after her. However, she insists on the little female being called May and not Sissimay.
Ambrose Spike is revelling in his latest title, High Keeper of Cellar Keys, and the entire family of Jabez
Stump — Rosyqueen his wife and their ten hungry daughters — are living in the wine cellar with Jube.
Ambrose has put in an order to the Foremole for the cellars to be extended, and it will be attended to
immediately after the mole crew finish enlarging and lining the tunnels they dug during Ironbeak’s siege. They
are a useful underground system, particularly in deep winter snow.
The Guosim marched off into Mossflower again; they were born to wander. Flugg is a strong Log-a-Log, wise
too, and he brings them to winter here every fourth season. They are good allies.
Rollo and Cynthia Bankvole are bellringers, just as Tess and I once were. Rollo’s latest yearning is to
become a squirrel and join the band of Sam and Elmtail to become part of the Mossflower Patrol. That Rollo, he
will probably want to be a badger next.
Constance is getting ready to sit out in the sun and take things easy. She is teaching Auma all she knows,
and some season soon Auma will become the Mother of Redwall. She is dearly loved by every creature in our
Abbey. Orlando is Constance’s firm friend and they are seldom apart. His axe hangs in Great Hall. As Lord of
the Western Plains he only has to stand on the west battlements to survey his lands.
Last summer the Churchmouse family was united to the Warriors, much to the delight of my mother and
Cornflower. Mattimeo and my sister Tess were married. Our parents like to sit out in the sun a lot, my mother
and father, Cornflower and Matthias. Like all life, they are growing no younger. They prefer to talk of the old
times with friends, and that is good. They deserve a little rest and peace after bringing us up, though Matthias
still joins Basil and Orlando to train the defenders.
It is difficult to believe that we have all grown from young scamps into responsible creatures. But I am
rambling, I will finish my writings and go outside into the sunlight, to the ceremony and the feast at the main
gate. Forgive me for not telling you earlier, but today we have a new Redwall Champion and a naming party.
Matthias is to place the great sword in the paws of his son Mattimeo, and he will be our Abbey Warrior from
henceforth; there is one scamp who made doubly good. Did I not tell you? Tess and Mattimeo have a little son
and I am an uncle! My mother and Cornflower chose the new baby’s name; he is to be called Martin.
So the legend of Redwall has come full circle, through Martin to Matthias, from Matthias to Mattimeo,
and finally back to the little life we are all so proud of: Martin, Son of the Warrior. The bells are tolling for the
ceremony, so you will have to pardon me for hurrying off like this.
May your lives be as full and happy as ours, and may the seasons be kind to you and your friends. The
door of our Abbey is always open to any traveller roaming the dusty path between the woodlands and the
plains.
Tim Churchmouse (Recorder of Redwall Abbey in Mossflower country).
Front Flap
$23.99 USA
Slagar the fox contemplated Redwall Abbey, his twisted face hidden beneath a
sinister harlequin hood. How he hated the peaceable Abbey creatures; how he hated
the fearless mouse warrior Matthias, whom he held responsible for his injuries.
Gathering his mercenary band of rats, stoats and weasels about him, he prepared for
his hour of vengeance.
But there would be no heroics for Slagar the cruel, no courageous battle plans.
He knew too well that the power of the legendary Redwall sword had vanquished
more terrible enemies than himself.
His scheme was much more cunning and would strike at the very heart of all
the Abbey held dear. Above everything Redwallers loved and cherished their young.
Slagar would steal them from under their very noses, and Mattimeo, Matthias’s
headstrong young son, would be the biggest prize of all.
With robust humor and a fiercely romantic spirit, Brian Jacques once again
brings to life the brave and adventuresome creatures of Mossflower Woods in the
final epic of the classic Redwall trilogy.
PHILOMEL BOOKS
a division of
The Putnam & Grosset Group
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
9004
Rear Flap
BRIAN JACQUES was born and bred in Liverpool. He has worked as a docker, long-
distance truck driver and stand-up comedian. He began his writing career as a
playwright, and his stage plays Brown Bitter, Wet Nellies and Scouse have been
performed at the Everyman Theatre in England. He is now a presenter for BBC
Radio Merseyside and hosts his own program, Jakestown.
His first novel, Redwall, was published to universal acclaim in 1986. Mossflower
followed in 1988 and won equal praise. Both books have been nominated for the
Carnegie Medal in England. But the real testament to Brian Jacques’s achievement is
in the hundreds of letters he has received from children who have been touched by
the magical world he has created.
Praise for Mattimeo
“A heroic adventure on the grand scale and in the grand style, spacious, high-
hearted, multidimensional. The animal heroes and villains play out a drama of epic
proportions, with room for humor, songs, poetry, and the unflagging excitement.
These small creatures grower larger than life — or, better, every bit as large as life.
It’s a splendid conclusion to the trilogy.”
—Lloyd Alexander,
Newberry Medal winner,
The High King
Jacket Art © 1990 by Troy Howell
Publication Info
MattIMeo
BRIAN JACQUES
Illustrated by Gary Chalk
PHILOMEL BOOKS
NEW YORK
Copyright © 1990 by The Redwall Abbey Company, Ltd.
Illustrations Copyright © 1990 by Gary Chalk
First published in 1989 by Hutchinson Children’s Books, Ltd.,
an imprint of Century Hutchinson Ltd.
First published in the United States of America by
Philomel Books, a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers
345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
All rights reserved.
25 27 29 30 28 26
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jacques, Brian
Mattimeo / by Brian Jacques. p. cm.
Sequel to: Redwall.
Summary: Mattimeo, the son of the warrior mouse Matthias,
learns to take up the sword and joins the other animal inhabitants
of Redwall Abbey in resisting Slagar the fox and his band of
marauders. Sequel to “Redwall.”
ISBN 0-399-2174-X