Hi again. If you're still reading, congratulations for keeping up with the story to date! Last time, our rabbit survivors left a farm they barely spent 3 days at due to bad conditions. They've had to say goodbye to new friends although one of them has joined their group for the road for his own new life.
What awaits them next? Continue reading with:
Chapter 6: On The Road Again
Shellshocked by the events of that morning, the rest of the day passed by mostly in silence for the Sandleford group plus Strawberry. Following their departure from Cowslip's farm and the town of Nuthanger (after paying a visit to close Strawberry's bank account) they drove for several hours until finally stopping at a town in another state to find something to eat and to get Bigwig examined at a local hospital. There he was formally diagnosed with concussion and ordered not to drive for forty-eight hours, leaving it up to Holly to drive the bus for at least two days. However, it cost the group nearly all their combined earnings (minus Strawberry's) from Cowslip's farm to pay for Bigwig's hospital bill, and the group was planning on sleeping in the bus until Strawberry stepped up and insisted on putting them up in a motel for the night. Too tired and hungry to refuse the rabbits reluctantly accepted, and the next morning after stopping for gas (which again Strawberry insisted on paying for) they carried on in their journey west.
After a couple more hours on the road Strawberry felt himself getting tired of the silence, and yearned to talk to somebody. Just a day ago, he had left his work position of several years with a new group of rabbits who gave him hope that there could be a brighter future beyond the late Cowslip's farm. Now sitting down on his own seat in a chestnut long sleeve and grey pants on the left side of the bus, he scanned all the rabbits on the bus seeing who to try talking to first. In the driver's seat in front was Holly, who was still slightly out of practice driving the bus and concentrating hard on the road. Then there was Hazel stroking Fiver's head affectionately as the good brother he was, Blackberry looking out the windows as the landscape rolled by, Hana on top of her head looking out too. Behind Strawberry on the left was Pimpernel sleeping. Scanning the right, he could see Bigwig asleep near the front of the bus, Pipkin curled up next to him. Pipkin had taken the news of Bigwig's head injury harder than any of them and had been unusually quiet all day. Hawkbit was listening to some country music on some blue cylinder speaker, Dandelion was behind him reading a book, followed by Buckthorn cuddling his girlfriend Violet and Silver discussing something job related with Bluebell.
"Um, Mrs. BlackBerry, whereabouts are you rabbits headed to?" Strawberry asked her.
"Right now, our goal is just anywhere where all of us can have a home," Blackberry answered. "A place where we can earn money well above what Cowslip paid us and carve out our new lives."
"If luck finds us, hopefully we'll make even more new friends!" Hana added cheerfully.
"Do you consider me a new friend?" Strawberry questioned.
"You've certainly done a good enough job for a buck who's drifted for a while and worked on a farm for several years," Bluebell interjected. He then patted the plump orange buck on the back. "Sorry I didn't realize you suffered from a loss earlier sir."
"Apology accepted Bluebell," smiled Strawberry. "It does hurt at times remembering her but I have to remember too that moving on is all I can do."
"Cant' do much more than that mate, and who knows. Perhaps if Frith is watching over you, he'll send you a beautiful new doe that you can grow old with, make babies with and listen to their squeaky little voices with!" Bluebell exclaimed spreading his arms open with emphasizing that big of a goal.
"Rather fast to be thinking of children but thanks for the encouragement," blushed Strawberry. "Just a new doe is good enough a goal for now." Strawberry then thought a bit more and decided to ask a bit about futures. "So Bluebell, do you have any big dreams for a future?"
"Future eh?" Asked Bluebell. "At a younger age, I had a dream of doing standup comedy because my need of joking a lot and using humour for smiles. Perhaps getting into a comedy club and doing standup there? It'd be a nice future for me. What about you Strawberry?"
"Me, oh nothing big," Strawberry answered casually. "Just more farming and like you said earlier, possibly a doe with kids too."
"Ah, Keeping it simple mate!" Smiled Bluebell. "Well we sometimes just have simple goals and yours sounds easy enough, you hold onto that now."
"Thank you, I shall," Strawberry gestured at the other rabbits around the bus, "What about them? Can you tell me about any of them?"
"Not much yet, we haven't really talked about families, except that a lot of us don't seem to have any, and the rest aren't close to them," Bluebell answered. He looked over at the lovebirds nearby, "I've gotten to know Violet and Buckthorn pretty well while we worked in the fields together: they both come from really big families, and they both ran away because they couldn't stand being just faces in the crowd. Buckthorn has like 20 brothers and sisters and moved to Sandleford because his favorite aunt died and left him her house there. And Violet – she came from a farm the next state over and had over a hundred siblings! They really bonded over that – she said they met when she was hitchhiking with a group of other rabbits and passed through Sandleford: they rented some rooms in Buckthorn's house, and she and he got to talking, and one thing led to another and…" he made a circle with his thumb and forefinger and put his other forefinger through it.
