Duncton Wood: Transcript

Here, this page is for searching good quotes and understanding the flow of the story.
== Part One: Duncton Wood ==
=== Chapter 1 ===
Rebecca: I'm lost. How do I get back into the system? I'm a Duncton mole, you know.
Bracken: It's easy, very easy. Come on, I'll show you.
Bracken: There you are! I told you it was easy. You know where you are now, don't you?
Rebecca: What's your name?
Bracken: I'm Bracken.
Rebecca: I'm Rebecca, my name is Rebecca.
=== Chapter 2 ===
Hulver: I can remember my father telling me that the system used to be visited each Midsummer year by a scribe from the Holy Burrows. He would crouch with the elders by the great Stone, for that was the centre of things then, and question them about the state of the system. But even when I was young, it was a long time since a scribemole had been. They said then, and I believe it now, that something happened to stop the scribes coming and that no scribe could ever come again. If I had known that to be so when I was young - when I was your age, I think I would have gone forth as my father's father did, even if it meant that, like him, I never came back.
---
Burrhead: Haven't we got worms, don't we defend the system, aren't there plenty of youngsters coming out?
---
(of Rune) Mole 1: He's the clever one, he is. He'll know when his opportunity comes. He'll take over the system one day with his cunning ways and warning words.
---
Mekkins: Yer not going to tell me yer serious about that daft idea, Burrhead me old lad? You'll not get anymole I know ter go along with it. I'll tell you that right now.
---
Bindle: The less that he do say, the more then he do mean.
---
Bindle: No, sir! The females just aren't what they used to be!
---
Mole Pup: Who was Mandrake? Tell us about him!
=== Chapter 3 ===
Mandrake: My name is Mandrake. Mandrake! Let anymole that opposes me come forward now. (In Siabod) Mandrake Siabod wyf i, a wynebodd Gelert Helgi Cwmoerddrws a'i anwybyddu. Wynebais Gerrig Castell y Gwynt a'u gwatwar. Gadewch i unrhyw wadd a feddylio nad yw'n f'ofni wynebu'm crafangau nawr.
(of Mandrake) Rune: We would all agree that it would be a privilege if he that is new, and welcome, among us might give us his view.
=== Chapter 4 ===
(of the Marshenders) Rune: They bring disease to the system and have never contributed much. The day may well come when they must be driven out of Duncton altogether, for they have no rightful place here.
---
Siabod Mole: Mandrake was born and survived in conditions beyond even the nightmares of the toughest Siabod moles. At the time of his birth - May - conditions around the mountain of Siabod were severe. A mild February and March had been followed by the coldest April any Siabod mole could remember, and that's saying something! When you're as high and exposed as we are, you get used to the cold. A lot of lowland moles would die just being here. Anyway, by mid-May, there were still many patches of ice and snow on Siabod's sides. In such conditions most moles keep below ground, securing themselves in a snug burrow with a worm supply that would survive the cold, or be driven down into the lower winter tunnels they had dug.
No doubt Mandrake's mother had prepared a nest, yet for some reason that will never be known, she was out on the surface when her litter started - maybe seeking nest material. It coincided with yet another sudden terrible change in the weather, which switched from pure clear cold to a terrifying blizzard that swept over from the heights of Snowdon, the Glyders and Cnicht to dash against the flanks and falls of Siabod. Perhaps the sudden weather change upset her rhythms and brought on the birth sooner than she expected.
Whatever it was, she was on the surface when the blizzard started and naturally she tried to get back to her nest. She must have dragged herself through the storm over the ice-covered Siabod rock plateaux, paws and talons tearing at the snow and scanty vegetation, to try to reach warmth and safety before the first was born. 
But we think she was on the wrong side of the slope and had to battle a little way uphill before she could reach back down to a tunnel into the system. She could no doubt have found a burrow or made one long before she became too exhausted to continue, but females with young like to return to the nest they have prepared. 
We can only imagine what happened. Overcome by exhaustion and cold, unable to battle further against the wind and icy snow, she settled down in the blizzard on what was little more than bare rock to give birth to her litter. She must have felt a terrible horror and loneliness out there on the side of Siabod, the sky obscured by snowclouds, the wind ripping at her fur, trying to tear away each tiny mole pup as it was born. We do not know how many there were - four or five, probably. She must have watched their blind struggle desperately as the warmth from her womb was dashed and scurried away from them by the blizzard wind. Perhaps she tried to burrow into the snow to protect her young, but the wind was too strong for any more than an inch or two of snow to settle. 
Into this icy chaos Mandrake was born, struggling from birth to hang on to life, fighting with his siblings from the very start to find a place of warmth among his mother's teats. She no doubt set her back to the wind, taking the brunt of it herself, to give her young the warmth of her stomach and flanks. For days she fought the cold and wind, never resting for a moment lest one of her young slip out of the protection of her paws into the teeth of the blizzard. The storm continued for nearly eight days, the most vital time in anymole's life. Blind, furless, vulnerable, how Mandrake must have struggled to keep his place at her teats, unknowingly pushing his siblings out of the way, dashing their heads and snouts with his feeble paws, fighting to suck. 
At some point his mother must have realised that without food her milk would dry up, and yet known that if she left her litter for a second, it would mean certain death for all of them. 
It is hard to imagine that she deliberately decided to sacrifice one of the litter after another in the hope that one at least might survive. But everymole knows that, faced by acute hunger, a littering mother will kill and sometimes eat her young. Perhaps what happened was that the weakest of the litter died from lack of milk and exposure and rather than let it lie there to be lost for nothing in the cold, she ate it, hoping that it might give her the nourishment she and the rest of the litter needed. One by one her litter died, exposed in the worst Siabod blizzard in mole memory. One by one she must have eaten them, their blood mingling with the snow and ice. One by one her nipples and teats dried up as the nourishment from the food stored in her body, and from the cannibalism of her own young, gave out. 
