Fantastic Mr Fox

"Let's go. Dad! Tell us what you want us to do!"

Slowly, Mrs. Fox got to her feet. She was suffering more than any of them from the lack of food and water. She was very weak. "I am so sorry," she said, "but I don't think I am going to be much help."

"You stay right where you are, my darling," said Mr. Fox. "We can handle this by ourselves."

10

Boggiss Chicken House Number One

"This time we must go in a very special direction," said Mr. Fox, pointing sideways and downward.

So he and his four children started to dig once again. The work went much more slowly now. Yet they kept at it with great courage, and little by little the tu

"Dad, I wish you would tell us where we are going," said one of the children.

"I dare not do that," said Mr. Fox, "because this place I am hoping to get to is so marvellous that if I described it to you now you would go crazy with excitement. And then, if we failed to get there (which is very possible), you would die of disappointment. I don't want to raise your hopes too much, my darlings."

For a long long time they kept oil digging. For how long they did not know, because there were no days and no nights down there in the murky tu

Slowly, wearily, the foxes began to slope the tu

"What does that mean, Dad?"

"It means, unless I am very much mistaken, that we are right underneath somebody's house," whispered Mr. Fox. "Be very quiet now while I take a peek."

Carefully, Mr. Fox began pushing up one of the floorboards. The board creaked most terribly and they all ducked down, waiting for something awful to happen. Nothing did. So Mr. Fox pushed up a second board. And then, very very cautiously, he poked his head up through the gap. He let out a shriek of excitement.

"I've done it!" he yelled. "I've done it first time! I've done it! I've done it!" He pulled himself up through the gap in the floor and started prancing and dancing with joy. "Come on up!" he sang out. "Come up and see where you are, my darlings! What a sight for a hungry fox! Hallelujah! Hooray! Hooray!"

The four Small Foxes scrambled up out of the tu

"Boggis's Chicken House Number One!" cried Mr. Fox. "It's exactly what I was aiming at! I hit it slap in the middle! First time! Isn't that fantastic! And, if I may say so, rather clever!"

The Small Foxes went wild with excitement. They started ru

"Wait!" ordered Mr. Fox. "Don't lose your heads! Stand back! Calm down! Let's do this properly! First of all, everyone have a drink of water!"

They all ran over to the chickens' drinking-trough and lapped up the lovely cool water. Then Mr. Fox chose three of the plumpest hens, and with a clever flick of his jaws he killed them instantly.

"Back to the tu

One after another, they climbed down through the hole in the floor and soon they were all standing once again in the dark tu

"My son," he said, giving the three plump hens to the biggest of his four small children, "run back with these to your mother. Tell her to prepare a feast. Tell her the rest of us will be along in a jiffy, as soon as we have made a few other little arrangements."

11

A Surprise for Mrs. Fox

The Small Fox ran back along the tu

Mrs. Fox, who was weaker than ever now from lack of food, opened one eye and looked at the hens. "I'm dreaming," she murmured and closed the eye again.

"You're not dreaming, Mummy! They're real chickens! We're saved! We're not going to starve!"

Mrs. Fox opened both eyes and sat up quickly. "But, my dear child!" she cried. "Where on earth …?"

"Boggis's Chicken House Number One!" spluttered the Small Fox. "We tu

The sight of food seemed to give new strength to Mrs. Fox. "A feast it shall be!" she said, standing up. "Oh. what a fantastic fox your father is! Hurry up, child, and start plucking those chickens!"

Far away down in the tu

"To where. Dad?"

"Don't ask so many questions. Start digging!"

12

Badger

Mr. Fox and the three remaining Small Foxes dug last and straight. They were all too excited now to feel tired or hungry. They knew they were going to have a whacking great feast before long and the fact that it was none other than Boggis's chickens they were going to eat made them churgle with laughter every time they thought of it. It was lovely to realize that while the fat farmer was sitting up there on the hill waiting for them to starve, he was also giving them their di

All of a sudden a deep voice above their heads said, "Who goes there?" The foxes jumped. They looked up quickly and they saw, peeking through a small hole in the roof of the tu

"Badger!" cried Mr. Fox.

"Foxy!" cried Badger. "My goodness me, I'm glad I've found someone at last! I've been digging around in circles for three days and nights and I haven't the foggiest idea where I am!"

Badger made the hole in the ceiling bigger and dropped down beside the foxes. A Small Badger (his son) dropped down after him. "Haven't you heard what's happening up on the hill?" Badger said excitedly "It's chaos! Half the wood has disappeared and there are men with guns all over the countryside! None of us can get out, even at night! We're all starving to death!"

"Who is we?" asked Mr. Fox.

"All us diggers. That's me and Mole and Rabbit and all our wives and children. Even Weasel, who can usually sneak out of the tightest spots, is right now hiding down my hole with Mrs. Weasel and six kids. What on earth are we going to do, Foxy? I think we're finished!"

Mr. Fox looked at his three children and he smiled. The children smiled back at him, sharing his secret. "My dear old Badger," he said, "this mess you're in is all my fault…"

"I know it's your fault!" said Badger furiously. "And the farmers are not going to give up till they've got you. Unfortunately, that means us as well. It means everyone on the hill." Badger sat down and put a paw around his small son. "We're done for," he said softly. "My poor wife up there is so weak she can't dig another yard."