"Well, things sure seem to be going strong between them," Strawberry commented, looking over at Violet snoozing on Buckthorn's shoulder. Then his eyes wandered over towards Hazel, who was stroking Fiver's head in his lap. "Hazel and Fiver seem more attached to each other than any siblings I've ever seen," he noted, "Are you sure they're only brothers?"
"Well, not just that, they're pretty much all they've got," Bluebell stated, "Back in Sandleford they had kind of a reputation because Fiver had those weird visions of his. Pretty much everyone knew that their folks were dead and Hazel was the one raising Fiver, Fiver's kind of like Hazel's son really."
"Do you know what happened to their parents?" Strawberry asked.
"Well," Bluebell beckoned Strawberry closer, not wanting to be overheard, "Here's what I know…"
000***000 Soon enough, the Sandleford crew bus approached a town with a chocolate muscular buck in blue overalls saying "Welcome to Podunk" in a speech bubble to his right with a smile. The town's population consisted mainly of rabbits but a few sheep, goats and pigs wandered around too.
"What a nice yet small place," Violet commented. Her boyfriend's stomach growled.
"Hopefully they have some good food as I'm starving," Buckthorn grumbled.
"All of us could use some proper food," Hazel agreed. "There are still a decent amount of rations left but I think we're getting sick of granola bars, applesauce and cookies in between stops." Everyone agreed. They couldn't just keep living off these sugary treats – they needed proper food, with fiber and vitamins. Even Pipkin, who had a sweet tooth, was getting tired of all the sweetness.
"I think there's a diner near here, it's called Toasty Zack's," said Strawberry, "It's not the Ritz, but the food is decent for its prices." He stepped to the front of the bus and pointed down the road: "You keeping going down about half a mile, and then you make a right at the first intersection, that's Padfoot Place. Then you follow it two blocks and you're right at the diner." Holly nodded and stepped on the gas, eager for sustenance himself.
000***000 "Here we are," Strawberry announced once the group stepped inside. The diner looked quite good. Its walls were covered in carrot wallpaper, the round seats at the counter a grass green and the booth seats baby blue. Of course it did appear a bit run down with a few cracks in the ceiling but other than that, a decent eatery.
"I say this looks a bit old fashioned but quite good still," Acorn commented.
"I know, still feels like yesterday stepping into here for a bowl of tomato soup," Strawberry added. Looking around, he noticed there were no waiters around. "Hello! Anyone in?" he called out.
"Just a minute! Sit anywhere you like!" called a voice from the kitchen. Taking their cue the group all pushed together two open tables on the far left of the counter and sat down. Hana seated herself on BlackBerry's head for now.
"So tell me: how do you know this place?" Hazel asked.
"I… grew up here. This is my hometown." Strawberry answered softly.
"Well, why didn't you say sooner?" Hawkbit jumped in, "Maybe you know a place around here we can stay for the night! Do your folks still live here?"
Strawberry sighed, his ears drooping. "…No. They passed on 10 years ago. And their house was repossessed by the bank after that, so I just lived in this place called Ma Bunnley's Boarding house until I became a farmer." His face brightened a little, "Say, I wonder if the old place is still around! I could have Mrs. Bunnley put us up for the night, she may give me a discount-"
"Uh-uh, nothing doing," Hazel refused firmly. "We appreciate your charity, Strawberry, but we can't keep taking it. Last night was an exception because Bigwig needed treatment and we needed gas. Do you know any places around here that we could park the bus and just camp for the night?"
Strawberry thought hard. "Well, there is a campsite on the other side of town, right in the woods by the river. It's nice and quiet, and we can make a fire and everything. It'll be perfect."
Just then, an elderly light brown buck in a red short sleeve and blue sweatpants and an apron walked over. His name tag on his left side of his shirt read Jenkins. "Hi there you guys," squeaked Jenkins. "What can I get you?"
"Is Tomato soup with a garden salad and balsamic vinaigrette dressing fine?" Strawberry asked everyone. They all nodded yes.
"Could cough just lettuce be my side?" Bigwig coughed. "Don't want to *cough* worry about choking on all those cough big veggies." He leaned forward and laid his head in his paw, and sitting next to him Pipkin squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, unnoticed by any of the group.
"How are you feeling now, Bigwig?" Blackberry asked. She stepped out of her chair and knelt down beside him to check his eyes and gingerly feel his neck. Pipkin watched with his eyes wide and scared.
"*Cough* to tell you the truth, my head is still killing me," Bigwig croaked. "…Right after dinner I'm going right back to the bus, okay? Just wake me when we get to the campsite."
"I think you'll feel a lot better tomorrow, but you still need lots of rest," Blackberry stated.
Bigwig rubbed the spot where the bat had clouted him over the head, "Boy, those drugged-up bucks really did a number on me. Imagine what woulda happened if Fiver never had that vision, eh? I dunno what you folks would do without me."
Suddenly with a start Pipkin jumped up, leapt out of his seat and bolted for the door.
"Wha- PIPKIN!" Bigwig roared behind him, but Pipkin burst out the door and into the street with a sob. "Great Frith-" Bigwig stood up to after him but then he dropped to his knees, clutching his head: he had stood up too fast.
