by Colin Dann
‘Well, sort of – sort of full, Fox,’ Badger replied. ‘There was always plenty of room for everyone. You never felt crowded. You met others in the course of your wanderings or, on occasion, deliberately if you wanted to talk about something. But now . . . I never set foot outside my set without seeing a host of little animals and often bigger ones, too, such as squirrels and hedgehogs and even foxes – you’ll excuse me for saying so, I know.’
Fox was amused. ‘We foxes have certainly increased over the seasons. It’s in the nature of things, Badger.’
‘Of course it is, of course it is. I wasn’t referring to your own numerous descendants,’ Badger assured him. ‘But just generally – there’s more of everything.’
‘You’re quite right,’ Fox agreed. ‘There’s a denser congregation of animals in this wood – and birds too – than when we first set up home here. But that must be a good sign, surely? It shows White Deer Park is thriving.’
‘Well, yes, as long as there’s enough for all of us to eat,’ Badger said. ‘I’ve had no problems so far but, if the trend continues . . . And then, is it the same all over the Park – the numbers, I mean? I don’t go far enough to know.’
‘I think I could say so,’ Fox answered. ‘Yes, wildlife is certainly flourishing here. And, you know’ – he looked thoughtful – ‘I believe humans find this interesting. It seems to me they come into the Park to observe us in some way.’
Badger grunted. ‘And that’s another thing,’ he remarked. ‘In the old days there was only the Warden, and he used to keep himself to himself mostly. Men have been around here on and off ever since the storm.’
‘We do seem to be becoming an attraction,’ Fox murmured. ‘I wonder if there’s anything in it?’
They weren’t able to ponder much on the subject just then because they saw Plucky approaching, looking agitated. The young fox ran straight up to them. ‘Have you seen her?’ he asked at once, rather vaguely.
‘She’s asleep,’ Badger answered, thinking Plucky was referring to Vixen. ‘Underground.’
‘Underground?’ Plucky repeated. ‘Whatever is she up to now? She’s not a rabbit!’
Fox saw there was some error. ‘Who are you looking for?’ he asked patiently.
‘Dash, of course.’
‘I guessed as much. No, we haven’t seen her. You should make yourself clear, Plucky. Badger thought you were talking about Vixen.’
‘I’m really worried,’ Plucky gabbled on, explaining about their races and Dash’s desire to stretch herself.
‘Slow down, slow down.’ Fox tried to cut through this outpouring. ‘Now, take a breather.’ He watched the youngster’s efforts to calm himself. ‘Good. That’s better. Now, there’s nothing more you can do for the present, is there? You don’t know where she is. I wouldn’t get my fur in a bristle over this. That’s my advice. I can’t think of any creature who’d be foolish enough to abet this plan of the young hare’s to get out of the Reserve. Does this allay your fears?’
‘I suppose so, yes.’ And Plucky was comforted; Fox was so wise and experienced in things.
‘And as soon as I see her,’ Fox went on, ‘I’ll drive any such daft idea right out of her head. That’s a promise.’
‘So will I,’ Badger echoed. ‘She could come to real harm out there. Men shoot animals like her for fun.’
Plucky gulped at the thought. ‘That’s what Toad said,’ he muttered.
Later Fox told Vixen about it all. He always discussed everything with her. ‘Poor Plucky was in a state. I tried to make him feel easy,’ he explained to her. ‘I think he prefers the hare’s company to that of his own kind, in a way. I didn’t tell him what I was really thinking – that the rabbits, Dash’s cousins, can tunnel. And I don’t have to tell you how unpredictable they can be.’
‘No indeed,’ Vixen concurred. ‘Although you and I have cause to be grateful to rabbits, haven’t we? After all, in an indirect way, they brought us together in the first place.’ She nuzzled him lovingly as they lay side by side in their dark earth.
The pair of foxes were silent for a while. Then Vixen said, ‘I think Dash’s father should be alerted. Leveret knows all about the hazards of the downland.’
