wonderful teacher, or social worker."
"And you?" Silverweed asked. "I don't know; my only gift is having strange random visions of the future, and I can't see any way to make a living doing that."
"Your only gift?" Silverweed said, suddenly sounding stern. "Fiver, you're smart, you're brave, and you are the most kind, gentle and caring mammal I have ever met. You have so much more to offer than you think."
Fiver was a little startled. "Um... thank you. What, uh, do you think I could do then?"
Silverweed gave it some thought. "I think you would be great at helping other mammals, like Blackberry and your brother. I think you could be a wonderful counsellor."
"Counsellor?" Pondered Fiver. Now that thought buried itself in his head once he stopped in front of the dish rack. Setting down his tray, he kept thinking about that job of assisting mammals with his caring ways while he stocked the drying shelves full of cups and dishes. Silverweed studied how much Fiver seemed to be deep in thought over his suggestion of a job. He wished he had a counsellor himself right now, someone who could help get through his yearning for the rabbit he felt is the one he had been waiting for all his life to find and share a love with possibly.
"No, get ahold of yourself," the silvery buck mentally told himself. "This is another seer who is your friend now and there's no need to scare him away by forcing him to love you if he isn't sure about his own feelings back. No matter how cute he looks."
That last thought suddenly frightened him as now his head turned slightly over to the right at the young seer's tail and his apron suddenly sprang a new "point." He needed a distraction until the "apron point" went away.
"Fiver..." Silverweed started as the latter returned with his tray, "...Can I ask you something?"
Fiver nodded as Silverweed began loading a new tray, "Just now, you said you've had dreams that you thought would come true but didn't. And yesterday... you said your visions have been wrong before. Were you talking about the same thing?" This worked as a distraction but Silverweed instantly regretted asking, for Fiver's face suddenly assumed a very sad look, and the younger buck looked like he was holding back tears.
Fiver answered, "I dreamed that Hazel was going to die." A pit fell in Silverweed's stomach, knowing how close Fiver and his brother were.
"I'm… I'm sorry I asked," he managed.
"It's okay, he's alive, and I'm so glad for that," Fiver said with relief. "It was a week after our father's funeral, and Hazel was busy all the time – working at his job, cooking and cleaning, and meeting with lawyers to settle Father's estate and go through the process of becoming my guardian. There were home visits and everything, and I was so scared, thinking something would go wrong and they would take me away. Everyone tried to assure me everything would work out, but I just couldn't shake the feeling. Then that night… I dreamed that I was walking beside Hazel, and suddenly he stopped and started hacking, just like Father. Then he fell to his knees and started throwing up blood, there was blood everywhere… and then he rolled over and died."
Fiver stifled a sob, and Silverweed immediately stopped what he was doing to hold Fiver's paw in comfort; Fiver didn't shake it off.
"It was so real, even more vivid than the dreams I was used to, and I became so convinced it was a real vision. I cried out for Hazel, and he came running. He sat up with me all night, promising me over and over it wasn't real and he wasn't going to leave me…" Fiver took deep breaths, urging himself to go on, "But for a week, I was so scared I never let him out of my sight. I followed him everywhere – at the store, at the lawyer's office, he even let me sleep with him. I'm sure I was such a nuisance, but he was so patient and kind and never complained once, even though he had so much else to deal with."
Silverweed was hanging on to every word, feeling his already-strong respect for Hazel growing every second. He had never, ever heard of a brother caring so much for his sibling. Certainly none of his siblings had ever been like that.
"Then finally, eight days later nothing had happened, and he finally convinced me nothing was going to. We already knew my visions didn't go further ahead than a week. I saw the town therapist about it, and she told me what it was – just my fears manifesting themselves in dreams. Since then I've been careful to make sure what is a vision and what is just a dream, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference."
By now Silverweed was fighting back tears of his own, so overwhelmed with sympathy for Fiver and admiration for Hazel that he threw his arms around Fiver and hugged him, Fiver gladly returning it.
"*Sniff*, you have such a wonderful brother," Silverweed whispered.
"I know; he means the whole world to me," Fiver whispered back. While the seers hugged each other out, Hickory entered the kitchen in a peach short sleeve and tan yellow pants. Smiling at the hug, he coughed a bit to get their attention and turn their heads at him.
"Excuse me you two," Hickory chuckled. "A hug is appreciated between good friends but I believe you shouldn't forget about the dishes."
"Oh don't worry about these dishes Hickory," answered Silverweed as the two separated and went back to their work. He also noticed that in the time he had his conversation with Fiver, his apron "point" had gone away and hadn't "poked" Fiver in the hug.
"Now my arrival here is to tell you that a new set of rabbits will be preparing the lunch today," Hickory went on. "Today's course will be French onion soup with mozzarella cheese and garlic toast, and some strawberries, red grapes and sliced apples for dessert. Now the soup will be taken care of along with the toast but can you show Fiver how to wash fruits Silverweed?"
"I will, just be a minute," Silverweed replied. Hickory gave him a thumbs up and left.
As the two continued finishing up their dish work, Silverweed felt a big respect for Hazel and his brotherly bond with Fiver. Truly, they were a perfect sibling pair.
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In the turnip fields, Buckthorn and his girlfriend Violet worked happily away pulling up the fat rounded purple vegetables into big wicker baskets to store away. Bluebell was away this time assisting Holly by taking down cornstalks from the cornfield to toss into the retired captain's wheelbarrow for carting away so the two lovebirds were by themselves this time. There were a few other rabbits around but they were far away to really see them and that meant they could start their affection towards each other again. They almost got ready for their first field nose nuzzle of the day when a cough got them to look over to the left seeing Blackberry with a smirk on her face pushing the refreshments and water trolley.
"Excuse the lovey dovey nuzzle you two are doing but with the heat a bit hotter today a bit, I figured I'd cart out the water and snacks a bit early today," Blackberry said opening the water cooler and producing two ice cold waters for the couple.
"Thanks Blackberry," Violet replied. The two lovebirds walked over fast for the water not realizing until Blackberry had said it on how hot the morning felt. "Guess being real in love with each other kind of makes you forget other things as well."
"Like that bunch of rabbits that can actually see more than 20 feet away?" Blackberry asked, pointing her thumb behind her. Buckthorn and Violet looked and indeed, some rabbits in their direction after all.
"Oops," said Buckthorn and the couple blushed quite red that they were drawing attention to themselves. They focused more on opening their water bottles for a sip and noticed the staring rabbits went back to work. Once the couple had each finished to the halfway points of the liquid and their faces resumed normal color, they were surprised to see BlackBerry looking happy and deep in thought.
"Is something good on your mind there?" Violet questioned her.
"Oh um, it's Pipkin," BlackBerry mumbled snapping back to attention. "Him calling me mom got me thinking of our relationship."
"You do treat him as if he is one of your children," Buckthorn commented capping his bottle. "Now both of us haven't seen you two much back in Sandleford but is that usually how you're around him?"
Blackberry sighed. "Well, yes. You see, I've known him since he was born – his parents were dear friends of mine. And a year ago they died, and he came to live with me at the home for the unfortunate. I'm the closest thing to a mother he has."
Violet clapped her paws to her mouth.
"Oh, Blackberry…" "What happened to them?" Buckthorn asked. But before Blackberry could answer, a crackling noise suddenly came from her pocket.
"Blackberry! Blackberry, come in!" Blackberry fished a black walkie-talkie out of her pocket and answered, "Marigold, what is it?"
"It's Blossom – she's taken a turn for the worse! I need you!"
"On my way!" Blackberry hung up, "I have to go! Violet, you're on cart duty now! The workers need their water!" And she took off running before Violet had a chance to respond.
"Well love," Violet said turning to Buckthorn. "Guess we're on refreshment duty today."
"Guess we are," said Buckthorn, still a little shocked by what had just transpired. "Sure hope that Blossom's okay."
"Oh she'll be fine, Blackberry's the best!" insisted Violet. But neither of them were really so sure.
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Meanwhile, Silverweed and Fiver had finally finished up the breakfast dishes, and now it was time to wash and slice fruit for lunch as Hickory had requested. Silverweed came around from the other side of where he was and scooted next to Fiver. The two were preparing the fruit on the island center table with about 20 apples, 50 strawberries and 2 big bunches of red grapes all in big blue plastic buckets. The silver seer took out one of the strawberries and then dug out a pair of cutting boards from one of the island drawers for the each of them.
"Now this," Silverweed showed Fiver a little steel tool that looked like a tiny and flat pair of tongs, "This is a strawberry huller, for removing the stems. Here's how you use it."
Picking up a strawberry Silverweed dug one of the huller's tongs right under the green head, and then gave it a little twist around and pried the head right off. He tossed the stem in a nearby compost bucket and held up the scalped strawberry, "You see? Now you try."
Fiver tried, and it came off perfectly. Silverweed beamed. "Wonderful! You just keep doing that, and put them in in this colander as you go along," He placed a large metal colander on the table, "And when they're all done I'll need you to give them a good rinse in cold water, and then you can slice them. I'll be getting started on these apples. "Okay?"
Fiver gave him a thumbs-up, and got to work. The huller proved quite good and Fiver soon found stem-removing quite easy.
"Silverweed, do you have new job dreams off the farm sometimes?" Fiver Asked. "A career that isn't in an area full of flayrah?"
"Me? No, not really," Silverweed answered, "I mean, I found a new home here, and rabbits who accept me as I am. I'm in no hurry to leave."
"How long have you been here?" Fiver asked.
"Almost five years."
Fiver did a little mental calculating based on what he guessed was Silverweed's age, "Were you a teenager when you came here then?"
Silverweed nodded. "I was 16, I'd... been on the road for some time, and one day I was passing through in the nearby town and saw an ad for workers wanted on this farm, and I came over and Hickory and Marigold hired me."
16... "You were my age then," Fiver mumbled, "You didn't even get to finish high school?"
"No... But Hickory and Marigold signed me up for some online courses, so I got my equivalency," Silverweed replied.
"Sounds nice, they treat as if you are one of their children," Fiver replied. "You really do have a, um, good new family."
"Thanks, so do you," said Silverweed.
"Kind of a strange way of growing up," Fiver commented. "We're both vision rabbits yet I come from a family more understanding with fewer members over the years and you come from a bigger family that saw you as strange that never grew to accept it."
"Could be either the work of Frith or just sheer dumb luck but I can't complain," Silverweed added. "Fact is the two of us have each other and a lot of time for spending." "Can't say I'm not wishing to be anywhere else right now than on a place with my brother, friends and another seer," Fiver finished cheerfully and he accidentally dropped the huller on the ground. It bounced and went under the table. "Oops, I'll get that."
As Fiver bent down and stuck his head under the table, his small rear and tail raised in the air and Silverweed suddenly found himself blushing red and a noticeable pitch growing through his apron as he stared at the sight. He was paralyzed; he couldn't look away, it was so cute-
"Silverweed?" Silverweed gave a jump. Unnoticed by him Hickory had entered their wing of the kitchen in the split-second Fiver had bent down, and was now looking with wide eyes between Silverweed's face, Fiver's stooped form and the small tent in Silverweed's front.
"Who's there?" Fiver emerged from under the table with the huller in his paw, "Oh, hi Hickory!"