"Blackberry, stay with him! Come on, everyone!" Hazel ordered. He was first to the door, followed by Fiver and Strawberry, "Pipkin!" he called out.
"PIPKIN!" everybody cried. Everyone's eyes darted around, but the little buck was nowhere to be seen. There were cars going by and buildings on the other side of the street, and a few pedestrians walking around and looking in their direction due to the disturbance, but no Pipkin. The group scattered for a couple of minutes to check the immediate vicinity of the diner, then reported back with nothing.
"Alright, Dandelion, you and Hawkbit look around that gas station on the corner!" Hazel ordered, "Speedwell and Acorn, check in that convenience store!" Both pairs quickly nodded and took off.
"Buckthorn, Violet, look around that vacant lot over there, and the adjoining backyard!" Hazel pointed to his right on the other side of the street, "Pimpernel-"
"Y-y-yes?" the chocolate buck stammered, clearly more shaken than any of them by the stress of the situation. Suddenly he swooned like he was about to faint, and Holly caught him.
"Er, you go back and wait with Blackberry and Bigwig," Hazel amended, "Holly will look after you. Silver and Bluebell, go that way and look up and down that way called Cedar Crescent!"
"Aye aye, sir!" Bluebell saluted him and the two took off.
Hazel turned to Strawberry. "Do you know any possible hiding places around here?"
"A few!" Strawberry declared, "This is an older part of town, there are bunch of alleys around here."
"Okay, you start there," Hazel pointed down the block to the right, "And Fiver and I will check this way!" He pointed behind him to the left. "I'm on it, don't worry, he can't be far!" And Strawberry went right while Hazel and Fiver ran left down the block.
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Strawberry looked behind garbage cans, inside of a couple of boarded up hardware stores and near dumpsters but Pipkin didn't turn up right away. He consulted some mammals in the area but got confused as some said they saw him go one way while others said the other.
Finally, after what felt like 10 minutes, he heard a sniffling near a closed mini mart on the left of a Brayers ice cream freezer. Strawberry poked his head around and there he was: little Pipkin sitting on the ground covering his face and sobbing.
"Hey there little fellow," Strawberry spoke softly. Pipkin stopped sobbing a bit, uncovered his eyes and looked up with his red watery eyes.
"*Sniff*, Strawberry?" he croaked.
"Um…" Strawberry wasn't sure what to do, so he decided to try and ease his way in, lest Pipkin try and run off again. "…May I sit here?" he asked, gesturing at the ground beside Pipkin.
Pipkin responded with a shrug, so Strawberry sat down next to him, leaning against the brick wall behind them. "Pipkin, what's the matter?" he asked gently.
"*Sniff* I – I can't take this anymore!" Pipkin cried, "Our home was destroyed, so many rabbits died-" He choked at the memory of seeing bodies lying in the street, "And now we don't know where we're going, or if we'll ever find a home, and when things were looking good on the farm BIGWIG ALMOST DIED!" He leaned in and sobbed into Strawberry's shirt, unable to stop the flow of tears pouring from his eyes.
"Pipkin, he's okay!" Strawberry consoled, hugging the little buck to him. "Bigwig is okay. Really worried about you right now, but he's okay."
"But he's hurt!" Pipkin sobbed, "He's hurt and in pain and I can't do anything to help him, and I'm just so scared he's going to die!"
"No, he won't! I've had lots of concussions as a farmer, and I'm still here. He really will get better in just a couple of days, I promise." Strawberry then lightly held Pipkin away from him so he could look at his face and dry some of the young buck's tears.
"Life isn't always easy but think of it this way, you all banded together as a survival group and befriended each other right?" Strawberry pointed out.
"*Sniff*, yes… all of us have despite a bit of arguing on whether or not we could stay longer on the farm," Pipkin sniffled. "We are friends with each other in some way."
"And as long as you all stay together, I really do think you will all find that home you are looking for!" declared Strawberry.
"You mean it? You really think so?" PIpkin asked, starting to perk up a little.
"I never would have come with you all if I didn't," Strawberry affirmed. He stood up and offered his paw to Pipkin, "Come on, let's go back to the diner, Bigwig and your mom are worried sick."
"My mom?" Pipkin tilted his head, confused.
Strawberry felt started. "Er, yes, Blackberry's really worried about you."
"Blackberry isn't my mom!" Pipkin stated.
"Huh, what?" Strawberry responded in confusion. "I heard you call her that the other day, and she sure acts like you were her son!"
"That just slipped out, she's not my mom!" Pipkin yelled, getting worked up again, "I don't even have any parents, they're dead!" And he broke down crying again. Strawberry gasped in horror at what he had just unleashed. Pipkin was an orphan, at such a young age… he felt his heart go out to the little buck before him.
"I am so, so sorry Pipkin," Strawberry managed, ashamed for bringing up the subject and trying not to cry himself, "What… what happened to them?"
