"Hurr, moi diggen claws be a-tellen me Marthen be about sumwhurrs. Oi do feel
et."
"Well, we'd better trust you, Din. The old digging claws haven't been wrong
yet, matey."
"Lookit, thurr!" Squinting hard, the mole pointed further along the shoreline
to where the sunlight was clearly glinting off a shining object.
Gonff broke into a run. "By the teeth and fur, matey, that must be the sword!"
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* * *
The little mousethief was first to reach the fallen figure of his friend.
Dinny, Timballisto and Bella came as fast as they could to the spot where the
sword lay. They found Gonff blinded by tears, his whole body shaking with
grief as he knelt by the pitiful bundle that was his friend. "He's dead,
they've killed our Martin!"
Dinny knelt beside him, burying his face in the earth. "Hoa nay, letten et
doant be true!"
The two friends wept bitterly.
Timballisto would not, could not, believe that after the short period they had
been reunited, his friend had been taken to the gates of Dark Forest.
Timballisto turned Martin gently over, laying his limbs straight. Swiftly, he
hurried to the water and filled Martin's helmet. Soaking a cloth, he dabbed
feverishly at the fearsome wounds that covered his friend's body.
"Who could have done these awful things to a living creature?"
Gonff wiped his eyes. Picking up a long broken claw from the earth, he held it
out to them. "Tsarmina, that's who," he said grimly.
Dinny squinted at the claw. He cast about, sniffing and sifting with his paws,
finding many traces of blood on the ground. "They'm fought a gurt battlefoight
yurr. Lookit, cat-bludd on Marthen's sword, ground all a-ploughed up."
Gonff followed the tracks to the water's edge. "You're right, matey. The cat
went backward, into the lake. I think our warrior won the battle."
Once more the tears sprang to the little mousethief's eyes. "Martin, we went
through everything together. Why couldn't I have been here to help you,
matey?"
Bella was cradling Martin's head, when suddenly she leaned closer to the
warrior mouse's lips.
"He's alive! His mouth is moving!" she exclaimed joyfully.
T. B. began dabbing furiously at his friend's paws with the wet cloth. "He's
alive! My friend is alive! Bella, is it true? Oh, please say yes!"
The badger's eyes were misted. "He's talking to Boar my
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m
father at the gates of Dark Forest," she said in a strained voice.
"Don't let him go there, please. Do something to help him!" Timballisto
begged, seizing Bella's paws.
Bella thought hard for a moment. "Wait, I have not got the knowledge as a
healer for something as serious as this. But I know one who has—Abbess
Germaine."
Gonff paced up and down, shaking his head. "But she's taken the little ones
over to the east of Mossflower. It would be too late by the time we found
her."
"Then send Chibb. He can fly there," T. B. said in a desperate voice.
Even in the urgency of the situation, Bella of Brockhall took command.
Restoring order and good sense, she provided a solution.
"Friends, here is the only way we may save Martin. Listen carefully. Gonff,
hurry back to our camp and send Chibb east. He must tell the Abbess to gather
her medicines and herbs together. Meanwhile, you will get blankets and bring
them back here. Do not move Martin, just keep him warm and dry. Abbess
Germaine is old and cannot travel fast, but I will follow Chibb and bring her
back from Gingivere's farm as speedily as I can."
Without another word, Bella dashed along the shore with a speed surprising for
a badger. Cutting to the east, she crashed into Mossflower Woods like a
juggernaut, disappearing in a welter of churned-up ground and flying foliage.
Night fell upon the lakeside. A fire burned bright as Goody Stickle tended
Martin, tucking the blankets gently but firmly around his injured body. Ben
Stickle hurried hither and thither gathering firewood.
T. B. stood by, feeling totally useless as he listened to the fevered voice of
his friend.
"Carry on the sweep of the blade," Martin whispered. "Up and across, eh, Boar,
you old battlebeast. Who will wield our swords for us now, warrior?"
T. B. was about to speak, when Goody held a paw to her lips. "Hush now, Mr. T.
B. He's a-sleepin*. I'm doin' all I can to keep the life in the poor mouse
until Abbess gets here."
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Trubbs and the hares built a bower of reeds and willow
about Martin and Goody, speaking in whispers as they did
so.
"Keep the old night breezes off, what!" "Rather. Can do without the bally
wind, y'know." "Nothing worse than a chill on the paws when a chap's
not on top form."
Pale moonlight glimmered off the surface of the lake as
Martin lay still, scarcely breathing. The woodlanders sat
waiting.
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49
An hour before dawn, the occupants of the small farmhouse were up and about.
Columbine checked the Abbess's satchel.
"Conifrey, elmbark, motherwort, verbena, rosehips. . . . I can't think of
anything we've missed out, can you, Abbess?"
The old mouse stood facing the western woodlands. "No, child. I've got
everything I need. Now stop upsetting yourself and prepare breakfast for the
little ones."
Chibb perched on the farmhouse window sill, listening to Gingivere and
Sandingomm.
"We must not let the little ones know," Gingivere was saying, "Let them play.
Soon enough they'll grow up and have to face life's problems."
"You're right, Gingivere. Spike, Posy, would you set the bowls and spoons out,
please."
"But Lady Sandingomm, you said it was Ferdy and Coggs's turn today. We did it
at supper last night."
"You're right. It's not fair. Hey, you two, come on. Your turn for setting the
breakfast things out."
Ferdy and Coggs came running from the woodland edge. "Hurray, it's Miz Bella.
Look out or she'll knock us all over."
Bella came pounding out of the woods, lathered in foam and breathing heavily.
Ferdy ran alongside of her.
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"Miz Bella, have you been running all night? Have we won the war?"
"Come away, little one. No time for games now."
Gingivere led Bella to the farmhouse, but she collapsed near the front
doorstep, panting.
Sandingomm dashed indoors. "I'll get something to dry you down and you can
have breakfast."
Bella shook her head as she caught her breath. "No time, friend. Some water to
drink, then I'll be on my way. Abbess, are you ready?"
Germaine patted Bella's heaving flank. "Oh, I'm ready. But you're not, Bella.
You need rest. You'd never make it back like that, so lie still awhile."
Still panting with exertion, the badger took a sparing drink of water and lay
upon her side.
"Right. It won't take me long, Gingivere. Get some stout cords and be ready to
bind the Abbess on my back. We don't want her being swept off in the woods."
Chibb decided to forego breakfast. "Er ahem. I'll fly back and tell them
you're on the way."
Sandingomm turned to Columbine. "We'd best leave breakfast. Pack some food to
eat on the way. I'll close up the farmhouse and we'll go back together."
Posy tugged Gingivere's tail. "Did you hear that, Uncle? We're going for a
trip and taking a picnic with us."
"Of course we are, Posy." Gingivere smiled distractedly.
A short while later, the Abbess sat upon Bella's back, securely roped together
with her satchel of herbs.
Bella took a deep breath. "Good, I've stopped blowing like an old frog now. My