Chapter Ten
Hazel's Plight
“Steady on Hazel!” Bigwig puffed, trying to breath around the stitch in his side.
“We have to be on time, we have to save them!” Hazel said almost hysterically.
“Yeah but if we collapse or run into elil before we get home we’ll be no better off,” Bigwig reasoned.
Hazel’s stride shortened as he realized Bigwig’s words had some truth in them. He glanced in concern at the sky, it was still dark but the night was coming to a close.
“We should find a place to shelter for a while, the others can’t go on and I think I will be in the same state if we don’t rest,” Spartina said, drawing up beside Bigwig.
Hazel stopped and looked at his surroundings, they were just outside Darkhaven. It would take at least another day’s worth of travelling before Watership Down would be in sight. He sighed as Primrose entered his mind, was she hurt? Or worse?
“Right we’ll make scraps there,” Hazel said pointing at an old oak tree. “But I’m going on.”
“If you go, I go,” Bigwig said determinedly.
“Holly, you’re in charge and return to Watership Down when you are all up to it,” Hazel said quickly.
Bigwig and Hazel turned and ran along the skirting of the field before slipping into a line of hedges, more eager than ever to get home quickly.
“Ohhhh more digging?” Hawkbit moaned, as the rabbits set to work making scraps.
“There are worse things,” Holly snapped. “Now get to work unless you want to invite the owls over for evening silflay!”
Blackberry had been in the Honeycomb all night and Campion was still unconscious, nor had he shown any signs of waking. She was worried he had slipped into a coma.
Primrose had taken over sentry duty whilst Clover was out with Pipkin looking for the healing herbs Blackberry had described for them.
Captain Broom had been confirmed as dead, and this had upset Primrose a lot. Though as Blackavar had later pointed out, he had lived a long life and had died fighting, the way he would have wanted to go.
Earlier, they had taken him over to the river behind Watership Down and gently laid him into the water, where he was swept away by the current, this was considered a respectful burial by the rabbits.
Campion had been shivering, from cold or the fear that was in his own mind they couldn’t tell, so Primrose’s three kittens were huddled on the other side of him to help keep him warm.
“Blackberry, maybe you should go up to silflay, you have been here all night,” Blackavar suggested when she wearily tried to comfort her mate as he twitched again.
Blackberry nodded reluctantly, and went outside but being careful not to stray too far from the burrows.
As she ate the sparse, tasteless winter grass she remembered the fresh scents her and Campion had discovered in Darkhaven in autumn. They had completely forgotten to tell Hazel what with the trial and the burrow expansions.
She decided, after much consideration, that she would let him know as soon as he returned. Feeling that the worst of her hunger had been satisfied for the moment she returned underground to take up her familiar place beside Campion once more.
“Thanks Blackavar, I got it,” Blackberry said as Blackavar got up. She lay back down beside the brown rabbit and felt a shudder pass from his fur to hers. She racked her brain to try and think of any herbs or plants that encouraged consciousness. The only thing that she came up with was water. If they splashed him with water would it work?
She quickly told Blackavar of her plan and he stated that it was worth a try. She forced herself to leave again to go out into the snow. Primrose saw her and came over. “What’s up? Has Campion’s condition changed?”
“No,” Blackberry sighed. “I thought if I splashed him with water it might jerk him awake.”
“It’s an idea.” Primrose agreed readily and helped Blackberry roll up a substantial amount of snow.
They patted it into an oval shape so that it stayed together. Blackberry bent down and picked up the frozen bundle of snow trying to ignore how cold it was and how it trickled down her throat and burned it painfully.
She dropped it quickly in the great chamber and asked Blackavar and Primrose timidly if they could get Campion into his burrow so that if he woke he would be in more familiar and comfortable surroundings.
After much work, they managed and Blackberry waited patiently for the snow to finishing melting in her paws.
“You must be frozen through Blackberry!” Blackavar pointed out.
“I’m fine. We have to try everything.”
Eventually the bundle was reduced to water and, feeling terrible about it, she splashed it over his face while shouting his name desperately.
Hazel and Bigwig stopped running due to exhaustion after reaching somewhere around Redstone. Hopping along slowly, the only thing that prevented them from collapsing was the concern for their friends.
“Hazel, promise me something,” Bigwig said, crossing the sunlit clearing.
“I’ll try my best,” Hazel said doubtfully.
“If it is Primrose that is hurt, you won’t do anything stupid will you?”
“Bigwig I have risked my life and the lives of my friends just to get her out of Efrafa. That shows how far I would go for her… if she is hurt or dead even, I will never forgive myself.”
Bigwig sighed at his friend’s predicament, but understood how he felt, he would be feeling the same if it had been Spartina.