"*Sniff* They were killed – by a weasel," Pipkin choked, rubbing his eye, "He ate something called, Night Horror or something (sniff), and he went mad and killed them!"
Strawberry's eyes widened. Night Howler, a blue flower also known as Midnicampum Holicithias, used by farmers for years as an aide for pest control, until it banned by the government because it was found to contain a toxin that made mammals go savage. Despite its illegality it was still a potent pest repellant and there were still rural farms that used it, and the way he heard the group talk about Sandleford and its reluctance to keep up with the modern world he wouldn't have been surprised to see a farm or garden there that used the plant.
"Your town never tried to ban those flowers?" Asked Strawberry. "Those Nighthowlers were decreased in major use following a major incident involving them from some big city faraway and mostly cut down to farm usage. Quite a big story if only my memory could recall the location of that news."
"It's not your fault if you can't remember the place," Pipkin answered as he wiped more tears onto his carrot t shirt. "Silver's uncle Mr. Ralph preferred if Sandleford just remain in its comfortable state and many of us just don't keep up with modern things." He then finished drying his tears onto his shirt before continuing: "I guess you're right, Blackberry's always treated me like I'm her son, and all our friends make me feel like I'm in a big family. I guess I still have many rabbits to comfort me."
"There you go little fellow!" Smiled Strawberry and then he helped Pipkin up. "Now I believe all of us need to have some proper food now?"
As if on cue, little Pipkin's stomach growled. "Come on," Strawberry took Pipkin's paw, "The others are looking for you too."
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Distant calls of 'Pipkin! Pipkin!' met Pipkin's ears as Strawberry led him out of the alley, and he felt his face flush with shame at having put his friends through such a scare. He didn't know what he had been thinking, running off, he'd just had to get away for a while. "Say, there's Blackberry over there!" Strawberry pointed the nearby gas station, "BLACKBERRY!" he called, "I found him!"
Having left the diner to search alone, Blackberry turned and spotted them. "PIPKIN!" The grey doe raced over, faster than Pipkin had ever seen her run, and the instant she reached them she scooped Pipkin up in a tight hug.
"Oh Pipkin, please, *please* don't do that again!" Blackberry choked.
Shocked at her voice Pipkin looked into her eyes, and saw that she had been crying. She truly had been worried about him, and Pipkin felt his shame deepen. "I'm – I'm so sorry Blackberry," he croaked, his head hanging low, "I just couldn't – I couldn't take it anymore. I had to get away."
"The poor boy's had a rough few days, he really needed to let it out," Strawberry explained. "Bigwig's injury hit him hard, and he was scared for him."
"I was scared for him too, we may butt heads but I love that big lug," Blackberry stated. She turned to Pipkin: "But tonight I was even more scared: I was scared that I might lose you. I may not be your mother…" She choked up a little as she remembered her deceased friend, "…But I love you just the same. Please don't forget that."
The two tearfully embraced, and then separated as Pipkin's stomach growled again. "Strawberry," Blackberry said, wiping her eyes, "Do you think you can find the others? I need to get some food in this boy." "No problem Mrs BlackBerry," Strawberry saluted. "Hazel told us of where each of us go searching for Pipkin and I'll just go to the places he said! You take that little guy back to the diner alright?"
But Blackberry and Pipkin were already halfway back to the diner, and when Strawberry noticed he headed off in the direction of the vacant lot where he could hear Violet and Buckthorn still calling for Pipkin.
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"PIPKIN!" Bigwig and Holly both yelled once they saw Blackberry enter with Pipkin clutching her paw. Both bucks ran up to him and knelt down and hugged him in a tight group hug.
"What happened, Pipkin?" Bigwig asked, looking closer to tears than the little buck had ever seen him.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Pipkin choked, "The swirling wind, the farm, you-" He grabbed Bigwig's jacket, "I don't want to lose you too, Bigwig! When you said what would we do without you, I couldn't bear to think about it!"
"*Cough* Oi Lad, I'm sorry, you don't have to think about that now," Bigwig coughed in response. "We're all still alive and look, our food is here! You're hungry right lad?"
Pipkin's stomach growled again actually getting everyone to laugh.
"Yeah, I am," Pipkin said. "Could we eat now?"
Bigwig looked up, and saw Strawberry in the parking lot leading the other relieved-looking rabbits to the door. "I think you can start now," he answered.
0000***000 After a long round of cries of relief for Pipkin being found and a quick explanation from Blackberry, the group finally sat down to eat their meals. And then after paying the bill, which took another chunk out of their dwindling savings, the rabbits got back on the bus and followed Strawberry's directions to the campground he had mentioned.
It was indeed peaceful, with a towering redwood grove around their campsite and the soft sounds of a running river somewhere in the distance. With a lighter he had purchased at the town convenience store, Holly got a fire going and the weary travelers sat down around it to enjoy the warmth and comfort it brought them.
"If it's fine with everyone here, I think tonight should be storytime," Dandelion suggested. "Something to lift everyone's spirits!"
"Any suggestions on the choice?" Holly asked around. "Something light, something funny to put a smile on our faces..."
