Animals had
ever been the first inhabitants of the levels, and because of this they owned
the rights and deeds to the Land. Above all others the otters were thought the
natural leaders because of their innate sense of justice, and their prowess as
fishers of the waters. Their kingdom stretches far and wide and was left
unchallenged for many ages.
That is
until the age of man and mink. When one came so did the other as if carried on
an evil wind, the idiot moans, creaked the willows lifted the peat and upset
the sacred balance of the place.
The
hunters came for the otters, and their king in an act of supreme self sacrifice
led them away to perish at sea.
Then the
mink came when the kingdom was weakened by the loss of their figurehead and
ruler, and this story is about those animals quest to take back the levels from
the hands of the mink, specifically to topple the evil King Stink the Mink or
to use his proper name Darius Illiashi.
Enemies
will always be at large to topple Noble state (and at small just beyond your
own garden gate). And if on one side you may love your neighbour on the other
you may hate.
But
England ever vernal, ever flush with new shoots grows. And those cancerous
roots of old may still stand but soon the rot spells their death throes. And so
it was with Mink and Otter now balance was restored to the levels and spirits
revived, the mink like a dark memory always in the background survives but so
goes it for often in amongst the thickest weeds the strongest sapling will yet
thrive.
Some
small hamlets such as Stileway had gone over to the mink side completely, the
troop found whoever they spoke to of the virtues of freedom from under their
rule the animals were unhearing even had adopted mink mannerisms of a shifty
quick glance and weasel like suspicion, mixed with fear. Their speech too had
become more mink like squealing, talking of the higher purpose of Darius and
mink kind, that their slavery was a necessity. Their food and markets were
controlled, all food available came from minkland and was stored in vast halls
on the peat fields, only so much permitted per community and drugged to stupefy
e occupants and recipients.
These
places touted the party line in their dull plodding way. Then the other side
were the Meare cats who desired power and luxury. They were the urban
contingent of the mink arm, the Mink need them to legitimize their plans to
other pets to those who lived beyond their rural reach. Though they were still
only puppets for Darius, they transferred his mink language into polite
society, they held balls and dinners and lead acceptable lives. However the
rats, and mice who lived in the village were still suspicious even if on the
surface they may have pretended to get on with the cats. Though they never
fully trusted the cats from times past they had learnt this hard lesson.
They
hissed at him to get out and beat their wings in such terrible vehemence that
the noise alone terrified him. Though he would not have given up for all that
it was their apathy and lack of political will which made up his mind they were
a lost cause. Somewhat, dejected he found himself wandering into the grounds of
the otter palace now left unguarded, some wall defaced with mink graffiti –
mink Rules,Darius for king, ok. He found himself
They
came to the bottom of the lane of Kirlegate and walked beside the gate. The
company included Mr Matravers the badger otherwise affectionately known as
brother Small Fry. Larry, the otter, a family of rabbits the Roberts and a
field mouse named Teddy Murdoch. Eliza Wood the Spider came and met the rabble
as they were discussing how to journey across the estate of Kirlegate to get to
the Shapwick heath levels. The gates of Kirlegate were a black and uninviting
place, like the lair of spider. They were intermittently looking over their
shoulder, for time who bowed its head to no animal was catching up with them.
Soon warned Eliza who did not like the analogy of Kirlegate with his own home,
the levels would completely fall into darkness and it would be too late to save
it.
Larry was standing looking at his
friends. They arrived at one am and had to cross the peoples state of Meare -
it was a treacherous road and held many dangers. It was filled with people the
good and the bad and had a criminal fraternity who ran a racket and were in
with the peat barons, they cared not for the levels wildlife they wanted the
mink to prosper because they kept the curious types from snooping in on their
dealings and dodgy businesses. Of the good there were some who stood up for the
rights of the wild life but these were a precious few and their will to fight
was crushed by the continual progress of the peat barons - unstoppable it
seemed under law.
The
animals stood poised - a sound could alert the men folk who were wary of wild
animals and kept pets of Dobermen dogs and tabby cats to ward against their
intrusion. The cats ate the wild birds and prowled the streets of Meare and
were known to the animal travellers all around as the dreaded Meare Cats. Their
strong hold was Meare Manor where they breakfasted, luncheoned and dined in
great style and often invited their raucous cousins the Mink to come off the
levels to join them, headed at the table by Stink the Mink. The head of the
Meare cats was a cat called Moses, a mean spirited gypsy like cat who had two
sons one Morris and the other Tobias.
Brother Small
Fry was a Dorsetshire badger and originally a school teacher of that fine and
sunny county who went by the name Mr Matravers. He and his wife Mrs Matravers
had lived a good and happy life settled in their Sett, when on one dark night
the men came with their cull. On that tragic night his wife had been killed and
after that life seemed aimless and Matravers drifted the countryside until the
Abbot at Glastonbury Abbey found him one day by a river bank laying down to
die. He was nursed back to health and entered into the cloistered halls of the
Abbey to become part of the order there.
Here
many a badger who had lost loved ones found some solace and rectitude and
slowly they began to live for a new master – the lord. Their works were many
feeding the poor of the local animal community of the surrounding villages and
homesteads. Following the sacred code of the brotherhood in their daily lives
and keeping to strict routine and rituals.
Much of the work was in fishing for
which the badgers frequented the Meare pool and built a fish house for the
drying of these catch. Small Fry was tasked with the responsibility of being in
charge of this fish house. A hefty responsibility to bear since the vast pool
accounted for most of the abbey’s fish- the staple diet of a brother badger and
also for the local villages as well. For this he was given the title Brother
Fryer or Small Fry for short. Although since he was of stout frame and heart
and stood a good four feet off the ground on his hind legs, this was more a
term of endearment than it was factually correct.
Now this was how Matraver’s or Small
Fry met and knew Larry from a young age, the rascal otter would spend many
hours with his friends fishing and playing in the Meare pool and in general
upsetting Small Fry’s ability to concentrate on the catch. That is until the
curious otter one day wandered in to the fish house to enquire what it was
about and generally be nosey. When he saw the plethora of fish hung up in all
their glory he was beside himself in wonder and awe and sort of stood their
swaying on the stone slab floor staring upward. When the brother badger had
come in from his excursions with his catch, in need of a strong brew of his
favourite bitter tea he discovered this young otter chewing on a flavoursome
head of dried perch that looked like a lollipop in his paws. He was sat up behind
some old rope and fishing nets left in the corner. At last caught red handed
spoke the badger. Pleading his innocence then deciding escape was the better
option a scuffle ensued after which the badger had man handled the otter into a
crayfish cage.
The young otter had fight it was true
and kept up a howling bellyache of sound all the afternoon. Until it was agreed
he could be set free if he would just be silent. After this the young otter and
the brother badger became friends. Small Fry would teach Larry how to fish with
a rod and pole and nets, how to handle a boat and to dry the fish out in the
house, and Larry would show him how he was taught to fish with natural flare
and underwater ability. His speed and grace in the water were impressive and in
time Brother Small Fry had Larry working for him around the clock when he was
free from his studies.
The years passed and with them the
levels changed, strange goings on were heard of in the wilder parts of
Somerset, some darkness seemed to be taking over folk, an unspoken danger or
threat seemed to creep onto the levels like a chill wind, ruffling the napes of
rabbits keeping them under ground, causing some who were too close to
mysteriously disappear or else feel compelled to move to more agreeable climes.
This sort of thing went on in a subtle close to unconscious way for a few years
and then stopped abruptly, but by the time it had stopped there was a perimeter
of several miles in radius in the middle of the levels across which no one
dared cross. Or if they did, they did not come back again. The threat did not
go un noticed by the King, but due to its stopping the matter was not pursued
because the levels was a great place for to be ruled. The local magistrate and
therefore governor was an otter named Sir Kendal Wisebrow, who happened to be
Larry’s father. Now he did consider the threat to have more importance than
just a freak occurrence that had gone away, his loyal otters at arms had
witnessed the transport of certain carts and figures moving at the black of
night, for months before the strange occurrences began.
Gradually things came to a head as
more animals started to die and Larry’s father decided action had to be taken
even though the otter king was ignoring the problem and in fact was somewhere
swimming in a foreign sea.
One night in
a furious night skirmish the otters of his band invaded the darkened regions
and discovered much opposition. In the end only a few otters escaped with their
lives, telling the tale of their ambush and out numbering by hoards of black
mink, lead by a truly gruesome character who called himself King Stink or
Darius. Their last memory was of looking back seeing this giant mink slay Lord
Kendal Wisebrow standing on a pile of slain otter corpses.
Since that time the region had been
fenced off with a wide perimeter. Larry still a young otter, took the death of
his father hard and left the levels and the stewardship of brother Small Fry,
though for a time tried the way of the cloth but was unsuited, being too angry.
Some say he went north, some into Wales, and some even he went to join the King
who was still abroad.
In this time the Mink strength grew to
domineering levels so that whole areas were overtaken by their powers and they
became the industrial owners of peat works. Some resisted however but the
spread had begun and their influence increased with slave run peat production.
By the time Larry returned as a grown
otter he was unaware of the sea change in power on the levels away from otter
rule to a tyrannical mink rule. The government of Swans who tried to take
control in the vacuum left by the absented King Otter, was struggling and on
its knees, manipulated coerced and corrupted by the mink.
Some areas such as Meare still stood
on the outside edge of the Minks dominion and did not interest them being too
high and dry as land went. Hidden from them was the Meare pool and Brother
Small Fry who carried on regardless with his fishing though he too felt that
something had to be done.
Larry walked back in Brother Small
Fry’s fish house his larger leathered paws and dripping pelt pooling water on
the stone slabs. Larry, the brother exclaimed, is it really you? Why you are so
big I hardly recognise you.
He saw now with new eyes this place
that had held him in awe as a young otter, the same fishy smell, it all seemed
so much smaller now. He was a tall and lean otter with a distant reserved look
in his eye, for much had he seen in his young life and far had he travelled. He
looked his old mentor up and down after viewing his workshop,
you’ve grown
old, old badger.
Well time
does that to you, Larry, as do the levels affairs. When I think all my world is
this small pond I call the Meare pool I think a badger can be happy with that,
it is all one could need. I even thought you too may one day take my place
here, but you chose a more worldly path and that was your right. Now I do not
think you any longer could be happy with this only and anyway it is not the
secure future it once was.
Of what do you speak?
The mink!
Larry, the mink!, Darius and his band of devils have taken so much, and they
are still greedy for more, soon their greasy claws will spread to Meare and
beyond, this pool will be poisoned and it will break my heart. It will also
prove the end of the Abbey and brotherhood for there will be no more fresh fish
supplies for us.
But surely
the Otter King has returned and quashed their forces?
He never came
back, no one knows of the news from him, just the fools of governors he
appointed in his place, the Swans have lost all control. The mink have
overruled their authority.
But what of the other otters left some
must have stood up to Darius?
They did but
they were too few and were killed or enslaved and are now in bondage.
And what of the badgers, or the
brotherhood?
Badgers are
and ever have been too private, they moved to woodland on high ground, and the
church do not believe in violence.
I do not believe that, they must know
the consequences of no action.
There were some of us trained secretly
by the Swans and otters left, the band of badgers, and we had some effect in
the early days but divisions existed and one traitor Charlton Adam betrayed
many to our doom. Now we have been disbanded and he has joined the mink.
So we are all doomed, we have no more
options left is that what you are saying brother?
Now, now Larry I did not say it was
that bad did I? No you will come with me tonight we must speak with the wise
owl Cherrybatten , a scheme is a foot and you my dear otter are a big part of
it!
With
that the badger put down his rod and flung Larry a fish, and stomped out behind
the fish house facing the pool. A hidden trapdoor lead down to a musty cellar,
and as Larry followed him down it revealed as an arsenal of weapons, pikes,
spears, broad swords, short swords, cudgels and maces and body armour.
As I said, the brother interrupted
Larry’s stunned silence, all is not lost.
One thing is sure, said Larry, you
never cease to surprise me dear friend.
The
traveller’s tale began when The Voice of The Wind said to Eliza the forces of
Stink the Mink will be wiped out when the ring of roses has been brought to the
floor of reeds. Eliza Wood was a blind spider who webbed prophetic messages
across tow paths, gate ways in hedgerows etc where they would be seen, by
interested animals. Business had been going fairly well for Eliza for the past
few hundred years but unfortunately he did not see the arrival of the mink
coming. The general way of things he believed was that God had made the levels
to be paradise and it would continue that way with the odd hiccough for the
foreseeable future. Unfortunately the Mink’s introduction proved a bit more
than a hiccough in fact it left a very bad taste in the mouth and made a mess
of all his prophesies. It used to be his signs read things like 'rejoice for a
new dawn is come', and 'consider the lily isn't it pretty', then it turned to
'try and be an optimist', 'look on the bright side its not so bad'. In recent
years his signs had read more 'the end is nigh', and 'repent your sins you are
basically doomed'.
His Friend the shield bug, Ralph
Bernstein, tried to cheer him up saying its not that bad and at least you
aren't an enslaved Rabbit.
