Loamhedge

30

Horty looked around blankly, spreading his paws. “Gone? Where in the name o’ seasons have they gone to? They were supposed t’wait here, wot!”

Bragoon held up a paw. “Quiet, mate, don’t move, stay still!” He cast around, starting in a small circle and going wider. “If ye go shufflin’ about with those big paws o’ yores, this dusty ground’ll get disturbed. Ahah! Here’s their tracks, aye, an’ one other, too. Quick, mate, grab all the gear an’ foller me!”

Horty gathered up the cloaks and staves which had formed the lean-to. Burdened by this, plus the two gourds of water on his yoke, he staggered after the otter. Bragoon, having shed his share of the water, was forging ahead swiftly.

Horty protested. “I say, old bean, that’s a bit wasteful, ain’t it, leavin’ behind good water that you had to carry half the blinkin’ night?”

Bragoon kept his eyes on the trail as he answered. “Can’t stop now, got t’get to our mates fast—’tis a matter o’ life an’ death. Keep up as best ye can!” Hurrying forward, the otter began emitting an odd, piercing whistle.

Horty plodded on, twitching his ears in disapproval. “Huh, matter of life’n’death, an’ the bounder’s whistlin’ if y’please? Wouldn’t mind, but it’s not even a flippin’ catchy tune. The bally beast’s brains have gone to his rudder if y’ask me, wot!”

Eventually Bragoon spotted the three figures, out on the arid plain. Springald and Saro were shuffling along facing backwards, supporting Fenna. Closely following the otter and his three companions, an adder was slithering, its forked tongue flickering out, sensing prey, the fatigued trio ahead of it. Hearing the sound of Bragoon’s high-pitched whistle, the snake turned, bunching its coils and hissing viciously. Not as big as some serpents the otter had encountered, it was a male, just beginning to get its growth. But angry and deadly enough to deal a fatal bite with one speedy strike of its venomous fangs. Continuing to whistle, Bragoon drew his sword and moved closer, making ready to fight if necessary. The otter smiled grimly. His ploy had worked: the hunting adder had now become the hunted, its fate sealed.

Before the old warrior could strike, the young hare bawled out a warning. “Look out, pal, here come those blinkin’ buzzards again!”

Like thunderbolts out of the blue vaults of morning, two large adult birds whizzed down. With total disregard for the snake’s venomous fangs, they struck their quarry with lightning speed. The murderous beaks and talons of both buzzards snuffed out the adder’s life with savage skill and ferocity. The dead snake was still writhing in the dust whilst they continued their frenzied attack. Then it went still, and the hawks screeched out their victory cry.

Shielding her eyes against the sun, Saro watched the predators bearing their limp prey off into the cloudless sky as Bragoon and the hare approached her.

She shook her head ruefully. “I wish I’d learned t’do that whistle. Never could get the hang of it, though. Burn me brush! Is that water you’ve got there, Horty?”

Shedding all his trappings, the young hare sank wearily down. “Indeed it is, marm, but I’m afraid you’ll jolly well have to com’n’get it for yourselves. I’m whacked out!”

Bragoon took the yoke from him and sat it across his shoulders, then lifted the two gourds. “Ye did well, mate, take a rest now.”

The elderly squirrel and the two Abbeybeasts sat amid the wasteland dust, gulping down the life-giving liquid. The otter soaked a cloth, allowing it to dribble into Fenna’s mouth. He wiped her face with the damp material, cautioning them, “Drink slower, or ye’ll be sick. This young un’ll be right as rain soon. So, wot ’appened, mate?”

Saro looked up from the gourd. “Just afore dawn, I scented the adder. Huh, I can sniff those things a mile off!”

She continued drinking as Springald took up the tale. “We knew it was somewhere close, stalking us. It was too dangerous to stay inside the lean-to, the snake would’ve found us. So we sneaked quietly off, but the adder saw us and came right on our track. I’ve never seen an adder before—horrible beast! I was scared clean out of my wits. Good job you found us in time, we couldn’t have carried Fenna much further. And, Bragoon, will you teach me that whistle? It saved our lives!”

