Jamie and Snitter made their way through the forest, heading towards Hannah's home. With the scratch on her left haunch still sore, making it difficult for her to walk, instead of walking, the mouse had hitched a ride on the boy's shoulders. With her riding in his jacket hood like a kangaroo joey in its mother's pouch, while whispering directions in his ear, Jamie led the way.
Despite his fascination with the changed world he had found himself in, Jamie didn't take long to realise how difficult it was trekking through this wilderness unprepared. Although he had some past experience from all the camping trips with his father, he was hardly prepared for such a walk, with his blue jeans, sports jumper and trainers, which were obviously only meant for street walking rather than muddy, overgrown terrain.
Within minutes, his shoes were a pair of mud pies, his clothes all shredded and covered in thorns and weeds. Even Snitter, although intrigued by all the new scents of this strange place, was also having a hard time with all the brambles snagging his freshly groomed fur without end. Jamie finally found a solution to the problem by cutting a long, stout stick into a staff and using it to brush the thick undergrowth aside as they walked along.
After about an hour of quiet walking, they came to the Enborne River; or at least, what Jamie believed to be the same river where he and his father would often go canoeing or fishing on weekends. Like the rest of the countryside, the river, although still recognisable, had swollen in volume overnight, reaching almost the size of the Thames. Bending down for a drink, Jamie also realised the water, which normally had the faint flavour of oil from pollution, was now as clean as an untouched natural spring with a strong taste of iron; a perfect means for good digestion, according to his mother.
"Thinial is further downriver. I was walking along here with a friend and we foolishly wandered away from the river and came to a clearing in the woods; that's where I got snatched away…" Hannah muttered, suddenly remembering, " Oh Frith, I hope someone came looking for Rosebud; she'll never be able to find her way back to the warren on her own..." the mouse said, suddenly sounding alarmed. Jamie frowned in confusion.
"I thought rabbits had a fantastic sense of smell and could find their way back to their warren with little trouble; at least that's what my mother says anyway. She's a veterinarian you know, that's an…animal healer of sorts. Hannah? What's the matter?" All of a sudden, Hannah's excited attitude had turned sad and worried. As Jamie took her up into his hands to comfort her, she explained.
"The warren where I live is a quarantine colony," she said, "The rabbits there are surviving victims of a terrible plague that swept the Meadows of Fenlo long ago. The White Blindness took away the eyesight and sense of smell of hrair individuals; those that survived the initial outbreak ended holed up at Thinial, blind and helpless." Jamie frowned, realising what this 'White Blindness' was, having seen it many times before from patients in his mother's infirmary.
"That's the Myxomatosis virus you're talking about; my mother regularly vaccinates pet rabbits, to keep them immune from the disease. But, anyway, how do you come into the picture? I mean, no offence, but living in a plague warren, isn't it a little…extreme?"
"It is depressing," Hannah admitted, "My family weren't born there however; we had our own den not too far from here. Then, one day, when I was still a pinkie, we were driven out by a swarm of invading rats. My father Jonathan, injured in the attack, was soon picked off by an owl, along with my siblings Timothy, Martin, Teresa and Cynthia. My mother Brisby and I made it to Thinial, where she became a guide-mouse for the blind, in exchange for food and shelter. I took over her duties after she passed away, which is how I earn my keep to this day." At this point, Jamie finally realised the cause of his little friend's concern; it was her blind companion, who had been left on her own after Hannah had been snatched away, leaving her lost out there with no way to get back.
"Then we have to find your friend," he said, "A blind and scentless rabbit won't last long out here without help. Do you remember where you got separated?" Hannah thought hard for a moment; mostly because of her small size, being snatched away by a hawk and then dumped onto Jamie's glider in mid-flight, had made her lose all sense of direction.
"Well," Hannah, struggling to think, "we were walking along the riverbank somewhere around here. Rosebud is the ward of the Chieftess, whom is entrusted into my care. Being young, she likes making the most of life despite her disability, the foolish girl. Because of her blindness, our Chieftess, Flyairth had ordered her to always follow the same route along the riverbank, so she could find her way back alone in an emergency. Anyway, she begged me to take her a little ways into the woods today, away from the river. I don't know what got into me and let her persuade me to take her off the trail. If something's happened to her, I'll never forgive myself. Oh Frith…" she muttered, holding back tears of shame and worry.
"It's all right Hannah," Jamie reassured his friend, holding her close to comfort her, "We all tend to go above the rules every once in a while; that hawk could have gotten you anywhere out here…" Unfortunately, Hannah was far from reassured that she was not to blame.
