The Outcast of Redwall Part 20

The robin nodded. "Yes, ferret pa.s.sed this way las' ev-enin'."

"Well, which way did he go, please?"

One wing shot out pointing west and slightly south, the exact direction in which Bryony was traveling.

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"That way! Bye-bye, crymouse!"

He flew off fast, with Bryony shouting after him, "And good-bye to you, greedybeak!"

Suddenly the mousemaid felt drained and tired, exhausted by the long walk and her emotions. Curling up, she fell asleep in the twinkling of an eye.

A breeze, or an insect, or something tickling her whiskers brought Bryony back to wakefulness. Slowly, she opened one eye. Immediately she closed it, fear making her lie very still. There, in front of her eye, she had seen a huge flat paw with big blunt claws.

"Wake ee oop, missie, et be only oi!"

Pus.h.i.+ng the footpaw away from within a hair's-breadth of her face, she sat bolt upright, crying, "Togget! What are you doing here?"

The mole wrinkled his b.u.t.ton nose and shrugged. ''Watchen ee sleepen, yurr, you'm an orful snoarer, Broinee."

Bryony stood up, brus.h.i.+ng herself off indignantly. "I do not snore!"

Togget put down his haversack, chuckling. "Ahurrhurrhurr, that's 'cos ee never be'd awake to 'ear eeself, 'ow you'm knowen if'n you'm snoar if'n ee be asleepen?"

The mousemaid stamped her footpaw. "Never mind whether I snore or not. I asked you what, pray, are you doing out here? Why did you leave the Abbey?"

Togget took her paw. "You'm moi gudd friend, missie. Togget wuddent leave ee to go off a surchin' for ee maister Veil all alone, burr no!"

Bryony seized Togget and hugged him. "You're a true friend, Togget, a good, loyal companion. Thank you!"

Togget covered his face with his great digging paws, as moles will do when embarra.s.sed by anything. "Hurr, oi'll go straightways back to ee h'abbey if'n you'm goin' to be a squeezin' an' 'uggin' oi!"

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Bryony understood, and without another word the two friends set off together, traveling southwest.

It was evening, still light, but getting on to dusk, and Veil was hungry. The ferret had eaten only a few young dandelion shoots and some edible roots all day. Sucking a flat pebble to ward off thirst, he carried on across the darkening landscape. After a while he noticed a faint glow from some hills, to the north of his route and, overcome by curiosity, he sneaked silently over. As he drew nearer the hill, he could tell the glow was being made by a fire in a small hollow at the hill's base. Flattening himself belly down against the gra.s.s, the ferret wriggled forward quietly. When he was close enough, he lifted his head and looked.

It was an old male dormouse with two little ones, sitting around the fire roasting apples. To one side lay a homely looking cottage loaf and a big wedge of dark yellow cheese. Veil noted that the old dormouse carried a knife, which he used to cut the bread, and that there was also a stout walking staff at his side. Veil walked into the firelight with both paws spread wide and a disarming smile upon his face.

"Pray, friends, don't alarm yourselves," he said, keeping his voice soft and low. "I come in peace."

The old dormouse inspected him critically. "In peace, aye, an' in hunger, too, by the looks of ye. Sit ye down, there ain't much, but yore welcome t'share supper with me'n'the grand-mice. Last bad winter took their parents, an' I'm the only one left to look after 'em, pore mites. We're travelers, livin' where we can, starvin' when we have to."

Veil sat opposite the oldster, accepting a slice of cheese, a hunk of the loaf, a roasted apple, and a large seash.e.l.l filled with water from a flask. He ate gratefully, improvising a pack of lies to the kind dormouse.

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"My name's Bunfold. I'm the same as your little ones, lost my mother V father, aye, an' a sister, too, last winter. I've been on my own ever since, wanderin' field an' forest."

The old dormouse stared into the flames. "The babes are called Hoffy an' Brund, same as their parents. I'm Ole Hoffy. AIT, Bunfold, 'tis a hard life for porebeasts without a dwellin' place. See the little ones are asleep already, wore out just like their paws from trekkin' an' livin' rough. Here, young 'un, cover y'self with this against the night chills."

He dug out a ragged blanket from a bark carrier and tossed it to Veil. The ferret wrapped himself up and snuggled down, saying, "Sleep well, Ole Hoffy. Who knows, mayhap tomor-row'll bring us all good fortune an' a bit o' luck, eh?"

