by Colin Dann
‘They’re enclosing a part of the downland,’ he reported after his inspection. ‘It’s a wide area between here and that other reserve where Weasel and Plucky were taken.’
‘A third enclosure?’ Vixen enquired. ‘Whatever can that be for?’
‘Perhaps the humans are making it to give Dash an extra long run,’ Plucky quipped.
This exhibition of the high spirits which Plucky had enjoyed ever since being reunited with his friend was deemed to be out of place on this occasion.
‘A rather unhelpful remark,’ Fox rebuked him.
‘Indeed,’ said Leveret. ‘But what are we to make of this?’
Only Tawny Owl ventured a suggestion. ‘It must be for some new kinds of creatures,’ he said. ‘Some that we haven’t seen yet, and who are having their home built first.’
‘A nonsensical idea,’ remarked Adder.
Weasel, surprisingly, came to Owl’s defence. ‘Not at all, Adder,’ he said. ‘Humans never do anything without a purpose. So it must be a home for something.’
‘Time will tell,’ Adder said drily. ‘No point in our playing guessing games.’
The animals dispersed, thinking their own thoughts. None of them felt comfortable with this new development. Then some time later Dash, on one of her madcap races, found herself abruptly in territory she didn’t recognize. She halted and looked about her. All at once she realized where she was. She had run directly on to the downland from White Deer Park. She was in the third enclosure! But how had she got there? Running back automatically to the safer confines of the Reserve, she discovered part of the old boundary fence had been removed, so that this new area had been joined on to White Deer Park. She could even see the holes in the ground from which the Park’s fence-poles had been removed. Bursting with her news she pelted full-tilt in search of her father.
Leveret’s head spun as he heard her gabble. ‘Slowly, slowly, Dash,’ he pleaded. ‘I can’t grasp what you’re trying to say!’
‘The third enclosure isn’t,’ she babbled mysteriously. ‘I mean, it isn’t a third, it’s the same enclosure – the same as ours. It’s joined on! Now we can run straight out on to the downland.’
Leveret stared, his brain registering the information. ‘So that’s it!’ he exclaimed eventually. ‘We’re all to have more space!’
‘Come and see, Father,’ Dash invited him. ‘Come and see how far we can go.’
The naturally cautious Leveret wouldn’t commit himself. ‘Well, there’s plenty of time for that,’ he said. ‘I think we should tell the others first.’
Dash stamped her hind feet impatiently. ‘You go,’ she replied. ‘I can’t wait to explore.’ And she leapt away, determined to round up the one animal she knew would accompany her immediately.
Plucky came to her calls. He was always ready for play and, when he heard Dash’s exciting news, he didn’t lose a moment in agreeing to her proposal. They ran out together and, at the furthest extent of the new territory, they discovered another surprise. The enclosed downland stretched as far as the second sanctuary, whose wall at that point was being breached. A section of the wall was being knocked down so that the two parks, connected together by the downland in between, now made one huge new area. Dash and Plucky hesitated, scarcely able to credit what they saw. Of course they kept well back from the men at work. They couldn’t know the complicated human dealings that had brought about this amazing event. But they did understand that the two reserves were now united into one. They and all the animals had a new White Deer Park, almost double the size of the original. The two young creatures, overwhelmed by this happy state of affairs, raced each other back to their friends. Fox’s hope, expressed to Vixen, had been fulfilled.
Soon old friends, removed from the original Reserve because of over-crowding, were free to return to their habitual homes. Some did. Some didn’t. It didn’t really matter, though. All the inhabitants were now free to explore the new territory, to enjoy the extra space, to find new homes. Dash exulted in the extension of ground over which she could race her long elastic legs. She and Plucky had plenty of scope for their games now. The Farthing Wood animals went and looked at the new area and liked what they saw. Only Badger showed little interest. Such a distance was too great for him. Of course the friends always returned to the selfsame corner of the Reserve which they had made their home. The Hollow was theirs. They didn’t wish to move. Yet they all experienced a new sense of freedom, a new spaciousness in the wonderfully enlarged White Deer Park.
Frond described it to Badger. ‘It’s a beautiful feeling,’ she said, ‘to know one’s horizons have suddenly been broadened, that none of us need be limited to one small area.’
‘I understand,’ said Badger as he watched her carrying in some choice grubs and titbits for him. ‘But you see, Frond, there will never be anywhere better than this dear familiar spot. Because it’s as though we brought our own little piece of Farthing Wood with us.’
About the Author
Colin Dann won the Arts Council National Award for Children’s Literature for his first novel, The Animals of Farthing Wood.
Also by Colin Dann:
The Ram of Sweetriver
The King of the Vagabonds
The Beach Dogs
Just Nuffin
A Great Escape
A Legacy of Ghosts
The Farthing Wood Series:
Animals of Farthing Wood
In the Grip of Winter
Fox’s Feud
Fox Cub Bold
The Siege of White Deer Park
In the Path of the Storm
BATTLE FOR THE PARK
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 446 48085 4
Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Penguin Random House Company
This ebook edition published 2011
Text Copyright © Colin Dann, 1992
Illustrations © Trevor Newton 1992
First Published in Great Britain
The right of Colin Dann and Trevor Newton to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S PUBLISHERS UK
61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA
www.randomhousechildrens.co.uk
www.totallyrandombooks.co.uk
www.randomhouse.co.uk
Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at: www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm
THE RANDOM HOUSE GROUP Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
