First published in Great Britain 1979 by William Heinemann Ltd

This edition published 2006 by Egmont UK Limited

239 Kensington High Street, London W8 6SA

Text Copyright © 1979 Colin Dann

Illustrations copyright © 1979 Jacqueline Tettmar

Cover illustration copyright © 2006 David Frankland

The moral rights of the author, illustrator and cover illustrator have been asserted

ISBN 978 14052 2552 6

ISBN 1 4052 2552 1

eISBN 978 17803 1298 9

www.egmont.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

For Janet

Contents

Cover

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication

Part One Escape from Danger

1 Drought

2 The assembly

3 Toad’s story

4 Preparations

5 Farewell to Farthing Wood

6 The long drink

7 Two narrow escapes

8 First camp

9 Fire!

10 Confrontation

11 The storm

12 Trapped!

13 Pursued

14 The copse

15 The river

16 A new leader

17 Which way?

18 The butcher bird

Part Two Journey to White Deer Park

19 Fox alone

20 The vixen

21 Vixen decides

22 The hunt

23 Fox to the rescue

24 Reunited

25 The celebration

26 The motorway

27 Some comforting words

28 The deathly hush

29 The naturalist

30 The church

31 The final lap

Epilogue In the park

PART ONE

Escape from Danger

1

Drought

For most of the animals of Farthing Wood a new day was beginning. The sun had set, and the hot, moistureless air was at last cooling a little. It was dusk, and for Badger, time for activity.

Leaving his comfortable underground sleeping chamber, lined with dry leaves and grass, he ambled along the connecting tunnel to the exit and paused, snuffling the air warily. Moving his head in all directions, his powerful sense of smell soon told him no danger was present, and he emerged from the hole. Badger’s set was on a sloping piece of ground in a clearing of the wood, and the earth here was now as hard as biscuit. No rain had fallen on Farthing Wood for nearly four weeks.

Badger noticed Tawny Owl perched on a low branch of a beech tree a few yards away, so he trotted over for a few words while he sharpened his claws on the trunk. ‘Still no rain,’ he remarked unnecessarily, as he stretched upward and raked the bark. ‘I think it’s been hotter than ever today.’

Tawny Owl opened one eye and ruffled his feathers a little. ‘They’ve filled in the pond,’ he said bluntly.

Badger stopped scratching and dropped to all fours. His striped face took on a look of alarm. ‘I could hear the bulldozer moving around in the distance, all day long,’ he said ‘But this is serious. Very serious.’ He shook his head. ‘I really don’t know where we’ll go to drink now.’

Tawny Owl did not reply. His head had swivelled, and he was looking intently under the trees behind him. Presently Badger’s snout began snuffling again as he caught the scent of Fox, who was approaching them.

Fox’s brush started to wag in greeting as he spotted his friends. He could guess from Badger’s worried expression that he had heard the news.

‘I’ve just been over there to look,’ he called as he ran up. ‘Not a drop of water left. You wouldn’t know there had ever been a pond.’

‘What can they be doing?’ asked Badger.

‘Levelling the earth, I suppose,’ said Fox. ‘They’ve cut some more of the trees down as well.’

Badger shook his head again. ‘How long before . . .?’ he began.

‘Before they reach us?’ interrupted Tawny Owl. ‘Could be this summer. Human destruction moves swiftly.’

‘What do you think, Fox?’

‘Tawny Owl’s right. In another year all of this could be concrete and brick. In five years they’ve dug up all the grassland, and cut down three-quarters of the wood. There are human dwellings on either side of us. We’ve been driven back and driven back, so that we’re like a bunch of rabbits cowering in the last stalks of corn in the middle of a cornfield, listening to the approach of the harvester, and knowing we’ve very soon got to run.’

‘And now they’ve taken our last proper water-hole,’ groaned Badger. ‘What can we do?’

‘We still have the stream at the foot of the hill,’ said Fox.

‘It must be just a muddy trickle by now,’ retorted Badger. ‘With all the animals in the wood using it, it’ll be dry in a few days.’

Tawny Owl rustled his wings impatiently. ‘Why don’t you go and look?’ he suggested. ‘There are sure to be others there. Perhaps someone will have an idea.’

Without another word he jumped off the branch, flapped into flight and disappeared.

The last faint rays of daylight were gone as Badger and Fox descended the slope into the depths of the wood. Everywhere the ground was baked hard, and even the quivering leaves on the trees sounded brittle and dusty. Only the darkness around them was any comfort: that familiar, noiseless darkness that enfolded the timid animals of Farthing Wood in a cloak of security.

