In The Woods

Chapter 7

The War For The Wood

          (Bunnie began jumping up and down again.  "What is it bunny?" asked Grandma Rabbit.  "HOLD UP the story fer me, please.  I'm firsty, so I'm gonna get me a drink!" answered the little bunny.  When she came back with her glass of water, she exclaimed, "Dank you, Gwamma.  You can keep reading now," and she plopped herself back down on her grandmother's lap.  Everyone laughed at her.)
         
         Wolf woke up with a start late that night.  His eyes darted from left to right and he stood up.  His hard muscles tensed as he sniffed the crisp, cold air.  He smelled angry men, beer, cold metal, and a smoky, dying bonfire.  He turned his head toward the awful scent, his ears slicked back and his mouth pulled back in an awful snarl.  He heard the men sharpening their axes, the hard metallic scraping and the drunken laughter. "The Exterminator," he growled quietly, with deep hatred in his voice.  He dashed off into the darkness to warn Rabbit and then Old Oak.  He knew that the war was going to begin, and very soon.

         All the animals were in their places by daybreak.  All the small animals were on the backs of a wolf, bear, deer, or mountain lion so they could be lifted into the talons of a hawk or eagle, and obviously Rabbit was seated atop the strong shoulders of Wolf.  The hawks and eagles were paired up two birds for every boulder or log, ready to drop the large things in front of the men's paths. The wolves and  mountain lions waited in pouncing position and the deer and bears waited to charge.  The burrowing animals, already having done their digging, waited to attack the men with the mice or classified themselves as a small animal to be tossed by the large birds.  All of the moles joined forces with the squirrels, and Squirrel and Mole would lead them all. The small birds were stationed three a nest to the slingshot nests, and Robin twittered anxiously from hers.
         "Maple?" she called from the nest in Maple's branches. "I'm so excited!  But, what happens if I miss?" "Oh, I don't think anything.  You may want to take off your bonnet, though, Robin," she answered reassuringly.  Mr. and Mrs. Finchley, who were both assigned to this nest, both said, "If we miss, we miss, but I think we'd rather score!"  "That's the spirit!" encouraged Maple, and Robin smiled and took off her bonnet. 
         Willow sat in the corner of the wood again, and Elm came by to comfort him, but he wasn't in need of comforting.  Willow immediately looked up and stood tall.  He brushed back all the wispy branches hanging forward in his face.  "What's wrong?" asked Elm.  "Nothing, absolutely nothing, Elm.  I'm going to fight for this wood.  It's my home and the home to everyone who comforts me when I'm upset.  I'm scared for everyone's life including mine, so driven by fear I'll fight, and I'll fight to the death."  He looked up at Elm, determined, and Elm smiled at Willow's newfound courage.
         Suddenly, the blood curdling sound of a chain saw tore through the air, piercing the sky and and shattering the peace of the wood.  Wolf heard on the Meeting Hill, and all of the wolves joined in a chorus of howling.  Their howling was long and mournful.  Willow furrowed his brow, thin branches swing to and fro, and Elm clenched his fists at his sides, leaves tousling in the cold, angry wind.  Maple came to Elm's side and clasped one of his thick branches, both anger and worry showing in her face and three determined bird faces peering out through her tangle of leaves. 
         Mole scurried forward to Squirrel's side, and the two of them glared stone-faced in the direction of the men.  Squirrel turned to his friend.  "Ready?" he asked in a low voice.  "Ready if you are, my friend," was Mole's solemn reply.  He put out his paw and Squirrel shook it.  Then they turned grave faces toward the enemy, Squirrel clasping Mole's rigid shoulder.  Clouds blocked whatever sunlight had been peeking in, and darkness shrouded the forest.  It began to rain.
         Screams of fallen men at the edge of the wood collided with the clash of thunder.  The insects stung and swarmed around the men.  Many got stuck in the deep pits made by the burrowing animals, some twisting their ankles and one breaking his leg.  Rabbit, who had been watching from the high perch of Wolf's back on the Meeting Hill, closed her eyes to shake the images away.  She tucked a wet lock of  fur behind her long, drooping ears.  "You okay?" came the questioning voice of Wolf.  "Yes," she said as shivered. "It all seemed like a bad dream, and now it's actually happening, this war." She opened her eyes, and they shone brightly in the dark.  "I knew it would, but I shut the idea out.  I didn't want to believe it, but the reality was always there."  Wolf  turned to look up at her and to say something encouraging, but got distracted. 
