ADC.03

3.Wild Boys

'William Golding aired a literary hypothesis in 'Lord of the Flies'. He believed boys revert to a primeval state when left to their own devices. The only criticism I have with that ideal is one my father drummed into me.... 'circumstances alters cases'. Had the village boys been castaways I believe we would have had a relatively peaceful, thriving encampment; but we were all friends. However, had the boys I met at school - or indeed any large group of boys thrust together by circumstance - been castaways, there would have been division, chaos, and most likely.... war!' - jp

In the main, the boys of the village were good natured but there was no doubt in their minds that Steve was a bad ‘un. As time went on most tried to stay away from him. It wasn’t out of any desire to please their parents, who all told their kids to keep away from Steve, it was simply because of some of the things he did. Vandalism was high on Steve’s agenda and he would rarely pass up an opportunity to be destructive. As wild as some of the boys could be, they had a sense of honour and bore no ill-will. There were the usual pranks and mischief, but then there was what is termed today anti-social behaviour.

The boys weren’t stupid and although the thin dividing line was sometimes blurred, they all knew without exception which was which. It was fun throwing stones through the remaining windows of an old abandoned warehouse but quite different to a premises still being used. Houses were strictly off limits but Steve didn’t care. More than that, Steve actually thrived on shocking friends and adults alike. It soon reached the stage where most boys would avoid him. When Steve went calling for the other boys they would be out, in bed, busy, grounded, or some other excuse. Only Joel answered the door to him. Joel’s parents warned him away from Steve but ultimately they left the decision to Joel himself. Knowing other boys wouldn’t hang out with Steve made Joel feel obliged to. He felt a little sorry for the older boy who was becoming ever more the outcast. Joel had no idea then his empathy might be a premonition of what he himself would experience.

One day Steve called for Joel. He was excited having found a new place to scrump apples. Scrumping was a popular pastime with all the boys and Joel couldn’t see how Steve could cause any trouble doing that, if he overlooked the fact they would be on private property stealing apples. Even after their brush with the law the boys from the village didn't consider a trip through an orchard stealing. Sometimes they were given permission to take 'windfall' apples which would only rot anyway.

At least Steve wouldn’t be breaking any windows or anything; he did like those breaking noises. Most of the regular haunts for scrumping were known to the boys, so the prospect of somewhere new was always exciting. As it turned out Joel was a little disappointed because the new place only grew cooking apples which were sour. The boys still ate one or two, convincing themselves they enjoyed them.

Scrumping did have hidden dangers. Joel and Ashley walked past a house one day and saw an apple tree in the garden. Seeing no obvious signs of life from the house, they nipped in a grabbed an apple each. As they dashed back out the gate they looked round and all was quiet. They walked down the street munching on their ill-gotten gains not realising they had indeed been seen. The owner dashed after them, put his hand between the boys' faces and slapped Joel with his palm, then back-handed Ashley.
"Enjoy your apples lads" the man muttered and went back to his house.

Joel had a rosy red cheek but the back-hander split Ashley’s lip, drawing blood. In this day and age the man would have found himself in court on assault charges and possibly facing a prison sentence, but neither Joel nor Ashley even considered telling their parents what happened. It wouldn’t have been the only slap they received.

The new scrumping place had its own hidden danger. Joel and Steve were up a tree when a large Alsatian dog came running to the bottom of the tree. It saw the boys and started barking. Steve began pelting it with apples making the dog even angrier. Joel was worried the barking would alert someone, but there was no escape without confronting the dog. The dog was more intent on Steve who was still throwing apples and shouting obscenities. He looked almost possessed. The dog was directly below him so Steve unzipped his fly and urinated on it. The barking became more frenzied and did indeed alert the owner who finally came to investigate. He was carrying a bamboo stick and Joel feared the worst.

The owner took hold of the dog’s collar and ordered the boys down from the tree. He escorted them out of the small orchard, alternately swiping each boy’s backside with the bamboo stick all the way to the gate. The boys never went back again. In spite of the trouble Steve caused, Joel still hung around with him until something else he did was the last straw. Joel may not have been as devout a Catholic as other kids with deeply religious parents, but the school and serving on the altar did make him a little respectful. Steve however wasn’t a Catholic and had no religious allegiance. One day when walking through a graveyard Steve saw a big stone cross. He stood one side of it and started to push.
"Steve, I don’t think you should do that"

Steve was a year older than Joel. He didn’t listen to boys his own age and older, so he certainly wasn’t going to listen to Joel and he pushed harder. The cross began to lean then fell over, smashing to pieces as it hit the ground. The act of vandalism was in the local paper with a picture of the shattered cross. It wasn’t even a Catholic church but it still made Joel feel bad. When Steve came round to boast about it, Joel’s father called up to him.
"Steve’s here"
"Tell him I’m busy" Joel called back curtly.

