Fox's Feud (5 page)

As luck would have it, as his mosaicked body rippled through the long grass, he came upon Hare resting on his form of flattened stalks.

‘
You
don’t often pass this way,’ Hare said.

There’s a reason for it,’ Adder told him, and explained the urgency of the message. ‘It’s a definite stroke of luck running into you. You’ve probably got the fastest pair of legs in the whole Reserve.’

Hare did not hesitate. He was up and bounding away through the grass without so much as a farewell. Adder found himself a warm patch of ground and decided to do some basking. He was sure events would catch up with him again later in the day.

Minutes later, Hare’s breakneck speed brought him to the entrance to Fox’s earth. Inside he found Fox and Vixen, Friendly and Charmer already deeply concerned at Bold’s failure to reappear. When they received the news that he had deliberately strayed into Scarface’s territory, they conjectured the worst.

Fox looked strained. ‘We must go after him at once,’ he resolved. ‘It may not be too late.’

‘I’ll go and alert Badger and some of the others,’ Hare offered.

‘No.’ Fox shook his head. ‘I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. This is mine and Vixen’s quarrel. We’ll deal
with it ourselves. I don’t want any of our friends getting hurt on our account’

‘Very well,’ said Hare. ‘But if you need help, it would be absurd not to ask for it from any reason of pride.’

‘There are four of us here,’ Fox indicated his family. ‘Friendly and Charmer are all but fully grown. We will go, as a pack, to search for our missing one.’

‘We won’t be looking for any trouble,’ Vixen added. ‘We don’t want any fighting. Our only concern is to find Bold and bring him back.’

‘I wish you well,’ said Hare sincerely.

‘Thank you for bringing us word,’ said Vixen. ‘We may be able to thank Adder ourselves.’

Hare watched the family depart. He had little confidence, either that they would find Bold or, if they did, be able to bring him away, and all of them return unscathed right from under the muzzle of Scarface. In the sunlight again, he sat pondering. He did not care to defy Fox’s wishes, yet he knew Badger and Tawny Owl, at least, would never forgive him if he did not warn them of the developments.

‘I suppose all I can do is to pass on to them Fox’s words,’ he said to himself, ‘and hope that they’ll respect them.’ He pondered again. ‘Of course Tawny Owl is bound to act impulsively, as usual. Perhaps I’ll just tell Badger.’

Having decided this, Hare ran quickly to Badger’s set and found him entertaining Mole. He described the situation in a few words.

‘I
knew
they were going to have problems with that one,’ Badger said afterwards. ‘But, after all, he’s not really a cub any more. He has a life of his own now. Of course, the maturity isn’t there . . .’

‘Oh, why won’t Fox let us help him?’ bewailed Mole.
‘I’m sure Scarface would respect the combined forces of all the animals of Farthing Wood.’

‘A lot of you are so small as not to influence his thinking in any way,
I’m
sure,’ Badger remarked. ‘No offence, Mole, you understand. But an old warrior like Scarface is hardly likely to take much account of you or Vole – or Toad, for that matter. He’s quite capable of making a tasty morsel of you for his supper.’

Mole looked a little hurt. ‘Well, my intentions are noble enough, anyway,’ he defended himself. ‘But there’s a lot to be said for numbers.’

‘I think Mole’s right, actually,’ Hare agreed. ‘Most of the creatures in the Park still think there’s a certain aura about us. We made that famous journey – against all odds. We are looked upon as being exceptionally resourceful – why should we be intimidated by any danger that confronts us here after all we endured before?’

‘That’s it exactly!’ cried Mole. ‘I couldn’t have put it better myself.’

‘The only thing being,’ Badger reminded them, ‘that we are required not to get involved.’

‘I suppose Fox wouldn’t have any objection if we just followed along behind at a safe distance?’ Hare queried. ‘You know – just to satisfy ourselves everything was all right?’

Badger looked at Mole knowingly. ‘What do you think, Mole?’ he asked.

‘Oh, I shouldn’t think there could be any complaint about that,’ he surmised.

‘Then we’d better leave at once,’ Badger said immediately. They had found the excuse they needed.