The two rabbits continued to make steady progress to the foot of the down.
Bigwig stopped and stiffened, his nose burned with the smell of a weasel, and it was close.
“Hazel, weasel! Hide!” Bigwig whispered, leaping into the nearby bramble bushes.
Hazel followed suit and they waited anxiously for the weasel to appear.
The weasel was a female. She had her eyes closed painfully and they continuously dripped blood onto the woodland floor.
Hazel and Bigwig watched, their worry evaporating, it was obvious that this weasel was in no fit state for hunting and wouldn’t be quick enough to hurt them.
“Bigwig!” Hazel said having an epiphany. “The weasel! Fiver’s vision!”
Bigwig understood Hazel’s excitement but being a trained owsla captain he was always wary of any possible threat of danger.
“Shh Hazel you’re drawing attention to us!” Bigwig whispered urgently.
The weasel had heard them and was advancing warily towards their hiding place, her head high in the air sniffing frantically to replace the loss of her sight.
Hazel decided on the spot, he hopped out of the bush and came face to face with the weasel.
“Do you know other rabbits? Meet other rabbits on hill?” Hazel said slowly, willing her to understand.
The weasel hissed angrily and jumped blindly forward, soaring straight over Hazel and landing sprawled out on the ground.
Bigwig, catching onto Hazel’s idea, placed his large hind onto the weasel’s throat. “Answer the question,” he said threateningly.
The she weasel choked and struggled feebly but still answered, “Yes… Long ears fight me off, too strong.”
Bigwig and Hazel exchanged knowing looks before sprinting headlong in synchronisation towards the homeward trail.
Campion was exhausted and felt the fear and hopelessness as the weasel came closer and closer, he had nowhere to run and he was too tired to fight. He closed his eyes awaiting the final deadly blow as the weasel sprang at him, a furious monster out of the night….
“Campion, wake up!” A frantic voice interrupted his nightmare. He awoke and looked around at his familiar burrow walls, shivering violently and noticed with unpleasant surprise that he was stinging all over.
He momentarily relaxed as he realized that it was a bad dream and at this moment he wasn’t being attacked. “Blackberry? Primrose? What happened?”
“You fought off a weasel and lived, you may be a little stiff for a while though,” Blackberry said, her voice singing with joy though tainted with worry.
He tried to steady his frantic heartbeat and rubbed his face with his paws which had become numb with cold. He blinked the water out of his eyes and looked confused.
“Sorry about that,” Blackberry said apologetically. “We had to try everything, though it worked!”
“Can you move okay?” Primrose asked.
Campion slid onto his feet easy enough, stubbornly ignoring the shouting pains in his head and legs.
“Yes I might need to rest for awhile though,” he said finally, he hated being in need of help because it made him feel weak. He sighed and lay back down with a subdued expression.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Blackberry said determinedly, fixing back the herbs that had fallen off Campion when he had stood up.
Blackavar entered the burrow and greeted his friend joyfully whilst teasing him about his inability to get killed.
Blackberry and Primrose decided to leave the two bucks to chat and went to see how Pipkin was getting on with his sentry duty.
Bigwig and Hazel stumbled to the top of the hill, out of breath and legs aching.
“Primrose? Anyone?” Hazel called.
“Hazel, is that you?” Pipkin asked. The small brown, grey rabbit came round the side of the beech tree and stopped in surprise when he saw the exhausted forms of the two rabbits.
“Pipkin is Primrose….” Hazel started.
“Pipkin is everyone ok?” Bigwig cut across Hazel.
“Yes Primrose is ok.” Pipkin forced a smile at Hazel, guessing what he was about to say. “There was a weasel, and Campion, Blackavar and Captain Broom fought it…… Campion’s badly hurt, but he’ll live and Blackavar got away with just a concussion, but Captain… Captain Broom’s dead.” Pipkin ended in tears.
“Dead?” Bigwig said with an unnatural waver in his voice.
“Pipkin its okay,” Blackberry comforted, she had just appeared beside the small group.
“Blackberry are you ok? What, with Campion and the stress of the kittens and all?” Bigwig asked.
“I’ll get by Bigwig,” Blackberry said, though her eyes were tired and dull now that the excitement of Campion’s waking had disappeared to be replaced by worry and fear.
“Blackberry where is Primrose?” Hazel asked quietly, not wanting to be blunt but desperate to see his mate.
“She’s below ground Hazel.” Blackberry smiled at Hazel’s worry.
“Come on Pipkin, buck up lad,” Bigwig encouraged.
The two bucks followed Hazel underground, while Blackberry watched the sun set in the watery, white, winter sky, praying a silent prayer to Frith.