Chapter Twenty- Five

No Choice

Campion’s life continued on in the same routine for weeks. Every day the same man would take him out onto the table and change his bandages as well as giving him an injection that took away the majority of the otherwise unbearable pain. Campion knew he would never grow to like this man, he or his friends had suffered too many times at the hands of one, but he learned that there was no need to be afraid. He never let the man touch him apart from the necessary times when he was helping his injuries, always afraid that he would smell of man if he ever escaped and the other wild rabbits would repel him.

About three weeks after Campion had first arrived at the man place he was allowed out into the garden to stretch his legs. He had no chance of escape though, since the area was covered in a long fence and anyway he had no idea of the country he was in. He savoured the freedom dearly before he was placed back into the confinements of his cage. He remembered scanning the skies hopefully for Keharr, or perhaps the lightning quick hawk, Skree.

He had also learned resentfully that if he was hungry he was forced to eat the food that man had left out. It was always rich food stuff like carrots, fresh grass, lettuce, turnips and other flayrah types, usually delicious to a rabbit. Campion found himself thinking every day, I would rather be eating the short, coarse grass in Efrafa and having the little freedom I had as a captain there than be depending on man for survival. It wasn’t that he was ungrateful, but his hate of man had been burning in him as far as his memory went.

It was a sunny day in early spring when he was next let out. The rabbits’ favourite season was alive around him. He hopped forward a couple of feet and marvelled at his progress. What was once a pain as sharp as thunder had dulled to an ache. He was watching the birds fly totally free against the blue sky and he sighed hopelessly, had he become a mere pet?

Blackberry had long since arrived at Darkhaven and had returned to the captain’s quarters. Curling up on her old nest she quietly sniffed and glanced round at the surrounding granite walls thinking of Watership Down.

There were times when she considered returning home but she could never bring herself to actually go, for her it contained too many memories, good and bad though it was the good ones she could not face.

The men’s drills resounded into the large warren walls and echoed, making the place seem even more empty and alone than before.

Blackberry lay hoping that the men wouldn’t find her; the warren was huge and had gaping holes in the walls in many of the warren burrows, big enough for a man to easily walk in. Some would say it wasn’t really a warren, just a bunch of old hiding places between the old cars and junk.

Suddenly, apart from the men’s voices there was another voice. It was very distant and low, but it was there.

Jumping, Blackberry scurried behind one of the large bits of machinery and pricked her ears, listening hard.

She couldn’t make out any words because it was too far away but she knew it was a rabbit speaking, her nose told her that for sure.

Keeping very quiet she crept out of the burrow and cautiously looked around the surrounding sheer cliffs.

The noise grew fainter until she couldn’t hear it anymore, but as she sniffed expectantly she felt as if there was something unfortunately familiar about that smell.

Desperate to know what it was she hurriedly followed where the noise had disappeared without a backward glance at Darkhaven.

“Come on Swift, what do you say? Do you want to be captain of the junior owlsa?” Hazel prompted.

“Sure I will Hazel!” Swift cried excited and pleased. “Just wait until you hear what marli and parli have to say about this!”

Swift ran off eagerly around the down, already off  to train his new owsla.

“So you still haven’t told him Hazel?” Fiver asked with concern. Bigwig fidgeted uncomfortably beside them.

“No,” Hazel sighed. “All the kittens still think Campion and Blackberry are just off on a very, very long patrol.”

Bigwig put his head to the side and gave Hazel a ‘really?’ look.

“It was the best I could come up with on the spot! They weren’t easy to lie to you know!” Hazel said, defending himself.

“I know it’s been more than a moon,” he hissed at Bigwig as he was faced with an annoyed look.

“Well how about we organise an activity to distract them. Some very hard challenge?” Fiver suggested.

“Any ideas?” Hazel asked eagerly.

 “If they are in the junior owsla they have to know all the tricks and skills needed to one day become an owsla captain. That’s the goal for every member of the owsla, isn’t it Bigwig?” Fiver asked. “What if we gave them a really hard challenge to prove their worth?”

Bigwig grumbled under his breath, annoyed that he hadn’t come up with such a suggestion.

“Well Bigwig?” Hazel asked eagerly, “what do you think they should do?”

“Depends what your limit is for your kits Hazel.” Bigwig shrugged.

“Anything except fighting elil Bigwig,” Hazel joked.

“A night above ground then, alone, down outside Nuthanger,” Bigwig said briskly, already hopping off to inform the junior owsla.

“Hey Bigwig! I’m not sure; shouldn’t we at least send someone with them?” Hazel replied anxiously, following him over.

Hawkbit raised his head with his mouth overstuffed with grass and looked at Fiver with a sigh. “Okay what are we going to have to do now? I heard the word, ‘owsla’ and ‘challenge’. Now tell me, why don’t I like the sound of that?”

“Actually Hawkbit, you heard the word, ‘junior owsla’ and it’s a challenge for them and not us.” Fiver laughed at his friend’s pessimism. 

“Good, today I’m planning to enjoy stuffing myself with grass.” Hawkbit tore up another mouthful looking like a puffed up frog.

“Literally,” Strawberry whispered to Dandelion and Fiver.

“And lying in the warm rays of Frith,” Hawkbit finished, sighed and fell back lying sprawled out in the daisies and daffodils.