"If I had insisted we stay on the trail, as per the rules of her training, she could have waited for help to arrive. If she's lost, she'll never find her way home and nobody back at the warren can help her, if they can't see or even smell her! And I don't even remember exactly where I lost her! Frith, what have I done…?" Seeing her close to tears again, Jamie held her close to comfort her, "Hush, I know just the guy for the job."
Turning to Snitter, he saw his faithful dog had already picked up a scent; sure enough, bending down, he saw, what he knew were, Hannah and Rosebud's paw prints in the mud along the riverbank. A little way further down, they turned and headed into the woods, straight towards the clearing where they had run foul of the hawk, just as Jamie had seen from his glider. Thinking back, he could vaguely remember seeing that rabbit, which he hadn't been able to recognise because of her enlarged size, flee, while the hawk had carried Hannah away, dropping her onto his lap.
"If we can get Snitter to pick up your trail, he might lead us straight to the place," Jamie said, thinking up a plan, "Hopefully, she might not have panicked and stayed put where you got separated. Your trail should lead us straight to her…" he paused, realising that even if they could make their way back to the attack point, Snitter wouldn't know which trail to follow, since he didn't know Rosebud's scent. Unless…
"Hannah, when you were with Rosebud, did you touch her, ride on her back, or do anything that might have left her scent on you?"
"Well, I do ride on her back most of the time, giving her directions, unless we are following an unfamiliar trail – like today -, when she holds onto my tail, until she has memorized the new route. Why, do I smell like a rabbit or something?" the mouse replied indignantly, probably thinking Jamie was pulling her leg. She was caught by surprise when Jamie suddenly placed her close to Snitter's nose for another sniff.
"Hey, what in Frith's name are you doing? No, stop that! I can't stand it!" she squealed, as Snitter sniffed her all over again, tickling her. Ignoring her protests, Jamie kept it up.
"Good boy Snitter! You smell that? Good, now I need you to find it! You understand me, boy? Go, boy, go!" he said, trying a trick his father had taught Snitter, to sniff out hambones they would hide around the house. Although not as good as Snitter knowing Rosebud's actual scent, maybe the traces she had left on the mouse would work as a homing beacon for Snitter's sense of smell, if she hadn't wondered too far away. The dog seemed to understand his master's plan as he soon picked up the trail on the riverbank, following it through the woods. The tracks soon disappeared in the thick undergrowth, leaving only the scent, which was only traceable to Snitter's powerful sense of smell, for them to follow.
Soon, they came to a meadow; the place where Jamie had seen Hannah and Rosebud being attacked by the hawk. Suddenly, his foot kicked something artificial in the grass. Bending down, he picked up a black, metal fragment, which he recognised as the broken radio antenna from his glider, which had been knocked off in the collision. A few yards away, in the shadows of the trees, were some patches of broken earth, looking as if, whoever had left the trail had suddenly burst into a run, apparently in a state of panic. The three companions could see Rosebud's tracks zigzagging, indicating she had been running blindly about, trying to coordinate herself without the help of her guide-mouse. The tracks led back to the edge of the meadow and disappeared into the thick foliage, heading back in the direction of the river…more or less.
"Looks like she tried to double back on her own; although she's isn't completely retracing her steps, she's still heading back towards the river alright," Jamie said, realising that the doe, unable to see or smell her way back, had instead resorted to her only remaining sense: her hearing, which was greatly enhanced by her long-term blindness, gave her a good advantage. In contrast to Hannah, who only had a normal, healthy mouse's sense of hearing, Rosebud's, which was at least twice as sensitive, could pinpoint the way back to the riverbank by listening to the sound of the water in the distance.
Suddenly, Hannah, who had also been sniffing around in the undergrowth for her friend's trail, gave a gasp of terror as she picked up another scent, "Frith of Inle, please don't let it be what I think it is…"
"What's the matter?" asked Jamie, bending for a closer look. He could see Hannah had found another trail left by another unknown creature, which joined Rosebud's, apparently following her. At first glance, it seemed of little importance, as the tracks were incredibly small, hardly bigger than Hannah's. It was only the mouse's response that made Jamie realise the problem.
"Rat! There is a rat after Rosebud!" she shrieked in horror, "Those foul creatures are always terrorising the warren; biting and tormenting rabbits out on silflay, who can't drive them off because of their blindness and lack of scent…" They were suddenly caught off-guard by a fearful scream that filled the air, coming from the direction of the river. Jamie turned to Hannah, "Sounds like there's trouble! Come on!"