‘We’ll collect Weasel on the way,’ he said. ‘And as many of the others as possible.’

Hare voiced doubts about Tawny Owl.

‘Oh no, we can’t leave Owl out,’ Badger said loyally. ‘You leave him to me. He won’t do anything rash, I’m sure.’

Mole took up his old travelling position on Badger’s back and the three animals set off. Weasel made the party four in number and then the ranks were later swelled by Hedgehog, Rabbit and Squirrel. Tawny Owl was soon located and they all had a welcome surprise when Kestrel came swooping down towards them, having spotted the party from the air.

‘I thought something was afoot,’ he remarked when Badger had explained all. ‘I’ll fly on ahead and see if I can find Fox and family.’

The animals felt something of their old spirit of camaraderie returning as they went along, and they recalled their many adventures together on their long journey to the Park. At that time they had been united by a common desire to reach safety in a new home. Now, again, they had joined together in a new crisis. The safety of their old leader, Fox, in the
new
home was threatened and it was their duty to support him.

They arrived at the spot where Adder had encountered Hare, but the snake was no longer to be seen.

‘He’s probably concealed himself somewhere,’ suggested Weasel. ‘Adder was never one to admit to a community spirit. He always preferred an individual approach.’

‘But he was never one to be found wanting in times of danger,’ Badger asserted. ‘I’ shouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t accompanying Fox and Vixen. They must have passed this way.’

The return of Kestrel brought them further news. ‘Fox and Vixen are on the other side of the stream,’ he told them, ‘with the two other cubs. They’ve seen and
heard nothing and they are proceeding very cautiously indeed.’

‘Was Adder with them?’ Mole enquired.

‘No. No sign of him,’ the hawk replied.

‘He’s probably sleeping somewhere like the sensible creature he is,’ Tawny Owl observed and yawned. ‘Best thing to do when the sun’s up.’

‘Adder never
really
sleeps,’ said Mole. ‘Not like we do. He’s got no eyelids.’ He giggled.

‘We all have our own features, Mole,’ Badger pointed out. ‘Adder might make a joke of your short-sightedness.’

Mole fell silent. He had been touched on a raw spot.

Tawny Owl was still yawning. ‘Dear me,’ he remarked. ‘I didn’t realize I was so tired. Perhaps I should have carried on dozing. I probably won’t be of much use.’

‘I don’t know whether any of us will be of use,’ returned Badger. ‘Fox doesn’t want us to interfere. It’s really only a case of giving moral support.’

They moved on to the stream and swam across in a line, Kestrel and Tawny Owl flying overhead. Once on the other bank they fell silent. The feeling that they were entering hostile territory came over them very strongly.

Rabbit whispered: ‘Do you think there’s a lot of point in our continuing? I mean, this area is patrolled by that hideous scarfaced fox and his family and – well, Hare and I are their natural prey.’

‘You mean there’s no point in
your
continuing,’ Weasel emphasized dryly. ‘Well, I suppose support that is given so timidly cannot really be called support anyway.’

‘Just a moment, Weasel,’ Hare came to his cousin’s rescue for once. ‘Rabbit has a right to be timid. Hares and rabbits are no match for foxes.’

‘We haven’t seen any foxes yet,’ Weasel reminded him.

‘I can smell them,’ said Rabbit. ‘I feel as if I am walking
right into their waiting jaws.’

‘There’s a nice thick bank of nettles there,’ remarked Tawny Owl. ‘Why don’t you animals hide yourselves there for a while, and Kestrel and I will do some reconnoitring?’

The animals concurred, and the two birds left them for the time safely concealed.

An eerie stillness pervaded the air – all the animals felt uneasy. Rabbit, most of all, was unable to settle.

‘It’s like the calm before the storm,’ he whispered to Hare nervously.

Squirrel ran up the trunk of the nearest tree on to a lofty branch to ‘a point of vantage’ as he put it.

Suddenly the sound of running footsteps was heard, approaching quickly. The animals peered out from the undergrowth and were amazed to see none other than Bold racing from the rear of the position they had reached, towards the stream.