The otter lifted Fenna onto his back. “Some other time, miss. Let’s get this ’un into the pineforest shade. We found a stream over that way. I’ll take ye to it.”

Saro closed her eyes dreamily. “A pine forest an’ a whole streamful o’ beautiful babblin’ water. Lead on, mate!”

They entered the pines when it was midday. Horty raced ahead until he found the stream. He ran toward it, turning his head to shout, “This is the place, chaps! Hawhaw, wait’ll I tell you what old Brag did to a gang of bullyin’ reptiles last night. He gave ’em the towsing of their lousy lives, he . . . nunhhhhh!”

Without paying attention, Horty had run full head-on into a thick, low pine branch. He was laid flat out, unconscious.

Saro ran to him and lifted his head. “Stone-cold senseless! That makes two we got to nurse now. Why didn’t the lop-eared gallumper look where he was goin’?”

The remainder of the afternoon was spent beside the stream. Springald looked after her two friends whilst the older pair went foraging for food. It was so pleasant in the shade of the tall pines. Besides tending the invalids, the mousemaid had time to paddle and wash in the stream. It was a cool and peaceful spot with sunlight and shadow dappling everywhere. Fenna was recovering nicely when Bragoon and Saro returned. The two old campaigners brought with them wonderful chestnut-coloured mushrooms, wild onions, dandelion buds and a variety of edible roots and berries.

Bragoon was heartened by the sight of the squirrelmaid. “Feelin’ better, eh, beauty? Well, we can’t light no cookin’ fires in a pine forest like this, ’tis too risky. Do ye fancy a nice salad, miss?”

Fenna watched the otter chopping everything finely with his swordblade. “Salad would be perfect, thank you!”

The moment the aroma of freshly cut food assailed his senses, Horty revived. “Oh goody! I say, you chaps, please pass the salad. Owchowchoooh! Me flippin’ bonce is splittin’. Can y’see any of me brilliant young brains leakin’ out, wot?”

Fenna could not stifle a giggle. “Oh, poor Horty, you’ve got a lump like a boulder, right twixt your ears. I’m sorry for laughing, it must be very painful.”

The young hare winced when he touched the large swelling. “Painful ain’t the word, Fenn old gel, it’s absobally agonisticful. Don’t think I’ll last the day out, actually. Don’t shed too many bitter tears when I turn me paws up an’ peg out. ’Twas all done bravely in the line of duty. Wot!”

Saro inspected the injury. “Hah, it looks like a duck egg growin’ out o’ yore skull. Don’t worry, though, you’ll live. I’ve got just the thing for that. Sit still an’ eat yore salad while I go an’ make a poultice.”

She spent some time at the stream, gathering certain things and soaking them in the water. On her return, the aging squirrel tore strips off a cloak for binding.

Horty pulled back apprehensively. “Don’t hurt a dyin’ young beast in his final moments. Be merciful, marm!”

Bragoon held the hare’s paws as Saro worked. She tweaked Horty’s whiskers whenever he moved. “Be still, ye great ninny! This is a compress of duckweed, dock, watercress, sainfoil an’ streambed mud. Twill do ye a world o’ good!”

When she had finished, the others had to turn away their faces to keep from bursting out into laughter. Horty sat dolefully munching salad. Atop his head sat a high turban of cloak strips, herbs and mud, secured with a tie beneath his chin. Both of Horty’s ears flopped out at the sides. He glared at Bragoon, who was biting down on his lip to contain a guffaw.

“What’s the flippin’ matter with your face, chucklechops? D’you find somethin’ funny about a wounded warrior, wot wot?”

The otter brought himself under control. “Who, me? No, mate, but I wouldn’t go near any bumblebees if’n I was ye. They might be lookin’ fer a new hive! Hohohohoho!”

Seeing there was no salad left, Horty rose regally and stared down his nose at the mirth-struck quartet. “Tut tut, I shall be carryin’ on alone, without any aid from those I once called friends. Huh, bunch of whinnyin’, witless woebetides. Fie upon you all, say I!” He stalked off in high dudgeon, his turban dressing awobble as he stooped to avoid branches.