Joel’s father shrugged at Steve who frowned and went away muttering.

* * * * *

It was a good summer for weather and the boys were becoming more adventurous. The additional freedom afforded by the long daylight hours, coupled with a wanderlust borne of living in a sheltered little village, saw the boys going further afield. They were actually following in the footsteps of older boys and siblings. This bunch of lads were not the first batch from the village to spread their wings. The boys knew where to go and how to bunk the trains to get there. They would board the middle of the train and keep watch both ways to see where the ticket collector was. When he was spotted, the boys would hurry to the opposite end of the train, knowing the ticket collector didn't have time to check all the passengers before the next stop.

The two villages were close together by train, and then the main town was a similar distance from the closest village. At the next village the boys would get off one train before the ticket collector reached them, then wait for the next one half an hour later and do the same. It took the boys nearly an hour to do what was a fifteen minute journey but it was free, even on occasions like today when they had the money to pay.

The boys had time to kill but hurried along to a level crossing. They crossed the track and carried on a little way. Further up they quickly climbed the trees. The boys swung about like monkeys on the branches that overhung the track.
"Here it comes" Ashley shouted and the boys stopped swinging.

They climbed out on thick branches above the track and looked down waiting. The boys held tight as the train coming from town passed just a few feet beneath them. Their whoops and hoots drowned out by the noise of the train. When it had passed the boys swung around again for a while, then went back to the station to wait for their train.

The town had many attractions. The beach and cliffs among them. On rare occasions like today, a trip to the cinema to see the latest release was a special treat. Most parents thought the old movies in the village cinema adequate. There was a big fairground but that was also deemed a waste of money by parents. It didn't stop the boys though. They would wait outside the gates hoping to cadge wristbands. Tokens for single rides could be bought or alternately day-wristbands which allowed unlimited rides all day. It allowed people to leave the park and return throughout the day. Many families would start leaving around four or five o clock and the boys would ask everyone who came out of the gate if they had finished with their wristbands. Some people were rude, but there was never a time the boys failed to get one each.

The cinema in town was another treat. Unlike the one in the village, it showed all the new films. The experience may have been a visual treat for Joel but he didn't share his friends fever pitch excitement. To him the highlight was the popcorn the boys bought with the money that should have gone on train fare. There were no worries about the village boys throwing popcorn at people, every morsel was savoured and not a crumb was wasted. Using the same method with the trains on the return journey made Joel late home and resulted in no dinner, but it was worth it.

* * * * *

Boredom was unheard of in the boys' busy summer schedule. They found it hard to fit everything in. It was a time of magic and wonder with endless opportunities to play and explore. The penalties could be harsh but the accompanying security and respect from such an environment were priceless for the community spirit. Coal miners were a hardy breed and even with improvements since the war, it was no place for wimps. For most of the boys of the village the colliery was the only chance they had of employment, and fathers prepared their sons for this man's world from an early age.

The boys got up to things that would have made even these parents cringe. Perhaps the most dangerous thing they did was collecting seagull eggs. As ever Ashley did it first, it was almost like he had a death wish, or perhaps he was just oblivious to the dangers. The cliffs were more than high enough to make a fall fatal and the boys laid on their stomachs looking over. There were seagull nests all over the cliffs and the nearest ones were about fifteen feet down.
"Bet you can't get an egg" Jamie challenged Ashley.

The other boys laughed, there was no way anybody was going to climb down the vertical face of the cliff to get the eggs. It made them feel funny just looking over the edge. Ashley swung his legs over and reached with a toe for a solid hold. He found one and then with remarkable ease scampered down the cliff, put an egg in his mouth, and climbed back up again.
"Your turn" he declared triumphantly.

With only a momentary pause Jamie swung his legs over and climbed down to another nest. He wasn't as fast as Ashley, but Jamie managed the feat with equal ease. Nobody challenged Joel but he knew it would be expected of him, especially as Ashley had done it. Joel's heart was in his mouth as he swung his legs over. He was ultra-careful and took twice as long as Jamie, but like the others came back unscathed, even though at one point he swore he could actually feel his fingernails growing.