The dormouse threw some twigs on the fire before settling. "We could certainly do with it. G'night, Bunfold!"

Veil lay with his eyes half closed, listening to the crackle of the fire and waiting for his chance.

Togget was awake before Bryony the next day, unpacking food for them both from the haversack he had made up before leaving the Abbey. Picking a kingcup, he placed it gently between the mousemaid's folded paws.

"Wake ee oop, 'tis a bran' new day, Or oi'll eat all ee vittles an' run away!"

Bryony sat up, staring at the flower. "Where did this come from?"

Togget busied himself slicing cold deeper'n'ever pie. " 'Ow shudd oi know, missie, et be thoi own biznuss if you'm want to roam roun' al! noight a-picken flowers, hurr aye!"

Bryony curtsied prettily to her molefriend. ' "Thank you, sir. Ooh! Deeper'n'ever pie with dandelion-and-burdock cordial. What a good breakfast!"

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They dallied awhile after the meal, enjoying the bright summer morn. Then, packing their gear, Bryony and Togget set off, still trekking southwest. About midmorn they reached the top of a high gra.s.sy hill and stopped momentarily to enjoy the breeze.

The mousemaid looked around. "You know, if this hill were any higher Til bet I could see the tip of Redwall Abbey from here. It's not that far away, really, only just over a day's journey."

Togget was looking the other way. Shading his eyes against the sun, he peered southwest before scanning all the land around. "Yurr, missie, lookit, thurr be somebeasts a wanderin' o'er yon!"

Bryony looked hard in the direction he was pointing; she could make out a huddle of dark shapes. "Well, I don't think it could be Veil, he'd be traveling the wrong way. Can you make out how many of them there are?''

Togget had exceptionally good eyes, for a mole. "Lukks foik two, nay three, aye, et be three. Yurr, wot if n they be foebeasts or villyuns?"

Bryony decided that they should lie flat so that the other-beasts could not easily see them. Stretched out on the hilltop, they watched until the trio drew closer. Bryony stood up. "They're dormice. Looks like two of them are only small. Come on, Togget, they won't harm us. Let's find out what they're doing in this country."

The two little dormice were weeping piteously, clinging to the blanket draped about Ole Hoffy's shoulders. He had a wound on his head, crusted with dried blood around a swelling lump. Staggering crazily toward Bryony and Togget, he fell, pus.h.i.+ng the babes from him as he toppled over.

Bryony was at his side in an instant. "Oh, you poor thing! What happened?" she cried. Dampening a cloth, she bathed 260.

the dormouse's head as he relayed a halting account of the previous night.

"Ferret, "said his name was Bunfold, camped with us, gave him supper an' a blanket to sleep. Must've rolled over an' burnt my paw in th' fire embers, woke me up this mornin', head achin', food gone, knife an1 staff gone too. Huh, ferret gone an' all!"

Bryony looked at Togget and shook her head. "Bunfold! That could only be Veil. Build a fire and take care of the babes, Togget. I'll see what I can do for this old fellow. Hmm, he's not badly injured. He should be all right."

Togget issued the little dormice with a slice of deeper'n'ever pie apiece and some dandelion-and-burdock cordial. He also dug out a packet of candied chestnuts for them. They had not eaten since the previous night, and both fell gratefully upon the food.

The mole patted their heads. "B'ain't much wrong wi' these two gurt rascals, they'm a vittlin' oop loik a pair o' 'are-beasts!"

Bryony soon had Ole Hoffy feeling better; she cleaned and dressed his wound and fed him. He told her of his life so far and the hard times he had experienced with the two babes. And the mousemaid came up with a solution that would solve all the dormouse's problems.

"You must carry on walking east for a day, or a bit more, and then you will see a path. Once on that path you will be close to Redwall Abbey-go there with your babes. Tell the Mother Abbess Meriam that Bryony sent you. Redwall Abbey is a place where all goodbeasts are welcome; you may live there in peace and plenty. The babes will be brought up well, never again knowing hunger or want. You will all find the love of good friends there. Have a safe journey, and fortune attend you and your grandmice, Ole Hoffy."

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The dormouse did a little jig, surprising for one of his long seasons, then he bowed to the two friends as he took the babes' paws. "Good comes out o' bad, some say. Last night that villain wished me good fortune'n'Iuck on the morrow. Who'd have thought that a bad ferret's wish brought me'n'the babes good!"

Calling loud farewells, they went their separate ways, but not before Bryony and Togget had donated one of their food haversacks to the dormice, more than enough to see them to the Abbey.

