Part 12 (1/2)

Russa blinked slowly through clouded eyes. ' 'Not for long, young 'un. They hit me good this time-two arrows an' a spear. But I gave good as I got, sent a few of 'em along in front t'pave the way for me.”

137 Tammo put a paw around the squirrel's narrow shoulders. ”Russa, don't talk like that. You'll be all right, honest, you will!”

Russa Nodrey smiled, coughed a little, then swallowed as if clearing her throat. She took Tammo's free paw, saying, ”None o' your nonsense now, sit still an' lissen t'me, Tamm. Tell yore mama I did the best I could, an' if y'see Osmunda again, tell 'er I sent my regards. Make yore family proud of you, Tamello De Fformelo Tussock, never do anythin' you'd be ashamed to tell 'em. One other thing: you don't 'ave to be a Long Patroller if'n y'don't want to. Mebbe there's other things y'do better.”

Russa stayed Tammo's reply by squeezing his paw feebly. ”Oh, I've seen you fight, Tamm, yore one o' the best, but you've 'ad a different upbringin'. You ain't no slayer like those hares out there-at Salamandastron they're brought up to it.”

Tammo tried to choke back the tears that fell on Russa's paw. ”You'll be fine, matey. I'll tell Pasque to get all her medicines an' herbs an' we'll...”

Russa managed to wink at him. ”Medicines an' herbs won't do me no good now, Tamm. I wish you'd stop soakin' me paws an' carryin' on like that. I've got other places t'go, I've always been a wanderer, so I wants t'see what 'tis like on the sunny hillsides by the still meadows.. ..”

Outside the hares sat listening as Major Perigord related what had happened.

”Russa an' meself were scoutin' ahead when we heard roarin' an' screamin'. Of course it wasn't the vermin doin' the noisemakin'. We reckoned 'twould be innocent creatures cap- -tured by those villains, so we'd no choice except to try an' ^rescue 'em. On m'word, we ran straight into it! Thirty-odd a.s.sorted blackguards, tormentin' an' torturin' an old badger-wife an' a babe. Scoundrels! We gave 'em a taste or two o' their own medicine, I can tell you! Trouble was that we were outnumbered by about eighteen t'one-they'd slain the old * *badger. Well, we fought 'em off best as we could an' I pulled the poor dead ol' badger into the cave with the little 'un still ^clinging to her. Russa was protectin' my back, that's when she Itook two arrows. Then we turned and tried to hold 'em off.

138.

shoutin' Eulalias like n.o.beast's business, hopin' you chaps'd hear us. Sadly Russa took a spear through her middle, so I bundled her in the cave with the badgers. That's when I got the lance in me shoulder, took another few slashes too. Just look at me best green velvet tunic. Good job you arrived when y'did. I was about ready to go under. By the by, did y'get 'em all?”

Twayblade took the tunic from her brother's shoulders and inspected it. ”Ripped t'bits, be a long time before you get another like it. Ah, the vermin. Yes, they split up, but so did we, got 'em all barring one, a ferret, he escaped through a swamp. I shouldn't think a lone villain would bother the Red-wallers a good deal, wot?”

Sergeant Torgoch poured himself hot mint tea from the canteen by the fire. ”Don't think 'e would, marm. Some o' those big otters that 'angs about the Abbey'd be only too glad to accommodate 'im, if'n 'e showed 'is nose 'round there.”

Tammo came walking from the cave, dry-eyed and stone-faced.

”Russa Nodrey has just died, sah.” His voice trembled as he tried to be a soldier worthy of the Long Patrol, but tears streamed down his face.

Perigord closed his eyes tightly and stood, head bowed.

That night they sealed up the cave with earth and rock. On the front of the pile, Rockjaw Grang placed a huge flat slab, which Tammo and Pasque had worked on, sc.r.a.ping deep into the sandstone with knifepoints a simple message: Russa Nodrey and an unknown badger lie within. They died fighting for freedom against cruelty. Seasons may pa.s.s, but we will remember them.

The baby badger slept on, between Pasque and Tammo, wriggling in his slumbers to get closer to them. Tammo had never seen a badger before; he stroked the infant, glad to have a creature near who knew nothing of killing and war before that day.

26.

Beneath the Abbey's south wall, Foremole Diggum and his team held the lanterns out over the underground cavern. Holding on to the moles' digging claws, Tansy and Arven leaned out at the edge of the sh.o.r.ed-up timber platform that the moles had built at the end of the small tunnel down which they had come. They peered down into the shadowy depths of what appeared to be a huge abyss, wide, dark, and mysterious.

Far below them water could be heard. Foremole tossed a turnip-sized boulder into the yawning chasm. They listened, but only silence followed.

Tansy turned to the solemn-faced mole leader. ”Where has that rock gone to?” she asked.

Her question was followed by an echoing distant splash. Foremole shook his head gravely. ”Daown thurr summwhurrs, marm, hurr, that'n be's a gurt deep 'ole.”

They stood awhile, then Tansy backed off the platform gingerly. ”Dear me, that's enough of that! It's like looking down from a high building and not seeing the ground. I was beginning to feel quite woozy!”

Foremole Diggum and his crew a.s.sisted her back to the 139.

140 surface, offering his irrefutable mole logic as he lit their way. ”Urr, 'tis better feelin' woozed up on furm ground for gennel beasts such as ee, marm. Oi thinks us'n's be 'appier talkin' abowt et all in ee Abbey, thurr be things oi've gotter say regardin' yon gurt 'ole!”

Intrigued by Foremole's words, they all followed him indoors.

