Heartwood: Part 2

Brewis sat on his haunches, twisting to scratch the coarse fur on the back of his neck.  Raising his nose, he sniffed the air warily, his scarred snout bearing the marks of many encounters with rival badgers and baiters’ dogs.  The boy had already visited and departed.  Brewis recognised his trace.  Although the birds were unusually quiet, and Brewis was aware of an unfamiliar, muted odour faintly discernible above the bluebells, he sensed no immediate threat and ambled onto the platform of earth and compacted bedding outside the sett entrance. 

Although the old boar badger was now six years old, he was still a formidable creature.  He had seen off two attempts from lesser males to wrestle control of the clan and its sows from him.  A year previously he had even despatched a bull terrier sent down by a baiter to flush him from the security of the deep chambers, hauling its body to the surface in a show of defiance.  A frustrated swing of the baiter’s spade had left him with a slightly crooked spine, but it gave him only occasional discomfort in the damp, musty darkness of the sett.  Continual digging, repairing collapsed passageways and excavating new ones, had left him with powerful shoulder muscles and the ability to lash out his sharp-clawed front paws with speed and precision.

Staring intently at the old badger, the creech slowly lifted its long bony arm and signalled to another lying on its stomach along a low branch in the fallen oak. 

Although slim, its body was obviously well-muscled, a dishevelled and matted auburn mane framing its weathered face, and thick grey-brown fur covering the rest of its body.  Throwing back its head and opening its jaws to reveal long, yellowish canines, it let out a short, rasping bark mimicking that of a muntjac, then leapt silently and expertly to the ground, landing in a crouching position.  In the creech’s grasp was a large wooden club that tapered to a wickedly sharp point at its handle end.  Three more creeches, similarly armed, lowered themselves from the overhanging trees, forming a circle around the sett, and advanced slowly towards it, each footfall meticulously calculated.

Surprised at the unexpected closeness of the sound, Brewis interrupted his grooming to scent the air.  Realising detection was imminent, the lead creech sprang upwards with great agility, landing just behind the badger.  Brewis twisted instinctively, snaking out his left paw in a sweep that caught the creech across the thigh.  Yelping in pain, it somersaulted backwards, turning in mid-spin to send a bone-shattering blow of the club to the badger’s shoulder.  Absorbing the impact, Brewis rolled and turned to face his attackers, his hindquarters protected by a fallen tree trunk.  A snapping twig to his left signalled another lunge from a sharpened spike and Brewis swayed to avoid it before launching himself forward to close his jaw on a hairy fist.  Tightening his grip, he jerked backwards, pulling the creech off balance and raking his back claws across its exposed belly.  The creech howled in anger before wrapping its mouth around the badger’s neck.  Brewis continued to spit and lash out, but his breath became increasingly laboured, coming only in short, shallow gasps. The wood was now full of high-pitched whoops and excited barks and Brewis became aware of numerous dark forms cavorting over him, his short-sighted eyes only able to make out vague shapes rather than distinct outlines.  With one last almighty effort his body convulsed, his teeth crunching through bone, and he fell limp, an extended wheeze signalling his spent life force.  The creech relaxed its grip on the badger’s windpipe, allowing the body to fall back into the bluebells.  Further up the slope, two creeches furiously clawed at the main set entrance, flinging earth in all directions, but the clan’s sows and cubs were now deep below ground in the safety of the oldest and deepest chamber.  Clutching tightly at its injured hand, the creech gestured a command and the digging stopped.  Lifting Brewis’ slack body over its shoulders, it raised its head and issued a strangled howl that was met in the distance by another.  On hearing the reply, it dropped to all fours and loped into the darkness, closely followed by the others.