Until at last only Mandrake remained, struggling among her cold teats to find one that would yield milk to his desperate suckling. By now his eyes were open, but all he could have seen was the dark of his mother's fur, the pink of her teats, and the racing, grey blizzard all around. So, from the start, his world was one of extremes. How he must have struggled to keep his place! Not for him the peace and comfort of safe suckling; never for him the unremembered memory of a relaxed mother holding him warm and close. Fighting for life from the very start. 
Did his mother wonder if he must be sacrificed for her own survival? Or did she leave it to the elements, herself finally falling asleep, the freezing wind at her back taking a seeping hold on her body, her last memory being Mandrake trying to suckle her own teats? 
If that was her last memory, then his first sight might well have been the discovery that his mother was dead. And though he would never know it, she had died to give Mandrake the chance to live, to fight, and to mate. But for him then, there was nothing left but the wind, and the freezing flank of his dead mother. He was too young to think. But think what he must have felt: desolate loneliness, loss, abandonment. 
It was almost certainly on the eighth day of the storm that this moment came, for shortly after, it began to clear, and it is unthinkable that Mandrake could have survived these conditions for more than a few hours. The freak weather conditions that had nearly killed him now reversed to save him. The sun broke out through the stormcast sky and the freezing wet was replaced by thawing warmth. Steam began to rise from the rocks and peat as it does sometimes after a storm in summer. Creature after creature came out from shelter, stretching into the warm, moist air and feeling themselves back into the light. Here a mole, there a vole, above the larks tilting into the breeze with their song hanging again above the flanks of Siabod. And buzzards and ravens. 
Mandrake could easily have died then, taken by one of the predators whose eyes now searched the mountain's sides again. But perhaps his mother's instinct to return home when the blizzard broke had been right, for where she had finally lain to litter was not so far from one of the outlying entrances to the Siabod system. And the wind was in the right direction to carry his cries to a mole by the entrance, and a female at that. She was very young and yet she climbed across the slope towards the cries and found Mandrake crying and nestling into the cold body of his mother, surrounded by the pathetic remains of the rest of the litter. She comforted him, warmed him and nudged him down the wet slope into the system. Anymole who saw him that day or in the days following will not forget the sight: eyes open, fur barely grown, head big, paws scrabbling and flailing - lost and untrusting and wild. So he always remained, wild and aggressive. 
As he grew, he took to roaming Siabod's sides for food. I have seen him myself, the great. fierce Mandrake, silent and evil, leaving the system to search on the surface, fearless of weather or birds. One day he left like that and he has never come back. 
--- 
(of newborn Rebecca) Mandrake: Call her Sarah, after yourself. It's a fine, strong name. 
Sarah: Her name will be Rebecca. 
Mandrake: Call her Rebecca, then. Call her Rebecca! Call her Rebecca! Rebecca! 
(whispering to Rebecca) Sarah: Rebecca, Rebecca. 
--- 
Sarah: She's only a pup, only a young thing. 
Mandrake: A pup will do what I say, as I want. 
--- 
(of the snow) Mandrake: Like it, do you, girl? Think it's fun? Think it's pretty, don't you? You think this snow's just here for your special pleasure? Well, come with me... 
Rebecca: Please can I go back to the home burrow? 
(of a blizzard now) Mandrake: Still think it's pretty, still think it's something to dance to? 
(to the blizzard) Mandrake: Thought you could kill me, you bastard; thought Mandrake would yield. Siabod, you're nothing, your Stones are a nothing, Gelert is nothing, you... 
Rebecca: Mandrake! Mandrake! 
Mandrake: This is what I faced, this is the force you face, and you, Rebecca, will never yield to it because you are part of me who knew Siabod once and defied its death... 
Rebecca: (wanting to say: No, no, no, this isn't it, it isn't, it isn't.) 
--- 
(of Rebecca) Barrow Vale Female: She's got all the worst qualities of both of them: stuck up as her mother and as heavy-pawed as Mandrake. 
--- 
(in sing-song) Rebecca: Vervain and yellow flag, feverfew and rue; some for my mother, plenty left for you. 
Mandrake: You're not to play so roughly with your brother. (But she would.) 
Mandrake: It's dangerous up on the surface now by the edge of the wood. (But there she would be found.) 
Mandrake: You're to stay in the home burrow today because there are things to do. (But she wouldn't.) 
--- 
Mole: The worms, the elders' worms! They've been eaten. Somemole has been into the elder burrow and eaten all the worms! 
--- 
Rebecca's Brothers: It was Rebecca's fault! 
Rebecca: It was only a game of hide-and-seek and I thought it would be fun to go a bit further than usual in the tunnels and perhaps for a moment or two on to the surface I'm terribly sorry I didn't know where we were but it wasn't hard to find the way back I don't understand how they got lost for two days and there weren't any owls about I'm sure please... 
--- 
(of the forest in Spring) Rebecca: Oh! How beautiful! It's my wood, my wood! 
Rune: And mine too; you shouldn't be here, you know. Rebecca, Rebecca, I was only joking about you not being allowed out on Barrow Vale. Stay and talk. 
Rune: It's all right, Rebecca, I won't hurt you. I want you, Rebecca, I want you. 
Mandrake: Rebecca! This is not the time to leave the home burrow. How many times must you be told? 
Rune: Just what I've been telling her, Mandrake, my very words. 
Rebecca: It's not true, he wanted... 
