So- here we go again - this work is unedited, and a work in progress. Lots of typos and other errors, no doubt.
If you would like to read the first book it is a) up on this blog or b) available via Amazon (natch)
https://www.amazon.com/Hare-Bow-Girl-Dream-Lepus-ebook/dp/B00GCI7RLE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1486651731&sr=1-1&keywords=d+h+richards+the+hare
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A brief synopsis- SKIP IF YOU WANT TO READ THE WHOLE BOOK!
Eric, a rootless young man in the foothills of the Appalachia, stumbles through a bamboo bramble to find an alternative kingdom where people and giant rabbits live side by side in an uneasy situation. Eric falls in with a group of Rabbits and men surveying the kingdom. They end up at the wedding of the king's daughter to the son of a longtime enemy. In the process Eric meets a girl who bests him in archery. In the end Eric gets into trouble and almost ruins the wedding. He is captured by the son of the enemy king and only escapes with the help of the girl. The story below picks up with him being taken away from trouble and being delivered back to the bamboo, despite his misgivings.
_____________________________________________
Meredith
led me out of the stable area to a back gate to the town. She unlatched it and
I went through and found Walter and Path waiting there.
“Well,
Eric, seems like you’ve gotten yourself in a boiling pot, huh? I guess I have
to rescue you again. Your ledger grows by the day, kid.”
I
laughed. “Walter, I think your math is off; this makes us about even I think.”
Walter
huffed out of his nose. “Eric, you will always be in my debt, I am afraid. Now,
we have to get back to the bamboo forest quickly.”
I
nodded, not sure how that would happen. It had taken us at least three days of walking
to get here. Walter came in close and put a paw on my shoulder.
“You
can never tell anyone ever what we are about to do, understood? If you do so
help me I will find you and geld you, clear?”
I
nodded, stifling a laugh. He was so serious.
“Climb
on.”
“What?”
I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly, and if I had, what he even meant.
Path
snorted and turned away. Walter sighed and looked at me with a faint expression
of pleading.
“Climb
on me, Eric. Sit on my shoulders.”
“What!”
I actually took a step back.
“Don’t
make this any bigger than it is, kid.”
“I
didn’t think, I mean, I never even thought—”
“Well,
plenty have, so if you ever tell anyone that you rode me I will come beat you
to a pulp. Now get on, and hold on to my fur under my head. Do not touch the
ears!”
I
climbed up as carefully as I could, but it was not an easy thing to do and I
did it with as little grace as possible. I had ridden plenty of horses in my
day, but this mount was very different. For one thing, Walter’s shoulders were
very broad, and without a saddle it was difficult to find a way to hold on.
“Find the fold in my neck and hold on to
that.”
I
reached into the fur on the back of his neck and found a fold of soft skin. Finally
I was up. “Okay, I think I’m ready, Walter.”
I
looked over at Path, who had a funny lopsided grin on his face. Walter grunted
and we took off through the night.
I
don’t think there is anyone else who can say they travelled through the night
for five hours on the back of a six-foot tall, 400 pound rabbit, but let me
tell you it was not comfortable. I think Walter did try to make it a smooth
ride, but rabbits are not built to stride like a horse. They push off with
their rear legs and land on their front. Each time we would hit the ground with
a thump. By the time the bamboo forest was in sight I was sore from holding on
tight and my head was pounding from the constant thuds of landing. But Lepus
can cover great distances quickly when they run and we covered at least half
the three-day walk in just a few hours.
After
several hours we stopped in a small clearing in the middle of the woods. Both
Walter and Path were huffing. I climbed down and looked around. It was still
dark, but the moonlight cast a dim light onto the ground.
“Are
we there already?” I asked.
“No”
Walter said between breaths. “There is a stream nearby. Path and I need a
drink. Your ass is heavy.”
I
looked down at my skinny frame and laughed. “You’re out of shape old man.”
