The Siege of White Deer Park
First edition
|
|
| Author | Colin Dann |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Terry Riley |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Animals of Farthing Wood (book series) |
| Genre | Children's, Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Hutchinson |
|
Publication date
|
1985 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 160 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | (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 of The Animals of Farthing Wood series. It was first published in 1985 and has since been included in a single book with In the Path of the Storm and Battle for the Park in the "Second Omnibus" edition (Hutchinson, 1995).
Of the Farthing Wood animals Kestrel has moved away from White Deer Park to hunt without the risk of killing his friends, Hare and Rabbit have died of old age, and as original Farthing Wood smaller animals have and have so many descendents with the animals native to White Deer Park the oath no longer applies to them.
The Farthing Wood animals' third winter in White Deer Park has come to an end. As spring arrives there is an influx of animals from outside the park. Fox suspects that something outside the park is driving these animals to take shelter in the park, so Tawny Owl and Whistler search outside the park for clues. They find nothing, but word starts to spread of a fierce beast making raids in the park during the night.
After searching the reserve and finding no sightings of the mysterious creature, Tawny Owl takes refuge in a tree in a small area of woodland within the park to rest. Before dawn he is awakened by the thought he is being watched. Looking down, he sees the head of a large creature with bright eyes looking at him in a menacing way. Knowing this is what he is looking for, Owl flies further up the tree out of reach, then notices the strange creature has disappeared in an instant. Owl then flies off to warn Fox and the others of his sighting just as the sun rises. Tawny Owl gives Fox a description of what he saw. Adder also hears of these developments. Though Adder says nothing, Fox thinks Adder is hiding something.
Later Adder finds Toad and asks him about some large paw prints he has found near the now deserted Edible Frog's pond. Adder explains that as he does not have paws he cannot judge whether they are from a toad or not. Toad tells him these prints are too big for a toad. A meeting is called and Toad informs the animals of the footprints seen by himself and Adder. Badger states that the graceful nature of this animal reminds him of the Warden's cat and suggests that the animal might be a sort of cat. Tawny Owl pooh-poohs this suggestion. Not long afterwards meeting the Beast kills one of the white deer herd and Friendly discovers the carcass, then talks to some of his younger relatives about his plan to track the creature down.
The Beast kills a white deer fawn and leaves few remains as evidence, so Friendly and the other foxes do not notice what has happened. The Warden does notice the losses and regularly patrols the area with a gun, but the Beast is not discovered. While fishing Whistler spots the Beast when it drinks from the stream, and sees that it is a very large cat. He tells Adder, who notices that the footprints are the same ones that he had seen before, and he decides to pursue the cat with the idea of poisoning it. However, the Beast traps Adder with its paw and toys with him, eventually knocking him into the stream which allows him to escape.
...
Wikipedia