Badger and Fox trotted along, shoulder to shoulder, each wondering what they would find at the stream. Neither animal spoke. Eventually they could see some movement ahead. A number of creatures were jostling together on the banks of the stream, milling about in a rather purposeless, disconcerted manner. There was a family of fieldmice, and about half a dozen rabbits, all of whom scuttled away when they saw Fox approaching.

A number of hedgehogs remained. Some of them stood their ground, but the majority quickly rolled themselves up, projecting their spines in a precautionary way against the two most powerful inhabitants of the wood.

‘Tut, tut. Don’t be alarmed,’ Badger reassured them. ‘Fox and I have merely come to examine the stream. It’s the only piece of water left to us now, you know.’ He smiled kindly. ‘We’re all in this together – big and small alike. There must be no . . . er . . . er . . .’ He broke off, unable to find the right words.

‘Differences of opinion?’ suggested Fox, with just the beginnings of a grin.

‘Er . . . quite,’ replied Badger. ‘How diplomatic.’ He peered forward over the bank, his weak eyes straining in the darkness. ‘Oh dear!’ he exclaimed. ‘Oh dear, oh dear!’

At this point the rolled-up hedgehogs unrolled themselves, and the young ones began to squeak excitedly: ‘It’s dried up! All dried up!’

From under the trees, and from the entrance to their burrows, the rabbits edged forward again, wondering what the clever Fox and experienced Badger would decide to do. One by one they seated themselves, still a little nervously, on the bank, keeping in a group as they watched Fox and Badger discussing the situation.

The fieldmice returned too, and pretty soon their noses, like the rabbits’, were all twitching expectantly.

‘There will have to be an Assembly,’ Fox was saying. ‘Everyone must attend. We ought to discuss this problem together, so that everyone will be able to put forward their ideas.’

Badger nodded. ‘Yes. It must be held without delay,’ he said. ‘The situation is critical. Our lives are in danger.’ He looked earnestly at Fox. ‘I suggest no later than tomorrow night – at twelve,’ he said.

Fox was agreeable. ‘Will you chair the meeting?’ he asked.

‘Certainly. Unless Tawny Owl . . .’

‘Oh, Owl! He probably won’t even come. You know what he’s like. Can’t bear anyone else to arrange anything,’ grumbled Fox.

‘He must come,’ insisted Badger. ‘I’ll tell him so myself. When an Assembly is called, the whole of Farthing Wood has to attend. Five years ago, my father chaired the Assembly that was called when the humans first started to build here. There were more of us then, of course. Farthing Wood was almost a forest in those days, with a large stretch of grassland all round it, and also . . .’

‘Yes, yes,’ Fox cut in, a little impatiently. He knew Badger loved to talk about ‘The Old Days’, but once he started it was sometimes very difficult to divert him. ‘We know what it used to be like,’ he said. ‘But we’re concerned about what it’s like at present. My father,’ he added, in case Badger was offended, ‘was at that Assembly. But no good came of it. What could mere animals do?’

‘So true,’ mumbled Badger sadly. ‘But this time, unless we’re all to die of thirst, something has got to be done.’

He turned towards the group of onlookers. ‘Fox and I are agreed that an Assembly of the animals of Farthing Wood must be called,’ he announced. ‘You should all arrive at my set by twelve o’clock tomorrow night.’ He began to digress again. ‘There’s plenty of room for everyone. Once upon a time many families of badgers lived there, but now I’m the sole survivor . . .’ He sighed reminiscently: ‘The last of a long line of Farthing Wood badgers, going back for centuries.’

‘We must spread the word to the others,’ Fox cut in quickly. ‘You rabbits must find Hare and his family, and, fieldmice, you can pass the word to the voles. Badger knows where to find Weasel, and I myself will look out for Adder and the lizards. Any of you who are about during the daytime can tell the squirrels about it.’

‘What about the birds?’ asked one of the hedgehogs.

‘We’ll leave them to Tawny Owl,’ replied Fox.

‘Badger was right – he must play his part.’

‘I’ll tell him when I get back home,’ said Badger. ‘Now don’t forget, all of you. Twelve o’clock tomorrow night.’

The smaller animals scurried away, the younger ones chattering excitedly and feeling important because of the duties entrusted to them.

Badger turned to Fox. ‘You’d better impress on Adder,’ he warned, ‘that we haven’t arranged this meeting to provide him with a wonderful opportunity to gorge himself. Remind him that every creature attending an Assembly is strictly bound by the Oath of Common Safety.’

‘Your father introduced that, I believe?’ Fox queried.

‘He did,’ replied Badger seriously. ‘It was very necessary, to prevent the possibility of bullying or fighting. Do you think Adder will listen to you?’

‘As much as he ever does,’ Fox replied evasively. He shrugged. ‘But I think even Adder respects the rules of the Assembly.’