One day
Ralph decided that something had to be done to help the levels and so crawled
up to Eliza in his web and said Look Eliza you have to find a prophecy that
actually works I can't stand to see you just mopping around like this. Eliza
thought for a bit then climbed to the top most quarter of a nearby Scots
Pine...and he listened to the wind. It told him there was a golden egg that
held the secret of the levels its salvation from the Mink Dominion by Stink.
There is a bed of Roses over near Godney at a Garden Centre. And In the Garden
centre there is a sad eyed seamstress and she works all day and all night to
make Rings of Roses. Unfortunately she doesn't sell many and so is very poor
but in amongst the pile of dying rose rings which have been discarded is one
magic ring that will not fade or die even unto the end of all time. If this one
ring of roses can be brought to the golden egg then a new dawn will reign over
the levels one of freedom for all animals except the mink, and will see the end
of the cruel King Stink for ever. When Eliza had heard this he climbed down and
told his friend Ralph who said - there you go now don't you feel much better
now?
Larry
Wisebrow, who had been chosen for this quest by Ralph acting as a kind of
casting director for Eliza Wood, stared at what seemed to be an enormous pile
of rotting roses. In fact that was exactly what it was. The smell was really
awful and there were alot of flies buzzing around who had evidently laid eggs
there. "But why do I have to go in there?" , Because the Brown owl,
Hubert Cherrybatten, said you are the chosen one. Well it did not say anything
about rummaging through rotting compost in the job description.
He
protested. Stop being such ‘a big girl’s blouse’ Larry Wisebrow and get in
there. There was something in the serious and stern way the owl pronounced his
name that made Larry or Lazy Larry to his friends, feel compelled to jump in.
Sarah Sutton
who had made the rose rings was sitting a way back previously with her back to
them but with the scuffling sounds now turned and watched interestedly while an
owl squawked at an otter who then proceeded to jump in
her compost
pile.
Stranger
things had been known to happen in the Garden Centre, it was true, like the
time a porthole to another universe opened up and Miss Sutton journeyed
instantaneously to the prehistoric town of Clacton on Sea bought a shell fish
then returned. That had been about four months ago and it didn't involve an owl
and an otter on speaking terms. Suddenly she saw the otter emerging black and
slimy but with what appeared to be an intact ring of her roses. As unbelievable
as this actually sounded the otter then ran off followed by the owl.
Sometime
later...Somewhere near the northern face of the isle of Meare.
Beckoning in
the distance of a long forgotten pose
The brown owl
scowls morosely at the rose.
By any other
name it would but smell so sweet
And the name
of this one went by
Was St Mary's Street
The cock eyed
cockerel crew again
Yearning for
his winter Hen
And above the
church tower the weather vein
Wheeled and
squealed in a mild sunny breeze
The village
was drowsing as men cut lawns
The sound of
drilling rang out
While mothers
hung laundry out doors
It was a good
day for washing
And the
shabby tabby cat lazed
Sprawled out
on
The tar pitch
roof of the granny annex
Warming
itself in the rays
Larry
observed this scene here
With the cool
serenity
Of one that
knows his destiny
Is to travel
across the Great Plains and estates of Meare
And far from
loathing the prospect of danger
Coming from
many a quarters
He courts it
like a suitor to the otter king’s pearly daughter
Starlings
chattered in ever amassing flocks
As the animal
troops look to the West
Of the
eastern Glastonbury Blocks
The Tor faced
back at them
The sun its
glimmering halo
And
stretching between vast plains of country side
Thick with
streams of alder and willow
And next to
these Larry spied
The dark
moors of Shapwick heath
Now shrouded
in shadow
As if beset
by some dark ineffable force
Yet this must
be their final goal.
"Long
will be our journey guarded the owl Hubert Cherrybatten
And many our
foe,
The road will
be dark
And every day
the enemy grows
But end in
sight there will be
Even when
times seem darkest,
Even then the
floor of reeds will call
The ring of
roses to it."
Larry the
otter knew that if all the minks bred and bred that all there would be was mink
and that where as in a balanced world the forest would self replenish but the
minks killed the wood land because they ate the birds that propagated the seeds
of the fruits and then the deer would die because they had no berries to graze
on. The mice would all die because they would be eaten and the waters would be
poisoned because the mink would eat the fish and then the plants would die and
so on.
As he stared
across the levels which once were his home, a monologue began in his mind and
he was lost in remembering more innocent times, before the rise of the mink:
The Reeds
which mark the water's edge
Do stay to
unburden my night
In them I
have all hope of day
And think my
future bright
They are the
Natural statutes
Upon which
are written Nature's Laws
And they mark
the edge of an otter's emotions
How he
conquers all his fears
My heart is proud,
I cry aloud
Will see me
through dark night
I will not
stoop to fear
Though I feel
close to tears
That nature
has absorbed from me
She will not
let it near
The mighty
oak stands in the bog
Myrtle
sweetly smelling sways
Pigeons flock
across the corn
On long hot
summer days
The sun pours
down it's virgin rays
Upon this
holy ground
The earth its
hold
As nature's
song sings on and on
In this place
which has my mould
The midnight
swans move on the lake
The drake's
song is clear
The twilight
to the heaven turns
A wheel on
celestial sphere
Ladders of
Law turn into the sky
Where
silhouettes of statutes silence roll
Into passing
cloud shadows
As into
Nature's folds I fall
As if carried
by spiralling sparrows
The mink had
broken these laws they had taken the reeds and whipped them upon the backs of
their slaves. They had taken them and strapped them to form their mud brick
houses. The reeds were burnt and the greenery scorched, the mink had ridden
rough shod over Larry’s youthful dreams for the levels and now he was angry,
now he wanted pay back.
Thus
began the animals’ travels to free the levels. The animal troops led by Larry
chose to travel through the gardens of Meare as the lamp lit pavements were too
obvious a route and the Meare cats would spot them, at least that was the plan.
Larry crawled up to the fence and
looked over a black current bush into the garden. Then they snuck in. A light
was on in the kitchen as old Ann the retired teacher was pottering around, she
had yet to let Tobias the fearful nine- paw high cat back in so he was
somewhere around. A crow came down from above in the frozen sky but Small Fry
threw a piece of shingle and knocked it down. Then as if as a swarm more crows
began dive bombing the animals and Larry lead them all into the safety of a
potting tunnel. The crows flew off and the animals exited the garden onto the
pavement.
There was an amber glow to the estate,
the tarmac road and drives seemed to suck the sound out of all living things
added to this the layer of ice frosted curb edges and chilled the feet of the
animals. The rabbits were shivering in the semi circle that they all made
around Larry awaiting his command.
"We must make it across the estate - the
other side is Down's orchard and beyond the farmers' fields until we reach
Shapwick heath."
“But
what of Tobias and Moses?” asked a timid rabbit at the rear
“We
shall have to face them when our time comes.” Came the answer
“And
what of King Stink? How can we hope to fight him after marching across those
fields day and night we shall all be exhausted?” -Asked Nancy -Michael Rabbits
wife.
There will be
time enough for rest once we have passed our immediate obstacle - said Owl and
that is the Meare estates and its Meare Cats.
“Yes these
are no mindless rabble of buffoons made up of stoats and weasels. Who we will
be facing, said Mr Small Fry are a highly organised collective of vicious Pets
and their owners are all members of Neighbourhood watch. Even now their spies
may be watching us.”
“Well that
leaves nothing for it said Larry than to start right away the sooner we get
moving the safer we will be.”
“Yes indeed
Mr Otter I second that, we shall be much better in our spirits once we have
passed out of this dark and gloomy cul-de-sac.” - said Michael Rabbit.
At this
the smaller rabbits started to giggle at the look Nancy Rabbit was giving her
husband - as if to say one of these days father - you will have pushed this
family too far. Even though after these they all knew that she would forgive
them and that to keep moving would be for the best.
Try as
they might they could not walk without stumbling and then stumbling lead to
falling and disorientated they came to a stop. Looking around Larry saw that
one road seemed to lead to another and the whole appeared to him as a maze.
All we have
to do said Mr Small Fry is to follow the fence line surely. And yet it was not
as simple as there appeared to be any number of nooks and crannies false ways
and cul-de-sacs leading to who knew where.
“Oh we should
never have come this way”, muttered the field mouse. “Only a lion would have
attempted walking through this terrain and at dusk too. Nothing much remains of
our path; I can hardly see the tail in front of me let alone be sure of my or
his footing.”
The owl gave
a toot at this and flew up into the circling fog out of sight in a minute he
had returned to say that the fog was thick and was covering most of the levels
but a bank of clear air could be seen on the road - if only they could get to
this.
Larry
commanded: We will go forward I will be at the front and Michael Rabbit you
bring up the Rear. With this they moved on...
Moses had
been settled in one of the big luxurious armchairs at Meare Manor. A roaring
fire and his owners rich brand of pedigree cat food had lulled him into a sleep
in which he was coughing and spluttering in a dream. In it He was Stink the
Minks butler and personal maid and had been charged with scrubbing him down in
a bath. No matter how hard he scrubbed the Stinky mink just would not lose hid
foul odour. Moses, feeling he was losing his master affections, rapidly kept
pouring more and more suds into the bath to make it better. This only resulted
in the whole room filling with soapy bubbles. Eventually the whole wing and
then whole of Meare Manor was filled to the brim with bubbles and Moses was in
a raving panic being carried away down out onto the street and into the Brue in
a sea of soapy foam!
He awoke
to his own voice screaming -“no more Bubbles Sire! Please No more Bubbles!” And
then the rap taps tapping of a rook on the window. His owner hearing only the
sounds of an annoying “meeeoow!” bellow forth, threw a determined slipper at
him and he scarpered away behind the curtain. Now at this time, to inform the
reader, I should mention that Moses had been planning a party and banquet in
Stink's honour at the Meare Manor to commemorate his rise to the king of
levels. This was to be held when his owners were mercifully away on a holiday
cruise around the Mediterranean.
Still here now again, what was that
sound, a rapper tap, tap on the window. Moses sidled up to the glassy pane and
lifted it a little to let the cool evening air rush in and with it the fog.
Then and there mysterious as a ghost the large black Rook revealed itself once
the fog veil lifted. Sir- the rook spoke in that rough military way of a
soldier. “A Party of animals has been spotted entering the valley of Kirlegate,
wild animals sir with what appears to be an otter at the head of them.”
“Animals,
Wild animals you say well there cannot be any of them left surely King Stink
has eradicated them or else brought them under the whip in one of his slave
camps?”
“Sir they are
as wild as the day I was born, if you'll pardon the expression and they mean to
cross the whole village that is what my spies have heard.”
“Well we
can't have that can we, Leopold?”
“No we can't”
a sly faced Siamese cat said sidling up beside him around one of the ornamental
armchair feet.
Addressing
the Rook Spy he spoke again “You as head of ravens And Spy Master Rook will
inform my son Tobias. And I will be damned if a son of mine can't stop a few
rebels from going against the herd. Mark my words they will rue the day they
decided to cross the estates of Meare.” With this, the Rook left in flap of
feathers and Moses had shut the window pane.
“You are
aware that Stinks visit is only hours away and we can't have a scene like this
upsetting the apple cart Moses?”
“Yes, Thank
you Leopold quite aware and nothing that these scoundrels are playing at will
deter me from my preparations. Now how are the decorations coming?”, they both
walked off into the hall way talking on the banquet and how it was to be
achieved.
Meanwhile Larry had reached nearly the
end but one corner of Kirlegate when he saw the terrible site of Tobias the
tabby cat, one of swarthiest looking cats he had ever seen. By his side were
his flexible feline friends, lucky and nine lives. They charged and with that
so did the animals. There was much hissing and clawing, but the troop of
animals fought back bravely. The rabbits lead by Michael Rabbit out flanked the
cats and attacked from behind jumping and sinking their quick teeth into the
cats’ hides and tails. Soon the badger had thrown off several cats that had
suddenly attacked him and pinned him to the fence. Tobias had Larry on the
ground and was clawing at his face trying to get his eyes. With the stunned
body of a Siamese cat Small Fry swung it then flung with force the Mog at
Tobias knocking him sideways off Larry.
Much
angered now Tobias disappeared into the mists along with what was left of his
forces of Meare Cats. Larry had quickly recovered but one rabbit was lost along
with the field mouse whose body could not be found. Without hesitation Larry
began to move telling everyone to make a run for the road. After 50ft they
thought they spotted it but had to cross over a garden to reach it. They
screeched past a green house, over a garden hose and gnomes who seemed to stare
at them disapproving. Just as they passed them, Tobias and the cats launched
themselves on Larry again. With the force of their attack the badger threw the
cats into a pond where they thrashed around in panic. Larry now rolling down
the slope of the garden with Tobias on his back had his bloodied face pushed in
the mud so he could not see. Then with suddenness he felt Tobias' body go stiff
and then shake with an awful meowing howl. Larry tore himself free and saw that
Tobias had been impaled on an up turned garden rake. In the darkness he could
see the silver light glimmer off the cat’s eye and then it closed and he knew
him to be dead. The other cats who saw this scampered off and left the animals
to recover in the garden. They slowly drank water from the pond and now could
clearly see the Road before them.
