Like a great bird of freedom upon that last trip,
With the wind in my whiskers,
Surrounded by friends.
Sleep deeply, old Wuddshipp,
Your voyaging ends.
The little mousethief sniffed as he wiped a paw across his eyes. "It's a good
thing Log-a-Log isn't here, matey."
Stem and stern sank levelly as the vessel went down. With A cascading ripple
the waters broke over her midship rail.
Martin turned away. "Come on, Gonff. I can't bear to watch her any more."
A pale silver moon dappled the forest floor as they made their way back to the
camp outside Kotir. Bella, with Martin on her back, lumbered through the calm
summer night, flanked by Gonff and Bula.
"Don't fret. It was a great act of sacrifice, a brave thing. Boar would have
been proud of you both," she consoled them in her gruff, gentle voice.
Bula was a little more cheerful. "I'll bet you when this is all over that
Skipper will find a way to refloat your Wuddshipp. "
Gonff looked across at the otter. "D'you really think so? You're not just
saying it to make us feel better?"
Bula winked. "Of course not. We never stoved her in, just opened the inlets.
She's not damaged. Don't you worry, matey. Skipper'11 sort it out. He's got
other things in his head beside water in his ears, that's for sure."
Back at the river, only the tops of stem, stern and masts were showing. The
bilges had settled deep into the river bed under the steady pressure and
weight of inflowing water.
Now the River Moss was blocked. It began overflowing its banks, backing up and
pressing against the sunken ship that barred its course. In less than an hour
there were only three points where the dammed-up river could find escape.
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Straight down the flood tunnels!
The swirling waters gushed in with a thunderous rumble. A creamy brown deluge
poured underground, sweeping earth, loam, twigs and rocks along in its mad
rush. It ripped through the tunnels, tearing and battering at the walls until
the shor-ings were swept away and the whole thing was welded into one great
torrential underground bore, hurtling toward the lowlands where Kotir stood.
Foremole and Old Dinny were dozing over the crusts of a deeper V ever pie when
they felt the ground reverberate under them. Foremole pressed his snout into
the loam.
"Thurr she goes, Owd Din. Doant need no diggen claws to tell 'ee wot be
'appenen unnerground."
"Ho urr, they varments soon be getten a gurt barth o1 thurr loives, oi do
b'leeve."
"Harr, stan' on moi tunnel, oi'd 'ate t'be they!"
Mossflower slept on through the night, which was still and calm.
But only on the surface.
Whegg the rat yawned and shivered. He tugged the old grain sack which served
as a cloak tighter about his skinny body against the afterdawn freshness. The
morning had started cloudy, with little sunlight to provide warmth up on the
flat roof where he was stationed on watch. Brogg came stamping up. Rubbing his
paws together, he glanced over the battlements at the still woodland.
"Quiet night, eh, Whegg?"
"Aye, bit chilly though, and they're still out there," Whegg reported.
"Those squirrels been shooting again?"
"Nah. They don't if we don't. But I think there's something going on down
there."
Brogg squatted down beside Whegg.
"Ahh, what can they do? You heard the Queen. We'll just sit tight here until
the moment's right."
"Huh, sez she! Those woodlanders aren't as green as they're grass-colored,"
Whegg answered back cheekily.
Brogg shoved him playfully. "You let me and Milady worry about that. Had your
breakfast yet?"
346
"No, not yet. I'm starving. Any chance of slipping off for a bite to eat,
matey?"
"Matey! You mean Captain, don't you?" ; "All right. Captain, then."
"Aye, go on. But send a relief up here. I've got other filings to do beside
standing guard for the like of you."
Whegg rubbed the stiffness from his limbs as he hobbled downstairs, making for
the pantry rather than the mess as Acre was more chance of food down near the
larder. A fox passed him, wiping and scrubbing its paws against the stones.
"Damp down there, mate. Water's coming up between the pantry floorstones," he
warned.
"Water? Where?"
They both looked up to see Tsarmina coming down the stairs. The fox beckoned
over his shoulder.
"Down there, Milady. Anyhow, it's always been damp below stairs."
Whegg shook his head. "Only in the cells and beneath them, not on ground
level. Besides, it's summer, and there hasn't been a drop of rain since
spring."
Tsarmina pushed past them urgently. "Follow me you' two!"
. They hurried down to the pantry passage. Water was leaking through the
floor, and all three jumped back onto the bottom stairs.
"It was only damp when I was here a moment ago," the fox said in surprise.
"Look, you can see the water covering die floor now!"
Whegg touched the water with his paw. "But how? I mean, where has it all come
from?"
Tsarmina's eyes were riveted on the water. "Get through to the dungeons, rat,"
she said shakily. "Tell the guards there to come up and report to me. They'll
know."
Whegg saluted. Stepping gingerly down, he slopped off along the wet passage.
Tsarmina backed up several stairs and waited.
Moments later, Whegg came swishing hurriedly back, his lace a mask of
disbelief.
"Milady, the staircase to the cells is completely underwater. It's like
looking into a well. Ugh! There are two drowned weasels floating in there."
347
Wild-eyed, Tsarmina began rubbing her paws as if trying to dry herself.
Suddenly she turned and bounded upstairs. Soldiers' voices were shouting
everywhere.
"The parade ground's like a lake!"
"Bottom barracks is flooded!"
"The supplies will be ruined!"
"Front hall's awash, mates!"
"All the cell guards have been drowned!"
Screams and cries rang in her ears as the Queen hurried to her chamber.
Grabbing the bow from the wall, she began firing arrow after arrow at the
empty face of the woodlands.
"Show yourselves! Martin, come out and fight!" she shrieked.
In the high branches of a poplar, Martin stood, supported by Lady Amber and
four squirrels.
Barklad patted him resoundingly. "Look, Martin, it worked. Kotir is flooding!"
"How high is it, matey?" Gonff called up from ground level.
"Oh, it's looking pretty wet, GonflV'
"And still rising?"
"Aye, still rising, all right."
The squirrel Queen signaled her crew to take the warrior mouse back down to
earth.
"What now, Martin?" she asked.
"Now the real plan goes into action. IVe never told you about my friend
Timballisto, or even how he comes to have a strange name like that. Well, you
just wait and see what he has in store for Kotir, he'll help it to sink, all
right.
"I'm going to get my sword and armor. Tell the Corim leaders to have every
available fighting creature gathered at the edges of the land rise. There's
bound to be a final charge."
Whegg the rat and a weasel named Slinkback threw their armored mail tunics and
shields over the rooftop battlements. There was a faint splash as they hit the
water below.
Brogg faced them, his curved sword at the ready. "Here, what d'you think
you're up to? You can't do that."
Slinkback laughed openly in the Captain's face. "Haha.
348
Listen, Brogg, you'd do better to chuck your stuff over too, or do you want to