27

In the cavern under Castle Floret, Egbert the Scholar caught hold of the huge badgers paws and tried to break its hold on Mariel. The mousemaid was totally helpless in the grip of the great beast. Starbursts and colored lights danced in front of her vision, and the breath was forced from her body as the maddened creature tightened its grip. Egberts voice sounded thin and hollow in the cavern as he called out, “Help me, Rudd, help me! Shes a friend!

An otter bounded out of the mist. He stood before the badger and made a swift motion with a javelin he was carrying. Instantly the badger dropped Mariel, who fell to the rocky floor gasping for breath. Egbert ministered to Mariel as he spoke soothingly to the badger.

“This is our friend Marielshe will not harm us, Muta. She is an enemy of Foxwolf; you and Rudd can help her.

The otter dipped a beaker into a pool among the rocks and, holding it to the mousemaids lips, he allowed her to drink.

Aside from a few aching ribs, Mariel was not badly injured. She regained her breath and sat among the rocks with Egbert. The badger and the otter sat a short distance away. She watched them. Both were completely still, as if awaiting an order from Egbert. The mousemaid could not help but notice the dreadful scars tracing the fur of both creatures. Egbert explained their story.

“They staggered in here one night, virtually ripped to pieces and nearly dead. I took care of them both. It was no easy task. I learned most of my healing skills from books and scrolls, and luckily they worked, though not completelyI cannot heal minds. It was Nagru and his horde who tried to kill themsee the way they bare their teeth at the mention of his name. The badger I know is called Muta; she used to be nursemaid to the son of Gael, here at Floret. I do not know the otter, so I call him Rudd. Strange, but neither beast talks, nor do they appear to have any memory of things that went on before I found them here that night. They are both mighty warriors. I think Muta has taken the way of the berserkI have read of badgers being like this; nobeast can stop them when a bloodlust is upon them. Rudd has become like her.

Mariel interrupted Egbert. “I think I know more about these two than you do, friend. The otter is called Rab Streambattle. I was told about them at the dwelling of Furpp the mole; they were believed to be dead, both killed when Serena and Truffen made their escape. I will tell you the full story when we get time. Meanwhile, let me try something.

Mariel approached the two silent beasts, as they sat motionless. The mousemaid spoke first to Muta and then to Rab, repeating the names of their loved ones.

“Muta, I come from Gael, I have news of Serena and the little Truffen. They are safe. Rab, you are alive, yet Iris thinks you are dead. Your mate, Iris!

There was no response. The two battle-scarred warriors stared blankly at Mariel as if she were talking in a strange language. Egbert drew her aside.

“It is no use, he said. “I have tried similar things with them. Whatever was done to those two has changed them; they are inseparable and live only to kill their enemies.

Mariel felt a great wave of pity for the two dumb beasts. She, too, had known what it was to be like them; seasons before she came to Redwall a similar thing had happened to her. She clasped their paws in hersMutas, huge and forbidding, Rabs, sinewy and dangerous.

“Listen, friends, she said, earnestly, “I am Mariel of Redwall. Together we will rid Southsward of Urgan Na-gru and his scum; this I promise you! Egbert, where is the gatehouse that works the drawbridge?

The scholarly mole squinted over his glasses. “Follow me, but be careful!

Greenbeck bowed low as Gael Squirrelking materialized out of the mist to meet the rescuers on the plateau.

“Your Majesty, fates be thanked!

Gael clasped Greenbecks paw saying, “Do not bow to a fool like me. There are others followingsend your scouts to guide them here.

On Greenbecks order, two otters, Ruckal and Cress-eye, trotted off into the rain-spattering mists and returned leading Meldrum and Dandin. Silvamord had given up searching for Marie). She sat kicking her paws on a window ledge, shaking her head in mock pity at Nagru.

“What are you going to do, mighty conquerortear the castle apart to find one mousemaid? Shes long gone!

The Foxwolf had been roaring orders, tearing down wall hangings, smashing doors, and generally abusing his searchers. With his chest heaving from exertion, he slumped down and sat on the cold stone floor.

“Catch them as they swing into the battlements, he sneered. “That wasnt my idea; that was your bright scheme, vixen!

Wetchops and Mingol came scurrying up from opposite ends of the corridor. Before they could speak, Silvamord pointed at Mingol. “You first, whats your good news?

The rat shuffled nervously, keeping out of range of Na-gru. “The prisoners have all escaped, Sire. We finally broke into the attic of the tower, but there was nobeast there!

