Moving In, Moving Out

It wasn't going quickly. The Head Buck, well let's call him by his name, it'll make things clearer, Herbert had had a lot of things. It would be easy moving into any other burrow, however some of the effects went with the post, some belonged to Herbert himself and Cola was carefully boxing those things up. She decided that it would be better to empty the Head Coney's chambers before moving her things in. The four boxes she'd brought earlier sat in a corner, waiting impatiently to be unpacked. Every now and then she'd look in their direction and feel guilty that they were still there.

But Lotte was being a big help and they had made some headway on the bookshelves and pictures lining the walls to the main chamber. Cola had drafted in some young bucks to help take full crates out to the poorer parts of the burrows and redistribute Herbert's goods. Herbert didn't have any family, most Head Bucks didn't get the time, and so there was no one to claim his things. He did have some brothers, but they had all left the burrows years ago to find their fortune.

In fact all of the brothers had left the burrows to find their fortune and Herbert was the only one to have returned. Cola didn't think that anyone knew what the brothers had got up to, even Herbert had kept his adventures close to his chest.

"Encyclopaedia Connitanica?" Lotte asked as she lofted a large red-leather bound tome.

"That's got to belong to the Office, not the Man.." Cola said with a touch of incredulity. Lotte shook her head and opened the front and read: "'Property Of Herbert Rodgers, Buck of theWarrens, 1994', in crayon" she added. Cola sniggered.

"Well, it might be biro." Lotte capitulated with a smile. "Hang on.." She said, staring at the gap in the shelves left by the absence of the Encyclopaedia. "What's this?" She reached her arm into the gap and pulled out a pile of loose pages. Cola tripped over to see.

"Handwritten." Cola said as Lotte handed her a page.

"'the pressure was immense, holding me like a vice. I could barely breathe then the blue gave way to black and the stars came out and I didn't care about breathing - the sight of so may stars so clear just filled me with the immensity of my actions.'" Cola read. She turned to Lotte, "What is it?"

Lotte was reaching in again and came out with another paw-full of paper. Taking a sharp breath she read from the new pile.

"'Journal Of Herbert Rodgers, Buck of the Worlds. My Five Years from 1990 to 1991'" She looked at Cola with a frown on her face.

"Buck Of The Worlds??" They chorused together.

"Nineteen-ninety?" Cola said "That's going on for ancient history!"

Lotte shook her head "I'd no idea he was so old!"

A young buck popped his head through the door.

"Any more for us to take, Ma'am?" He asked.

Cola thought for a second as his body followed his head.

"You don't have much." He added.

"Yes, Duncan," Cola said, "We don't have any boxes and we're going to be a little while before we have some more. So you can tell the others we don't need them anymore today." She'd decided to investigate this find. The Head Buck's personal journal was an amazing discovery. "But," she managed to add before he disappeared, "You can get us a pot of tea before you go."

He tugged his forelock (not that rabbits have forelocks) and bade a hasty retreat before they asked for scones as well.

Lotte leaned out of the door as his tail passed round the corner and shouted "DON'T FORGET TO GET US SOME SCONES - ITS NEARLY THREE O'CLOCK!"

They pulled another three paw-fulls of paper from behind the encyclopaedias. It was too much of a mess to fit on the desk so Cola began to lay the papers out on the floor. They sorted by pen-colour and page-size and, after about half an hour after their tea had turned up and been drunk Cola sat back.

"I think we've got it." She rolled her eyes, "Maybe. Well, we've got it mostly sorted." She leant over Lotte and pulled a pile onto her lap. "Lets start here."

---*---

"'It was raining, in my heart and in reality.'" She began to read then stopped and turned to Lotte, "He calls that a beginning?"

"Could have been worse," Lotte said, "could have been 'Darken The City Night Is A Wire'"

Cola nodded "That's bad."

---*---

It was raining, in my heart and in reality.

She left me.

Used me and abused me.

And I thought it was love.

I thought we were the Two of coney-lore. The Two who stay together for their whole lives. The Two who make the lie of the commonly licentious coney.

She thought nothing of the sort. Whilst I was making our bed she was making hay. And she couldn't see the wrong of it. She couldn't see how right we could have been.

My brothers had left last season, but I'd stayed here for her. I'd left my brothers and joined the work-parties in the mashed-potato fields, the crowds harvesting the Cheesie-Nik-Naks and occasionally worked with the solitary coney punching the holes out of the Polos. That was a rabbit with a foul temper, I'll tell you.

My brothers had left for the bright lights and the easy life in the cities, I'd told them I'd follow, but they knew I just wanted to be with her.