Mandrake: She will not mate this spring, Rune, not this spring. She is not ready, and I will kill anymole that tries. Whichever mole he might be. 
(to himself) Rune: I'll have her yet. 
=== Chapter 5 ===
Aspen: Though it's a long time since anymole but the elders went up there, and then only at Midsummer and Longest Night. It's probably just legend, but a nice one, don't yo think?
---
Burrhead: Aye, the Stone's up there right enough. I've seen it myself, though I don't suppose that'll happen much more because, if I have my way, we'll stop the Midsummer trek.
Bracken: Why?
Burrhead: Owls and worms, two words you should get into your head, my boy. Owls is dangerous up there and worms is scarce. No point risking ourselves for some ancient ritual which nomole but old stick-in-the-muds like Hulver can remember.
Bracken: What's the Stone like?
Burrhead: It's nothing really, just a stone. Well, a big stone. Tall as a tree, shoots straight up into the sky. It's grey. It turns dark blue as night falls and then pitch black, blacker than night itself, except where the moon catches it and it's silvery grey.
---
(of a fight between him and Bracken) Root: He started it.
---
Bracken: I'm lost. Can you tell me where Barrow Vale is from here?
Bracken: I was looking for Buckbean because he knows an awful lot about the system.
---
(of Mandrake) Mole 1: He's so strong he's been known to destroy an oak root thick as a mole to make his tunnel.
Mole 2: He's the best fighter the system's ever seen and ever likely to see, if you ask me. Do you know, my boy, when he first came to Duncton he killed twelve of the strongest adults before he even set paw in a tunnel? Twelve! Mind you, I wasn't there myself.
Mole 3: They say the first time he went down the Marsh End he stopped a group of Marshenders from attacking him by just pointing his huge snout at them and staring. Didn't say a word; just crouched ready and stared. They backed away, tearing at each other to escape. That's how powerful Mandrake is.
---
Westside Female: Mind you, there's one mole who can stand up to Mandrake, and there's nothing, I tell you, absolutely nothing, he can do about it. Not a single solitary thing.
Bracken: Who's that?
Westside Female: Yes, he can huff and puff all he likes, but I don't think he can do a thing.
Bracken: But who is it?
Westside Female: Why, Miss Stuck-up-Rebecca, that's who. His darling daughter. Twists him round her talons she does. Mind you, dear, mind you, all that won't last much longer, if you know what I mean.
Bracken: Do you mean...?
Westside Female: Yes, you know I do. We all know she was an autumn-litter mole, which means she'll be nearly ready to leave her home burrow by now. What's more, it wouldn't surprise anymole if Sarah, Mandrake's so-called mate, had another litter this summer. Mandrake's not one to hang about, is he? And Sarah isn't going to want Rebecca around with another litter of her own to bring up.
---
(of the Stone) Bracken: Where is it? What is it?
=== Chapter 6 ===
(of Bracken) Burrhead: He won't stand a chance against this spring's lot. But every litter has its wrong 'uns.
---
(of Bracken) Aspen: He's not so stupid as he sometimes seems, you know - he knows much more about the system than either of the other two - in fact he knows more than I do.
---
Hulver: (singing) Now we dig and we scratch and we wedge and we pull. Now we wedge and we dig and ... (talking) Mmm. This shouldn't have happened, not in my tunnel. Mind you, it's a long time since I was here. Too long. I'm hungry. Worms, that's what I want. (singing again) Worms, worms, worms. Lots of lovely worms.
Hulver: Somemole's here. I can smell it.
Bracken: Hello, I'm here. A youngster from the Westside.
Hulver: (silence)
Bracken: I got lost.
Hulver: (silence)
Bracken: I'm very sorry, really I am, but I thought your tunnel was deserted.
Hulver: It was deserted. I've not had time to come here for months. It's merest chance that I happened along at this particular moment.
Hulver: (appears before Bracken) At least I think it was merest chance. I'm not sure that chance exists any more.
Hulver: By which I mean that I'm not any more sure... is you see what I mean. Haven't got a worm or two, have you?
Hulver: Who are you and where do you come from?
Bracken: I'm Bracken from the Westside, exploring.
Hulver: Mmm, exploring! Very good. Haven't explored out any of my worms, have you?
Bracken: Well, I... well, I could find you some worms in no time, I expect.
Hulver: (in prayer) Be with us, Stone, at the start of our feast. Be with us, Stone, at the close of our meal. Let no mole adown our bodies, that may hurt our sorrowing souls, oh no mole adown our bodies, that may hurt our sorrowing souls.
Hulver: That's better. I am grateful. My name's Hulver, by the way, and if I'm not much mistaken, your father is Burrhead from the Westside.
Bracken: Yes, that's right. How did you know?
Hulver: He's an elder, like me, and he's mentioned you once or twice. (in whisper) He's not pleased with your progress. You're not nasty enough!
Hulver: Why have you come over to the slopes, can you tell me that?
Bracken: (explains)
Hulver: Now you are welcome to use this tunnel, though perhaps I should say continue to use it. But I'm going down to my burrow, which is a little way off, because it's so much quieter.
Bracken: (to himself) Let no mole adown our bodies, that may hurt our sorrowing souls. Let no mole adown my body, that may hurt my sorrowing soul.
Hulver: (to himself) Never was much good with words, but I like the youngster, there's something about him, even if he doesn't look as if he could fight a flea. Well, I'll teach him something about the Ancient System and its ways. What I know of them. I might even mention something of the rituals to him, some of these youngsters ought to know about them.
---
Hulver: I'm too tired today for such a climb... it's worm-scarce up there at the moment, better wait a while...there's nothing much to see that I can't describe... too many owls now because moles have been gone too long.