They stood a little longer; then Badger turned to go. Fox called him back. ‘What about Mole?’ he asked.

‘Oh, don’t worry about him,’ Badger managed to laugh. ‘Once he hears all the feet running overhead, he’ll soon surface to discover what all the commotion is about.’

Fox grinned. ‘Till tomorrow then,’ he said.

‘Till tomorrow,’ said Badger.

2

The assembly

By eleven o’clock Badger felt that everything was ready. Since he had risen, he had been busy enlarging one of the unoccupied chambers of his set to a size which would accommodate everyone who was likely to attend the Assembly. Even with his powerful digging claws, it had been exceptionally hard work. The soil was dry and hard, and he had to remove all the loose earth into one of the unused corridors. Then, outside, he had gathered together several mounds of dry leaves, and dragged them down, backwards, into the chamber, spreading them evenly over the floor.

When he had finished, he had sallied out again, this time to the borders of the wood. Underneath the hedgerows he gathered together a number of glow-worms, which he tucked into the thickest parts of his fur, in order to transport them back in bulk. Back at the set, he stowed the little insects at intervals along the entrance corridor, and with those he had left over he illuminated the Assembly Chamber, placing them in tiny clusters, just as he had watched his father do before him.

At length, satisfied with his evening’s work, he left his set again to dig up a few roots and bulbs for his supper, which, garnished with a number of beetles, made a welcome meal. It was now eleven-thirty, and Badger decided to take a short nap before the other animals started to arrive.

He did not seem to have been dozing in his sleeping-chamber for more than a few minutes when he heard the old church clock strike twelve in the distance, and simultaneously he heard voices outside. He jumped up and wriggled his way quickly to the exit. It was Weasel, who had arrived with Fox.

‘Go straight down the corridor on your left, Weasel,’ said Badger. ‘After a little way it turns to the right. Take the first turning left after that bend into the Assembly Chamber, and make yourself comfortable. I’ll join you in a moment.’

Weasel followed his directions and the glow-worm lights, and had only just disappeared from view when more voices could be heard approaching. They belonged to the rabbits and Hare and his family. Just behind them came the fieldmice.

‘Fox, will you go down and keep Weasel company?’ Badger asked. ‘I’d better stay here to direct the others.’

‘Of course,’ said Fox and, bowing his head, he eased himself into the tunnel.

‘This way, everyone!’ called Badger. ‘Straight in there.’ He used his snout to indicate the entrance. ‘Just follow the little lights.’

The rabbits, in their particularly timid manner, were unable to decide on who should be the first one down the hole, and they began quarrelling until Hare, with some impatience, said, ‘I’ll lead.’ He nudged his mate encouragingly. ‘Come on dear. And you, children! Our cousins and the fieldmice will be right behind us.’

The lizards were next on the scene, though Badger did not notice them until they were darting around him like individual threads of quick-silver. After the squirrels, hedgehogs and voles had arrived, only Adder and the birds were missing.

The latter arrived together, led by Tawny Owl. He had rounded up Pheasant and his mate, and even Kestrel, who spent most of his time hovering high in the air above Farthing Wood, had agreed to attend.

‘I didn’t deign to invite the other birds,’ explained Tawny Owl. ‘Blackbirds, starlings, pigeons, thrushes – they’re all half-domesticated. They thrive when humans are around. The more humans there are, the better they like it. No purpose in them coming. They don’t really represent Farthing Wood at all.’

‘Do we have to go in there?’ Pheasant asked Badger in some alarm. ‘Soiling our feathers with all that dirt?’

‘My set is quite spotless!’ Badger retorted. ‘I’ve spent all evening getting it ready.’

‘We haven’t come here to admire each other’s plumage,’ Tawny Owl said shortly. ‘If you haven’t anything more to offer the Assembly than that, you might as well not have come.’

‘I didn’t say anything about not attending the Assembly,’ said Pheasant in a small voice, and without further ado he walked into the hole with his mate, followed by Kestrel.

‘Vain as a peacock,’ muttered Tawny Owl, and Badger shook his head.

‘You go in, Owl,’ he said presently. ‘I’m only waiting for Adder, and then we’re complete.’

Just then Fox’s head reappeared at the opening. ‘Mole’s just dropped in,’ he announced with a grin. ‘He came direct. Dug a long passage from his tunnel straight into the Assembly Chamber.’

Badger laughed. ‘I’d forgotten Mole,’ he admitted. ‘Hallo, here’s Adder.’

‘Good evening, gentlemen,’ Adder whispered, as he slid to a halt. His forked tongue flickered all around. ‘I trust I’m not late?’

‘I suppose someone had to be last,’ remarked Fox pointedly. ‘Well, after you, Badger.’

