In Which The Badger Was Discovered

Gorden knocked on the doorway outside David and Plessys room.

A bright-eyed snail appeared, followed by a blurry-eyed gerbil.

"He talks too much.." David said sleepily. "And he tells tall stories."

"When you slither along the ground for a living you learn that all stories are tall."

"Come on," Gorden said "You two sound like a married couple. Let's pop to school, I've got a book to borrow." He struck off along the borrowdor (*)

A few minutes later they came out into the open air. Plessey took a long deep breath of the fresh air.

In the small clearing a circle of young rabbits sat around listening to an older rabbit with fascinated eyes.

As Gorden and David and Plessey walked towards the group the young rabbits turned their head away from the teacher who continued talking as if nothing was happening:

"And it is written that the day shall come when Brer Rabbit will walk amoungst us and we will live in harmony with all living creatures." She finished.

Whispers emanated from the circle of rabbits, upon closer inspection they were all young "lady" rabbits.

"Is that Gorden, the one who faced Sly off?"

"Why's that snail floating?"

"Oooh look what a big staff he's got!"

"We've done that one" David said as he passed the girl.

The girls giggled. Incessantly.

"Hullo," Gorden addressed the teacher, "I've been sent by the Head Buck." A chorus of ooohhs and aaahhhs came from the girls.

"I know," the teacher said, "He said you'd be after his book. He didn't say you'd come here waving your staff and disrupting my class!"

Gorden smiled, "They just...".

"So," she asked "Are you going to find the Golden Carrot and lead us to the Promised Meadow?"

"Well," Gorden replied "I don't really know about the Golder Carrot." He turned towards the circle of admiring young bunnies "I didn't get to school much." He said smiling.

"I remember, you're only two weeks younger than me," said the teacher, "but you might as well be a year younger for the way you 'grew up'."

Gorden was about to let rip with an almighty backlash of verbal abuse when Phump came running up.

"Gorden! Gorden!" (pant wheeze) He managed "Come quickly." He grabbed Gorden's arm and started tugging him away.

"I'll be back later!" Gorden said as he was dragged off.

David shugged his shoulders at the teacher and he and Plessey followed Gordern and Phump.

Phump was all in a dizzy, you could say. In fact more or a dizzy than usual. He dragged Gorden all the way to the Mashed Potato fields, bringing back bitter memories for Gorden.

Phump dragged Gorden into the foreman's hut, and David and Plessey followed closely behind.

Lying on the floor of the hut, his foreman's whip curled tightly round his neck, was Bertram the ex-Badger. A trail of blood had trickled out of his mouth and had dried on his fur.

Gorden's thoat clenched involuntarly and he backed out of the hut as quick as he could, nearly crushing David who was trying to see past him at the fuss.

Gorden got outside and threw up his breakfast. The Head Buck stood outside the hut..

"Well," he said handing gorden a glass of water, "either you're a good actor, Gorden my boy, or you havn't seen a dead body before."

(*) Like a corridor, but underground.