"Hello Fiver!" Hickory quickly answered. The adult bright yellow buck today wore a casual dark grey long sleeve and emerald pants. Unknowingly to Fiver, Hickory had taken upon himself to quickly scoot in front of Silverweed in the short time the huller got picked up and he stood up. "I just wanted to check in on your work and also borrow Silverweed for a talk."
"We are doing good and certainly!" Fiver replied with a big smile. As soon as he bent over to look for the next strawberry to slice the top off, Hickory quickly motioned for Silverweed to follow him out of the kitchen.
"Hickory!" Silverweed panted once they were out of earshot, "I, I-I-I I'm sorry, I swear I didn't mean to-"
"Silverweed, it's okay-" Hickory began.
"No, it isn't!" Silverweed cried, his voice full of shame, "He's a kid, I'm an adult, I'm not supposed to have feelings like this!"
"You're practically the same age! And I know you wouldn't do anything inappropriate-"
"No, I can't even do anything, period!" Silverweed's head fell against Hickory's shoulder, and he stifled a sob. "He doesn't even feel the way I do…"
Hickory gave Silverweed a fatherly hug around the shoulders. "Are you truly sure? He seems to enjoy your company very much."
"Only because we're friends," Silverweed raised his head, tears in his eyes now, "He loves having someone else with abilities to talk to. So do I, it's really nice, it's just… hard."
Hickory's eyes flickered down to the still-visible bulge in Silverweed's apron, "Something's hard, alright."
Silverweed did not laugh. "Sorry, just trying to lighten you up a little," Hickory gave him a weak smile. "Okay, tell you what: I'll talk to him. Maybe there's a chance he'll come around."
Silverweed sniffled, but his ears perked up a little. "Do you think…?"
"It's a big maybe," Hickory reminded him, "But at least I'll hear what he has to say. Meanwhile, Cowslip wants to see you."
"Why? Does his office need a cleaning?" Silverweed asked. "That and he wants a second breakfast," Hickory replied. He led Silverweed back to the kitchen, where he showed a tray of flayrah he had laid out. "Could you deliver this to him, please?"
"Sure, right away!" Silverweed picked up the tray.
"And after that's done, you're excused until after lunch. Why don't you have a lie-down? You look tired," Hickory suggested.
"Thanks, I will," Silverweed then called out, "Fiver! I'm going out for a while! Hickory will help you!"
"Okay, see you later!" Fiver called back. Once alone, Hickory motioned for Fiver aside a bit to get a knife out of the island's drawer for the apples. After that, Fiver moved back in place and used the huller to continue cutting the strawberry tops off while Hickory set his knife on the island and took the apples to wash in the sink.
"I say Fiver, you're enjoying your time with Silverweed quite a bit!" Hickory called out as he washed the first two apples.
"Having another rabbit similar to myself in a very special way makes me feel all warm inside," Fiver sighed happily.
"Oh a special way huh?" Hickory answered in a sing song voice and whipping around to see Fiver, the young orange and brown rabbit quickly looked down sheepishly with a bright red face.
"What do you mean by that?" Fiver mumbled setting down the huller.
"Oh well, perhaps you feel more than just friendship for him based on your rather excited expressions?" Hickory said winking at him with his right eye.
"Oh! You mean um in that way?" Fiver answered as he slowly looked at him. "He is a great friend of mine but I don't know if I feel for him that way. At least I don't think."
"You don't think?" Hickory asked.
"I mean I don't... get feelings like people say I'm supposed to," Fiver amended. "People say you get butterflies in your stomach and things like that, but I don't, I just don't. My brother thinks I might be asexual."
Hickory had washed about 10 apples but decided a face to face is required in this situation so he turned off the tap and walked over to him.
"Fiver, listen carefully," Hickory began. "Think of all the time you've spent with him. Do any other feelings possibly come up perhaps when you're around him that help you?"
"Umm…" Fiver thought back. Those times Silverweed had held his paw, on the water tower and in his bedroom and just now in the kitchen, he hadn't minded. No butterflies, but he wasn't repelled. He even remembered leaning against him soon after describing his visions of snares. He had felt comfortable around him so fast, but then again, no butterflies.
"I'm sorry; I wish I did, but I don't," Fiver said firmly. He was beginning to get of tired of all this questioning about feelings for Silverweed. But thankfully, Hickory looked like he was done.
"I'm sorry. Please forgive me for grilling you like that, it's only because Silverweed's like my son. I want him to be happy."
"So do I," Fiver replied, "But I don't think I can give him that kind of happiness." Hickory nodded in acceptance, and then got back to work washing the apples. When he finished and brought them back to the table, he spoke again:
"Hey, did Silverweed ever tell you how Marigold and I found out he was gay?"
"No," answered Fiver.
"Marigold tried to set him up with her niece."
"Oh?" Fiver said. "How long did it take for him to politely turn her down?"
Hickory started grinning. "Funny you should ask, my answer: one date. He actually went on one date to try and keep up appearances. It went so badly he came out to us as soon as he got home." His face then got a bit sad. "Poor kit - he was in tears. I don't think he'd ever come out before."
Fiver now started feeling more complicated. No butterflies occurred in his stomach around seeing Silverweed, he enjoyed the paw holding and especially the body comfort by the pond on the first night of the farm yet he didn't feel anything romantic towards him. Now here he is being told his new friend had tried a date with a girl to be nice and went terrible to the point of his homosexuality being revealed in a messy way. It just confused his feelings towards him even more. "Did the niece get over it?"
Hickory sighed sadly as he dug out a nice big see through plastic plate from one of the island drawers, set it down on the surface and began slicing his first apple.
"Her niece managed to get over it and continued pursuing dating," Hickory began. "It took her a couple of days to regain her happiness but Silverweed was a mess. He never had a date before and based on that ugly first experience with a rabbit of the opposite sex, it basically shut him up in a mental closet for his dating life. From my memory, it took him about 5 days to fully regain his normal happy helpful behaviour. Marigold and myself thought the best action would be to let him decide on his next date himself."
"And has he... dated anyone since?" Fiver asked.
Hickory shook his head. "No, he doesn't even leave the farm much. Most of us around know he's gay but... there's more than one type of closet."
"Oh great Frith," muttered Fiver. "You know he is rather charming once you get to know him but I'd have never guessed he dealt with so much baggage. Cowslip isn't bothered by his gay nature?"
Hickory shook his head no. "Cowslip seems more into making sure the jobs get done and the profits come in. A mammal's sexuality isn't something that bothers him."
Fiver took that all greatly to heart. At least the creepy Cowslip didn't take issue with a mammal and their gender preference. With how unsettling his "natural" smiles looked, who knows how he'd have reacted to Silverweed being gay in a different mindset.
"You are right though," said Hickory, "Silverweed does carry a lot of baggage. And when me and Marigold heard about how you have the same abilities, and saw how he looked at you… we just got our hopes up."
Fiver nodded. "My brother too. I'm sorry, but I'm not what he's looking for."
"Maybe not that way…" Hickory conceded, then he gave Fiver a pat on the shoulder, "But you're still the friend he's always wanted, and I'm grateful for that."
Then Hickory scooped the cut-up apples off the cutting board into a big bowl and then went off to the sink with the grapes, leaving Fiver alone with his thoughts for a minute.
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Silverweed walked slowly to the cherry red house carrying the second breakfast for Cowslip. The contents were a stack of three pancakes, a tiny bit of spinach, a glass of orange juice, a small butter container and a tiny pitcher of maple syrup. He felt thankful Hickory saved him from embarrassment earlier and really appreciated on he and his wife being the better family he never had.
He entered the house and knocked on the office door: "Cowslip, are you there?"
Cowslip opened up, and smiled broadly. "Silverweed, m'boy!" He gave the buck a large pat on the back, almost making Silverweed drop the tray, "Come in, please!"
He ushered Silverweed in in, the latter quickly setting the tray down on the desk before there was any further risk of spilling it. "I do apologize for tearing you away from your regular duties, but I thought you might like to make a little extra money today."
"The usual cleaning, sir?" Silverweed asked, very familiar with the routine.
"The cleaning supplies are in the closet." Silverweed nodded and got to work while Cowslip set down to eat his second breakfast. The routine was simple enough: wash the windows, dust, polish his Golden Carrot of the Year trophies, empty his ashtrays, vacuum the carpet and tidy. He was never particularly comfortable with Cowslip's company, but the yellow buck treated him nicely enough.
"So Silverweed," Cowslip said through a mouth full of pancake, "Have any more of those funny turns of yours lately? Any more viii-o-let hazes?" Silverweed bristled a little at the mocking tone Cowslip used to describe the vision that had almost driven him crazy for real, but he shook his head no.
"No, things are fine," Silverweed spoke casually. "The new rabbits are getting along nicely and this fellow Fiver is becoming one of my new closest friends." He gathered the supplies out of the office closet and started spraying the Windows with Glass cleaner.
"Ah, new rabbits come and go, where they venture off to next is only what they want and know," Cowslip sang a bit as he moved onto his spinach next and orange juice. "The Fiver fellow seems to have taken a liking to you quite a bit I see from last night." Silverweed instinctively smiled at that, which Cowslip did not miss even though he was looking at him from behind.
"And you like him very, very much I see," Cowslip said nonchalantly. Silverweed gave a little jump and whipped around, but Cowslip just laughed. "Ha ha! Don't worry, it's no skin off my nose, as long as you get your work done." He beckoned Silverweed over and to the younger buck's surprise Cowslip slid his plate toward him, which had an untouched pancake on it. "Here – you have this last pancake."
"Uh, no thank you sir, I had a nice breakfast-"
"Eat! Eat! You're fur and bones!" Cowslip insisted. Unwilling to say no Silverweed sat down and ate, although he very much wished Cowslip had given him a new fork – he could taste pipe tobacco on the one he had.
"And we'll need to fatten you up, if you're going to go around courting Fiver," Cowslip purred.
"PTOOH!" Silverweed did a spectacular spit-take at those words. And then he started coughing, a piece of pancake caught in his throat. Cowslip got up and gave him a slap on the back.
"*Cough*, it can't happen, sir," Silverweed sputtered. "He doesn't… he's not gay."
"What, really?" Cowslip answered cocking his head a bit to the left quickly. "Surely he'd find you a bit attractive."
"Nothing I would love more, but he doesn't," Silverweed said sadly. "And why would you want to help me - he's a teenager! Legally I can't even date him!"
Cowslip shrugged, "It doesn't matter to me, I'm just looking out for you. Besides, dating a minor itself isn't illegal, only mating with one." He reached into his right pocket and pulled out a crisp $20 bill. "Here, put this in your office work tips towards him, Fiver surely might come around with impressive courting skills if you're lucky!"
Silverweed slipped the $20 into his left pocket watching Cowslip return to eat his Spinach and then quickly down his orange juice. Quite strange for this acceptance of cash and this plump ruffled boss buck never seemed quite concerned with his dating preferences before but the sudden surprise of a $20 tip didn't seem complaint worthy.
Cowslip let out a little burp. "My compliments to your cooking," With a grunt he raised himself off the chair. "I'll leave you to finish here – I think I'll go for a nice walk in the sunshine. Meanwhile, just think it over." And he left Silverweed alone in the office.