Badger hailed him, and the cub halted on the bank. The animals ran towards him in a group.

‘I escaped,’ he panted. ‘I’m too fast for them.’ His shoulder was a little bloody. Bold discounted it. ‘There was a bit of a scuffle,’ he explained. ‘Things really looked dangerous for a time. I’ve run hard – I must have a rest.’

Badger and Weasel led him to the nettle-patch.

‘I’ll just take a breather,’ said the cub, ‘and then I’ll tell you what happened.’

After a minute or two, Bold was more composed. He explained how he had become surrounded by Scarface and his tribe the previous night, and had fully expected they were going to kill him.

Mole gasped. ‘How dreadful! What have you ever done to them?’

‘Nothing,’ replied Bold, ‘except humiliate their leader on one occasion. But he has my sister’s death on his conscience. He must have thought I had come for revenge.’

‘What, against so many?’ Badger asked incredulously.

‘No, against himself.’

‘I hardly think . . .’ began Badger. ‘I mean, if your father didn’t . . .’

‘Oh, my father is
too
cautious,’ said Bold.

‘In the wild,’ Weasel pointed out, ‘caution is the essence of survival. In the meantime your father and the whole of your family are out looking for you in the alien territory from which you have just escaped.’

‘But we must stop them – get them back,’ urged the cub.

‘How do you propose we do that? Follow them?’ Hedgehog enquired. ‘We’re too small and too few.’

‘But
I
was on my own and
I
outwitted them,’ Bold reminded him, a trifle boastfully.

‘Well, tell us how,’ said Hare. ‘We’re still waiting to hear.’

‘Yes. Well, as I told you, I was surrounded. I was lucky it was night-time, for it was also hunting time, and it seemed that hunting was the foxes’ priority. Scarface told his henchmen to escort me to an unoccupied earth, which they did. I was then forced inside, while some of the group stood guard at each of the exits.’

‘And then?’

‘They stayed behind while the others went after their prey.’

‘How long were they gone?’ Mole asked. ‘You must have been terrified.’

‘I don’t know how long they were gone, because I knew that if I was still in that earth when they got back I would never get out alive. So their hunting was my breathing space. I started to talk to one of the animals left on guard, and managed to persuade him inside. He was not as big as I, and I made a rush at him, baring my fangs. As he sidestepped, I altered my direction in mid-career and bolted out of the exit. Once outside I skipped past the
other guards and then I simply ran and ran and ran, knowing my life depended on it.’

‘How does your shoulder come to be injured?’ Badger wanted to know.

‘There was a tussle on my way back. As I was running quite blindly, as fast as I could, I ran across two foxes busy stalking their quarry. One of them made a half-hearted lunge and grazed my shoulder. I don’t think I was even recognized. I was just looked upon as a rival for their food supply.’

‘Well, you are a remarkably lucky young fellow,’ Badger observed, ‘to have reached safety again.’

‘I think my cunning and fleetness of foot had something to do with it,’ Bold retorted.

Not for the first time Badger detected the note of boastfulness in Bold’s remarks.

‘Perhaps so, perhaps so,’ he conceded. ‘But because of your rashness in coming to this area in the first place you have put the lives of your family in danger and, to a lesser extent, ours also.’

‘I’m sure my father will see everyone is quite safe,’ Bold maintained.

‘But he is groping in the dark, so to speak, isn’t he?’ Badger remarked. ‘He doesn’t know where you are, and until he does he will continue to search for you.’

Bold’s face dropped a little. ‘Can’t we send word to him?’ he suggested.

‘But, you see, we don’t know where
he
is. Kestrel and Tawny Owl have gone to find him. But when they do, they still won’t know about you, will they?’

‘Oh dear,’ said Bold. ‘I do seem to have caused rather a lot of bother.’

‘You must learn to think before you act,’ Badger continued sternly. ‘That is the caution Weasel was talking
about earlier.’

‘I take your point, Badger, and I apologize. Can I do anything?’

‘I don’t see that you can, any more than the rest of us until we’re more sure of the situation. We shall just have to wait here until the birds return.’