Fox's Feud Read Online Free PDF Page B

sire.
    Bold looked fearfully from one pair of eyes to another. They were full of intent. There was no mercy in any of them.

Adder, who had been watching during the remainder of the night for Bold’s return, felt the first rays of the summer sun strike his body with their warmth. He knew it was time to report the cub’s absence.
    Slithering as quickly as he was able through the bracken and leaf litter, he arrived at the stream-bank. Adder was a good swimmer and the stream presented no problems. He forded it easily, and climbed the other bank. But Fox’s earth was a good distance away and Adder knew it would be hours before he could reach it. His body was not constructed to travel long distances at speed. It was essential for him to find someone who could pass the message more quickly.
    He knew of no Farthing Wood animal who had set uphome in the immediate vicinity. Kestrel would be the perfect messenger, but there was no way in which Adder could pass it to him hundreds of feet up in the air, even should he be flying over the Park. He might encounter one of the other birds, but Tawny Owl was likely to be asleep, while Whistler spent most of his time at the waterside. But the heron was not always to be found along the banks of the stream and Adder could spare no time on what might prove to be a fruitless search. So he struggled on overland.
    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 dealwith 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