The Siege of White Deer Park facts for kids
First edition
|
|
| Author | Colin Dann |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Terry Riley |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Animals of Farthing Wood |
| Genre | Children's, Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Hutchinson |
|
Publication date
|
1985 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 160 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | 0-09-161700-6 (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC | 59083896 |
| Preceded by | The Fox Cub Bold |
| Followed by | In the Path of the Storm |
The Siege of White Deer Park is the fifth book in The Animals of Farthing Wood series. Written by Colin Dann, it was first published in 1985. This exciting story follows the brave animals of Farthing Wood as they face a new and dangerous threat in their home, White Deer Park.
Contents
The Mysterious Beast Arrives
After their third winter, spring brings new animals to White Deer Park. Fox suspects something is driving them there. Tawny Owl and Whistler search outside the park but find nothing. Soon, rumors spread about a fierce creature attacking animals at night.
Tawny Owl later sees the creature. It has bright, menacing eyes. He warns Fox, describing a large, strange animal. Adder also seems to know something but stays quiet.
Tracking the Unknown Predator
Adder finds large paw prints near a pond. He asks Toad about them, who confirms they are too big for any toad. At a meeting, Toad shares his discovery. Badger thinks it might be a large cat, like the Warden's. Tawny Owl disagrees.
The Beast soon kills a white deer. Friendly the fox finds the body. The Warden, who manages the park, notices the missing deer. He patrols with a gun, but the Beast remains hidden.
Whistler sees the Beast drinking from a stream. He realizes it is a very large cat. He tells Adder, who recognizes the paw prints. Adder tries to poison the cat but gets trapped. The Beast toys with him, then knocks him into the stream, allowing Adder to escape.
A Plan to Catch the Beast
Whistler tells Fox and Vixen about the huge cat. Weasel goes to tell Badger. He finds Badger talking to Mossy, a young mole. Mossy is trying to tell Badger that Mole, Badger's old friend, has died. Badger cannot accept this. Weasel asks Mossy to pretend to be Mole to comfort Badger. The other animals agree to this kind plan.
Friendly gathers a group of young male foxes. They include Pace, Husky, Ranger, Rusty, and Trip. They want to track the Beast. They follow its trail into a forest. Friendly sees something move but cannot keep up. The foxes find another young deer killed by the Beast. They eat some of the remains. The Beast watches them from a tree.
The Beast's Attacks Continue
Adder meets a female adder, Sinuous. He tries to impress her with his story about the Beast. She is not interested. Later, Whistler sees the Warden building a pen. Tawny Owl tells the animals the deer are being rounded up. The humans want to keep them safe. The Beast realizes this and waits for the Warden to stop.
That evening, Friendly's foxes search again. Their trail leads to a small group of trees. Ranger thinks it's a trap, but Friendly insists they go on. The Beast leaps from a tree and grabs Husky. It carries the young fox up the tree. The other foxes realize they are helpless. They leave to get help. The Beast drops Husky, who is already dead.
The foxes find Badger and tell him what happened. Fox and Vixen return. Badger offers himself to the Beast to save Husky. But when they reach the trees, Husky is dead, and the Beast is gone.
Finding the Beast's Lair
Fox creates a new plan. All animals must look for clues and report anything they see. The Warden realizes his traps are not working. He releases the deer. Adder meets Sinuous again. She tells him the Beast uses a large hole by the stream. Adder finds the hole and tells Whistler. Whistler informs Fox. Fox decides to gather all the animals to trap the Beast in its lair.
That evening, the animals go to the stream. They find the hole. Toad volunteers to go inside. He finds the Beast sleeping. Fox looks for another exit. But the Beast wakes up and leaves its lair. The animals pull back in fear. The cat washes itself, ignoring them. It then drinks from the stream and runs away. The animals can only watch.
A Promise and a New Threat
Most animals leave. Tawny Owl follows the Beast. He finds it in a ditch near the park's edge. The Beast asks why Owl is following. Owl explains how terrified the animals are. He asks the cat to hunt elsewhere. The Beast refuses. However, it promises that no animal will ever see it again. It says it will leave the park if any creature sees it and tells it so.
Tawny Owl decides to tell everyone. But he is very tired and falls asleep first. The Beast kills two more deer. The Warden sets traps, but the Beast avoids them. The Warden removes them. The Beast then attacks Farthing Wood territory. It kills several small creatures. Leveret escapes, but his mate is killed.
The Final Confrontation
Adder meets Sinuous again. She suggests the Beast might live underground. Adder tells Badger and Fox this idea. All the foxes, badgers, weasels, and rabbits are asked if they know of a large underground lair. None do. Badger tells Mossy about the theory. Mossy remembers a large underground chamber. Mirthful, another mole, had found it before she died. Badger asks Mossy to find the chamber. If the Beast is there, Badger will force it to leave.
Mossy starts searching. He gets distracted by worms. But he eventually falls into a large chamber. He finds the Beast sleeping inside. He tries to leave quickly. The Beast wakes up and chases him. Mossy digs underground. The Beast digs after him. Tawny Owl shouts that he has seen the cat. He asks it to give up. The cat roars loudly. Badger arrives, offering himself instead of Mossy. The Beast says it could easily kill them all.
Just then, they hear another cat's loud cry. The two cats call to each other. The Beast rushes out of the park to join the female cat. The animals realize it is mating season for the Beast. They celebrate that the Beast has finally left the park for good.
Characters in The Siege of White Deer Park
TV series
The main story of this book was not shown in the television series. This was likely because some parts, like the Beast's attacks, might have been too scary for younger viewers. However, some smaller parts of the story were included. Badger mistaking Mossy for Mole was in the second season. Adder meeting Sinuous was shown in the third season.