There was no talk of Veil between the two friends. Bryony set her face and refused to discuss what he had done to the good dormice. In silence the two set off, tracking the ferret once more.

Veil was back on the southwest trail again. Armed with a knife, staff, and food, he had cut the blanket up to make a cloak for himself. Finding a patch of wild strawberries, he ate as many as he could, streaked his face and renewed the red on his paws with the juice, then stamped the remainder into the ground until the strawberry patch was a sludge of red fruit and bruised leaves. Blissfully unaware that Bryony and Togget were less than a day behind him, he strolled off in search of the great mountain of Salamandastron and the father he had never known. He wondered occasionally if his parent, the one called Swartt, was as cunning and tough as himself. Mentally Veil wagered that he wasn't.

Sunflash the Mace was down. Vermin crowded to jump and stamp on the sand-heaped canvas bundle, screaming and yelling with triumph. Swartt stood imposingly on top of the rock groyne, hero of the hour. Up at the chamber window, Colonel Sandgall leaned far out over the sill, anxiously watching the threshold of the main mountain entrance.

Sundew stood alongside the Colonel, beating the rock sill with her paws. The young hare was trembling and sobbing. "Oh, help him, help him! Where are they?"

Sandgall replied without looking at her, "Steady in the ranks, m'gel, stiff upper lip an' don't let the side down, wot. By thunder! Here they come-listen!"

A band of hares came bursting through the main entrance, Sabretache at the head, swinging his long saber like a drum major's baton. Two stout Captains, Fleetrunn and Rockleg, flanked him, and behind them bounded fifty hares of the fa- 262.

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mous regiment, all armed with lances and slingshots, loaded with iron lumps from the forge.

"Long Patrol, give 'em blood'n'vinegar! Eeulaliaaaa!"

Soaring through the air like hungry eagles, they cleared the horde-filled trench in a mighty leap and went cras.h.i.+ng into the midst of the startled vermin who were surrounding Sunflash. Swartt vanished down the far side of the rocks and ran toward the sea as if pursued by demons.

Hordebeasts fell like leaves before a winter gale. The veteran warriors of Salamandastron took no prisoners; javelins flashed in the sunlight, and metal-filled slings thudded savagely into their targets. Sabretache took a tattooed rat through his midriff with the saber, yelling as he did, ' 'Cut through the canvas-free Lord Sunflas.h.!.+"

Swiftly the vermin who were left alive fled, and a tight circle of hares, javelins pointing outward, surrounded the big canvas bundle. Then keen-edged hare-blades sliced the canvas to shreds. Sabretache and his Captains pulled Sunflash from his stifling prison. The badger was limp and unconscious; Reetrunn was at his side, unhinging the helmet roughly. Supporting the Badger Lord's head, she called to Bloggwood, "Bring water, hurry!"

Swartt had regained his courage. Gathering a crowd of hordebeasts, he led them up the back of the rock groyne and around to the front of the mountain. They ma.s.sed across the big rough timber gate at the main entrance, blocking the way back into the fortress.

Swartt issued orders to his archers in the trench further down the sands. "Don't let 'em pa.s.s, drive 'em down to the sea with yore arrows!" He turned his attention to his own group. "About face an' give those in the mountain plenty o' rocks an' shafts. That'll keep their heads down!"

The Warlord was trembling with frustration. He had almost taken Sunflash and won the battle; but the badger would not 264.

elude him a second time. The ferret's plan was simple and good: Once he had the Badger Lord and his hares up to their waists in seawater, he could slay them at his leisure.

Fresh water splas.h.i.+ng over the gold-striped face brought Sunflash slowly back to his senses. Bruised, scarred, and weakened, he lay still, allowing Fleetrunn to pour the life-giving water over his head.

The female hare Captain allowed him a few sips. "Let it wash over you, Sire. Don't drink too much or y'll feel-pretty bad. That's the ticket-just wet y'mouth, eh."

Sabretache rapped out commands as a hare fell beside him, slain by a barbed shaft. "Keep y'heads down! Back up to the rocks, troops, they're shootin' at us from that flippin' trench!"

Dragging Sunflash with them, the Long Patrol hares fought their way to the line of rocks stretching from the mountain to the sea. Swiftly digging the sand with their long legs, they formed a temporary barricade, a low sandy hump between themselves and the vermin archers. Arrows hissed viciously, some burying their points in the sand, others. .h.i.tting the rock, while some found targets among the beleaguered hares.