Hulver: (of Uffington) It's far off, far to the west. I've never met a mole who's been there, though I talked to some when I was your age who claimed to have met moles who had.
Bracken: What do they do there? What moles live with the White moles? Do you know anything about scribe moles, like Aspen mentioned in her stories?
Hulver: I don't know. I've never known. The scribes came from there, I know that!
Bracken: Yes, but what do scribemoles do?
Hulver: They write the stories that moles want to remember and the prayers and blessings that true moles love. They go out from Uffington to remind us of the Stone.
Bracken: Have they ever been here?
---
Hulver: (to Bracken) Which is why I make you do it.
---
Hulver: Stay here quietly, live in my burrow silently as I have been teaching you to do, for though, being Midsummer, this should be a time of great happiness, I fear there is much danger about. I can smell it, so take care.
Bracken: -looks worried- 
Hulver: There is danger, but you are strong enough to face it. You will never face an evil you have not the strength to master. When I come back there will be a lot to do and you will have much to learn. I am going to take you up to the Ancient System. Meanwhile, do not be lulled by the June sun. There is danger in the system and I fear you may suffer in its coming, so be careful. 
Hulver: Let no mole adown my body, that may hurt my sorrowing soul.
---
Rebecca: Are you Hulver?
Hulver: I'm Hulver, I can't deny it. Anyway, nomole else is as old as I am now, so it wasn't hard to guess. Who are you, my dear?
Rebecca: Rebecca.
Hulver: Sarah's daughter! And Mandrake's. You're a fine-looking female, I must say, though I suppose you're an adult now, but you all look so young to me. Be the same for you, one day. 
Rebecca: Would you tell me about the old times? Because they say you're the only one who remembers now, the only one who's left.
Hulver: It would take a lifetime to tell you even a small part of it, and unfortunately I'm in a hurry for the elder meeting.
Rebecca: Oh.
Hulver: Elder meetings never start on time, anyway; I'll tell you about Rebecca, your namesake, if you like, Rebecca the Healer of the Ancient System.
Rebecca: -smiles-
Hulver: Mind you, I expect you know all about Rebecca; you can hardly fail to in Duncton, since she's the only claim to fame we seem to have and at least they haven't forgotten her, though they've forgotten everything else that matters. Most of the stories you've heard are nonsense, I'm sure; harmless nonsense, of course. It's just that we all like a good tale and if there seems to be a gap in the telling of it, we fill it up with something we like to think might have been - and who knows, it might have been!
Hulver: Do you know what I think? I believe she did stay here in Duncton for quite a time. I believe that in those days Duncton was a system where a mole like her would want to stay. I believe she loved Duncton Wood as you or I might love Barrow Vale in the spring. Now, what you are going to ask me, in fact, what I ask myself, is why I believe all that. Well, I'll tell you, my dear, because even if you don't understand now, one day you will, I'm sure. 
Twelve moleyears ago, before you were born, there was an elder meeting. It was the June meeting like the one about to be held. Much was said at it, though you needn't worry about that. But during it, your father became the leading elder and his real sway over the system began. There were threats, dark talk, much sadness over the system for some of us, as there still is. For a time I felt full of despair and wanted to die. I saw that your father would destroy the system and there was nothing I could do about it. I went back to my burrow and sat in silence. I would have liked to have talked to another mole, but even my dearest friend, Bindle, was too afraid to talk to me. Now he no longer attends the elder meetings. Anyway, I was alone. Everything seemed bleak, although outside the June wind was warm, the worms were plentiful and the youngsters were growing fast down in the main system. But I didn't eat. I crouched alone and silent.
The only thing that kept me alive was the knowledge that I alone knew the full Misummer ritual and although Mandrake said he would kill me if I went through with it, yet I knew I had to. Then one of the old legends came to me; you know it, I'm sure - Groundsel the Owlkiller. Your remember how he saw that it was better to die than to live in the thrall of fear? I began to feel the same. I went out on to the surface and looked up at the great trees above me, listening to the wood all around and waiting for first light. June! What a time! How happy I suddenly was as the light overtook the dark wood, cutting away its darkest patches, turning black into grey and then grey into the colour of summer! When night came around again, I climbed the hill to celebrate Midsummer. The fear that had been hanging about seemed to have gone and, of course, I wasn't killed by Mandrake. As I set off I knew I wouldn't be killed, even though I was followed from the moment I left my burrow. I'm not sure by whom, but seeing how things have gone since in the system, and who is Mandrake's most active henchmole, I think it must have been Rune. He probably thought I didn't know he was there, but you don't live as long I have without knowing what or who is nearby - especially somemole as unpleasant as Rune!
Anyway, I went through the ritual carefully, not missing out one bit. I also said a special prayer and I said it in the direction of Uffington - I asked that Duncton might be visited once more by a scribemole. There was something funny about that prayer, something powerful that made me know that the Stone does listen. One day you'll understand what I mean.
When I had finished making this prayer, I turned back to my burrows on the slopes, feeling, I must admit, somewhat cast down. I felt Rune's evil presence near me and this time I couldn't resist it in the way I had when I went up the hill. Perhaps the ritual had drained me: such things are very tiring, you know. I could feel his evil coming into me as fear, as aching, as ageing. 
