Prologe - Return the Blackberry Valley _Dream of the Lepus Book Two

[So this is the second book of the The Hare, the Bow and the Girl series - unedited!)

Dream of the Lepus Book Two

The Hare, the Queen, and the Boy: Return to Blackberry Valley

 

 

Riley darted up the stairs two at a time, yelling at the top of his lungs the whole way.

“Pawpaw! Pawpaw!” He hopped up the last step and bounded into the small bedroom on the left side of the landing. Inside was a bed with a frail old man swaddled underneath the cover, despite it being August in Virginia. Only his weathered face peeked out form the covers. His once handsome face, now creased and dry, had a fierce look on it.

“Dammit boy!” he gasped, “the house had better be burning down!”

Riley, used to the taciturn old man, ignored him. Instead he waved a small piece of paper tied up with a red bow. The paper made a tube not two inches long.

“Look Pawpaw, look!” The old man squinted.

“I got this… I was in the garden… and a rabbit…and it has writing on it…”

“Shut up!” the old man barked, although he was weak enough that it sounded more like a harsh whisper. “What on earth is wrong with you boy. Leave me in peace!”

Riley, still short of breath, stopped for a moment to collect himself. He found he was shaking, despite his best efforts to stop. His tall thin frame seemed like it could barely contain his excitement. He paused to brush his long black hair out of his eyes. Mentally he counted to three and then, over his thundering heartbeat, he tried to explain to the old man what had happened.

“Pawpaw, wait, listen. I’m sorry, I got excited, but listen! I was in the garden, weeding, like momma asked me too. Anyway, I’m sitting there and a rabbit hopped right up to me, just like it was nothing, like he wasn’t scared or  anything.” Riley noticed the old man’s eyes open wide, alert for the first time in weeks.

“And?...”

“And, well, the rabbit…” Riley wasn’t sure how to put it since he himself was not sure how it had happened. “Well, the rabbit ...gave me… gave me this.” He held up the tube of paper. The old man eyed it suspiciously.

“No mood for jokes boy,” he rasped, but his eyes were focused, clearly interested.

Riley ignored him and brought the tube closer.

“Look Pawpaw, look at what is on the outside…writing…look at what it says.” The old man narrowed his eyes and looked the tube in Riley’s hand. On neat print on the side were four letters: E-R-I-C. The old man’s eyes looked up, angry.

“This some sort of joke boy?”

“No sir…” Riley began to realize how it must look to the old man. “No sir… open it up and see what is inside.”

“Why? What is inside boy?”

“I-I don’t know! I haven’t opened it.”

“Open it yourself. I’m too weak.”

Riley, shaking, slid the red bow over the end of the tube and unfurled the yellowed thick paper. Inside was more neat writing.

“Well?”

“It has writing…”

The old men rolled his eyes, “Then get on with it boy, read it!” he gasped.

Riley’s voice quivered. ”My Dearest Eric,” he began, his face going slightly pink, “Long ago you and I made a promise, and now I must ask you to keep yours. Please come back, Walter will take you to Castle Mayblossom. I have tried to make things right, but now I must ask for your help. Still truly yours… Karn.”

With a painful grunt the old man pushed down the covers of his bed and tried to sit up. Riley put the note down on the bedside table and helped his great-grandfather sit up in the bed.

“Dammit boy, this your sick idea of a joke?”

“No, no sir. What is Mayblossom? Is that the town where…”

The old man looked at him with narrow eyes again, but then softened. And in a flash his eyes became very excited.

“That’s right! I never told you about that did I?” The old man sat for a moment, his thoughts wandering back.

“What is it Pawpaw?”

The old man looked confused for a moment and then refocused his attention on Riley.

“It’s her mother’s old family house, way up north, she used to go there. I never told you…I mean that… oh my God Riley, oh my God…” tears began to flow from his eyes, silently rolling down his cheeks. Riley took a step back; he had never seen the old man cry.

“Riley… who gave this to you?” He asked, his voice quivering.

“A … well, a rabbit. Really, I swear-“

“Was he grey, with black marks on his side?”

Riley took a sharp breath. The old man believed him…“I-I think so… I don’t- was that Walter!?”

“No, no, Path, perhaps…” The old man fell silent, a faraway look on his face.  After a moment Riley shuffled his feet.

“So what does this means Pawpaw? Is this really from that girl from the story… the princess?”

The old man looked at Riley with a look of sorrow so deep Riley felt ashamed and looked away.

“Yes” the old man finally said. “… I think so boy, I think so.”

“So, how do we go back then?”

“What?”

“It says, the letter says to come back, right?”

The old man sighed, and opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. He stared out of the small window beside his bed.

“Riley,” he said, sounding again tired and weak, not angry. “We don’t go back. I ... can’t go back.”

“But if she is asking and you promised. I think she needs your help-“

“Good lord boy, look at me! I am 96 years old. What use would I be to anyone? It’s been 75 years, if she hasn’t fixed things by now, what use would I be? I can barely get out of bed or even walk.”

For a long time neither Riley nor his great-grandfather said anything. Outside the light was fading as a large storm rolled over the mountain. The wind outside was picking up; the air was heavy with the expectation of rain.

“I could take you.”