00000000000***
Kitchen work for the fruits soon began wrapping up. Hickory sighed as he sliced the last apple. Arranging the slices, he admired at all the work he and Fiver got done. They now had a circular glass bowl with the strawberries, a dull grey rectangular box holding the grapes and an orange square plastic box with the apple slices.
"Whew, now all the fruits are ready for lunch!" Hickory exclaimed wiping his forehead with a paper towel.
"That certainly will feed the lunch crowd," Fiver added. "Um Hickory, I know I only see Silverweed as a friend right now but I want to thank him with something tasty. Is there any extra food I could use to create something for him?"
"Well Fiver, I believe there is," Hickory replied. Going to the giant fridge, he dug into the back and brought back a circular package containing a chocolate cake with white frosting and chocolate shavings on the side with cherries in the swirls and appeared to be half eaten. "This is a black forest cake with cherries. Basically chocolate cake with white frosting, those things and chocolate shavings on the side. My wife and me bought it to celebrate our wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago but you're more than welcome to take some for Silverweed and yourself."
"That's lovely," Fiver gasped. "My family didn't have too much cake and its usually carrot cake when it came into our house. I guess I could get a big slice for him but are there any other fruits I could use for decoration?"
Hickory just smiled. "Say no more, come with me to the fridge." Leading the young orange and brown buck, he opened it and some drawers revealing more fruits such as blueberries, honeydew and cantaloupe. "He likes just about any fruit and many of us do occasional shopping for groceries so pick what you'd want and I'll help decorate that cake slice the way you want it!" Fiver beamed and began pointing to the fruits he need to get this cake slice looking special for Silverweed.
0000000000***
As soon as Cowslip left the office Silverweed got back to work, thinking over his boss's words, and then suddenly his ears shot up as inspiration struck. He knew just what to do. But he had to be fast – he only had a couple hours before lunch. Quickly going into overdrive he zipped around and finished cleaning up the office in ten minutes, and then raced upstairs to his room. Bursting in he raced to the bookshelf – there was an old cookbook on it that belonged to Marigold. He frantically flipped through it, and there it was – a recipe for carrot cake, Fiver's favorite. He ripped a page out of paper out of his notebook and started making a grocery list: "Carrots- got lots of those. Nuts and raisins- need those. Flour, sugar, baking soda, all in the kitchen. Eggs- we used those at breakfast. Cream cheese…" When he finished he tucked the list in his pocket and made a beeline for his desk and opened his wooden box and took out some cash - tips he'd saved from cleaning Cowslip's office. No telling how much he'd need. As he pulled out the bills the other content of the box was revealed: a plastic ID card bearing the face of a she-wolf. Silverweed allowed himself a second to smile at the picture: "Thanks Nancy."
Closing the box Silverweed rushed out of his bedroom and out of the house, leaving a quick note for Hickory and Marigold on his way out. Ten minutes later he got on a bus at a nearby bus stop, heading for the neighboring town of Nuthanger where he could buy all the ingredients he needed, and possibly another present.
*** 000000000
Bigwig trudged through the apple orchard, feeling a tense weight on his shoulders. Finding that sick and unconscious doe in the field yesterday had unnerved him, as had that encounter with those two rabbits smuggling drugs. But what was worse was how positively indifferently Cowslip had reacted when he told him the news, as if such things were standard routine around this farm. As soon as possible they had to leave, he knew that now. Especially for Pipkin's sake, this was clearly a dangerous place for kits, and being stuck with nothing to do Pipkin was liable to get into any sort of trouble; Hana could only keep him entertained for so long, and being a mouse she really had no power to stop him running off if he wanted to.
Bigwig snorted, shaking his maned head. There was no one even working in the orchard now, this was no time for a stroll, he had to get back to work-
Snap! Somewhere nearby a twig snapped, and Bigwig's ears shot up. His body tensed up on high alert. He could hear them now: pawsteps, soft enough that he hadn't heard them until now, he had been too deep in thought. He could hear at least two sets, convening on his location, moving much too slowly to be casual passers-by. Bigwig raised his fists in a fighting, nobody was going to take him down without a fight!
"YAAAAH!" A pale blue buck suddenly burst from a nearby bush and lunged at Bigwig. With a second to react Bigwig grabbed the buck and used his momentum to counter him with a judo move, throwing him to the ground in an armlock.
"Hey, I know you!" Bigwig declared once he recognized the sprawled buck's face, "I caught you with a stash of drugs yesterday! Where's your friend?"
"RIGHT HERE!" A loop of rope suddenly snapped around Bigwig's neck and yanked him backwards. Struggling with both paws to keep the noose from tightening Bigwig look out of the corner of his eye and recognized his attacker: a caramel-coloured buck and the 'friend' in question.
"Ya really shoulda stayed out of it, lion head!" the rabbit Jordan sneered in Bigwig's ear, yanking the noose tighter. The other rabbit, Carl, leapt up off the ground and, giggling wildly, punched Bigwig in the stomach and then across the jaw, drawing blood. Weak gasps of pain issued from Bigwig's throat as the wind was further knocked out of him and his head started to spin…
***000
Not too far away, Hickory exited the mess hall with the garbage bags and Fiver following him. He tossed 2 wrapped bags firmly in the dumpster on the left.
"Thanks for your help Hickory and wrapping it up," Fiver said.
"No problem young lad, it's in the fridge for his enjoyment later," Hickory replied. "Excuse me while I go wash my paws and clean up the other stuff."
After being left alone, Fiver took a moment to shake dry his washed paws, enjoy the scenery and breathe in the morning air. He was just about to go find Silverweed to tell him of his surprise when he saw it: Another vision. In a tree ten yards away, he saw a pale brown rabbit hanging from a noise. Its limbs flailing as it struggled for air. Fiver gasped and turned away from the sight. Then, his heart pounding in his chest, he remembered what Silverweed had told him and began taking slow breaths, forcing himself to calm down. "No need to panic, Fiver," he told himself, "It's just a vision from the past. It can't hurt you, it's like a picture in a book."
Willing himself to be brave he turned and looked at the vision again, and what he saw made his blood run cold. The vision-rabbit had changed: it was now wearing a military jacket, its brown fur was a different color, and it now had a mane of fur around its head that looked VERY familiar. It was also no longer moving.
Fiver raced over fast as he could, coming to a dead stop in front of the corpse. His whole body trembled and his heart felt like it was in his throat as he watched the swivelling corpse slowly turn around until it was facing him: it was Bigwig, his eyes shut, his mouth lolled open and his lips and the insides of his limp ears blue from strangulation.
Then Vision-Bigwig's eyes shot open, and Fiver jumped a mile.
"Fi-verrr…" Bigwig's voice gurgled from his throat, "Helllp…"
Raw panic filling his insides Fiver instantly knew what was about to happen and where to go, and like a shot he dashed off for the orchard. "Hazel! HAZEL!" he called out.
Hickory burst out the kitchen door, "Fiver, what's wrong?!" But Fiver was long gone.
***000
Bigwig was running out of air fast, but his body still knew what to do. On instinct his army training kicked in, and first he raised one leg and kicked hard, thrusting Carl away from him. Then quickly reaching behind him he grabbed Jordan by the jacket and yanked him closer to him. He stomped Jordan's foot, feeling a toe break under his heel, and at the same time swung his head back, smashing the back of it into Jordan's muzzle. Jordan snarled in pain and dropped the rope, and Bigwig turned and punched hard into the caramel buck's ribs, followed by a fast uppercut, and then quickly turned and delivered an on-target punch into Carl's nose as the blue buck advanced on him yet again.
Bigwig quickly threw off the rope, panting to get his breath back, and faced his attackers: both rabbits were staggering, each bleeding from the nose, Jordan also limping, but instead of running or crying they both smiled wildly, as if relishing the pain and the fight, and that was when Bigwig saw it in their eyes: their pupils were dilated. Carl and Jordan were both on something, and Bigwig was sure it was worse than Catnip.
Snickering with glee both rabbits reached into a pocket and with a flick and a snap produced switchblade knives. With a battle cry the wild rabbits attacked, but this time Bigwig was ready. He parried and dodged, avoiding their swipes and stabs while landing on them some blows of his own. Then finally he grabbed Carl's paw in his own and twisted, breaking the rabbit's wrist and making him drop his knife, and then quickly dodged Jordan's thrust and socked him in the gut, making him double over and drop his own knife. Bigwig scooped up both knives, flicked them shut and pocketed them in triumph. Suddenly he heard movement behind him, he started to turn-
WHOCK! A sickening whack suddenly echoed across the orchard.
Bigwig spun and collapsed to the ground, groaning and clutching his head in pain, as a third attacker, a burly grey-furred buck, proudly tapped a baseball bat against his palm.
"Not that is how ya do it!" smirked the ash-coloured rabbit.
"Whadda we do now, Flass?" asked Jordan eagerly.
"We finish the job, and send a message to anyone else who dares butt in our business," Flass declared. "Hoist 'im up!"
The stunned Bigwig was too weak to fight back as Jordan and Carl gleefully strapped the rope around his neck again and dragged him with it to the nearest tree. They threw the rope over a sturdy branch and heaved. Bigwig's legs flailed, his arms desperately clutching at the noose, but soon his gasps grew weaker, and his movements started to falter.
"Excellent…" Flass grinned sadistically, "Just one more minute…"
"BIGWIG!"
The trio of rabbits turned just as a rock came hurtling at them and struck straight in the middle of Flass's forehead. Carl and Jordan looked up and saw four rabbits racing towards them, each brandishing another rock.
"Hrak! He's got backup! Scatter!" yelled Carl. He and Jordan let go of the rope and scampered off along with the staggering Flass, letting the limp Bigwig crumple to the ground. The four rabbits, Hazel, Fiver, Holly and Silver screeched to a halt in front of the body of their friend, looks of horror upon all their faces.
"Fiver, stay with him!" Hazel ordered, "Holly, you go after the brown one, he's limping! Silver, catch the blue one! I'll take the leader!" Fiver kneeled down to Bigwig, the Lion mane buck looking awful with his eyes closed and tongue hanging out of the left corner of his mouth. What scared him more came from the lack of movement from the body.
"Please Frith no," panicked Fiver staring over his limp body. "Get up Bigwig, you cant die after all of us have come this far!" With no response, Fiver tried shaking the body in hope there would be some form of movement indicating the lion name rabbit wouldnt be taken by the black Rabbit of Inle.
00000000000000000000
Elsewhere, Hazel and the others were chasing their respective drug rabbits. Holly especially having fought with Bigwig in battle didn't want any of them to escape unpunished for their death attempt. Obeying Hazel's commands, Holly took off after the brown rabbit. Hearing other pawsteps nearby from his compatriots he twitched his ears, listening for limping steps.
After a second he heard them, and took off in that direction out of the orchard and into an adjoining thicket. "You're not getting away with attempted murder," Holly growled angrily under his breath. The retired war grey captain didn't come this far to let a friend of his, a war buddy die in an orchard Scrambling through bramble he reached an empty patch, his ears still listening out and a wheezing already starting to form in his 60 year-old chest. Holly silently cursed himself for allowing himself to fall out of shape like this.
Panting as quietly as he could Holly cast his eyes around, and then he heard it: hushed breathing in a bush nearby, brown fur visible through the leaves. Holly took a step forward-
"YAAAH!" The limping rabbit burst out of the bush and charged, whipping a heavy stick at Holly's head. Holly dodged just in time.
