‘Who on earth are you?’ the screechy creature said.
Crab could just see the outline of something brown and feathery with two very beady yellow eyes and a sharp beak that was prodding at his shell painfully from above. What seemed to be wings were flapping uncomfortably into his face.
‘Get off,’ Crab shouted again. ‘I’m a crab.’
‘Oh, carcinas maenas, I suppose. Very common. What are you doing here, then? Crabs live in the sea. This is my field and you’d better get out of here pretty quickly if you don’t want to be smashed on the nearest rock and eaten for supper.’
‘Who are you, then?’ Crab responded angrily, swiping the beak away from his shell with his left pincer. He was ready for a quick sideways dash if there was another attack.
‘I’m Tawny Owl. What do you think you’re doing in my field?’
‘I’m looking for Badger,’ Crab replied hastily, still not trusting the sharp-looking beak.
‘Why?’
‘Because he’s in awful danger.’
‘What sort of danger?’ Owl swooped low over Crab and jabbed him on the shell again.
‘Ouch, don’t do that, it hurts. The Moonfaces are coming with guns and dogs and spades tonight to dig him out and shoot him.’ Crab thought honesty was the best policy so he didn’t spare the details. He did, however, skew himself sideways to try to get out of reach of the sharp beak.
Tawny Owl had been hovering above Crab, talons outstretched, but now he landed on a tuft of grass beside him and looked carefully into Crab’s face whilst shaking his wings neatly into place by his side.
‘What are Moonfaces?’ he asked.
‘I think Badger called them people,’ Crab said.
‘Ah. You say they are coming tonight?’ Tawny Owl sounded interested.
‘Yes.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I heard them talking on the beach when I was in my pool.’ Talking about his pool made Crab even more aware of how much he missed it and how much he badly needed to get back into the water. His whole shell felt uncomfortable, dry and scratchy, and his mouth was all dried up inside.
‘Why do you want to warn Badger?’ Tawny Owl asked suspiciously.
‘Because he saved my life. But now I need to find him fast and get back to my pool or I shall certainly die this time and no one will be able to save me.’ Crab spoke in a small voice. ‘I am getting all dried up, you see. Do you know where he is?’
‘Ah,’ Tawny Owl said again and he put his head on one side as if he was thinking very hard. ‘Yes, I think I probably do. It’s too dark now for you to find him. You’d better stay here and save your energy. I’ll warn Badger and then come back to help you. Can you hold out for another few minutes, do you think?’
Tawny Owl thought that if Badger had saved Crab’s life then Crab must be an okay sort of creature and if one good turn deserves another then a second good turn must mean a bonus all round. He wasn’t too busy this evening, as it happened, and he was rather fond of Badger. They had had many interesting conversations over the summer and it would be a bad thing if the men and the guns and the dogs upset life in the field at the top of the wood, where, overall, everyone had always got along all right and were good neighbours to each other. He scrabbled in the grass at the side of the field and then carefully used his beak to shove Crab gently into the hollow he had made. Then he combed the grass over Crab so that he was almost completely hidden from view.
Crab was now too weak to help himself so he wrapped his pincers round his head, curled up into as small a ball as he could and prepared to wait.
‘I’ll be as quick as I can,’ Owl said. He silently rose into the air and equally silently flew away.
Tawny Owl flapped purposefully across the field to the hawthorn hedge. He knew Badger had one of his doors under the biggest tree and he hoped now that it was almost dark that Badger was properly awake but hadn’t yet gone out for his night’s hunting. As he landed on top of the tree to have a quick look round before calling into the dark hole underneath he thought he heard the rumbling noise of cars pulling into the lane that ran along the other side of the field by the gate. He cocked his head on one side to hear better. He could hear voices and with his excellent night vision could make out lights shining along the lane. It looked as if Crab was right. Normally there wouldn’t be anyone there at night. These people must be up to no good.
Owl swooped down to the entrance of the sett. He poked his beak into the darkness and called ‘Badger?’