Inside the Assembly Chamber, the expectant faces of the young animals contrasted strangely with the solemnity of their seniors in the faint greenish glow. Badger took his place in the centre of the room, flanked by Fox and Tawny Owl as his self-appointed committee. The other animals spread themselves evenly round the Chamber against the hard earth walls. Most of the fieldmice and voles and rabbits took care not to sit anywhere near Adder or Weasel.

Without ceremony, Badger opened the meeting. ‘This is only the second Assembly called in my lifetime,’ he began, ‘and for most of you it will be the first you’ve attended. My father called the last Assembly five years ago, when the humans first moved in to lay waste our homes. In those days there was a Farthing Heath, as well as Farthing Wood. I don’t have to tell anybody what happened to the heath that once surrounded the whole of our wood.’

‘Gone. All gone,’ hissed Adder from the corner where he had carefully coiled himself up, and was resting his head on the topmost coil.

‘All gone!’ echoed the voles.

‘But the humans weren’t content with that,’ Badger went on bitterly. ‘They began to fell our trees. They continued to do so, at regular destructive intervals, until what was once a large wood had been cut back to the present sad remnant, not much larger than a copse.’

‘What do you think will happen, Badger?’ asked one of the rabbits timidly.

‘Happen?’ Badger echoed. ‘Why, the same thing that has been happening. They will cut down more trees, and build more houses, and shops, probably a school, and offices and roads, and ghastly concrete posts and signs everywhere, faster and faster and faster still, until eventually . . .’ He broke off with a despairing shake of his head.

‘Until eventually we are destroyed with the wood.’ Tawny Owl finished the sentence with determined pessimism.

‘And all this – how long will it take?’ asked Hare.

‘The very question I myself asked yesterday,’ nodded Badger. ‘Though all the time I suppose I knew the answer. We animals can never accurately forecast what the humans will do; we only know what they are capable of doing. And they’re capable of cutting down the remainder of Farthing Wood in twelve months, perhaps less.’

There was a stunned silence for a moment, then one or two animals coughed nervously. Kestrel began to preen his wings. His livelihood was not as completely threatened as the others’ by the advancing destruction.

‘And on top of all this,’ Badger said in pained tones, ‘comes a drought.’

‘The very last straw,’ said Mole.

‘Merely accelerating the end,’ Tawny Owl muttered, more to himself than to anyone else.

‘Friends, we are up against a brick wall,’ Badger intoned with deadly seriousness. ‘Leaving aside the threat of our extermination, if we don’t, in the next couple of days, find a safe, secluded place where we can all go to drink, we’re going to find ourselves in the worst kind of distress.’ He coughed huskily, already feeling his throat to be unusually dry. ‘This is why I’ve asked all of you to join me tonight. The greater the gathering, the better the chance we have of finding a solution to end our immediate danger. So I entreat you all: don’t be afraid to speak up. Size and strength have no bearing on anyone’s importance at an Assembly. The only important fact is that all of us live in Farthing Wood, and so we all need each other’s help.’

The smaller animals seemed to receive some encouragement from Badger’s remarks, and began to murmur to each other and shake their heads in bewilderment. But none of them seemed to have any definite ideas.

Badger looked at Tawny Owl, and then at Fox, but they were both scanning the circle of faces to see who was going to be the first to make a suggestion.

‘Surely you birds can help us?’ prompted Weasel. ‘You cover a wider stretch of country than we ground dwellers. Can any of you say where the nearest water is to be found outside our boundaries?’

Pheasant’s dowdy mate shifted uncomfortably, as she felt many pairs of eyes turning towards her. ‘Say something, Pheasant,’ she whispered to him.

‘My mate and I don’t really venture outside the wood,’ he said hurriedly. ‘Being game birds, there is always the danger of being shot at.’ He thrust out his gaudy breast. ‘I’m told we’re considered to be a great culinary delicacy by all well-bred humans,’ he added, almost smugly.

‘Kestrel, can you offer a more worthwhile piece of information?’ Badger enquired, directing a withering glance at Pheasant. ‘Of all the birds present, you spend more time than any outside the wood.’

Kestrel stopped preening and looked up with his habitual piercing glare. ‘Yes, I can,’ he said evenly. ‘But I doubt if it will be of any real use. There’s a sort of marshy pond on the enclosed army land on the other side of the trunk road. I haven’t hunted over there for some weeks – it’s never very rewarding at the best of times – and for all I know that, too, could have dried up. Apart from that, the most secluded expanse of water is a goldfish pond in a garden near the old church.’

‘But that’s in the old village, well over a mile away!’ exclaimed Badger. ‘Is there nowhere else?’

‘Oh yes,’ Kestrel replied without concern. ‘There’s a swimming-pool in one of the gardens on the new estate.’

