Chapter 8 – In Toad Hall

The Water Rat was hauled up into the butler's pantry, glad of being out of that narrow tunnel at last. "Never mind your things, Rat," said the Wizard, "You can get them later if you must."

"I take it that it's good news?" asked the Water Rat, anxious for reassurance.

"The best: these 'guests' of Fox, they're elves, all of them, and that silly animal never realised!"

As in a dream Water Rat was led into the banqueting room, where in a pool of light beneath one great chandelier sat Badger, Otter, a rabbit whom the Rat did not know, and three strangers. The rest of the great room was in darkness, for the curtains were drawn and it was dusk outside, but he could make out several more of the tall strangers standing or walking in the gloom. As they came in the three seated strangers stood, gave a nodding bow to the wizard and himself and sat down again. The Water Rat was led to join them, and he found himself seated next to Badger.

Of the rest of that evening and night the Water Rat retained only a few memories, some hazy, others like vivid tableaux. He could picture the rabbit, fast asleep, being carried out of the room by three or four elves. He remembered being amazed and delighted by the fruit, bread and wine that was placed in front of him. He could not recall too well the actual tastes and flavours, but they were unlike anything that had ever come from his own widely-provisioned larder. He had seen his Cola and Portly being ushered in, and one of the seated elves getting up and making a deep bow to Portly, solemnly addressing the young otter in a language he did not know. He clearly remembered getting up and gently bringing Cola to sit next to him, telling her in whispers that the strange men were in fact elves, and friends of Radagast.

He thought he had heard strange music, sweet and sad at the same time, which spoke to him very like the voice of the River. There was the ever-present background murmur of quiet speech in a strange language, as Radagast and the elves talked and talked. He remembered being led, half asleep, from the room while Badger, Otter and Radagast talked on with the elves. He thought he had seen Otter and Radagast talking together, and his last thought as he drifted off to sleep was that Otter might suddenly realise that he was talking to a wanted man.

He awoke in the morning to find himself sprawled on a sofa in Toad Hall's grand salon cuddled up with a sleeping Cola. Bright sunlight was streaming through the great windows straight onto his face. Portly was talking to him.

"Mr Water Rat, are you awake? Father has already gone, taking that rabbit back to the Wood on foot. I'm leaving now, taking one of our rowing boats home; mother will be worried as we've been gone all night."

Ratty was always quick to wake. "Yes of course, Portly. Cola and I will take the other one down stream to your place for you. And do call me Ratty, there's a good fellow. What did that elf say to you last night when you came in, he seemed to regard you a person of some distinction?"

"The wizard translated it for me. It was: 'Welcome to one under the protection of the great Pan.'"

"Pan! Goodness me. But what did he mean?"

"That's the odd thing mister …err… Ratty. The wizard said to ask you. He said that if you tried hard you would remember!"

Ratty looked around. Apart from Portly and Cola, who was still clinging to him in her sleep, he could see no one in the room. "Where is everybody?"

"Badger is on that settle behind you; it was his snoring that woke me earlier this morning. We all, apart from the elves and your wizard, spent the end of the night here. He, the wizard that is, is still talking to the elves over breakfast. Why don't the two of you," and he indicated Cola, who was beginning to stir, "join them and get something to eat. Leave Mr Badger to his sleep."

Radagast, however, was alone in the banqueting hall, and was helping himself to breakfast things from the sideboard when they came in. "Well, well! You did say, you two, that you were no particular friends of Fox, didn't you." They nodded. "It's a complicated tale, and you don't need to know it all, but it very much seems that Fox has a lot to answer for."

"Was he the 'anonymous patriot' who put up that one hundred pounds reward?" asked Cola. "Does he have your staff?"

"I still do not know where my staff is, or whether my chest is here somewhere. As far as I know Fox is ignorant of my existence; he may come to learn of it bye and bye when I get round to him. From what the elves tell me, he has been cheating on one and all. You said that Fox had been treating his guests like royalty, and so he had – with their own money. It was their money Fox used to rent this place and pay the stoats while they were here. It is their money he's spending doing up that old house of his. Money that should have been spent for the good of the community!

"There are many small elven companies in the world, each of which go their own way. Well, one rich clan decided some time ago to make charitable donations, and they used Fox's father as their agent. They gave him some of their accumulated treasure, silver and jewels mainly, which he converted into cash and spent locally: a school and almshouses in the village; a small infirmary in the town; low-rent cottages for animals and so on. They came to trust him and made the mistake of trusting his son. They finally learnt their error when they discovered what he was telling the stoats who worked here. The elves gave valuable little gifts as compensation to those stoats whose services were not needed; Fox then told the stoats that these gifts were merely trinkets, worthless gewgaws. Small wonder that there was bad blood between stoat and elf! Badger has agreed to talk to the stoats and see what can be done to sort things out."

"Indeed I have," said Badger, who had been listening for some time, un-noticed in the doorway. "Breakfast first though. Leave some of that bacon, if you don't mind, Ratty. I'll need a good breakfast before the hike to the Wild Wood."

"We can give you a ride most of the way, Badger. One of Otter's rowing boats is still tied up by the boathouse," said the Water Rat. "Cola and I can take you as least as far as Otter's."

The four animals sat down to a solid English breakfast, too hungry for further conversation. When Cola had finished her second cup of Darjeeling she asked Radagast where their hosts were, meaning the elves.

"They have asked to be excused," he said, "They have a lot to do in the little time left before they go."

"And you, Radagast," she asked, "what will you do? Are you staying with them now?"

"Here seems as good as anywhere. Otter knows I'm here, but we have become acquainted and he will not be coming back to arrest me. His constable did not notice me – rabbits are easily tricked. My chest may be here, and I will not leave while there is a chance of finding it. The elves have offered to search, and I will continue after they have gone."

"Where are they going," asked Cola, "back home?"

"Do you want the short answer or the long one? In short, they are going on: out of this world to Elvenhome. Most have already gone. That was no ordinary storm yesterday; it was a sending of the Valar. The Elder Ones, the ancient elves I told you about, who have faded in men's eyes to seem no more than phantoms, they were all taken by it. Toad Hall has been hosting more than a few elves; every elf in Western Europe has gathered here in preparation for their great and final journey. Very soon there will be no elves left here or in the wide world; they will never be seen again by living men. Or animals."

Ratty and Cola sat holding paws, absorbing this news, for to them it was no small thing to come upon something so wonderful as a gathering of elves, only to be told that it was to be lost to them very soon. Badger, who obviously knew all this already, ambled over to the sideboard and refilled his plate: "I can manage with little sleep, but only on a full stomach."

Soon they were in the rowing boat down by the boathouse, Cola and Ratty seated close together with an oar each, and Badger filling the other seat. Radagast came down to see them off, and he thanked all three for their hospitality. "We shall meet again in a day or two I expect."

He handed a heavy little pull-cord bag to Badger, "For the stoats, you know what to say to them."