none of them will escape a second time.”
“Righto, but what if they manage to dig their friends out of that cave while we’re away?”
“Don’t talk rubbish,” Slagar sniggered. “Nothing on earth could move that lot. It isn’t a cave any more,
it’s a grave. Now get going and bring the rest back here quickly. When you get back, lie low, stay silent, and
wait until I give the signal.”
Bageye and Skinpaw trotted off into the moonlit forest.
Slagar ripped off his patterned silk headmask and breathed deep, his mutilated face twisting into an
insane smile as he listened to the young ones on the other side of the hill trying desperately to reach their
parents and friends through an impenetrable mass of earth and rock.
Inside the cave the dust had settled. Matthias felt about in the inky blackness until he found his sword. All
around him there was spluttering, coughing and confusion. The warrior mouse wiped dusty earth from his
mouth and called out, “Is everybeast all right?”
“All right? Steady on, old sport. A feller can hardly be all right when he’s buried up to his middle in
rocks and whatnot.”
The warrior mouse groped about slowly in the dense gloom. “Stay where you are, Basil. Don’t move.
We’ll get you free. Now, are the rest of you safe and unharmed?”
“I’d be all right if this hedgehog didn’t keep a bumpin’ into me—”
Cheek the otter’s grumbling was cut short by Orlando’s rumbling growl. “Then stay still and stop
bobbing about. You’ve run into me twice. Here, whose bushy tail is this?”
“Mmmmm, ooohhh! What hit me?”
Matthias moved to where the voice came from. “Jess, are you all right?”
“I think so. A great slab of something got me from behind. No damage done, though. It just knocked
me flat for a moment or two. What happened?”
“Kaaachoo!” Jabez Stump sneezed. “I don’t think this hillside would stand still for ages then suddenly
decide to slide one night for no good reason. Seems to me as if we’ve been lured into here and trapped.”
Matthias and Orlando had crawled over to where Basil lay buried and were trying to dig him out. The
old hare bore up bravely, helping them where he could.
“I think you’re right, Stump old lad. Ha, here’s a pretty thing, a bunch of seasoned campaigners caught
like shrimp in a barrel, wot? I’ll bet a salad to a soupbowl it was old slyboots, the masked thingummy.
What d’you say, Matthias?”
“I say keep still, Basil. Orlando, can you put your back to this rock and push it away from him? One of
you grab his paws and start pulling while I dig the loose stuff away.”
Cheek sprang forward and tugged Basil’s paws with gusto. “Heave ho, old Sir Hare. Out you come,
now.”
“Yaggh! Beastly young blighter, you’re standin’ on me ear!”
Orlando put his strong back against the rock that was trapping Basil. He gave a mighty grunt as he
threw his weight against it. “Grrumph! That’s it. Hurry now, I can’t hold this much longer.”
Jabez and Jess helped Cheek. As Matthias dug furiously, they gave a good long heave. Basil popped out
like a cork. The big badger let the rock go. There was another cloud of dust and a rattling of pebbles as the
heap of hillside rubble settled.
Basil stamped his paws experimentally. “Bit stiff an’ all that. Still workin’ hunky dory, though. Well,
what a load of old ninnies we are, eh, lettin’ ourselves get bamboozled like that.”
“Let’s not start blaming ourselves,” Matthias cut in sharply. “What we did seemed a good idea at the
time. The thing now is, how do we get out of this fix? Has any creature got flint or tinder to make light?”
Jess Squirrel wiped a paw across her brow. “Not a very good idea, Matthias. Haven’t you noticed it’s
getting quite warm in here? That means we’re using up the air. If we start making fire we’ll use it up
double quick and suffocate.”
Orlando slumped back against the cave wall. “You’re right, Jess. Those slavers meant this to be our
tomb and they’ve done a good job of it, worse luck. Give me a moment or two to rest, then I’ll see if there’s
any possibility of digging our way out, or at least making a small hole so that fresh air can come in.”
“It’s this dark I can’t stand, not bein’ able to see anything, all hot an’ covered in dusty muck with a
whole hillside on top of us. I can’t even see me paw in front of my eyes!” Cheek’s voice sounded close to
panic.
Basil patted him firmly. “Now then, young otter m’lad, chin up. There’s nothin’ to get in a funk over.
When I was with the border patrol we were in lots of tighter places than this one, wot? Never say die,
Cheek, Ha! I’ll betcha we’ll be out of here before the night’s over. Don’t worry young waterdog, you’ll be
wallopin’ about in the river by tomorrow night.”
Cheek sat close to Basil and waited while Jess and Orlando took first shift to dig a way out of the
landslide.
Around the friends the air seemed to grow darker and heavier as they lay trapped in the bowels of the
hill.
On the outside, Mattimeo scrabbled furiously at the loose shale and earth, alongside Auma. The others
dodged around the heap, trying to find a likely spot to dig. Auma grunted and strained as she tried to
dislodge a huge boulder.
“It was my father, Orlando the Axe,” she told Mattimeo. “I’d know his battle cry anywhere. Oh, please
let him be all right.”
Mattimeo stopped digging for a moment as he watched the loose earth slide swiftly in to take the place
of the boulder Auma was moving.
“I saw my father, and heard him too. Even in the night, I think I recognized Jess and Basil. There were a
few others too, but it was all over too fast to see who they were. Bah! We’re getting nowhere like this. Look,
every time you dig out a bit, the earth slides in and fills the gap again.”
Cynthia Bankvole sat down and let the loose earth run through her paws. “It’s no use, what can we do
against all this? It would take ten teams of moles a full season to move all this earth, and some of these
boulders look as big as a cottage.”
Sam Squirrel shouldered her roughly aside. “Doesn’t matter. My mum’s in there, so we’ve got to keep
trying. Come on, Cynthia, up on your paws and get digging.”
“Jube, look about for a big branch or something I can use as a lever against these rocks,” Auma called
out. “How are you doing, Matti?”
Mattimeo straightened up. “Not very well. I suggest we all dig in the one spot.”
Tess came hurrying over. “Look, I’ve found some flat slatey pieces. They’ll do to dig with.”
Dawn’s first light glimmered in the east, a soft rosy glow dispersing the night from the deep greenery of
Mossflower Woods. The sun rose steadily, drying the dew from leaf and flower as the young woodlanders
dug wearily in the shifting mass of debris.
Slagar lay on top of the gorge, watching them as he murmured, “Keep digging, my little slaves. Tire
yourselves out so that you won’t run and dodge. I can see my slavers threading their way through the
forest yonder. They’ll soon be here. Dig away, you young fools. You’ll never see your friends or parents
again.”
Chapter 23
In the summer peace of the beautiful old Redwall Abbey orchard, a group of creatures sat taking alfresco
breakfast among the fruit trees. Abbot Mordalfus presided.
“Let us put our minds together, friends. If we wish to help Matthias and our young ones, we must solve