In reality the impetuous Dash soon forgot her silly remark once she had recovered from her disappointment. She knew Plucky cared greatly for her safety, and his concern for her made her warm to him even more. She rejoiced in having such a friend and counted herself lucky that he wished to protect her. She certainly had no intention of setting out perversely to upset him. So she contented herself with tearing about the Reserve from one side to the other and pitting herself against any animal who felt like accepting her challenge. Rabbits were easily vanquished. Deer she had already disposed of. Foxes were no match, she knew. But she found other hares, apart from those in her own family, who felt they might have the legs of her. She soon proved them otherwise. Where they were swift, Dash was swifter. Where they could bound, she could vault and leap. And where they excelled, Dash could still surpass them. Eventually she could find no new takers and she was left to race alone, reduced to demonstrating, to the few animals who cared to notice, exactly why no other would run with her.
She soon tired of this and wanted Plucky’s companionship again. And now it was her turn to go in quest of him. However, everywhere she sought him she drew a blank. It didn’t take her elastic limbs long to cover the whole Reserve – or at any rate all of the Reserve that she was prepared to search, for there was one patch that she wouldn’t enter. This was a small area, close to the perimeter fence, in which men had recently been concentrating. She avoided this and so, unlike some of the other animals, she was blissfully ignorant of just what the group of humans had been engaged in there. Anyway, Plucky had completely disappeared and Dash, who at first thought he was steering clear of her because she had offended him, now realized his absence meant something more serious. She looked to her father for help.
‘It’s rare for you to stand still long enough for me to say anything to you,’ Leveret commented wryly. ‘What’s the problem? I’ve heard about your longing to be out on the downland and, if it’s anything to do with that, you must think again. I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘It’s nothing to do with that,’ Dash answered dismissively. ‘It’s Plucky. He’s disappeared. I’ve sought him everywhere without any success. What do you think’s happened?’
‘I really couldn’t say. Have you spoken to Fox and Vixen?’
‘No, I haven’t.’
‘The ways of foxes are best understood by other foxes, Dash.’
‘Oh yes, of course. I hadn’t thought – ’
‘I expect,’ said Leveret, ‘there’s some simple explanation.’
Dash was encouraged and, towards dusk, she set off for the foxes’ earth.
The leaves of the copse were just beginning to unfurl. Vixen stood at the entrance to her den, sniffing the soft evening breeze. Dash came hotfoot in the gathering darkness. She quickly told Vixen her purpose.
‘We don’t see Plucky around as often as you might suppose,’ said Vixen. ‘He’s a mature fox and very independent. But, the strange thing is, he was here asking about you a short while ago. You seem to be bent on avoiding each other!’
‘No, no, it’s not like that at all,’ Dash returned. ‘I did get in a bit of a huff over something with him – I know I can be a silly animal at times – but, you see, I’ve been looking for him all over the Park. He’s just not around any more, Vixen. He’s gone.’
Vixen was perturbed. ‘I see,’ she said quietly. ‘And you’ve really searched everywhere?’
‘Everywhere,’ Dash confirmed. ‘It’s not like Plucky to hide himself away, is it? I’m so afraid he’s been injured somewhere and can’t move.’
Vixen recalled the stag Trey and how he’d been crushed by a tree. ‘There are still accidents occasionally,’ she murmured. ‘Falling branches, loosened by the storm. Even trees, once weakened, can tumble.’ She looked
at Dash, whose face was a picture of misery, and regretted giving voice to her thoughts. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘It does you credit to care for another creature so.’
‘Oh dear,’ Dash wailed. ‘He was always so careful. He wouldn’t go near a leaning tree – or – or – anything that seemed unsafe. I can’t bear to think of what might have befallen him.’
‘Now, don’t alarm yourself unnecessarily,’ Vixen said affectionately. ‘We don’t know anything yet. We’ve plenty of friends to keep their eyes open. I’ll get them all to be extra vigilant, especially the birds.’
‘Father says Tawny Owl is wholly absorbed these days with Holly.’
‘Well, she is his mate,’ Vixen pointed out. ‘And so he’s bound to give her first consideration. But he’ll rally round once I’ve spoken to him, you’ll see. He can often discover things where others can’t.’
