Tales from Watership Down by Richard Adams

Author:Richard Adams
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Children: Grades 3-4, Rabbits, Adams, Fantasy fiction, Fantastic fiction, Fiction, Fiction - General, Fantasy, Richard - Prose & Criticism, General, Short stories
ISBN: 9780679451259
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Published: 1996-10-15T07:00:00+00:00

28. At the Foot of the Hill

Marvellous happy it was to be

Alone, and yet not solitary.

O out of terror and dark, to come

In sight of home.

Walter de la Mare, The Pilgrim

"You're not too tired to silflay, are you?" asked Dandelion. "And at the proper time of day, for a change? It's a lovely evening, if my nose says right. We ought to try not to be more miserable than we can help, you know."

"Just before we silflay," said Bigwig, "can I tell you, Holly, that I don't believe anyone else could have brought himself and three other rabbits safely back out of a place like that?"

"Frith meant us to get back," replied Holly. "That's the real reason why we're here."

As he turned to follow Speedwell up the run that led into the wood, he found Clover beside him. "You and your friends must find it strange to go outside and eat grass," he said. "You'll get used to it, you know. And I can promise you that Hazel-rah was right when he told you it's a better life here than in a hutch. Come with me and I'll show you a patch of nice, short tail-grass, if Bigwig hasn't had it all while I've been away."

Holly had taken to Clover. She seemed more robust and less timid than Boxwood and Haystack and was evidently doing her best to adapt herself to warren life. What her stock might be he could not tell, but she looked healthy.

"I like it underground all right," said Clover, as they came up into the fresh air. "The closed space is really very much like a hutch, except that it's darker. The difficult thing for us is going to be feeding in the open. We're not used to being free to go where we like and we don't know what to do. You all act so quickly and half the time I don't know why. I'd prefer not to feed very far from the hole, if you don't mind."

They moved slowly across the sunset grass, nibbling as they went: Clover was soon absorbed in feeding, but Holly stopped continually to sit up and sniff about him at the peaceful, empty down. When he noticed Bigwig, a little way off, staring fixedly to the north, he at once followed his gaze.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's Blackberry," replied Bigwig. He sounded relieved.

Blackberry came hopping rather slowly down from the skyline. He looked tired out, but as soon as he saw the other rabbits he came on faster and made his way to Bigwig.

"Where have you been?" asked Bigwig. "And where's Fiver? Wasn't he with you?"

"Fiver's with Hazel," said Blackberry. "Hazel's alive. He's been wounded--it's hard to tell how badly--but he won't die."

The other three rabbits looked at him speechlessly. Blackberry waited, enjoying the effect.

"Hazel's alive?" said Bigwig. "Are you sure?"

"Quite sure," said Blackberry. "He's at the foot of the hill at this very moment, in that ditch where you were the night Holly and Bluebell arrived."

"I can hardly believe it," said Holly.

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