Fenna grasped her sides, tears of laughter rolling down both cheeks as she gasped out, “Heeheehee, come on, I’m, haha, well enough to travel now. Ohahahahhh! We’d better go along with him just in case he, heeheehee, backs into a sharp branch, and we, hahahahaaaa, have to tie a turban to his tail. Whoohoohoohoo!”

The pine forest was a vast area. As evening fell, it became dark, swathed in a gloomy, green light. Horty was still not talking to anybeast, but the urge to utter some noise was so great that he struck up a mournful dirge.

“ ’Tis a sad lonely life, I have oft heard it said,

to go wanderin’ about with this wodge on one’s head,

for I travel alone o’er desert an’ lea.

Why, even the midges and ants avoid me,

while the ones I called pals an’ the comrades I know,

all laugh ’til their rotten, cruel faces turn blue.

There’s a grin on the gob of each pitiless cad,

as they scoff at the plight of a poor wretched lad,

but I’ll carry on bravely, I won’t weep or cry,

an’ I’ll have my revenge on ’em all when I die.

My ghost will sneak up while they’re laid snug in bed,

an’ I’ll hoot spooky whoops through this thing on my head.

Then they’ll cry out ‘Oh Horty, forgive us, please do’

as my spirit howls loudly . . . ‘Yah boo sucks to you!’ ”

When night fell, Horty broke down and wept inconsolably. Springald crept through the gloom and found him sitting on a log, feeling sorry for himself. She put a paw around him.

“Horty, don’t cry. What’s the matter? This isn’t like you.”

He shoved her paw away. “Yaaah, gerroff me, you don’t care, no flippin’ one bally well bloomin’ cares about me!”

Bragoon took a firmer approach. “Come on now, mate, wot’s all this blubberin’ about, eh?”

Horty snapped a small twig and flung it at the otter, but it missed. “You ain’t no mate o’ mine, none of you lot is! I’m starvin’ t’death, I’ve got a molehill growin’ out me head, my poor skull aches like flamin’ thunder, an’ now I’m goin’ blind. I can hardly see a paw in front o’ me!”

Fenna took over, grasping the weeping hare’s shoulders. “Don’t be silly, Horty Braebuck, and listen to me. What’s all this carrying on for, eh? You’re hungry, right? Tell me when you aren’t hungry! What then, your head’s aching? Stands to reason, you’ve suffered a nasty bang on it. But as for going blind, that’s nonsense! It’s so dark in this forest at nighttime that none of us can see much. Here, take hold of this stick and follow me. Don’t keep fiddling with that dressing on your head or it’ll never get better. Saro, have you any food left?”

The squirrel produced a few mushrooms. “I saved these.”

Fenna gave the mushrooms to Horty. “Eat them slowly, take small bites and chew each mouthful twenty times. Come on, up you come, we’ve still got a lot of ground to cover yet.”

They marched all night, with Bragoon scouting ahead and Saro keeping them on course. The otter returned in dawn’s first glimmer, bringing with him a heap of ripe bilberries in his cloak.

“Lookit wot I found! I think there must be a river ahead, I could hear the sound of running water in the distance. Sit down an’ get yore gums round a few o’ these, Horty mate, they’re nice’n’ripe. We’ll rest ’ere awhile.”

Horty was considerably less sorrowful when there was food in the offing. “Mmmm, better’n those measly mushrooms. I say, you chaps, I can see better. Flippin’ bandage must’ve fell down over me eyes last night, wot. Oh corks, now everything’s gone flippin’ green! Why’s it all green?”

Springald explained. “Because it isn’t properly light yet, it’s the day breaking over the treetops. Pines grow so thick in here that it makes the light look green.”

But Horty would not be convinced. “Fiddlesticks, you’re only sayin’ that t’make a chap feel better. Ah well, I don’t mind spendin’ the rest o’ me life in a green fug. Hawhaw, lookit old Brag, sour apple face, an’ you, too, Spring, little lettuce features, an’ you Fenn, young grassgob!”

Saro stared at him pointedly. “Ye missed me out?”

Having devoured all the available berries, Horty lay back and closed his eyes. “Hush now, let a chap get some rest, cabbage head!”

The squirrel chuckled. “That’s more like the ole Horty we all know an’ dread.”