There was no answer. He tried again, louder this time. Still no answer. Now he could hear more voices, a car door banging shut and a dog barking.
‘Badger, come on,’ Owl hissed. Then he hooted as loudly as he dared. ‘B-a-d-g-e-r, come out now.’ He jumped up and down from one foot to another in consternation.
Just as he was about to give up and fly to the other entrance on the far side of the hedge a sleepy voice said, ‘What’s all the fuss about?’ and Badger’s snout appeared from the depths of the hole, the white stripes on his face glowing in the darkness. Badger yawned. ‘What’s the matter, Tawny Owl? Why are you waking me up?’
‘Badger, for heaven’s sake come out. Is Mrs B there, too? You’ve both got to come now. There are men and dogs and I think they’ve got guns and spades, at least Crab said they would have guns and spades. Get Mrs B and anyone else in your house and do hurry, there isn’t time to mess about, they’ll be here in a sec.’ Owl’s voice rose in a screech. He flapped his wings frantically.
‘There’s only Mrs B and she’s gone out already,’ Badger said, his voice croaky with anxiety. ‘She’s probably in the sweetcorn field again. I’ll have to go and warn her not to come back here. But what’s Crab got to do with this?’
‘You’ll have Crab to thank if you get away safely. I’ll explain later and there’s no time to warn Mrs B now,’ Owl said decisively. ‘You come with me back to Crab and then you get him down to the sea before he dries up completely. I think he’s very sick. Then you will have to think of a good place for a new home. I’ll go and find Mrs B and tell her not to come back here. We’ll meet down in the wood where the path joins the beach. Hurry, I can hear them getting closer and that sounds like dogs barking.’ Owl cocked his head sideways listening hard.
It was true. Men’s voices could be heard the other side of the field and the noise of the dogs was enough to scare even the boldest of badgers.
Badger scuttled as fast as he could across to the edge of the field with Tawny Owl guiding him from above. In a few moments they reached Crab who was still curled up in his grassy hollow. He wasn’t moving.
‘Oh, dear,’ Badger said, nosing into the grass. ‘Are we too late?’ He used his snout to prod Crab to see if he was still alive. At first he couldn’t see any movement but then he thought Crab’s right pincer waved just the tiniest bit and he thought he heard a tiny crabby voice saying ‘Hello, Badger.’
Owl was fidgeting on the wire fence.
‘Come on, come on, you’ve got to go now,’ he hissed, flapping his wings up and down as if he was about to take off. ‘They’ll shoot you if they see you.’
Badger could see that Crab wasn’t able to walk anywhere on his own. He was too weak and dried up.
‘Help me, then,’ he said firmly. ‘Help me get him onto my back, just behind my neck where the fur is thickest, and maybe he will cling on long enough for me to get him back to the sea. You could try and wind the fur round his legs to anchor him more safely.’
Badger lay down on his side in the grass and Owl flew down beside Crab and carefully rolled him over and over with his beak onto Badger’s neck until Crab was tangled up in Badger’s fur.
‘Get up carefully,’ Owl ordered Badger. Badger did as he was told, very relieved that Crab didn’t fall off. Owl readjusted the fur round Crab with a final peck of his beak.
‘Quick!’ he s
aid. ‘I’ll see if I can find Mrs B and hopefully we can meet at the edge of the wood before daybreak.’ Owl rose noiselessly into the darkness and as he watched him fly off Badger could see the light of torches wavering along the hawthorn hedge very close to his sett. He could detect the horrid smell of dogs. He sighed sadly. ‘Goodbye nice home and comfy bracken bed.’ He crouched as low as he could to get under the wire of the fence, taking care not to dislodge Crab from the back of his neck. Then he trundled as fast as his short legs could manage down the path that led to the beach. He was very worried that the dogs would pick up his scent and chase after him. He would be torn limb from limb by them if he wasn’t shot first and then poor Crab wouldn’t have a chance of survival either.
