Chapter Forty

The Good and the Evil Part One

The three rabbits stood frozen as the deathly glow of red reflected in their eyes.

Fiver was the first to move, with trembling legs and glazed eyes he started to approach the fire.

“Fiver!” Hazel exclaimed in shock. He ran forward and stood in front of Fiver abruptly and stared at his younger brother in shock.

“What are you doing?” Hazel shouted over the crackle of the flames.

Fiver blinked several times and fumbled for words.

“Hazel!” Campion yelled. “We need to get everyone out! Now!”

Hazel broke his gaze from Fiver’s terrified eyes to look at Campion, “Would they not be safe in the caverns?”

Campion shook his head quickly. “If the fire reaches here, it will burn the tree and it fall over and smash the warren, we’d be trapped!”

“Okay!” Hazel agreed and followed Campion back down the tunnel.

Everyone in the cavern were muttering to each other, even Bigwig was having trouble keeping them calm at the sight of their distressed leader.

“Hazel what’s happened?” Primrose asked quickly.

“There’s a fire! Above the warren, and we need to get everyone out!”

Bigwig understood the danger immediately and helped Hazel and Campion rush everyone out.

Campion stopped Blackavar as he rushed to the exit.

“Where’s Spring and Swift?!”

Blackavar stared blankly at him for a couple of seconds then said unsurely, “I think they went to see Blackberry.”

“By Frith! Blackberry and the rest of the kittens are in the middle of the warren as well!”

Blackavar’s eyes widened and he started stuttering. By this time everyone was out of the caverns and Campion and Blackavar were the last two rabbits.

Without thinking twice Campion started the ascent to Blackberry and the kittens and knew that Blackavar was following by the hurried steps behind him.

Stopping at the two burrows Campion turned his head to Blackavar.

“I’ll get Blackberry, you wake up the kittens and take one up, don’t wait for us!”

It didn’t take long to rouse Blackberry and go into the kitten’s burrow.

Scanning the kittens quickly he said to Blackberry, “Blackavar took Rosa, you take Ash and I’ll take Iris, Swift and Spring should be fast enough to keep up with us.”

When they reached the top they noticed that a chunk of the warren was still under, Bigwig, Strawberry, Hawkbit, Clover, Ivy, Fiver and Pipkin.

Campion and Blackberry left their kittens over with their cousins and then went over to the adults.

“What happened to everyone?” Blackberry asked worriedly.

Hazel was panting rapidly and his injured leg was bleeding more profoundly than before, though in his fear he seemed to be oblivious to it.

“We….. were climbing……up and the rain from earlier……..must have weakened the ceiling….we couldn’t stop it falling behind us…… their path would have been blocked. “

“Should they not be up by another way by now though?” Blackberry asked in distress.

Holly, being the closest to the flames saw its fearsome approach first.

“Hazel! Move back, move back!”

The flames were crawling steadily closer. The only thing that was slowing it was the wet vegetation.

The large group backed up as the red hot ashes flew at them like arrows.

A high cry disrupted the steady crackle of the flames and each rabbit spun on the spot to find the source of the horrid noise.

Soon enough the cries were repeated over and over like dominos falling, putting the rabbits into a frenzy.

“Stop moving!” Campion shouted in frustration as he was knocked off his feet again.

Automatically the rabbits froze and looked at each other in utter confusion.

“What’s happened?!” Hazel shouted until everyone broke out of their trance and looked back at him.

“Hazel,” Blackberry’s voice rang with shock. “Over here!

Scattered around the down were a bunch of metal cages glinting threateningly in the fire’s glow.

Suddenly, panicked voices began to call out, “That’s Blackavar in there! And Holly in that one! And Spartina in the next!

Hazel was shaking by now due to loss of blood and exhaustion but he wasn’t known as a great leader for nothing.

He turned his head to meet their eyes bravely. “Okay I need volunteers.”

Every adult rabbit put their paw in the air immediately, ready at once to help.

Hazel voice rose in octave as the strain started to show, “Diggers, I need good diggers first!”

As the paws decreased in number Hazel picked out Blackberry, Primrose, Brunnea and Dandelion because he should have had enough practice by now.

Blackberry, being head of the digging stepped forward to receive instructions.

Hazel started quickly to explain, “Remember that tunnel we dug last winter from the very bottom of the down to that chamber we trapped the weasel in case of emergencies? I need you all to go back up it, digging out the soil that would have fallen down in the downpour and reach the others to tell them. In their panic they probably won’t have remembered such a small tunnel.”

Blackberry nodded and made her way back to her group of diggers. She was determined to lead them well despite being sick herself.

Hazel hesitated for a second then sprang back into action, “Mallow, Gillia and Snowdrop take your cousins down to the bottom of the down and find some cover in the forest .Don’t come back up! Keharr and Hannah go with them!”

The kittens left abruptly leaving Yew, Campion and Shadow with Hazel who were listening intently for instructions.