“No.”

“I could. We could go now, take the truck down to the bamboo-“

“No.” The old man wasn’t yelling, his voice was flat, resigned.

“I could help you cross the stream-“

“No. It won’t work. I’ve tried it. God knows how many times I tried Riley...” Another sigh.

“But this is different Pawpaw.” Riley said gently. “You have an invitation…”

Chapter Two -

The old man really was very weak, and it took all of Riley’s strength to help him out of bed and into some clothes. The trip down the stairs seemed to Riley to take an eternity, but he bit his lip, not wanting to give the old man any reason to back out now.

By the time they got outside to the truck the rain was spitting and the wind was whipping around them. Riley, for the first time since finding the note, was beginning to think that maybe this was not the best idea.

“Pawpaw!” he yelled over the wind as they shuffled to where the truck was parked. “Maybe we should do this after the storm, it’ll pass in half an hour I bet!” To his surprise the old man put his hand on Riley’s arm.

“No!” his grip was firm. “I think if we are going to do this, we have to go now! The storm in a sing!” Riley shrugged, opened the door to the truck and helped his great-grandfather into the passenger side.

It only took a few minutes, bouncing down the dirt road that led off from their house to off the mountain, until they got to the large stand of bamboo near the main road. The long tall green grass was bending in the wind, the delicate tops buffeting back and forth. The movement along with sound of the wind and the creaking of the bamboo made the forest seem alive. Riley felt a shiver go down his back as he helped the old man out of the truck.

The old man grabbed onto Riley’s arm to steady himself, but then let go, a resolute look in his eyes. “Riley, you head back now ok? No sense you getting caught up in anything, if there is anything…”

“Pawpaw, you won’t make it twenty feet. I don’t mind. Come on, it’ll be an adventure even if nothing happens…”

Riley reached back into the truck and pulled out his recursive bow and a quiver of arrows. The old many started to ask Riley what he was doing, but Riley shrugged. “Just in case, you know, this… works.”

Slowly the two made their way over the uneven pasture in front of the bamboo stand. The old man stumbled a few times, but Riley held him up. Soon enough, as the rain became to come down more heavily, they were at the edge of the bamboo.  The old man stopped, turned and looked back for a moment at the old pick-up truck. The outline was blurred by the rain. Then he shuffled into the bamboo with Riley close behind.

Very quickly the forest closed around them, the bamboo thicker and thicker the deeper they went, until it had encircled them completely. It was slow going, trying to find a pathway wide enough for them to make their way through. At one point Riley looked back for a second and realized that he could no longer see the pick-up truck, or the field, or anything except for more bamboo. When he looked back ahead he had a sudden sense of being utterly lost and directionless. He was not even sure that they were still going forward. The rain, the sound of the wind and the dim light from the dark stormy sky only made things worse.

Then his foot slipped. He stopped, but the old man bumped into him. Before he could grab onto anything he felt himself fall down a step bank and tumble into water… the stream, full and raging in the downpour. The skies had opened up, rain poured out of it, and the water from the creek seemed to be rising by the second. He felt the old man land on top of him with a loud “oomph!” The bank they had fallen down was quickly dissolving into mud. He could barely see the other side of the creek which was flatter, and grass covered. With a huge effort Riley helped the old man get up. Weighed down by water and mud the old man seemed heavy that ever. Riley used every ounce of strength he has to pull the old man out of the creek and onto the flat bank on the other side. The old man fell to the earth and Riley, gasping for breath suddenly had the thought that the old man might have died. Riley sat down next to the still body, closed his eyes and fought for breath. The rain stopped, suddenly as if a spigot had been turned off.

He shook the old man’s leg, “Pawpaw? You ok?” No answer. Riley sat there afraid to look, to open his eyes. But then he was aware of changing light, and felt that the rain had stopped. He opened his eyes. He saw his bow and quiver lying on the bank, covered in mud. Above, the clouds had thinned considerably; it looked as if the storm has passed.

“See Pawpaw?” Riley said, still regaining his breath as he stood up, his back to the old man, “I told you we should have waited. It was just a summer thunderstorm.”

“No, it would have been too late” came a deep baritone voice from behind him. Riley swung around, looking up on the creek bank, but did not see anyone.

“Pawpaw!” he whispered, “Get up! Someone’s found us.”

The prone figure lying face down in the mud in front of Riley stirred. Riley felt relief wash over him. The old man got up and turned around.

As the sun light now filtered down, the clouds having cleared out, Riley could see that his great-grandfather was covered in mud. But there was something else. Riley took a step closer and squinted. Then he fell back, a look of terror on his face. The old man blinked and tilted in his head.

“What the hell is wrong with you boy?” he said, but even as the words left his mouth a look of shock came across his face too, “What on earth!?”

Riley scuttled back as best he could toward the top of the grassy bank.

“Oh God Pawpaw… what the hell happened to you…”

###

The Hare, the Bow and the Girl

In 2013 I published my first novel, The Hare, the Bow and the Girl. Below I have posted the last chapter and the epilogue. Over the next few months I will post the follow up (and perhaps the follow up to that). The follow up (second book) is complete- I just need to get the $$ together to have it professionally edited. The third book is about half done.

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.
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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!”