Just as he was reaching the bottom part of the wood where the path wound its way through the beech trees there was a growly bark to his left and then a dark shape leapt out at him and he had to stop very quickly, almost dislodging Crab.
It was Fox and he was cross.
‘If you think you are going to steal the remains of my rabbit carcass you’d better think again.’ Fox jumped up and down on his four legs in front of Badger and swished his bushy tail from side to side trying to be frightening.
‘Don’t be such a spoilt brat,’ Badger said scornfully. ‘Can’t you see I’m busy? I don’t want your stupid rabbit and, anyway, can’t you hear the dogs barking at the top of the wood? I bet they’d be pleased to eat you if they knew you were here. There are men there too, and they’ve got guns, so you might as well help me get Crab back to his pool and then join Tawny Owl and me to decide what to do. If it wasn’t for Crab none of us would have known about tonight’s attack and if you go back up into the wood you’ll be shot or torn limb from limb just as I would be. Maybe you’d like that?’
Fox’s ears twitched backwards and forwards as if they had a life of their own.
‘Oh,’ he said grumpily. ‘Yes, I think I can hear the dogs barking and the men shouting, now you mention it. Sounds like bad news. So where are you taking Crab? I can try and keep him in place using my nose if we haven’t got too far to go.’
Together Fox and Badger left the shelter of the wood and after checking that the coast was clear they scrambled as fast as they could across the rocks. Fox had to work hard to keep Crab in place on Badger’s neck; he kept slipping off as he was bumped about. It was with great relief that they reached the smooth sand. The tide was pretty high, but Badger could just see that the pool he and Crab had made was emerging from the breakers and would very soon be peaceful and still as the sea crept back down the beach once more. He hurried towards it, panting rather hard as it had been an exhausting journey. Every so often he looked over his shoulder to check if they were being followed.
They reached the rock and very carefully Badger lowered himself onto his tummy as close to the water as possible. The waves splashed saltily into his face, which he didn’t like. Fox, who had stopped being grumpy and was now being very helpful, used his nose to dislodge Crab from Badger’s fur. Normally he wouldn’t have put his nose anywhere near a crab’s pincers but he could see that Crab wasn’t in any state to pinch it. Crab rolled onto his back at the edge of the rock above the pool. His eight legs were in the air but they weren’t moving. It didn’t look as if he was alive. Badger put his ear beside Crab to see if he could hear breathing, but there was no sound. He looked at Fox who was trying and failing to keep his feet dry.
‘Do you think we had better push him into the water and hope for the best, or do you think he might drown if we do that?’ he asked in a worried voice.
Fox put his head on one side.
‘I think he will die if we don’t, unless he’s already dead. Nothing to lose, I’d say.’
‘Mmm.’ Badger nodded his head. He very gently shoved Crab onto his tummy and then gave him another push so that Crab plopped into the water below them, feet first. Crab sank slowly to the bottom of the pool.
Badger and Fox stood together at the side of the pool gazing downwards. Even though they could both see in the dark they couldn’t really see what was going on under water. They waited in worried silence for a few moments. Badger knew they ought to get off the beach as quickly as possible and, anyway, he had arranged to meet Owl and he was hoping Fox would come too. He also needed to know if Owl had found Mrs. B. If he hadn’t he might have to go back up the wood to find her himself and that would be walking into the jaws of the enemy and could be fatal. He was really scared. He did so hope she was all right.
Just as Badger thought they couldn’t wait another second to leave the beach he saw ripples on the surface of the pool. They weren’t caused by the waves as the tide had almost left the pool. He shoved his nose into the water and tried to see what had caused them. He shook the water from his nose and looked at Fox who was watching anxiously with his head on one side, his ears still flicking backwards and forwards.
‘Crab’s moved,’ Badger said with huge relief. ‘I think he’s crawled under the seaweed. We’d better go now. I can come back later and see if he is really all right but I don’t think we can do anything else for now. Come on.’