Alan looked at the three 'heroes' and made up his mind to get an egg as well. Joel felt almost as fearful for Alan as he had been for himself. He contented himself with the thought Alan had been hurt last so it must be Joel's turn, and he had already survived. Alan's foot slipped at one point causing all the boys' hearts to miss a beat, otherwise he was faster than Jamie. From those first tentative steps the boys were soon harvesting the eggs. None of the other boys would try to get one, not even Steve who was just as reckless as Ashley in some ways. The only near miss came one time when Ashley snatched an egg and an angry seagull started attacking him. He managed to scramble back up the cliff and the other boys shooed it away.

The seaside became a popular place to camp with many hidden coves. From the top of the cliff they watched the fishing boats coming in and went to meet them, curious to see what had been caught. The fishermen were a jolly bunch and were happy chatting to the boys.
"Got a spare fish mister please?"
"Got a spare crab, a little one mister please?"

The boys soon learnt which boats had shell-fish and which had wet fish.
"Got a spare little lobster please mister?" Joel always was ambitious.

His mother had one at a restaurant once and told Joel is was like a giant prawn. Joel loved prawns. Prawn cocktail was a special treat usually as a starter to Christmas dinner, or at weddings (and funerals).

The boys soon learned to follow the tide out from the bottom of the cliff and they found cockles and mussels. On a real good day the boys would feast on hard boiled gull eggs, cockles, mussels, mackerel (sometimes herring or whiting) and crab. They didn't know about the dead-man's fingers in a crab until a fisherman told them. They had eaten several by then but nobody became ill. The boys liked the claws best and whoever managed to scrounge the crab had first pick.

With all the gathered booty the boys would start a small camp-fire, Mattie had an army canteen his father gave him. It comprised of three metal cooking pots, a mug, knife, fork, spoon, and tin-opener, all folding away into one easy to carry container clipped on Mattie's belt. They could always rely on Scott for matches. Then one day it happened!
"Got a spare lobster please mister, a massive one" Joel said finally tiring of the relentless question he had continued to ask fruitlessly.

The fisherman roared with laughter.
"Raised our expectations have we?" he asked jovially.
"Well, I've never had one and if I do get one I'll probably never get another so I might as well have a big 'un" Joel rattled off without taking a breath.

The fisherman laughed again.
"If I give you a lobster, just this once, do you promise never to ask for one again?"
"I promise I'll never ask YOU for one again" Joel said earnestly after thinking a moment and brought more laughter from the fisherman.
"That's good enough for me" he said and went back the crates picking out a good size lobster.
"Tell your mum to put it in boiling water for twenty minutes" he said handing it to Joel.
"She ain't getting it, she's had one, I'm eating this!" Joel said adamantly "Me and my mates anyway"
"I suppose you'll cook it on a camp fire" the fisherman said barely able to keep the mirth out of his voice.
"Yep!" Joel said proudly.
"Get away wi' ya" the fisherman laughed and turned back to his catch.

Joel liked asking for a lobster because even though he was unsuccessful he was often compensated with a crab. Sometimes the boys found their own crabs in the rock pools left by the departing tide, but they were usually too small to eat. The boys dined on lobster that day and Joel had the biggest claw he had ever seen, as well a good chunk of tail. All agreed it was the best thing they had ever tasted.

* * * * *

Patrick was as an exception, his parents had gone into religious overdrive. He was a timid boy who feared even farting in church would send him straight to Hell. Joel felt a little sorry for him and made friends with Patrick, despite everyone else calling him a freak. To make matters worse Patrick cried a lot and even a little bit was too much for the boys of the village, boys simply didn't cry. Joel blamed Patrick's parents, sure the boy would have been a lot more popular in school had he been allowed the same freedom as the others. 

His parents tried hard to keep him away from the corrupting influence of other children, little realising they were creating a monster. The other boys had long since given up with Patrick. What was the point of a friend who was never allowed out of his garden? On Patrick’s eleventh birthday his parents allowed him a party, at home of course, but it just served to confirm their fears that other kids were a bad influence on the boy.

Patrick invited Joel first, and was allowed to invite another five boys. There were strictly no girls by order of Patrick’s parents, not that any would have been invited anyway, except possibly Jodie. Patrick asked Joel whom he should invite and quite naturally Joel suggested his own friends. Jamie, Ashley, Alan, Scott and Terry were decided on, which upset Jodie no end.