‘How close?’

‘I suppose, for you, about fifteen minutes’ travelling.’

‘There’d be no cover: no cover at all,’ Fox warned.

‘I know,’ Badger answered worriedly. ‘But it’s nearer. The smaller animals could never walk as far as the church and then back again, all in one night.’

‘We could try!’ piped up one of the fieldmice.

‘Of course you could, and you would be very brave to do so,’ said Badger kindly. ‘But that would only be one journey. If this drought continues we’ll all have to make several journeys to drink what we need.’

‘The only suggestion I can make,’ said Hare, ‘is for the larger animals to carry the smaller – as many as we can manage.’

‘Yesss,’ drawled Adder. ‘I could carry several little mice and voles in my jaws, and I should be so gentle, they wouldn’t feel a thing.’ His tongue flickered excitedly. ‘I should so enjoy carrying the plump ones,’ he went on dreamily. ‘And Owl could manage a young rabbit or two in his talons, couldn’t you, Owl?’

‘You’re not looking at the situation in at all the right frame of mind, Adder,’ admonished Badger, looking with some sympathy at the smaller animals, who were huddling together as far away from Adder as they could manage without actually bolting into the tunnel. ‘You’re merely thinking, as usual,’ he went on, ‘of a way in which you can benefit personally from it. I know what you’re thinking, and it won’t do. It won’t do at all. We’re a community, facing a dangerous crisis. You know the Oath.’

‘Just a suggestion,’ hissed Adder, with a scarcely disguised leer. He was quite undismayed by the effect his words had had on the fieldmice and voles.

‘Now calm down, mice,’ soothed Badger. ‘Calm down, rabbits. You’ll come to no harm in my set.’

When the Assembly appeared to be more relaxed again, one of the squirrels said, ‘Couldn’t we dig for water?’

Badger looked towards Mole. The latter shook his black velvet head. ‘No, I don’t think it’s really possible,’ he said. ‘We’d only be wasting our energy, I’m afraid.’

There was silence then, while every animal cudgelled his brains for a way out of the difficulty. The seconds ticked past.

Suddenly, a voice was heard calling from the passage outside. ‘Hallo! Who’s there? Who’s there?’

Weasel ran to the tunnel. ‘I can see something moving,’ he said. Then he called out, ‘This is Weasel! The other animals are here, too . . . Good Heavens, it’s Toad!’ he exclaimed.

‘I’ve been looking all over the place for everyone,’ said the newcomer, as he stumbled into the Chamber. ‘I’ve been so worried: I thought you’d all deserted the wood. Then I heard voices.’ He sat down to regain his breath. ‘And I noticed the lights.’

‘Toad, whatever happened to you?’ Badger cried, as all the animals gathered round him. ‘We’d given you up for lost. Wherever have you been? We haven’t seen you since last spring. And you’re so thin! My dear chap, tell us what has happened.’

‘I . . . I’ve been on a long journey,’ Toad said. ‘I’ll tell you all about it when I’ve got my breath back.’

‘Have you had anything to eat recently?’ Badger asked with concern.

‘Oh yes – I’m not hungry,’ he replied. ‘Just tired.’

The heaving of his speckled chest gradually quietened as he recovered from his exertions. The other animals waited patiently for him to begin. He looked wearily round his audience.

‘I was captured, you know,’ he explained. ‘It happened last spring, at the pond. They . . . they took me a long way away – oh! miles away! I thought I would never see any of you again.’

He paused, and some of the animals made soothing, sympathetic noises.

‘Eventually, though, I managed to escape,’ Toad went on. ‘I was lucky. Of course, I knew I had to make my way back here – to the pond where I was born. So I started out that very day. And ever since, except during the winter months, I’ve managed to get a little nearer: little by little, mile by mile, covering as much ground as I was able to each day.’

Fox looked at Badger, and Badger nodded sadly.

‘Toad, old fellow, I . . . I’m afraid there’s bad news for you,’ Fox said with difficulty. ‘Very bad news.’

Toad looked up quickly. ‘What . . . what is it?’ he faltered.

‘Your pond has gone. They’ve filled it in!’

3

Toad’s story

Toad looked at Fox with an expression of disbelieving horror. ‘But . . . but . . . they couldn’t!’ he whispered. ‘I was born there. My parents were born there . . . and all my relatives, and acquaintances. And every spring we have a reunion. Toads all around leave their land homes and make for their birthplace. They couldn’t take that away from us!’ He looked pathetically from one sad face to another, almost compelling someone to deny this awful piece of information; but he received no answer.

‘Filled all of it in? Is it . . . quite gone?’ Toad’s voice shook.