Midmorning found them back trekking once more, eager to be out of the oppressive pine forest. The further on they went, the more pronounced came the sound of flowing water.

Saro stopped to listen. “Sounds like a fairly wide river. Have ye got that ole map from the Abbey, mate?”

Bragoon produced the map, which had been made during the journey of Matthias of Redwall in search of his son Mattimeo. He scanned it closely. “Aye, we’re on the right course, though I think we took a different route t’get to it. This is the high cliffs, here’s the wastelands an’ this is the pines we’re in now. There should be some sort of open area ahead, then a big river. We’ll soon see, mates. Press on, eh!”

They emerged onto the edge of a deep valley, the hill below them thickly dotted with smaller pines and lots of shrubbery. Below it was the narrowest strip of bank. Beyond that, a wide, fast-flowing river glimmered in the sunlight. Halfway down, the travellers halted on a shale ledge. They still had some way to go, and the descent looked fairly steep. Horty sat down, yawning in the heat. He rested his face in both paws.

Saro prodded him. “Are ye alright, head achin’ is it?”

The young hare nodded. “A bit, but I’m more tired than anything.”

Saro indicated an overhang that was screened by bushes. “Tuck yoreself in there young ’un an’ take a snooze. I’ll call ye when we’re ready to move.”

The four travellers slithered and bumped down the steep hillside, grasping trees and bushes to slow their descent. They were about halfway down when Bragoon sighted the reptiles. He halted, pointing.

“Down yonder on the riverside below us. Those reptiles I dealt with last night are waitin’ for us. Trouble is, they’ve brought a pile o’ their gang with ’em!”

Saro counted the assorted lizards, newts, toads, smooth snakes and grass snakes awaiting them on the shore. There were about thirty in all, with another twoscore camped on the opposite bank of the river.

A thin reed lance zipped upward, narrowly missing Fenna’s cheek. She stumbled, almost overbalancing, but Bragoon managed to grab her. “Take cover quick, they’re throwin’ lances!”

To one side of the slope, a fallen pine had lodged flat between two standing trees. Crouching behind it, Saro fitted a stone to her sling and launched it off at the reptiles. Cautiously, she peered over the log, noting that a toad had hopped out of the way of her stone. “They ain’t movin’, just waitin’ for us down there. Let’s give ’em another couple o’ slingstones, mate!”

Both she and Bragoon slung more stones as Springald and Fenna threw lumps of shale. They were forced to duck fast as a half dozen of the sharp, thin lances came back at them.

The otter thumped his rudder down irritably. “Well, this ain’t goin’ t’get us to Loamhedge. Those cold-blooded scum ’ave got us pinned down ’ere!”

Springald picked up one of the lances and threw it back. “It’s a stand-off, what are we going to do?”

Sarobando passed her sling to the mousemaid. “Ye can use this, ’tis a good sling. But I’ll want it back later. This is wot we’ll do. While you three keep slingin’ stones, I’ll slide off through the trees an’ take a scout round downriver. I’ll find a good quiet spot where the river narrows for an easy crossin’. Then I’ll slip back ’ere an’ let ye know. Once ’tis dark, we can all sneak away an’ escape. Right?”

Fenna nodded. “Sounds like a good idea!”

Bragoon raised his eyebrows. “Sounds like? Let me tell ye, missy, when my ole mate gets an idea, ’tis always a good ’un!”

Saro gave him a quick grin. “Thankee, Brag. Now let’s give ’em a good rattlin’ volley to keep their ’eads down while I pop off unnoticed. One . . . Two . . . Three!”

Slingstones and lumps of shale peppered down at the foebeasts below. When Springald looked up, Saro had gone. Bragoon shoved the mousemaid’s head back down as more lances came.

“Always duck fast once ye’ve throwed, Spring. There’s more pore beasts been injured or slain in fights by lookin’ up to see where their stones went. Ready agin, come on, let’s give ’em a spot o’ blood’n’vinegar. Yahaaar! Try some o’ this, ye scum-backed, bottle-nosed crawlers!”

Horty slept on beneath the overhang, blissfully unaware of what was taking place.