Chapter Twenty

Left Behind

Blackberry and Swift sprinted away into the black, their hearts pounding like storm rain as the patrol raced to capture them.

“Swift this way,” Blackberry whispered urgently, doubling back a good width from the patrol and slipping into the shore of the Efrafan river.

“It’ll mast our scent,” Blackberry explained.

She picked up Swift by the scruff and lowered him in up to his shoulders then set him back on the ground.

Swift sniffed and snuggled closer as Blackberry settled into a bed of last autumn’s dead leaves near the river, she wanted to stay close to Shadowsky in case he…..

He’ll be alright, he’ll be alright, Blackberry shut her eyes in an attempt to prevent the pain that shook her body.

The whole warren was above ground, straining their eyes.

“But where are they Skree?” Hazel asked cautiously.

Hannah spoke from Skree’s back, “We couldn’t find them in the dark but the plan worked. I think we saw a glimpse of Blackberry before we left.”

Hazel sighed in relief. “That’s good.”

“Shouldn’t we send someone to escort them home?” Fiver suggested.

“We’d be happy to go, we know the way there,” Ivy offered, desperate to see her best friend again.

“What about the kittens?” Primrose asked.

“Oh yes, I forgot about them,” Ivy replied. She tried to hide her disappointment.

“I’ll take care of them, Ivy you go,” Fiver said gently.

“But I don’t want to go without you,” Ivy argued, but it was obvious her heart wasn’t in it.

“Look in the morning I’ll come and meet you all halfway, say about the corn field?” Fiver persisted.

 “Okay,” she agreed readily.

They touched noses in goodbye then Ivy departed with the aerial watch.

Campion lay in his burrow, muttering angrily to himself and using all the imagery he possessed to imagine Dogwood and his gang of idiots undergoing intense pain.

Not only had they prevented him escaping with Blackberry and Swift but had also been saying innocently all morning that Blackberry and Swift had left him deliberately, and how the patrol had probably killed them. Campion had finally lost patience and had pounced at them causing him to be confined to quarters.

“Campion?” Yew stepped cautiously into the burrow. “I have to supervise you for silflay,”

Campion quickly pushed his anger to the side and joined his new friend.

The two rabbits silflayed in silence for a while until Yew broke the silence. “Sorry to hear about your mate and kit, I hope they’re okay.”

Campion looked around to make sure no one else was listening then said, “I told them to go on.”

“Why didn’t you go too?” Yew asked in surprise.

“You mean you don’t object to rabbits leaving?”

Yew shook his head, looked round, tore up another mouthful of grass and chewed it thoughtfully, thinking.

“Rabbits should have freedom if that is what they want,” he said finally.

“Listen, Yew have you ever heard of Efrafa or Woundwort?”

“I think I heard Hemlock mention a buck called Woundwort once. Why who is he?”

Campion paused, then made a quick decision. He told Yew everything, about how he had found his lost brothers in Hazel and Fiver, how he had finally decided to betray the evil chief Woundwort who turned out to be Hemlock’s son and all about Darkhaven and the final battle, as well as that harsh winter and the weasels.

Yew nodded, with a determined look in his eyes. “I’ll help you get out.”

“Thank you,” Campion said gratefully. “Come with me. You’ll like it at Watership Down, I do.”

Yew looked shocked but gratified. “If I can.” He smiled.

The right shoulder mark came above ground.

“Underground with you!” Yew said forcefully to Campion, winking before he went under.

Campion returned to his burrow, his thoughts slightly happier and less suicidal as he thought of the freedom of Watership Down and all his friends and family.

Ivy  went at a steady pace towards Shadowsky warren, occasionally stopping for a quick meal before continuing on, determined to reach Blackberry and the others before Inle rose again the next night.

She reached the iron road and tread carefully across it, ears pricked for patrols and sniffing for any scent.

She picked up Blackberry’s and the kitten, Swift’s so she followed it as it led back in the direction of the enemy warren. She began to panic, had they been caught and taken back?
 

Hannah, the field mouse and Keharr, the gull landed quietly beside Ivy as she studied tracks.

“Keharr can you go and see if there is any sign of them ahead? These tracks show that they went in that direction.” Ivy pointed.

Keharr and Hannah set off in the direction that was parallel to the warren and returned shortly.

“We seen them, they are at the Efrafan bridge,” Hannah told her, with a hint of hiding something in her voice.

“What is it, what’s wrong?” Ivy asked worriedly.

Keharr and Hannah exchanged looks before Keharr turned to face Ivy. “Campion is not with them.”

Ivy said nothing when she approached Blackberry as her friend sniffed quietly near the edge of the fast flowing river.

Ivy touched her nose gently against her side, urging her silently to return home with her.

Even though Ivy had got off on the wrong paw with Campion, she felt strongly for her friend and wished the owsla captain was here.

They reached the corn field just after ni- Frith, and met Fiver who already had a melancholy expression on his face; Ivy guessed his seer gift had already told him what was wrong.

“We’ll rest here,” Ivy said quietly.

Blackberry and Swift lay down at once, Blackberry had not yet said a word since Ivy had found her.

Fiver and Ivy lay down together near the other two, both feeling intensely sad for Blackberry as they all worried about Campion. Blackberry hadn’t told them what had happened.