At the party the stifling influence of Patrick’s parents was irritating the boys. ‘Don’t make a mess’, ‘don’t do this’, ‘don’t do that’. It wasn't like any party the other boys were used to and inevitably Ashley and Scott began to misbehave. The boys were getting bored. Musical Chairs and Pass the Parcel may have been okay for six or seven year olds but the boys were eleven now and didn’t want to play baby games, especially under the strict guidance of adults.

When the boys gave Patrick the birthday bumps his mother looked on, frowning in concern her baby might get hurt. Boys were boys and the village boys in general were far more robust and daring than their townie counterparts. 
"Not too high" Patrick's mother fussed as the boys counted the bumps.

The first sign of trouble was when Scott ‘pantsed’ Patrick. Patrick was wearing 'trackies' with an elasticated waistband. Scott crept up behind the birthday boy yanking his trackies down. It was common prank and all the boys at some point had suffered the indignity of having their underpants exposed for the world to see. Unfortunately Scott had picked an inopportune moment as Patrick's mother just came back into the room. To make matters worse, when he grabbed Patrick's trackies he had unwittingly taken hold of the boxer shorts underneath. In one swift motion Patrick's pants and boxer shorts were yanked down to his knees. It was unexpected and the boys laughed heartily as a red-faced Patrick quickly pulled his pants back up.

Patrick's mother looked visibly shaken. The horrified expression on her face surprised the boys. It was almost as though she would be struck blind. Nudity was a definite no-no in Patrick's house. For Patrick to be an only child in a strict Catholic household had to be an indication on how his parents thought about certain things.

Things went downhill from there. Patrick's father was rapidly losing patience with the boys and finding it harder to hide his feelings. On a subconscious level the irritation of Patrick's parents was being transferred to the boys. They were naturally boisterous but now they were looking for a reaction. When Ashley initiated a food fight the party came to an abrupt halt. It was actually quite restrained as food fights went, but still a step too far for Patrick's parents. The boys were glad the party ended prematurely. Anytime it looked like they would have some fun, stern words would nip it in the bud.
"Patrick’s a drip" Jamie muttered as he walked home with Ashley and Joel.
"He’s a girl" Ashley added with disgust.
"It’s not his fault, it’s his mum and dad, they’re weird" Joel said trying to defend his school-friend.

What was supposed to be the best day of Patrick’s life, had ended with the boy reduced to tears. How could his parents not see the harm they were doing. Most of the boys had crosses to bear of one sort or another, but none ever complained about their treatment. It was accepted as the norm and the boys were far more interested in getting on with their lives, instead of bemoaning their personal circumstances. Of all the boys, Alan was most envied for his home life. He was the 'baby' of the family and with two troublesome brothers, Alan slipped under the radar. He was never known to be beaten by his father.

Fate may have been kind to Alan at home but made up for it in other ways. An old saying states ‘seven scars maketh a man’ but if that was true Alan and Joel could have made half a battalion between them. The two boys more or less took it in turns to get hurt and it was spooky the way it happened, but certainly not contrived. In general Alan’s injuries were worse, Joel hadn’t broken any bones but Alan had a catalogue of them. He had broken both legs (at different times), an arm, wrist, three fingers, and a collar bone. That was without counting the cuts and bruises. Very often it was as a result of bizarre accidents and usually caused by a third party, but one occasion shortly after his eleventh birthday was Alan's own stupid fault. Given the nature of his friends he was asking for trouble, and was duly obliged.

Ear piercings were fashionable with boys from the towns and cities, but in the village any boys with an earring would be regarded with suspicion in this man’s world. Both Alan’s brothers had earrings and he complained when he wasn’t allowed one. One day the boys put their heads together and decided to give Alan what he wanted. It might have been what Alan wanted, but it didn't quite happen as he expected. The boys thought they had it all organised in their childish naivety and set out their tools. Two ice cubes to put either side of the ear lobe to numb it, and a darning needle to pierce the ear with. Things started to go wrong almost immediately. The ice cubes had little effect in the numbing department, judging by the screeches coming from Alan when Jamie tried to push the needle through his lobe. Alan was thicker skinned than thought and Jamie couldn't get the needle to pierce the ear.

