"I'm Log a Log, Chieftain of the Guosim shrews!" he announced.
The paw was taken willingly. “Grath Longfletch, last of the Holt of Lutra!"
Log a Log set about gathering Grath's few possessions in the boat. "Hah! You would've been naught but a drowned otter if ye stayed out at sea in that little lot, matey. Dabby, Curio! Take this big bow atwixt ye afore it knocks me flat. Come on, Grath, 'tis no fit night for beast nor bird to be out in the open. Follow me."
Halfway up the cliffs, sheltered from the sea by a protruding rockrift, Grath sat snug in a cave with her new-found friends. She drank shrewbeer which had a red hot rapier thrust in to mull it, and the one called Dabby served her a bowl of seafood soup from a cauldron bubbling at the edge of a seacoal and brack-enwood fire. Grath ate with an appetite that amazed the shrews, tearing off hunks of flat barleybread to dip in her broth. As she satisfied her hunger, the otter related her tale.
When she had finished, Log a Log patted her broad, scarred back, smiling. "Well, at least you lived through it, Grath, an' you eat like you survived a seven-season famine, here. Lucky we found you. We're the Guosim shrewsstands for Guerilla Union of Shrews in Mossflower, though we're a long way from that place up 'ere. Guosim like to wander, y'see. Every spring we come up to the coast an' feed off its bounty. We fish a bit, gather seaweed an' collect shellfish. Guosim are river shrews; our boats are back inland a piece, moored in a creek. Nobeast knows the rivers'n'streams like we do, eh, mates!"
An old shrew began tootling on a flute. Log a Log nudged the young female called Curio. "C'mon, sleepychops, stop nod-din' off in front o' that fire an' sing a ditty fer our new pal Grath!"
Curio had a lively gruff voice, and she sang out with a will.
"Guosim! Guosim!
Sail 'im, dip 'im, douse 'im.
If'n you see a shrew in river or stream,
Who can jump like a trout an' swim like a bream,
Fight like a pike an' sing like a lark,
An' paddle a boat from dawn 'til dark ...
Yer lookin' at a Guosim!
O Guosim! Guosim!
Sail 'im, dip 'im, douse 'im.
If'n you see a shrew who c'n cook up a stew,
Brew dark beer an' bake bread too,
An' bend 'is back an' pull an oar,
Row all the day an' shout fer more ...
Yer lookin' at a Guosim!
O Guosim! Guosim!
Sail 'im, dip 'im, douse 'im.
Not an otter or a waterdog,
No nor a spiky ole 'edge'og,
Even a warty toad or frog,
So it's three cheers for our Log a Loooooooooog!
We're Guosim Guosim Guosim!"
The merry song was so catchy that Grath laughed aloud and asked Curio to sing it again, which she did whilst two old shrews leapt up and gave the lie to their long seasons by dancing a merry jig to the tune.
Log a Log refilled Grath's beaker, saying, "You've got a great laugh, friend. Y'should use it more often!"
The big otter stared into the fire. "There's not been much to laugh about the last few seasons, matey."
Curio tugged at Grath's big callused paw. "Will you sing a song fer us, marm?" she asked.
The otter shook her head at the disappointed shrewmaid. "I'm not a very good singer, but I'll do some magic for you."
"Magic, what sort of magic?"
"With my bow, I'll shoot a star for you!"
All eyes turned on Grath, who winked secretly at Log a Log.
The shrew Chieftain nodded sagely. "Aye, she looks like a magic otter t'me. Trimp, Dimple, fetch our friend 'er big bow an' quiver."
The shrews watched intently as Grath strung the great longbow and chose an arrow. Then she passed her paws over the bow, murmuring, "Magic arrow travel far, I will shoot a bright night star!"
Grath stepped outside onto the ledge in front of the cave, surrounded by curious shrews.
"Which star do you want me to shoot?" she asked Curio. "Point it out."
With a hearty gruff giggle, Curio pointed. "That'n up there!"
"Which one, that bright twinkly one?"
"Aye, that's the one, marm, but even a bigbeast like you with a great bow like that'n couldn't shoot so far!"
With a mock serious face, Log a Log shook a paw at her. "I see you don't believe friend Grath. Right, go on, mate, show 'er!"
Grath sighted on the star, and bent her bow full back, the arrow tight on the tautened string. Whipping the bow aloft, she loosed the green-feathered shaft, and in seconds it was speeding upward, lost in the vastness of the night sky.
"Quickly, everybeast inside!" Grath shouted.
The shrews dashed into the cave, with Grath behind them yelling, "Stand well back from the fire then look at it hard for a few seconds."
After a short interval the otter called to them, "Close your eyes tightly, keep them closed and come outside!"
Doing as they were bidden, the shrews filed outside, clasping each other's paws with their eyes screwed shut.
“ Now, turn your faces to the place where the star was in the sky," Grath announced in a loud, mysterious voice. "Open your eyes quickly and blink once!"
Roars of wonderment went up from the Guosim shrews.
"She did it! She did it!"
"The star burst in a great flash of light!"
"I can still see it bursting, there's lights everywhere!"
One tiny shrew ran round shrieking, "I saw the arrow hit the star, miss! Grath is magic!"
************************************
Later the wind abated, and the thunder and lightning ceased. Outside the rain continued, but not so hard as before. Grath and Log a Log sat with their backs against the cave wall, watching the flickering firelight cast patterns over sleeping Guosim shrews and listening to the steady patter of raindrops on the rocks outside.
The shrew Chieftain yawned. "That was a good trick, Grath. Have you got any more magic t'stop this lot snorin'?"
The otter chuckled. "You want to try living in an otter holt sometime. It makes shrew snores sound like gentle music. They don't bother me, friend."
Log a Log closed his eyes, paws folded on his fat stomach. "Good! Then y'won't mind me addin' my snores to 'em, mate. Peace be upon your rest, Grath Longfletch!"
“ Thanks for your hospitality, Log a Log. Peace be upon you also, and all of your Guosim this night!"
Grath closed her eyes and slept then. But peace would have been the last thing on her mind had she known that not half a league out to sea beyond the reefs, Waveworm, the corsair ship, was sailing parallel to the shrew's cave, bound south. It passed in the night, leaving only a broad wake which was soon swallowed up, lost in sweeping rain and the eternally flowing seas.
Chapter 13
Up in the sick bay, Rollo finished reading Fermald's cryptic message. Tansy narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, then slowly repeated the strange little rhyme, having heard it only once. The hogmaid spoke out firm and clear.
“ Look not up, nor to the four main points,
But where our paws do tread, the dead oak joints.
There wrought by mother nature 'neath the main,
Lies that which holds the beauty, or the bane."
Martin raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well done, miss! What a curious tale Fermald the Ancient had to tell. Sampetra, where is it? Emperor Mad Eyes, what sort of creature is he? Graylunk's secret gift, the Tears of all Oceans, why are they so dangerous, what are they? I tell you, it's a riddle within a riddle!"
Rollo breathed hard on his spectacles and polished them with his sleeve, saying, "Aye, Martin, it has me baffled too."
Tansy tapped her paw on the unrolled parchment. "Oh, let's get on and follow the clues," she cried.