Chapter 4-A Fight in the Night
Pipkin walked down the high hill, determined to find something for Sam to eat. Even with the improved night vision that comes from being a rabbit, he still stumbled over unseen obstacles during his trek. Eventually, he got to the bottom of the hill and stopped to consider where to look. He might have some luck if he searched in the nearby woods, but then he might not either. Instead, he decided to try a solo raid on Nuthanger Farm, where he was guaranteed to find something. "It might be dangerous," he whispered to himself, "but if no one else will help him, I guess it's up to me." With that in mind, he set off toward Nuthanger Farm.
At the same time on Watership Down, Sam was getting as good of a sleep as one can when sleeping on dirt, when he woke suddenly to find himself in a familiar position: pinned by Bigwig. Before he could formulate some response, Bigwig yelled in his face, "Where is he, ithè?! What did you do to him?!"
Sam was about to ask what he was talking about, when Hazel and the others appeared in the entrance to Sam's burrow. "Bigwig," Hazel said immediately, "what are you doing? Get off of him!"
"I will bloody well not!" Bigwig responded. "I woke up and Pipkin was gone! This ithè must have done something to him. He's not the type to just up and run off like that! Now," he said turning back to Sam, "where is he?"
Sam was just as surprised as the rest of them that Pipkin was gone. "Wait," he said, "Pipkin's gone? I didn't do anything you moron, now get…off of me." He finished by shoving Bigwig off of him like he did the day before. "I don't know where he is either, but don't you think we should be looking for him, instead of wasting your time accusing me?"
Bigwig was about to begin arguing, but Dandelion cut in, "He's right, chaps. We need to focus on Pipkin, before the elil catch wind of him." Saying this made everyone remember the issue at hand and soon everyone, except Kehaar and Hannah who could not see in the darkness, were out searching the down.
A little ways away from the down, a mouse was out trying to find a meal under the cover of night. As the little thing was looking about for stray seeds, it suddenly heard a twig snap. Without a second thought, it bolted into a nearby hole in the ground, just in time to escape the gaping maw of a weasel. The weasel looked down the hole and said in a smooth sleazy voice, "Come out little mousey, I not going to hurt you." But the mouse was smarter than that, and stayed right where it was.
Frustrated, the weasel went off to try and find easier prey. Just then, it came across the scent trail of a small rabbit that was traveling alone in the night. "Mmm," it said to itself, "longears," as it turned to follow the scent.
Pipkin had been walking for almost half an hour when he came up to the stone fence that surrounded Nuthanger Farm. As he looked through the hole in the fence, he saw that there were no elil around, since the cat and the dog were sleeping. Emboldened by this fact, Pipkin crept into the field and began looking around for something he could carry back easily. After a few minutes, he had two large carrots that he grabbed by the green parts and began to head back to the down. Unfortunately with the carrots that close to his nose, he could not smell anything else.
The weasel followed the scent to a hole in a stone fence. It figured the rabbit would be coming back through that hole, only full of food so it could not move as fast. The weasel waited and sure enough, out came a rabbit, half dragging half carrying two carrots. While this was not quite what the weasel had in mind when he thought "full of food," it did not alter its plan at all. It waited until the rabbit was in a good position for an ambush, then it pounced.
It had not taken the rabbits very long to pick up Pipkin's scent, and soon they were all following it toward Nuthanger Farm. But it also did not take very long before they found the weasel's scent right behind Pipkin's. Bigwig was the first one to find it, so he was in the lead followed closely by Sam who happened to be close by at the time. The rest of the rabbits were some yards back, and the distance was quickly increasing.
Hawkbit was breathing heavily, but still managed to think out loud. "When did Bigwig get so fast? And how in Frith's name is Sam actually keeping up with him?"
Even though the question was rhetorical, Fiver answered, "They're both worried. Bigwig feels guilty for letting him sneak out in the first place. With his owsla senses, it's kind of surprising. And as for Sam, Pipkin got pretty close to him the other day, closer than the rest of us bothered to get. So of course he'd be worried." Fiver sighed in regret. "Pipkin is essentially Sam's only friend right now."
"Well come ON then," said Dandelion as he put on a burst of his trademark speed. "What kind of rabbits are we if we get beaten by a human?" That got the rest of them running a bit faster too, but Bigwig and Sam were still pulling away.
As Bigwig and Sam sped on, they could see the fence of Nuthanger Farm coming up. As they got closer, they heard a surprised yell echo in the night. "Pipkin!" said Sam and Bigwig simultaneously. The two ran a little further and found Pipkin cornered against the wall looking terrified, and a weasel looking menacingly at him. Wasting no time, Sam and Bigwig launched an assault on the surprised weasel. Sam circled to one side and delivered two quick slashes with his staff. He had attacked the blade on the ends as he ran, preparing for a fight. Using the distraction, Bigwig tackled the weasel from the other side, knocking it to the ground as Sam danced out of the way.
Sam took the opportunity to cast a quick glance at Pipkin to make sure he was alright. He looked scared, but otherwise just fine. The weasel quickly recovered from the assault, and turned to lash out at the thing closest to it, which just so happened to be Sam. Sam ducked and avoided the jaws that were aimed at his neck, but he was caught along the shoulder with a wicked slash from the weasel's claws and went down with a cry of pain.