Walter
huffed and he and Path shuffled off a little ways to a small creek that ran at
the edge of the clearing. All three of us lowered ourselves to the creek to get
a drink. As I sat back letting the cool delicious water slide down my throat I
distinctly heard a twig snap. I was about to say something when Water bolted
upright and froze, holding out his paw to my face. Path, seeing Walter sit up,
also sat up, looking carefully around.
We
heard nothing more. The night was still, maybe too still, but it was getting
towards dawn and the creatures of the night were settling down.
“Just
the wind maybe?” Path said in a barely audible whisper.
“Maybe,
but we should go all the same.” Walter said, motioning to me to get up on his
back once again. But before I could even step towards him a loud crashing sound
came out of the clearing’s other side. Four men, armed with large swords and armor,
came rushing towards us.
“Get
on! Get on!” Walter screamed. I struggled to climb on Walter’s back, grabbing a
handful of fur and pulling myself up.
“Run!
Run!” Walter said, but it was too late. The four men were on us, their swords
slashing. Walter and Path bolted up, swinging around with their heavy paws. I
hung on for dear life on Walter’s back. With a mighty whack! Path’s paw
connected with one of the men, sending him sprawling. One of the remaining
men’s swords swung at Walter’s face and a bright red line appeared on the tip
of Walter’s nose. Walter yelped and then reared up, nearly throwing me, and
kicked his right leg out and took down the man with a sickening crunch. The man
screamed.
Suddenly
I saw something else come out of the woods across the clearing. In the
moonlight I could not see anything clearly. It was, I assumed, another rabbit.
At first I was happy to see reinforcements, but the blur of ruddy orange and
white fur bounced off of Path, sending him sprawling. The other rabbit sleeked
into the woods, but I could hear him crashing, turning around for another run
at Path. The two remaining men actually scurried off to the side, as if to get
out of the way of the new rabbit.
I
could feel Walter’s body go very tense underneath me.
“Run
dammit!” he screamed at Path, who had stood up again and looked somewhat dazed.
But fear quickly registered in his eyes and I could see him scramble to run as
Walter, already underway, bounded away from the clearing. Walter was taking
huge leaping bounds, at a much, much faster pace than any we had done so far
that night. It took all of my strength just to hang on. I could feel myself
slipping and grabbed another patch of fur. Walter yelled angrily.
“Watch
it!”
“Slow
down then damn you!”
“Shut
up!” Walter was angry, and still going at a fantastic pace. Behind us I could
see Path actually catching up. He was younger after all, and did not have
anyone clinging to him. Even though Path pulled alongside Walter neither one
slowed down at all. I looked back to see if the third rabbit was following
still. I could not see it, but the dark of the woods obscured all but the area
right around us.
It
was another ten minutes of running before Walter slowed down. I could feel his
heart pounding, his breath was fast and ragged. He had clearly worn himself
out.
“Down.”
He said between gasps. I slid off. I was afraid I had made him angry, but
instead and flopped on his side, his chest and belly rising and falling
rapidly. Path was breathing quickly too.
“Was
that a rabbit?” I asked. Walter and Path briefly looked at each other. Path
turned and walked away.
“I’ll
look for water” he said, leaving.
“It
was a rabbit, right? What else was it? I mean, are there really rabbits who
work for the king?”
“Sure”
Walter said, still breathing quickly, “Possibly. I don’t know. It was… dark.
Did not get a good…look.”
We
heard Path call and so we walked down a small hill to find another little
stream. This time the water had a slightly brackish taste to it. I did not
drink from it, but the two rabbits eagerly lapped up a great quantity.
“What
just happened?” I asked as they drank their fill.
“Dunno,
some sort of ambush” Path offered.
“But
how would they know, how could they keep up with us?”
Path
did not respond, but Walter sat back, water dripping from his chin. “Informants,
I suspect. Got ahead of us and told the locals.. or something.” Walter was acting
strangely, eh would not make eye contact with me.
“But
we were going so fast. Was that a rabbit?”
“We
weren’t going that fast.” Walter huffed. “You saw how fast we can go! Now, come
one. We shouldn’t linger. They probably know where we are headed now anyway. We
should get there as soon as possible.”
