Chapter Thirty – Nine

Fire!

Campion’s side was like ice and the rhythmic pulse that vibrated against it was weak and shallow.

He turned to look at Blackberry, her eyes were tight shut as they had been most of the day.

He pricked his ears as he heard someone’s footfalls coming from outside the burrow.

“Hazel,” he greeted the fawn rabbit.

“I think you need to go and talk to the kittens sometime soon, they are quite upset,” Hazel said quietly, staring at Blackberry’s still figure.

Campion looked hopelessly to the ground. “What can I say to comfort them?”

Hazel didn’t reply because he had no words. Campion was right, what could be said to comfort them in this time?

“Well, there is a meeting down in the caverns later and an owsla captain meeting soon, okay?” Hazel asked.

“Hmm,” Campion answered, glancing back at Blackberry.

Hazel hesitated, and then went over and lay down at her other side to help warm her.

“Are you going to tell me then?” Hazel said to Campion.

Campion was still preoccupied worrying to listen to what Hazel was saying.

“What?”

“Are you going to tell me the story of Shadowsky warren?”

Campion looked up in surprise, “Are you sure it is the right time?”

“I honestly don’t see there being a right time for a story any time in the future.”

The brown buck nodded slowly and started the story from when he and Blackberry had left to find their missing kitten, Swift.

Hazel was patient and quiet throughout the story, wincing at the same times as Campion.

“So the man actually helped you?!”

“It appears so,” Campion said, flexing his perfectly healed shoulder. “It was like nothing I had ever been through, the worst thing about it was the fact that I was totally dependent on him for survival.”

“Fiver told me you acted weird on the river bank when you were near those men and that one of them was obviously talking about you.”

Campion shrugged, “It was the same man that captured me, and I couldn’t act as if everything was normal. I was scared.”

Hazel saw the slight tinge of fear in the green eye as Campion talked about it.

“But he set you free didn’t he?”

“Eventually.”

“He also told me you seen the Black Rabbit too.”

“Yes, did he tell you what it was about?”

Hazel nodded.

Hazel was silent, then smiled, “How did you find travelling in a hrududo? Beats walking doesn’t it?”

Campion laughed, causing Blackberry to raise her head.

“What are you two laughing about?” She said weakly.

“Oh, Blackberry, how are you feeling?” Campion said quickly, helping her sit up.

“Really you need to stop worrying about me,” She said, pretending to be angry.

“Oh you know, just trying to get you back on all those times you confined me to quarters when I was injured.”

“That’s different,” Blackberry shook her head. “I’m not injured.”

“I think you’ll find you are,” Campion indicated to a gravel burn on her front leg. “You must have gotten it off the rocks in the river.”

Blackberry peered down at it and tried to get some of the gravel out.

“Ouch,” She said as the small, sharp stones pricked her sensitive nose.

“Oh I know,” Campion pointed to the small scratches on his nose.

Blackberry looked up, “Oh, sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Campion insisted.

Blackberry suddenly noticed Hazel was in the room, “Oh, hello.”

“You look better that you did anyway, that’s for sure,” Hazel replied.

“I do?” Blackberry questioned, examining her mud splattered fur.

“You look better as in healthier not your appearance,” Hazel corrected lightly.

“Oh, thanks.” Blackberry said sarcastically.

“You know what I meant.”

“No one has yet been able to get all of it off,” Campion said. “I’ve been trying for two days!”

There was a cough at the entrance and all three rabbit swivelled round to it.

“Hello Shadow,” Blackberry said in surprise.

“I’ve come to talk to Campion and Hazel if that is alright,” Shadow said cautiously.

“I’m sure I could survive without them for a short while,” Blackberry smiled weakly.

“I’d rather not leave Shadow, can’t you just tell me here?” Campion asked resentfully.

Shadow hesitated then started to talk anyway, “The other rabbits have been telling me that you are worried that Blackberry has something contagious and aren’t letting anyone else into the burrow apart from yourself?”

“That’s right,” Campion said cautiously.

“So Campion shouldn’t be in here either then, is that what you are saying Shadow?” Hazel asked.

“No the exact opposite actually,” Shadow shook his head.  “You are secretly worried that she has myxomatosis aren’t you Campion?”

Campion looked shocked, “What’s myxomatosis?”

“Sorry, most rabbits just call it the white blindness.”

Blackberry gasped and looked at Campion questionably.

Campion avoided her gaze and said almost angrily to Shadow, “It might have crossed my mind once, but I’m not a healer what do I know?”

“You’ve seen it before, in Efrafa, and you are worried sick that the same thing will happen to her.”

Campion growled in annoyance as he realized that Shadow must be some sort of seer, he could definitely read minds! At least with Fiver you had privacy in most of your thoughts, Campion thought bitterly.

“Can you get to the point Shadow?” Campion muttered.

“Man gave you an injection just before you were set free, didn’t he?”

“What is an injection?” Campion snapped.

“Sorry, a long, sharp claw – like thing, that pricked your fur when he touched you with it.” Shadow said patiently.

“He gave me a lot of them; I’m not going to pretend I know what they are.”

“Well, the one that he gave you just before you were set free, makes you immune to myxomatosis.”

There was a bit of a stunned silence after this announcement, until Campion shakily broke it.

“How? Rabbits cannot just become immune to it.”

“When you were touched with the injection it put this…. medicine type thing into your bloodstream which makes it impossible for you to contract the disease.”

Campion rubbed his head with his paw as he struggled to fit all this information together.

“So, you see, you are currently the only rabbit in this warren that can safely be with Blackberry as long as you think the threat still exists,” Shadow finished.

“Hey wait a minute,” Blackberry interrupted. “You think I have myxomatosis?”

Campion knew the question was directed to him and he felt anger again at Shadow, “It was just one of the possibilities I thought of okay?”