"Better run, old buck!" Jordan taunted, "We took down Lion Head, next to him you'll be a breeze!"
The brown rabbit swung again, but to his shock, Holly caught the stick in one paw.
"And who do you think taught him to fight in the first place...?" Holly smirked.
Yanking the stick, Holly pulled the younger buck toward him and slugged him hard in the diaphragm. Jordan doubled over, hacking for air, and Holly simultaneously kicked him in the throat and swatted him across the ears with the stick, having no interest in sparing him pain. As Jordan kneeled on the ground, trying to get up, Holly finished the fight by chopping hard across the back of his neck. It didn't kill him, but Holly was restraining himself. A little more force, and Jordan would have a broken neck.
00000000000000000000
Meanwhile, Hazel had managed to chase Flass for a good fifty yards before the grey buck suddenly turned and swung his bat at him, nearly taking Hazel's head off.
"You know since you and your friends ruined our drug operations, my mind figured batting practice with your head is a suitable punishment!" Flass yelled with a wicked smile. Hazel dodged another swing of the bat, trying to think of something. His reflexes were good, but he wasn't much of a fighter. The two circled back and forth like wrestlers trying to make a first when Hazel eyed a tree in his peripheral vision.
Thinking fast he backed against the tree, meaning for Flass to think he was cornered and swing again, which he did. The bat clouted against the tree instead of Hazel's side and Hazel used the opportunity to grab the bat with two paws, trying to twist it away from the grey rabbit. The two grappled for possession until Flass raised the bat and planted his foot into Hazel's stomach, shoving him away and breaking Hazel's grip in the process.
"You're paying for destroying my drug run you meddling pig!" Growled Flass preparing for the blow. Hazel searched around fast and suddenly noticed a bunch of apples lying around probably from the bat impact. Thinking fast, he grabbed one an inch from the right of his face and tossed it hard into his opponent's upper chest.
The impact thudded hard against Flass and he collapsed to his left dropping the bat in process groaning in pain. Hazel took his time wisely to get up and grab some more apples for ammo and back away in the process. Flass reclaimed his weapon just as Hazel threw another apple at him and swung, smashing the apple to bits. Hazel threw another, and another and another in fast succession, and every time swung and hit or deflected it like a Jedi, clearly enjoying himself. Hazel then scooped up a rock and threw it, but Flass hit it back like the apples and missed Hazel's head by inches. Flass panted from the exertion, smiling in triumph.
"I think this game calls for a heavy hitter!" Flass sneered. Hazel then saw, to Flass's upper left: Holly was slowly advancing upon him, carrying a rock in his paw. As Flass continued catching his breath Hazel and Holly exchanged winks. Holly began inching towards Flass quietly as the bat wielding buck got enough energy to stand up. Hazel decided to be smart and distract Flass so Holly could keep the element of surprise.
"You know, you're really pretty good with that bat," Hazel smiled, "Maybe if you weren't such a coward, you could have tried out for the major leagues."
Flass started growling, his teeth suddenly bared. "WHAT did you call me?!"
"You heard me, a coward!" Hazel taunted, "You didn't have the guts to try and fight Bigwig without help, you can't even fight me without your bat, and I'm smaller than you!"
Flass gripped his bat hard, his pride felt shattered and he slowly began advancing upon Hazel. The tall orange buck put up his fists ready for a fight in case Holly couldn't get him.
"Shut up you walking carrot!" Flass muttered shaking his head in rage. Hazel took the chance to see Holly continue following Flass and getting close. Just a bit more talking and this bat buck would regret it.
"But if you just admit you're not buck enough..." Hazel began.
"I'll show YOU buck enough!" Flass snarled. He dropped the bat and advanced slowly on Hazel, fists raised-
Crack! Suddenly Flass toppled over clutching his head in pain. Holly stared down at the ash coloured buck mumbling profanity.
"That buck enough for you?" Hazel smirked. 'Compliments of my 60 year old friend!" And before Flass could so much as growl Holly clouted him over the head with the rock again, knocking him out cold. *Pant* Thanks Holly," Hazel said to the elder buck, "Now we have to find Silver-"
"Don't bother," a familiar voice called out. Hazel and Holly looked over and saw Silver emerging from a nearby thicket, dragging an unconscious blue buck behind him.
"Silver!" Hazel and Holly dashed over, "What happened, you took him out so fast!"
"He actually did that for me," Silver grinned a little, "I chased him about a hundred yards, and then he ran into a tree. One more hit with the rock, and he was completely out."
All the bucks were feeling proud but then Hazel remembered an important task they nearly forgot.
"Oh Frith, Bigwig!" Hazel cried. And the three bucks left the unconscious attackers where they were and took off back towards the orchard.
***0000 They made it back, and a horrible sight met their eyes: Bigwig was lying on the ground, his eyes closed and his mouth lulled open, and Fiver was sobbing into his mane. Sensing the bucks' approach, Fiver looked up and softly shook his head.
"Fiver, why isn't he still moving?" Hazel spoke slowly.
"I think the Black Rabbit of Inle got him," Fiver cried and he turned back and shook the body more. "Come on Bigwig, wake up! This isn't how your life ends! My vision can't be right, the Black Rabbit can't have you!"
Hazel, Holly and Silver all knelt beside the body, Hazel putting his arm around Fiver to comfort his brother. Holly pressed his head to Bigwig's chest, listening for a heartbeat, but he heard nothing. And for the first time since Hazel had known Holly, he saw the hardened captain himself begin to cry for his friend.
"Our hearts have joined...the thousand," Holly choked out. "For our friend...has...has... stopped running today."
"What do you think any of us should do now Hazel?" Asked Silver.
This got Hazel worried. Bigwig has just been murdered, the drug trio who did it were tied up from unconsciousness and now their survivor count had been reduced from 16 to 15. He thought there were important things that needed to be taken care of and then the rest of them needed a new direction.
"We need to go to Cowslip, tell him what happened, and call the police," Hazel finally managed. "We'll answer whatever questions they have, and then we're leaving. I don't know where, but we cannot stay here."
"Leave Hickory, Marigold, Strawberry And...Silverweed too?" Fiver gasped. Hazel noticed Fiver flatten his ears in sadness. True these 4 were good friends but the silver seer truly had connected with his younger brother sharing the same traits as him. He noticed how Fiver paused on the last name given their friendship grew quite fast in just a night and 1 day despite limited interaction with the two while they were together.
Although tough, Hazel knew staying longer isn't a risk any of them could take in case more mystery maddening rabbits lurked in the shadows ready to strike.
"I'm sorry, Fiver, but we really do have to go," Hazel insisted, "Especially for yours and Pipkin's sakes. We can't keep Pipkin locked up, and this place... it does things to you. I don't want you to endure any more of that."
Fiver had no idea anymore how much of his recent visions had been because of this place or because of being around Silverweed, but he nodded his head in reluctant agreement. It still felt sad to begin leaving. He'd leave behind the one friend just like him and who knew if another one would ever be found again.
"Let's go," Hazel choked, trying to keep his voice calm. He helped Fiver and Silver to their feet, "Holly, would you stay with him?" Holly could only nod, unable to form words. And the three bucks turned to leave, their hearts heavy with sorrow, and had walked ten paces when they heard it.
A cough.
Hazel whipped around, and a miraculous scene met his eyes: Bigwig was sitting up, gasping and coughing before Holly's bulging eyes. He sucked in a huge amount of air, gave one great hack, and began breathing again in long, heavy pants. Rubbing his throat, his confused eyes flickered around, and met with those of his astounded friend.
"H-Holly?" Bigwig croaked.
"Bigwig, Thank Frith you're alive!" Holly shouted happily. He hugged him tightly.
"Ah! Try to *cough* avoid neck for now," coughed Bigwig. "Needs a...bit of rest."
"Oh, Bigwig!" Fiver joined the hug, overwhelmed with relief that his vision had been wrong.
"Wha' happened? When did you guys get here?" Bigwig asked.
"Fiver came to us, said he saw you dying in a vision!" Silver piped up. "He led us to the orchard, and we found those bucks hanging you from a tree! They scattered and we fought them, then we came back and you were, you were..."
"You were dead." Hazel finished.
Still panting, Bigwig nodded a little, realization suddenly spreading across his face. "Hazel... I saw him."
"What?" Holly asked.
"Him who, Bigwig?" Hazel asked with bated breath.
*Cough* "The Black Rabbit," Bigwig replied, his eyes widening as he remembered, "He took one look at me and said, "not yet, you'll be needed", and the next thing I knew I was waking up. Fiver!" He turned to look straight into the younger buck's face, "You were right, I was wrong. Your visions saved my life. I'm so sorry."
"The sight of you being alive and an apology is great for me Bigwig," Fiver replied. He hugged him around his waist a bit more before pulling away.
"Where are the drug trio that cough attempted killing me?" Bigwig hacked.
"Unconscious, in the woods over there," Hazel answered.
"Good," Bigwig replied, getting to his feet with Holly's help, "Let's go tie 'em up, make sure they don't go anywhere, then we're going to Cowslip."
"But how? We don't have any rope!" said Silver.
"I'm sure we can find something..." said Bigwig with a hint of mischief.
***000 Ten minutes later, three topless bucks were laid tied to a tree with their wrists and ankles trussed up, their shirts having been torn up to form makeshift ropes that now bound them.
The group very briefly admired their knot handiwork before making their way in the direction of Cowslip's office, Bigwig supported between Silver and Holly.
"Um, Bigwig, did the Black Rabbit Of Inle speak to you about anything else?" Hazel asked.
*Cough* "No, nothing at all," Bigwig replied, trying to remember. "I think I asked what he meant, and he just turned and left. I tried to follow, and next thing I was waking up."
"That was all?" Silver asked anxiously.
"Somehow I don't the Black Rabbit has much time for small talk," Bigwig deadpanned.
"And what he said about you being needed, could he have meant all of us?" Fiver asked, suddenly remembering his vision back in Sandleford.
"Dunno mate," said Bigwig, "For all I know it was just a dream." He turned to Hazel, "Hazel, did that Cowslip fellow become informed of my attack at all?" He Asked. He saw Hazel's ears droop, meaning the news wouldn't be good.
"I'm sorry, nobody had time to tell him. Fiver barely found us in time," Hazel replied.
Bigwig remembered their boss's reaction to the news of the drug smugglers in the first place, along with the injured doe. "Something tells me Cowslip's not going to care," he muttered.
The others looked at each other with a mix of worry. "You're kidding me?" Silver asked.
"As I walked through the orchard cough before the first two drug bucks attacked me, my mind had been focused on the casualness Cowslip *cough* displayed once I reported the drugs to him and an unconscious doe I helped onto a medical stretcher to be carried away to the medical station," Bigwig answered. "It's almost as if this buck isn't phased at all like cough illegal activities and mammals collapsing from work is cough normal as discussing what you ate for breakfast."
"What? Nobody could be that apathetic!" said Hazel.
"I'm afraid there are mammals who can be," interjected Holly, recalling his own wartime experiences.
***0000
They reached the cherry red house, where they spotted Cowslip strolling up the porch for the door, wearing sunglasses and carrying a magazine.
