Peter listened quietly. "Well, Angus, I'm surprised you didn't get the majority of votes yourself, then," he said.

"Oh, no, I'm not surprised." Angus stopped in a small clearing in the corn where there was a small granite boulder embedded in the earth. Angus climbed on top of it and looked out for curious rabbit ears hiding in the corn. "Maybe they think they won't be able to influence me much, either. Or maybe they think I'm too old. I don't know. Perhaps they're uncomfortable voting for somebody older than they are. The conventional wisdom is to vote for someone who'll outlast you."

Peter nodded. At this time of day, the upper branches of the old oak tree cast a wavering shadow over this spot. He squinted against the intermittent flashes of rising sun. "So what happens now?" he asked. "There's a stalemate. You have three votes and so does Nicholas."

"And you have one," Angus reminded him.

"Exactly. I thought that's why they always bring it down to two candidates in the end, and always have an odd numbered council. That way there's always going to be one rabbit with a majority."

Angus chewed his tongue. "And we do have two candidates. It's between me and Nicholas now. You're out of the running, I'm afraid."

"Okay. So who decides?"

"The rabbit whose vote for you is now void."

"Great," Peter muttered. "And who's that?"

"Me," said Angus.

"You?" Peter's eyebrows rose. "You didn't vote for yourself?"

Angus sighed. "I'm not even sure that I could, even if I wanted to," he said.

Peter stepped back out of direct sunlight and stared Angus in the face. His eyes narrowed. "You don't want to be patriarch, do you, Angus?"

Angus grinned. "One day, Peter Rabbit, if you live long enough, you're going to be a wise old rabbit just like me," he whispered. He rose up on his haunches and ruffled his coat. "No, I have no desire to be leader. The other elders are right. I'm too old and too stuck in my ways. Nicholas, however, is too far the other way: too young and too unpredictable, too emotional..."

Peter walked in a slow circle around the boulder, thinking, with his head down. "Which is why you have to follow this through, Angus. What's the point standing for leader if Nicholas is gonna get away with it after all?"

"Because now I'm in a position to exert some influence."

Peter stopped. "I don't understand." He shook his head.

"Think about it," Angus said, slipping off the rock and defecating beside the corn. "If I change my vote to vote for myself now, questions are going to be asked. Most of them can't understand why I stood in the contest and then promptly voted for you as it is. Part of me is glad they're all senile old coots anyway. And part of me hopes that's what they think I am, as well."

"I'm confused." Peter climbed onto the boulder and kept look out. "What are you saying? That you're gonna vote for Nicholas now?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

Peter chuckled. "You're not making any sense, Angus."

"On the contrary, my boy," said Angus, scuffing the ground and then climbing up beside him again. "If Nicholas wants my vote now, he's going to have to work for it. That means he has to answer to me."

Peter frowned. "Blackmail?"

"Oh, no," said Angus. "Bribery."

"And what are going to be your terms?"

"Simple." Angus shrugged. "It's no secret he blames you for all this mess, particularly Alexander's death. I won't name names, but one of his voters voted for him because he wants you out of here too-"

"Hazel," said Peter.

"I didn't say anything," Angus continued. "But anyway, Nicholas is going to have a choice. We'll take him before the council and he can either decide to be your leader... or my follower. See how he likes them apples."

Peter roared with laughter.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of rabbit politics," Angus said.

Peter nodded. He looked toward the warren. Rabbits continued to feed the man by the ambulance. Peter remembered the plot. He spotted Mark, Tom and Travis keeping their distance. They were biding their time. All of a sudden the execution didn't seem so feasible anymore. "What about them?" he asked absently.

"What about who?" said Angus.

"Mark, Tom and Travis."

Angus visibly tensed up. "That might be pushing it," he murmured.

"Hmm, but who with?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "Nicholas? Or you?"

"With everybody who thought their exile was justified."

Peter sighed. "They have changed, Angus," he went on. "You haven't said a word to them since they've come back so you can't see. They have learnt their lesson though. They were willing to do anything for Alexander."

"I don't know," Angus muttered. "We'll see."

"Come on, Angus," Peter said. "You've got a chance to put this right."

"Like I said, we'll see." Angus looked toward the ambulance. His myopia got the better of him. He could tell Mark, Tom and Travis because they stood apart from the others, but when they went into the crowd by the hedgerow they fitted right in. Angus sighed. "When Nicholas is announced patriarch, you should act surprised and disappointed." He began to climb off the rock.

"Oh, too bad," Peter said. "I wanted to lord it over him..."

"Peter," Angus said sternly. "The last thing we want is for him to convince the others I engineered this situation. That'll make them suspicious. They'll think I'm under your influence. And that'd be bad."

Peter rolled his eyes behind Angus' back and sighed. "Okay, how about this, when you come back with Nicholas I'll even feign a little worry that he's about to chuck me out of the colony. Assuming this conversation is secret, that is."

"It is." Angus nodded. "And that's a good idea. I wouldn't, however, tell Mark, Tom and Travis what's going on. They never were very good liars. Let them be honestly afraid of Nicholas for a while." He scratched a tick behind his ear.