‘I’m afraid so,’ Badger mumbled. ‘But, you know, there was very little left of it really. With this drought the water had nearly all dried up anyway.’ He knew his words were of no comfort.

‘What about the other toads?’ Toad asked hoarsely.

‘I think they had probably left the pond before this happened,’ Fox said encouragingly. ‘After all, it is May now . . .’

‘Yes, yes,’ Toad agreed morosely. ‘I’m late. It’s not spring any more, really. Not what we toads call spring.’

‘This drought,’ Badger rejoined, ‘is a danger for all of us. That’s why I called this Assembly. There’s no water left, Toad. None anywhere in Farthing Wood. We just don’t know what to do.’

Toad did not reply. His downcast face took on a new expression. He looked considerably more hopeful. ‘I’ve got it!’ he exclaimed excitedly. ‘We’ll leave! All of us! If I could do it, so can all of you!’

‘Leave Farthing Wood?’ Badger queried with some alarm. ‘How could we? What do you mean?’

‘Yes, yes! Let me explain.’ Toad stood up in his excitement. ‘I know the very place to go to. Oh, it’s miles away, of course. But I’m sure we could manage it, together!’

The other animals began to chatter all at once, and Badger completely failed to quieten them.

‘We must face the facts!’ Toad cried. ‘What you’ve just told me about the pond has brought our danger home to me with a jolt. Farthing Wood is finished; in another couple of years it won’t even exist. We must all find a new home. Now – before it’s too late!’

The other voices broke off. Toad’s voice dropped to a whisper. ‘The Nature Reserve,’ he announced dramatically. ‘We shall all go to the Nature Reserve, where we can live in peace again. And I shall be your guide.’ He looked round triumphantly.

‘Dear, dear! I don’t know.’ Badger shook his striped head. ‘You’d better tell us all about it, Toad. I don’t know if it’s a good idea. If it’s so far . . .’

‘Go on, Toad,’ Fox broke in. ‘Tell us about your adventure, right from the beginning.’

Toad sank back into his accustomed comfortable squat, and cleared his throat.

‘You’ll recall how last spring was very warm – in March particularly,’ he began. ‘Well, one weekend there were a tremendous number of humans at the pond; young ones with their horrible nets and glass jars – and a lot of them had brought their parents along. Everything in the pond was in a panic; there seemed to be no escape anywhere. The young humans were even wading out nearly to the middle of the pond in their eagerness to capture us. I remember I dived underwater and tried to hide in the mud on the bottom. So did a lot of others. But it was no use. They found me; and I was prodded into a jam-jar and carried away.’

‘How awful for you,’ one of the lizards commiserated. ‘They come after us, too, with those stifling glass jars that are made specially slippery, so that you can hardly grip the bottom.’

‘Ghastly things,’ muttered Toad. ‘I must have been kept in it for three or four hours, I should think. I was submitted to the indignity of watching my captors eat their food by the side of my pond, while I was left out in the sun, trying frustratedly to scale the sides of the jar, without so much as a leaf to protect me. If the weather had been any hotter, I’m sure I would have dried up.’

‘I like to sunbathe, myself,’ said Adder. ‘But, of course, you amphibians have never really learnt to live comfortably on dry land.’

‘Just the same as you reptiles can’t adapt to swimming and diving!’ retorted Toad.

‘I can swim when I have to,’ Adder returned.

‘Well, well,’ nodded Badger. ‘What happened next, Toad?’

‘They took me away,’ he said. ‘I don’t know for sure how far, because I took the opportunity of having a nap during the journey. They put me in the back of their car, and the next thing I knew I was being tipped into a glass box in their garden.’

‘How long did they keep you in this glass box?’ asked Fox.

‘I suppose about four weeks,’ replied Toad. ‘They put some netting on the top as a lid, and one day their wretched cat, who was always prowling around trying to get at me, knocked it off. So I leapt as high as I could, and I managed to jump out of the box and hide behind a shed. That very night I started my journey home.

‘I hadn’t got very far before I decided I ought to strengthen myself with a good meal. All the humans had ever given me was mealworms; tasty enough, but so boring without some change to relieve the diet. I still think you can’t beat a juicy earthworm, fresh and moist from its burrow.’

‘Hear, hear!’ cried Mole feelingly. ‘Nothing like them! I could eat them till I burst. Never tire of ’em.’

‘It’s a wonder there are any left at all, with your appetite,’ remarked Tawny Owl.

‘Oh, nonsense, there are plenty for everyone,’ Mole justified himself a little shamefacedly. ‘Though during this dry weather I have my work cut out finding them. They do go down so deep, you know.’