“So what now, I’m quarantine?”

Campion fidgeted uncomfortably and looked back at Shadow.

“Just until we find out what is exactly wrong with you,” Shadow said comfortingly.

“Why are you telling us this Shadow?” Campion asked.

“I knew Hazel and a few others were worried about you being in here on top of worrying about Blackberry.”

“And just how do you know all this things?” Campion said, glaring at him.

“I had better get to owsla practice,” Shadow said shortly and left.

“But Shadow!” Hazel started, but Shadow was out of hearing distance.

“You’re not in the owsla,” Hazel muttered.

Hazel soon felt the tension in the burrow and left, saying something about organising the meeting later.

Campion avoided making conversation by starting to clean Blackberry’s wound.

Blackberry thought carefully before saying, “Why don’t you tell me what you are feeling?

“I didn’t want to worry you by thinking that you had a horrible life threatening disease.”

Blackberry rolled her eyes, “Come on you can’t fob me off that easy, there is something else.”

“It’s just easier with people you’re not close with, not that I’m not close to Hazel……. it’s just….. he’s not you,” Campion finished feebly.

Blackberry smiled at his obvious embarrassment.

Campion groaned, “I made a mess with that speech didn’t I?”

“Don’t worry I think I know what you mean, I tell Ivy a lot.”

“From now on we tell each other everything okay?” Campion said hesitantly.

“Yep,” Blackberry laid her head back down and her eyes dropped.

“Get some sleep,” He said quickly.

She rolled her eyes again before closing them completely and drifting off again.

Then Campion remembered that she still didn’t know about the imminent destruction of the warren and he felt extremely guilty about not telling her, especially after making the promise himself.

He would tell her as soon as she woke up again, he promised himself whilst making his way to the owsla practice.

He stopped abruptly when he passed his kittens burrow, he had heard noise inside.

Backing up he craned his neck in. “Swift? What are you doing up?”

Swift jumped slightly and relaxed his sentry stance at the front of the burrow.

“I just thought…… that we needed a sentry,” He whispered quietly.

Campion smiled sadly and pulled his son close, “I will not let man hurt you, or your brother and sisters or your mother. Okay?”

Swift just sniffed and closed his eyes painfully, “You can’t save everyone though. What about uncle Fiver and Hazel? Or Mallow, Snowdrop and Gillia?”

“We’ll all get out,” Campion said firmly. “We have an escape tunnel planned don’t we?”

“How’s that coming along?” Swift asked bitterly with tears of regret in his eyes. Regret at losing his home and all that it meant to him.

 Hearing another whimper, Campion saw Spring crawl over to his side.

“We want marli,” Spring whispered, as the tears overflowed.

Campion sighed and tried to comfort them, “I know, I do.”

Out of the side of his eye he saw Fiver standing awkwardly at the burrow entrance.

“We were wondering why you weren’t at the meeting.”

“I’m just coming,” He carefully detangled himself and hopped soberly over to the chestnut rabbit.

Campion made no comment when Spring and Swift followed.

“How is Ivy?” Campion asked to make small talk.

“Acting strange.”

“Well that is to be expected, no?”

“It’s more than that, she’s eating slightly more, sleeping more and she is becoming really crabby…… don’t tell her I said that.”

Campion remembered the winter spent with Blackberry and bit his tongue so as not to say anything Fiver might not want to hear.

“Wow the whole warren is here!” Campion exclaimed.

“I would expect so, considering what it is about,” Fiver reasoned.

The cold stone walls seemed to frown down upon the rabbits as they gathered in their sombre group and the air that circulated around the cold walls had a bitter edge of frost despite the recent warm weather.

Most of the warren looked worn and depressed as they tried to make themselves comfortable on the marble floor.

Campion bade Fiver farewell as the small rabbit went up to where Shadow and Hazel were conversing at the head of the gathering.

Swift and Spring lay in between Campion’s front paws as he lay down near Blackavar and Yew.

The quiet chatter dimmed when Hazel tried to make his voice heard. “As you have probably heard we are expecting to have to leave Watership Down some time close in the future.”

He paused momentarily to let that revelation sink in before continuing. “We have been unable to think of any suitable places to start a new warren. Any suggestions?”

There was a deafening silence in the burrow as the rabbits looked at one another.

“Leaving? What does he mean, we can’t leave!”

“Where would we go?”

Campion stayed silent, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Shadow’s staring.

“Campion? Campion?!”

“Dad!”

Campion jerked his head away from those hypnotic red eyes. “What? What is it?” He looked down to Swift and then over to Blackavar.

Blackavar gave him a worried look, “Are you staying or leaving?”

“Staying of course, why what is everyone else doing?”

“Different things, mostly ‘staying ‘but Hazel’s working on it,” Blackavar nodded back to the front.

With a jolt Campion realised Shadow was no longer in the caverns with the rest of them. Straining his neck he peered over the many heads for just one glimpse of the black buck.

“If you would all try and understand, you will all be in grave danger if you stay…” Hazel started desperately before being nudged urgently between the ribs.

It was Fiver, he was frantically whispering something in his older brother’s ear and there was panic in his eyes.

“Everyone stay here!” Hazel’s voice rang with authority.

“Fiver!” Campion called out.

Seeing that he wasn’t going to get an answer he ran out after them, his heart thumbing painfully.

Out of the caverns.

Into the Honeycomb.

Into the tunnel leading upwards to the down.

It didn’t take him long to see what had been wrong. The rain had ceased most of its fierceness and remained a nice steady drizzle though the strong wind still raged on.

But, there like a great, big, towering wall of colours was a fire. It licked its way through the forest behind the warren. The burning of wet wood and vegetation created loud crackling and sparks.

It was as if Frith had come down from the sky.