“Hawkbit…..” Fiver began hesitantly peering down at him. “Have you forgotten to do your morning patrol?”

Hawkbit opened an eyelid in shock, and then attempted to look casual. “Of course not Fiver, why do you ask?” Hawkbit snuggled further into the grass.

“Because Bigwig is coming over right now and you might want an excuse to be ready,” Fiver replied.

Blackberry tracked them expertly. Her worry was increasing as they got closer and closer to Watership Down.

To her relief they stopped just outside where Efrafa had been so they could rest, giving Blackberry the perfect opportunity to sneak up close enough to have a closer look.

They had stopped at the edge of a large pasture that contained two grey horses that were quietly cropping the short, fine grass.

Blackberry quietly emerged from the tree line and cast a look around the group of travelling hlessi.

There were just a few more than hrair and it was obvious they had been through a hard time somewhere in the past. They were covered in various nasty cuts, bumps and bruises and were out for the count sleeping in the grass.

Blackberry thought it would be safer to get a little closer and peered anxiously at all their injures, wanting desperately to help but holding back because she was too vulnerable on her own and didn’t know if she could trust them.

On her way around, she noted that they were all large, strong bucks, not one doe among them and they all had scars on their necks, flanks, cheeks or hind legs.

No it couldn’t be surely? Blackberry asked herself, Fiver and the others said they didn’t think anyone else had survived, they had seen no sign of any tracks that suggested escape.

But she had to admit Fiver and the others had been wrong when she came across the sleeping body of a familiar buck.

Without really thinking about the consequences of what she was going to do, just the deep desire inside of her to know the final truth she nudged Dogwood rudely awake.

“What exactly did you do to Campion that night I left? Why did you do it?”

Dogwood at first looked absolutely amazed at being confronted by a hlessi doe so bluntly, then his heart pounded when he recognised an opportunity to gain praise from his chief.

“Hemlock sir, it’s the escapee doe from the hind mark!” Dogwood gabbled excitedly.

Blackberry gasped and swung round, heading back to the tree line before a sharp, stinging pain stabbed her on her hind foot.

Glancing back she saw Dogwood’s sadistic smile and a glint of her own blood on his claws.

Ignoring the pain she continued her wild escape. Blackberry was very fast and since the small band of Shadowsky warren rabbits had been severely worn out before the chase, it wasn’t long until she had lost them.

Panting for air, Blackberry turned to glance around her surrounding and realised with dread she was at the foot of the down.

“Marli!” three voices cried out in unison. With it being such a nice day, of course every rabbit would be out.

Blackberry sighed and supposed she could warn Hazel about the potential threat whilst she was here and anyway she had missed her kittens desperately.

Swift was the most frantic to reach Blackberry first and tears shone in his eyes as he hugged her.

Blackberry nuzzled all her kits and then raised her head bravely to face Hazel, who returned her gaze steadily.

“You decided to come home then.” Hazel smiled.

“Yes.” Blackberry, decided it would be best to not let on to the kittens she hadn’t meant to return.

“Race you back to the down marli!” Rosa cried, racing up the hill after her siblings.                   

 “There, it’s as good as new.” The man smiled, reaching out to stroke Campion’s healed shoulder.

Campion swiftly side stepped. He had had many an opportunity to practice this after all his weeks of recovery. He placed his hand on the rabbit’s back and stroked it anyway. Campion just sighed in slight annoyance and looked up imploringly.

The man laughed quietly and continued to remove the rest of the bandages. He humoured Campion and gave him a pat on the head.

Campion had grown used to this man but was still wary of any strangers so he jumped when the surgery door opened and a young girl walked in.

“Oh he’s better!” she cried, running over.

“Shh quiet now, we don’t want to scare him,” the man replied gently.

Campion moved away nervously from this loud, rambunctious voice, but was pushed gently back to the centre of the table.

“When are we going to release him?” she whispered. “Are you sure we can’t keep him?”

“This afternoon, I’ll just give him a myxomatosis vaccination and then we’ll get him loaded,” the man replied cheerfully. “I know, I’ve grown fond of him too, but he is a wild animal and not ours to keep.”

Campion felt the familiar prick of the injection as he digested this information. He was once again inserted into a carrier and then into another hrududo.

He felt nervous anticipation, something special was about to happen. The only other time he had been in this hrududo was when he came here, so maybe they were bringing him back? They had said they were going to release him!

Campion started to scrabble unconsciously at the plastic flooring of his cage with his claws and peer excessively out of the small slits in the sides.

Finally, when Frith had risen into the centre of the sky the hrududo groaned to a stop.

Light beamed into Campion’s eyes as he was lifted out and was placed onto the springy grass.

“This seems good a place as any,” the man said, looking at the area.

“Can I release the hatch?” the girl asked, excited.

“Sure, on the count of three, one….. two… three.”

Campion saw the metal barrier raise and he sprang forward, the wind whooshing by at the speed of light as he ran like a hare.

“Another animal helped that probably would have died without our help.” The man smiled.

As Campion ran he remembered the Black Rabbit’s words, the actions of men are influenced by Lord Frith.

Smiling to himself he pushed on faster homeward, his shoulder as supple as it had been when he was a working captain of owsla and if possible his hearing in his left ear had improved slightly as well as the multiple cuts on his body had healed.

Nearly home now, nearly home at last.