‘Yes, of course,’ said Toad. ‘Anyway, when I had eaten my fill, my first problem was to get out of that garden. The great difficulty lay in getting round the wall. There was no wooden fence with convenient gaps in it – just a stone wall all round the garden. However, I was determined not to be disheartened, and there was one thing in my favour. The wall had bits of pebble and flint stuck into it – for decoration perhaps, I don’t know – and I knew I could use these projecting pieces to climb up.

‘It took so long, however, that I was sure daylight would break before I had reached the top, particularly as I fell off about four times, and had to start again. But I knew I had to get up that wall, even to have a chance of setting out for Farthing Wood.

‘Well, I got to the top eventually, and walked along to the end of the wall. By that time it was just starting to get light, and I knew I would have to jump for it. I looked all round for a plant or something to break my fall, but there was nothing; only concrete all around. Of course, I couldn’t possibly risk jumping on to that, so I had to lower my legs over the edge, and climb down the pebbles again. Fortunately, it didn’t take as long as going up, and I was just thinking I could probably jump the last few inches when that horrible cat came out of the house. I pressed myself close to the wall and froze.’

Toad broke off, and contemplated his enthralled audience. The room was completely, utterly silent, so that you could have heard a pine needle drop. The young squirrels had wrapped themselves cosily in their mothers’ thick tails, and the fieldmice and voles were now all bunched together in a large, furry mass, which was animated only by a score or so of quivering pink noses. Every animal gave Toad his rapt attention. Only Adder appeared to be taking no further interest in the proceedings. He had allowed his head to drop forward, but whether he was asleep or not would have been difficult to say.

‘Would you believe me,’ Toad went on quietly, ‘if I told you I stayed in that spot all day, trying to look like another pebble? I couldn’t risk climbing down any further because there was nowhere to hide, and if the cat had seen me it would have been the end of me.

‘Fortunately, the day was reasonably cool, and as soon as it was safely dark, I let myself drop the rest of the way to the ground, and then crawled and hopped as far as I could away from the house. There were only one or two other houses nearby, and once I’d got past them I began to feel much freer. My sense of direction told me what course to take, and I kept on down to the end of the road. This was sealed off by a sort of ditch, and behind that a fence. I knew I was on the right route, and those two things didn’t present much of a barrier to me. I hadn’t gone far on the other side when I realized I must be in some sort of private park, because the fence stretched as far as I could see in both directions.

‘Now I don’t know exactly why it was, but the more I looked at that fence, the safer I felt. I suppose it was because I knew I was on the right side of it.

‘It was very quiet and peaceful in there, and a lovely bright moon was shining as I made my way along, flicking up a few insects on the way. I decided to make my bed under some trees, so I scooped out a little hole in the earth, and pulled some dry leaves round me. I slept quite well during the day because, apart from the birds, no one seemed to be about.

‘When it was dusk I emerged again, and continued forward. After a while, the trees gave way to some open land, and ahead of me I could sense water. You can’t imagine how excited I became at that, after all those weeks without a dip. It was another bright, moonlit night, and eventually I could see a pool ahead, where the moon was reflected perfectly. As I approached I thought I could hear one or two croaks coming from the water. I realized I had not been mistaken, when the whole party of the pool’s inhabitants started croaking in unison, making a tremendous racket. It was a call I couldn’t place, unlike any I had heard before. They were obviously frogs – but what sort of frogs?

‘As I didn’t know if they were likely to be friendly, I approached the water’s edge cautiously, and just watched them for a while. There seemed to be quite a number of them splashing about in the centre of the pool, and some were just floating, with their heads out of the water. These were the ones making the noise. They were blowing out their cheeks like two bubbles in their efforts to croak the loudest.

‘After I had been there for a little while, they stopped croaking, and seemed to decide amongst themselves that it was time to leave the water. They began to make for the shore, some swimming in my direction. I stood my ground. As they clambered out, one of them called, “We’ve got a visitor. A toad.”

‘They all came up to have a look, remarking that they hadn’t seen me before, and that the toads who shared their pond in the spring had all been gone a week or more to make their homes on land. They made quite a fuss of me when I told them my story. They explained to me that they had just left the pond to feed, and invited me to join them.

‘There was no shortage of food, and we were all able to eat our fill. Although it was night-time, I was able to discover that these unusual frogs were a definite shade of green, with darker spots, and a stripe of a paler colour down the centre of the back. When we had finished eating, they asked me to join them in a swim, and I was glad to accept.

‘We swam out to the centre, and rested amongst the water-weed, and I took the opportunity of asking them about the park. Their spokesman was an old, fat male who seemed to be a sort of patriarch of their society. He told me the park was called White Deer Park, and it was a Nature Reserve.’

Toad paused for effect, and there were obliging murmurs of, ‘Ah’ and ‘Of course – the Nature Reserve.’