‘Father says Owl’s obsessed. He said he left it so late to be mated, Holly’s turned his head,’ Dash quoted faithfully. Vixen found it difficult to retain a serious expression. Then, thinking of an alternative, Dash said, ‘What about Whistler?’
‘Whistler doesn’t fly so much now,’ Vixen answered. ‘He’s a bit rheumaticky. But look, Dash, I’m glad you’ve brought word. Now, the best thing is for you to leave things a while. If you don’t see Plucky yourself soon, or hear of him, come back to me in a few days. Fox will get things organized amongst the Farthing Wood community and I think we’ll have some better news for you eventually.’
‘Thank you, Vixen,’ Dash said with feeling. ‘You’re so dependable.’
Time went on and Dash, lonely and forlorn, could bear it no longer. She returned to Vixen, almost dreading to learn of some disaster.
‘It doesn’t look good,’ Vixen had to tell her. ‘Fox and Friendly and Weasel and all the others have been out searching – even Owl. There are no new trees down. The deer herd know nothing about Plucky. It’s difficult to know what more can be done.’
Dash didn’t answer but she knew what she was going to do. She would go outside the Park. The idea frightened her, but she was determined about it nonetheless. She thought she could persuade one of the rabbits to help her, just as Fox had feared she would. She couldn’t get the nagging thought from her head that Plucky had taken her silly threat seriously and left the Reserve in search of her, so that the two of them were going round and round looking for each other in the most hopelessly futile way. ‘And if he has suffered because of me,’ she told herself, ‘I’ll never forgive myself.’
3
In the Hollow
Dash was careful to say nothing of her intentions to anyone other than the rabbits. Even to them she didn’t give her real reason for wanting to break the bounds. She invented a story about a favourite food-plant which was maddeningly just too far from the fence for her to reach, and which she craved so much that she was prepared to risk herself to get it.
‘A couple of leaps and I’d be there,’ she told them. ‘That’s all it is, that plant, a couple of leaps away.’
The rabbits, of course, were completely taken in. They knew all about favourite plants. But they would never have dared to do what Dash was proposing: they were far too timid.
‘If you can scratch the soil away a little bit,’ the hare said to one of the does, ‘enough to enable me to squeeze under. Only take you a moment.’
And that was how Dash left the Park, the place that had been her only home since birth, and found herself on the wide and dauntingly open expanse of downland.
The Farthing Wood community was soon aware that now Dash was missing as well as Plucky, and most of them believed there was a connection. However, about the same time, other animals also began to disappear, such as squirrels, hedgehogs and rabbits. The elders arranged to meet in the Hollow. They were puzzled and alarmed by the turn of events and could find no solution to it.
‘Odd that I should have remarked on how crowded our copse was,’ Badger said. ‘Now it’s almost as if its inhabitants are being deliberately thinned out.’
‘Its not solely in our corner that it’s happening,’ Leveret told them. ‘I’ve heard from rabbits and hares elsewhere. They’re all missing relatives and acquaintances.’
‘Wherever can they be going?’ asked Weasel. ‘Where are they all, the missing ones?’
Mossy, the little mole, who was not an elder but who often visited Badger and so was included in the gatherings, said tremulously, ‘They’re being h-hunted. The Great Cat has come back. What else can it be? Oh! Oh! The Great Cat has returned!’
‘Hush, Mole,’ said Badger kindly. ‘This is no hunter. No one animal could account for such losses.’
‘You mean there’s a pack of them?’ Mossy squeaked in fright. ‘Then how can any of us survive?’
‘Of course he doesn’t mean that,’ Tawny Owl said irritably. ‘Don’t be absurd. One great hunter was certainly clever at hiding himself away but how could a whole gang of them remain invisible?’
The timid Mossy retreated. Weasel said of Owl, ‘His pairing with Holly doesn’t seem to have smoothed his feathers, does it?’
Tawny Owl bent down from his branch above the Hollow and replied angrily, ‘What my mate has or hasn’t done for me is none of your business, Weasel!’
‘Here we go again,’ drawled Adder, who up until then had remained silent.
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake don’t start, you two,’ Fox cried, addressing Owl and Weasel. ‘We’re here to talk constructively.’