Now what has all this got to do with Rebecca the Healer? Listen carefully. As the days went on, I felt sure that Rune had put some kind of curse on me, or left something of himself about my tunnels. Yet, though I felt tired and ill, my old head began to see things more clearly than before. What did I see? I can't possibly explain it all - I forgot things that ran so clearly before me almost as soon as I saw them. But the most important thing I saw, or rather felt, was that Rebecca the Healer was in the system: she was here. Now that's different from hearing a tale told, and enjoying it, about a mole who once stayed in the Ancient System. I knew she was here. What's more, I could feel she was still here - I should say is still here. I lived totally by myself for molemonths on end, or perhaps it was moleyears - I'm not quite sure - but I wasn't alone. Rebecca was there as she is with you, her namesake, or up there... with... with Bracken!
Rebecca: -about to ask who Bracken is-
Hulver: I don't think I will see you again, my dear, so remember what I say, however strange it seems. You see, my dear, Rebecca the Healer was up on the slopes with me, or rather her love was, which is more or less the same thing. Often in the silence of my burrow, or crouching still on the surface, I would hear her in the wind or see her in a beech leaf or a root, and my old pains and aches would be gone. I'm an old mole and have had many mates, but I've never felt such a love as Rebecca seemed to fill me with. She loved Duncton Wood once, or the moles in it, and left her love here always. You only have to reach out a paw to touch it. Does any of that make sense to you?
Rebecca: -is silent but understands-
Hulver: Do you know a mole called Bracken, from the Westside?
Rebecca: -shakes head-
Hulver: A strange thing, I was drawn over to a part of my tunnels which I had more or less abandoned by... well... a feeling. A "Rebecca kind of feeling", as I call them. And there was a mole, bold as you please. A youngster looking as if he was hardly weaned. Not much to look at, inclined to complain about his home burrow, also inclined to steal other moles' worms. Be that as it may. Since Rebecca seemed to have led me to him, it seemed the least I could do was talk to him, which I did, though I was tired.
Rebecca: Please, Hulver, did you tell him the story about Rebecca, I mean your story?
Hulver: No, no, he wouldn't understand. He was more interested in adventure and fighting and exploring the Ancient System. Oh, and in scribemoles, though I couldn't tell him much about those!
Rebecca: Well, I want to know about the Ancient System, too. And about scribemoles as well.
Hulver: This Bracken, there's something about him... I don't know what. Perhaps I'm getting old. I wish I was young again so I could help him...
Hulver: This Bracken, he's a strange mole. He has given me hope, but I don't know why. He really isn't much to look at at all and certainly doesn't look as if he could defend himself. And yet... well... Rebecca... Rebecca, sometimes you'll find there are moles you can help who don't seem worth the trouble. You wonder why you tried. They may be weak, or selfish, or stupid, or lazy. But you'll find that if you give such a mole your help, or in other words your love, the will often repay you in ways you could never have dreamed of. That's how the Stone works, do you see? That's it. These moles will pop up years later and suddenly the mystery of why they crossed your tunnel, and came briefly into your life, is solved. And then you know that there are powers beyond yourself over which you have no control and before which a mole should feel awe. That's something many moles have forgotten. Don't you forget it. Never forget it!
Rebecca: Oh, Hulver.
Hulver: You keep an eye out for Bracken. There's more to him than a mole might think when they meet him. Much more. He may need your help Rebecca. 
Rebecca: -smiles-
Hulver: Perhaps you'll need his help, because that's how the Stone works, you see. All of us need what you can give, especially you yourself.
=== Chapter 7 ===
Bracken: (in thought) If the top of the hill is like this, then no wonder the ancient moles were different from us.
---
Rune: Who is there, and what are you doing here? My name's Rune, and you had better tell me what you are doing here.
(making excuses) Bracken: Oh, Rune, sir, my name's Bracken and I came too far from the Westside, I also ran out of worms and this burrow was deserted so I stayed here. 
Rune: Well, it's not deserted, because I'm here now and I suggest you return to the Westside fast. Moles shouldn't leave their territories and it's only because you're a youngster that I'm making allowances. If you get stopped on your way back to the Westside you can tell them that I sent you back. But don't try this kind of exploration again; it's not safe. Now get going.
Bracken: Yes, Rune, sir, thank you, sir, thank you sir, I will go straight back now. Thank you, sir.
---
Bracken: Hello! I'm Bracken!
Hulver: Are you, indeed! Always finding your way into tunnels you shouldn't be in! There's little time, Bracken, very little, and there is a great deal to do. I assume that Rune found you in my burrow and sent you packing?
Bracken: -nods-
Hulver: Whether he has gone there to kill me or simply to warn me for a final (and fruitless) time, I cannot say. But I'm not going to risk going back now that you are safe here with me. There are nine days left before Midsummer Night. We cannot return to my tunnels and so must hide somewhere else. I think the best thing is to head up towards the Stone and rely on its shadow to hide us for the days that remain. You have much to learn, more than you can know.
(whisper) Hulver: There may be other moles coming. I can hear something, or rather feel it.
Bracken: We must go. Please may we go?
Bracken: We had better stop for a while. We'll wait for the evening wind to give us noise cover before we climb on.
(thinking of Rebecca the Healer) Hulver: Old foolish mole, living in the past.
Bracken: The burrow's ready, Hulver. Best go down it until the wind rises.
Hulver: (tells of Merton, the chosen mole of Uffington to Bracken)
Bracken: Will that ever happen? And do they still sing the secret song in Uffington?
Hulver: Perhaps, perhaps. But I remember one thing my father told me, though blessed if I can make much sense of it.He said there was a special Stone nearing Uffington - the Blowing Stone, I think he called it - which sounds in the wind sometimes. He told me that the scribemole said that when the stone sounded seven times, then the secret song would be sung by all moles.
Bracken: What's the song about?
Hulver: (doesn't answer)
Bracken: It's time to go. Show me the direction, but let me go first, for I'm used to sensing danger and can find my way very quickly.