Dandelion thought hard, "I know! The tale of El-ahrairah and Rowsby Wolf!"
"I don't think I know that one," Strawberry spoke up. "I'm afraid I'm quite rusty with my rabbit tales."
"Don't worry, my girlfriend and me are a bit lost on our rabbit tales too from being occupied with other things," Buckthorn interjected.
"Who get the most nose nuzzles on the other first?" Joked Hawkbit.
"Guilty as charged," Buckthorn chuckled holding his hands up in defeat. "Although we do other things such as walks, you lot haven't seen that yet due to our travels."
"Probably will later then love," Violet replied nuzzling her boyfriend's nose again. "Anyways Dandelion, can you start the story?"
"Very well..." said Dandelion, as everyone leaned in to listen:
"One evening, El-ahrairah and his faithful servant, Rabscuttle, decided they'd like some cabbages. They knew that the garden of Prince Rainbow had the most fragrant mouth-watering cabbages that ever came out of the ground and ventured there. Now, Prince Rainbow had been robbed by El-ahrairah before but had not yet grown wise to his tricks, so he had assigned a pack of wolves the task of guarding his garden, with four patrolling the outside and one watching each of the garden patches. The one with the honor of guarding the cabbage patch was Rowsby Wolf, arguably the most dim-witted and nearsighted wolf ever to guard a garden. Sneaking into the garden was easy, but El-ahrairah knew that it would be more difficult to get the cabbages out without being seen, and devised a plan that would make Rowsby Wolf do half the work for him.
It was a simple plan, for Rowsby was a simple beast: he tucked his ears over his head and pointed the tips up so he too looked like a wolf, and then he took a brush and tied it to his tail so it resembled a wolf's, and then for the final touch he and Rabscuttle rolled in wolf fur, for it was shedding season at the time, to disguise their rabbity scent. His disguise complete El-ahrairah jumped up on the fence of the cabbage patch and got Rowsby Wolf's attention:
"Oh, Rowsby Wolf, it is I, your fairy wogdog!" he proclaimed.
Rowsby looked to his right and saw the disguised rabbit. In his nearsightedness, it appeared to be a canine although if his eyes were more clear, he would have noticed the obvious lapine features.
"Fairy Wogdog? I didn't know I 'ad one." The confused Rowsby said.
"Oh you do!" El-ahrairah declared in a high-pitched voice, "And I am here to grant you a gr-r-reat honor!" He waved his wand, which was an ordinary stick, and fairy dust appeared before Rowsby's weak eyes. Actually it was dried pine needles from the ground, thrown by Rabscuttle, but it did well to fool Rowsby.
"Oh, really? And what might that be?" Rowsby asked with an excited wag of his tail.
"Her r-r-r-royal majesty, um, Moonbeam, the queen of the moon, thinks you're the best cabbage guard who ever wagged a tail! She wants to give you a gift: a feast of the most succulent r-r-r-rabbit you've ever tasted!"
"My dreams have come true!" said Rowsby, who had never heard of the Queen of the Moon before, "How humbly I'll roll upon the ground for her!" In the garden of the Prince Rainbow, the wolf guards were only ever fed flayrah which they did not particularly care for, and Rowsby's stomach was hungry for meat, which clouded his judgement further.
"That's a good boy," said El-ahrairah, "The queen will pass the crossroads on this very night, on her way to, um, the great Bark-and-Scratch, at the elm grove just outside the garden."
"I'll get there faster than a bark!" The fence around the cabbage patch was too high for Rowsby to climb, and he didn't have the sense to go looking for the door so he dug a tunnel under it.
"The queen might be late, but you must wait," El-ahairah added, "Or the feast will go to that yappy red wolf guarding the carrot patch."
"Who will guard the garden while I'm gone?" Rowsby asked his Fairy Wogdog.
"I'm the Fairy Wogdog, remember? *Ahem*, I'll take care of everything in the garden. Everything… I promise."
"You're the best, Fairy Wogdog!" Rowsby yelled as he dug through the other side of the fence, "I'm coming, my queen!" He shouted as he ran off.
"Bye bye Rowsby Wolf, Rabscuttle and I will look after your cabbages with greatest of care while you're gone!" laughed El-ahrairah. He now had the perfect tunnel built out of the cabbage patch, and he didn't have to do any digging himself! He followed Rowsby out of the patch, ready for part 2 of the plan, while Rabscuttle gathered up all the cabbages he could and deposited them through the tunnel.
Sure enough, El-ahrairah watched Rowsby get stopped by his pack's Alpha on his way to the grove, and ordered to go back to the garden. Rowsby tried to explain the feast he would miss but the Alpha would have none of it, and Rowsby trod on back to the cabbage patch, disappointed in not getting to meet the Queen, or taste his first rabbit in months. But then El-ahrairah came up to him and said, "Oh, Rowsby, the most terrible thing has happened! I have just heard from the Queen's envoy: she has taken dreadfully ill with the plague, and needs your help!"