“We are going to find a way to free Holly, Blackavar and Holly,” Hazel said finally.

Shadow cut in, “Shouldn’t we try and stop the fire spreading?”

Hazel looked to him in surprise, “How on earth to you expect to stop a fire?”

“In case you haven’t noticed it has stopped spreading already.”

The three other rabbits realised that he was right. Just beyond the beech tree the fire had halted in a straight line with its flames licking the ground hungrily.

“But… but…” Yew stuttered. “Shouldn’t it have….. ..amm not stopped in such a perfect line?

Shadow remained calm and sat down on his haunches. “Quick, go and free the others before the men come for them.”

They didn’t need telling twice and sprinted over to the closest cage that contained Holly.

Yew tried to calm the old, grey rabbit by telling jokes, “Hey Holly, what did the bigger flower say to the smaller flower?”

Campion and Hazel looked at the metal contraption sceptically.

Campion bent down and bit into the hard, cold steel and recoiled. “It’s as cold as ice in winter and as hard too, there’s no way we can bit through that.”

“Hey bud!” Yew forced a laugh.

Campion looked over at his friend then back at his leader.

Hazel stared hard at it for a second then went round to the front of the cage, looking extra closely at the bolts.

Campion  finally spoke, “I think I remember seeing one of these in Efrafa when I was an officer.”

“What did you do?” Hazel asked.

“One of the captains showed us how to open it…… I’m trying to remember.”

Hazel fidgeted impatiently and glanced behind at the flames again, which still hadn’t moved.

He turned back when he heard the clink of metal, Campion had raised a metal bar with his nose and pushed it to the side.

Hazel caught on and helped push the heavy bar the last few inches.

Panting, Hazel lifted his head, “Try it now Holly.”

Holly gingerly prodded it with his hind foot and was surprised when it swung open.

“Yew,” Hazel ordered quickly, “Show Holly how it is done and then go and free the other two, Campion and I have to go and see how the digging is coming along.”

“Come on Campion,” Hazel urged turning and running down the hill.

The does were working furiously in the small tunnel and had made terrific progress.

Hazel crept up with Campion close behind and soon met Primrose working furthest back.

“Primrose, how’s it coming along?” Hazel said urgently.

“We’re nearly in, I think anyway.  Blackberry and Brunnea are up front trying to dig around a large rock that had fallen through.”

Hazel led the way around Primrose, Pipkin and Dandelion up to where Blackberry and Brunnea were.

Campion hopped over to the new tunnel and peered in, “Blackberry are you nearly through?”

Blackberry looked back briefly, “Yes, very close.”

“Stand back,” She warned as the soil above them trembled and started drifting down in dust clouds.

The ceiling gave way, showering the diggers with damp soil. Campion blinked and shook the earth off his back and heard Blackberry call out.

“It’s all safe, it’s a clear path from here!”

The ceiling had given way to reveal a steep ascent up to the heart of the warren.

Everyone started to run faster as they smelt cleaner air that came from the large Honeycomb.

Blackberry reached their goal first and to her dismay saw no signs of recent rabbit life.

“How long do we have?” She asked Campion when he drew up alongside her.

Campion thought of the still flames that had not been spreading when he had last seen them and how Shadow was standing with it as if controlling it. Wait…. That was it! Shadow was controlling it!!

“Campion!”

“Blackberry! Shadow is the Black Rabbit!”

But Campion was prevented from speaking further by Hazel and the rest who had bumped into him in their hurry.

Hazel shook his head to shake of the dizziness and looked at them in surprise, “Why have we stopped?”

Blackberry looked at Campion in awed silence and finally said, “We were just deciding which direction to take.”

Hazel glanced around the chamber and his eyes stopped at the main entrance.

“This is the route we took when the ceiling fell in on them, maybe they are still there.”

Everyone nodded and followed him immediately.

Hazel drew to a stop and a wall of scattered earth and put his nose to the ground. “They were here and then they went……this way! Come on this way!”

Hazel made a sharp left and continued along it until they came to a cross trial.

Blackberry stepped forward and stared in confusion at the tracks, “They split up.”

“But why would they do that?” Hazel shared her confusion.

“Fiver and Ivy went this way,” Campion indicated right, “and Bigwig and the others went left.”

Hazel finally spoke up, “Brunnea, Primrose, Dandelion and Pipkin get Bigwig and the rest out and the stay out, we’ll be along soon.”

Blackberry turned right and followed the two rabbit’s tracks. “They lead to Fiver and Ivy’s burrow.”

Hazel looked across at Campion, “Why would they be in their burrow at a time like this?”

Campion just shrugged, his mind was still shocked from his realisation about Shadow.

Suddenly, a familiar figure emerged from a nearby burrow and startled the small group into a hasty stop.

“Fiver!” Hazel said in relief that turned into urgency. “You and Ivy have to get out now!”

“We were leaving Hazel, but Ivy… the stress must have brought it on early……”

“Fiver what are you talking about?”

“Ivy had a kit!” Fiver finished.