On Just Such a Morning Chapter 4 Escape

 
“Are you ready, then?” Pata-Pikki asked the forest creatures who had gathered around the tunnel. Looking down, he saw a small rabbit at his feet. “Whose rabbit-ling is this? Find your mother, little one.” A young mother rabbit hastened to the front and pulled the small one by the paw back into the group, reminding her to stay close.

“You have your wears, your food?” Pata-Pikki resumed, “Have you planned where you are going? Our group will take the Wilding to a forest to the east.”

“A grievous thing is before us.” He studied them with his deep brown eyes. “This forest is dear to me, to all of us. I cannot take my research barks. Losing so many rare bird translations seems a step backward.  But the One Who Lives knows what is best for us as a community.”

They looked at the cage, the cause of their grief. The Wilding lay directly in the center. “Poor thing,” Hoopy said.

The blue plastic tube encased the Wilding, who was barely moving, except for the rise and fall of its chest. Pata-Pikki paused; his mind drifted into his heart. Speaking to The One Who Lives, he asked, “Guide us. Help the Wilding. Once the Narflbots know what we have done, we must make great haste." 

"May the One bless all of us who travel.”
 He gave a low bark and said, “You should go. The Rovers will sound an alarm, and the Narflbots will be on us. Dear friends, be of good heart; we will meet again,” Pata-Pikki woofed. “Bar-thur, Hoopy, and I will be enough to take the Wilding to a place where it can find its way home.”

“Can I be of help?” snuffled Flur-Ella, a Scruffling of the dog family, wearing a jacket of woven marsh flowers. Long eyelashes swept over her sparkling, warm eyes. A tan mustache and floppy ears added beauty to her face. She was a far-removed cousin of Pata-Pikki’s.

“Flur-Ella is good at little things,” gruffed Pata-Pikki aloud. “Yes, this is good. She will travel with us.”

Pata-Pikki looked down and saw the same young rabbit looking up at him. “What is your name, young one?” he asked. “Lou-me,” came a small whiskery voice. “Lou-me, find your mother and stay close to her, or you will get lost. We will have time to talk when I see you again.” Pata-Pikki smiled at her. “Be careful and mind your mother, youngling.”

The Forest Folk melted back into the forest with sad eyes at their departure.

Pata-Pikki motioned to Hoopy, and together they entered the deep underground tunnel that the gophers, rabbits, red fox, Hoopy, and Bar-thur had created. Soon they stood in the darkness at the end of the tunnel. Pata-Pikki, asking The One Who Lives for discernment, made the secret sign on the dirt ceiling with his paw.

“This is the place, Hoopy. Carefully see if you can make a hole. Remember the Cold Burning Light is above; when the Wilding drops through the floor, run with it. The beam should disengage, but sometimes it stays connected. The Burning Light is painful; it will freeze us on the spot if we do not hurry.”

Hoopy began to claw gently at the dirt ceiling above them while dirt fell to the floor. 

“I feel something here, Pata-Pikki. There is a buzzing like angry bees!”

“We are underneath him, then. It is the Cold Burning Light! Let him fall through–there is no other way. We will remove the dirt from under him. If you feel any pain at all, you are too close.”

“I will start here if you take the other side. By The One Who Lives, may the Wilding fall through before we dig too far in--be wary of the Burning Light.”

They started taking soft swipes with their paws and knocking away the dirt ceiling while crumbles of dirt rained down on them.

Hoopy motioned for Pata-Pikki to stand back. As he did, suddenly, with a crash, a long, blue-wrapped object tumbled through the ceiling. Hoopy and Pata-Pikki reached for it and pulled with all their might, dragging the creature towards the opening of the fifteen-foot tunnel. They whined as they ran, for the Cold Burning Light scorched as they pulled the Wilding down the tunnel toward the exit. Suddenly, the pain left them. Setting it down, panting, they stooped over and examined the thick blue plastic case with a small hole in the face area for breathing. They could see no other opening.

Hoopy shook his head in disbelief, “How will we get it out of that?”

“There has to be a way!” Pata-Pikki barked.

They reached the tunnel's opening and pulled the Wilding up into the forest.

Bar-thur and Flur-Ella came close and looked at the blue film-coated Wilding.

“How will this come off?” Bar-thur growled, and then surprised at what he was seeing, he said, “I have never seen a Wilding before.”

“I can chew the blue skin off at the foot, and maybe it will peel?” gruffed Hoopy.

“What is this?” Flur-Ella pushed a tiny pink button on the heel of the blue case that encased the Wilding. Suddenly the blue case moved in different directions and folded itself into a small package, spitting out the Wilding inside. “Don’t touch the package,” Pata-Pikki cautioned as Hoopy bent to pick it up. “I don’t trust it. It may have some trick to it; we do not know. The less we have to do with the implements of the evil Narflbots, the better off we are. They have devious devices built within their machines.” 

“Look,” said Flur-Ella. “This Wilding is a daughter, not a son!”

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