Rowsby, keen for any further chances to gain the Queen's honor, immediately stood to attention: "What can I do to help 'er?" the wolf asked. "There is only one cure…" El-ahrairah said, spotting Rabscuttle hiding nearby with a cache of cabbages. He pointed up at the full moon above: "You must howl to her! Only the howl of her greatest and strongest wolves will give her the strength to survive!"
"For 'er, I shall give the greatest howl of my life!" declared Rowsby, and he raised his maw to the heavens and howled with all his might! And nearby his Alpha, entranced by instinct, began to howl as well, and the yappy wolf guarding the carrots joined in, and soon every wolf in the garden was howling at the moon, unable to stop themselves, and all El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle had to do was walk out right by the guards with their cabbages.
And so, El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle got away with more flayrah than any rabbits ever had from the garden before, and despite losing all those cabbages Rowsby Wolf rested easy, knowing he had the honor of having saved Queen Moonbeam from the plague, and all three lived happily ever after."
"What a splendid tale!" Clapped Acorn and all the others did the same.
"Thank you everyone!" Dandelion Exclaimed and he stood up to take a bow. "Probably should put out the fire and cool down for the night."
"Agreed," Holly said. He gathered some water from a spigot on their campsite and poured it over the flames extinguishing them. All the rabbits prepared to get back on the bus for the night when suddenly a frightened voice filled the air:
"HELLLP!"
Everyone jumped to attention.
"Someone's in trouble!" cried Pipkin. "You all stay 'ere, I'll go check it out!" said Bigwig. He started to run and took 4 steps before doubling over with a groan, clutching his still-concussed head.
"You're in no shape to help anyone, Bigwig!" declared Hazel, helping his friend up, "I'll go investigate, you all get on the bus and stay there until I get back!"
"Ohhh, be careful, Hazel!" Fiver cried. Hazel nodded at his brother, his face determined, and hurried off in the direction the cry had come from.
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There were other campsites in this area and he had seen one occupied somewhere roughly 100 yards away from their site when they arrived and Hazel decided to check there first. He crept through bramble and bushes and dodged around trees, starting to hear muffled noises along with the sounds of male voices as the light of car headlights became visible somewhere up ahead.
Then the source of the cry came into view and Hazel quickly hid behind the nearest bush as he saw the scene: Illuminated by the headlights of a large brown van Hazel saw three burly rabbit bucks: one light brown with white spots wearing black jeans and a wife beater shirt, one pale yellow wearing jeans and a jean jacket, and one wearing a smooth brown jacket and jeans who had yellow-brown fur the color of a popcorn kernel. The last one was tying up a gagged angora doe with fluffy yellow fur. Tied up next to her, leaning against the log around the campfire were two other does: one brown and tan, and one black and white piebald. All three bunnies had terrified looks in their eyes, which the rabbits prowling around them looked on with relish.
"Don't you worry me Duckies, you just wait while we have a little nibble and then we'll go for a nice ride," sneered the yellow buck in a slick English accent.
"Hey, look vhat zey got in 'ere, Tab!" said the spotted buck to the yellow buck as he lifted up the does' cooler, "Baked beans, coleslaw, salad, carrots, kom-bu-cha! Vhere's ze marshmallows, uh?"
"Got all the sweeties we need right 'ere, Heinrich!" the kernel-colored buck stated, leering at the bound and gagged does. He crouched down next to one, grinning lecherously at her, and then Hazel saw him pull a butcher knife out of his belt and hold it to her throat, "An' I sure look forward to roasting you on a spit, Sweets! Hear ya squeal again!"
The doe didn't make a sound, but while she remained defiant Hazel could see the fear in her eyes from where he watched. His mind raced furiously, trying to think of a way to save the does and fast.
"Paws down, Louie! We eat first!" instructed Tab.
Louie reluctantly got up and sheathed his knife. "Just don't think of runnin' away, or you know what we'll do!" He threatened. He sat down on a log next to his friends opposite the does, and started digging into the food in the cooler.
Tense with fright and knowing he only had a few minutes, Hazel slowly crept out of his hiding spot and began to make a break back for his group's camp, a desperate plan beginning to form in his mind. Three bucks, armed with at least one knife. He needed help, and whatever weapons he could find.
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Finally, panting, he was back at the bus, all his fellow rabbits eyeing him tense for news.
"*Pant*, does. Three bucks are kidnapping does at the site nearby," Hazel panted, "At least one's got a knife, I didn't see any other weapons, but I have a plan and we have to act fast! They could leave any minute!"
"Hazel, come with me," croaked Bigwig. "I got weapons for you!"
Hazel made his way over to Bigwig and helped him to the bus. The lion maned buck reached under the driver's seat and pulled out an oak coloured wooden bat.
"Where did you get that?" Hazel asked.
"I got it from the scene back at Cowslip's farm," Bigwig answered, "Those drug bucks left it behind. Don't worry, the one that hit me's still in evidence." Then from under the seat, he pulled out two wooden handles, clicked them, and switchblades popped out.
"Just in case," Bigwig grinned.