Even then she'd been seeing other bucks.

Today was the end of my life at the burrows.

I left with a small bag holding a few day's carrots and a small bottle of 'Uncle Toms Carrot and Camomile Thirst-Quencher'.

As I padded out into the rain the guard-rabbit called out to me: "Beware young buck!" I'd made such an impression on this warren the guard I passed four times a day didn't know my name, "There was a shooting star earlier and it seems to have set the northern forest alight!"

I thanked him and, once out of his sight, turned north to the light.

The closer I got the less it looked like a fire. The light was a bright white, not the red and orange of forest flames.

The rain beat at me, damping down my fur and, all in all, making me look rather bedraggled and sorry for myself.

Of course I was bedraggled and sorry for myself.

The forest grew thicker as I padded north so the downpour had less effect on me. I splashed through puddles with childish glee as I neared the glowing forest.

I slipped, losing footing in the underforest mud, my hand shot out and caught a low branch, but this didn't stop me from rolling in the mud. Standing up I looked less like a rabbit and more like a cowpat.

An insect buzzed by my left ear then zipped off fast into the forest. I didn't quite catch its type - it flew too fast.

I slashed some mud from my eyes with my right paw and trudged forward. In front of me was the brightest light I'd ever seen, a pure brilliant white. How the guards had mistaken it for fire I didn't know. However a thicket barred me from going forwards. The light seemed northwards and downwards, as if it emanated from a hollow. Another insect buzzed past me passing less than an inch in front of my face, as it passed I thought it blinked at me then, again, it was off.

Shrugging my shoulders I followed it rightwards. Slowly. I didn't rush this time, I wanted to keep my balance. There's only so much mud a coney can wear.

I held my left paw out, touching the bushes of the thicket and padded slowly forwards. Looking away from the glow I was blind in the darkness.

Suddenly the thicket on my left disappeared and I stumbled again. This time I caught myself and didn't fall over. I was pleased with myself and turned to the left. I saw that the ground in this direction led downwards and I smiled to myself.

I took three paces and suddenly something prodded me in the back. I was about to turn around when a hard hand grabbed hold of my head and held me still. Another hand grabbed my right shoulder and another hand grabbed my left shoulder. What ever it was it had at least three strong arms. I decided not to fight.

A noise like a thousand crickets on heat came from right behind me. The "something" prodded me in the back. I took this as a hint and took a step forwards.

I was allowed to walk, slowly, forwards.

I was led (from behind!) down and left into a long bath-tub-shaped depression.

In front of me was the most wondrous sight.

It was fully sixty feet long and going on for thirty feet wide and six or seven feet high. It looked as though it had once been silver, but now was a mottled melange of colouration.

I've seen my share of television and I know that nothing like this was made on our planet.

It was a space ship.

The bright light was emanating from two openings, one of which was regular and the other of which was not. I suspected that the second was not as the designers intended - two things were working on the hole, looking as if they were mending it.

I realised my jaw had dropped and I was acting completely out-of-my-bowl. I also realised that I was still being herded. My feet were moving but I didn't really notice. The ship and the things (*People* I tried to tell myself) had my attention.

Of the two workers I could see one was just smaller than normal coney size and had long thin arms and I though (and later confirmed) only three fingers. His eyes were this crazy slanted olive shape!

The second worker gave me some idea of the creature who might be behind me - it was a six-limbed creature, a dark grey in colour and angular where the other alien was rounded. The lower two limbs didn't seem very animate, then I noticed that they held a large bowl of some gook (a technical term for a particular shade of gunge) that the other hands were ladling on the edge of the cracks.

A sharp jerk at my head moved my attention from the repair crew to another two aliens on the edge of the clearing who appeared to be digging a hole in the ground.

I was stopped next to the hole and the creature behind me let go a stream of cricket-noises again. The tallest of the two aliens spoke back, a deep blue creature who was nearly a coney in build, except for his colouration and a hard ridge on his nose which continued over his head like a crest. This alien sounded like he was talking underwater - all "blooob bloob bloob" noises. My escort seemed to understand and let me go. The blue alien turned to the alien next to him and "blooped" at him. Again this alien was nearly a coney, just tweaked - this one had scales over his face and flat green eyes. His hands and feet seemed virtually identical to mine.

He didn't answer back, unless it was by some means beyond my ken, and rushed off towards the ship.

I straightened my back and looked the alien in the eyes.

"I'd say 'Take me to your leader'; if I didn't think you were he." I said. I think the alien smiled. It was difficult to tell.