Chapter 1 – Weary & Helpless
The shadow outline of a small figure suddenly moved across a well-furnished but straightforward bedroom by the flickering light of a slowly dying fire in the room's ornate fireplace. A grey doe bunny wearing a charcoal-colored dress suddenly stopped by a tri-fold mirror vanity before opening and closing its drawers. The doe removed a few items from the vanity's surface top and carried them over to a velvet-colored travel bag perched on the end of a mattress, placing them inside. Securing the travel bag's clasp, the doe's mind, still battling with emotions from recent events, slid the travel bag off the bed. A soft chime from a small mantel clock in the room announced the still-dark early morning's quarter-hour. Clutching it in her paws, the doe turned to look about the room one last time before proceeding to the room's door on her ears raised high above her, she carefully listens for sounds as she slowly opens the door to her bedroom, enough to slip through.
Cautiously, she gazed along the seemingly dark and quiet corridor due to the bunnies' poor night vision. With a soft click of the door's latch, closing behind her, she adjusted her grip on the velvet bag and slowly proceeded along the dark corridor. Within minutes, having stepped into a second-floor gallery, she descended along what would be an elegant staircase when illuminated by the day's light.
Careful not to make a sound, as she reached the bottom floor and crossed the elegant floor tile, she grasped the handle of the house's front door. Her paw fidgeting at a brass key inside the door's lock, she slowly turned it as a sharp click sounded. Her heart beating rapidly, she scanned around her, worried the sound might have woken and alerted someone. Looking over her shoulder at the second-floor gallery, her mind half expecting to find a figure looking down on her, she saw no one.
Grasping the door's handle, she pressed her weight on it before slipping her body through the opening and out into the cold morning air. The doe, her back resting on the closed door behind her, inhaled deeply as she closed her eyes before opening them again. As she exhaled, the mist from her warm breath lingered briefly in the cold air before dissipating.
The night was beginning to soften along the distant skyline in the wake of a new day. As she made her way down a long gravel lane, surrounded on either side by a lush green lawn, she caught sight of a rather dark shape in the distance. The bottoms of her feet quickly becoming numb from the chilly morning air, she looked back at the dark-filled windows of the manor house. With her ears listening for the sudden sounds of footsteps running, a part of her soul wished nothing more than to be found and returned from where she had left. However, no such event would materialize before her. Unopposed, as she continued to walk along the gravel lane, she quickly found herself before a set of open, high, wrought-iron gates. A small gatekeeper's stone shack, nestled next to the estate's entrance, stood empty and dark. The doe gazed at the familiar structure as she stepped on the paved country road. Her cheeks flushed red with the morning air; she lowered the travel bag and opened it, removing a traveling cloak from its depths. Draping it over herself and attaching its clasp around her neck, she picked up the velvet bag again. Held tightly to her chest, the doe, taking a deep breath, made a sudden dash across the wild and overgrown fields that skirted the country road.
The grey doe, weak from sprinting for over a day on foot, slowly emerged along a narrow embankment as the minutes stretched into hours. The doe staggered a little, the hem of her dress covered in mud, as she approached a country lane. The doe's stomach gave a strong rumble within her as the feeling of dread took a tighter hold. Not knowing where she was, she noticed a lonely elm tree nestled between an erratic stone wall close to where she was. Hungry and alone, reaching the safety of the elm, she dropped her velvet bag to her feet before collapsing next to it. Unable to hold back her emotions further, she cried out in grief. Pressing herself tight against the elm, the last of her energy consumed, she drifted off to sleep.
Hours later, waking suddenly, the doe clutching her cloak tighter around herself, a thunderous roar echoed above her in the dark-colored sky. The weather had turned rapidly cold and wet during her time asleep under the elm. Not knowing how long she had slept, her lavender eyes quickly blinked as she looked around her surroundings. Still huddled against her travel bag, she attempted to press her small frame further into the small nook between the elm tree and the stone wall she found herself in. With her fingers trembling from the cold air, she felt water drops falling on her fur from the branches above. Desperate to find adequate cover from the approaching rainstorm, she rose from her secluded sanctuary. Her legs, sore and weak, trembled as she steadied herself on the stone wall. Bending to clutch her bag in one paw with the other, she pressed the top ends of her traveling cloak against a now soft, falling rain. Her head bowed, she slid through an opening in the wall and into an apparently endless wild and mucky terrain.