"Cowslip!" yelled Hazel, "COWSLIP!" The group ran up to their plump boss. "Some bucks just attacked Bigwig in the orchard, he was nearly killed!"
Cowslip slowly turned, looking perturbed at having his peaceful morning disturbed.
"Is that right?" said Cowslip without a hint of concern, "Well, if you'll take him to the nursing station I'm sure he'll be just fine." And without another word he opened the door and disappeared into the house.
Startled, the group followed Cowslip, where they found him in his office: "Didn't you hear him? Someone attacked our friend, one of your workers! Why won't you do anything?!" Shouted Holly.
"Didn't you even hear the commotion?" Silver asked.
"Farm work is a tough experience for many mammals," Cowslip casually replied, pulling an ornate pipe out of his desk, "If someone were to pass out from the labour, then it's obviously not for them."
"Three of your former workers tried to kill me because I caught them smuggling drugs!" croaked Bigwig. "That's more than just passing out, do the lives of your workers mean nothing to you? Does the drug thing mean nothing to you?"
"Mammals die all the time," Cowslip continued as if nothing phased him at all from what Bigwig described. "If one were to die early from anything, maybe that's the word of Lord Frith saying it's time for a mammal to depart the land of the living early."
"Great Frith," whispered Fiver shivering from the casual about death attitude Cowslip displayed. This buck truly didn't behave normally as chatting about death seemed about as normal as the weather to this scary buck.
"Bigwig is like a family member to our group!" Yelled Silver. "He could have been...have been taken...by the Black Rabbit of Inle had it not been for us!" He broke down as these rabbits were truly the closest thing to family he had and the thought of losing one saddened him greatly. Hazel comforted him.
"But he wasn't, Bigwig's still with us," Hazel spoke quietly. He turned to Cowslip, "We're leaving."
Cowslip shrugged. "Very well then, ta."
"And what of our wages?" Holly growled.
"All of us are paid for two days but you still need to entitle us of the couple of hours for today!" Silver added firmly.
"Really?" Cowslip muttered. "Very well, then." He left for upstairs to fetch their cash.
Holly found a guest chair for Bigwig to rest on, Silver wiped away his tears and Hazel let go of him to allow the buck to compose himself.
"Thanks Hazel, sorry if I got a bit emotional there but us survivors are really a family and all of us need to stick together!" Silver smiled as he finished clearing his wet eyes.
"No need for apologies Silver," Hazel assured him. "It's understandable at how burying your uncle hurt you deeply and you can rely on us to be a great family to you!"
"My brother has been for me a lot and has much experience at family tending," Fiver added. "We'll do our best with you too."
"Oi lad, you do have a big selection to be happy with," Bigwig finished weakly.
Silver felt happy at these rabbits. While his uncle had been the last of his family line, it did fill him with pride that these survivors and himself could be a family themselves.
Cowslip came back fast with a simple brown envelope. Since Bigwig was resting still, Holly offered to take the envelope instead. However, opening it revealed a big disappointment.
"Are you taking us for fools?" Holly exclaimed showing the open envelope to Cowslip. "Theres only ten dollars for each of us!"
"I don't take well to workers leaving with notice," said Cowslip coldly.
"And if we protest?" asked Hazel.
Cowslip lifted aside the lapel of his coat, revealing his gun in its holster, "Then Lord Frith may decide it's your time after all."
"You're threatening us with death?!" Hazel cried pulling Fiver close to him. Silver and Holly shielded Bigwig.
"Yes," smirked Cowslip. "Be thankful I let you keep the generous pay for the 2 full days you worked for me and I don't revoke it."
"And if we call the police...?" asked Holly.
"My word against yours," Cowslip said flatly. "And I might add, the local sheriff and I go way back." The ruffled buck twirled his gun. "I do pay my employees nicely but don't test my patience unless you want to meet the Inle rabbit."
Neither of the rabbits wanted to test Cowslip as long as he held a weapon. They already survived an angry swirling wind and weren't up to having more of their kind being put into the ground. Hazel's ears lowered in defeat. "Let's go," he said. And he led them out, Bigwig too weak to protest.
***00000
"Blackberry! Blackberry!" Hazel thumped on the door of the infirmary.
Blackberry opened the door, "Hazel, what's going on? We have a-"
"Bigwig was attacked!" Hazel got right to the point, "A trio of drug rabbits tried to hang him in a tree, and now we have to leave the farm!"
"Leave the farm…?" Blackberry asked in bewilderment.
"Fiver will fill you in, Silver, Holly and I have to notify the others. Come on you 2!" and Hazel led the two bucks in the direction of the fields.
Wasting no time Blackberry steered Bigwig over to an examination table with Fiver's help and sat him down. "Fiver, what's happened?" Blackberry asked as she examined Bigwig's throat, "Why is Hazel saying we have to leave?"
"Gawh - attackth..." Bigwig tried to say with his mouth pressed open.
"I know that, now keep quiet, you've nearly had your throat lacerated!" Blackberry scolded. "Fiver, what's going on?"
"Bigwig was on patrol, when he got attacked by drug smugglers he'd reported yesterday," Fiver breathed, "We stopped them just in time, they nearly hanged Bigwig to death. But Hazel's worried there are more like them, more dangerous folk around, so for everyone's safety we have to go."
"Really, you sure there's no way we could try checking with Cowslip about this?" Blackberry asked.
"He won't bother," Fiver answered. "After Holly and Hazel shouted at him with Silver crying over the fear one of our friends could have died, Cowslip didn't seem to care. He treated Hazel's threat of us leaving as if it didn't matter and when Holly asked of our pay for today, he underpaid us and then threatened us with a gun if we tried getting the police involved."
"Hraka-sacked bastard!" Bigwig tried to sit up in anger, before Blackberry forced him to lie back down and began checking his pupils with a penlight.
"Okay, your pupils are acting normal, but I'm sure you have a concussion," Blackberry stated. "I don't like the idea of moving you now, but it looks like we have no choice. We should be getting you to a real hospital anyway."
Fiver's eyes wandered over to the corpse of a doe lying on a table nearby, her red fur visible in places through the holes in the pitifully thin blanket. "Who was she?" he asked, "Did she have any family?"
"Yes - her mate, Ash," replied Blackberry, "Cowslip promised him she'd be taken to a hospital, but nobody came, and despite our best efforts she died. He went looking for Cowslip just before you arrived."
"Good... I hope he knocks some real sense into that bastard," Bigwig croaked. As Bigwig settled into trying to relax, Blackberry couldn't help but notice Fiver staring off outside the broken drape curtain window.
"Something bothering you?" Blackberry asked him.
"Its just so sad that our group is once again experiencing trouble this time with a near death experience," Fiver mumbled. "Just when it seemed we might be able to experience a bit of downtime from more danger, we now have to leave behind new friends we barely got to know especially the one closest to me. The one just like me...Silverweed."
Blackberry had her motherly Instincts kick in and she started over to comfort Fiver, but to her surprise, Bigwig grabbed her wrist. "Fiver... come here," Bigwig whispered hoarsely. Surprised, Fiver moved back over to Bigwig's beside.
"Fiver..." Bigwig croaked, "Two rabbits that can see the future, no co-in (cough) cidence. This was Frith's will. Have no doubt... You'll see him again."
Then to further Fiver's surprise, Bigwig reached up and took his paw. "Fiver, I'm sorry. Sorry I doubted you." The maned buck leaned his head back, looking like he was trying to make up his mind about something, and then he spoke: "My old dad, he was an alcoholic. And had a temper like you never seen. Anytime the slightest thing seemed to go wrong, he always blamed me. His hangover headaches? My fault. No liquor in the house? My fault. Missed an important call because he was too drunk to answer? My fault."
Fiver was appalled, and astonished that Bigwig was actually confiding in him. Beside him Blackberry held a similar look of surprise.
"Anyway, every time something was my fault, he'd stand me up and make me tell him what I did wrong, even if I had to make something up, and then he'd rap me over the head until I apologized. He wouldn't stop until I was sobbing like a kitten, begging for forgiveness." Bigwig sighed, clearly having difficulty going on. "So now whenever I got to apologize for something, I remember him, and I hate it. I hated that bastard – soon as I was old enough I joined the army, just to get away from him. But it's still hard to say sorry. And I am… sorry, Fiver." Then Bigwig gave a smirk, and added: "Guess I got snared after all, huh?"
Fiver was in shock, both from the story and from Bigwig's contrition.
"Well, I'm just happy you're alive and thanks for the apology," he finally said. He didn't feel boasting is needed here. It wasn't in his nature and although Bigwig did indeed become snared in a way, his survival was all that mattered. After letting go of Bigwig's paw, Fiver felt Blackberry hug him and stroke his head tenderly as if she saw him as her own child. In the group, Blackberry so far seemed to be a mother type figure with how she looked after Pipkin and with Hazel acting in a dual role of his brother as well as a father type figure, Blackberry being a sort of stand in mother pleased him.
"Fiver..." Blackberry whispered in a soothing tone, "I'm so sorry to ask you this, but I have to know: "How did you know Bigwig was being attacked?"
Fiver thought back to the vision by the kitchen of seeing a dead Bigwig hanging from a tree, and gave an involuntary shudder at the image. "I... had another vision," he simply said, "I saw Bigwig was dying and somehow I knew where to go, so I got Hazel and Holly and Silver and then we found Bigwig, hanging..." The memory of finding Bigwig dead in front was suddenly too much and Fiver turned and sobbed into Blackberry's shoulder. Around him, both Blackberry and Bigwig looked astonished.
"Fiver... there's no need to cry," Blackberry stated, hugging him tighter, "Bigwig's here! He's alive, you saved him!" She held his face in front of her own, looking directly into his eyes. "...You're a hero."
"I am a hero," Fiver muttered. "All of us did survive the angry swirling wind and all of us are still alive!" He suddenly laughed a bit in joy before suddenly a loud shot rang out that caused everyone to jump.
"What is that loud noise?" Fiver asked pulling his ears down in fear.
Blackberry strode over to the window, stuck her head out and looked around: in the distance she saw several rabbits running around and screaming, and they all seemed to be concentrating at where she recognized as the location of Cowslip's koi pond.
"Stay here, you two!" Blackberry ordered, and she left to investigate.
*** One minute earlier ***
Meanwhile, Cowslip was taking a stroll by his beloved koi pond, casually smoking his Meerkatschaum pipe. Was a shame to see that new group of rabbits go, but it didn't mean too much to him, stray rabbits came and went in this place. Any time now another group would come along that he could trick into more easy labour. He took a puff of his pipe, and managed to blow a smoke ring.
"HEY! YOU!" an angry voice barked behind him. Cowslip turned to see a large, brown buck storming towards him, tears streaming down his face, and two burly bucks running behind him.
"Sorry sir, we restrained him but he just broke free!" explained one of the burly rabbits.
"She's dead!" The brown buck cried in Cowslip's face, "SHE'S DEAD!"
Cowslip actually took a moment to relight his pipe before answering. "I'm sorry, who?" he asked, completely unfazed.
"My mate!" the buck yelled, "Blossom Fields! I'm her husband Ash!"
"Oh. Her," Cowslip replied, giving no indication he actually remembered her. "I'm sorry, that is a tragic loss. Guards?" The two burly bucks strode over, each standing on each side of the buck although a bit unsure, "Would you please escort Ash here to my office? I'm sure he could do with a good, stiff drink."
