"It's Brigadier, sah, Brigadier but you can call me Brig. Not to worry about the old frogstickers, we'll have 'em back good as new."
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Saxtus and Flagg sat with their backs to the Abbey building, taking a breather and a drink of cool dandelion and burdock cordial while Gabriel Quill and Friar Hubert took over the fire-fighting relief column. Flagg rubbed the cold stone beaker against his brow.
"Whew! I 'opes those hares c'n help us. Nice folk, though a little snooty in their manner o' talkin' like."
Saxtus took a long draught of his drink. "They're Salamandastron hares, Brother Hubert said, battle-trained and ready for anything. Leave it to them. They'll know what to do, Flagg."
oo
Out in the woodlands beyond the east wallgate, Clary trimmed shoots from a thick yewpole with Friar Alder's knife.
"There, that should be just the ticket, wot? Six long staves, good solid yew. How's the oak comin' along, Rosie old gel?"
"Capital, Clary. We found a big old one, quite dead an' ready to topple, but loads of sound branches on it, just the right length too. Hahahahooh."
Thyme looked up from his labors. "I noted lots of fishin' line in the kitchens. We can plait it together; should be ideal."
Clary smiled grimly. "Well done, Thyme. Come on, let's go!"
00
An hour before daybreak Deadglim shook Graypatch awake. He went to the fire and warmed himself.
"How's it goin', mateys?"
Swinging his arm around ever faster, Frink suddenly let a fire-swinger go. It roared off into the lightening sky like a shooting star,
"Great, Cap'n, though we're usin' green vines instead o' rope now there's loads of it growin' over yonder, plenty o' dead grass too. We could keep this up all season. It's bags o' fun."
Graypatch helped himself to roasted bird, tearing at
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it hungrily. "Haharr, so it is, shipmate. Get summat to eat now. I'll take over fer a while. Hoho, they must be run ragged inside those walls by now. Pretty soon they'll be too tired an' slow. Then a fire'll start that they won't be able to cope with. That's when we'll pay em a visit. Come on, me lucky bucks, keep a-slingin' those flames in!"
Bigfang stood up. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he stared toward the Abbey walls in the gathering daylight. He ran across to Graypatch.
"Cap'n, look! It's those three big rabbits who were aboard the Darkqueen. See 'em, large as life on the walltop!"
Graypatch spat out some burnt feathers and picked at his fangs. "Noddletop! Those ain't rabbits. Don't y'know a hare when y'see one? Any'ow, what difference does it make to us who they are? They'll burn same as the rest of 'em. Wake yerself up, addlebrain,
an' start throwin'."
C/D
They met on the walltop in front of the threshold, facing the plain from where Graypatch and his entire contingent could be seen around the large fire which provided ignition for the missilesColonel Clary, Brig Thyme, Hon Rosie, Mother Mellus and Flagg.
Saxtus stood to one side. He watched as Clary took command, all traces of jocularity and fun gone from the hare's normally quirky voice. There were six bows and a large stock of arrows on the threshold. Clary picked up a bow and a single shaft.
"I'm aware that you all know how to fire a bow, but I'll go over this once to refresh your memories. This bow, like the others we have made, is a longbow solid yew and more than twice the size of the ones you are used to. It is strung with a cord plaited from fishing lines to give it extra power. The arrows, as you can see, are far longer than normal arrows; thicker too. They are oak, fire-hardened tips and leaf flights. Now, I have
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chosen you because you are the biggest, strongest creatures in the Abbey, the very ones to fire these longbows. Let me demonstrate."
As Saxtus watched, Clary notched an arrow onto the bowstring.
"Stand side-on to the bow, keep it upright, draw back the string so that the shaft is fully occupied and the string taut. Bring the arrow up to the jawline, sight with one eye along the shaft, allowing for the arrow to take a curving course, mounting upwards and coming down right on the object aimed at. Right, now for a target."
Thyme pointed. "The rat dipping a swinger into the fireget him!"
Clary adjusted his eyeline, drew the arrow back to its limit and let fly. The taut longbow string twanged as the heavy oak shaft hissed off into the dawn light. Saxtus held his breath.
Ranzo was about to start whirling his fire-swinger when the arrow struck him. It knocked him backward, dead before he could blink, the fire-swinger dropping from his nerveless claws.
Saxtus was still a novice in the art of war, and the sudden death shocked him. "Y-you k-killed him! He's dead!" he stammered to the grim-faced hare.
Clary issued longbows to the others. "Aye, young mouse, it was a clean shot. Keep your head down and issue us with arrows as we call for them. In case you're feeling sorry for that wretch, let me tell you something: fire is the most dangerous thing to any living wood-lander. Once it takes a hold it means death and destruction to everyone and everything. Only a searat would use fire. Sometimes I think it is because they do not realize the danger, being creatures who live on the great waters. But most of the time I think it is because they are evil vermin. We at Salamandastron have battled against searats all our lives. I would not dare tell you some of the sights I have seen. Searats are complete
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enemies. They live only to kill and conquer; they are completely merciless."
Thyme notched an arrow to his bowstring. "Righty-ho, chaps. Give 'em vinegar, wot!"
Five more messengers of death hissed through the early morning.
It was then that Saxtus decided the hare's manner was merely a front, presented to others because they would forget the real purpose behind the guardians of the shores. The young mouse doled out arrows, knowing that he would never get used to warfareand be a jolly fellow one moment, and a ruthless fighter the
next.
oo
Pandemonium reigned in the searat camp. Graypatch ran hither and thither, trying to stop his searats retreating out of the range of the deadly longbows, exhorting them to carry on with his plan, which had worked quite well until the appearance of the hares.
"Come on, shipmates. Don't let a few arrows scare yer off! Lardgutt, Kybo, get back here. We were beatin' 'emwe still can!"
Bigfang sat well out of range, a smug expression on his face. "I told yer about those rabbits, Graypatch, but you wouldn't listen, would yer? Oh no, you knew best."
The searat Captain's temper broke completely. "You lily-livered, worm-hearted, bilge-scrapin's! Mutineers, deserters, the whole pack of yer! We had the battle nearly won, an' now you've turned tail an' slunk off like a load of sea slugs! Look at me. Am I afraid? Am I scared? Haharr ha ha ha! I laugh at 'em!"
Graypatch grabbed a fire-swinger. Putting light to it, he began swinging it furiously.
"I'll show yer, Abbeyscum, I'll bring yer Redwall down in flames!" He dodged, ducking a flying arrow. The fire-swinger lost momentum right at its peak and the burning section fell onto his footclaws.
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"Yaaheeeoooooh!"
Graypatch hopped about, beating at his burning limb, fur smoldering as he threw himself upon his back, screeching and thudding his scorched footclaws against the ground.