Jim
Waverly was King Stink’s fool. E was the product f a pairing of a mink and an
otter, and for that was ridiculed and thought lacking in brainpower and wit.
On the
King’s parade to be welcomed by the hospitality ofMear Cat Manor by Moses, he
danced around the King as he was carried on his willow woven chair saying marry
a lot and never keeping still. His mind jumped from one subject to another
constantly, oe moment he was praising the sparrows and starlings of the sky,
naming and attempting to count their number, next examining a mushroom,
scampering up a tree trunk or singing a song.
Keep
still you damn fool, or I will have you ham strung, said the King angrily.
Marry
nuncle I mean nothing by it, I have jumping beans for brains, that want out of
the can! The King in his chair so proudly up there, but what do you mean when
you are King of fresh air? We are all free to be in this land, no God given
right to the keys of the levels. Unless they are Ash Keys, The Jailor tree locking
up the summer lands for from greasy mink hands.
Shut
your trap you lowly mole – put in the heavily built Charlton Adam chief of the
King’s guard, a badger to boot. I should skin your hide for being of otter
blood and wear you to keep of the chill!
The fool
stood his ground though much the lesser stature.
When a
badger follows a mole to live in a mink hole, who is the greater fool? The one
who is blind but follows his nose or the one who sees and knows the wrong path
he chose?
One more
riddle from you and the world will really turn dark for you!
The
confrontation would have become worse
Charlton Adam’s second in command had not distracted him at that moment.
Captain,
he said, a greeting party of Meare Cats are coming this way over the rise
yonder according to our raven eye spies.
Turning
away from the King’s jester his countenance changed, lost his rage as duty took
over his bearing.
I will
go to meet them, you stay here and guard the King with the royal Entourage.
He left
the royal party and wet forward to meet Samuel one of Moses sons further on
down the wooded path. He came with a small greeting party dressed out smartly.
Greetings
Noble Adam
And to
yourselves, Samuel of Meare, I see the cats have made preparations His Royal
Highness is on his way.
The
Manor is not lacking in feline comforts for which the Mink King will find
himself most agreeable.
That
will remain to be seen, but I thank you for your welcome. Now a word in
private.
They
walked under a bowing Alder glistening wet from new rain fall.
The
other preparations we discussed are coming along too I trust , said Adam,
severely
You mean
the cat combat training? They are secreted away in a camp in Westhay as we
speak. Learning the sacred badger arts.
Very
good, one day my friend cats and badgers will have power to share, the mink
will rot in a peaty grave.
As you
say, the time is soon?
Nearly
here Samuel but we must choose it carefully, too soon and all will be lost, we
are yet not strong enough
Meanwhile
As the king made head way, Waverly spoke his counsel
Try to
build an empire on a single blood, those underneath where the boot heel trod,
will rise back up one day in an animal flood. The hawk flies, the rabbit dies,
the otter will rise.
He saw
the world for what it was and found himself laughing at it almost all of the
time. Though being a fool he lacked the wit to know quite why he laughed and
just did mostly at those who appeared to take themselves most seriously but
generally clowned about at everyone.
The King
showed him a wearied glance, if you were not my fool I would have your head on
a spike, yet there you make me laugh and are but a simpleton who knows not what
he says.
Soon
after much travelling and jesting they arrived at meare.
On the
occasion of King Stink the Mink's Royal visit to the Meare Cat's Manor Jim had
already been at the sherry. The king entered to a fanfare, bunting and much
applause from his subjects, acolytes, well-wishers, brown-nosers, yes-cats and
entourage of flexible spined feline felons. There was much bowing and meowing
as Moses crawled up to The Stinky one. He had his claws retracted as the
bodyguards had made sure of this. For all of this many of the cats had to wear
pegs on their noses as the smell was so foul it could not be described in
pleasant company. The lady cats all dressed up were standing making a line
either side of Stinks entrance and curtsied although had to turn away from the
pungent odour.
Your
Highness, said Moses, it is my honour to welcome you to my humble home may you
please make yourself welcome.
Stink looked
around impressed by what he saw as although he was King the finery of these
town houses were far beyond the dredge of a dump that was his abode on the
levels. The mink are not great home makers and prefer to take over other
animals homes instead of making their own. With this in mind Stink could see
the place had very promising potential.
"These bare walls should serve
sufficiently for my needs brother cat. I hope we may enjoy each others company
and see that the race of cats and the race of mink will cohabit together
favourably, for the levels is a great expanse and each will have his
share."
"Yes Sire though as you know the
Cats among us do much prefer the domestic scene to the less inviting sides of
the levels wild expanse."
"Ah Moses, always thinking of
others, eh? Well let us discuss these matters and more over food and
wine." At this a great cheer went up among the mink
Moses said
subserviently “Follow me, a Banquet awaits..."
With this the Cats and the mink sat
down to a vast spread of sandwiches salted meat of pork and beef, rabbit and
pigeon, grapes, olives and assorted other delectable delights. When they were
fatted and well intoxicated with mead and wine and the mink that had not left
their barracks and mill for months began fighting. Here and there scraps broke
out between cats and mink; some mink began circling around the female cats and
would get a paw in the nose for their advances. Moses seeing a riot on his
hands went to King Stink who seemed to be enjoying the attentions of Moses own
pride of cat wives, and was nonchalant. "Let them have their fun he
said",
"But
your highness I must insist if the humans catch us there will be no more Manor
Parties." Stink reluctantly raised himself from his couch and commanded
the fighting to cease.
Almost as if he sensed the perfectly
wrong moment to mess up Jim staggered over to the King. The mink who had been
scraping turned bolt up right prepared to defend their king. Jim toppled and
twisted then landed sitting in front of stink and stared up at him blinking.
Stink was only moderately built for a mink but towered over poor Jim. Jim
looked the king up and down in all his finery then to Moses' eternal
embarrassment he burst into laughter. It was remorseless, unremitting jest; his
object of mirth was an unwholesome braggart of a king. It then changed to a
chuckle com howling snort that Stink finally could not bear; he had been
boiling up like a pressure cooker and was turning red. Moses thought he saw
green smoke coming out of his ears and stepped back as did all others around.
Finally it happened; an almighty roar erupted from stink SHUT UP!!!!! and he
grabbed Jim by the whiskers and threw him against the mantel piece, where
finally Jim did stop laughing in a clatter of breaking china and porcelain vases,
and then there was silence. Stink was visibly fuming and stood panting. Moses
thought about saying something then thought better of it.
Then From an
open window the Spy master Rook appeared.
Addressing Moses "Sir, they have
broken through the defences of Kirlegate, Tobias is no longer". Moses
blanched, his favourite son gone, the grand impression was falling down around
him like a towering trifle all in front of King Stink. While Moses stood in
shock, Leopold took the rook to one side saying "Warn Morris of the
creatures' advance to Down's Orchard and recover the body of Tobias."
Meanwhile Larry who was now battered
and bruised and Mr Small Fry bleeding from his head, and the rest of the crew
had passed the sight of the cat fight with Tobias and the others. They
approached through the fog the Road. The Road was big and black apart from the
red and yellow lamps that whizzed past them at great velocity. These lamps
seemed to be the eyes and tails of enormous beasts that few of the animals had
encountered before, except by hearing the legends.
Larry stood the animals in a line
beside the road and addressed them pacing up and down in front of them. He told
them they must all cross this and together no one was to be left behind. As he
said this the smaller rabbits were shaking the lamps seemed to dazzle them and
had a strange effect of freezing them on the spot. Somewhere behind them a
howling rang out and a call of many crows and rooks. Without Hesitation a young
Rabbit ran out into the road the glaring lamps blinding him. His father Michael
hopped out quickly and saved him. The words don't panic crossed Michaels lips
and everyone was still, perhaps calmer more resolute than before but aware now
they only had one chance to move and it had to be done fast. The badger Mr Small
Fry came to the foreground and said being more familiar to the Road than Larry
he would lead them while the otter brought up the rear.
Larry
agreed with that and so they braced themselves to begin. A row of fast moving
Lamps had passed them. Small Fry made his move scurrying on all fours,
immediately the other animals chased after him. Last to leave were the rabbits
and Larry.
Hopping now Michael and his family
made it half way then all the way across. His son Tony hopped bravely to begin
with but then seeing some brightness like eyes in the middle he stopped to
stare at them afraid they were a cat's ready to catch him. While he was
staring, behind him were the true lights of an angry, smoke-spuing beast fast
approaching. The lights he was focusing on were false lamps bedded in the road,
and Tony was again frozen stiff when he realized turning wide eyed to stare
into the eyes of the oncoming terrible beast. Meanwhile Larry who had crossed
completely had looked back and realized Tony's peril, now scurried and
scampered back to the Road's middle. "Come on now my fellow"
whispered Larry in Tony's trembling ear. "I cc...Cannot mm.mo..ove"
answered Tony. With seconds to spare before the beast was upon them Larry swung
Tony under his arm turning as he did so and jumped to the middle of the road on
top of the false eyes. The beast rushed passed them in a heart beat but it
seemed to Larry as if time had slowed as he tried to keep his balance from
falling under its thundering legs or what ever drove it. In a cloud of diesel,
dust and black smoke the pair were left standing but alive. In the next moment Larry
had somehow moved himself and Tony back to the side of the road where the
worried looking parents waited for them. Together now harangued by the perilous
road but glad and relieved to be rid of it they found a safe spot beside it
under a hedgerow to rest for the night as all in the company needed their
sleep.
After King
Stink and his entourage had left the Manor and returned to their levels
stronghold, the Cat servants cleared up and went to sleep. Meanwhile in the
nearby Church Halls the village animal life held an emergency meeting, titled
the Mink Threat on Meare and You.
At the meeting rats and mice, rabbits, hares and moles
sat on the floor in front of hens, Swan representatives, a family of blue tits,
chaffinch and bullfinch, herons, gulls, a cormorant perched in the window and a
plethora of other wildlife including deer and a few owls. This was the first meeting
of its kind in many a year even within living memory for some of the animals
and many were very nervous. A spokes mouse named Mirriam said “this meeting is
to be held for the purposes of deciding what we shall do about the Forces of
the mink – The Marquis of the Marsh Darius Illiashi.”
Since
we have been kindly helped by Mr Larry Wisebrow and his friends we were
hoping.. –then she was interrupted by Terrence a rather rude large brown Rat
that lived on the Farm down on Meare way lane.
“Now I having lived here for many a year some 60 I
should say give or take a leap year find it hard to see why these mink were
ever invited onto this land we call our home –no one opposed them when they
came just harmless gypsy’s they said everyone has a right to live somewhere
they said, well I think they had no right. This is our home and only we deserve
to live here. They should all be thrown off this land immediately.”
Now, now said Mirriam mouse we all know many animals
who have come here to roam from many place for example your friend the newt and
you would suggest he left because he was not born here.?”
The point is Dee a roe deer from the corner, said that
the mink are wildly out numbering us, they eat and eat more than they need or
want, kill without reason and are un-rulable!”
There was general consternation and rustling and
hurrumping in the ranks of the manor hall
A representative of the swan council raised its long
neck and loomed above the throng. “The government have done what they can with
the Mink.”
“That it is a lie, all you have done is made them
worse” a rather timid rabbit piped up finding his voice. “The Swans have been
worse than useless call back the King!”
“The King is engaged on foreign business as is his
army.” Answered the Swan official.
Well our enemy is here on our home turf, spoke the Cormorant
Burt Pennywhistle from the window. It is alright for many migrants we can fly
somewhere else to settle down but many have to stay and it is the Swans’
responsibility to protect its citizens!
And then it all broke down, much cheering and
shouting, and still nothing was solved.
Enemies will always be at large to topple Noble State
And if on one side you may love your neighbor
On the other you they may hate
But England ever vernal, ever flush with new shoots
grows
And those cancerous roots of old may still stand
But soon the rot spells their death throes
And so it was with Mink
And otter now
balance was restored
So sat the otter in the Palace of the much love but
lately absent King Murther. Within whose walls once walked the stately
secretaries, pledge makers, oath takers and scribes busy with the Kingdoms
business. Now, chagrin, those halls are hollow only hallowed ghosts wander
there.
Some aged counsellors
still meet thee in secret but most municipal business was passed to the
parliament of Swans whose governing house was much more meager in aspect and less noble though in
Authority was yet as graceful as the birds themselves.
Their long necks and desire of a
placid lake to glide gave some to think them weak and ineffectual. Though when
Larry went there to plead with them for some action to be done about the mink e
were unmoved indeed quite mute.
But when he pressed for more an army
even, they hissed at him, to get out and beat their wings in such terrible
vehemence that the noise alone terrified him. Though he would not have given up
for all that it was their apathy and lack of political will which made up his
mind they were a lost cause.
Somewhat dejected he found himself
wandering into the grounds of the otter palace now left unguarded, some wall
defaced with mink graffiti “mink Rules OK” , “Darius for King”. He found
himself
King Stink and his entourage meanwhile made the
journey back to his swampy castle, via the road they were constructing to
Meare. The Meare Cats left in a certain disgrace at the hands of Larry and his
crew. Fearing that Darius would abandon him completely Moses set about to put a
stop to Larry himself. Such was the force of the mink that the race of Cats did
not want to be side lined in the new world order that King darius had in mind.