Despite my best efforts
neither rabbit wanted to talk about the ambush anymore, so I dropped it. I
tried to keep in mind what they were risking just to ferry me to safety. We
continued on, not at the breakneck pace of the last half an hour, but at a
considerably faster pace than the first part of the journey.
After
another hour or so we slowed down. We then stopped behind the same large rock
outcropping I had climbed to spy down on Walter and Andrew originally. We
rested with our backs against an overhang. We had a clear view of the pathway
leading to the forest. No one said very much. Walter broke out a packet with
splints and gave one each to me and Path.
I
wanted to revisit what had happened but Walter spoke up first.
“So,
what, exactly, happened back at the castle Eric? What are we accessory to?”
Walter said, a grin creeping across his face for the first time that night. I
told them everything I could remember.
Path
huffed through his nose, “Nasty business in him. I suspect this king may be
more trouble than we think.”
“Everyone
who thinks the way he does is trouble, Path. It is not just the king we should
be worried about.” Walter said quietly. He was somber. He and Path exchanged
looks again.
“I
should stay, Walter. Surely there is some place I could hide and wait to see
how things turn out. I could even help. If enough people side with the Lepus
then maybe we can convince the others—”
Walter
put his paw up. “It’s not your fight, Eric.”
“Doesn’t
have to be. I’ll do it because it’s the right thing to do.”
“We
don’t need heroes,” Walter said, maybe a bit more gruffly than he meant to. “There
was a moment back there where I thought that you and I and Jet might be a
winning combination. But I was wrong. No, let me finish. I was wrong not
because of you, but because I misread my choices. I thought you were a choice I
had, but you aren’t. Not yet, not now, not in this situation.”
“But
maybe one day?”
Walter
smiled, “Maybe, Eric. Maybe. You’re no good to us dead and now that you’ve gone
and made time with the king’s betrothed, you’d be dead before anyone even
thought of fighting for us or anyone.”
I
had to admit to myself that Walter was right.
“I
understand. I appreciate you being honest. But you have to promise me that when
things are better, you’ll come and get me.”
Walter
got up and thumped his paw into the dirt in front of the fire.
“Eric,
stranger from across the bamboo, I swear on the gods of earth and water that I
will come for you as soon as I am able,” he winked at me.
Path
chuckled, “Been a longtime since I heard that oath.”
Walter
laughed.
I
must have looked confused—which I was—because Path went on, “We rabbits never
make promises, Eric—never. If we break them our souls will be devoured by foxes
in hell.”
Walter
shivered and Path made a funny motion with his left paw.
“So
when we do, it’s a big deal. Consider yourself lucky. Not only did you ride a
rabbit but he also swore an oath to you too.” Path said with a wry expression.
“Just
keep the knife Karn gave you,” Walter said, suddenly serious.
I
nodded.
“Time
for bed, Eric. You got us into this mush, you keep watch. Although I doubt we’ll
have company the rest of tonight. We need rest and once we get you across that
bamboo we ain’t getting anymore.”
Walter
and Path fell asleep right away. I tried to stay awake to keep watch but I too
succumbed, overwhelmed with tiredness.
When
I awoke it seemed like mid-afternoon. I heard a far-off rustling. It sounded
like the thumping I had been subjected to and at first I thought I was still
dreaming. But soon I could see in the distance a large white shape quickly
coming down the road. I nudged Walter.
By
the time he was awake, Meredith, Karn’s rabbit-in-waiting, had bounded into the
clearing next to our rock. She was out of breath and visibly excited.
“Eric!
You must go now, quickly, back to your home,” she squeaked. “The king’s men
left yesterday. It seems they were tipped off you might come here and they mean
to seal off your escape.”
“We
were chased back at Staunton creek Meredith” Walter said.
“Then
they do know” she replied.
“Who
would have even known I would come here?” I asked.
Walter
gave a large snort. “Smit is a devil,
even if he is a drunk.”