Colonel Sandgall had to draw back from the window: Arrows and slingstones from Swartt's hordebeasts were whistling through the opening, ricocheting around the chamber.

He sniffed disdainfully and, adjusting his monocle, he waggled one long ear at Sundew. "Out y'go, missie, no sense in gettin' y'self injured here, wot. Go an' make y'self useful elsewheres, there's a good gel."

Sundew had collected the slingstones that came in, and now she was sending them out with a vengeance. Whirling her own sling, she dashed at the window and hurled down a quick one at those below. "I'm stayin' here with you, sah," she said. "They won't make me s.h.i.+ft!"

Sandgall took a bow from a wallpeg and, notching one of the fallen shafts to its string, he nipped smartly to the window 265.

and fired, nodding as he was rewarded by a scream from below. "Good gel! True blue'n'never fail, eh! Come on, let's return fire with their own gear. Long time since I put ash to yew an' twine. Never forget the old skills-good show!" Squinting through his monocle, he loosed another arrow.

Sabretache crouched low with Rockleg at his side, a.s.sessing their perilous situation. "Looks bad, old chum, the blighters have got us well pinned down here. Not much chance of get-tin' back to the jolly old mountain either, just look at that evil rabble all ganged up in front of the main gate! Absolute rotters!"

Rockleg twitched an ear in the direction of the sea. "Right y'are/Tache, y'see their strategy, doncha, they want to drive us down to the water, stop us gettin' back to the mountain. Huh, look at that dirty great mob of vermin waitin' for us on the waterline. Bad show if y'ask me. They've got us trapped here like frogs in a bucket!"

Sabretache flicked his head to one side as an arrow whizzed by. "We'll just have t'sit it out, old boy, wait until Lord Sun-flash is up t' the mark again an' hope for some sort of a miracle t'pull our chestnuts out of the fire, wot."

Sunflash had begun to tear at the confining chain mail tunic; Fleetrunn tried to hold his ma.s.sive paws still. "Best leave it on, Sire," she said. "Better feelin' a bit uncomfortable than bein' stuck all over with arrows."

As if to confirm her words, a shaft glanced off the chain mail and buried itself in the sand. She winked at the badger. "No disrespect, Sire, but y'see what I mean now!"

Evening shades began to fall; the hot day cooled with a breeze from the incoming tide. Still trapped against the rocks, the hares crouched and waited. The arrows and slingstones had slowed somewhat, though now the horde in the trench were 266.

sniping, taking more careful aim. It was a frustrating and dangerous time. Rockleg poked his head over the sandy barricade and took a quick peek seaward.

"Oh, dash it all!" he groaned. "That lot down by the water are startin' to sneak up here. Stand by, chaps, I think we're about to be ambushed shortly. It'll soon be dark-that's when they'll come." He licked a wound on his shoulder and poured dry sand on to seal it.

*' Logalogalogalogalooooooog!''

Sabretache's ears shot up. "What'n the fur was that?"

Sunflash struggled upward and grabbed his mace. "It's the Guosim shrews! They've arrived by sea!"

"Guosim, Guosim, Guosim! Logalogalogalooooog!"

Rockleg pointed with his javelin. "Look, they're givin' those blighters down by the water a hard time of it. Up here, chaps! Up here!"

Sabretache turned toward the mountain. "Hurrah!" he cheered. "Look, there's a gang of otters'n'squirrels batterin' the livin' daylights out of the vermin!"

A great roar went up from the warriors at the mountain front.

"Heyaaah! Hoyaaah! Firjak Greenstone! Whump! Whump! Whump!"

The otters and squirrels had come around the mountain from both sides, hurling themselves on both flanks of Swartt's hor-debeasts with clubs and spears. Guosim shrews charged up from the tideline, cutting a swathe through the vermin pack with flas.h.i.+ng rapiers.

With the blood of his ancestors rising in his veins, Sunflash came bulling out at the head of the hares. Joined by the shrews, they went cras.h.i.+ng heedlessly over the heads of the trench archers, scattering vermin left and right.

Swartt took flight once again, and the demoralized horde- Outcast of Redivott 267.

beasts broke and fled, rus.h.i.+ng straight to the safety of the rocks or the tide shallows. The rough-timber gates swung open. Sun-flash stood by them, brandis.h.i.+ng his mace until everybeast was inside and safe. Sentries were posted at every lookout post to watch the horde, while the rest crowded into the banqueting hall.