Hazel hated the sight of the bladed weapons and made a mental note to lecture Bigwig later for bringing them along when they had children on the bus. "Just in case," he agreed, taking the knives and sheathing them.
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Now with weapons, Hazel gathered the group around to listen.
"Listen up, we got to rescue those does and not dawdle," Hazel stated firmly. "The kidnapper bucks are currently picking at their campfire rations but once they're done, I don't know want to think about what they'll do next. Who's coming with me?"
"I'm in," Holly began. "The Cowslip farm incident already has me prepared for more troublemakers!"
"And me! I'm not letting this happen in my hometown!" declared Strawberry.
Hazel nodded. "I also going to need someone with speed," he stated.
"I was top in track at Sandleford High!" Dandelion added stepping up. "This is a job for me!"
"I suppose I could help my friend with a distraction for those kidnappers," muttered Hawkbit coming up beside the left of Dandelion. "Guess I'm in too."
"Good, okay!" said Hazel, "Here's what we're going to do…"
000***000 "*Burp*, Kombucha vasn't so bad after all," belched Heinrich, tossing away his third can. "Strawberry vas best kind!"
"Found the marshmallows and more!" Louie yelled holding up a bag of them branded "Get Puffed Marshmallows" in his left paw and a see through sandwich bag with milk chocolate bars and Graham crackers in his right paw. "We can make s'mores!"
"I could go for some!" Laughed Tab. "Heinrich, toss me a lemon kombucha!"
"And me!" ordered Louie.
Heinrich tossed them both cans of lemon kombucha, and Louie whipped out his butcher knife and used it to pry the tab off his can.
"Oh, dearie me!" cried out a voice suddenly. The three kidnappers jumped and the three trussed does all looked round to s two rabbits peering out from behind a nearby tree. One was yellow and lanky with black-tipped ears, and the other was orange with brown over his head and ears.
"Look at those poor does! What must those bad rabbits be up to?" cried Dandelion.
"I don't know, but we must go call the police!" declared Hazel in a faux-dramatic voice, and the two turned tail and took off into the woods.
"Don't let 'em get away!" Tab hollered at Heinrich. "Louie, guard those does!" he instructed the kernel-colored buck, and he and Heinrich took off after Hazel and Dandelion.
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Hazel and Dandelion raced through the woods, moving fast but taking care to ensure the bucks could still follow. They headed east parallel to the river, opposite the direction of their own camp for the group's safety.
"Nice acting, Dandelion!" Hazel hissed between breaths while running.
"Thanks, I was tops in theatre too!" Dandelion whispered back.
The two reached a clearing, looked back, and saw the other bucks 20 yards away.
"Split up!" ordered Hazel, and he went left while Dandelion made a hard right.
"You grab the yellow one, I'll get the carrot!" Dandelion heard Tab yell. He mentally grinned as he bounded through the woods, realizing Hazel's plan of divide and conquer was working. The burly spotted buck lumbered behind him, and Dandelion could hear wheezing in his breath. He may have been tough, but he clearly wasn't accustomed to speed running.
Soon he recognized where he was, Hawkbit was here somewhere- "Psst, Hawkbit, you nearby?" Whispered Dandelion loudly.
"Over here!" hissed the grey buck in question. Up ahead behind a tree Dandelion saw Hawkbit's head sticking out.
"You remember the plan right?" Dandelion said. "Dont worry, it's in action!" Hawkbit hissed back. "Now shut up old friend, he'll get it!" He chuckled winking his left eye back. Dandelion looked down at what Hawkbit had set up, and grinned.
"Huff… huff… huff…" the pair heard heavy breathing coming up fast. Dandelion poked his head out and spied Heinrich running his direction ten yards away, and the burly buck's face went livid as he spotted Dandelion.
"Vhy, you – COME HERE!" he hollered, putting on a faster pace. He was so determined to catch Dandelion that he didn't notice the length of creeper tendrils knotted together and tied around a tree adjacent to the one Dandelion was behind.
Dandelion popped out – "BLBLBLBLBLBH!" He wiggled his thumbs in his ears and stuck his tongue out at Heinrich before turning tail and starting to run again.
"YAAAH!" Heinrich reached the pair of trees, and Hawkbit saw his cue. He yanked the creeper, the line went taut, and Heinrich tripped over it and went flying. Heinrich tumbled forward and rolled onto his left before thudding against a tree groaning greatly from how hard his back collided with it. And before he could collect his senses, Hawkbit rounded on him and bashed his head with a rock, knocking him out cold.
"Whoo, that's one down!" Whooped Dandelion.
"Not so bad, if I do say so myself," grinned Hawkbit. He held up the creeper, "C'mon, help me tie him up!"
000***000 Meanwhile, Louie prowled frantically around the campfire, brandishing his knife and casting his eyes in every direction. He wasn't an idiot – he knew there could be more rabbits around that had seen them, Tab was an idiot for trying this raid in a public park.