Darius Iliashi was a giant mink 1 meter in length and
had descended from ancestors who were a mysterious breed from Transylvania.
This place was a very rural, wooded region of mountains and some rivers and
some swamps. Their kind had been left alone because they were believed to be
the embodiment of evil spirits and thought to possess black magic powers.
The countrymen eventually drove them out of their
hiding during a time when the church were burning and persecuting
"witches". They burnt their lands and left them no home so they
travelled Eastern Europe for decades moving into Asia but every place they came
to they were forced out by the angry and fearful villagers of that region.
Finally those who were left numbered only under a hundred and they decided they
must find a safe strong hold where they could rebuild their numbers. Lead by a
young Darius Iliashi the survivors journied back across Europe and through
France to stow away on a cargo ship bound for the Dover coast of England.
The
mink being drawn by a strange magical centre that originated on the levels they
travelled to Somerset. They found the Somerset
Levels much to their liking, which they found by chance after the container
they had stowed away in was delivered to one of the peat baron's property. The
owner was unaware when Darius slipped out of a crate in dead of night. Then his
dog began barking wildly, and turning on his light he went down to see what the
fuss was about. There he witnessed this ferocious mink leap and tackle his
guard dog and mortally wound him. Starving the mink began to feast on the dog's
still bleeding body. Then only after the owner beat his walking stick against
the iron railings to scare him off he turned and gave a look of such dreadful
blood thirsty horror that the Peat baron did not sleep for days. The mink along
with the others who had survived the journey fled the peat yard and was later
occasionally spotted by peat workers and named the 'black beast'. Being
superstitious and a bit afraid the peat Baron ordered his workers to carry on
but they refused and would no longer work in the strange few fields. So eventually after a long period an isolated
island of peat survived surrounded by lakes and boggy ground. On this island
the Mink dominion began as they bred and bred.
Misfortune
always seemed to befall those peat workers who ventured too close to this
island and so it inhabited a sense of sleepy shade, but within a restless evil
which kept growing. Eventually the barrier of superstition was reinforced by
guards of patrolling mink. And then finally Darius' rule began to spread to
taking over more and more of the levels. In time his claws of power stretched
into the state of Meare and began poisoning the minds of the cats who resided
their pulling them over to his side.
While
this threat was growing the government of Swans who held parliament over all
the levels were forced to try to qwell the Rise of Darius or Stink as he was
nicknamed. They brought regiments of badgers and some otters, though many of
these were travelling abroad on the sea. Of the badgers an elite band or
brigade were trained with the purpose of destroying Stink's mini empire before
it was too late. This attempt failed when a schism turned the brigade into
splintered factions and then finally many changed allegiances and joined the
Mink.
By this time the Minks stood together with the
Weasels, the Stoats and the snakes. Darius’ control of the levels had led to
huge evacuations of some areas of marsh natives who had lived there for
hundreds of years. This land became occupied by Mink and some weasels and was
known as Minkland. In other areas the inhabitants were permitted to stay but
lived under constant bullying and harassment by the military mink and under
curfew. Crossing between these isolated territories was controlled by Mink
guards and checkpoints and few dared to. The Levels was on the verge of
becoming a mini Mink state completely independent of the Swan’s government.
In a last ditch attempt, with the government of Swans
in disarray, feathers flying everywhere the single voice of the shield bug was
heard proclaiming another way out that had nearly no chance of working but just
might.
Meanwhile back with Larry’s band.
The animals began moving off in the
direction of the opening of the Main Meare to Glastonbury road and felt their
way along the edges of the plank board fencing that lined the pavements and
meant a barrier between them and what ever lurked in the gardens beyond. Even
though, Michael rabbit still felt a slight uneasiness and an itching began in
his nose as they moved further and further into the unmarked territory of Kirlegate.
And almost imperceptibly as he was feeling this and Larry too by this time, a
fine mist began to descend on the troop. Before they knew it the entire road
had become a blur -the other side now seemed a million miles away as a swirling
fog enveloped them.
Eliza Wood
the Blind prophet spider came to Larry in his sleep. Larry he said you must
hurry to save the levels animals, a darkness has descended on them with each
day they lose hope and with each day Stink the Mink and his forces grows
stronger soon they will out number all other animals and there will be no way
to stop them. Follow the signs I will leave you across the levels but do not
follow the beacons. That is a treacherous road and will surely lead to your
demise.
Larry's dream
then became confused he heard himself say
"I can
rise from the dead
From the cold
slab where me they laid
From the inky
blackness of the jelly
Where is
Nathaniel the brother badger?
Holy is his
way of life
And he does
not fear a cocker spaniel
Where is
Marjoram the hen of many colours?
How can she
leave me now?
That mother
of my mothers
Hark I hear
the Meare Cat
Mewing out
his Song
Now is the
long, long night
Where left is
right
And right is
wrong."
Without
knowing at all what this dream meant he awoke, the grey clouds where stealing
across the pale sky and soon dawn would break. He felt his future bearing down
on him, and the weight of the world’s responsibilities on his shoulders. He
longed for his old house by the river bank and wished he had never been given
the task of carrying the ring of roses.
Larry rose up from his cold bed and
looked out to the other side of the hedge row. A barbed wire fence ran the
length of it protecting the property of Down's Orchard. This was an evil place
a cat named Morris patrolled there and none who ventured in were thought to
come out alive. A chill ran up his spine as he stared into the estate that was
strewn with litter, rubbish and the faint yellowish glow from street lamps. As
he stared he felt as if he were falling into the scene before him like a
horizontal vertigo and at that moment Small Fry’s hand clutched him firmly on
the shoulder. "You don't want to be going in there on your own Larry, not
yet anyway. There is a back Lane which I have heard of and will take us around
the estate." Go on he said relieved to hear the encouraging tones of
Brother Small Fry’s gravelly voice again. And so the Badger explained the plan.
By the time the party had had
breakfast and were all ready for the off the sun was risen and the world was
moving again. Beyond the hedgerow next to the road Dogs were being walked and
up high on garden walls the Cats of Meare began to patrol. The party of animal
kept close to the hedge line and moved south following badger’s new plan.
Keeping in the shadows they made it to what appeared to be a tranquil Lane that
ran behind the gardens of Down's orchard estate and led them to the fields of A
farmer behind. As they walked they could see all manner of bird that had been
caught and strung up on the barbed wire fences by the cats -Robin, chaff finch,
Blue tit, starling and sparrow. All there like a grim mosaic or a tapestry. It
was a warning saying this is the Cats territory. Already by this time Tobias'
owners had put up signs on the lampposts and fences they passed by saying
"Have you seen this cat?" with a picture of Tobias' Mug shot on it.
The territory they were passing now was Morris' his brother who would also be
looking to revenge his brother’s death.
Morris had been expecting them and
laid his trap well. As the Party followed Small Fry down the lane they became
aware of the high walls down either side. To them they were impenetrable and
behind the hedge rows safety seemed a long way off. Finally hope was given as
they saw daylight under to arching trees beyond as the path lead out into a
field. Some of the young rabbit hopped on a head while Michael rabbit ran after
commanding them to yield. They did what their father said but now the party was
separated and behind and above them the hissing started.
Then
meowing began as Morris the leader came into view jumping from a roof onto a
wall beside him other cats then appeared and prowled the length of the wall.
The animals began to run but it was too late The Cats pounced. There was a
tousle a head as a gang of cats laid into the rabbits and the rabbits fiercely
fought back, though Michael mortally wounded two cats another killed Tony his
son and dragged the body off. Morris leapt down heavy as a tank in front of
them and Small Fry attacked him. The battle was soon over and now much wearied
they moved on.
The sun as an
Arc, carried the animals away from the flood
All feared
from starvation of loss
They leave
behind the village of Blood
And wander
back to the fiery road
Still with
hope intact in the Ring of the Rose
Somewhere on
the lower border lines of Meare:
The Cantonese witch in the guise of a
Siamese Meare cat -Leopold- prowled the perimeter of the village.
She had
strung up the bodies of poor field mice and voles
Upon it's
fences and poles
Which she had
caught for sport
And exhibited
here in her mock graveyard
The owners of
the houses did not mind they thought what marvellous presents
The Chinese
cat has brought us
All the more
luck for us
Ah disgusting
the cruelty of these beings
Thought Larry
That they
should parade their ill-seeming gains for public
Enjoyment
Larry spat in
its direction and the cat turning slowly to the sound
Blinked its
emerald and yellow eyes in the dusky light.
Then purred
softly, devil sweetly
To itself
before turning surreptitiously back to its quarters
And return
journey's leg.
She hopped
behind a garden shed.
Then Small
Fry and Larry stepped out of the shadows.
If they were
to scale the perimeter
It had to be
here in full sight of whomever
And they had
to break through the cat’s territory
The lives of
their captive friends were at stake
Now must be
the moment
They sprinted
then CRASH a claw thrashed at Larry'
Side then
another
And another
until blood had soaked into his furry pelt.
He stumbled
back to see Moses the Giant ring leader Cat
With Leopold
the Siamese cat at his side
Others
prowled in the background.
Small Fry
pounced forward and Moses and he tumbled to the ditch
Then Larry
followed attacking the Siamese cat
She was tall
and lean and moved fast and he could not grab her
She kept
scraping him and scratching him with her long claws
But he
finally tricked her by feigning a fall
Then he
caught her off guard when she went in for the kill.
She was
thrown off into some milk bottles and did not get up.
Small Fry was
unconscious and Moses had been battered
But seeing
Michael Rabbit and his family
He thought
them an easier target.
Michael
Rabbit sped off with Moses in pursuit.
The story of
Michael Rabbit
And the Death
of Moses
Moses ran
with uncommon speed
Across the
flower bed and through the weeds
Chasing
Michael Rabbit as was his habit
But Michael
was an uncommon Rabbit.
He darted
here he darted there
Dived in rose
bush and out bushy lair
The cat tried
his best but could not keep up
He was all
puffed up and all blown out
His mane
looked bedraggled, hedge worn and ill
His crooked
glass eye was spying Michael still
Michael had
led Moses away from his brood
They were
safely travelling on another road
He thought
he'd escaped but came round a corner
And saw a
brick wall an impassable border
Finding now
there was no way back
He hid behind
a bin and waited for the cat
Then came
Moses fur-torn and coat in tit tat
But still
large and strong for all that
I can smell
you little Rabbit give the chase up
We can be
friends, come out and drink from my cup
There is no
need to be foes in this tiresome war
What in the
world is all this fighting for?
Michael did
not trust him called him a liar
And with
nowhere else to run, he jumped out
To face
Moses' fire
He hopped
with courage to face this cat so much bigger
But Michael
was a brave Rabbit known as the Shapwick Digger
A shadow cast
long foreboding over him
The last rays
of light were running out as the night was unfolding
The rabbit
leapt as the cat slept
But his feint
was a cunning ploy
For Moses was
no more resting than he was jesting
And Michael
had been a foolish boy
Up came a
claw, razor sharp
And cut poor
Michael to the heart
In that
moment the rabbit was quick as a dart
Cutting deep
with teeth Moses who’s neck bled fast
Then both
down fell
As if under a
spell
And were
there lain bleeding until their faces ran pale
Moses life
blood thinned,
Seeing this
Michael let go his death kiss
And himself
shut his eyes for to take his last sleep.
Out of the
Dark a spritely otter now leapt
Thinking he
would wake his friend where he slept
But alas this
small animal could but cradle
His friend
As the
pierced bleeding heart throbbed out its end
A Lament for
Michael Rabbit
My friend he
said
Won’t you
come to town?
A dirty cat
has been brought down
Now Meare is
free of those grim pussies
It's up to us
to scare off the hussies
Said I why
yes, though I must confess
I like
nothing better than to chase the tail
But what in
jail, you shall not find me neither
My friend is
dead, I have culprits to tether
The earth is
bound by those who live
But heaven
surrounds with those who are dead
And never was
there a more sociable guy
Than my
friend Michael who with Angel’s now fly
I waited with
Larry beside the Iron Gate
While his
friend was lowered down
As a king
lauded by the state
But his
weight was worth more than gold
And his
actions for the cause
Were never
bested by the most bold
He was a
rabbit of uncommon courage
In the end
that was his downfall which lead to mortal damage
But here and
now Larry sees him thus
Cavorting
rapidly as cloud shapes above us
And that is
how he will be remembered
As quick as
the wind, that blew through the timbers
And nature
has returned to her breast
That one true
creature she did love the best
For that is how
she saw fit to multiply
Its form so
often in the hills and valleys
And under the
sky
Larry who was
a joking kind of otter was now much heavier of heart. He was at home playing in
the waterways and lakes and this life did not suit him well. It was in that
moment surrounded by this alien landscape and losing a friend to the terrors of
these urban dangers that he most missed his simple life. He remembered looking
at the face of Moses and thinking a cats face is not much like an otters
because there is a mystery in it like it has a secret. And a cat knows it knows
what others don’t. This he thought is why my kind and his will never mix. The
mink’s face seemed also a kin to his or at least once long ago it may have been
but it had badness in it, like it was very bad and mean, and cruelty had warped
its nature. He looked over to his friend the badger and thought him like a bear
strong and big and he thought him much more serious than himself but still
better because the good had grown in him more than the bad. There was a side to
him he thought was quite dark when he saw him brooding late at night, where as Larry
did not concern himself too deeply in thought except when he was remembering
his river bank and watery home. Small Fry and Larry now stood at the perimeter
while the rabbits lead by Nancy dug a hole
under it. They were about to escape but had lost many friends had a long road
ahead.