The slowly falling rain she had awoken to have quickly strengthened into a heavy storm by late that evening. Through a lashing wind, the doe, losing her footing in the mud, fell to her knees, her body wholly soaked and numb. The palms of her paws were covered in mud. She struggled to gaze ahead through the rain as another flash of lightning illuminated the night sky. For what seemed an instant, her eyes desperate to see through the darkness, a lonely, two-floor stone cottage appeared nearby and then faded into darkness. "Oh, god." The doe cried out, wiping her face on her arm. Lifting herself back to her feet, her traveling bag, weighed down by the rain, acted like an anchor. Fighting through the storm, she struggled her way toward the nearby cottage. Her legs weakened from exhaustion; she summoned what little energy she had left as she went to the cottage door. She cried desperately for someone to hear her as she slapped the door with an open paw.
Seconds later, with the sound of a heavy latch being turned, the door opened slowly, bathing the mud-covered doe in light. An elderly female badger appeared through the small light gap, using the door as a shield. Dressed in dark housekeeper attire, the badger gazed quickly around before noticing the unfortunate doe. "No beggars welcome here. Move off with you." Desperate, The mud-covered doe raised her paw on the door as she struggled to speak before the badger suddenly closed the door on her.
Still struggling and helpless, doe called out, "B...but I." as the sound of the door latch was heard locking again. A cry of despair rang out as she clutched her travel cloak tighter. The doe simply turned and proceeded back into the darkness of the storm, leaving her velvet bag behind. Raising her head to the sky, she collapsed as lightning erupted above her. With a last desperate plea, as the doe began to collapse, she called out, "Nicholas" into the storm.
"I got you, Miss." An unknown male voice called out as light brown paws suddenly caught hold of the doe before she touched the ground. Lifting her off her feet, what appeared to be a brown and white patch male bunny cradled her in his arms. Semiconscious, the doe's vision seemed to be cloudy by the storm above them.
"John?" A female voice called out suddenly over the wind and rain. "What on earth…?" Turning his head back, John quickly dashed into the cottage, carrying the grey doe. "Oh, my g..." A snow-colored doe bunny, wearing a white nightdress and pastel robe, stood shocked at the sight before her as the buck, John, entered through the doorway. Seeing the unknown doe in his arms, she held a paw over her mouth and stepped aside to let him in.
"I need a blanket," John called out to his companion, "Quickly, Diana, she's freezing."
Diana, without hesitation, rushed over to a nearby window bench and opened it, removing a thick quilted blanket. "Take her over by the fire. We need to get her warm." Before unfolding it, Diana followed John to a nearby armchair and settled close to the cottage's stone hearth. Untying the unknown doe's cloak from around her neck, she wrapped the blanket around the doe with John's assistance. They then lowered the grey doe carefully into the chair. Diana stepped over to the hearth and placed the soaked travel cloak on a hook to dry. As he shifted the chair, John carefully allowed the doe to be directed closer to the fire. "Who is she, John?" Diana asked as she knelt beside the shaking female, examining her. She turned to look back at him. "Call down Mary, John; she's upstairs, getting ready for bed."
"No idea," he replied to her first question as he rushed to a nearby staircase. "Mary, get down here, quickly!" John shouted up the stairs before turning his full attention to the elderly badger, who had answered the door. Hannah, a recent new hire for the family of bunnies, stood silently to one side of the room. "Hannah, explain yourself!" His voice vibrated across the room, causing the grey doe in the chair to panic. He stared with rage at the badger, who took two steps back.
"It's just that..." Hannah's words faded by the look she was receiving from John. "I was scared, Mr. Burrow. I'm sorry." She glanced over by the hearth, where the doe was shaking. "I mean, sir, this time of night, and her pounding on the door, as she was. I feared for all of our safety."
"Look at her, Hannah," John continued to shout as he gestured toward the grey doe. "Does she look as if she is of any danger to us?"
"No, sir, but..." Hannah again struggled to reply.
"Go to the kitchen and get something warm to drink for her." John interrupted her, pointing a finger toward a hinged door off the living area. "Quickly!" Without a word, Hannah, lifting the front of her dress, rushed toward the door and out of sight.
"John, what on earth are you shouting abo...?" Another female voice spoke before stopping mid-sentence. Mary, a white and grey fur doe bunny, stopped at the bottom of the stairs as she closed her blue robe. A look of horror descended on her face when she noticed the new unknown doe. "What on earth..." Mary rushed past John and lowered herself next to Diana as she examined the wet doe. Fidgeting at the sudden touch from the two females, the doe struggled to keep her paws and face from being touched. Mary, witnessing this, stopped her examination immediately as she leaned back on her feet. "Who is she?" She turned toward Diana and John, expecting some form of an answer.
"No idea, Mary," Diana responded. "She's in shock and has not said a word. All I knew was hearing the sound of John rushing out the door into the storm, so I ran after him. When I called for him, he returned inside, carrying her."