“Leave them up there in the rain; Ill deal with them tomorrow after a good sleep, said Silvamord, mimicking Nagrus voice. “Thats what you saidSire!

Nagru shot her a swift, murderous glare before turning his attention to Wetchops. “Well, what have you got to say for yourself? Speak!

“Sire, the drawbridge is being attacked!

“By who?

“Dunno, Siretoo much rain an mist outside, but theyre firm arrows, throwin lances an slingstones.

Silvamord eased herself off the window ledge. “Well, theyre wasting their time, she said. “That drawbridge gate wont budge for arrows or stones and lances. I wonder what theyre really up to?

Nagru stood up slowly, saying, “A diversion, maybe. What dyou think?

Silvamord raised her eyebrows approvingly. “I think youre right, for once. Better double the guards on the walls and in the turrets; they may try a surprise attack from another part of the valley.

Iris loosed an arrow off into the mist. She heard it thud into the drawbridge gate.

Troutlad fitted a shaft to his bowstring. “Rains gone off, he said. “But I think were wastin arrows and lances here. That keep door is too sturdy.

“Oh, I dont know, old chap, came a voice from in front of them. “You mayve kept em off our backs while we escaped!

Greenbecks party emerged from the mist, Dandin, Meldrum, and Gael striding along with them. Iris waved her bow. “Cease fire! Dandin, Meldrum, welcome! Your Majesty!

Egbert emerged from a dark tunnel and held out a cautionary paw to his friends. “Thats as close as I can get you by hidden ways, he said.

They came out into a long hallway broken in parts by broad flights of steps. Mariel let the wall tapestry drop back into place across the tunnel mouth. “Which way to the gatehouse, Egbert? she asked.

The mole scholar pointed. “As far as you can go, through the banqueting chamber, down another flight of stairs and first left. Er, its not that Im afraid or anything, but Im a scholar, not a warriorwouldnt I be in the way?

Mariel patted the moles paw understandingly. “Of course, youd be a liability if fighting broke out; wed have to look out for you. Besides, you must have other business to attend to.

Egbert pushed aside the tapestry that hid the tunnel. “Thank you, Mariel. Im sure Ill be around should you need me.

Muta and Rab waved good-bye as Mariel called softly, “Good luck and fortune go with you, Egbert the Scholar!

The mole poked his head back around the tapestry. “Through extensive research, I have found that luck and fortune have little to do with anything. It is brains like mine and a warrior mentality like yours, combined with the element of surprise, that invariably win the day!

The three warriors trod lightly down the first flight of steps, looking from left to right, ready for anything. Mariel peeked through a partially opened door and saw horde-rats sleeping on a straw-littered floor, a chamber full of them. Without a word to her berserk companions she gently removed a spear from the claws of a slumbering rat. Closing the door, the mo use maid slid the spearhaft through the ring in the latch, effectively imprisoning the sleepers in their own barracks. Muta looked at her ques-tioningly. Mariel smiled. “Its nothing, just making sure were not followed.

Voices came from farther down the darkened hallway. “Well, you go an tell Nagru that you aint stannin out on no walls all night. Im not!

“But I dont ave a cloak like you. Spose its still rainin, Ill catch me death of cold out there!

“Aye, mate, and youll catch yer death a lot faster if you tell Foxwolf that you dont fancy obeyin his orders!

“Huh, if it wasnt for those mangy escaped prisoners wed be in our barracks n The rat never finished the sentence he was speaking; neither he nor his companion would ever have to worry about going out on guard again. Muta and Rab carried on down the next flight of stairs as if nothing had happened. Mariel took a curved sword from one of the dead rats and hastened to catch up with the silent slayers.

The banqueting chamber had a torch alight on one wall. The three warriors moved through, silent as the flickering shadows that played over tables and chairs.

Six horderats were seated round a table in the gatehouse playing a game with three shells and an acorn. A flagon of wine stood on the table, a prize for the winner. A draft flickered around the wall torches as the door swung open. One rat looked up and squealed with fright at the sight of Mariel and her two silent allies entering the room. Muta charged, her relentless energy taking her crashing into the nearest two rats, then all became confusion.