Two more ice cubes were put on Alan’s ear whilst Ashley fetched a hammer to hit the needle with. Alan lay across the kitchen table and put his head down. The boys couldn’t rest the lobe flat against the table so Xander picked up a small piece of wood from outside. With the wood strategically placed on the table and Alan’s ear lobe now resting against an immovable object, Jamie positioned the needle again.
"Do it quickly please" Alan pleaded, fear in his voice.

Deciding one good hit would be better than several little ones Jamie took the hammer and belted the needle hard. It went straight through the lobe and deep into the wood behind it. The boys cheered but Alan jumped up and ran around the room screeching even louder than before. The piece of wood was pinned to his ear by the needle. The only person not laughing hysterically was Alan who continued running around the room howling.
"Get it out, get it out!" he yelled.
"Come here and stop blubbing" Ashley ordered.

He tried to pull the needle out but it wouldn't budge.
"Try pulling the wood not the needle" Joel suggested.
"You do it then" Ashley said.

Joel tried but the needle went deeper into Alan’s ear lobe. Alan’s screeches were going right through Joel and he let go. It was all too much for poor Nathan who went white as a sheet and had to go outside. Jamie saw the needle being pulled through the ear by the wood.
"Let me try"

Jamie grabbed the wood and pulled hard. The needle came halfway through the ear lobe then parted company with the wood. Now Alan was running round the room with the needle sticking out of his ear. The boys cornered him and pulled the needle back through. Jamie picked up the ear-ring Alan had taken from his mother’s jewellery drawer.
"Here and I’ll put this in for you"
Alan swore at Jamie angrily, he’d had enough.
"You’ve got to put it in or the hole will close up" Ashley told him.
"I don’t care" Alan said adamantly.

The boys left Alan alone but a couple of days later as if to add insult to injury, his ear lobe went septic. The needle hadn’t been sterilised. Ashley took great delight in squeezing the pus out of the swollen lobe, providing even more amusement to all but Alan and the queasy Nathan. Alan's parents relented and he was eventually allowed his piercing after his ear healed up. It was possibly because of his pains at the botched DIY attempt, or maybe just to stop Alan damaging himself further.

* * * * *

With several of the boys working now paper rounds, there was money to spend. It wasn’t sufficient to buy expensive items like computers, which had evolved to the stage where they were no longer just a dot moving across a screen to be hit with a paddle. Spectrums, Commodores, and Mega-drives were fast becoming obsessions with town and city boys, but the villagers were yet to succumb to this new menace that threatened the welfare of children. Instead the boys from the village spent their hard earned cash on less harmful things, like pellet guns. 

It seems ridiculous on the face of it, and many would argue which was healthier. Sitting for hours in a darkened room shooting at a virtual foe, or running around the woods taking pot-shots at each other with guns unable to pierce skin, The boys initially hunted with the guns but soon realised they were ineffectual. It seemed quite natural to shoot each other instead. They had played war games for as long as they could remember, it was no big deal. 

The boys went back to the more tried and tested ways of stalking other prey. The closest they had come to killing anything with the all but useless weapons was when Ashley fluked a head-shot on a pheasant. It dazed the bird to a degree but didn’t prevent it from scuttling away through undergrowth, clearly in distress.
"Kill it! KILL IT!!" screamed Nathan as the boys gave chase.

No, it wasn’t blood-lust that prompted Nathan’s screams, it was the fact the thought the pheasant was suffering. Although the boys hunted animals and birds, it was purely for food, and they wouldn’t kill anything they weren’t going to eat. Rats, wasps, and flies being acceptable exceptions. Even bees were off-limits. The boys managed to corner the pheasant and Mattie wrung its neck bringing relief to the bird and a tearful Nathan alike.

* * * * *

One food source which had so far eluded the boys was rabbit. The surrounding countryside was alive with them but they were impossible for the boys to chase down. All that changed when some of the boys started keeping ferrets. Mattie was the first to get one and that might have been the end of it. When Jamie then Xander both bought a ferret as well, it left Joel no choice. He had to get one. Joel didn’t even like the animals, they were far too vicious. Xander was bitten on the finger and the ferret wouldn’t let go. Xander’s father had to prise the ferret's jaws apart to free the boy.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow" Xander kept repeating as his friends rolled around on the ground holding their stomachs.

