Part 18 (1/2)
*'Give it here and keep your spear on the mole, stick him if he moves.” Blacktooth wound the rope round the travellers. Binding them together, he tugged the end to make sure it was tightly secured.
Picking up his spear, he strutted around them. ”Ha, you're our prisoners now. You'll pay for breaking the laws of Kotir and leading us on a wild-goose chase. Be still!”
Splitnose was emptying the supply packs out. ”Heehee. Look, apples, bread, cheese, mmfff. Pie!”
Blacktooth threw extra fuel on the fire and crammed food wolfishly into his mouth, while menacing them with his spear.
”Hey, this is more like it, Splittie,” he enthused. ”Come and get warm by the fire.''
Gonff winked at Martin and whispered, ”Leave it to me, matey. I'll settle these two idiots.”
Blacktooth yanked sharply on the rope's end. ”No talking there. One more peep out of you and you'll be sorry, d'you hear me?”
Gonff shrugged as best as he could. ”Don't worry, Captain. You've got us, all right. But please don't eat all our supplies, we'll have nothing left to keep alive on.”
Splitnose threw an apple core at Gonff and bit into a cheese. ”Ah, stop moaning, mouse. Look at us, weVe lived on one skinny crust and gra.s.s for the last few days. Mmmm, this is 168.
good cheese. Hey, a fruitcake! By the claw, that'll do for me.”
”Come on greedyguts, half for me.” Blacktooth prodded Splitnose with his spear.
”Get your own, fatbelly,” Splitnose retorted.
”Why, you gluttonous worm!”
”Ouch! You keep that spearpoint away from me, rotten-gums.” - ”That's the stuff, matey,” Gonff called out encouragingly. ”You show him that stoats are the bosses.”
Blacktooth was about to stab Gonff with his spear when Splitnose jabbed him in the bottom with his spearpoint.
Martin took Blacktooth's side. ”Don't let him do that to you, ierret. Get him.”
Dinny supported Splitnose. ” 'Ee be nowt but a gurt bully. Jump on furret's tunnel, skoat.”
Blacktooth cracked Splitnose across the head with his spearshaft. Splitnose retaliated by stabbing Blacktooth in the paw.
The three friends egged them on with loud shouts.
”YouVe got him now. Stab!”
”That's it. Keep him pinned down!”
”Get his throat with your teeth!”
”Shove him in the fire, quick!”
Filled with blind rage, the stoat and ferret battled all over the camp site, rolling through the fire, splas.h.i.+ng in the shallows, stumbling against the captives, oblivious of all except the desire to win.
”Grr, take that, stoatswine!”
”Aarghh, you won't push me around any more, ferret-face. Get this!”
Blacktooth fell, pierced by his opponent's spear. Splitnose backed off, dropping his spear, and stumbling further into the shallows. Blacktooth pulled himself upright and staggered toward his foe, spear held outright. Splitnose blundered into deeper water, unarmed, holding his paws out pleadingly.
”Blackie, no. I didn't mean it!”
The ferret tottered unsteadily into the water, lifted the spear to throw and fell dead into the shallows.
Splitnose kept backing off as if in a daze. ”I didn't mean to, Blackie. Honest. You can have half the c-”
169.
Suddenly he was gone! All that remained was Blacktooth the ferret, face down in the shallows of the swirling stream.
The three friends had fallen over. They lay, bound, gazing at the water where Splitnose had been a moment before.
”Pitholes, matey, full of bottom mud,” Gonff explained. ”We'll have to remember that when we cross.”
Dinny wriggled. ”Us'H 'ave to set about thinken *ow to free usselfs.”
Martin wrenched round to face Gonff. ”Any ideas?”
The mousethief smiled in the darkness. ”Stay still. I can reach my dagger. Didn't I ever tell you, matey, I'm a prince of escapers.”
Martin felt the blade sawing at their bonds. ”Aye, I seem to remember you saying something of the sort in the cells at Kotir, matey.”
The ropes fell away under Gonff's keen blade. He stood upright.
”I was right that time too, if you remember,” Gonff pointed out.
Dinny straightened up. ”Hurr, tho' you'm 'ate to boast about et.”
They took stock of the damage. Martin threw a trampled cheese to one side.
”Huh, they've ruined our supplies,” he said with disgust. ”Most of the food rolled into the water with them. Look, even the fish fell in the fire.” He held up a smoking relic.
Gonff pushed Blacktooth's carca.s.s into the fast-flowing water. ”It couldVe been worse, matey. At least we're alive.”
Dinny blew on the embers, adding dry reeds and wood. ”Ho aye, Marthen. Us'll make out awright, 'ee'll see.”
170.
Fortunata followed a trail that led to a dead end. Some creature had skillfully covered most traces, but the vixen knew that there had been woodlanders here. The camouflagers had not been entirely successful in covering everything; there was still scent and the odd broken twig. She scratched about in the undergrowth, trying to reveal further clues.
”Lost something?”
The vixen was startled by the voice. She whirled around, attempting to discover its owner. All she saw was the silent woodland. Quite suddenly there was another fox standing alongside her.
”I said, have you lost something?” he repeated.