The trio hurried back towards the river, heading in the direction of the scream. Snitter, who seemed to sense the urgency of the situation, was already running up ahead, his superior speed giving him an advantage over his master and Hannah. Soon, he had vanished through the foliage and out of sight. Then, Jamie and Hannah heard it; the scream again, followed by Snitter's furious growling and the painful squeaks of a rat being mauled. Their hearts in their mouths, they dashed through the trees, ignoring the branches painfully brushing against them.
Bursting out of the trees on the riverbank, a terrible sight met their eyes: Snitter was caught in a furious fight with a giant rat, the size of a poodle; the fox terrier, although obviously not a trained bloodhound, had the vile creature by the neck, while the rat, with its ugly grey fur and evil red eyes, was biting and clawing furiously at its attacker, drawing blood. Then Jamie noticed the blind doe, which Snitter was trying to protect, striding blindly nearby, feeling for a way out; they had found Rosebud in the nick of time.
Rosebud was a brown, mousy-furred rabbit, and, like all other rabbits in this world, almost Jamie's size. However, like Hannah had told him, the doe looked horribly unhealthy, with shabby, fading fur and milk-white eyes, which were lined with ghastly tumours, a testament to the Myxomatosis infection she carried. And currently, the doe, blind and unable to see what was going on, looked utterly terrified from the sounds of Snitter's snarls and the rat's shrieks, undoubtedly thinking she was about to be attacked herself. Sure enough, as she blindly felt her way around, trying to get away, she tripped over the edge of a ledge overlooking the river and fell into the water.
"No! Rosebud!" Hannah shrieked, as she and Jamie rushed over to the water's edge. Without her eyesight or sense of smell to help her find her way back to shore, the poor creature was thrashing about blindly in the water, about to drown. Jamie's heart skipped a beat; he had seen animals about to die up close before, but seeing a creature, which he knew, could talk and feel like a human being, was utterly horrifying.
Struggling to maintain a grip on himself and think straight, he looked around desperately, for anything he could use to help her. Although he was a good swimmer, the doe was already in the deep part of the river, where the current was strongest, making it too dangerous to swim in after her, and she was too far out to catch her with a branch. All Jamie and Hannah could do was to follow along the bank, watching her quickly losing the battle with the ruthless current.
Meanwhile, the mauled rat had escaped Snitter's grasp and was running for its life; it run past Jamie, heading down the riverbank, onto a fallen tree that formed a bridge across the river, onto the opposite bank and out of sight. The sight of the tree lying vertically across the river, instantly gave Jamie an idea. Ignoring Snitter's barking of the escaped enemy, he stepped onto the rotting tree trunk, which creaked dangerously under his weight, as if about to give way. But it held. Lying down flat on his stomach, grasping his knife in one hand, he jabbed the blade into the rotting wood to anchor himself down, and reached out to the water with the other...
Just as the drowning doe drifted past, under the tree, Jamie grabbed hold of her ears; instantly, a tug-of-war commenced between himself and the water, each trying to claim the rabbit. The old tree continued to creak dangerously beneath him, unable to withstand the weight much longer. Suddenly, the end lying on the opposite bank finally gave way, causing the tree to splash down into the water, with the other end on Jamie's side about to give way any second.
Just as Jamie was facing the dilemma, to either let go of the doe and save himself, or else risk getting swallowed up with her, he felt Snitter grab hold of his trouser leg, pulling him back. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Hannah riding on Snitter's shoulders, using the dog's ears as reigns; while Jamie had been preoccupied with saving Rosebud, the mouse, seeing her friend in danger, had rushed up to the dog and stirred him back, to help his master.
With Snitter's help, Jamie managed to drag himself backwards off the tree and onto the bank, the unconscious doe under his arm. Not a moment too soon, the last few remaining roots keeping the fallen tree anchored to shore finally snapped and then it vanished downstream and out of sight. On the opposite bank, Jamie caught sight of the rat, all bloodied and battered, tended to by, what appeared to be, some of its fellow denmates. Jamie gave the foul creatures a triumphant sneer, as the rats, now permanently cut off from the side of the river where the warren was, squeaking furiously back at him as they turned and headed back towards their den, sulking.
Turning his attention back to the doe he had just saved, Jamie saw Rosebud, although seemingly still alive, appeared to be in a state of deep shock from the ordeal, unconscious and unresponsive. Jamie hesitated; what was he suppose to do? Okay, come on Jamie, think! he thought desperately, Animal in shock… What did mum say? Oh yes, keep warm and peaceful.
