Deals my 'ome a good few whacks.
Oh buzz, sez I, now wot's amiss,
Good gracious me, I can't 'ave this.
So buzz, buzz, buzz, I flies right out,
Wags my sting an' looks about,
Buzz buzz buzz, who can I sting?
Whoever did this wicked thing.
So right up in the air I fly,
An' there the villain I espy,
Buzz buzz buzz, the one I chose,
Had honey smeared all on his nose,
Buzz buzz buzz, aye, that's him there,
That 'orrible funny-lookin' hare. .
Steal my honey, that ain't fair,
Yore goin' to pay the price, proud sir,
Buzz buzz buzz, so down I goes,
An' stings him hard upon his nose,
I made him leap an' howl an' wail,
An' that's the sting in my small tale.
Buzz buzz buzz, I tell you folk,
Stay clear o' my ole three-topped oak!"
Ellayo chuckled as she described the scene to Cregga. "Heeheehee, the Dibbuns are dancin' round mister Florian an' whirrin' their paws as if they was wings. Hear 'em makin' buzzin' noises? I won't repeat t'you wot that hare's a-sayin'."
Cregga smiled. "You've no need to, friend. I can hear him."
Florian was stumbling over Dibbuns, holding the poultice still and shouting at them. "Away an' leave me in peace, you pint-sized rotters! Get from under me paws, vile infants! An' you, Tragglo sir, there's nothin' funny in a warrior gettin' his hooter nipped by a confounded buzzin' insect. Shame on you an' all your ilk, sir, you're a bounder an' a pollywoggle an' a dreadful singer t'boot, so there, wot!"
Tragglo retaliated by quickly composing the first line of a new ditty. "I'll sing ye a ballad of a fork from a salad..."
Clapping both paws over his ears Florian dashed off, yelling, "Yah, you great overstuffed pincushion, bad form! Addin' insult to injury. Go 'way an' leave me alone, y'fatty needle-bottomed cask-thumper!"
Rusvul joined the listeners at the doorway. "Pore ole Florian. Don't 'ave much luck, does he, hohohoho!"
Ascrod and Predak were the least hurt of the besieging army. Raventail was unrecognizable, his head completely misshapen by stinging lumps, made uglier with a thick coating of pounded dock and stream mud. Vannan was so full of poison from termite bites that her footpaws had swollen like balloons.
Ascrod shook his head. "Who'd believe it, sister, the injuries that insects can inflict. I took count a while ago. Six are missing I either stung to death, or run away after being driven mad."
Predak viewed the scene in grim silence. After a while she gripped her ax handle resolutely. "We're not going to be defeated, brother. This thing has gone too far. There has to be something simple, a thing that everybeast has overlooked. Redwall Abbey can be conquered, I know it can!"
Ascrod was impressed by his sister's fervor. "I believe you, Predak, but what's the answer? Everything we've tried so far has failed, and two Marlfoxes are slain!"
Predak looked about her desperately. "Leave these fools to nurse their wounds. Come on, we know that no creature alive can outwit a Marlfox. We're going back to Redwall. We'll lay low and study it carefully from every possible angle- We won't rush into any harebrained scheme. We'll stop and watch and listen, take note of everything, until we come up with a simple, foolproof solution."
Ascrod stared levelly at the vixen. "Yes, I believe we will, sister of mine. Remember that rhyme our mother used to recite when we were little more than cubs?
"The Marlfox cannot be bested,
Either in cunning or stealth,
Whenever there is power to be seized,
Plunder, land, or wealth,
When other minds are slumb'ring,
The Marlfox is wide awake,
Figuring how and where and when,
To deceive, to slay, to take!
Invisibly, by the magical guile,
Slyly, with less than a sound,
Count your paws, make sure they're yours
When the Marlfox is around!"
Like smoke on summer wind Ascrod and Predak vanished from the camp, into the thicknesses of Mossflower, back toward Redwall Abbey.