Peter smiled. "So, you've warmed to that idea, then?"

Angus shot him a glare, which quickly softened. "We'll see, Peter," he said. "We'll see." Then he turned round and walked away into the corn to find the other elders. Peter watched him go with a grin on his little rabbit face.

Peter stayed on the rock and basked in the sun for a long time. The sun always made him sleepy. It has that effect on most rabbits. Even if they slept at night and came out during the day they'd still spend most of that time sleeping if it was hot. Peter didn't keep his eyes closed for long. The waking dreams of his drowsy state replayed recent events with disorientating, convincing clarity. He watched the elders retreat back into privacy one they'd found Nicholas.

As Peter dozed, Benjamin Bunny finally caught up with him. He lumbered through the corn, limping and wincing, babbling something unintelligible and sounding like his tongue had swollen to twice its size. Peter didn't bother getting up. He just rested his head over the side of the boulder and scowled.

"What is it, Benjamin?" he said.

"Therth ath thecreth meethingth, Peeth," he went.

"What are you on about?"

"Ath thecreth meethingth!" he repeated.

"Oh, Benjamin, you haven't been eating stinging nettles again, have you?" Peter rolled his eyes. Benjamin nodded sheepishly. "What is it you're trying to say? There's a what? A something meeting?"

"Ath thecreth meethingth, yeth!"

"A... secret meeting?"

"Yeth! Yeth!" lisped Benjamin, hopping up and down, then landing on the stung pads of his paws and whimpering. As Peter climbed down off the boulder, Benjamin sat down and licked the little lumps on his forepaws.

"What's this secret meeting about?"

"The bodthy," Benjamin slurred.

Peter understood. "Who's called it?"

"Markth, Thom and Thravthith."

"We already had this meeting..." Peter said to himself.

"Thereth ath loth ofth peothple thereth."

"A lot of people? How many?"

"Loths and loths, Peeth!"

Peter sighed. "All right, take me to them," he told Benjamin. But as he followed the pained Benjamin slowly through the corn, part of him kept telling him to turn round, bask in the sun a little longer, not get involved. It wasn't that he had changed his mind. He still wanted a war on mankind. He still wanted the paramedic dead. But he needed more than a dozen rabbits. He felt a bit like Mark, whose warren was just three rabbits in a hole. Peter's war was just a similar ideal.

Benjamin led him to the other side of the corn. When they reached the ambulance, the usually sprightly young buck had to stop and lick his feet again. Peter inspected the paramedic. He was now lying on his back with his mouth open but his eyes closed, shivering in the shade of the ambulance. Sebastian and Angus' other conscripts stood in a line beside the diminished pile of mushrooms, waiting for the human to sit up and demand more food and water. Peter shook his head.

Once upon a time, according to rabbit legends passed down through the generations by word of mouth, man didn't have the metallic beasts he uses today. Instead he enslaved other animals, usually horses. Peter listened to the tales as a young rabbit and assumed the horses only obeyed because the humans whipped them when they didn't. But as he watched Sebastian and the others, he wondered if the horses obeyed because they were really sycophants too. Was it any great development that Sebastian didn't need to be beaten before doing man's bidding?

"Where are we going?" Peter asked.

"Outh thereth," Benjamin said. He cast a soggy forepaw off to his right, pointing toward the A12. Some of his spittle landed in Peter's fur but Benjamin was completely oblivious. He was speaking slightly clearer now. The swelling in his big fat slug of a tongue had begun to subside.

Peter looked past the hedgerow. "Are you sure?" he murmured. "I don't see anybody..." There were a few rabbits gathered around the roadside exit - hardly the lots and lots of people Benjamin had promised him.

"Thath'th whereth Markth thaidth tho meeth," Benjamin said.

Benjamin stepped out into the clearing of corn that was flattened in the wake of the ambulance. At precisely the same moment, on the other side of the clearing, Nicholas stormed out of the corn like Peter's angrier mirror image. For a second both of them stood staring across at each other. Nicholas had a steaming expression on his face. After a moment, he turned sharply and headed toward the hedgerow.

"I thinkth he'th justht lostht!" Benjamin giggled.

For a second Peter wasn't sure himself. Nicholas didn't look like a rabbit that had just become patriarch. Peter wondered briefly if Angus had voted for himself in the end, but then the elders appeared in the clearing together, and Angus nodded at Peter softly. "Don't bother him, Benjamin," Peter warned.

"Loother! Loother!" Benjamin called regardless.

Nicholas froze in the long grass and turned round. But it wasn't Benjamin he was staring at furiously. It was Peter. He stormed over. Broken corn was broken even more beneath his stamping feet.

Benjamin ran out to meet him, chanting "Loother! Loother!" again. He ignored the pain, this was too much fun, hopping around in wide circles, wide enough not to get cuffed. But Nicholas ignored him.