"You'd send you'd call her an ambulance!" the buck yelled directly in Cowslip's face, prompting the guards to grab him by the shoulders. "You said you'd have her taken to a real doctor, but nobody came! She died because of you!"
"Farming is a dangerous occupation. Accidents happen," Cowslip responded, blowing a puff of pipe smoke in the buck's face, "I'm sorry it slipped my mind, I think you will find that if you go over the waiver you signed when you came to work here, you will find it clearly states that I bear no liability in the event of accidents."
Ash gave a snarl of fury and tried to lunge at Cowslip, but the guards restrained him. Cowslip quickly whipped out his pistol and pointed it directly at the buck's heart. "Mmm-mm-mmm," he hummed mockingly, "Let's not forget who's carrying the big stick here, shall we? Guards, would you please escort Mr. Fields off the premises? I think his tenure here has gone on long enough."
"HYAARGH!" The buck cried as he broke free of the guards' grips and charged at Cowslip. Startled, Cowslip pulled the trigger just as the buck barreled into him. Both rabbits plunged into the pond, and Cowslip's head gave a loud and sickening crack as his head made contact with a jagged rock just below the surface of the water.
Back To Present
*** A large group of rabbits had gathered around the pond either staring in horror or talking in hushed whispers. Blackberry pushed her way carefully through the crowd and got shocked at the sight: Lying face up in the koi pond was Cowslip, his mouth agape and his eyes unblinking, clearly dead. Two burly looking bucks were standing by looking dumbfounded, kneeling on the ground nearby was a large brown rabbit she recognized as Blossom Fields' mate, clutching a bleeding wound in his side.
"Excuse me you two," Blackberry Asked the two bucks. "What is going on here?" She looked at the name tags of the two bucks who read "Jasper" on the left who was white with black spots and "Horace" on the right who was black with white spots. "Why is Cowslip dead and this fellow clutching a bleeding wound in his left side?"
"Well Mrs. Blackberry," Horace began. "Me and Jasper were taking a stroll around the farm patrolling like that Bigwig fellow and then this uh Ash buck starts running up to his wanting to know where Cowslip is. Jasper says he might be smoking by the pond and then the Ash guy starts ranting about revenge for a mistake."
"I grabbed him fast and tried to get him to explain his situation but he didn't listen," Horace added. "Despite being calm, he bumps me with his fore head into my bottom jaw a bit rough and starts dashing off to the fish pond raving about how Cowslip is going to pay for his neglected duties to a loved one of his."
"Omygosh, Mr. Fields!" Blackberry ran up to the bleeding brown buck. "Look at me, can you hear me?"
Ash's eyes gave a vague flicker in her direction.
"What happened here?" Blackberry asked.
"He killed... Blossom..." Ash whispered, dazed with shock and blood loss.
Blackberry snapped to Horace and Jasper, "You! Use your hat to keep pressure on that wound!" She barked at Horace. Horace obeyed, taking off his newsboy cap and pressing it against Ash's side, the latter buck groaning in pain. "You, come with me!" she gestured at Jasper to follow her, "We have to get him to the nurse's office, there's a stretcher there! And someone has to call an ambulance! And the police!"
*** Nurse's Office
"Oi, Can you see what's happening?" Bigwig asked quietly.
"Just a lot of rabbits gathered around the pond, too crowded to see," Fiver responded, staring out the window.
"Can't you just get a vision and see what's going on?" Bigwig asked.
"It doesn't work like that, I can't turn it on when I want, it's all random," Fiver replied tensely.
"Oh yeah, I think you mentioned that. Or Hazel, or Hana, no wait... Frith my head hurts!" said Bigwig. He laid his head back down, "I'm sorry, I'm a little disoriented right now."
"Shh, calm down Bigwig," Fiver said patting his head. "Can't afford anything more serious if you're going to a hospital!"
Just then the door opened behind them and Blackberry burst in, flanked by a large buck wearing a cap.
"Blackberry! What happened?" Fiver asked, "And who's he?"
"Cowslip's dead," Blackberry stated. Fiver gasped, and even Bigwig gave a jerk. "And Mrs. Fields' widow got shot while attacking him!"
Fiver pulled his ears down in fear again shivering. "No, this can't be happening!" He cried. "So much pain and suffering!" He curled up into a ball.
"Fiver!" Blackberry knelt in front of him, "Fiver, look at me!" With great effort, Fiver calmed down a little and opened his eyes to look into hers. "Yes, it's bad, but you can help prevent more pain and suffering!" Blackberry declared. Fiver perked his ears up, listening. "I need you to find Hickory and Marigold, and tell them what happened!" said Blackberry, "Cowslip had the only working phone in his office, but they should have a key! We need to get an ambulance and the police down here, can you do that?"
"Sure but um, I don't know where they'd be," Fiver replied.
"Try finding Strawberry at the rec room," Blackberry suggested. "He's likely watching Hana and Pipkin. He can alert them to call the police on his walkie talkie."
Fiver nodded yes and dashed off in search of Strawberry.
"Come on!" Blackberry ordered at Jasper. With the buck's help the stretcher was found in a closet, and five minutes later Ash was carried into the nurse's office and laid on the bed next to Bigwig.
"Now then Mr. Ash," Blackberry said to the gun shot buck. "You need to trust me to do my best with what is here for holding you over until the ambulance is here."
"Okay Mrs. uh Blackberry," Ash mumbled but he started looking sleepy and nodded off from blood loss.
"Mister Ash, Mister Ash!" Blackberry slapped on the buck's face, keeping her other paw firmly pressed against his wound, "Come on, stay with me!"
"Let… me… sleep…" Ash's voice gurgled from his throat.
"Think of Blossom, she needs you!" Blackberry yelled, trying to keep him talking.
"She's dead…" Ash croaked. "Then think of her family! Her parents, her siblings! They're your family too, they'll need to tell them!"
Ash mustered up enough strength as he could to stay awake just now.
"Okay BlackBerry," Ash sighed as his eyes blinked a bit from struggling awakening from blood loss. "Be...strong… but please...stay with me till ambulance comes?"
"Of course I will!" Blackberry stated, taking his paw. And for fifteen minutes she continued to talk to him while Jasper kept pressure on the wound and she treated it with whatever tools were at her disposal in the rundown infirmary, until at long last they heard the sounds of sirens arriving on the farm property.
0000000000000000000
Humming quietly, Silverweed sat comfortably with both his cake ingredients and special gift for Fiver. Despite a platonic relationship for him, he felt a duty for showing his appreciation of their friendship at the very least and as for the other gift? He could only imagine all the faces beside Fiver's looking in awe once that got revealed too.
Soon the farm of Cowslips came into view but what he didn't expect were a few police cars parked near the cherry red house and Marigold speaking to a white striped black rabbit cop. Yanking the cord for his stop he picked up his bag, exited the bus and rushed over. Silverweed's heart began pounding in his chest as he crept towards the scene. There were rabbits swarming everywhere, and cops – Silverweed shuddered. He knew they weren't here for him, but cops still always frightened him.
A swarm of rabbits seemed to be congregating around Cowslip's pond so he ran over to look. He edged his way through the crowd, and a horrible sight met his eyes: Cowslip was floating face-up in the water of his koi pond, his eyes glazed over and a pool of blood collecting around his head. Rabbit cops were questioning bystanders while forensics of different species were taking photographs of the scene. Silverweed clapped a paw over his mouth in horror and ran, clutching his bag.
"Marigold!" he cried.
"Silverweed!" the golden doe called out, and ran from the cop she was talking to embrace him. "Oh Silverweed – thank goodness! When I couldn't find you I thought-"
"Ma'am, who is this?" the white-striped cop asked. Silverweed instinctively leaned against Marigold, clutching his bag tighter.
"This is Silverweed. He works here with us." Marigold answered.
"I see," the cop said. "Mister Silverweed, I know this must be a traumatic experience for you but I have to ask: can you account for your whereabouts over the past hour and a half?"
"I – I was out shopping in the village!" Silverweed stammered, showing the cop his bag of purchases. "See? Groceries! That's all, I swear!" He yanked out the receipt and showed the officer. The officer took a quick look, and to Silverweed's immense relief needed no further convincing.
"My apologies Mister Silverweed, but my job is to question everyone. We've had both the death of your employer and an assault on another rabbit by three wanted drug smugglers this morning, and we are on the lookout for any other suspicious characters."
Silverweed was stunned. "Death…? Drug smugglers, what?!"
The officer sighed. "Ma'am, would you please take him inside and explain things?"
"Yes, of course, come on Silverweed!" And Marigold took Silverweed by the paw and led him towards the house.
000000000000000000
The two soon made their way inside. Marigold saw that Silverweed seemed afraid as he walked rather slowly with a quivering lip. She couldn't blame him, the poor didnt know where Fiver is and there were cops crawling all over the farm. It seemed forever until she heard him finally start speaking.
"Marigold…" Silverweed croaked, almost too shocked to speak, "Are Hickory and Fiver okay?"
"Yes, they're fine, but poor Fiver's just been through a terrible experience," Marigold answered, "Bigwig is the one who got attacked and Fiver and some of his friends defended him. They are okay but Bigwig is concussed. The police are still searching for any more suspicious rabbits but I haven't received word on anything else yet."
"What… happened to Cowslip?" Marigold led him into the house and sat him down on a couch in the living room, sitting opposite him. "Cowslip let a doe die, and her mate attacked him. Cowslip shot him, but in the process fell and hit his head in the pond. Mr. Fields – the doe's mate, he'll live, an ambulance took him away along with her body," She clapped a paw to her mouth, holding in a sob, "*Sniff*, So much violence in just one morning."
Silverweed collapsed on the carpet in shock. Death, injured innocent mammals and attacks? Great Frith, what if Fiver died?
"Honey…" Marigold squeezed his arm reassuringly, "Fiver is okay. I don't know where he is, but he's okay." Silverweed relaxed greatly upon hearing those words, letting out a sigh of relief. "Where were you anyway? And what did you buy in town?" Marigold pointed at the bag.
Silverweed opened it to show her: nuts, raisins, cream cheese and a few other food items, along with a small, black felt box.
"Ingredients – for carrot cake. I wanted to make Fiver a carrot cake, it's his favorite," Silverweed answered. "I left a note, I guess you didn't find it."
Marigold was very deeply touched. "Oh, Silverweed, that's so sweet of you! He'll love it!"
"Thanks! I'm hoping to start it after doing the lunch dishes." Silverweed answered.
Marigold shook her head. "Why don't you start it now? We've got ingredients for baking right here in the house!"
"But my duties-"
"I have to insist, I don't want you out there anyway, when there's dangerous folk and the police around. Chester and Sage will fill in for you. Why don't you get set up, and I'll get whatever you need from the hall?"
"Oh, thank you Marigold!" Silverweed hugged her, grabbed his bag and raced for the kitchen. Marigold walked in behind him, and was shocked to find he already had his bag unpacked on the counter and was going through the cupboards for the other ingredients by the time she got there – the lovestruck buck was so eager to get started. The black felt box was also on the counter, and Marigold could not contain her curiosity.
"What's in the box?" she asked. Silverweed picked the box up and opened it, showing her the contents. Marigold smiled at the gift inside.