‘Well then, let’s do it,’ Adder lisped. ‘We don’t appear to know why certain residents of the Park have vanished. So the obvious thing to do is to find out before any more of us go missing. Equally, if creatures have disappeared, they must have disappeared to somewhere. Now where could that be?’
‘Where do you suggest?’ Weasel queried archly.
‘Fox is the brains of the party,’ Adder replied.
‘I rather think the birds are our main hope here,’ said Fox. ‘Owl, Whistler, if you could perhaps scout around a bit you might discover something.’
‘I’m afraid I’d be of little use to you, Fox,’ Whistler answered ruefully. ‘I really can’t fly any sort of distance these days. The old wonky wing is giving me gyp; so much so I can’t even feed myself properly. I’ve been subsisting on slugs and snails and they’re really not my type of fare. The slime content alone could – ’
‘I think we get the picture,’ Tawny Owl cut in impatiently. ‘And it’s no use looking to me, all of you. I’m fully committed to Holly now. My freelance days are over.’
‘You mean you do her bidding,’ muttered Weasel, who believed Owl’s mate bossed the bird around.
Tawny Owl glared at him but didn’t rise to the bait.
‘Look,’ said Friendly, Fox’s son, ‘We’re not getting very far.’ He turned to his father. ‘Shall I see if I can pick up a clue or two?’
‘Certainly,’ Fox agreed. ‘You know, I have a feeling that there’s an element of human intervention in this business. And if that’s the case it may well be something quite out of our control.’
‘It couldn’t be anything to do with rats, I suppose?’ Toad questioned idly.
All eyes focused on the little fellow. ‘Rats?’ they chorused. ‘What rats?’
‘The rats in the Park, of course,’ said Toad. He looked around. His friends’ faces mostly were blank. ‘Surely you’ve seen them?’
‘I’ve killed one or two in my time,’ said Tawny Owl. ‘So has Holly. What of it?’
‘Well, I don’t have to tell you that rats can carry disease. If there is disease in the Park, that could be the reason for animals disappearing.’
‘What do you know about these rats, Owl?’ Fox asked. ‘You’ve said nothing on the subject before.’
‘I haven’t needed to,’ Tawny Owl justified himself pompously. ‘They weren’t around in sufficient numbers to cause a problem.’
‘You mean they are now?’
‘I don’t know,’ Tawny Owl replied. ‘
There are more of them about now than there used to be, but – ’
‘Where do you see them?’ Fox interrupted.
‘Oh – um, well, you could see them anywhere,’ the bird informed him vaguely.
‘Well, I haven’t,’ Fox declared. He glanced at Vixen for corroboration.
‘Neither have I,’ she concurred. The other animals said the same.
‘They come to the Pond now and then,’ said Toad. ‘They like to drink the water. But, as Owl pointed out, you could see them just about anywhere. They’re very adaptable, they can eat pretty well anything, and they set up their homes where they choose. There are more coming in all the time from outside the Reserve.’
‘It sounds like a kind of invasion,’ Leveret remarked.
‘Is this correct, Owl?’ Fox appealed to him. ‘What Toad’s been saying?’
‘Well, yes, in a way. There do seem to be more arriving. I’ve actually seen them climbing the fence on the town side of the Park. And of course they can tunnel in too.’
‘Why on earth have you said nothing before?’ Fox demanded.
‘I thought you knew. And besides, Fox, what can we do about it? A few rats are not going to affect our way of life very much except to provide the predators amongst us with more food.’
‘What absolute nonsense,’ Fox said. ‘I’m surprised at you. Of course they’ll make a difference. Apart from the hazard of spreading disease, they’re a threat to us. They have voracious appetites – any creature knows that. And they’re predators themselves: they can eat eggs and young birds and so on. Also they’re fierce animals. If we let them establish colonies here, we could all of us end up being overrun.’
There was a stunned silence. None of the animals had realized their beloved Park was at risk. Vixen was the first to break the silence. ‘Humans don’t like rats,’ she said. ‘They’ll have been keeping an eye on things.’
‘I wouldn’t count on it,’ said Toad pessimistically. ‘Rats are very cautious, careful beasts. They’re not going to show themselves to human eyes.’