Fox's Feud (19 page)

‘Me? Er – well – er – yes, I suppose so,’ he answered. ‘I don’t know if I’m much good at that sort of thing. Well, let’s see. Hmmm.’ He pondered, muttering words to himself. Mole waited, anxious that Mateless should approve the choice. Badger continued mumbling. The longer he went on, the more uncomfortable Mole felt, while Mateless began to titter. When he heard her laugh, Badger stopped. He looked round, grinning craftily. ‘How about Mirthful?’ he asked.

Mole did not know what to answer. But Mateless appeared to be delighted. ‘Yes, a lovely name! A lovely name!’ she squeaked.

Badger smiled broadly. ‘It’s more becoming than Mateless, anyhow,’ he declared.

‘Thank you, Badger,’ said Mole. ‘You’re quite right.’

They stood grinning at each other for a moment.

‘Er – have you heard news of the others?’ Mole asked suddenly.

‘I haven’t seen much of any of them,’ Badger replied. ‘As far as I can judge, they’re all busying themselves with plans similar to yours. They haven’t time really for an old loner like myself.’

Mirthful looked concerned. ‘
Must
you live alone?’ she queried. ‘There are other badgers in the Park, I’m certain.’

Mole tried to shake his head at her surreptitiously, but Badger noticed. ‘It’s all right, Mole,’ he said. ‘You don’t have to spare my feelings. I know your charming young friend is trying to be helpful, but it’s too late in the day for me to make adjustments to my life style. I’m afraid I wouldn’t take kindly now to another badger’s ways – neither would they to mine.’

‘We can still come and see you, at any rate,’ Mole said loyally.

‘Of course you can, and you’ll always be welcome,’ said Badger. ‘But you’ll find less and less time for visits as time goes on, I’m sure.’ He smiled at his little friend. ‘Dear Mole,’ he said. ‘You have other loyalties now.’

A little later, when the two had returned to their tunnel, Badger left his set to go and talk to Fox. He sensed that evening was falling and he wanted to catch him before he went off hunting.

Fox and Vixen were overjoyed at the news about Mole. ‘My suggestion really did take root,’ Vixen enthused. ‘Weasel and Kestrel have both found mates for themselves, and so, too, has Hare.’

‘And Leveret,’ Fox reminded her. ‘We forget about the younger generation.’

I don’t,’ declared Vixen. ‘Not when I can watch our own family’s progress.’

Fox looked solemn. ‘You know, Badger, I feel quite a different animal these days,’ he said. ‘Things are changing so quickly. I don’t feel like a leader any more. That whole episode with Scarface changed my life.’

‘How do you mean?’ Badger enquired.

‘It’s made me look at myself in a different way. I know that if I had had that fight with him while we were on our journey here, I’d never have spared him. I would have thought of the safety of the party – the Oath we took. I couldn’t have let him live. But here, I was always conscious that he had been here before us. The Park, if anything, was more his than ours. So I held back. Of course, I regretted it deeply. I could have saved a lot of lives by finishing him off.’

‘Well, Fox,’ said Badger, ‘it’s something that can’t be altered. The rabbits and voles – and poor Fieldmouse – can’t be brought back.’

‘I know I have to live with it,’ said Fox. ‘But I’ve lost my self-respect to some degree. I know I’m to blame.’

‘You have to stop feeling responsible for everything,’ Vixen said. ‘You brought the animals here with Toad’s directions. You can’t live their lives for them now.’

‘No,’ said Fox. ‘But what Adder did –
I
should have done.’

Badger thought he detected a hint of envy in Fox’s voice. He was no longer the supreme hero. By way of comfort he said: ‘As far as I’m concerned, my life goes on as before. I don’t ask for anything except a little company at times.’

‘There will always be that available,’ Fox answered affectionately.

The three animals watched Tawny Owl flitting from tree to tree in his secret noiseless way. Fox laughed. ‘There’s another who’ll never change,’ he said, ‘no matter where he might live.’ Then Fox lowered his head and looked into the distance. For a long time he stared into the darkness beyond, as if he were watching something far, far away.

Outside the Park, where the evening breezes blew here and there across the open countryside, a sturdy young fox loped over the downland into the enveloping night.

Colin Dann won the Arts Council National Award for Children’s Literature for his first novel,
The Animals of Farthing Wood
.