Chapter 1 – The Leaving

Finally, they were ready to leave.

That afternoon, a message had arrived with Flame, a robin-carrier, to say that the Gorm were only a few miles away from Steepwater Warren. No one would be safe. The old warren’s tunnels had been built many a Bramblemas day ago and were too rickety. Its walls were too sandy to withstand an onslaught. Its rooms would never survive an attack from the Gorm.

So it was that the three little rabbits, Pipkin, Pasco and baby Prue, left home. Their journey to safety would take at least a week but first they would have to pass through the forest of Darkwater and cross the Fiery Hills until they reached the rock caves of Splinter Holm. Even the Gorm could not enter that mighty warren, carved in the mountainside by rabbits so long ago that they had passed into the old stories that only the Bards now knew. Once the rabbits reached their destination, they would be safe. Other rabbits from their warren had chosen to travel elsewhere but Pipkin’s mother had given them an ancient map that showed the old paths, 7 mostly hidden from unwanted eyes and glances. Too old to travel, she had stayed behind, hiding in the woods.

Clutching the ancient map, the little band of brave rabbits struggled over the rope bridge that crossed the dark waters of the Grimheart River. Soon they were in the forest, wending their way towards what they hoped would mean safety. Tall trees towered overhead as they followed the ancient rabbit pathways. Cautiously, Pipkin took the lead. Tugging his fur-lined cloak closer, he trudged on as the winter winds swept snow across the landscape. Wherever he looked, he imagined the sharp, red eyes of wolves, shadows of bandits and perhaps the steely weapons of the Gorm.

Trailing behind Pipkin, Pasco held onto baby Prue’s paw. Wearily, they tried to follow in the footsteps of their elder brother. Pasco made it like a game for Prue but soon, his paw was frozen and she could feel him shivering. As the sun began to fade and the shadows of the forest drew in, she made Pipkin halt so that they could build a shelter. Together, they dragged branches to an oak tree and soon had built a lean-to hut. 8 Pipkin packed the gaps with moss until it was weather-proof. Pasco lit the stump of a candle and the shelter began to warm.

That night, they ate slices of dried apple, oatcakes and nibbled at the clover bread and stoat cheese that their mother had packed. Prue was soon fast asleep, snuggled between his older brother and sister. Carefully, Pipkin tugged some branches across the front of their shelter, hoping it would be enough to hide them from prying eyes.

As Pipkin drifted into sleep, his mind swirled with dreams of the metallic clank of the Gorm, moving through the darkness like a relentless wave of fear. Would they ever reach the safety of Splinter Holm?