Small Fry
Point of view of the journey south to the Levels
Larry and I,
we walked on out the yard
The church
bells were tolling
And now our
road was so hard
It seemed
flecked with obstacles in between
Where we were
and our final goal
Yet what we
had was faith and hope in our soul
And this did
embolden us and our spirits
Climbed to
new folds
The surviving
animals joined us by the field's stile
And we
journeyed forth from the hamlet
With heavier
hearts but renewed guile
The cats were
broken in retreat
Now the Mink
would have their day
It was time
for them to meet their maker
And we would
be the instruments in their demise
Like Shiva
become their destroyer
We had lost
some good friends it was true
But this had
re-forged our resolve something new
And we passed
through Meare
And left
behind all that was cat-like and queer
To the levels
now we marched
And the
plains of Stileway
Across farm
tracks and mad cows
The Raving
ravens nesting as spies
Soon brought
word of our travels
To Stink and
his guys
As darkness
drew in again we nearly lost our way
But saw in
the sky great beacons of the mink
And so close
did we stay
Thinking
these lights would lead us to Zion
Yet we were
as innocent lambs
Walking into
the den of the lion
Before Long Larry
recalled
The wise
words of the prophet Eliza Wood
So soon as we
could
We sped from
that road
And followed
the spiders signs
This brought
us to Marshes
Those were
our safety but cold.
Some there we
lost
As the bog
grew much deeper
And I
struggled there as I am a woodland creeper
The Otter
though I saw now was filled with much joy
He began
splashing in the water
And found
each flotsam like a toy
A lotta Otter
From long ago the otters had lived on the levels. But
they had been hunted by man and many killed. The first otter King who was the
rightful heir to the levels kingdom led his hunters away who all pursued him
down rivers to the sea where they were lost. Since then it has been a tradition
for the King to spend some of his rule abroad as a mark of respect. He left the
levels without a ruler and in this vacuum the animals voted that the most regal
and just creatures should rule in his stead and so the Government of Swans was
elected. They ruled proficiently for a long time, and mean while the otter
Kings family lived quietly without fame or recognition almost reclusively. He
had four sons and of those two had families and then these fought alongside the
badgers against the mink. After many battles all the dog otters were killed and
all that remained of the royal line was the daughter of one of the sons Celandine.
In the battle of the Catcott sedges she was captured after mink hoards razed an
otter strong hold to the ground and the otter kings heir was imprisoned on
Stinks island fortress. Stink already considered himself the king but felt that
he would not be recognized as such until he had married the Otter Kings heir
and inherited all the levels as his own. The date for the wedding now coincided
with the Full Moon.
Larry and his
band made head way down beside hedgerows and field margins where corn grew and
waivered in the wind. The sun shone happily in the sky, an occasional buzzard
soared high above keeping an eye on them. When an odd crow came too close the
buzzard would turn them off course. In this way the owl was separated from the
party in the mid afternoon as the animals approached the perimeter of Minkland.
The owl Cherrybatten had led off a rabble of bullying crows and this was the
time Larry most needed his advice and far seeing eyes. Larry turned to Brother
Small Fry and his anxiety passed to him in that look, however he turned again
to face the blackened landscape of excavated peat smouldering tree stumps and
polluted rhines. Our way lies over to the south West where the stink is
strongest.
They walked on, wary now of the
dangers around them, skirting between and under rotting debris of felled
woodland. Some frightened looking water voles scurried passed them squealing.
Further in they followed a small ditch where frogs sat on the bank looking
tired and glum, some of their family were there stretched out on a fern leaf
bed sick and ailing. The water was poisoned they spoke. As they went further on
they heard similar stories from newts.
The ditch eventually turned into a wider lake which excited Larry,
for the water seemed clearer here and he began to climb in, until Brother Small
fry stopped him, what if this too is poisoned Larry? We others cannot swim we
need a raft. Soon they had fashioned a fallen log into a canoe shape which
would carry them, and they set out on the lake. As they left the bank they saw
beneath them some fish swimming, some schools on their way to the ditch to
leave. Out from the cover of the reeds they suddenly felt very exposed and
realised as they drifted nearer the middle that they were passing marker buoys
floating beside them. Suddenly a shower of arrows flew out of the air and
narrowly missed them. From the opposing bank a commotion was starting as black
figures began racing up and down, screeching. The rabbits began to panic, even
Larry and Small Fry were worried as the black mink began diving into the water
and swam towards them.
Quickly the otter and the badger began
madly paddling toward an enclave of willows water logged and standing like a
mangrove nearby. Their raft touched the twisted roots above the water just as
the first mink caught up with them. As the party ran off the boat Larry turned
and leapt into combat. The mink was smaller than him but vicious and
surprisingly strong who also wore leather body armour, it wriggled and writhed
out of Larry’s clutches and then came around behind with a thin blade, and was
about to plunge it into his back when his brains were scattered across the
willow bark raft by a blow from Small Fry’s staff.
Don’t give them the chance Larry, you
must make every blow count, he threw Larry a knife. Relieved Larry picked up
the weapons from the canoe and they chased out away into the safety of the
willow mangrove.
The scouting
mink found the body of their comrade some time later and reported it back.
Message went back through the ranks, and eventually it came to the spy master
rook and Darius himself.
Who are these fools come so far out of
their way to trespass on my land?
We believe
they are the same who have given the cats their problems recently. We think
they may be carrying a dangerous weapon which could threaten the safety of your
Minkdom sire. Spoke the rook.
Nonsense who has heard of such an
idea!
Well with the
wedding coming up in the next few days we do not want any distractions sire,
however minor.
Very well, you solve these troublesome
few
From the
corner A badger stepped out of the shadows, this was Charlton Adam. Dressed in
a long red robe and hooded, his face was darkened but revealed a snarling
mouth.
I may know this badger, my Lord, from
a past life, let me deal with him, there is unfinished business between us.
As I said, eliminate this nuisance I
want no interruptions to the Royal Wedding.
Charlton Adam
was a badger of the same brotherhood as brother Small Fry and at one time they
were trusted friends. When the swan government had secretly trained and
recruited the brotherhood to fight the mink, they had gone on many missions
together, one other brother badger Rodney Stoke was there also and they were a
forceful trio to contend with. In the early days they made good progress,
repelling the mink, pushing back the boundaries and reclaiming some villages
and freeing their inhabitants.
However before long things began to go
awry. Vital targets just escaped the trio’s grasp moments before they arrived,
it seemed as if mission secrets were being leaked to the mink somehow. At first,
blame fell on other brothers in the band of elite fighters and then on the
swans. Rodney Stoke began solo missions deep into the heart of mink land, being
gone for days, sometimes weeks and he was presumed dead more than once, his
belief was that he could now only trust himself. This riled the Swan authority
and the abbot of his order who threatened to excommunicate him.
Such tensions came to a head and one
night brother Small Fry noticed his friend Charlton Adam go off on his own into
and over the boarder lines of Minkland. There was a glade in some woodland
there and in the dead of night he witnessed Adam meet with the Mink, deep in
whisperings. When brother Small Fry reported this back to his Abbot, Charlton
Adam denied it, but turning on the Abbot himself he threw his throwing knives
in an assassination attempt. Small Fry leapt in front taking a deadly wound,
while Rodney Stoke attacked Adam. The fight that ensued was bloody and the
betrayal of Adam to his sworn friends and order great. Though he escaped into
the Marshes to be picked up by the Mink. Rodney Stoke was maddened by this
betrayal and went AWOL. The brotherhood of badgers was disbanded never to fight
again.
Though he survived the assassination
attempt, brother Small Fry spent months recuperating and fishing in Meare pool.
Larry and his
gang were tired and thirsty, they had run for hours to evade their pursuing
mink. But the initial howling and beating of bush behind them had faded they
had passed into a heavily wooded area where the land rose to a hump and became
dryer again. This must be Tanner’s wood spoke the badger brother Small Fry.
Many a badger once lived below these trees we may find shelter in a Sett here.
While he went off in search of a suitable haven, Larry and the others rested, he
looked again at their dwindling numbers, tired and in need of sustenance. They
needed some more help.
He sang to
himself :
I am but an
otter
An otter but
am I
And if the
butter gets Ot
Then the
Otter butter die
But if the Ot
gets butter
Then quite
away I'll fly
Because I'm
not an otter butter
But I am a
butterfly
Meanwhile
Brother Small Fry had found an abandoned Sett and busied himself in making it
habitable, thinking to himself the while:
There he
played care free of the mink
But soon we
past graveyards
That made him
stop and think
The smell of
rotten fish was pungent in the air
And soon we
entered Minkland,
The peat
fields that were Stink’s lair
Great mounds
rose like black hills on our horizon
The smog from
diesel engines filled the sky
Turning it
grey and dark
Machinery
clunked and clicked with heavy iron
And the sound
of mink voices
Came across
to us like screaming or a bark
This stopped
us in our tracks
And behind
some fern we sheltered
The mist then
took over us,
In a kind of
fever we all sweltered
There were
few, who could stand the heat
So we ordered
them back behind cover of woodland pleat
On, Larry and
I went
Thinking then
to spy on our enemy’s tent
Some
restful hours passed for the gang safe in the Sett the brother had found. Later
Larry and Fry went on a reconnaissance mission to assess the extent of mink
activity in the local region. The difficulty and loss of life the troop had
suffered at the hands of the cats of Meare had put all in mind of the challenge
ahead.
“The
infrastructure of mink land seems far larger than the Swan’s and the Shield bug
had informed us of.”
“Either
an army is needed or a specialist with skills, spoke Larry the otter, and since
an army is out of the question for now, the latter will have to do. “
The other animals were hushed, then
looked to each other whispering who could be the one to help.
From the
shadows of the Sett watching the group with an ominous and foreboding presence,
Hubert Cherry batten gave a “twoot- tawoo” that immediately hushed the
whispering voices. The animals looked into the dark and saw the yellow eyes of
the owl glowing like burning coals, then they blinked in the half light and he
spoke with gravity and seniority-
“There is one I have heard of said the owl,
his name is Rodney Stoke he is a badger.”
An air of mystery and awe passed across the
faces other animal’s as he said the name. Larry approached the owl further into
the gloom so he could listen better and watched the owl’s keen eyes intently
and saw his outlined shape.
“No one
really knows who he is or where he came from, continued Cherrybatten,
“Some
say he was trained by the Parliament of Crows to fight in the swans government
army. Many of those badgers went AWOL they snapped under the huge strain.
There
was a crack brigade who infiltrated into Minkland as spies, but when the crows
and the ravens went over to the side of the mink, many in the brigade snapped
under their strained allegiances.
They
were trained to die for Swan and county but some were also so loyal to those
crows who had trained them that they went over to the other side to become
double agents for the mink. The government of Swan commanded the ministry of
Swan Security to track down and kill all in this brigade because they could not
be sure of who was loyal anymore. Most were terminated by the Cignette
liberation army (CIA), but a few survived the assassinations. Rodney Stoke was
one of these now he is loyal to no side.
He hates
both his government for abandoning him and he hates the mink for destroying his
brigade -his band of badgers. He is a dangerous creature, lethal in a fight a
trained killer. He lives off worms and beetles and his own wits.”
Larry
felt in himself the uncertainty of this unknown agent, Rodney Stoke, but knew
if there was the slenderest of possibilities of success it must be tried.
“He is a
born survivor, the owl continued, and is on a one badger crusade to wipe out
the mink using guerrilla tactics. We need him, Larry, more than I can express
but you will need to persuade him and he hasn't had any contact with normal
animal life for three to five years. No one is really sure. The local villagers
who live near his territory speak of seeing shadows move in the night, then in
the morning they find the strung up bodies of mink on fence posts or hanging
from trees. He skins them then leaves their pelts over shrubs on rocks or else
wears them himself. They do not know if he is still all badger having had his
instincts so far twisted by the gruelling training and his harsh existence.
They call him El Umbero -the shadow.
Larry sat back after hearing this. The
atmosphere in the cave had gone icy cold, as the other animals all looked at
each other and blinked in wonder at the story. El Umbra he whispered to himself
then stared out in to the thick dark greenness of the forest. Somewhere far off
a fox screeched “I will go alone to find this Stoke, he said.” Hurrumpf
announced the badger Small Fry how can we trust this badger? I knew him once he
knows no law, listens to no one’s authority but his own”
“The question
is how can we not trust him given our predicament we have little choice.”
Small Fry exchanged a look of
resignation with Larry who looked back at Cherry batten.
“There
is one last thing you should know Larry. Stoke despises mink, but above this he
hates like no other his previous friend and brother Charlton Adam, the renegade
badger who joined the mink in the schism of his brigade. If these two should
meet I do not know the consequences, but I know Stoke would not pass up an
opportunity to kill this traitor.”