"All right, Hannah help me here!" he said, taking off his jacket to use as a blanket. Carefully wrapping up the doe in his jacket and zipping it up, to make her as comfortable as possible, he laid her down to rest. It was then that he heard the faint gurgling noise in her throat; in her panic, the doe had inhaled water, which was now obstructing her airway, chocking her.
"Drat, she is chocking! Now what?"
Despite his furious thinking, he couldn't remember what he was supposed to do; he could vaguely remember something his father had once described to him, of a man who had been chocking on a swallowed marble, forcing his companion to puncture a hole in his throat to save his life. Although he was tempted to try and cut a bypass in the doe's throat with his knife, to drain out the water, without any experience in such a drastic procedure, he felt it was too dangerous. Then, he suddenly remembered; the SAS survival guide his father had given him for his birthday! That little book had the instructions he needed.
Hurryingly taking it out from his pocket, he hastily flipped through the pages, looking through the first aid section, under the heading Chocking and Drowning.
"'Place in emergency position and slap hard over back to stimulate retching when the victim coughs.' That's it!" Following the illustrated diagram and praying the procedure worked for animals as well as humans, he placed the doe on her belly, keeping her head turned sideways, letting all the water and mucus in her throat drain out onto the grass. For a moment, there was still no response and Jamie feared he might be too late; then, suddenly the doe started coughing violently, chocking up the rest of the water. Jamie gave her a few gentle slaps on the back, weary of hurting her, until her breathing returned to normal. It was then that she realised she had company.
"Yao…Pli lay thli?" she muttered, her sightless eyes staring vacantly between Jamie, Snitter and Hannah. Because of her blindness and lack of sense of smell, she could only feel the strange texture of the unfamiliar, yet warm fabric of Jamie's jumper wrapped snugly around her, the nose of some unseen creature, which was Snitter, sniffing her, as well as an unfamiliar voice speaking in Hedgerow to another very familiar voice…
"Hannah?" she gasped, recognising the voice of her friend and guide, whom she undoubtedly believed to be dead. Sure enough, Hannah snuggled up close to her friend's face to reassure her, "Zyz yen, atha-rusami. A hli yen." For an instant the doe looked overjoyed as she continued conversing with Hannah in that strange language Jamie couldn't understand, as the mouse apparently told her what had happened. He saw the doe gasp in shock at Hannah's words, muttering something that sounded like concern, before suddenly leaping to her feet in horror and blindly backing away. Jamie felt his insides coil up in anticipation as he realised Hannah must have told Rosebud that it was a human and his dog that had saved them both. And currently, the realisation that this human was standing beside her had the blind doe on edge with fear.
"It's all right, I am not going to hurt you," Jamie said, reaching out to pat the doe, who only shrunk back in fear. Despite her obvious fear of him, Jamie could tell his talking abilities had definitely caught her interest, as her sightless eyes stared vacantly in his direction, wide as saucers. Meanwhile, Hannah was desperately still trying to reassure her in that strange language of theirs; whatever she was telling her, it seemed to work somewhat as she gently approached and felt his hand with her ulcer-swollen nose, its dead scent glands sniffing uselessly at nothing. Although she cringed at his touch, Jamie gently patted her on the nose and then between the ears, trying to reassure her of his good intentions. Sure enough, she finally found her voice and spoke, this time in English, "Who…who are you?"
Before Jamie could reply however, the group was startled by a loud voice coming from the bushes. Suddenly, another giant rabbit appeared out of the bushes; this one was larger and much older than Rosebud, with greying fur and whiskers, yet in contrast to her, still had his eyesight, judging from those pale hazel irises that instantly came to rest on Jamie, with a furious glare.
Before the boy knew what was happening, the buck had leapt forward, stood on its forelegs, swinging its hind legs at Jamie. Despite his old age, he could still kick amazingly hard; the blow came with great force and strength, hitting Jamie directly in the stomach and sending him flying. With a violent blow, his head struck a nearby rock; before everything went black around him, he caught a glimpse of Snitter, furious at seeing his master attacked, spring at the old rabbit in a vicious counter-attack, while Hannah and Rosebud struggled to break up the conflict…
Author's note: For those of you who have read my first story will notice that this is written along the same lines with the first. Don't get bored yet; I do intend to retain some similarities in the plot but include many differences as well. The parts with the effects of Myxomatosis are based on real medical reports of infected rabbits and I try to be as realistic as possible in my description of blind rabbits adjusting. Even Hannah's role as a 'guide-mouse' for the blind has been observed with domesticated rabbits housed with guinea pigs, so I suppose it could work. Enjoy and please review!