"I know you've got something to do with this, Peter Rabbit," he spat, stopping right in front of him. Benjamin hopped around them both. "I can't prove a thing but this just stinks of your mischief-making."

"What are you talking about?" Peter said innocently.

"Loother! Loother!" Benjamin sang.

Nicholas struck out. As Benjamin passed him again, Nicholas swung his forepaw to trip him. Benjamin being Benjamin, he ran into it with his nose instead. He cried "Oomph!" and crumpled behind it.

"Myth nothe!" he cried nasally.

Nicholas came in close. "The next time you so much as look at me twice, little rabbit, I'm going to do what Alexander should have done a long, long time ago, and that's exile you, you sorry little furball!"

Hazel cleared his throat. Nicholas stood up and Benjamin scampered behind Peter. The elders stood in a line to announce their verdict. As they did so a few rabbits nearby came over to hear their new patriarch named.

"I'm sorry, Peter," Genevieve said afterwards.

"Well," Peter said with a diplomatic smile, "I wish Nicholas the best of luck in this role, and let me be the first to pledge my allegiance to him. I hope to do my best for him... provided he's not about to exile me, of course."

Nicholas positively began to boil.

"We've decided to overlook recent transgressions," Hazel told him unconvincingly. Peter would have preferred to hear it from Nicholas. "Given your recent losses, that is. Nicholas intends to reign with compassion, but also fortitude. From now on, everyone gets a second chance, but there will be no third."

"And that includes Angus' sons," Genevieve added.

Nicholas almost flinched when she said it. His eyes twitched.

Peter nodded. "Then my disappointment is assuaged," he announced. "And my faith in your wisdom restored. If you have seen fit to grant Nicholas leadership of the warren on these grounds then I feel nothing but embarrassment that I stood against him." Stood behind the others, Angus was shaking his head as if to warn Peter that he was taking it too far. So Peter shut up.

Hazel and Genevieve exchanged uneasy glances at Peter's hyperbolic outpourings, then they nodded their acknowledgements and departed. The other elders trailed behind. Nicholas curled his lip at both Peter and Benjamin - a gesture that often invites a challenge - then followed after them.

Angus waited until they were gone, then he shook his head, rolled his eyes and sighed. "Keep your nose clean, Peter," he warned. He stopped again before he got too far away. "And tell Mark, Tom and Travis to do likewise."

"Tell them yourself," Peter said sharply.

Angus looked back once more, but he didn't say anything. He waddled back into the corn to find a nice quiet spot to sun himself. The last of the early morning rain clouds had finally vanished from the hazy blue sky and the sun was warm on all of the rabbits' backs. Benjamin finally came out from behind Peter.

"Tho whath abouth thith thecreth meethingth, thenth?" he asked.

Peter glared at him. "Didn't you just hear what Angus said?"

Benjamin looked up at him blankly.

"Oh, come on, then," Peter said with a sigh.

Benjamin went ahead, the painful lumps on his feet becoming increasingly bearable. The pair of them went down into the warren to get to the roadside exit. Sticking to the old tunnels as they did, the warren looked healthy and intact. Only the countless rabbits resting along the wall attested to the fact that there was nowhere else to sleep. Though none of them were actually asleep. News had already spread of Nicholas' victory. Some of them gave Peter apologetic looks as he passed.

Then they reached the roadside exit and went up. The new tunnel leading down beneath the road was still intact too, Peter noticed, though nobody was working on it anymore. On the surface, there were a few rabbits gathered around the opening, trying to get some sleep. There were a lot more at various points along the curb, some eating, some napping alone. Mark, Tom and Travis were closest to the exit and came forward when they saw Peter approach.

"We've heard," Mark said as Peter opened his mouth to tell them.

"Yes, but not from Angus, I'm betting."

Travis shook his head sadly.

"The word is, we've got to keep our noses clean," Peter told them. "So what's all this about a secret meeting?"

"This is it," Tom said. Peter looked behind him. He recognised most of the fifteen original volunteers huddling together right there, with William and Elliot waiting expectantly in front of them. Despite what Benjamin Bunny had said, there weren't any more volunteers. It was the same ones.

"Well, we're gonna have to move it," Peter said.

Tom frowned. "Move it?" he asked. "Why?"

"Because it's not very secret here, is it?"

Mark glanced round. "It's not? Why not?"

Peter looked at him incredulously. "Mark, there must be nearly eighty rabbits along here and they're gonna hear everything we say!" he explained.

Mark and Tom exchanged glances.

"Peter," said Tom. "They are the secret meeting."

NOTES:
Angus was originally going to be a crabby old Obi Wan Kenobi-style figure, offering wisdom and guidance but being quickly killed off just when he's needed most. Instead it looks like he's going to go the distance. In this chapter I gave him more of a wily edge. His dialogue was also fun to write. I have no idea where I got "See how he likes them apples" from. Another of his lines, however, "Welcome to the wonderful world of rabbit politics" is a bastardisation of a line said by Mulder in an early episode of "The X-Files". Can't remember the exact wording or the context, but it was said in a similarly smirking put-down kinda way.