"She looks so pale." Mary, taking in does features, turned back toward John. "Her feet are so swollen. She must have been walking on foot for some time, the poor thing." She hesitated, not wishing to frighten the doe by touching her wet feet again. She rose a little on her knees, her attention back on the doe. "Miss, it's alright. You're safe now." Mary slowly and calmly placed a paw on the doe's leg. My name is Mary, Mary Burrow, motioning to herself. This is my litter sister Diana." she gestured to her left. "And our older brother, John." she shifted a little as she motioned toward John, who took a few steps back. "John found you outside in the storm and brought you inside."
"I...I need to..." The doe began to mumble lowly as she leaned her head on the chair, her eyelids closing.
Setting her paw gingerly on the doe's arm, Mary turned to her sister. "Diana, run upstairs and get one of my nightdresses from our room. Then I need you to make up the guest room bed. Once she is able, we can move her up there.
Diana stopped only to speak to her brother after getting to her feet and leaving. "Thank god you went after her when you did, John." She said in a hushed tone as she turned her head back to the doe, placing a paw on his shoulder. "The poor girl would have died from the storm. I'm sure of it. We would have found her body lying in the field by the morning."
"Sir," Hannah, returning from the kitchen with a cup of carrot tea in her paws, stepped next to the two bunnies. "I made a cup of tea for the lady. I added a little bit of honey to it."
"Thank you," John, taking his eyes off the doe, held out a paw and took the cup from her. "Hannah, I want you to go up with Diana and help her make up the guest room."
"Miss?" Fearing something may have happened, Mary reached for the doe's face. "Can you hear me?" She held her breath for a moment before the doe opened her eyes. "Oh, thank god, John, give me the cup." She turned to her brother and held out a paw for the tea. "Miss, please, you need to drink something." Taking hold of the cup, Mary held it up for the doe to sip on. "This will help warm you up, my dear." As the minutes continued to pass, no one said a word.
"Ask her name." John leaned close to Mary's ear as she held the teacup for the doe to drink again."
The doe, finishing her sip of the tea, closed her eyes as the warm liquid moved down her dry throat. She struggled not to cough as she heard the question John had asked. "Ju...Judith." She spoke in a whisper as drowsiness seemed to creep within her. Her eyes closed as she drifted off.
Mary, raising an eyebrow, leaned back on her feet. "I think she heard you, John. It sounded as if she said, Judith." With the cup in her paws, she rose, walked to a small table stand, and set the tea on it. "Judith," Mary repeated to herself, watching the doe sleep. "What a lovely name."
Asleep, Judy felt weightless once again before feeling what appeared to be a paw grip her shoulder, its sharp fingers digging into her fur as she struggled to cry for help. She turned around and found herself standing before a young female bunny, no more than a child, clutching a book to her chest. Fear on her face, the young child turned and looked back into the darkness before running past Judy. Unable to do anything, Judy watched as the doe vanished as a deep, carrying voice called out, "You cannot hide from me." Her heart suddenly racing with fear, Judy awoke, panic bursting from within as she cried out. Mary, witnessing this, rushed over to her side, worried she might harm herself.
"Judith, it's alright. Remember, you're safe here." Mary reached within the blanket to hold Judy's paws. Both doe's eyes meet each other. Judy's a lavender color, into Mary's own brown.
"Must...hide," Judy called out, pleading to Mary. She looked around the room with rapid, heavy breaths, desperate to find somewhere safe. Struggling to inhale, Judy felt as if someone was constricting her breathing. She felt the now familiar sense of weightlessness consume her as she collapsed in Mary's arms.
Mary, a look of fear on her face, called in a carrying voice, "Oh god!" as she struggled to support the unconscious doe. "John, please, I need your help. She fainted." She removed the now damped blanket from around Judy as best she could while holding on to her. "We need to get her upstairs quickly." Rushing over to his sister, he carefully lifted Judy into his arms. Mary moved ahead of him, "We need to get her out of her wet clothes."
Careful not to hurt her as they climbed the stairs, Mary, a few steps ahead, opened the door to the right of the staircase before stepping aside. Diana and Hannah both jumped in fright at Mary's sudden appearance. "Mary, what is it?" Diana asked before John appeared through the doorway, cradling Judy. "What happened?" Diana clutched at her throat in shock. Hannah, witnessing this, moved along the bed and out of the way.
Not answering her sister's question, Mary moved over to the bedframe. "John set her here." John followed his sister's order, carefully lowering Judith down on the edge of the bed. "She collapsed after waking up," Mary said as she unbuttoned Judy's dress. John took a few steps back and watched his sisters converge on the unconscious doe. Unsure as to what help he could provide, he simply stood there. Mary, noticing this, walked over to him and grabbed his arm. "John, look at me," Mary spoke, "Wait outside for a moment. Once we have finished undressing her and she is in bed, I will bring you her things and have Hannah soak them for washing." She led her brother out of the room and into the hallway. "Diana and I will look after her during the night. We'll keep her safe."