Being a beast of his word and a creature of action, Thrugg set out without delay, taking with him his throwing sling and pebbles and a large haversack of food. Night had long fallen when he was waved off along the north path from the Abbey gates by a contingent of his Redwall friends.
"Goodbye and good luck, Thrugg!"
"Ho urr, you'm taken good care of 'ee'self."
"Hurry back with the flowers, matey!"
"Do be careful, Mr. Thrugg!"
The gates shut behind him as the otter strode out boldly along the dusty brown path to the north.
Thrugg had not been walking long when he began hearing sounds from the woodlands on his right. He tied a big pebble into his sling. Whoever was trailing him would be called sharply to account if they tried anything. A paie sliver of moon illuminated the path and woodlands dimly as the otter watched the small bushes and shrubs moving not far from where he trod; his hidden follower was trying hard to keep pace with him. Smiling grimly to himself, he twirled his sling meaningfully and stopped. The other stopped too. Suddenly a juniper bush began shaking and thrashing madly and a squeaky little voice cut through the night silence.
"Elpelpelp! Mista Thugg, it's a serpink, a serpink got me!" The voice could belong to only one creature: Baby Dumble.
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Thrugg hurled himself into the woodland and pounced upon the bush, ripping leaves and branches as he shouted, "Belay, matey. Don't be afrightedThrugg's "ere!"
The infant dormouse was trapped in the coils of a fully grown grass snake. Though not poisonous, the creature was trying to squeeze the life from Dumble. Thrugg gripped it by the throat and dealt it a powerful blow with his loaded sling. It was knocked senseless in a trice. Baby Dumble's face had an unhealthy bluish pallor and his cheeks were puffed out as he tried to breathe. Sudden shock had paralyzed him.
The big otter turned the tiny dormouse upside down and dealt him a hefty whack on his bottom. It was a drastic but surefire remedy. Dumble let out a yell that resounded through the woodlands, "Waaaahoooooh!"
A short while later he was seated happily on a fallen tree, eating a candied chestnut from the otter's haversack as he watched Thrugg tying the snake in an intricate knot around a sapling.
"You stringy oF rascal, 'ow dare you try ter choke my liddle matey? Y'can stay there till you learn some manners!"
Dumble chuckled. "Thatsa way, Mista Thugg. Tie d'ser-pink up!"
Thrugg narrowed his eyes severely and squatted in front of Dumble. "Never mind the serpink, matey. What in the name of jib booms are you doin' followin' me?"
"Wanna come wiv you to norf mountings, Mista Thugg."
"Do you now! Well, you lissen ter me, young dormouse. It's back to yer bunk in Redwali Abbey for you. Now come on!"
Dumble burst into floods of tears. "No no, don't wanna go! Dumble get sick an' die wiv feeva. Me fright'ned."
Thrugg shouldered his haversack and stood undecided with the tearful Dumble gazing beseechingly up at him.
"You my matey, Mista Thugg. You not let Dumble get sicked inna Habbey. We find niceflowers together. Yeh?"
Thrugg picked up the infant in one paw and set him atop the haversack. "All right, you liddle rogue. I couldn't think of ye lyin' sick back there. I'm as feared of the fever as you
are. Shove your paw through the straps up there an' get some sleep, then we'll find these Iceflowers t'gether."
Off they went up the path, the big otter having his patience sorely tried by the infant dormouse.
"Good oF Mista Thugg. You're my bes' matey, aren't you?"
"Oh aye. Now you git t' sleep an' stop gabbin'."
"I go t'sleep now. G'night, Mista Thugg."
"Good night!"
"See you inna mornin'."
"Aye, now be quiet!"
"I quiet now. Dumble quiet."
"Well, I should 'ope you are!"
"Oh I are."
"Be quiet, d'you 'ear me. Be quiet!"
"Dumble quiet. You de one makin' alia noise, Mista Thugg."
Since dawn King Glagweb had been peering over the edge of the pit, watching Mara intently. The toad guards heaved a massive load of tubers and roots down to the captives. There was even some fruit among ita few apples, some half-ripe hazelnuts and late strawberries. Nordo and his shrews gathered it into the little walicaves, keeping the hazelnuts to one side as sling material.
As Pikkle helped to gather up the food he called to Mara, "You've got a royal admirer there, old gel, wot? I think he fancies you on toast with an apple in your jolly mouth."
Mara shook a paw at the King of toads. "Go away, you fat sloppy swamp-walloper!"
"Kroikl! Silence stripedog, Glagweb is King, Krrk!" Glagweb flung a hazelnut savagely at her. "Not fat or sloppy. I punish you when the time comes. Grrk!"
Mara flung the nut back, scoring a direct hit on Glagweb's nose. "Why not come down here and punish me now if you dare, fathead. Or should I say your royal splodginess!"
Glagweb waddled about the edge of the pit, quivering with rage, his eyes bulging and his throat pulsing wildly.
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"Grrroak! I will eat your heart!"
"Hah!" Mara curled her lip scornfully. "Eat my heart? You couldn't eat mud if it hit you in the mouth. Here!" She flung a pawful of slime. It splattered into the Toadking's open mouth. The creatures in the pit had to scramble for cover as the toad guards hurled pebbles down at them.
Glagweb went into an insane rage, spitting slime as he croaked venomously at the badger maid, "Krrikl! I wait no longer. You have angered me, and soon you will all die. Kroik! I will make your deaths so slow and painful you will plead to be eaten. Grakk!"
After the toads had gone, Mara apologized to the other captives.
"I'm sorry I lost my temper and hastened your deaths, but I couldn't stand that loathsome toad staring at me."
Nordo wiped mud from an apple and bit into it. "What's the difference? We're all going to die anyway. Probably better sooner than laterget it over with."
Pikkle nibbled at a strawberry reflectively. "I don't know whether to stuff m'self and give those toads a good scoff, or bally well starve so they won't have much to chew on. What d'you think, Nordo ol' lad?"
"As I said, Pikklemakes no difference. Once you're dead then that's it, fat or thin."
"Here, what's all this?" Mara put a paw around Nordo's shoulders. "You talk as if the end is inevitable. Where's your famous fighting spirit of the Guosssom?"
Nordo sat down heavily in the mud and slapped his paws in it. "Look at thismud, slime, sludge, everywhere! Trapped in a pit like frogs in a barrel, forced to live in this filth. I can't take it anymore, living like a wriggling swamp insect!" He yelled hoarsely and threw himself at the pit walls, slipping and sliding as he tried to claw his way upward.
A grass noose snaked down without warning and settled over Nordo's shoulders. Suddenly the pit edge was alive with a mob of toads croaking and hopping gleefully as Glagweb waved his trident and bellowed loudly, "Knrrokk! Now we eat 'em, one by one. Gurrrrkk!"
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Pikkle dived forward and grabbed Nordo's footpaws. "Come on, chaps. Don't let the scurvy knaves take him!"
Mara waded forward and seized the rope. Several shrews hurried to help her, and the badger maid called to them, "Pull! Pull with all your might!"