---
Hulver: We are in the Ancient System. From here it runs upwards and across the hill.
Bracken: We'll go right to the Stone now, and from there we'll know what to do.
Bracken: There is nomole here, and there is none on the Ancient System. Can't you feel it?
Bracken: -whispered- Hulver!
Bracken: Come on, come on, Hulver!
Hulver: There! There is the Stone.
---
Bracken: How far is Uffington, Hulver?
Hulver: A long way, a very long way, but not so far if you have the Stone behind you.
Bracken: No, it's not so far, not too far. It's not that far, Hulver, I can feel it.
Hulver: How do you know where Uffington is?
Bracken: I can feel it. If you stand with the Stone behind you, you can feel it pulling. Well, you know...
Hulver: Come on, Bracken, we must hide ourselves now. We must find worms to eat and we must rest. There is much for you to learn tomorrow.
=== Chapter 8 ===
Mandrake: I understand that a certain mole here among us performed the ritual last Midsummer Night, despite our agreement that it should be abandoned. I was prepared then to give him the benefit of my tolerance... but nomole should depend on it again. Now do we agree that the ritual must not be performed?
Elders (Except Hulver): -showing signs of agreement-
Mandrake: We have made our decision, then, and will see that it is carried out.
Young Mole: (after Hulver asked if Rune passed by) Yes, sir, he went up by the tunnel to the slopes. Not so long ago, so you might catch him.
---
Hulver: Perhaps Mandrake's ban on the ritual is the inevitable conclusion to what has been coming for generations, though why an outsider should be the instrument of it, I do not know. It may be ending, but I will not let it end as long as I am able. They think I'm old and traditional down at Barrow Vale, and perhaps I am, but unless you honour something, you honour nothing. There's more to being a mole than burrows, worms, fighting and mating - much more. I hope you'll have the sense to see that one day.
Bracken: Did you go to the ritual when you were young?
Hulver: Yes, I went. I was one of the few -- but then my mother came from the slopes and insisted. It was the first time I saw the elders together in the shadow of the Stone and with the chanting and the words it was very awe-inspiring. I remember afterwards I felt I could do anything. Anything! It gave me the courage to face the fact that I could never return to my home burrow, and after it, I never did.
Bracken: (nods in understanding) What's a chanting song?
Hulver: Oh! Why they're ritual songs, songs of courage, hope and prophecy. One mole sings a verse and then the others join in. 
(Hulver begins to sing one)
Bracken: (isn't impressed by it)
Hulver: Well, you need a lot of moles singing it together. Hear that once and you'll never forget it!
---
Hulver: No living mole has been down into the Ancient System and I'm certainly not going down now, after all these moleyears. There's something about it that makes it wrong. It's not ready yet.
---
(of Rose the Healer) Hulver: You've probably never seen her, because she tends to go only to the Marsh End, where they believe in her more than most other Duncton moles. Anyway, she comes mainly in the autumn and spring -- one of which you haven't experienced and the other which you won't remember.
Bracken: She's a Pasture mole?
Hulver: Ah, yes. But Rose is a healer and that's very different. Healers live by their own rhythms and ways. Anyway, Rose wouldn't hurt a flea and nomole would want to hurt her. Mind you, I've only seen her a few times myself and only in passing. She's never laid a paw on me!
Bracken: How many Longest Nights has she seen?
Hulver: Mmm, well... she's certainly not young, and yet she's like a youngster all the time. She sings, you know, and dances, too, on occasion. She tells stories to the youngsters, if they can persuade her to.
Bracken: When does she come?
Hulver: Ah, now, that's a good question. It's a bit of a mystery, because nomole ever knows when she's going to come, even the ones she comes to heal. In fact, some of them don't even know there's anything wrong with them. You see, as she lives somewhere out in the pastures, no Duncton mole ever goes and gets her, and yet, when she's needed, she suddenly appears, as if by magic. Of course, she doesn't come for every hurt and illness, otherwise she'd be here all the time.
Hulver: And you know that Rose I mentioned, the healer, well she always has the sweetest smell of herbs about her that I've ever come across. Makes you feel good just being near her! Mekkins is the one to talk to about Rose. He knows her best for all the elders, coming as he does from the Marsh End.
---
Hulver: (about the ritual) Words change in the speaking, so I want you to know what they mean rather than what they are. Listen to the spirit that lies behind them, that's what you most need to remember. Should the day come when you have to say the ritual yourself, then you'll remember enough of what I've taught you. Most of the words are known by my friend Bindle, so he'll tell them to you if you need to know.
But he doesn't know the final blessing, the most important part of all. I tried to teach him but he wouldn't listen; he said he couldn't learn them because they were just words to him. It's too late now -- he didn't come to the last Midsummer Night -- frightened off by Mandrake, if you ask me. I haven't seen him for moleyears now, literally moleyears. But he's my oldest friend, is Bindle.
Hulver: (speaking the ritual words)We bathe their paws in showers of dew,We free their fur with wind from the west,We bring them choice soil,Sunlight in life.We ask they be blessedWith a sevenfold blessing:The grace of formThe grace of goodnessThe grace of sufferingThe grace of wisdomThe grace of true wordsThe grace of trustThe grace of whole-souled loveliness.We bathe their paws in showers of light,We free their souls with the talons of love,We ask that they hear the silent Stone.Hulver: (to Bracken) Repeat, repeat. The rest you can learn when the time is ripe, but these words I want to hear you say until they are part of you. You need not understand them yet -- indeed, they will change their meaning with the passage of time -- but you must know them.