The mousebabe Dwopple and his partners in crime, molebabes Wugger and Blinny, had become Marlfoxes again. Daubed with flour and ashes and wearing gray blanket cloaks, they trundled into the kitchens and loaded a full plum pudding onto a cart. Believing themselves invisible they hauled the cart away, looking back over their shoulders and giggling. They made it safely out of the kitchens only to be halted by the javelin of Rusvul Reguba. "Haharr, you didn't know that I'm the only beast in Redwall who can spot Marlfoxes, did yer? Now prepare to be slain!"
Dwopple blew a sigh of frustration and seated himself on the cart. Rusvul could not help smiling at the little fellow.
"Phwaw! Us alius gettin' catched, 'cos we not real Marmfloxes I 'uppose. If 'n you don't slain us we gives ya some pudden."
Rusvul relieved them of the pudding and took it back to the kitchen. He gave them a candied chestnut apiece. "It ain't nice to steal, y'know. If you want vittles you've only got to ask, for nobeast goes hungry at Redwall. Another thing, bein' Marlfoxes isn't good either. You'd do better bein' Redwall Warriors, like Martin on the tapestry."
Wugger seated himself on a pile of floursacks. "Yore Dann be fetchin' ee tarpesty back yurr, zurr, bain't that so? Oi speck Dann'll be back soon, do ee, zurr?"
The squirrel warrior seated himself beside the molebabe. A tear coursed down his craggy features, and he turned his head aside quickly, hoping the Dibbuns had not seen it. "I 'ope he will, liddle 'un. If anybeast brings back the tapestry it'll be my Dann. He's a Reguba, y'know, bravest o' the brave!"
Dwopple popped a plum out of the pudding and munched it. "Will Marmfloxes be back, mista Rusbul? Mista Florey say they'm all goed an' not come back 'ere no more."
Rusvul stroked the mousebabe's head pensively. "Mister Florian an' lots of others say they won't be back, and certainly nobeast in this Abbey wants to see that lot return. But you take my word fer it, liddle feller, there's a world o' difference between what we'd like an' what we get. Nobeast knows that better'n I. Take it from me, all of yer, those Marlfoxes'll be back, an' their vermin with 'em, I'm certain of it, sure as I'm sittin' 'ere talkin' to you!"
The Dibbuns shook off their blanket cloaks and began dusting themselves down.
"C'mon, Wugg, us gonna be Red'all Warriors. Wot does Red'all Warriors look like, mista Rusbul?"
Rusvul looked at the Dibbuns standing boldly before him. "Just like you three, mates. Now go on with yer, off an' play!"
He watched them scampering off, thinking of his own son Dann when he was their age, innocent, fearless and happy. Then Janglur peered around the kitchen entrance at his friend. "Come on up on the wall, matey. There's somethin' I think you should see!"
Chapter 28
Things happened so fast for Dann and his friends that it was difficult for them to recall the incident later. Clinging to the boatsides, paddles forgotten, they shot into the underground waterfall like an arrow from a bow. The Swallow was such a light craft, she was whipped over the torrent's edge and flung straight into the Stygian gloom. Noise like none had ever known echoed and reverberated around them; darkness was everywhere. Breathless and battered by heavy spray, the three companions felt their boat spin through the air, down, down, down. There was a sudden impact. The Swallow struck an underground ledge with a rending crunch. All three were flung from the boat, half stunned, into a whirling, sucking miasma of dark icy water, far below the earth's surface.
Dann felt himself rushed along on a mighty current, bumping into rocks and scraping against slime-covered side channels, being swept always on a downward path. His paws were bruised and torn from trying to grasp at passing objectscompletely disoriented, he grabbed at anything. A shattered wooden spar met Dann's grasp, and he seized it, holding tight as he felt himself spilled over the top of another steep downfall. Striking the side, the spar flicked back at him, wiping out his senses with a sharp crack to his head. Darkness and silence enveloped the young squirrel.