“I
want to wait, incase Karn shows…” I said, searched Meredith’s face. Her
expression told me everything I needed to know.
“She
won’t be coming Eric.” Meredith said softly.
“Eric,
we can’t wait here too much longer” Walter said, his expression serious but
kind.
Suddenly
his ears went up, as did Path’s and Meredith’s, although I heard nothing.
“Men
are coming. Quickly Eric—go!”
“Why
don’t we fight them?”
“And
then what? Remember the promise, kid.” Walter said, herding me to the field in
front of the stream. “They’ll send more men, catch you, catch us, eventually,
and kill us. If you go now you can come back when things have settled down.”
“But what will happen now if that guy gets
into power?”
“It’ll
be years before he takes the throne, and Karn will get her father to see his
errors before that.” Walter stopped and put his paw on my shoulder again.
“You
cannot win this, not now. As long as you are here you are in danger of being
killed and, to be honest, in the way. Let us do what we can. We will come back
for you, I promise. Karn promises. Heck, even Jet does.”
“How
long? I can’t wait forever, you know.”
“I
know, kid. But it may take a few months to settle the dust. Don’t worry; we’ll
find you. Just keep looking for a friendly rabbit.” Walter smiled and gave me another
wink.
I
gave him a hug, and Path, and even a surprised Meredith. Then I walked across
the field. I turned back to look for them, but they had already hopped away. I
waded into the stream and climbed up the other side. I pushed my way into the
forest and within a few feet was lost again. It was so thick I panicked a
little, afraid I would not be able to find my way back. Just when I was sure I
would not be able to actually return, I found myself stumbling out into the
field at the foot of the mountain.
I
was back home. Alone.
“Then
what Paw Paw?”
“Then
nothing, boy. The story is over, that’s then what.”
“No,
I mean did the princess ever come back?”
Paw
Paw looked at Riley for a moment, at first with anger but then sorrow. “No, of course
not; it’s just a story, boy. It never happened. Weren’t no princess. It was
just a story.”
Riley
was confused. “A story, like made up?”
“Yes!
No. I don’t know. It’s been 75 years, Riley. At this point I am pretty sure it
is just a made up story. A dream or something I read once and thought it
happened to me. I don’t know. And it don’t matter none does it?” he laughed and
started to cough. “Even if it were true it’s been a long time and she never
came back to her young lover, did she? Pretty sad excuse for a love story if
you ask me: boy meets a girl for a few days and then loses her and waits 75
years for her to show up. It never happened, boy. Just a stupid story with
giant rabbits. Lewis Carroll did it better anyway. Now go on.”
“But
Paw Paw, we could try and go back; go through the bamboo!”
“Boy,
I tried that for the longest time. I never could find my way back. I would get
in there and get lost. I even waited by the forest, expecting to see Walter hop
out. But that’s when I knew it was just my imagination. No six foot tall rabbit
ever came out of those woods Riley—never has, never will.”
“What
about the knife then? The one you gave me. Is that the one Karn gave you?”
“That?
Best as I can recall it must have been my grandfather who gave it to me, Riley.
Sorry, but it is just a knife.”
“Not
like any I ever saw.”
“What
do you know, boy? Now go on. I’m tired. Leave me alone. Too damn old to believe
in fairy tales. Leave me in peace.”
Epilogue
Some
days later Riley made his way into the kitchen where his Mom was packing up a
dinner for herself.
“How
was school?”
“Okay,
Mom. You goin’ now?”
“Yes.
I saved you some beans and chicken. My shift is over at midnight. It looks like
a storm comin’ up over the mountain, but I suspect it’ll pass before I get
back. I need you to weed the okra before it starts to rain, mister.”
“Aw
mom, I can do it tomorrow.”
‘Riley,
I asked you three days ago. Now go do it right now before the rain. There’s
Johnson grass in there as tall as the okra. Unless you want to eat government
beans all summer you better get in that garden.”
“Okay,
okay. How’s Paw Paw?”