On entering the Abbey, Tansy walked straight into a dispute that had broken out in the kitchens. Amid much paw-wagging and whisker-twitching, the Abbess placed herself between the dormouse Pellit and a st.u.r.dy squirrel called b.u.t.ty, whom Mother Buscol was training in the ways of the kitchen. Both creatures argued fiercely, glaring truculently at each other.

”I won't be able to get on with me work, she'll be in the way!”

”Work? Huh, when did you ever work? You spend half y'time sleepin' on empty veggible sacks by the back oven!” ”You young skipwaggle, keep a civil tongue in yer head when yore talkin' to elders'n'betters!”

”Listen, you might be older'n me, but we'll soon find out who's better if you call me a skipwaggle again!”

Tansy grabbed a copper ladle and struck it on a cooking pot with a resounding clang. ”Silence, please, this instant! Now, one at a time. What's this all about? Pellit, you first.”

The dormouse adopted an air of injured innocence. ”Mother Abbess, all I said was that the bird shouldn't be allowed to live in our kitchens, 'taint right. For one thing, we need the s.p.a.ce in that cupboard for storage, there's little enough room fer that down 'ere as it is ...”

Tansy's hard stare and upraised paw halted Pellit. ”You're speaking in riddles, sir. b.u.t.ty, begin at the beginning!”

The young squirrel explained as best he could: ”Well, marm, 'tis the owl Orocca. She's been lookin' 'round the Abbey for somewheres t'put her nest an' eggs. She searched high'n'low but nowheres suited her until she discovered our kitchens an' that big corner cupboard where we store apples. Anyhow, me an' Shad s.h.i.+fted her in there, owl, eggs'n'nest. Then before y'know it, old whinin' whiskers Pellit is moanin' an' complainin' an' reportin' the matter to Sister Viola.” Redwallers gave way as Tansy swept regally across to the 141 cupboard. She opened the door and was confronted by the great golden eyes of Orocca. The owl snuggled down righteously atop her nest on the middle shelf, and said, ”Hmph! You've already wrecked one homesite where I lived, now I suppose you're going to eject me from this one?”

With a wry smile hovering on her lips, Tansy turned to Pellit. ”D'you know where an auger or a drill can be found?”

The dormouse answered her hesitantly, ”Er, yes, marm, Gurrbowl an' Foremole Diggum keeps 'em in the wine cellars for borin' bungholes in barrels, marm.”

Tansy tapped the cupboard door. ”Good! Then go and get some form of drilling tool from them and bore lots of holes in this door, so that our guest has plenty of fresh air to breathe in her new home. Well, don't stand staring, Pellit, hurry along now!”

Turning back to the owl, Tansy bobbed a small curtsy. ”I hope you'll be comfortable here. If you need anything at all, just ask. I'll detail Mother Buscol to take care of you; should you want to leave your nest, I'm sure you'll be able to trust her to keep an eye on the eggs until you return.”

Orocca blinked rapidly, her head bobbing up and down. ”My thanks to you, Abbess. This will be a good warm home for my eggchicks when they break sh.e.l.l. If any of your creatures sees my husband, Taunoc, perhaps they would tell him where I am.”

Craklyn, who had witnessed the quarrel, patted Tansy's paw admiringly as they made their way down to Cavern Hole. ”Well, you took care of that wonderfully, but poor old Pellit's got a face on him like a fractured tail. Did you see him?”

Tansy folded both paws into her wide habit sleeves. ”Actually I'm glad Orocca caused that disturbance. For some time now I've been thinking of making certain changes in the kitchens. Mother Buscol is a bit old to be in charge of all the cooking, and young b.u.t.ty is a good hardworking creature and a fine cook. I think he'll make an excellent Friar given the chance.”

Craklyn agreed with Tansy, though she had reservations. ”What about Pellit? He's older and has worked in the kitchens longer than b.u.t.ty. Won't it cause bad feelings if you promote fee young squirrel over the dormouse's head?”

142 But like a wise Mother Abbess, Tansy had a reason for everything she did concerning her beloved Redwall. ”I don't think so, Craklyn. The trouble with Pellit is that he's fat, getting on in seasons, and of course he's a dormouse. That's why he's always nodding off in the warmth from the ovens. If I left him in the kitchen he'd injure himself someday. So I've decided that he shall be Viola Bankvole's new a.s.sistant-he's always chatting to her and hanging about the Infirmary, and the job's an easy one, so he'll have plenty of time to rest. Mother Buscol can look after Orocca and the eggchicks when they arrive. That way she'll be in the kitchens a lot to keep an eye on our new Friar, b.u.t.ty.”

Tansy spoke to Mother Buscol and Viola, and then to b.u.t.ty and Pellit, before taking her seat in Cavern Hole. Everyone seemed happy with the new arrangements. Craklyn sat with the other creatures, very impressed with the know-how and wisdom the seasons had bestowed upon her old friend.

Word had pa.s.sed around regarding the chasm beneath the outer south wall, and now everybeast was familiar with the news. Arven opened the discussion.

”So now we know what was causing the wall to collapse. I suppose the continuous action of the water wore the ground away and formed the big hole. What d'you think, Diggum?”

”Well, zurr, oi thought the same as ee at furst. But me'n'moi moles, we h'explored ee sides o' the gurt 'ole, an' guess wot? Us'n's found that part o' ee sides o' yon pit wurr square stones. Aye, they'm been builded thataway boi summ-beasts long gone, hurr!”

This announcement caused a buzz of speculation. Tansy hid her surprise and silenced the gossip.

”One moment, please! Thank you. I was about to say that this casts a whole new light on things, but it only seems to deepen the puzzle. Let us not get carried away with wild speculation, friends. Has anybeast a sensible suggestion to offer?”