He spoke almost gaily, but Dandelion could see his dilated eyes and the slight trembling of his front paws. He himself was now sensing something peculiar - a kind of luminosity - in the air. There seemed to be a curious vibration somewhere in the distance. He looked round for the cats and saw that, as he feared, both were crouching in front of the farmhouse a little way off. Their reluctance to come closer could be attributed to Bigwig: but they would not go away. Looking across the yard at them, Dandelion felt a sudden clutch of horror.
'Hazel!' he whispered. 'The cats! Dear Frith, why are their eyes glittering green like that? Look!'
Hazel sat up quickly and as he did so Dandelion leapt back in real terror, for Hazel's eyes were shining a deep, glowing red in the dark. At that moment the humming vibration grew louder, quenching the rushing of the night breeze in the elms. Then all four rabbits sat as though transfixed by the sudden, blinding light that poured over them like a cloud-burst. Their very instinct was numbed in this terrible glare. The dog barked and then became silent once more. Dandelion tried to move but could not. The awful brightness seemed to cut into his brain.
The car, which had driven up the lane and over the brow under the elms, came on a few more yards and stopped.
'Lucy's rabbits is out, look!'
'Ah! Best get 'un in quick. Leave loights on!'
The sound of men's voices, from somewhere beyond the fierce light, brought Hazel to his senses. He could not see, but nothing, he realized, had happened to his hearing or his nose. He shut his eyes and at once knew where he was.
'Dandelion! Haystack! Shut your eyes and run,' he said. A moment later he smelt the lichen and cool moisture of one of the staddle-stones. He was under the barn. Dandelion was hear him and a little farther away was Haystack. Outside the men's boots scraped and grated over the stones.
'That's it! Get round be'ind 'un.'
' 'E won't go far!'
'Pick 'n up then!'
Hazel moved across to Haystack. 'I'm afraid we'll have to leave Laurel,' he said. 'Just follow me.'
Keeping under the raised floor of the barn, they all three scuttled back towards the elm trees. The men's voices were left behind. Coming out into the grass near the lane, they found the darkness behind the headlights full of the fumes of exhaust - a hostile, choking smell that added to their confusion. Haystack sat down once more and could not be persuaded to move.
'Shouldn't we leave her, Hazel-rah?' asked Dandelion. 'After all, the men won't hurt her - they've caught Laurel and taken him back to the hutch.'
'If it was a buck, I'd say yes,' said Hazel. 'But we need this doe. That's what we came for.'
At this moment they caught the smell of burning white sticks and heard the men returning up the farmyard. There was a metallic bumping as they rummaged in the car. The sound seemed to rouse Haystack. She looked round at Dandelion.
'I don't want to go back to the hutch,' she said.
'You're sure?' asked Dandelion.
'Yes. I'll go with you.'
Dandelion immediately turned for the hedgerow. It was only when he crossed it and reached the ditch beyond that he realized that he was on the opposite side of the lane from that on which they had first approached. He was in a strange ditch. However, there seemed to be nothing to worry about - the ditch led down the slope and that was the way home. He moved slowly along it, waiting for Hazel to join them.
Hazel had crossed the lane a few moments after Dandelion and Haystack. Behind him, he heard the men moving away from the hrududu. As he topped the bank, the beam of a torch shone up the lane and picked out his red eyes and white tail disappearing into the hedge.
'There's ol' woild rabbit, look!'
'Ah! Reckon rest of ours ain't s' far off. Got up there with 'un, see? Best go'n 'ave a look.'
In the ditch, Hazel overtook Haystack and Dandelion under a clump of brambles.
'Get on quickly if you can,' he said to Haystack. 'The men are just behind.'
'We can't get on, Hazel,' said Dandelion, 'without leaving the ditch. It's blocked.'
Hazel sniffed ahead. Immediately beyond the brambles, the ditch was closed by a pile of earth, weeds and rubbish. They would have to come into the open. Already the men were over the bank and the torch-light was flickering up and down the hedgerow and through the brambles above their very heads. Then, only a few yards away, footfalls vibrated along the edge of the ditch. Hazel turned to Dandelion.
'Listen,' he said, 'I'm going to run across the corner of the field, from this ditch to the other one, so that they see me. They'll try to shine that light on me for sure. While they're doing that, you and Haystack climb the bank, get into the lane and run down to the swede-shed. You can hide there and I'll join you. Ready?'
There was no time to argue. A moment later Hazel broke almost under the men's feet and ran across the field.
'There'e goes!'