He heard a rustle in the bushes nearby and he jumped and swiped the air, but there was nothing there. Breathing fast, he tried to collect himself before a SNAP of a spark popped from the campfire and made him jump again. He whipped but there were only the does there. Suddenly the does' eyes widened, staring somewhere behind Louie, and the kernel-colored buck heard rustling behind him and he turned with a yell and swiped just as an old grey buck charged at him with a bat. Holly dodged back just in time, narrowly avoiding getting eviscerated.
"HRRAGH!" Louie jabbed the knife at Holly but instead of running the former captain swung back with his bat, narrowly missing Louie's head. Panting frantically, realizing he might not win this fight, Louie scrambled backwards and grabbed one of the does, the one with piebald fur, from the ground and held her in front of him as a hostage.
"Don't come any closer!" snarled Louie, holding the blade against the doe's throat, "I'll slice her like a tomato, I swear I will!" Holly tensed his grip on the bat, his teeth bared, refusing to stand down.
"Back up!" Louie shouted, twisting the knife closer, "Back up – NOW!"
Suddenly a red arm reached around, grabbed his paw holding the knife and yanked it upwards. The arm twisted, and Louie dropped the knife with a yowl as his wrist was sprained. The bound doe stomped her heel into his foot, making him let out another yowl as she wriggled out of his grip. Then Holly charged forward and smashed the bat against Louie's head and the kernel-colored buck crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
"Nice going, Strawberry," praised Holly as he willed his heartrate to slow down from his scare before.
"Thanks, nothing builds up the muscles better than farm work," replied Strawberry, who had just sprained Louie's wrist with a speed that would have made a marine proud.
"Mmf! Mmf! MMMF!" Moaned the piebald doe beside them, struggling against her bonds and trying to speak through the gag in her mouth.
"Don't worry, we'll get you out in a jiffy!" soothed Strawberry as he whipped out the knife Hazel had given him to cut her bonds.
"MMMF! MMMMF!" cried the doe, her eyes bulging wildly.
Sensing something was wrong Holly knelt next to her and untied her gag.
"HE'S GOT A GUN!" the doe screamed.
Holly's ears shot up in shock. "What? Which one?" he asked frantically.
"The yellow one! Tab!" the doe yelled, gesturing her head in the direction Tab and Heinrich had gone.
000***000 Hazel pelted through the woods as fast as his legs could carry him, the yellow buck Tab slowly gaining on him. Hazel hadn't had time to coordinate an ambush spot with another buck like Dandelion, so he had gone off alone with the plan of ambushing Tab with a rock the first chance he got, defending himself with the other switchblade knife if it came to that.
Unfortunately this section of the woods was rougher than he had anticipated, and it was all he could do to keep ahead of Tab as he dodged around bushes and trees. He was near a clearing, he could see a tree he could hide behind-
"OOF!" Hazel's foot caught on a tree root and the orange sprawled across the forest floor. Feeling a cut on his knee Hazel looked back, and saw Tab gaining on him. Hazel slowly felt his back pocket, gripping the handle of the switchblade knife.
"STOP!" Tab yelled. As he ran he reached into the back of his pants and then he pulled out something that made Hazel's heart stop as he realized what it was: a gun.
"Stop or I'll shoot!" Tab shouted.
Knowing he was a dead buck if Tab caught up with him Hazel scrambled to his feet and ran, frightened adrenalin running through his veins now. He could have fought Tab himself, but the fire stick changed everything. Up ahead he could suddenly hear the river running, and a new desperate plan formed in his mind: if he could jump in the river, the current might take him away.
"STOP!" Tab bellowed, as his thumb pulled back the hammer of the gun…
000***000 Back on the bus where the rest of the Sandleford group were hiding at the nearby campsite, a familiar aura suddenly came over Fiver. He gasped and shuddered, swaying in his seat, and then suddenly the feeling grew and amplified until it overwhelmed him, filling his brain with pain like a cluster headache.
"Fiver, what's wrong?" Blackberry asked, moving over to Fiver's seat.
"Errgh! AAAGH!" Fiver clutched at his head as images flashed through his mind: a running rabbit, a tree root, a river, a fire stick in a yellow rabbit's paw. Rabbit, root, river, fire stick, repeating over and over in flashes going faster and faster.
"Fiver? Fiver! Come on baby, talk to me!" Blackberry yelled, shaking him. Next to her Bigwig joined in.
"Uh-ugghh…" Fiver groaned unresponsively, his body shaking and his bulging eyes rolling back in his head.
"Fiver? Fiver, can you hear me? Listen to the tone of my voice!" Bigwig frantically interjected.
"AHHHH!"
Fiver burst out of his reverie with a snap, "HAZEL!" he yelled.
BANG!
Oh no, Fiver is having a terrible vision and Hazel is outrunning a buck with a gun! Care for the answer? Stick around as there is a 7th chapter coming soon!
Author's note: Dandelion's tale of Rowsby Woof is based on Rowsby Dog where Elaraih tricked him using the same disguise but is edited to remove as much human connections as possible and the howling performance is based on the trick Elaraih says that running around howling will ge of great service.