It looked funny when it was someone else on the receiving end but it certainly made Joel wary of the animals. The boys soon learnt how to pick a ferret up. They had to be quick, grabbing the ferret round the shoulders and neck so it couldn’t turn and bite. Joel hit lucky when he bought his 'ferret' from Hawkeye, a local man who kept birds of prey. He had a special licence allowing him to do so and had four birds. Two falcons, a kestrel, and a huge owl. He also bred ferrets, rabbits, and mice. Joel was told he could buy a ferret off the man and went round to get one.
"Have you got one that doesn’t bite?" Joel asked and the man laughed.
"They all bite, that’s what they do, they’re predators"
"Well have you got one that don’t bite as much?"

The man scratched his chin and regarded the worried looking boy with an amused expression.
"There is one" he said finally "but it’s not a ferret it’s a weasel

Joel nodded. He didn’t know what the difference was but if it didn’t bite him he didn’t care. The man went to a hutch and pulled out the weasel. At first glance Joel was unsure. It was bigger than the ferrets the other boys had, but Joel liked the colouration. The ferrets were all white apart from the yellowish tinge on parts of their coat. The weasel had brown and black colouring, breaking up the creamy white between. Hawkeye offered the animal to Joel to hold and he took it nervously.
"He’s a big daft sod, I doubt he’ll bite you"

The weasel appeared to like being held and Joel stroked it with growing confidence. Joel was impressed and handed over his money.
"What’s he called?" Joel asked and Hawkeye laughed again.
"Call him what you like he won’t come"

Joel carried the animal home deciding to call him Zorro as he was reminded of the masked hero from Saturday morning pictures. It looked like the weasel had a similar mask over the eyes. Joel’s father knew he had gone to get a ferret and laughed when he saw what he brought home.
"That’s not a ferret it’s a bloody pole-cat"
"Hawkeye said it’s a weasel" Joel sniffed.
"Pole-cat, weasel, potato, tomato"

There was a similar reaction from Joel’s friends and their fathers. They were all of the opinion it wouldn’t be much use for catching rabbits. Joel didn’t care, at least he wasn’t going to get bitten. The boys gathered in Jamie’s garden with their ferrets ready to go and find some rabbits. They knew of several warrens because they had seen the holes when out in the countryside. The boys had been given some nets and pegs to place over the holes and had a small lump of wood each to kill the rabbits. Jamie’s oldest brother looked at the boys grinning.
"I’ll give fifty pence to whoever can keep the ferret down their pants longest" he challenged.

Xander looked decidedly nervous.
"Won’t they bite?" he asked.
"There was one case where a man had his willy bitten off, but he got it sewn back on. Anyway I doubt if they’ll worry about your little maggot" Jamie's brother answered laughing.

The boys were apprehensive but Jamie tucked his trousers into his socks ready. Jamie had to live up to his brother's reputation and he wasn’t going to lose face. Besides, fifty pence was fifty pence! Joel, Mattie, and Xander copied Jamie then unbuttoned their trousers. On the count of three the boys put the ferrets down their pants.

They tried to keep still with the claws of the ferrets scratching thighs and legs as they wriggled about. Zorro just went to the bottom of Joel’s trousers and curled up to go to sleep. It was too much for the other boys who pulled up their trouser legs out of their socks, allowing the ferrets to escape through the bottom by the ankles. Joel was declared the winner. Jamie’s brother handed over the fifty pence laughing at the other boys who were inspecting their legs for scratches. None were actually bitten.

For all the mickey-taking it turned out Zorro was perfect for the job of netting rabbits. It was an asset that he was slow and cumbersome because it meant there was little chance of him making a kill underground. It was a problem if the ferrets caught and killed a rabbit because they would eat their fill then curl up and go to sleep. If this happened the owner was left with three choices. Dig the ferret out, wait hours for it to wake up and re-emerge, or leave it and buy another ferret.

The boys soon learnt by their mistakes. Sometimes they would miss one or two of the escape routes and not put a net over them. It was almost as if the rabbits knew which had been missed and bolted out of those holes. The other thing was they had to be very quiet because some rabbits would rather face a ferret than go above ground if they knew humans were waiting. Joel’s first kill was a disaster. He held the rabbit down and asked Mattie what to do.
"Hit it" Mattie said waving his bit of wood.

Joel gave the rabbit a knock on the head with his piece of wood but it just struggled more.
"No, HIT it!" Mattie yelled.

Joel hit the rabbit as hard as he could and both the eyes popped out.
"Yuk! You didn’t have to hit it that hard!" Mattie snorted.