---
Hulver: There is only one way to complete the ritual, and even that is risky and I have my doubts that it will work. It will demand great courage from you. It depends on my belief that they do not think I will come with another mole. If this is so, then, if you advance from the direction of the slopes, they will mistake you for me. You will come towards the clearing so that you are seen, run off and draw them away, so that I can move into the clearing from another direction. Then, with the Stone's help, I can repeat the ritual.
---
(as they eat worms) Hulver: Let them go. Eat yours, but let mine go.
Bracken: (complaining) They took a long time to find. If you don't want them, I'll eat them.
Hulver: Ah, I do want them, but it is no longer important. I would rather those worms lived with my blessing that died without it.
Bracken: But I've only got three, and there's a lot to face up to this evening.
Hulver: If it troubles you, imagine that I have eaten them. If you would be less hungry for my having eaten them than for my not eating them, then your hunger is in your head and not your stomach. So satisfy your head. Meanwhile, let the worms go off and find their own supper; I hope with your blessings as well.
---
Rune: Ssh!
Dogwood: Sorry, Rune.
(separately) Hulver: That's Dogwood. That must mean that Mandrake is keeping them to their word and so they'll all be here to... to see what happens.
Burrhead: There's nomole here, that's for sure.
Bracken: It's Burrhead.
Hulver: Yes, I'm afraid it is.
Rune: ...And there won't be anymole here at all if you carry on scuffling. Have none of you learned how to move silently? Remember, movement carries further than words.
Hulver: I must have been right. They wouldn't stay in that position if they weren't pretty certain that anymole coming from the slopes was going to be intercepted. Mandrake and the rest must be down there.
Rune: Now, remember what Mandrake said -- if he slips through here before Mandrake gets him, he must be kept alive. Is that clear?
Hulver: Wait a little longer yet, for if you start now it will be too early for the ritual to be said. It needs to be said at midnight, or near it.
---
Rune: (of Hulver) He has escaped, Mandrake, and gone down to the slopes where he lives. At least he cannot do the ritual now.
Mandrake: You say he has escaped? But who has escaped? I do not believe that the oldest mole in the system, who appeared to be hardly alive at the last elder meeting, could run through the wood like a youngster and elude the... the toughest moles in the system. That was not Hulver.
---
Rune: Bindle! It's Bindle come to be brave.
Mandrake: Bindle!
Bindle and Hulver: By the shadow of the Stone, in the shade of the night... As they leave their burrows on your Midsummer Night... We the moles of Duncton Stone, see our young with blessing sown... We bathe their paws in showers of dew, we free their with -- (Hulver is cut off and attacked), Let no mole adown my body that may hurt my sorrowing soul...
Mandrake: (of wounded Bindle) Leave him, let him be living owl-fodder.
(Mandrake, Rune and the rest leave)
Bindle: Bindle, my name is Bindle. I came back to say the ritual with my oldest friend. We almost finished it, didn't we? We almost finished it. And in the end I knew the words. He never thought I knew them all, but I did. When they came at the end I remembered the words. Listen, youngster, and try to remember them: "We... bathe... their... paws... in...
Bracken: We bathe their paws in showers of dew, we free their fur with wind from the west, we bring them choice soil, sunlight in life. We ask they be blessed with a sevenfold blessing... the grace of form. The grace of goodness... the grace of suffering, the grace of wisdom. The grace of true words, the grace of trust, the grace of whole-souled loveliness. 
We bathe their paws in showers of light, we free their souls with talons of love, we ask that they hear the silent Stone.
---
Mandrake: (of Bracken) He has gone, gone to his death. I caught him with my talon before he went and ripped his flesh.
Mekkins: Which mole was it?
Rune: It was Bracken. The mole I found in Hulver's tunnels. I should have killed him then but I did not wish to warn Hulver that something was wrong. I should have killed him painfully then.
Burrhead: It was Bracken, was it! (in thought) Best say no more.
=== Chapter 9 ===
Mandrake: You'll be leaving the home burrow now, but you'll not go far, Rebecca -- I want to keep an eye on you. There's a burrow not far from here which I'll show you.
---
Rebecca: Where can I find Hulver, the elder?
Mekkins: Why?
---
(Bracken's words echo in Mekkins' head) 
Rebecca: What mole said them?
Mekkins: Bracken, Burrhead's son, we think it must have been him.
Rebecca: Who is he? Who is he?
(Mekkins tells Rebecca that he was Burrhead's son, but that was not what she meant)
Mekkins: Oh, but 'e didn't! 'E was killed. He ran clean over the chalk cliff edge trying to escape from Mandrake.
Rebecca: So much killing in the system. He hates everymole and every living thing. I tried... to show him how much I loved him, but he can't hear me... (laughs tearfully) Of course, this mole Bracken's not dead. He couldn't be, you see. He couldn't be. Did you see him dead?
Mekkins: No, I hadn't.
Rebecca: No, no, he's not dead. Or if he is, he's not.
Mekkins: (thinks that Duncton is going mad) Bloody 'ell, I'm going mad. 
(silence and thought)
Mekkins: Maybe you're right after all.
Rebecca: Take care, Mekkins.
---
(of Rose the Healer) Rebecca: What's she like?
Mole 1: She'm the most understanding creature I do know.
Mole 2: Commonsensical -- that's the word I'd use.
Mole 3: Rose? Ah, well, Rebecca, if you want to know Rose, you get her to tell you a story. She's good at that.
(wip)
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
=== Chapter 14 ===
Stonecrop: Cairn! Cairn! Don't go too near the wood without me, you never know if there are Duncton moles about near the edge. Cairn! Cairn... Cair...
Rebecca: (arrives on the scene)
Cairn: My name's Cairn.