         Behind him there was Hawk and Eagle with their large boulder clasped in their strong talons.  "READY?" called out Eagle loudly.  All of the large birds called back in unison. "Yes!"  "Alright then, let's go!" cried out Hawk boldly.  They all took off, screeching out their battle cries and dropping boulders and logs. Where was the Exterminator?  All at once the large birds screeched and swooped low, clawing men's sleeves and sending them backward with their sharp talons, and some started clamping their hard, sharp beaks on them.  In unison they swooped upwards and came back.  "Ooh, this ough to be marvelous, won't it, there, Rabbit?" asked Old Mrs. Dormouse swinging her cane around and jumping up and down enthusiastically on the back of a muscular mountain lion.  "Oh, I'm sure ma'am!" answered Rabbit forcing a small smile.  Each of the great birds picked up an animal or two from the backs of the deer, bears, mountain lions and wolves.  Wolf lifted up Rabbit to Hawk.  "Wheee!" Rabbit cried out, quite enjoying herself as Hawk gently scooped her up out of Wolf's giant paws.
         "Alright, Rabbit!  Let's have some fun, shall we?"  "Yes, let's!" she answered Hawk.  Hawk smiled down at her.  "Where to, then?" he asked.  "Hmm..." she looked around.  Suddenly, she gasped.  "The Exterminator, Hawk, right over there!  Oh, and he's nearing Maple!  Drop me, drop me, oh, do let me down Hawk!"  She began squirming and kicking about, punching the air with her small fists.  "Okay, Rabbit!  Ready, aim... Geronimo!" and he let go.  "There you are, Rabbit!" he called down, grinning an amused and beaky grin.
         Rabbit landed with a soft thud in a deep pile of leaves about five feet from the Exterminator.  The Exterminator turned in her direction and saw her.  "Hello, bunny, bunny!" he said evilly, his yellow-gray teeth gnashing.  She glared up at him, chattered, and jumped with perfect aim at his face, small claws pointed straight at him.  She latched herself on his nose and scratched wildly with her strong back legs against his chest he screamed and tried to pull her off, but she would not loosen her hold of the wretched face.  She lodged her sharp front claws right below his cheekbones.  He screamed and hopped around in agony.  "Oh, go Rabbit!  Bravo!  You go, girl!" shouted a very happy Maple.  "Glad to help!" called back smiling Rabbit.
         She unleashed a very powerful kick that sent the Exterminator sprawling on the ground.  Then, with great speed, the Exterminator rolled over on the rabbit.  "What is wrong with you, you idiotic beast?  Do you have rabies?  Maybe you also need to be exterminated," he said, pulling out a pocket knife.  She squealed and looked up at him, wide-eyed in pain and fright.  In dove Hawk, who latched his talons into the base of the Exterminator's ears and pulled him up off of poor, terrified Rabbit.  The Exterminator still managed to cut Rabbit across the arm with his knife, but he didn't get her as bad as he wanted to.  "Run, Rabbit!" yelled Hawk.  As soon as she ran, he let go of the bleeding Exterminator and took off after some guy about to chop down Dogwood.  The Exterminator lay there in shock for some time before getting up.  As soon as he stood up, a skunk sprayed him in the face and ran away laughing hysterically.
         Rabbit lay behind a rock, panting and nose twitching in fear.  "Hey!" called out a familiar hoarse voice.  Rabbit's ears pricked up and she turned around.  "Need a lift, lassie?" asked Mrs. Dormouse from the back of Wolf, whacking men with her twirling cane.    Mrs. Dormouse and Wolf both smiled at Rabbit.  "Okay! Thanks!" said Rabbit jumping over the rock and onto Wolf's back.  "Good girl!  Let's go, Wolf!" cried out Old Mrs. Dormouse.  "Okay.  So, Rabbit, how was your landing?" asked Wolf.  "I landed right where I wanted to; a leap away from the Exterminator.  He cut my arm, see?" she showed the deep, bleeding gash to her friends.  "My word!  We better get that bandaged up, little girl, or we'll be in trouble we will!  YAH!" exclaimed Mrs. Dormouse as she examined the cut and beat a very short, rotund man over the head with her cane and knocked him out.  Then the man was pelted with stones from a nest in a nearby tree.  "Oh yeah, we got 'im!  What a shot!" the birds in the nest exclaimed slapping each other five. "Oh, yeah!"
