rocks with a river running through the middle. Stake them out there awhile, feed ’em and let ’em sleep. I’ll
stay up this end of the gorge with Bageye, Skinpaw and Scringe, on top of that hill to the left. I want to see
if we’re being followed. If I signal you, then move this lot south, quick as you can. We’ll catch up with you
later.”
Two stoats called Badrag and Browntooth walked alongside Mattimeo and the others. Sam and Auma
began secretly baiting them. The squirrel and the young badger yawned loudly and stretched.
“Whoooyaawhhh! I’m almost asleep on my paws, Auma. What about you?”
“Whuuuyyaaaah! Never mind us, Sam, what about these poor guards? They’ve had their tails run off,
marching and looking after us.”
“You’re right there, badger.” Badrag rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Havin’ to break camp and march in
the middle of the night, keepin’ you lot goin’, takin’ orders off Slagar….”
Sam nodded sympathetically. “Aye, not much of a life, is it.”
Browntooth stubbed his paw on a rock. “Ouch! when are we goin’ to stop and get a decent sleep an’
something to eat, that’s what I’d like to know.”
“It’s a shame,” Auma clucked understandingly, “that’s what it is. Look, why don’t I mind that big
clumsy spear? You sit down on that rock and rest for a while. Sam, you’ll mind Browntooth’s old rusty
sword for him, won’t you?”
Sam smiled at Browntooth. “Of course. Anything for a friend. You slip me your sword and go and get
yourself a little rest with Badrag.”
The two stoats were nearly taken in until Slagar’s voice called harshly from the head of the column,
“Badrag, Browntooth! Stop yammering and get those prisoners moving. Come on, liven yourselves up!”
Badrag spat on his paws and rubbed them into his eyes as he quickened the pace. “Think you’re clever,
don’t you, tryin’ to get us in trouble with the Chief.” Browntooth snarled at Sam and Auma. “Move along
there. Come on, get those paws trottin’, you slackers!”
Matthias was first at the scene of the battle, with Jess close behind him. Twelve hedgehogs were attacking a
badger, nipping and bulling from all sides with claw, tooth and spike. The badger was a huge male, even
bigger than Constance. He carried a large double-headed battleaxe, but he was only using the long wooden-
poled handle to ward off his attackers. Time and again they would charge, hurling themselves at the big
badger with savage grunting noises, but still he did not use the battleaxe blade. Squealing hedgehogs were
tossed high into the bushes by long powerful sweeps of the handle, and now and again he would lash out
with his paw, causing them to ball up and roll away. Regardless of the size and obvious danger of the
badger, the hedgehogs continued to fight him aggressively. They were strong fighters. One of them, an old
male, would call out at intervals, “You great stripy varmint, give us back our Jubilation or we’ll spike you
dead, so we will!”
The badger’s patience was wearing thin, but his great strength was unabated as he bared his teeth and
yelled back, “What in thunder’s a jubilation? You’re all mad. Get back or I’ll use this axe properly, on my
oath as a warrior I will!”
Matthias, Jess, Basil and Cheek stood on the outskirts of the fight, completely ignored. The warrior
mouse turned to Basil. “There seems to be something wrong here. Woodlanders don’t usually fight each
other this way. Maybe they know something about which way the fox has gone. I’m going in to break it
up.”
“Keep out of the way, young feller,” Basil told Cheek. “Right, Matthias me old scout, lead on.”
Matthias, Jess and Basil leapt into the fray, placing themselves around the badger. The warrior mouse
brandished his sword and roared out, “A Redwall, a Redwall!”
Basil’s voice joined Matthias’s. “Blood’n’vinegar, mud’n’fur, up and at ’em!”
Jess’s voice joined them both. “Treetops and timber. Redwallllll !”
Immediately the fighting ceased. The big badger and the twelve hedgehogs looked in surprise at the
newcomers. Basil Stag Hare took charge.
“Steady in the ranks thah, chaps! Right, listen out now, all fightin’ an’ skirmishin’ to cease forthwith.
Otherwise this blighter here’ll chop you into bits with the great sword of Redwall. Now, what’s all the jolly
old tiz-woz about, eh?”
The badger added his voice to those of the hedgehogs as they all began talking at once.
“He stole our Jubilation!”
“Rubbish, I’ve never even seen a jubilation!”
“Yew great stripy ol’ liar!”
“Liar yourself!”
“Don’t you call her a liar or I’ll break that there ’atchet over your skull, so I will!”
“I’d like to see you try it, spikebottom!”
“Ooh! D’you ’ear wot ’e called me, Dad?”
“Never mind wot ’e called yew, sticks’n’stones won’t break our bones. You just give us back our
Jub’lation, badger.”
Matthias struck the steel axehead with his sword blade. The sound rang out like a bell, restoring silence
again. The warrior mouse pointed at the badger with his sword.
“One at a time, you first.”
The badger leaned upon his axe haft, his powerful chest heaving. “My name is Orlando the Axe. I come
from the western plain. My daughter Auma was taken by Slagar and his slavers, and I was searching for
her when all these mad hedgehogs attacked me without any reason.”
The old male hedgehog began dancing excitedly. “Harr, so that’s it! Slagar an’ his varmints, I might’ve
knowed it. He’s the one as stole our little Jubilation.”
Matthias pointed the sword at the hedgehog. “Who are you and what is jubilation?”
The hedgehog waddled forward. He was the most untidy creature, with leaves, flowers, roots and
creepers stuck to all his spines.
“I’ll tell y’who I am, young feller,” he said. “I’m Jabez Stump. This here’s my wife Rosyqueen and these
are my ten daughters. I’ve got a son too, splendid liddle ’og, name of Jubilation, at least I did have a son till
that thievin’ fox passed this ways.”
Matthias bowed. “I too had a fine young son stolen from me by Slagar. I am Matthias the Warrior of
Redwall Abbey. Allow me to introduce my friends. This is Jess Squirrel, champion climber and tree jumper.
Her son Sam was also taken by Slagar, along with three others from our Abbey, two churchmice and a little
volemaid. That young otter is Cheek, both by name and by nature. And last but not least, Basil Stag Hare,
retired regimental scout and foot fighter.”
Basil made an elegant leg. “At y’service, sah! Well, well, it seems that we all have a reason to catch up
with that foul blot Slagar. I suggest we join forces. Actually, we lost the slavers’ trail, and we’d be terribly
glad of any help you could give us, wot?”
The badger hefted his huge axe. “A sound proposition. I need help more than any beast. I’m hopelessly
lost in these woods, and it was only by chance that I came this far. Bear in mind, though, I’ll be extremely
useful when we catch up with these slavers.” Orlando accentuated this last remark by testing his axe blades
on the side of his paw.
Jabez Stump and his brood drew to one side and had a whispered debate, then the hedgehog returned
and offered his paw.
“So be it, we search together.”
Matthias, Basil, Jess and Orlando linked paws with Jabez. “Together!”
Rosyqueen pointed the direction. “South, that’s the way the slavers always travel, though no one knows