The light
faded in the cave and some little, restful sleep came to the animals as they
waited till dawn.
At just before sunrise the next day Larry
set out at dawn in search of the elusive badger. He wandered deep into the
woodland that stretched towards the Catcott marshes. By midday he had reached
where the owl had said was the edge of the badgers territory.
As he walked he thought of Brother
Small Fry’s discomfort at hearing Stoke’s name the previous night. Small Fry
had been a school teacher and then found all he needed from his holy order.
Fighting for him had been a necessity but he did not have a lust for blood
which Stoke and Adam’s had.
“Why don’t they take their war games somewhere
else and go and bother another woodland” he would say to Larry. But soon the
time came when no animal could avoid doing his part for Swan and county, soon
even Small Fry’ brother badgers of the holy order or St Barnabus were embroiled
in fighting the mink to defend their monastery.
While he
had been reflecting he now encountered a village who’s occupants had a kind of despondency
about them. So many of the young males of rabbit, hare, mouse, badgers and good
stoats(for there were a few) had been taken by Stink's mink troops to work as
slaves in the peat works.
And yet
out here there was also some fighting spirit and defiance by some animals. This
Larry discovered was partly due to the fact there was a gorilla fighting group
who were made up of animals from the villages and camped secretly close by.
They were able to make raids on the mink camps and inflict casualties and acts
of no small sabotage which set the minks progress of domination back by weeks.
But while their numbers were few and dwindling even small losses on their part
had a great impact on their overall effectiveness and ability to fight.
Larry
was taken by an elder of the village to meet this band of rebels and after
making their acquaintance and coming away with their warm approval of his plans
to overthrow King Stink, he was led up the winding overgrown path to where
Rodney Stoke had his hide out.
All of a sudden his guide stopped and
told him he would go no further, so from here Larry had to go on alone. Up the
twisted path winded under ash and hornbeam to where the soil became sandy, and
stakes hammered into the ground showed upon them the bodies of slain mink left
limp and lifeless in the leafy gloom. The hill seemed almost a graveyard of
mink skulls suspended from leafy shelters and vines, now dripping with the
drizzling rain that had started. He pressed on sure now his own life was in
grave danger and sensing from behind the cover of thick trees, the eyes of
woodland animals watching him. Though each time he turned to look to see if he
could spot them they seemed to disappear leaving only the ghost of their
presence in his mind. Now the sky was darkening and dusk had descended and he
approached the hills summit and in the sandy loamy soil was a hole evidently
from the row of skulls leading up to it the home of some dark and brooding
mind. With his courage pulled up he ventured inside.
The tunnel was dark and musty and on
its walls the intestines and sinews and pelts of mink hung down emitting a foul
odour he found almost impossible to manage. But then up a head a faint amber
glow drew him. And as he reached it he found an expansive chamber lit by bees
wax candles, all around where tables covered with bones and on some wall
weapons carved to razor sharp points all made of bones, which he presumed must
be those of dead mink. As he approached the inner sanctum of the chamber where
a fire was smouldering up to a chimney that reached the outside he looked up
and smelt the fresh air mix with the smoky Minky odour of this cavern he was
in. And as he was doing this he felt the keen sharp edge of a cold bone knife
come up to his throat and he tensed instantly under the pressure of a large and
furry muscular arm around his neck. Larry was dragged back by this dark black
form and shoved in a chair. The creature was standing in the shadows and then
slowly it revealed itself. The otter was speechless horrified at first by what
seems to be a being, he did not want to label it yet as a badger or even
animal, covered from head to foot in mink skin pelts. Over his head he wore the
upper jaws and skull of a giant mink, which must have been a ferocious creature
when alive, and this fellow Larry thought had killed him. Covering his
shoulders which in themselves where broad and muscular were more mink upper
heads smaller though. And then his body tapered down to a narrow waist giving
him a lithe but powerful appearance as if he could strike a fatal blow at any
time. As the creature revealed more of himself, Larry could see he had a
necklace of mink lower jaws and teeth around his neck and only then did he look
into his magnificent face. A snarling aggressive look to it, scarred and
tattered yet unbeaten as if it could never be beaten. The otter had found him.
This was Rodney Stoke himself. At first he growled and circled him. Then he
sniffed and came closer. Larry took his moment.
Rodney, Mr
Stoke, I have come to ask you for help.
And why should I help you?
A fair question but hear me out. I am
come to seek your help to destroy mink forever and put an end to King Stink.
The badger
spat king, king he is not my king, I do not recognise his rule he is a vermin,
a plague every last stinking mink
I know, and I know how much you hate
the mink and that is why I have come to you. You are the only one who knows
their ways enough so that we may stop them. You can get us past his guards into
his fortress where we can kill him. The government of Swans will pay you a
hefty sum to do this, join us brother.
Ha the swans. What do I owe the swans.
They tried to assassinate me or did you not do your research properly eh. With
this he moved up close to the otter and held out his knife under his chin. He
drew himself close to Larry then, and Laz could small the death on him. Looking
into his cold eyes he thought is there a shred of the merciful animal left in
you? In those eyes he could see pain that seemed to stretch way back into the
forests of generations of badgers and all the pain Stink and the mink had
caused for so long.
Tell me why should I not kill you now
eh?
And there is nothing to stop you I am
completely within your power. But I believe you want your life to be more than
all this meaningless destruction. Work with me and my brother animals on our
side and we can put an end to the mink tormenters. I know you care for your
fellow animals and want to see an end to the cruelty inflicted on them at the
hands of the mink. I know you want the slaves to be free and together we can
free them. Join me.
With this Rodney withdrew he went back
up his tunnel and stood on the hillside looking at the sun set over the levels.
In the distance he could see the smog of the peat work camps. Larry came and
stood next to him.
Join us , he
said, and we can put a stop to all that for good.
Join us he
pleaded, for your brothers if you still have a heart beating in you.
The badger
turned then, and the otter could see the wetness in his eyes. Standing beside
him he could feel his soul burning, in torment but knew that this soul was
going to be saved.
Alright, Rodney relented you have a
deal, but I don't work cheap.
Larry
returned back to his gang in the Sett under Tanner’s wood late in the evening.
As he stepped into the living chamber lit by candle light, a flicker of
surprise went up across the animals faces, like a dancing spirit, their hearts
were revived with courage upon seeing him, and then refreshed again by seeing
his companion Rodney Stoke. It was this badger barrel chest which stood out
proud, which gave them heart for they knew they could rely on him for
protection. Even Small Fry who had stayed back while the greetings were going
on, came forth eventually and embraced Stoke. Opposed in personality, beliefs
and codes of honour, they were physically well matched, and at least both knew
one thing - they would give their lives
to see the end of the Mink empire.
Brother! Stoke exclaimed
Brother
Stoke, spoke Small fry calmly, we are most glad to see you.
The sun is down, Larry said addressing
them all, it is time we are moving on. Beyond this wood lies the reed bed then
shallow marshes. After that are the peat fields which is our aim. There I fear
many of our comrades are enslaved to work the fields and feed the factory. We
will free them by the end of the next day and strike a blow to Stink’s forces he
will reel from.
Meanwhile
back in the guard room of Darius’s Mink Fortress.
What do you
mean they disappeared! The assassin Charlton Adam bawled at his Mink commander.
One scout was killed others pursued
the targets but they must have gone underground. We have searched the swamps to
the mid west and there is no sign. We believe they must be in Tanner’s wood.
Then we shall surround it, ready the
mink ranks, do not let them slip through your grasp, Boris or you will pay with
your pelt.
Yes Sir, Major Adam.
The mink
hoards were there already in the dusk in a circle around the wood, When Boris
and Adam arrived at a wave of their paw the ring of mink tightened and they
began to sweep the woodland, killing all they came upon.
While above
them mink feet rustled Small Fry led the animals underground, through dusty and
sandy root infested hollows, through which the mink voices their sharp hissing
and squealing reverberated. The outlet tunnel delivered from a bank side that
fell sharply from the tree line into the cover of a thick reed bed. Here the
owl’s keen eyes led them between the fanning mink forces who were combing the
bed. Larry was relieved when they were out of the tunnels and came to the end
of the reeds, however looking back only Rodney Stoke was unaccounted for. Small
Fry carried on, and though Larry’s heart sank at the thought of losing Stoke
already he followed his old friend and mentor.
The shallow marshes proved a ghostly
and haunted place in the moon lit night. Voices seemed to travel fast as light,
more than once they disturbed a pheasant who’s alarmed call threatened to call
attention to them, but by some grace they travelled unnoticed. As they went
Larry felt sure someone was watching him, a figure perhaps on the very edge of
his vision. In the greeny yellow light of dawn he was sure he saw this shadowy
figure again, by now they had crossed the swamp and arrived on the cracked land
of the peat fields. Small Fry and the rabbits dug a cave shelter into the peat
bank of a gulley that ran out from the swamp into the field, and there they
rested, while the sun climbed up.
Deep in
Tanner’s wood a cry of anger went up from Adam as he caught Boris up from the
neck. Your useless regiment have lost my prey again, Boris
Bbb..but
Boris did what he was asked, tth.th..the slippery ones went under , my mink
went in tunnels but no one there. Give me another chance Boris knows they went
into the marsh.
It is too
late now, with that Charlton Adam held
the mink by the skull and crushed his head, in front of his horrified troop.
Now who wants to give me some good news?
Dead mink
Sir, one said, in the reeds no skin, left on spikes.
Mmm...interesting
that sounds like the work of Rodney Stoke. So you’ve chosen a side then Stoke?
Finally gone back to those weak Swans who treated you so badly.
We will
pursue them, follow the trail, he is dangerous so keep your distance and inform
me when you have found them.
Word spread
of the death of Boris back to one of the King’s guards Sebastian. He was if
ever there was one a good mink. He wanted to see a union and peace between the
other animal races and the Mink.
Many of the ordinary Mink soldiers
also felt dissatisfied with their commanders, especially they saw Charlton Adam
as a tyrant only hungry for the power and influence that Darius had promised.
The mink who now pursue Larry begin to doubt their betters.
Beer dark waters, low belly peat
slipping on the glove of dark mystery, they pooled and paddled it with their
oars making head way through the moors. Reeds like sentinels standing guard on
the bank and in the shallows shading willows casting shadows across the stream
waters, cool and warm by degrees.
The afternoon sunlight reflecting off
crests and peaks of the rippling wake sent out by their dug- out canoe.
The bull frogs burred and ribbeted in
chimming tune, the heave and haze of crickets in the hay and grass. Slowly
flapping crows pass over them as high above buzzards soar in the sky like
glass. Their mouths are dry, they drink the water, when their stomachs are
empty they catch and eat fish. They go
on like this until they find the otter kings daughter and within the fortress
surrounded by water.
The slaves are yelling in the mink
work camps, their lives are old as soot is black, the staves and stoves are
burning the sunlight, to bring Darius his gold and cover his crooked back.
Their souls are old from suffering,
yet young in world knowing they are creating the yoke upon their backs. The
weight upon their shoulder and the strap around their necks pulls and rubs til
red sore and their faces are peaty black.
His regimen is strict, his forces of
army soldiers, they do his will and bidding as a mountain is to boulders. They
hunt the birds down from the trees, his kingdom is his making but the apple
does not fall far in the breeze and now the foundations are shaking.
Sebastian sees his liege at his gold
mad murky look within his eyes, the peat mounds fill his coffers like refugee
birds fill the skies, his love of power has twisted and warped his animal mind.
Now his soul is more like a man’s corrupted for all of time.
With one hand he would give power to
the cats, all they ever wanted with the other he would give away land to rats
and leave his closest allies affronted.
The kingdom of the mink is on toppling
stilt few knew on what weak foundations it was built. For it was Darius alone,
through his will and blood spilt, had carved out a future for his kinfolk.
The king mink is old some whispered in
private, he’s marrying the otter princess out of vanity or madness and she’s
illegitimate, no half mink half otter could rule in his place, his crown is
half on half fallen down his face.
They look at the otter slaves who
malnourished and weakened skit, low in stature and standing stooped none of
them could be equal to a mink. With their king gone they gave up the fight, the
resistance was beaten like light from the night. They scattered or like those
who remained were put in bonds of slave-hood and now wander enchained.
Only some whispered-the renegade few –
that is for Larry the brave and his lion-hearted crew. He roams the fields and
stock pens at night giving words of encouragement to keep up the fight. He
would make a fine king even less do admit to boot, that is if otters ruled and
the shoe was on the other foot. He could command some mink agree, those
soldiers who honour pride and valour to the highest degree. Only they wish some
brave and noble mink like Sebastian
could match his quality. They feel they are led by Darius’ puppets and they do
his bidding at his every whim like a handful of muppets.
Beyond what he stands for Darius’
dream never came true, for the multitude of mink now live in poverty too, he
promised homes and he promised schools all we have to chew are bones and our
young ones learn from fools. While he and his acolytes just get richer and more
rich, how can he sleep at night, he in his castle we in the ditch?
He has never delivered, never given to
the poor, we ask for kidney and liver so he leaves rotten fish at our door.