         "Good job!" Wolf growled to them in encouragement.  "Thanks!" twittered a sparrow proudly.  "So, which way is  the Exterminator, then?" asked Wolf.  "Over that way," pointed Rabbit, "near Maple."  "Got it."  Mrs. Dormouse was still beating everyone they passed, shouting rude insults at them when they fell.  Occasionally Wolf would snap at their legs or bite their arms, or Rabbit would scratch down the side of their face, but for the most part Mrs. Dormouse fought their way through and Wolf and Rabbit saved as much energy as they could for the Exterminator.  "How goes it, Mrs. Dormouse?" Eagle called down.  "Lovely, thank you!" she called up indignantly.                                                                                                                                                                       
         "Oh, you're back!" called Maple to Rabbit.  "Yes, I am.  With Wolf and good old Mrs. Dormouse!  Hey, where'd the Exterminator go?"  "I'm not sure... he got sprayed in the face and he hobbled off... without  his chain saw!"  Mrs. Dormouse leapt off Wolf's back and made believe she was cleaning out her ears with her lily.  "Did I hear ya'll right, Maple?  I coulda sworn you said he left his chain saw..."  "Yes, I did!" Maple exclaimed proudly.  "He left his chain saw."  "Yup!" called out Robin and the Finchleys. "He left his chain saw, alright, so he'll be coming back."  "My, my!  What a stupid dope of a feller this Exterminator is, darn it!" said Mrs. Dormouse quite loudly. 
         "'Dope of a feller' I may be, you grubby faced shrew, you," said a voice from behind them, "but I can saw you in half!" The voice laughed maniacally; it was the Exterminator.  "Can you?  Fer real?  Ya'll don' even have a saw!" the dormouse snickered.  The Exterminator's eyes widened and he felt his backpack.  There were four different sized axes, and a screwdriver (like that helps), but no saw.  Then Maple pulled it out from behind her and grinned, and the Exterminator screamed.
         "Hey, hey!  What's going on over here?" Elm hurried to Maple's side to see what the commotion was.  The Exterminator looked over and their eyes met.  The man's eyes narrowed and his pupils went down to slits, much like a snake's, and he howled.  Elm stepped back a bit and looked at him, horrified.  "What are you?" he asked despite himself.  "What?" spat the man, who seemed almost inhuman.  "I asked what you are, but I can answer myself.  You are a man who is devoured by a feeling of unneeded guilt of making the elm tree crack, the tree that nearly killed your sister, and your trying to blame it on the tree.  Now you seek revenge on all trees to cover your own guilt.  As you try to destroy us, you are only destroying yourself, because there will always be trees.  Now you are a madman and a monster, and there's no hope for you." 
         The man growled and hissed at Elm, just glaring at him.  Then he whipped out his largest ax and turned toward Maple.  "Hand over the saw," he growled, "now."  "Or what?" asked Maple, looking bold but sounding terrified.  "Or I'll chop you down."  "No."  "Okay, then!" he shouted with evil glee.  He hacked off the branch holding the saw and took the saw from it.  Maple stood crying and rubbing the oozing sap from the stump of a branch and glaring.  "I'll chop you the rest of the way down right after your boyfriend is down!"
         The chain saw ripped to life and both trees stood, stalk still, arm in arm.  He raised his own arms high, chain saw in hand, and was about to cut into the hard bark of Elm when in jumped Willow.  "No," Willow said softly but dangerously.  "Don't even touch them."  "Oh, lovely.  A wimpy little weeping willow to the rescue, eh?" he smirked. "Oh, how hilarious!"  Willow raised an eyebrow "I am a weeping willow, aren't I?  But am I weeping now?  No, of course not!  Not when my friends are in trouble."  "Outta my way!" cried the Exterminator.  Again he turned on the saw and raised it up to the trunk of Elm saying, "I'll cut you down if it's the last thing I do !" and was about to cut when Willow jumped in front.
         Everything was in slow motion.  Willow was chopped down in midair, protecting his friend.  Rabbit started to cry into Wolf's soft fur, and though Wolf didn't cry, you could tell he was upset.  Even Old Mrs. Dormouse cried. An amused sneer crossed over the Exterminator's face, then fear, because Willow was falling on top of him.  The next thing everybody knew, Willow was lying dead on top of an unconscious Exterminator, his saw up against a rock.  The war was won by Willow.  The Exterminator was stuck under a heavy dead tree, and could not get up.  The forest was saved by nightfall.