When they got back they found that Warrigal and Brock had returned and that Perryfoot and Sam had gratefully finished the food that had been brought for them.
‘Come on then,’ said Nab. ‘We must put some distance behind us before dawn. ’ Then he looked at Perryfoot who had put his ears down so that they hung limply on either side of his face. He looked indescribably miserable. ‘I suppose you still want to be carried,’ said the boy, and the hare visibly brightened. Sam looked on enviously as Perryfoot was again hoisted into his sling and the little procession set off once more. It was dark now so they moved more slowly and kept closer together. To their relief the rain had stopped and nearly all the snow had been washed away but the wind was still very cold. Above them the moon occasionally peeped out from behind a black cloud and sometimes a star could be seen twinkling merrily. The rest had done Sam’s leg good and they made steady progress through the night until, by the time that dawn broke through on another grey wintry day, they had almost reached the bottom of the foothills and could see a huge plain stretching as far as the eye could see with only an odd hummock dotted here and there to break the flatness. On the very far edge of the plain, almost out of sight in the distance, one of these hummocks stood out larger than the rest and they could just make out, on the summit, a number of large standing stones.
‘There is where we make for,’ said Nab.
They were standing on top of a small hill which fell away steeply in front into a sheltered grassy hollow. The travellers made their way down into it and curled up close together at the bottom so that they were well out of the wind. They all fell asleep almost immediately, exhausted as they were, and did not wake up until late afternoon. Beth felt terrible; her legs were shaky and she was so dizzy and faint that she could hardly stand. Nevertheless she was afraid to show the others; she must persevere and start walking: perhaps once she was on the move she would feel better. Speed was obviously important and she must not hold them back from their destination wherever it was. She was also worried deep inside about how they would react if she became a burden to them, and for the first time she began to wonder why they had brought her with them in any case. Perhaps it was just as a favour to the boy because he wanted her with him after their meeting by the stream and if she became ill he would choose, or perhaps be forced, to go on with them and leave her behind.
She moved forward slowly and carefully so that she would not stumble and fall but instead of feeling better her legs felt more unsteady than before. They started walking and she steeled herself for the ordeal but after a few paces Nab looked at her and there was anxiety and compassion deep in his eyes. Then suddenly her legs collapsed under her and she felt herself falling to the grass; it was as if she were outside her body watching somebody else fall and it all seemed to happen in slow motion. The last thing she remembered, before she blacked out completely was a circle of worried faces framed against the yellow evening sky as they looked down on her.
‘We must get her somewhere warm and dry, quickly,’ said Nab.
‘I saw a stone building just over that ridge,’ Warrigal said. ‘I’ll go and see if there are Urkku around and whether it would be safe,’ and he flew off.
While he was gone Nab tried to nurse the girl back to normal by cradling her head on his lap but her face remained pale and ashen and he was scared. Sam spoke quietly.
‘She’s not used to living outside. They live differently from us; they have different food. It even took me some time to learn how to live like you. You were all born to it; I wasn’t and neither was she.’
They waited in silence until the dark shape of the owl flew back over the ridge of the hollow and settled on the grass beside them.
‘Perfect, perfect,’ he said. ‘It’s full of hay so it will be warm and there is a smaller building on one side where there are a number of hens. They will warn us if any Urkku come near. I didn’t tell them about the girl or you, Nab, so you must stay out of sight with her. They are probably trustworthy but we can’t be too careful. I gave them a story about looking for new homes; I think they believed me.
It took a long time to get through to them though; they found great difficulty understanding our language and I couldn’t follow much of theirs. Still there was an old cock there who seemed brave and wise so we should be all right.’
Sam broke in, ‘We could give her some eggs; they like eggs and it will do her good.’
Greatly relieved, Nab hoisted the limp body of the girl over his shoulder and they set off for the hay barn. They were soon there and they pushed open the great wooden door at the front which, luckily, had been left ajar, and found themselves at the bottom of a flight of stairs which led up into the hayloft. The ground floor was full of farm machinery and there were other oddments lying around which were obviously not used very often judging by the cobwebs that hung on them. Gingerly Nab climbed the stairs and when he got to the top lifted Beth carefully up on to the pile of hay. Climbing up after her he then dragged her away from the edge until he found a little hollow in the middle and there he made her comfortable. All the others except the hare had waited downstairs and Nab left Perryfoot beside her before going back down to rejoin them. He found that Warrigal and Sam had been next door to where the hens lived and had brought some eggs; the dog had carried one in his mouth and the owl had gripped one in each talon and placed them very carefully on the floor of the barn before landing.
‘We took them when no one was looking,’ said Sam, a little note of secret triumph in his voice for this had been his idea.
They all followed Nab back up the old wooden stairs and over to where Beth was lying in her nest of hay.
‘Cover her over to keep her warm,’ said Warrigal, and they pulled folds of the hay out of the surrounding bales and laid them on top of her so that only her face showed and, around it like a pool of gold, her tangled hair.
‘All we can do now is wait and hope she gets back to normal,’ said Warrigal. ‘I’ll go and perch in that open window at the far end to keep a look out,’ and he flew off in the narrow space between the top of the hay and the roof.
‘I’ll go and keep watch at the bottom,' said Sam, and he limped back over the hay and made his way slowly down the stairs, which were open-backed, a bit slippery and rather awkward.
Brock curled up against the girl on top of the hay and was soon asleep while Perryfoot nestled up against Brock’s deep fur where he too was soon lost in oblivion, his nose twitching and his leg occasionally jerking as he dreamt. Nab sat, feeling strangely at peace. The smell of the hay barn was new to him; he had smelt hay faintly on the wind before as it had been drying in the hot summer sun on the fields down by the stream but they had never made hay in any of the fields near Silver Wood. Now he found himself almost overpowered by its sweet, almost sickly scent. There was not a sound that could penetrate here either and the unreal stillness contributed to his sense of being in a different world. And it was warm. If warmth was what she needed then she should soon be better. He looked down at her face and wallowed in the luxury of being able to really look at every part of it closely and for as long as he wanted. He became absorbed in the delicacy of her features; her mouth, her hose, her chin, every aspect of her face entranced him. Suddenly he was overwhelmed by a desire to kiss her; it seemed the only way in which he could express all the tangled emotions towards her which he felt. Slowly he bent his face over hers and in his gentle kiss all the warmth, compassion and love he had seemed to flow out and fill her with new strength and energy. As he drew his face away Nab saw her eyelids flicker and then to his joy they opened and she looked at him and smiled.