Fox twitched his whiskers in agreement and loped away on tip-paws across the beach. Badger scurried after him, panting in a vain attempt to keep up. They reached the clearing where Tawny Owl had suggested they meet but there was no one there. Badger was really worried. Where was Mrs B? Hadn’t Owl found her? Could she have been shot? He hadn’t heard any shots, but he and Fox had been so busy that he might have not have noticed.
Badger nosed his way into the thick bracken fronds round the edge of the clearing. He turned round and round to trample some of them down to make a good hiding place. Fox watched for a moment and then followed into the den. He sat on his haunches, twitching his tail and ears, scanning the clearing with his night-vision eyes. Badger lay down by the entrance and laid his snout on his paws, also watching carefully. It was quiet and there were no more sounds from the men or the dogs at the top of the wood. Perhaps they had gone away after finding the empty sett. But where were Owl and Mrs B?
The two animals, Badger in his black and white suit and Fox with his chestnut coat and white bib, waited patiently without saying anything for some time. They were alert to every little sound and their noses sniffed the air constantly.
Suddenly they heard a ‘chtk chtk’ sort of noise from the beech tree branch above them. It was Grey Squirrel.
‘Oh, there you are, there you are. Owl said you would be here, but I couldn’t see you very well in the dark. Owl said I should tell you he’s on his way. He had to guide Mrs B the long way round, through the spinney and across the cow field, ‘cos of the men by the hawthorn hedge. I hope you haven’t disturbed my nut store with your trampling about under the beech trees. That was going to be my emergency rations when the snow comes. I shall be most annoyed if you’ve eaten them.’ Squirrel’s tail flicked up and down in a worried sort of way.
‘Bother your nuts,’ Fox said loftily. ‘When are you going to think about somebody else for a change?’
Badger intervened. After all, Squirrel had brought the important news about Owl and Mrs B, so she couldn’t be completely selfish. ‘Thank you for coming,’ he said soothingly. He realised that he was really hungry and wondered if Mrs B would bring a husk of sweetcorn for him. ‘How soon will they be here, do you think?’
‘Any minute now.’ Squirrel zoomed down the trunk of the beech tree nose first and started to inspect the hollows in the earth at the bottom. ‘Where is it? Where is it?’ She scrabbled under the tree and got crosser and crosser as she failed to find her nut store.
There was a swooshing noise and Tawny Owl sailed low above them and settled on the branch that Squirrel had just left. Badger and Fox looked up with relief and then Mrs B cautiously put her head round the bracken fronds.
Badger was delighted to see her, even though he realised that she hadn’t brought him anything to eat. He p
ut his paw up in greeting and Mrs B bustled to his side.
Everybody sat down except Owl who kept guard in the tree above.
‘I think it’s all clear for now,’ Owl said after he had turned his head almost three hundred and sixty degrees round to check. ‘But they’ll be back for sure. You’d better keep away from the fields and the top of the wood from now on.’ He spoke to the badgers and Fox.
They nodded solemnly.
‘You’ll need a new home, you know.’ Owl looked at Badger and Mrs B.
They nodded again.
Fox said kindly, ‘If you want, for the rest of tonight and tomorrow, till it’s dark again, you can have my old den in the hazel copse. It should be safe as it’s much too difficult for the men to get through all the brambles. I suppose,’ and he paused for a moment before going on a bit reluctantly, ‘I could let you have my old rabbit carcass, too, as I dare say you’ve missed your supper tonight.’
‘That’s very kind of you, Mr Fox,’ said Mrs B gratefully. ‘We should very much like to use your den tonight. We would make sure it’s neat and tidy when we leave.’
‘Yes,’ Badger agreed. ‘Thank you very much, and the rabbit carcass would make a delicious supper if you’re sure you can spare it?’
‘Be my guests,’ Fox said very graciously.
‘You’d better get moving,’ Owl said a bit impatiently as he wanted to resume his own hunting. ‘Tomorrow night it might make sense to try and dig a new home a lot further away, and not near any roads, either.’
‘Yes, you’re right,’ said Badger and Mrs B together, nodding their heads.
Badger and Crab's Adventure Page 3