‘I’ll show you the way to the den.’ Fox got up and trotted to the edge of the clearing. ‘I’ll come back and get the rabbit while you’re settling in.’
Everybody left. Owl flew silently back up the wood to see if the men had really gone. Fox led Badger and Mrs B along the brambly path to his old den and Squirrel carried on looking in vain for her nut store.
Badger and Mrs B made their new home comfortable for the night. They brought in fresh bracken fronds and cleared out some of Fox’s smelly rubbish, hoping he wouldn’t be too offended. Fox came back with the rabbit and didn’t seem to notice how clean everywhere now was. He said goodbye and loped away in search of more supper for himself.
When they had finished the rabbit Mrs B tidily moved the last bits of bone out of the den and Badger sat and washed his face. Then he remembered Crab.
‘Oh, my goodness,’ he said. ‘I had quite forgotten Crab. I must go and see if he’s all right.’
‘Please don’t be long,’ Mrs Badger sounded worried. It had been such a scary night and she didn’t want to be left on her own.
‘I’ll be as quick as I can. But if Crab hadn’t come to find us we might well be shot by now. He nearly died doing it. We owe him a lot.’ Badger trotted off through the brambles and found a path to the beach, hoping Crab was still in the pool.
Crab had hidden himself under the seaweed in the pool when Badger and Fox had left him. He was feeling very sore and uncomfortable as well as dreadfully dried up. But gradually the seawater had soothed him and he began to feel more like himself. When Badger arrived Crab was sitting on a rocky ledge with his shell and legs under water but his mouth and eyes above the water. He was on the lookout, hoping that Badger would come.
‘Oh, Crab,’ Badger was so relieved to see him. ‘Are you really all right?’
‘I’ll soon be fine,’ Crab assured him and crawled out of the water. ‘Tell me what happened. Did Owl rescue Mrs B?’ He settled himself nice and comfortably on top of a clump of brown seaweed. Badger sat beside him and told him everything that had happened.
When Badger had finished talking they sat companionably until streaks of pale light appeared in the eastern sky across the sea.
‘Oh, dear, I must go. Mrs B will be worried,’ Badger said. ‘Thank you again, kind friend.’ He slid off the rock on to the sand.
Crab waved a pincer at him. ‘See you soon for another fish supper?’ he asked.
‘You bet.’ Badger waved a paw back, then trundled away across the beach to find Mrs B.
Crab sighed contentedly and slid back under the water with hardly a ripple.
THE END
Badger and Crab's Adventure Page 4