Stonecrop: And I'm Stonecrop, just in case you're interested.
Rebecca: (laughs and sighs, looking at Stonecrop, then Cairn)
Cairn: What mole are you, and where are you from?
Rebecca: I'm Rebecca, of Duncton Wood.
Cairn: Rebecca! (plays and runs with her)
Stonecrop: (laughs, and joins the play and mock-fight)
Rebecca: So you're Pasture moles! They said you were all vicious and dangerous!
Cairn: And they said you were all dark and broody and lived in shadows weaving spells.
(of Barrow Vale) Stonecrop: We don't have such a place, except where a couple of communal tunnels meet and you can have a chat down there, if you feel like it.
(of the Duncton Stone) Cairn: Though it's very dangerous and is protected by dangerous Duncton Wood spirit moles who could turn a Pasture mole into the root of a tree by a glance and imprison him there forever until the tree dies and his spirit is released.
Rebecca: What happens then?
Stonecrop: Nomole is sure. And I personally don't believe it. Have you been to the Stone?
Rebecca: No, it's a long way from where I live. I was going to it, well, sort of heading in that direction, when I stopped by the pastures. But it's not an evil place. Well, it can't be, because the Stone's there and the Stone protects us.
Cairn: Is it true you've got scribemoles living in Duncton Wood?
Rebecca: Scribemoles? No, we haven't any of them. That was long ago and they only ever came here for a short time. What lies beyond the pastures?
Cairn: Never been down there, have we, Stonecrop?
== Part Two: Rebecca ==
=== Chapter 15 ===
Skeat: You're far too valuable here, Boswell, for nomole knows the secrets of the libraries as well as you do, or the old language, which even the scribes forget. And anyway, -looks sadly at Boswell- you know you can never make such a journey and survive. Others might, perhaps, but not you, Boswell.
---
The Old Manuscript:Seven Stillstones, seven Books made,All, but one, have come to ground.First, the Stone of Earth for living,Second, Stone for Suffering mole;Third of Fighting, born of bloodshed,Fourth of Darkness, born in death;Fifth for Healing, born through touching,Sixth of pure Light, born of love.Now we wait onFor the last StoneWithout which the circle gapes;And the SeventhLost and last Book,By whose words we may be blessed.Find the lost Book, send the last Stone,Bring them back to Uffington.Send a mole in courage livingAnd a mole compassionate,With a third and last to bind themBy the warmest light of love.Song of silence,Dance of mystery,From their love one more will come...He the Stone holds,He the Book brings,His the Silence of the Stone.
---
Skeat: (upon Boswell's departure from Uffington, Skeat speaks in the old language) May the peace of your power, Encompass him, going and returning; May the peace of the White Mole be his in the travel. And may he return home safeguarded.
== Part Four: Siabod ==
=== Chapter 40 ===
Bracken: We are near to Siabod now, Boswell; I can feel it, and we must go while we still have strength. We must go now.
---
(of the gorse flowers) Bracken: They grow like that, only bigger, up on the chalk downland above Duncton Wood and one day, if we ever get out of this alive, I'll show you. I'd give anything to be able to be there now!
---
Bracken: But then, we don't need to. That's where Siabod lies, off up this valley somewhere.
---
Bran: Beth yw eich enwau, a'ch cyfundrefn? (What are your names, and your organization?)
Bracken: We've come from Capel Garmon.
Boswell: In peace.
Bran: Dieithriaid i Siabod, paham yr ydych yma? (Strangers to Siabod, why are you here?)
Boswell: Siabod?
Bran: Southerners, are you?
...
Bracken: He's gone.
Boswell: Let's press on, as you have said more than once. Anyway, he'll be back.
Bracken: Yes, and with other moles. He was a Siabod, all right. He spoke with the same accent Mandrake had.
Boswell: Well, I can't see where else he can be from up here, and that must have been Siabod he was speaking and--
Bracken: He was so pathetic. He reminded me of nothing more than a wireworm in a tunnel when you expected to see a lobworm. Nasty little character he was. I mean, he might have helped us.
---
Bracken: Boswell? Boswell, stay close to me or we'll get separated. I don't like this one bit. I've never felt so exposed in my life. Let's make for the river and we can find a temporary burrow in its bank.
Boswell: I think the river's that way.
Bracken: No, I can distinctly hear it that way. ... Best thing to do, is to crouch still and wait until it clears. And if those were moles we heard, I hope they find us, because they can lead us to somewhere safe.
Bran: It's lost you are, is it?
Boswell: (murmur) Siabod moles...
Bracken: Yes, we are lost, as a matter of fact, and we'd be obliged if you'd tell us where Siabod is.
Bran: And what would you be wanting with Siabod? It's not a place you just go to, you know.
Bracken: If you hadn't scarpered when you saw us before, we wouldn't have been mucking about in that bloody mess.
Siabod mole 2: Now don't you go talking to Bran like that, or you'll have something else to talk about, see? 
Bran: Well?
Boswell: We’ve come from Capel Garmon and are seeking to find Siabod and...
(Bracken and the Siabod moles fight)
Bracken: Don’t any of you try anything like that again. Now, where’s Siabod?
Bran: That’s Siabod.
Boswell: Good, and now that we’ve found it and got to know each other’s strength, why don’t we find a nice safe burrow somewhere and we’ll try and explain why we’re here.
Siabod Mole 3: What’s your names, then?
Bracken: Bracken of Duncton.
Boswell: Boswell of Uffington.
Siabod Mole 4: Why didn’t you say so before, mole?
Bran: Now there’s a fine thing! A mole from Uffington! An honour. A great honour.
=== Chapter 41 ===
Bran: 
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