The centurion... commanded that they which could swim should castthemselves first into the sea and get to land. And the rest, some on boards andsome on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped allsafe to land.
The Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 27The top of the sandy bank was a good six feet above the water. From wherethey sat, the rabbits could look straight ahead upstream, and downstream to theirleft. Evidently there were nesting holes in the sheer face below them, for as thelight grew they saw three or four martins dart out over the stream and away intothe fields beyond. In a short time one returned with his beak full, and they couldhear the nestlings squeaking as he flew out of sight beneath their feet. The bankdid not extend far in either direction. Upstream, it sloped down to a grassy pathbetween the trees and the water. This followed the line of the river, which ranstraight from almost as far away as they could see, flowing smoothly withoutfords, gravel shallows or plank bridges. Immediately below them lay a wide pooland here the water was almost still. Away to their left, the bank sloped downagain into clumps of alder, among which the stream could be heard chatteringover gravel. There was a glimpse of barbed wire stretched across the water andthey guessed that this must surround a cattle wade, like the one in the little brooknear the home warren.
Hazel looked at the path upstream. "There's grass down there," he said. "Let'sgo and feed."They scrambled down the bank and set to nibbling beside the water. Betweenthem and the stream itself stood half-grown clumps of purple loosestrife andfleabane, which would not flower for nearly two months yet. The only bloomswere a few early meadowsweet and a patch of pink butterbur. Looking back at theface of the bank, they could see that it was in fact dotted thickly with martins'
holes. There was a narrow foreshore at the foot of the little cliff and this waslittered with the rubbish of the colony -- sticks, droppings, feathers, a broken eggand a dead nestling or two. The martins were now coming and going in numbersover the water.
Hazel moved close to Fiver and quietly edged him away from the others,feeding as he went. When they were a little way off, and half concealed by a patchof reeds, he said, "Are you sure we've got to cross the river, Fiver? What aboutgoing along the bank one way or the other?""No, we need to cross the river, Hazel, so that we can get into those fields --and on beyond them too. I know what we ought to be looking for -- a high, lonelyplace with dry soil, where rabbits can see and hear all round and men hardly evercome. Wouldn't that be worth a journey?""Yes, of course it would. But is there such a place?""Not near a river -- I needn't tell you that. But if you cross a river you startgoing up again, don't you? We ought to be on the top -- on the top and in theopen.""But, Fiver, I think they may refuse to go much further. And then again, yousay all this and yet you say you're too tired to swim?""I can rest, Hazel, but Pipkin's in a pretty bad way. I think he's injured. Wemay have to stay here half the day.""Well, let's go and talk to the others. They may not mind staying. It's crossingthey're not going to fancy, unless something frightens them into it."As soon as they had made their way back, Bigwig came across to them from thebushes at the edge of the path.
"I was wondering where you'd got to," he said to Hazel. "Are you ready to moveon?""No, I'm not," answered Hazel firmly. "I think we ought to stay here until ni-Frith. That'll give everyone a chance to rest and then we can swim across to thosefields."Bigwig was about to reply, but Blackberry spoke first.
"Bigwig," he said, "why don't you swim over now, and then go out into the fieldand have a look round? The wood may not stretch very far one way or the other.
You could see from there; and then we might know which would be the best wayto go.""Oh, well," said Bigwig rather grudgingly, "I suppose there's some sense inthat. I'll swim the embleer* river as many times as you like. Always glad tooblige."Without the slightest hesitation, he took two hops to the water, waded in andswam across the deep, still pool. They watched him pull himself out beside aflowering clump of figwort, gripping one of the tough stems in his teeth, shake ashower of drops out of his fur and scutter into the alder bushes. A moment later,between the nut trees, they saw him running off into the field.
"I'm glad he's with us," said Hazel to Silver. Again he thought wryly of theThrearah. "He's the fellow to find out all we need to know. Oh, I say, look, he'scoming back already."Bigwig was racing back across the field, looking more agitated than he had atany time since the encounter with Captain Holly. He ran into the water almostheadlong and paddled over fast, leaving an arrowhead ripple on the calm brownsurface. He was speaking as he jerked himself out on the sandy foreshore.
"Well, Hazel, if I were you I shouldn't wait until ni-Frith. I should go now. Infact, I think you'll have to.""Why?" asked Hazel.
"There's a large dog loose in the wood."Hazel started. "What?" he said. "How do you know?""When you get into the field you can see the wood sloping down to the river.
Parts of it are open. I saw the dog crossing a clearing. It was trailing a chain, so itmust have broken loose. It may be on the lendri's scent, but the lendri will beunderground by now. What do you think will happen when it picks up our scent,running from one side of the wood to the other, with dew on it? Come on, let's getover quickly,"Hazel felt at a loss. In front of him stood Bigwig, sodden wet, undaunted,single-minded -- the very picture of decision. At his shoulder was Fiver, silent andtwitching. He saw Blackber............