Browntooth lay flat on the rocky ledge, trying to peer over and get a glimpse of the monster. “Oh,
you’ll soon know, if you turn purple and green and start swellin’ up. That’ll put a stop to your impudence,
eh?”
Beneath the ledge, Auma could take it no more. The air from the straw was not enough for her, and she
broke the surface, blowing hard and sucking in breath.
“Whooaar!”
Browntooth leapt backwards. Regaining his paws, he trotted off to join the rat.
“Cor, did you hear that, Vitchey? You’re lucky you weren’t eaten alive. It sounded like one of those
giant things they talk about that lives in the bluesea place. Hoho, I’m not stopping round here.”
Mattimeo and the others broke the surface beneath the ledge. Gulping air gratefully, they listened to the
cries of the rat and the stoat receding down the bank.
“Maybe I won’t turn purple and green, maybe it was just a sharp rock.”
“Are you kiddin’, bucko? I never heard a rock sound like that.”
“Then it must have been a pike. They don’t have poison teeth, do they?”
“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been bitten by one. How d’you feel?”
“I feel all right, ’cept for my paw. Ooh, it really stings and it won’t stop bleedin’. Look.”
Cold and numb as they were, the comrades beneath the ledge tried to stifle suppressed giggles.
Scringe had the remaining captives chained and ready to march. He shrugged in resignation.
“Well, if they can’t be found, then they can’t. So much the worse for us when the boss finds out. Right,
let’s march them into that cave over there, then out again and continue south. Wedgeback and Badrag, you
cover the tracks coming out, but leave the ones going in.”
“Hmph! Sounds a bit silly, what’ve we got to do that for?” Badrag grumbled.
“Because that’s what Slagar ordered, numbskull. Now get moving.”
Darkness had fallen when Matthias and his search party reached the foothills of the gorge. Orlando looked
about in the still night, brandishing his axe.
“I don’t like it, Matthias,” the badger remarked.
“Neither do I, friend, but we’ve got to take the chance. We can’t afford to wait until dawn. They may
know we’re following and have pushed on ahead.”
Basil Stag Hare pulled Cheek back as he tried to bound forward. “I agree with you, old scout. Got to
take the chance, wot? Faint heart never found fair young uns.”
“Then we’d best stick together in case of a trap,” Jabez Stump cautioned.
Jess Squirrel chattered her teeth angrily. “Trap! I’ll give them trap if I lay paws on the filthy scum.”
Matthias silenced them with a wave of his sword. “Keep your voices down, sound echoes in a place like
this. We’ll push forward fast and see if we can’t spring our own ambush, but Jabez is right, stay together.”
A half-moon threw its pale light down into the hilly canyon, making eerie shadows as it played with the
breeze stirring the stunted trees that grew amid the rocky foothills. Matthias marched silently in the lead,
the fur at the back of his neck rising stiffly with the feeling of hidden danger. Orlando dropped to the rear
and walked with a sideways shuffle, checking behind them as he gripped his huge war axe low on its haft,
ready to swing like a deadly scythe at any back stabbers.
Perched high on the top of the hill beside a large mound of rocky rubble, Slagar whispered to Bageye,
“Where are they now? Can you see them?”
The stoat nodded. “I can make out the shape of their group. They’ve entered the canyon now. See, by
those juniper bushes, and they’re heading this way.”
The Cruel One pulled the eyeslits of the silken hood wide around his eyes. “Ah yes, that’s our little
friends, all right. Now keep perfectly still and have those poles ready to paw. When I give the order, follow
my lead.”
Skinpaw crouched behind Slagar with his paw resting on the long pole that was lodged beneath the
rocky pile.
Without looking back, Slagar hissed. “Get your scurvy paw off that pole, you idiot. I don’t want even a
speck of dust to fall and betray our position.”
The weasel withdrew his paw swiftly.
Down in the canyon, Cheek made a bound forward. Jess grabbed him by the tail. “Where are you off to,
little waterdog?”
“It’s a river. See the moonlight glinting off it? Lemme go.”
Basil wagged an admonitory ear at the garrulous otter. “Steady in the ranks there, young Cheek. This is
no time to go swimmin’. Where d’you think you are, at an otters’ divin’ gala?”
Jabez cast around by the river’s edge. “They camped here, for sure. See, some of the damp pawmarks
are still visible. Now, let’s see where they’d be movin’ from here.” The untidy hedgehog rummaged about,
snuffling and grunting quietly. “There! Yonder cave is the perfect place to stay the night.”
Matthias peered at the dark cave entrance silhouetted against the lighter hillside scree in the thin
moonlight.
“You’re right, Jabez. The good thing about it is it looks as if there’s only one way in or out. We’ll get as
close as we can, then rush it. Be careful how you strike in there, we don’t want to injure any young ones.
Cheek, you could come in useful there. Do you think you could get the captives out of the cave, away from
the battle?”
The otter withdrew his tail from Jess’s paw and gave a salute. “Of course, I promise you they’ll be safe,
Matthias.”
Basil nudged Orlando. “Very good, top-hole, wot? Our Cheek shaped up like a proper warrior to that. I
knew in me heart there was somethin’ good about that young rip. I was right, give him somethin’ positive
t’do an’ he turns up trumps. Mentioned in dispatches, Cheek, m’laddo!”
Orlando turned to Matthias, his eyes beginning to glint red. “The masked fox is mine, warrior.”
“Only if you find him first, friend.”
“Agreed. What are we waiting for?”
“Not a thing. Let’s go!”
The great sword of Redwall and the battleaxe of the Western Plain swung aloft like twin cold fires in
the moongleam.
“Redwaaaaaalllll!”
“Eulaliaaaaa!”
“Mossflowerrrrrr, give ’em blood’n’vinegar!”
Three things happened at once.
The searchers’ war party thundered into the cave, swinging and yelling.
Seven fugitive heads popped up out of the water at the sounds of their parents and friends.
Three pairs of enemy paws heaved the poles upwards, sending a landslide of earth, rock, scree and soil
hurtling downwards over the mouth of the cave.
Chapter 21
Beeswax candles glimmered late in Cavern Hole.
Cornflower, Winifred, Foremole and baby Rollo sat at table with the Abbot and Constance. The slim
stone tablet lay on a folded towel to prevent any damage.
Over a supper of mushroom soup, apple and celery slice, hazelnut bread and hotspice herb beverage,
Cornflower had related the strange tale, not forgetting the part baby Rollo had played.
Abbot Mordalfus shook his head in wonderment. “Marvelous! You found the tomb of our Founder,
Abbess Germaine, thanks to baby Rollo. Sometimes the gift of an inquisitive nature to the young can be
greater than that of the wisdom which comes of age. I trust you put the stone back when you left.”
Foremole tugged his snout respectfully. “Hurr, ’deed oi did zurr, she’m all shut in again naow.”
“Pity, I’d have loved to see it, just once,” Mordalfus sighed.
Constance indicated the tablet with an impatient paw. “Please, can we get on with this? What does the