"Oh he'll love it but are you sure you'll be okay with him enjoying the gift despite only seeing you as a friend?" She asked.
Silverweed just smiled. "Years ago, I arrived as the only seer on this farm. Now that Fiver is another seer I can talk to, I want to cherish all the time together even if it's only friendship."
"Well then, the cake will surely be appreciated by him and his friends," Marigold replied cheerfully. She looked in the fridge and frowned. "We're out of carrots – you stay here and I'll get you some." With that, she ran quickly to the dining area to grab a bunch for his cake.
*** Five minutes later Marigold entered the mess hall kitchen, where she found Hickory and the other helpers working on lunch. In spite of the harrowing events of the morning, the show had to go on and the workers still had to be fed. Until further notice, with Cowslip's death Marigold and Hickory were running the farm.
"Marigold!" Hickory ran up to his wife and hugged her. "Have you seen Silverweed?"
"Yes, he's in the house kitchen, the dear was out buying ingredients to make a cake for Fiver! I just came to get him some-" Then she stopped as she broke the hug and saw her husband's face. "Carrots…"
Hickory's face looked morose and frantic. "Hickory, now what's going on?"
"Marigold," said Hickory, "I have some bad news…"
***00000 When Marigold got back to the house she found Silverweed chopping nuts on the counter, the dry ingredients for the cake already measured out in a bowl. Silverweed was humming to himself as she came in but when he saw her, his smile turned to a frown.
"Marigold… what's wrong? Where are my carrots?"
"Silverweed..." Marigold's voice sounded urgent, "They're leaving. Fiver and his friends are leaving."
Silverweed jumped upright. "What?"
"After the attack on Bigwig they quit, they said they don't feel safe here, and I don't blame them. You can still catch them-" And Silverweed ran out of the kitchen before Marigold could say another word. Then he stopped, ran back, grabbed the felt box and bolted.
00000000000000000
Earlier: Fiver's face hung low as he packed his bag, trying to go through the movements as slowly as possible. But there wasn't much to pack, just a few clothes, his toiletries and a book. Most of the group's possessions were still on the bus from when they had arrived. His bag was packed, all he had to do was zip it up. Everybody else had finished with theirs, and half had already left the room. He'd half-heartedly tried to stall them, but after what had happened that morning he knew there was nothing for it. For their own safety they had to leave, as soon as possible. He only wished he could say goodbye to Silverweed.
After calling the police from Cowslip's office Fiver had looked everywhere, but the silvery buck was nowhere to be found. Then he felt a warm paw on his shoulder, and turned to look into his brother's sympathetic face. "I'm sorry, Fiver."
Fiver sniffled, then his face contorted with tears and he threw himself into Hazel's embrace. "Please, Hazel…" he sobbed, "Can't we just wait one more hour? Please?"
"I'll give you 30 minutes but no more," Hazel sighed. "Bigwig is injured and Blackberry can't do much more if something worse happens to him with the low medical supplies. Our next area needs to be a place with a hospital."
Just then there was a knock at the door. Hazel looked up, frowning a little.
"Come in," he said. It was Strawberry who peeped around the door, "Hey, can we talk for a minute?" Hazel nodded, and Strawberry entered the room.
"Um…" Strawberry didn't seem to know where to start, "About your leaving…"
"I'm sorry Strawberry, but we really must," said Hazel, "We're not safe here, especially Pipkin. And this was never to be our home anyway. But…" he looked at his brother, remembering Fiver's last vision, "We think we'll find a place somewhere soon."
"This place was never meant to be my home either," Strawberry said, gesturing at their surroundings with his head. "I had a mate, once. And we were hoping to make a home together. But then she died, and I drifted for a long time until I ended up here, just another of many hlessi who come by."
Hazel sighed, his ears lowering. "I am so sorry for your loss."
Strawberry accepted the condolences. "But then I saw you all, how you've all formed a family in spite of what tragedy has befallen you, and it got me thinking. And then when you said you were leaving I remembered something Bluebell said, how I'll never find the right doe here, and…" He reached behind the door, and rolled in two packed suitcases, one cherry red with a sticker of a green tractor and the other a navy blue with black stripes. "Have you got room for one more?"
Hazel looked at the others including Bigwig being propped up by Holly. They all looked at him as if he were their leader. Could they allow another to tag along?
"Let me think," Hazel said. He looked at all his friends including Hana who gestured for BlackBerry to hold out her right paw to stand in. "Is everyone here okay with allowing for Strawberry joining our survival group?"
"We have an extra seat on the bus," said Holly.
"But it's one more mouth to feed," Bigwig pointed out.
"I've worked here six years," said Strawberry, "And even at Cowslip's rates six years of wages adds up to a lot. I fully intend to pay my own way."
"Are you saying you have a good share of money to help us?" Hawkbit asked. "Better be in one of those suitcases as all our measly wages fit in an envelope each mate!"
"Of course not, the only place one could safely hide money around here was in Cowslip's safe," Strawberry responded. "It's in the bank in the nearby town, we can stop there on the way."
"It better be worth it to make us park that big bus right in the middle of town," said Hawkbit, "How much are we talking here?"
Strawberry picked up a piece of paper, scribbled something on it, and showed it to Hawkbit. Hawkbit's eyes bulged.
"Welcome aboard, mate!" he declared as he shook Strawberry's paw.
"No, no, Hawkbit," said Hazel, "This is Strawberry's hard-earned money, it's not for us to live on."
"Are you guys going on a long trip?" Strawberry asked. "I'll need to turn in my resignation to Hickory and Marigold first if you can all wait."
"If you're in, then go ahead, we're waiting an extra-half hour anyway," Hazel said.
"What? What for?" asked Bigwig.
"Fiver really wants a chance to say goodbye to Silverweed," Hazel answered. "And frankly, so do I."
"I still don't see why we have to go!" piped up Acorn, "I liked it here, Speedwell and I both liked it here. Maybe there were some dodgy rabbits here, but that's life! You just gotta be tough and you'll get by!"
"You weren't there, you didn't get attacked by drug dealers or sneered at by a sociopathic chief rabbit!" Bigwig countered. "You wouldn't be wanting to stay if you went through what I went through this morning!"
"Well excuse us for trying like you to make a home somewhere!" Speedwell jumped in.
"Everyone calm down!" Hazel yelled, "We can't fight amongst ourselves, we have to stay together!" Fiver covered his ears as the group started fighting amongst themselves, unable to bear the sounds of arguing.
He leaned over the bed and clutched his head, unnoticed by anyone, until he felt it. The aura. An all-too familiar funny feeling came over Fiver, creeping into all corners of his mind. His vision went blurry, he felt very weak and dizzy, and what felt like lightning flashed through his mind.
"H-Huh-Hazel-" he gasped. His body swooned dangerously and he started to fall.
"Oh no, Fiver!" Hazel caught Fiver before he collapsed to the floor and sat him up on the bed. Fiver's body starting to convulse.
"Fiver, listen to my voice. Focus on my voice-"
"What's wrong with him!?" Strawberry asked concernedly.
"He's having a vision!" Hazel stated, holding his brother steady.
"Those of you who ain't seen this yet, don't panic!" Bigwig ordered at the group. He kneeled in front of Fiver and started mimicking Hazel's tone of voice, "*Cough*, Fiver, if you can hear me, focus! What do you see?"
Fiver's body jerked around some more, he let out a moan, and suddenly his eyes shot open and he spoke in a strange and scared voice:
"This farm will be safe in the future but we cannot stay, Our journey must continue and have us on our way"
"There's a place further west where we must roam, Where some of us will find our new home."
All the group with Strawberry looked stunned at what Fiver just said.
"Is he normally talking in that manner?" Strawberry Asked first.
"Only sometimes at random and before you ask, none of us are ever able to distinguish where and why it occurs," Hazel quickly Answered.
"Uggh…" Fiver sat up, rubbing his head, and saw everyone in the room staring at him. "He turned his head away in embarrassment, "What did I say?"
"I think you just gave us our next mission," Dandelion replied. "Did you happen to see anything else?"
"Um, a sign with ears," Fiver said closing his eyes again and seeing if anything resembling pictures from his flashes could come up. "Many rabbits about, fields of green and flayrah, our bus pulling into the front of a big house with a sign starting with H and... that's it." He opened his eyes again sighing from the mental work he just did. "
*Cough*, sounds like somewhere west we'll find another farm to work at," said Bigwig. "Details are vague, but it's good enough for me." He gestured at Acorn and Speedwell, "What do you think? Would you be willing to try finding a new farm to live and work on?"
The other brothers looked down on the floor kind of uncertain.
"Look I may as well be firm with this to anyone here with doubts still about leaving," sighed Hazel. "Remember That Bigwig is badly injured from a drug trio attacking him for doing his job against scum such as them, Blackberry could only do so much with what the medical station and if any of us got attacked by possible other shady rabbits here badly, Death is bound to happen."
He then looked at Acorn and Speedwell for the next part in particular. "Cowslip also threatened us with a firestick if any of us attempted pay protest for low funds once we confronted him on that once relaying the orchard attack. If he shot someone close to you for questioning his work style, wouldn't that get you sad?"
"Yeah, of course…" said Speedwell, "But even ignoring that, you're still willing to go based on this… vision? I'm not saying that wasn't real, I do believe there are rabbit seers, but what if he's wrong?"
Fiver's ears drooped as he considered that possibility. He had been right many times before, but his record was still spotty, and that vision was still vague.
Then Bigwig stepped up. "Fiver's last vision saved my life. I trust him."
"And me," said Silver.
"And me," said Blackberry.
"And me," said Holly.
"And I will always stand by my brother," stated Hazel.
Speedwell looked at Acorn and then interlocking his left paw with his brother's right, they said together:
"Then we brothers will stand together and trust Fiver too."
Hazel nodded in approval. "Good. Then I propose we finish loading the bus and wait out the rest of our half-hour in the rec hall while Strawberry gives his notice. Any objections?" There were none. "Good, then let's move out." And all the rabbits and mouse left the room with their bags and went outside.
***000 All the rabbits got ready for the bus packing with Bigwig unlocking the door. They were doing their best to keep their spirits high avoiding the police still crawling all over the farm talking to various rabbit workers that weren't them.
One by one they threw their bags into the back of the bus, Bigwig strategically stacking them inside. There were mixed level of trepidation in all of them, especially Strawberry, who was leaving his home of several years, and Fiver, who was beginning to fear he may never get to say goodbye to Silverweed.
"Hey, isn't that Silverweed?" Dandelion asked aloud. Fiver whipped around and there he was: Silverweed was running towards the bus, clutching something in his paw. Without hesitation Fiver dropped his bag and ran up to his friend, and the two collided in a tight hug.
"Fiver, Thank Frith you're still around," Silverweed sighed.
"I thought I'd never get to say goodbye," whispered Fiver, "Where were you? I looked all over to find you."
"I – I was in town when it happened," Silverweed answered, "I was buying groceries, I wanted… to make you a carrot cake."
Fiver let out a sound that was half-gasp, half-laugh at the irony. "I actually decorated a special cake slice for you earlier," Fiver replied, "It's in the cafeteria fridge by the lettuce, it's got fruits and everything."
Silverweed gave a weak chuckle, tears starting to form in his eyes. "I look forward to seeing it… I'm sure it's beautiful."