‘We have heard of these Nature Reserves,’ said Badger. ‘Do they, in fact, reserve nature?’

‘Exactly as the name implies,’ Toad answered emphatically. ‘My friends the frogs told me all about it. A Nature Reserve is a piece of land – or water – of exceptional value and interest because of the rare animals or plants – or both – in it. There is a certain breed of human called a Naturalist, who, unlike most ordinary humans, spends his time learning about, and caring for, animals and plants. Their prime consideration is our well-being and safety. The frogs told me these Naturalists usually work in groups, and it was one of these groups that decided that their homeland, White Deer Park, was too valuable to be left unprotected. So, about three years ago, it was sealed off, designated a Reserve, and now no humans are permitted entry to it without a special pass. Even then, they may not remove any animal or plant from the Reserve whatsoever.’

‘It sounds wonderful,’ said Hare’s mate. ‘Peace and security all the time. No hiding. No running away. No guns!’

‘And that’s not all,’ Toad went on. ‘The Reserve is under the permanent care of one of the Naturalists, who is called a Warden. The animals’ health and safety is in his keeping, and he patrols the Reserve to ensure their protection.

‘Apparently, in the frogs’ park there is a herd of albino deer which is unique. They themselves are a colony of rare frogs, called Edible Frogs by the humans, although luckily nobody is allowed to eat them. There is also an unusual type of water-plant in their pond, and they believe one or two rare butterflies feed in the Park. But they assured me that there is also a good representation of the commoner animals, like ourselves, who live there and benefit from the protection.’

‘Why, it sounds like Paradise,’ breathed Badger. ‘I can’t think why you wanted to leave it.’ Fox looked at him meaningfully, and Badger went on quickly, ‘That is, of course, I understand why you did. But . . . but . . . tell me, Toad, how far is it? It’s taken you months to get here.’

‘It’s certainly a long way,’ agreed Toad. ‘I wouldn’t deny it. I spent a week with the frogs, and then explained to them that I had to go on. Of course, they understood perfectly.’

‘Is it a large park?’ asked Fox.

‘One of the frogs told me that he’d heard it was about five hundred acres, which, as you can imagine, would more than hold all of Farthing Wood! And I mean the old wood – as it used to be.

‘Anyway, it took about another week to cross the park completely. Then, every day after that, I pressed on, never staying in one place more than a day. I travelled mostly in the dark hours, finding a convenient hiding-place during the day-time. I ate what I could on the move . . . and so the weeks went on. I must tell you that I was constantly buoyed up by the thought that every day, every step or hop, brought me nearer to my friends.’

‘Good old Toad,’ said Badger under his breath.

‘When I noticed the weather was beginning to get colder I tried to hurry. I could sense there wasn’t a tremendous distance left, and I wanted to get home before the winter really arrived. But I knew if I didn’t eat properly, and the winter overtook me, I would die. So I compromised, I kept on going, but at a more leisurely pace, eating as much as I could find every night. Finally, I knew it was time to hibernate. The other frogs and toads, and lizards too, that I had encountered during the previous week or so, had been looking for a comfortable roost, and I found one on some farm land.

‘I chose a grassy bank, by a ditch where there was plenty of cover. Food was becoming scarce by now, and I spent all day picking up what I could. Then, as night was approaching, I dug myself a nice hole under a large stone, and settled into that. It was really quite cold by then, and I felt so sleepy that I went out like a light as soon as I closed my eyes.

‘Well, there I stayed until the warm spell at the beginning of March woke me up, and then I had a good meal at an ants’ nest, and set off again. And . . . the rest you know, really.’

‘A brave fellow indeed,’ remarked Badger warmly.

‘Very courageous,’ agreed Weasel.

‘What tremendous perseverance!’ commented Fox. ‘I’ve always admired you toads for that. Once started on something, you just won’t be diverted!’

‘I’d do it again, gladly, if you’d all come with me,’ said Toad stoutly.

‘That’s fighting talk!’ cried Badger. ‘How about it, everyone? Shall Toad be our guide to a new home?’

‘And a fresh start for everybody,’ Toad added, ‘away from the threat we’ve been living under here for so long?’

There was a deafening chorus of agreement.

‘Then it’s farewell to Farthing Wood?’

There were more shouts of approval. The animals were excited now.

‘Better to say, “Welcome to White Deer Park”,’ said Mole.

‘Now Mole, don’t get carried away,’ said Badger kindly. ‘We haven’t even taken our first step yet, you know.’

Mole grinned contritely. Badger looked around the chamber.

‘Are there any dissenters?’ he asked formally, and studied every individual face. There was no reply.

‘Then I take it as unanimous. We go to White Deer Park!’

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