Rusvul was up and about early, helping the breakfast cooks. He was coming out of the door with an apple basket in one paw, heading for the orchard, when he heard the cries. The water rat carrying the spear was chasing Butty, trying to cut him down before he reached the Abbey. Racing hard, he was barely a paw's length behind the old Recorder when he drew back the spear, ready to stab forward. Rusvul's apple basket caught him full in the face at the same instant that the squirrel warrior's flying kick struck his stomach. Rusvul grabbed the spear and flung it, bringing down a ferret who was leading the charge. Seizing Butty's paw, he dragged him headlong into the Abbey and slammed the door shut. Rusvul's roaring boomed through Great Hall as he shot home the bolts on the big door.
"Wake, Redwallers! It's an attack! They're inside the grounds!"
Janglur Swifteye came bounding downstairs, furious. "First night we're not on watch, Rus, an' they're in!"
Guosim shrews, Redwallers and the Noonvale players came hurrying into Great Hall, some half dressed, others still in night attire. Janglur pushed them this way and that, yelling, "Shove the tables over to the windows an' defend 'em! Tragglo, you an' Melilot get all the weapons you can muster! Florian, take yore creatures an' barricade the door, guard it! Sister Sloey, see the Dibbuns stay upstairs out of the way! Rusvul, get to an upstairs window an' see wot's goin' on out there, mate!"
Cregga Badgermum felt blindly about her until she touched Janglur. "What can I do to help?"
Ellayo and Rimrose took the blind badger's paws.
"You come upstairs with us. We'll see what we can do from the upper windows!"
An argument had broken out on the front lawn between Ascrod and Raventail. Dawn was up, the rosy glow illuminating the two quarreling creatures.
"Babarian oaf! I said to come silently when the signal was given!"
"Watch youmouth, magicfox, we came plenty plenty quiet. Oldmouse runnin' away didmuch shoutin', kye arr, that one shoutshout!"
Vannan interrupted the dispute. "He's right, brother, we charged without a single sound. It was the old Redwaller who alerted them."
Ascrod was not in a good mood at their failure to get inside the Abbey building. He turned on his sister, snarling. "Who asked you? There were eight sentries on that wall, but the stupid ferret and his gang slew seven of them, so now we only have one hostage to bargain with. Perhaps you'd like to side with Raventail and slay him too?"
The Guosim shrew Mayon lay on the grass, wounded and bound. He kicked his legs, catching Raventail. "Aye, go ahead an' slay me, slimesnout. I'm tied up an' you've got me outnumbered. Shouldn't be too 'ard for a hero like you!"
The barbarian ferret began kicking Mayon repeatedly. "Kye arr, I kicka you plenty good for dat!"
Ascrod dragged Raventail roughly off the shrew. "Idiot! You kill that shrew, an' I'll slay you!"
Raventail brandished his cutlass under the Marlfox's nose. "Yakkachak! Dat'll be th'day. C'mon, magicfox, you wanta fight Raventail, mefight plentygood, kye arr, plentygood!"
Predak dragged them apart. "What's the matter with you two? We should be fighting the Redwallers. Let's concentrate on getting inside the Abbey!"
Rusvul came downstairs grim-faced to make his report to Janglur. "They're all over the place out there an' our main gates are wide open. Bargle's dead an' six other shrews who were on wallguard. They've got Mayon, he's still alive. What do we do?"
Janglur sat on the bottom stairs, gnawing at his lip. "Well, we can't break out an' fight 'em, they've got us far outnumbered, matey. Then there's the old 'uns an' the Dibbuns to think of. Looks like they've got us boxed in."
Florian was crossing the hall. Shards of crystal glass exploded on the floorstones around him and the hare dodged quickly to one side, his ears standing up with indignation. "They're slingin' stones at the windows. Vandals! Wreckers!"
He sprinted across to one of the tables set by the windows. Leaping upon it, he began returning the stones that had fallen on the table. "Scruffynecked bog-splatchers, take that, an' that too! Haha! I say, you chaps, I got one, right in the fizzog, wot!"
Janglur whipped the sling from around his waist. "Well done, mister Florian! That's wot we can do, Rus, strike back at 'em. Let me at the scum!"
Redwallers lined the broken windows, slinging stones and hurling anything that came to paw at the attackers. However, the vermin fought back with slingstones, spears and arrows. Janglur stooped to help a mole who had been hit by a spear, only to find that he was dead. The squirrel warrior gritted his teeth, calling out to his friend, "Rusvul, go an' get those longbows!"
Rusvul came hurrying back with bows and quivers. "One of 'em's missin', Jang, I can only find two. Wish ole Skipper was 'ere to lend a paw. He could shoot a bow, that 'un!"
Janglur set shaft to bowstring and, standing tall, fired through the broken panes. From outside came a scream.
"So can I when I'm roused, mate, so can I!"
A dozen or more vermin lay transfixed by arrows when Ascrod decided to drop back a bit. He called a halt and ordered a large fire to be lit in the center of the lawn. When it was blazing he stood boldly in front of it and hailed the Abbey.
"Redwallers, listen to me. You're surrounded. Come out!"
Florian Dugglewoof Wilffachop gave the answer. "Come out? Nevah, sir. Why don't you come in an' get us, wot!"
"We could come in and get you if we wait long enough, but by then there'd be a lot of you dead and your young ones would be starving. If you don't come out immediately we'll kill the prisoner we took." Without turning his head, he addressed his next remark to Vannan. "Bring the shrew over here."
Janglur sat on the table edge, looked at Rusvul, then placed his head in both paws. "I don't want to see or hear any of this, mate. You know what they'll do to pore old Mayon."
At a dormitory window the missing longbow was in the paws of the blind badger Cregga. Rimrose was amazed. She had never seen a longbow drawn so far back. The arrow was stretched to its very tip on the string. Cregga kept her face straight ahead, listening to Ellayo.
"Down a bit an' left, Cregga, now up a touch, just a mite, that's it, the shaft's well lined on that villain's head."
The badger released the string with a mighty twang. The arrow carried on, straight through the fire, across the lawn and out through the open gates on to the flatlands, despite the fact that Ascrod was the first target it passed through.
Raventail snatched up a bow and thrust a rag-bound arrow into the fire to set it alight. Tragglo Spearback ducked as the blazing shaft zipped in through a broken window. Raventail's horrendous message fell upon the Redwallers' ears as he screeched savagely, "Burn Redwall! Kye arr! Burn, burn, burn!"
Cutting dark smoking trails, flaming arrows began whirring in through the windows. Foremole Gubbio alerted his crew. "Hurr, get ee buckets o' water an' wetted sacks, 'asten naow!"
Rusvul stared ashen-faced at Florian and Janglur. "They means t'burn this Abbey down with us in it!"
Another volley of blazing shafts came flying in. Redwallers dashed hither and thither amid the smoke, dodging arrows and flapping away at burning tapestry hangings with wet sacks. Foremole and his crew were trying to set up a bucket chain from Great Hall to the kitchens, but the mole leader shook his velvety head in despair as he passed buckets of water. "Hurr, lackaday, us'n's goin' to run short o' water soon!"
Cregga came pounding downstairs to hold a hasty conference with Janglur and Rusvul. They agreed with her plan immediately.
Janglur ordered the scheme into action, quietly and without fuss. "Splikker, arm yore shrews. Tragglo, get all the able-bodied Redwallers together an' see they have weapons. Mister Florian, go t'the windows an' tell 'em we're comin' out."
Florian leapt up on the table, calling to the attackers, "Truce, you chaps, I say, truce! You can pack in tryin' to burn the old place, we're comin' out. Hold y'fire!"