"And I'm sure your carrot cake would have been beautiful too," Fiver replied sadly. "I'm so sorry I can't… be here to enjoy it."
"I know…" Silverweed croaked, a frog suddenly in his throat, "I know why you're going, and I don't blame you, but I'm really, really going to miss you."
"I'll miss you too as you're the first other seer I've come across," Fiver said. "However it's not just the farm attack for the cause of our leave, it's actually something else."
"What's that…?" Silverweed asked.
"Just now, I had another vision," said Fiver, "I don't remember exactly what it was, but I think there's somewhere else we're meant to be."
"Please be safe all of you," Silverweed responded. "Oh and I'm glad I caught you before you left as you need to receive one more thing before you leave." He finished the hug, stepped back a bit and showed the little box he ran with earlier and got down on his left knee to open it.
"Oh Silverweed, I like you as a friend but I think it's a bit early to start trying a proposal to me," Fiver chuckled. Hawkbit, Dandelion and Holly snickered a bit too.
"Oh no Fiver, just wait till you see this and it's not a wedding ring," Silverweed said. As soon as he opened it, Fiver felt stunned at what was revealed!
Inside on black velvet rested a pair of ornamental golden necklaces. One had a pendant shaped like the sun with intricate markings on it, and the other was shaped like a basket of carrots that were of different colors.
"I… I don't know to say!" Fiver stammered.
"You don't like them?" Silverweed asked, his ears suddenly drooping.
"No, no, I love them!" Fiver declared, "I've just never worn jewelry before. What do they represent?"
Silverweed looked immensely relieved. "The sun represents Lord Frith," he pointed at the sun-shaped necklace, "And the bushel of carrots represents the carrots of the garden of Prince Rainbow." He pulled the bushel-shaped necklace out of the box and pressed it into Fiver's paw, "I bought these in town too. I want you to have this one, because…" He looked like he was trying to find the right words, "Because to me you're the pot of carrots at the end of my rainbow!"
"AWWW!" chorused several rabbits behind them, making both seers jump. Fiver looked behind himself and saw several faces whistling innocently and avoiding eye contact.
"Well if we're talking about symbols now, this sun should go greatly with you," Fiver answered as he turned back towards Silverweed and took the sun necklace and placing it into his open right paw. "You represent the bright light that lit up my mood that more seers are out there and that we're not alone." More awwws sounded from behind Fiver who just smiled as he looped the rainbow carrot necklace around his neck.
"They're friendship necklaces," Silverweed pronounced, putting one paw over the pendant on his neck and his other on Fiver's, "If I have one and you have one, they mean we can stay friends forever."
"Even from a distance?" Hana Asked On Blackberry's right shoulder. She got a yes nod from Silverweed. "In that case, you've made this young lad very happy!"
"Hang on, you should receive something from me!" Fiver exclaimed dashing into the bus for his suitcase. After just 2 minutes, he came rushing back and slowly got down himself on his right knee to reveal the gift he got before the farm: the ceramic bluebird!
"Why that is a lovely ceramic bluebird!" Silverweed beamed. "Where did you get that from?"
"From Norman Clawson And his wife Janet further back up the street from this farm," Fiver said. "Norman had this as an extra in a set he won from an auction which he gifted to me as a thank you for staying gift but I think you should have it." He put the bird into Silverweed's left paw.
"It is lovely Fiver but shouldn't this be an item you keep for yourself?" Questioned Silverweed.
"No Silverweed, I think it's only fair you get a gift in return," Fiver Answered. "This bird is a gift from Norman but with you holding onto this, both of us now have gifts to each remember the other by."
Silverweed sniffled, very touched by the gift. "It's very pretty… thank you." He put the bird into the box that had held the necklaces for safekeeping, and then a look of trepidation crossed his face. "So, um… I guess this is goodbye?"
"Not just yet!" proclaimed Hazel from behind them. He walked up to the duo, and hugged Silverweed tightly. "I'm going to miss you, Silverweed. I really am. Is there no chance at all of you coming with us? We'd be glad to have you."
"Um…" Silverweed looked at him, and Fiver, and the rest of the group, and looked thoughtful. And then he looked back, and saw Hickory and Marigold striding towards them, Marigold carrying something. Silverweed sadly shook his head. "I'm sorry… no. I can't leave Hickory and Marigold, they're my family, this is my home. It may not be the best place, but it's all I've got."
"Understood, they have been very caring of you and you don't want to upset them by just leaving with some new rabbits right away," Hazel said. "They've given you a home for many years but perhaps our paths can cross again possibly in the future?"
Silverweed wasn't so sure, but then he remembered his prediction from the night before: 'In five years I shall be there, on the day of the violet haze…'
Someday he would be in Zootopia, where Fiver and the others intended to go. With that secret knowledge he nodded. "You know… I think we will."
"Oh there you are!" Called Marigold running up to them. She held an old camera with a greenish grey colour coat, strap and the words "Polaroid Instant Picture Camera". "This occasion calls for some photos!"
"Um, okay, how does it work?" Fiver asked, looking at the camera and noting the slot in the front.
"We just take pictures and they print out right on the spot!" proclaimed Hickory. "Come on, stand together and we'll show you!" A little confused Fiver obeyed, and he stood side by side with Silverweed with their arms around each other's backs.
"Smile!" said Marigold, and she clicked the camera and a blank-white photo slid out. All the Sandleford group gathered around, astonished.
"Err, aren't we supposed to see something?" Buckthorn asked, pointing at the opaque photograph in Marigold's paw.
"Just give it a minute," Marigold shook the photo in her paws, and all the rabbits watched in astonishment as the white faded and a picture slowly began to form, until finally a picture of Fiver and Silverweed was in full and clear focus.
"Wow! Do us! Do us!" ordered Violet, dragging Buckthorn up to get a picture with her. Marigold obliged for them, and then for Speedwell and Acorn, and Hazel and Fiver, and Holly, Bigwig and Blackberry with Pipkin, and Dandelion with a reluctant Hawkbit, and of Strawberry, and of Bluebell posing cheekily, and Hana on Pipkin's paw, and a shot of the full group, and finally finished with two more pictures of Fiver and Silverweed. The first one had them holding their necklaces and the bluebird up prominently, and during the second Silverweed spontaneously nuzzled Fiver's ear, making Fiver and everyone else laugh in surprise just as the photo was taken.
"Can I have that one?" Silverweed asked sheepishly. Nobody was going to tell him no.
"Well, I'm happy I was able to take pictures of all you lovely rabbits before leaving and your mouse friend too," smiled Marigold. "You lot were so good on the farm and we're really going to miss you."
"Our short time has gotten us new friends even if only for a few days," Blackberry commented. "You all won't be forgotten."
"I'll miss you guys too," said Strawberry to Hickory and Marigold, "You took me in and gave me a home, and I hope the next place has owners half as good to me as you were." And he looked at Silverweed, "And I'll really miss you and your poetry, you've been like a little brother to me since you arrived here, I mean it."
"It does feel strange knowing the farm won't have you Strawberry, but we wish you well on you journey to greater pastures," Hickory replied. "How about one more hug of the 4 of us before your leave?"
Strawberry needed no more convincing and opened his arms to allow Silverweed and the farm couple of one last hug before he left them with his new group.
"This is it but best wishes for the future of this farm!" Strawberry shouted as he began walking backwards towards the bus waving farewell. He then turned forward to get onto the bus and flashed the peace sign with his right paw back at them just as Bigwig ignited the bus and began driving off the property.
"Wait! Stop!" Fiver cried. Bigwig slammed on the brakes, and then opened the door for him. Fiver jumped out, and ran over to give Silverweed one last, tearful hug.
"*Sniff*, I'm going to miss you much…" Fiver sobbed, "Thank you for being my friend."
"And thank you… for being you," Silverweed whispered back. He held Fiver's paw in comfort, "I think we'll each other again."
"Did you have another vision?" Fiver asked.
"No, I just… feel it," Silverweed replied simply. "Besides, I still want to make you that carrot cake. Goodbye, Fiver."
"Goodbye." And unable to stand it any longer Fiver turned and ran back to the bus. He got on and ran to the back while Bigwig closed the door and started them off again. As the bus rattled along the bumpy path Fiver watched Silverweed and Hickory and Marigold through the rear window, his paws on the glass as he looked at the seer's sad face.
00000000000000000
And then the bus turned at the end of the drive, and Silverweed was gone. Fiver sniffled in his seat and hung his head low. Somehow, despite the number of rabbits on the bus with him, he felt very alone all of a sudden. And like a part of him was gone, left behind at the farm. He pulled out the photo of himself and Silverweed and looked at it, wishing he could have come with them.
"Fiver?" Fiver looked up, half-expecting his brother, but it was Silver, holding a piece of paper. "Um, hi," said Silver, "I just wanted to give you this." Fiver took the paper, and gasped at it: it was a pencil drawing of Silverweed from the chest up, speaking in front of a microphone. Despite the sketchiness it was clearly Silverweed, with nearly every detail of his thin face correct.
"When… when did you draw this?" Fiver asked, his voice full of awe.
"Last night, when he was reciting his poetry in the mess hall. I drew a rough sketch then, and finished it while we were packing."
Fiver was astonished, both by Silver's hidden talent and the speed at which he had done this piece. "…I never knew you could draw."
"My uncle… didn't encourage it," Silver replied, "But now that he's gone, maybe I can actually start pursuing my dreams for a change."
Fiver looked at the paper, admiring the level of detail, especially the amount he had given Silverweed's eyes. Both fear and something like affection seemed to show in them, just like he remembered from the night before. He really appreciated the gesture from Silver, a rabbit he hadn't even known a week ago. "…
Thank you," he managed. Silver nodded, and left to return to his seat. On the bus, there seemed to be a silent agreement among everyone to give Fiver some space for a while. Holding both the drawing and the photo in his paw Fiver reached into his shirt with his other paw and pulled out the necklace Silverweed had given him. As the bus drove along and fields and trees passed the window Fiver sat there, contemplating the necklace.
000000***
"You really do love him don't you?" Hickory said as soon as the bus vanished out of sight.
"Yes sir," Silverweed looking down at the ceramic bluebird in his paws. "Yet I'll still treasure this gift from him even if he doesn't love me back if our paths should cross again."
"Aw, what a sweet thing to say," Marigold soothed. "Come on you guys, this farm still needs running. With Cowslip dead, the 3 of us are going to need to work extra hard so these workers don't lose their jobs."
"Just one quick stop at the cafeteria first," said Hickory, "Silverweed, you really must see the cake slice Fiver decorated for you." And with that, the three turned back towards the mess hall with Silverweed repackaging Fiver's ceramic gift for safekeeping and silently wishing his lot a safe travel to their new home.
Whew this took a long time to get out but to anyone who favourited this, thank you for being so patient!
Oh And it's Pirate Pak Day as of the upload date of this chapter of August 14 2019 at White Spot which is a Canadian Restaurant for you International Readers! A special day for the Pirate Pak kids meals to raise money for less unfortunate children to get nice camping trips!
Next time on Follow That Future, Dandelion decides a story is in order for keeping the group's spirits up from this disaster at Cowslips Farm but a rescue proves to be dangerous for one rabbit during the attempt! Who will it be? Please rate, review and stick around for more!