As the weasel was getting closer, apparently not as surprised as the rabbits at a human his size, Sam saw an opportunity. "Bigwig," he yelled, "get Pipkin out of here! I'll be fine, just go!" Bigwig shot Sam a glare that he returned, then nodded, grabbed Pipkin by the scruff of the neck, and ran. That taken care of, Sam focused his attention on the weasel closing in.
As the weasel again sprang at Sam and tried to tear out his throat, but failed as Sam held up his staff and caught the shaft between the weasel's jaws. Its weight pushed Sam to the ground, and the weasel stood over him, attempting to use its weight to power through Sam's guard. With the injury on his shoulder from earlier, Sam could feel his strength going fast. He thought it was over when suddenly the weight was taken off his arms and the staff was wrenched out of his hands.
Dandelion slowly broke away from the rest of the rabbits and came across Bigwig with Pipkin in tow. "Pipkin! Bigwig!" he yelled, "Are you alright? Where's Sam?"
Pipkin, still nearly tharn, managed to speak. "He…he's still…fighting the weasel. We need to…to help him! This is…all my fault." Dandelion gasped and ran back the way Pipkin and Bigwig had come and saw Sam pinned down by the weasel. Without thinking, Dandelion tackled the weasel off of Sam while trying to claw at its face. Although caught by surprise by his sudden appearance, the weasel wasted no time in fighting back, and quickly overpowered Dandelion.
By that time, all the other rabbits had caught up. Hazel and Hawkbit wrestled the weasel away from Dandelion, and in no time it was surrounded. The weasel, seeing he was gravely outnumbered, tried to look for a way out. "You'll find no meal here embleer weasel!" yelled Hazel. "Now leave here, and never return!" And Hazel backed away, giving the weasel a hole to run.
It darted through the hole, but it turned back and said, "We not done here, longears. I be back. When you not watching, I be back." It was about to continue its escape, when suddenly, it was thrown off its feet by an attack on its side. Before anyone could respond, Sam sunk one end of his staff into the weasel's throat with a sickening squishing sound, killing it instantly. He tore the blade out and began to clean it off in the grass, when he noticed the looks on the rabbits' faces. Everyone stared at him in terror.
"What?" Sam said, confused. "Did I do something wrong?"
The rabbits did not say anything, they just stared. Hawkbit was the first to move. He did not say anything, he just turn and ran away as quickly as he could. Sam looked after him in confusion. "Um…what-" He broke off as Dandelion and Blackberry followed Hawkbit back, both staying as far from Sam as they could. Fear was evident in their eyes. Fiver was the next to leave, as he went, he gave Sam a look filled with such sadness that it almost broke his heart. That left just Hazel.
Hazel gave Sam a hesitant look before speaking. "I…guess that's it then."
The tone in the chief's voice surprised Sam. "Are you alright, Hazel? What's wrong?"
"I just…" He trailed off, scaring Sam even more. Hazel was not known for being uncertain. "I wasn't expecting such…absolute action."
Sam felt the need to justify himself. "I didn't mean to alarm anyone. But you heard that weasel: it fully intended on coming back. I know it may have been a bit abrupt, but I might have saved someone's life by-" he took a small step toward Hazel, and froze when the chief jumped backwards. Sam stopped, and stood as still as he could. "Hazel, what's the matter? You're acting like I'm going to hurt you."
"And why would I think that?!" Hazel shouted suddenly. "What do you not get about this situation? We were scared to even let you into the warren, and then you go and show such power? You aren't even trained! This was the first real example we've had of just how dangerous you really are. I just…I have to go." With no further warning, Hazel turned and ran back towards the down, leaving Sam alone.
After Hazel left, Sam just sunk to his knees. What did I do? Sam thought to himself. I didn't think…I was only trying to help! With nothing else to do, Sam stood and followed Hazel slowly back to the down.
Meanwhile, the rabbits had gathered with Bigwig and Pipkin and were all making their way back to Watership Down. Bigwig noticed that everyone looked off, and asked what was wrong. After hearing the full story he proclaimed, "I knew it! I knew that ithe wasn't to be trusted! Hazel, we have to get rid of him, look how easily he killed that weasel, he could do that to all of us with just a thought! He's too dangerous!"
Pipkin piped in, "But he hasn't done anything to us. Maybe he could hurt us all, but he hasn't. The weasel would have killed me if Sam hadn't helped. Why does it matter if he's dangerous if he's on our side?" The question hung in the air as all the other rabbits avoided Pipkin's questioning stare. They were all thinking the same thing: had it been a rabbit that had done that, he would have been hailed as a hero. But it wasn't, it was Sam, a human. None of the rabbits could bear to say anything about it, until Fiver piped up.
"I forgive him, and I still trust him." Those were the last words said by the group until they got back to the down.
Sam got back to the down about ten minutes after the rabbits did. He looked at the hole for a while, and then went to sit on the hillside and look at the moon. Man, I really messed up, he thought with a sigh. I hope they'll forgive me, I didn't mean to push them away even more, I was just trying to help. I will fix this, I swear it. With that last thought, he fell asleep on the hill with a tear running down his cheek.