“Not
good. I got him to take some soup, but he won’t get out of bed. I suspect this
is near the end, Riley. You should be ready for that. Not like it’s unexpected;
the man is 94 years old after all. Now, don’t bother him none, either. Let him
sleep. Maybe he’ll sleep through the night. Now, go get weedin’, and I’ll see
you in the morning.”
Riley
kissed his mom and went out the back. He looked towards the mountain across the
way and could see dark clouds behind it. It was a storm coming alright, but not
that you could tell here. Riley wiped sweat off his forehead as he unlatched
the gate into the garden. He hated weeding but knew that if he didn’t do some
the okra would get crowded out—and he hated canned beans worse than gardening.
He
first went through the okra looking carefully for the green pods, cutting them
with the knife Paw Paw had given him, and putting them into a plastic bag. Then
he sat down between the rows of plants and started pulling the tall grass and
clovers. In a few moments he heard his mother start up the old Chevy, leaving
him stuck with the very unreliable pick-up truck.
Oh well,
Riley thought, no need for even that.
He couldn’t ever leave Paw Paw alone anyway.
The
past few days, ever since Paw Paw had finished telling him the story, Riley
kept wondering what had really happened? Had Paw Paw met some girl before he
met Maw Maw and this was his way of remembering it? Or had something really
happened in a faraway place?
Whatever
it was the old man had taken to bed ever since, refusing to eat much and
sleeping most of the time. Riley knew well before his mom mentioned it that his
great-grandfather was dying. He just wished he knew what the story was about.
He had wanted to ask so many questions about the story—about the country, the
people, and rabbits—but Paw Paw refused to talk and his mom had yelled at him
to stop bugging the old man.
Riley
looked up and at the far end of the garden, under a blackberry bush, saw a
small grey rabbit.
He
chuckled. Six feet tall, huh?
Still,
he knew a rabbit in the garden was trouble. He had closed the gate; there must be
a hole in the fence.
“Go
on! Shoo!” Riley yelled, still sitting. The rabbit didn’t move. Riley shrugged.
“Grab a little bite, fella. But once I’m done here I gotta get you out. And for
once try to eat the weeds, not the good stuff, okay?”
Riley
went back to weeding and scooted up the row a bit. When he looked back the
rabbit had moved forward a few hops, chewing his cud, staring at Riley with
tiny brown eyes. The rabbit then hopped under a row of tomatoes and sat there.
Riley continued weeding, wanting to finish before the storm. When he glanced back
up the rabbit had vanished from the tomatoes. But then he saw it. It was now
even closer, a couple of rows over in the sweet potatoes.
Riley
felt the hairs on his neck stand up. He’d never seen a rabbit actually get
closer to a person; they usually scampered out of sight right away. This one
kept getting closer. Riley carefully put down the weeds he had just pulled.
The rabbit took a hop
closer. It sat still staring at Reilly in the still late afternoon air. The
world seemed to stop for a moment. Riley could see the gnats swarming around
his head and could hear the sound of cicadas. Riley felt his breath catch. He
told himself he was being silly. The animal was probably rabid. But he kept
still. The rabbit hopped three more times. It was now a few feet from Riley. The
whole time it looked right at Riley. He wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t dare
breathe.
The
rabbit finally stopped a foot from where Riley squatted. It sat back on its
haunches and made a jerky movement with its paws around its neck. From beneath
the fur it produced a small red packet rolled up in a tube. It carefully put
the packet on the ground, looked at Riley, then at the packet, and back at
Riley. Then, as fast as it could, the rabbit hopped out of sight through the
unseen hole in the fence.
The
air had gone still in advance of the storm. Riley sat there for a moment in the
hot sun, looking at the small red paper tube. An eternity seemed to pass. Very
slowly he reached out and picked it up. On the side was writing in black ink.
He held it up close. On the tube were four neat letters printed out in a firm
hand: Eric.
Riley
bolted upright and ran toward the house, not even bothering to close the garden
gate behind him. He ran as fast as he could, straight up the stairs.
“Paw Paw! Paw Paw! Paw Paw! Wake up! Wake up!”
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