The stock piles keep on growing but
they are locked away in store, the peasants have no access and no rights
anymore.
Time for
revolution something must be done, we call on our protector Sebastian to become
our new kingdom’s liege and son.
A chorus rises in the village a chorus
of agreement and antipathy to Darius.
A spokes-mink steps forth – Will you
Sebastian, for we know you strong of will, make an attempt upon the king’s
life, it is a case of kill or be killed?
Sebastian who had come down from the
fortress walls to speak with the crowds stood in silence for some moments while
in contrast to the shouts and cheers of the previous moment now the crowd
waited in a deathly hush not single voice could be heard to murmur. Regicide
the murder of a King he half whispered to himself replied – I promise by the
virtue of the reeds, by all the songs that the birds may sing, to give back
honour to the race of mink, and save our ship before she sinks.
I promise to in state a new model army
to instigate a martial law the people will be a republic without the terrible
Darius’ claw.
In the midday
sun the animals awoke, the cave had become too hot, and they all piled outside.
On the edge of the peat field, Stoke sat whittling an ash spike with a knife.
He had made a sun shade out of fresh mink pelt which he had stretched over
willow poles and were drying in the sun.
The young rabbits scurried up to him
in awe and hero worship, you are back they said, we’re saved.
So you reverted back to your old ways
then friend, decried Small Fry.
Stoke glanced
at him, I protected you, they were following you.
You left us! Stepped in Larry, I had
no idea if you lived, were captured or killed. By that act you left us, you who
swore to protect these young.
They are alive, you are all still
alive because of me, because I have the stomach to do what you cannot, that is
why you came to me is it not Larry.
With this slaughter you make a
statement, a show of strength to the mink, but don’t think I don’t know it is a
joy for you. We move on the sun is high and there are others who need our help.
By late
afternoon after gruelling walk in scorching temperatures, they reached the
operations of the mink slave camp and peat works.
The Ground
was cracked and baking
Towards the
end of a gulley we saw
A line of
animals trudging looking very poor
The head of
the Column a large Mink
They walked
in a peaty basin or sink
Lucy Lysander
the salamander
Bit hard into
the reins that bound her
Into the
chains of the gang of slave rabbits around her
As they
walked around in circles
As they went
they churned up the peat
And left it
beside furrows
Where others
shovelled it to barrows
Then covered
in sheets
They brought
it to a large iron building
Where they
processed and bagged it
The Mink with
whips always driving them
The dark cogs
of the peat plant could be heard
Turning the
machinery beyond
This scene Small Fry and Larry perused
Wondering and
feeling the grim darkness of it
On their
souls it abused
It was the
depression on the faces of the enslaved animals
That Larry
thought he’d never seen a more unhappy lot
Already the
air was thicker and heavier here
There was no
bird song but a warm sickly wind
Carrying the
occasional call of a rook or crow
Letting them
know that spies were all around.
Small Fry
said - We have to contact Lucy Lysander
She can help
us to free them if we can get into the plant.
The pair
waited until nightfall when the animals were in their bunks
These were
dug outs where they slept
Peppered
across the faces of huge mountains of peat
Of an evening
the slaves were given a fishy gruel and sent to bed. They were not permitted to
talk and all social interaction was forbidden. While the slaves rested in their
dug outs the mink guards would occupy themselves with playing cards, torturing
victims, scraping in fights over bets or else just sleeping. This night though
the moon was bright and the air chill cold making the peat steaming from its
own heat and gave Larry and Small Fry some cover as they approached the mound
and began to scale its side. Great beacons burnt in the sky giving the guards a
good view of the surrounding yard but the pair ran behind enormous iron buckets
that still moved slowly through the night. The beacons stretched all the way to
Meare lighting the way of more chain gangs who worked to build the long
straight road to Meare.
Larry had waited and watched where
Lucy went to her dug out and knew now it was three quarters the way up one
mound. They made their move, camoflaging themselves in black peat water. They
had to go silently and swiftly before any mink saw them and as they went the
sad faces of the slave animals stared up at them, most too bleary eyed and
tired assumed they were their mink masters and cowered away or else huddled and
shivered. Few looked as if they had strength to fight and this worried Larry.
Finally they came to the dug out of Lucy Lysander the salamander, she had her
back turned to them and appeared to be sobbing.
“Is this Lucy
who I once knew long ago?” asked Larry, Lucy paused stopped crying and without
turning her head said once Lucy was my name, an age ago but she is lost now,
now there is only my number. Surely she can be re-found, we have come to find
you Lucy and help you to remember what the world once was, " with this he
touched her shoulder and turned her to face him wiping the tear s from her
blinking damp eyes,
" and what the world can and will be
again. Lucy's reptilian skin seemed to shimmer in the moonlight and from when
it was faded and well worn with these words it seemed to be renewed and flashed
the sliver light back again. I have been dreaming Larry my friend, darkly as if
in a nightmare but now I have awoken and can see for the first time." said
Lucy.
"the whole of the levels has been
sleeping and dreaming a dark dream but now that spell will be broken, and the
animals there will be freed from their chains and come alive again!"
Answered Larry
Stink will be brought down. With this, some other animals who had been
listening pricked up their ears and moved in closer.
"We
shall put a spanner in the works of his great Peat robbery plant and you all
will help me. We shall help each other to do it." With this the plan was
hatched and all animals who could hear it were told then. Then they told all
those other weaker or sick animals of the plan and soon the spirit level was
rising as a fire of hope was lit beneath them.
The night passed on and with the dawns
first light the animals rose and began the daily grind of putting back on the
shackles of the chain. What Larry had done in the night was loosen the bolts of
the shackles, and the links in the chain were weakened. Lucy had spoken in the
night of the only way to stop the plant from working was to break the chain
that drove it. Larry and Small Fry had to enter the machine through the waste
disposal shoot. Old fish bones lay in a great pile beneath the shoot and stank
though most of the living quarters of the mink were the same stinking of rotten
fish flesh and bone that the mink ate raw. As they climbed up the slippery
stinking shoot dripping with fish juice they could hear the weasel like chatter
of the mink, harsh sounding words no roundness to them speaking of ruthlessness
but also reckless, lawless nature from their chuckling hyena like laughter. In
the night they had tortured one of their many victims and had the Hare hanging
up by its hind quarters above the factory floor. The Hare was still alive
breathing but panting and bleeding profusely onto a puddle of blood on the
floor. They were prodding it with sticks and swinging between themselves. Larry
thought it would be better if the hare had died in the night than let it go on.
But the pair snuck in behind a conveyer belt of the peat and its whirring
mechanical sound stifled the whooping laughter of the mink. The pair crept
silently around large barrels and bags of peat. They were ready to be shipped
away when the road to Meare was completed. Suddenly a Mink slipped in the blood
and fell over producing an effect of ludicrous laughter and hollering from the
other mink, there was clearly one big mink who was the bully and the others
were joining in. The one who had slipped bolted up and then attacked one of the
smaller ones who laughed at him and then the scraping broke out with this the big
one walked off to start the factory up again. Larry and Small Fry seized their
chance and while Larry freed the knots of twine around the hare Small Fry
approached the circle of fighting mink. He took out two from behind by bashing
their skulls together with even the others noticed with four to go he grabbed
another by the throat and flung him against a barrel.
Another
noticed this and jumped on his back biting into his neck. The two who were
fighting looked around and then joined their friend. The badger with three on
him now went into a roll the crushed one and broke the leg of another. The
fourth went running for the big one. Larry having seen this picked up a loose
piece of chain and flung it at the escaping mink catching him around the ankles
and down he fell though not without giving out a final yell.
A whistle rang out then and factory
seemed to start ringing in alarm. The hare having recovered slightly said that
there was an ignition source near from which the mink had lit the first beacon
- a natural flame that came out of the ground. The mink practically worshipped
it in a strange religion. There was little time to lose Larry wound a sheet of
mink fur around a stick and lit it in the flame then setting it amongst the
bags of dry peat let it all go up in flames. Smoke was filling the factory as
the three animals leapt from the platform onto the yard outside and here they
met the big mink with all the guards behind him. Suddenly and without warning
the enslaved rabbits and animals who had been waiting for the right time now
broke free of their shackles and together pulled the chained free of its
housing in the factory it whipped out and took with it a line of mink. The mink
guards faced the slaves and with anger in their hearts and revenge on their
minds the free slaves now faced them back. As one they charged and without
weapons attacked the mink that carried sabres and were armoured. Some animals
picked up whole bags of peat and tossed them into their enemy others leapt
blindly into the fray while Larry and Small Fry took on the other flank that
faced the factory and them. Larry ran at the big mink that moved slowly because
of his size and head butted him, with a turn the mink threw Larry down and onto
the conveyor belt that moved into the factory. The big mink pounced on top of
him and began a barrage of punches that hurt Larry greatly. His whiskered face
swelled up in bruises, and he lay still for a moment while the big mink stood
back. While Larry was regaining his senses the belt had risen and was taking
him toward the drop into the shredding shoot. The big mink turned to run off
the conveyor belt but then Larry grabbed his tail and dragged him back.
“Not learnt
your lesson yet eh?” The mink said then stamped a foot down onto his chest. Small
Fry had seen this and sent a stone pebble hurtling through the air to catch the
mink on the forehead. With a heavy crunch he fell backward narrowly missing Larry
who clambered to his feet and ran for his life against the ever moving conveyor
belt.
Back on
the battle field the freed animals were triumphant and chased the remaining
mink off. Some who were captive then were tied in to the chain and left to
watch as the factory burned.
Small Fry rejoined Larry and asked if
he was alright. The castle of stink the mink beyond the reeds began buzzing and
the yells of minks preparing to fight rang out.
"Stink
will be much angered by this and will have his retribution, but we must reach
the castle walls to free the levels for good. And with that be done with Stink
the Mink."
Rodney Stoke took charge of organising
the slaves. Nancy the mother rabbit looked after the cooking and feeding of
them, under the shelter of a nearby spinney of Alder trees.
Larry and Small Fry decided that as
these slaves clearly needed protection, they would set them on the right path
home, accompanied by their young fighting rabbits.
When this had been organised, and they
were ready for the off, Larry, Small Fry and Stoke would go on into the Mink
fortress. At this moment the pursuing forces of Charlton Adam and his Mink
arrived at the scene of a devastated and burnt out factory.
At their sight, a line of armoured and
armed soldiers the slaves began to be afraid that again they would be captured
or worse. Larry ordered the caravan to begin to leave led by the rabbits. Stoke
had picked out some brave fighters and armed them.
I will hold them he said to Larry, you
two must go, there is no time, you must stop Darius.
Larry went to Stoke’s side, but Small
Fry stopped him, He is right, he said. We must live to take the fight to Darius.
At the other end of the field, Adam
saw brother Small Fry and Larry leave the field, he cried out to Stoke,
It seems your
cowardly friends have abandoned you Stoke. Now you are all alone, or is that
how you like it? Tell me why do you go with this weak otter, you know his race
will never flourish again, his King has left them. The Swan’s betrayed you, why
not come over to our side it. We take what we want, we are feared and respected
over the levels. You would be given power and wealth!
Stoke seemed to be deep in thought and
his animal soldiers, the rabbits and young badgers around him, fearing his
changing mood and appearance.
Finally Stoke Spoke, and when he did
he had fire in his eyes and rage in his voice: There is one thing I despise
more than a filthy low bellied Mink, and that is a filthy, low bellied badger
Traitor! You have betrayed your holy order Brother Adam, and I am come to
deliver the Order’s justice upon you. I have no need of your Wealth or Power, I
have my friends and I have the Holy Order I see now is the only family I need.
You threatened its survival when you tried to kill the Abbot and for that you
will pay. For that you will die!
With that he gave his war cry and
charged with his broad sword unsheathed flashing in the sun, the others
followed him and they met the Mink and the Badger Charlton Adam in furious
battle.
Much slaying went on and wild heroic
fighting on the part of the badgers they were out numbered by mink who were
like barbarians and had no rules to fighting. In the centre of the storm a calm
opened up as Adam and Stoke found one another, and like heavy weight wrestlers
went to it in a great thud and clanging of armour , Stoke had his helmet
shattered by a strike from Adam’s long spear, other mink leapt upon Stoke and
tore at his chest armour straps tearing it from off his back. He leapt up again
at his attack thrashing at his arms and legs, but a swipe from Adam’s short
sword caught him a grievous wound across his belly. Slumped down now the weight
of Stoke fell to the ground, he was down on all four paws bleeding hot blood
into the black peat.
Adam seeing his foe so wounded, and
rendered incapable of attack removed his helmet to take a good look at his
prey. Stoke howled in pain, and this sight of such a mighty warrior brought so
low, saddened the brows of his brother badgers still fighting the mink.
So you have come to the end, which was
always your lot, Stoke for you are nothing more than a failed monk, you were
not good enough for the order, you were a killer with darkness in your heart.
Ah what a pity you did not join us what a party we could have had.
Stoke spluttered, You ...you have
forgotten one thing... he manoeuvred his huge body round on limping paws.
Oh and what
is that, Adam said as he raised his sword above his head to bring down upon
Stoke’s back?
The reach of the order’s arm of
justice is long indeed! And with that he pulled his right paw back and swiped
his long claws across the exposed throat of Adam severing his jugular and
nearly removing the head. Adam’s body fell back to the peat lifeless with a
mighty crash.
The mink surrounding saw this and
fled. Stoke fell back down to his paws and over onto his side dying from his
wound. The other badgers surrounded him and picked him carrying him to a high
place where they laid him down to rest. From this place he could see the
Majestic sight of Glastonbury Abbey shining in the Sun as it went down. Ah
Abbot he spoke I am coming back home brother at last. With that passed the life
of Rodney Stoke.
Stink
the mink was pacing inside his palace it was built of stick and stone and mud
and stuck together with fish glue. Built upon a huge mound of peat on an island
in the reeds it towered above the levels. And so he had a view of his burning
factory long before any escaped guards had made the news known to him. Those
guards who returned were executed made an example of by Stink who ruled with an
iron fist the rowdy and war like mink. "There will be no rest for anyone
until this Larry and his gang are dead. I want their heads. The marriage will
take place immediately Find out from the Meare cats spies who they are and what
they are doing to my precious kingdom." When his Mink stalled he yelled
again then sent his Crow spies to relay with the rooks from Meare.
Sebastian
stood hearing all of this but would not command his Mink to action. His regiment came to him calling, what is to
be done?
We will
instigate the plan – manoeuvre the troops loyal to me we will wait on the
outskirts of the swamp, Darius will fall and when that time comes we need to be
ready send word I will meet with Brother Small Fry.
Larry
and Small Fry ran, they chased through briars and tangled fells, through
ditches and across swamps, around them Mink were out in canoes and boats
archers, and spear-mink, going on Darius’s orders to rescue the factory and
kill the rebels.
While
this commotion occurred Larry and Small Fry paddled a raft up to the marshes of
the fortress.
Larry had
always imagined himself a king though maybe of a far off country like Denmark or some where and he often lounged like he was
one in these waterways. But as the time of judgement drew near he allowed
himself the thought that perhaps he too might be king of this Land one day. But
he thought alas it is only a dream the otter princess would be married to some
fine fellow otter from a class high above his own. No he thought you do not
have a place in these matters all you must do is do your duty rescue the
princess and that is enough let folk far cleverer than you work out or guess
what the future holds. He looked back to his compass he had made from a metal
pin and a leaf on the water Stinks castle was not far off - he could smell it
due south.
When Rodney
stoke the badger and Stinks champion Charlton Adam were doing battle on a peat
bank around the head land of Stinks castle, Larry the otter was bounding
towards the castle to rescue Celandine the Otter Kings Daughter.
Charlton Adam
knows of this alliance and the identity of his captives out of a fear of a mink
otter race, his better nature tries to hide their true identities from King
Stink. He locks them in the Castle’s tower and sets guards to stand at their
door preventing them from leaving or being discovered by unwanted enquiries.
Celendine tends her wounded brother and as battle commences from without by
Larry and Brother Small Fry she describes to him what she sees for he is too
sick to fight. He wishes he was there in the thick of it.
Arrows and crossbow bolts fly at Larry
and his companions but the embattled knights fight on they cross the bridge an
attack the gate. It is made of oak logs and huge in stature but with a cry of
For King Murther and Princess Celendine his strong arm aims blow after blow at
it until it splinters and weakens. But then they are beaten back by the sheer
number of stones and arrows flung at them including the boiling water and fish
stew.
Larry and
Small Fry decided it was best to split up. Small Fry would distract the
Fortress troops to give Larry the chance to get in. So Small Fry went about
this, making an obvious walk in the main entrance to the castle. This worked as
planned and all the eager mink hoping to prove their worth to their king by
killing or capturing this well known Badger, came upon Brother Small Fry. He
had his staff and his Order’s martial Arts training to help him, and many an
opponent was bested, fighting along the prow of the slope which rose to the
castle he saw in the distance Larry infiltrate the walls, and then he drew
back, running around the side of the castle walls.
Around the bend Brother Small Fry
encountered more Mink but their bearing was more in submission strangely, they
spoke of one named Sebastian who wished to talk of a truce. Mistrustfully, the
brother Badger went along with this and followed the Mink to the meeting place.
Larry
bounded on land comfortable on the moist lettucy ground and undergrowth,
through twisted roots. Mink guards on the palisade saw a creature move, caught
a glimpse of his head and thought him a Tom Cat. One guard said to the other it
must be one of Moses' sons bringing word from Meare Manor.
Like a
streak of black Larry melted back seamlessly into the black water of the lake
within the walls. Beneath the waves on the surface the underwater world was a
myriad some small fish darted away, then he passed a large pike came to face to
face with him and some secret understanding passed between them in the silence
and muted hubble bubble sounds of peat machinery. The pike turned about and Larry
followed him. It was hard to keep up but being part fish himself the otter
managed it and the fish led him through an underwater tunnel into the inner
courts of Stink's Castle. He arose imperceptibly with his black nose first barely
breaking the meniscus of the water.
Then
used it to take in all the woody smells of this new enclosure some burning of
reeds was going on the odour drifted over the water. Then came the smell of
water parsnip and parsley and turning his senses pricked the taint on the air
of fish killed recently on the shore. Being of nature a fish eater his
instincts mingled with his desires for doing his duty and serving justice. Like
syrup dollop he dropped himself on the bank and shook off the water -no one was around they all faced out wards
towards the up roar caused by the badger. Then he walloped his feet down onto
the stone path that was littered with fish head and scales and galloped up the
path to the pantry room of the castle where a mink kitchen porter was hauling
in the fresh kill to be cooked on the enormous burners which held on top of
them huge urns.
The
odour coming off the steaming urns was over whelming to the otter and he became
dizzy in his senses and over powered by the days of hunger that had accompanied
his hard journey. The Mink chef had been cooking up a vegetable and fishy soup
made of the water parsnip growing around, parsley and fdresh herbs and of
course delicious fish of all varieties minnow.
The otter slipped in as barrel of fish
was being trundled into the kitchen and came up to one urn as the chef head was
turned and sunk his mouth in. The scalding heat caused him to spit it out and
so then he used a clay cup he found and slurped it down beneath a table. All of
a sudden a bell rang it was the master and the kitchen mink all scrambled round
to prepare his meal and bring it up to him. In the commotion the otter leapt up
and ran through with his foil the kitchen mink then charged head long into the
hallway where he collided with a group of soldier mink, bowling them over like
skittles.
Larry looked up from the floor and
seeing stairs scampered to his feet, charging up them again.
Darius had by this heard much noise,
and seizing his wife to be fled to the balcony.
Larry at the head of the stairs
searched around for the bedroom door, it was dark on this level but the lavish
door indicated that only one door must be Darius’s. He went in.
The light was dusky and lit with
candle light. Some shafts of the sun’s rays broke through heavy animal skin
curtains that were left undrawn. King stink apparently liked the dim darkness
of a dungeon it seemed as it reminded him of his home in Transylvania. Somehow
much of the dampness of these place remained here still and as the otter stood
absorbing the atmosphere.
When his eyes
had adjusted he saw on the walls spears and shields the skulls of bats with
what appeared to be fangs and in the corner a monstrous beast frozen - it was a
wolf sleek and hungry in a prowling stance where its lean shoulders seemed to
cut through the darkness like a knife.
In a
flash the lean and itself wolf like body of the King came around the corner and
he sniffed the air then prowled around the bed stead moving his body
rhythmically up and down as he moved. He ran his claws as he moved over the
spears shaft and tip and over the cold dead body of the wolf. He seemed to be
swaying and for a moment though the otter knew he could not be seen in the dark
he felt himself mesmerized by the magnetic movement as if like a mongoose
hypnotizing the snake before he strikes down his prey.
I can smell
you. Darius Spoke
Larry leapt
out charging a spear shaft into the giant Mink. Darius somehow caught the shaft
but the force of the charge carried them both out through the window and
clattering onto the balcony.
Celandine screamed and edged back she
began to climb onto a hanging vine nearby. Larry looked up at her in surprise
and then the balcony collapsed into the jungle of knotweed, ferns and nettles
below. Disorientated Larry looked around at this new scene. An unknown
territory that seemed to be a mixture of abandoned peat works and railway paraphernalia.
The King mink Darius stalked out in the twisted jungle
of ferns and vines that hang from hundred year old oak and willows.
Larry found himself in confusion for he had lost sight
of the castle, he rested on the sleepers of long ago railways all stacked up.
The twisted and rusted rails of the gauge ran off
through the distance of what was once a yard. Rain began to drizzle and the
temperature turned cold, then a brief hail storm began.
Almost as a
breath the minks looming presence alerted the otter, his wet fur ruffled to
spikes around his neck and head shivered and tingled. Then his whiskers and
nose began to twitch.
As Larry slowly turned he saw Darius prowling behind
him, side stepping like a tiger sniffing out his prey. His face was a smirk and
a grimace and he spoke his mesmerizing voice that had swayed so many others
under his spell:
Here I have you
Long in the Marsh I have waited
To be king of all I survey,
Of this land which is a like the one I call home
Back on the Romany way
And still have I slept like a serpent
Black in the bowels of the earth
To then snatch as a devilish servant
The bird eggs before they have birth
And tyranny so have I courted
It has brought its just deserts
As the swamp land is like to a graveyard
Where animals bow to me as peasants and serfs
Now when the otter king abandoned his kinsmen
And fled like one fleeing a War
His cow heart led him to the seas breast
And we do not see him anymore
But who is this I see before me
But another who I can bully and cajole
For no otter have I seen will stand his ground
When his land with my cunning I stole
Go on like your King Larry
Go leave while your pelt is intact
Save your skin or like your father before you
I shall slay you if you try to attack
Larry stood his ground, thinking of all those friends
he had lost, at the hands and machinations of the evil King Stink.
The Mink prowled over and pounced upon the stack of
sleepers above Larry. The otter made himself low but stood his ground and
Darius sent out a searching razor claw that sliced into the otters back.
Bleeding the otter rolled to the side to avoid more of the same then fell from
the ledges of wood. He hit the wet moist ground in a tangle of brambles and
stinging nettles and the mink King had followed him down so that now when the
otter stood at full height to face his foe the mink attacked again from above
and they wrestled, the otter biting the mink on the shoulder and causing
swelling and bleeding there. Then the mink dashed off out of the undergrowth
and into the open yard over the railway tracks where he stopped. The otter
meantime had leapt after him his powerful limbs propelling him through the
foliage and squatting his cat-like clawed feet on the rails he leveled himself
to the attack.
The mink had picked up a spike from the ground that
had been hidden behind a rail thrust it towards the otters breast. Larry
parried the blow with his right paw but this was broken by the force and he
fell again back wincing from the pain. The otter struggled back on three legs
to the sleeper stack but was unable to climb it and he lent exhausted from the
effort. The big terrible mink came forward and bore down on him no hint of
remorse in his eyes.
"Now it seems time we end this revolution of
yours here"
And he raised the spike to bring it down upon the
otter. As he did so Larry ducked and the spike missed grazing the skin of his shoulder
and pinning him to the sleeper. As Stink the mink was trying to pull free the
spike with both hands, the otter picked up a rusted nine inch nail from under
the stack where he had slumped and thrust it into the minks cold heart. He
stood there wincing and the look of defeat and fury and impotence came into his
face as he clutched his chest and fell away onto the ground and died.
Song of Larry at the killing of Darius
I have killed him now, that tyrant of the levels
Now the great shadow has passed
The otter king who was father here now may return at
last
Darius Iliashi you most formidable foe
One who stalks in the forest of the dark
I stand on your skin, that is bedraggled and thin
Now your fur will cover my back
Darius was king of the stinking marsh, all poisoned
With his greedy reign
The clouds will come and go when the west wind blows
Then I'll sleep happy by the rhein again
I wish I were a king for now the king is dead
And the animals all cry long live he
For now so many years have come and gone
That the King otter has moved on
To a happier land beyond the sun
Larry
gathered himself together and made his way back to the castle, as he approached
he witnessed the beautiful sight of Celandine standing next to Brother Small
Fry. Beside him a noble and unusually kind looking mink Sebastian, with no fear
in his eyes nor did he seem to inspire it in the others around him.
Eventually Celandine married Larry,
the remaining mink and otter lived together in a harmony unheard of before. The
Peat Slave Camps were destroyed and the peat works abandoned. In time nature
took her course and returned the levels to their former glory.
Sebastian
takes over the ruling of the mink. They become a nicer more fair race under his
rule and are put to work rebuilding the community which stink destroyed, living
side by side with the otters and other animals.
Larry
however never returned to the peace he once knew, his charge was the rule of
the otter Kingdom and the rebuilding of the otter lands of old. Brother Small
Fry married the couple in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey and finally returned
to his old life as the Fisher badger of the Meare pool, but had a good story to
tell his young badger and otter apprentices as they fished the teeming waters.
Forever after
this Larry was known as St Lawrence of the levels, and many young animals
learnt of his kindness and courage and even sometimes how he was lazy in his
younger wilderness years and they tell them, stop being a lazy Lawrence.