The table went crashing end over end, knocking the wall torches from their sconces and plunging the gatehouse into darkness. In the onslaught, amid the screaming, clattering, grunting, and banging, five of the rats met their doom. One rat, more nimble than the rest, slipped by Rab. He fled through the doorway and up the stairs before any-beast could stop him. Mariel struggled with the otter in the doorway as he tried to give chase. “No, Rab, leave the rat; weve got what we wantthe gatehouse is ours! Slamming the door and securing it, the mousemaid found the torches and blew on them until they flared into light. A huge wooden drum with turning handles attached and a crude block brake held the thick ropes that controlled the drawbridge. Muta finished tipping the last of the slain enemies from the gatehouse window, smiling grimly as the carcasses hit the moat below with a splash. Taking Muriels sword, the badger swung it high over the coils of rope wound around the drum, ready to slice them through to lower the bridge. Mariel shook her head. “No need for that, my friend. We control the drawbridge nowbesides, the time may arrive when well need to have it closed!

Silvamord was frightened; Nagru was furious. They had both listened to the terrified recitation of the rat who had escaped alive from the gatehouse. The Foxwolf watched sunny daylight dispersing the valley mist from his chamber window, then banged the ledge so hard that his paw hurt. “They double-bluffed us! So that was how their decoy worked, fooling us into thinking they were attacking the drawbridge, drawing our guards away onto the walltops to forestall another trick, when all the time they really were attacking the drawbridge, from the inside! Now they have control over our very front door! Come on, vixen, wheres all your crafty ideas? Why are you sitting there trembling like a pile of frogspawn?

Silvamord was not looking at Nagru. She stared at the wall blankly, her voice atremble as she said, “The badger and the otter, you couldnt have killed them right; theyve come back from the dead, and theyre inside this place now!

The Urgan Nagru shook his head until the teeth of the wolfskull rattled.! cant believe those two arent dead. We left them like pincushions, they were ripped to bits ...

A loud bump from below interrupted him. It startled Silvamord from her trance, and she dashed to the window. “Theyve lowered the drawbridge!

Watching from the wooded slopes on the opposite valley side, Dandins sharp eyes caught sight of a small figure in the gatehouse window. It was gone in a second, but almost at once the drawbridge fell open and spanned the moat. He turned to Iris, his eyes shining happily. “Now I know where Mariel isin the gatehouse! Theres only one warriormaid couldve pulled off a trick like that. Haha, escapings not good enough for that one; shes got to capture the drawbridge as well!

Me Id rum tore himself away from the impromptu breakfast he had scrounged, “Brains, eh, that gel will control her own regiment one day, mark m words. Righto, up on ypaws, you lot, weve got to jolly well help her!

Amid the jubilation it was left for Iris to provide the voice of reason. “Hold hard, you two. Were only a small rescue party. I dont think youve grasped just how large the Foxwolfs horde is. Wed be committing suicide trying to attack Floret, even with the drawbridge down.

Meldrum stroked berry stains from his mustachios. “Youre right, of course, he admitted. “So, what action dyou propose we take? Cant leave the brave mousey there on her own t be winkled out an slain by those foul creatures, can we?

Gael had been listening to the conversation. An idea was forming in the Squirrelkings mind. “I suggest that you send word to Mariel telling her we are here. If you stay in the valley and harass the foe to keep their attention off Mariel, it will go a long way toward helping her. Meanwhile, I will go to Furpps dwelling, and from there I must try to raise up the whole of Southsward in arms to march upon Floret. Mariel has opened up a golden opportunity for us; the time is ripe. I think we will never get a better chance to rid the land of Foxwolf and his horde. The sooner we strike the better!

Mariel and her two silent friends had shared the flagon of wine and eaten what small amount of food there was to be had in the gatehouse. Rats had gathered on the stairs outside, but so far they had made no move to try to recapture the room. Nagru knew that he would only lose valuable hordebeasts by trying to charge the door, for in such a small space the badger and the otter could hold the doorway against all comers. The mousemaid was making herself a new Gullwhacker with a thick length of spare drawbridge rope; she sat at the window working at the complicated knots known only to herself. The valley was fresh and green under bright morning sun, deceptively peaceful and calm. The mousemaids quick eyes took in a slight movement on the wooded slope opposite. “Look, Muta, Rabsee, we have friends close by! she cried.

The badger and the otter joined her at the window. Mariel gave out a piercing whistle, swinging her halfcompleted Gullwhacker out of the open window. “If they cant hear me, maybe theyll see this rope.

A moment later she glimpsed a small figure climbing to the lower branches of a sycamore. It was waving what appeared to be a long dagger. The mousemaid waved back saying, “Thats got to be Dandin. I cant see properly from here, but Ill wager anything its him!

Dandin climbed down from his perch to where Meld-rum and Iris were waiting.

“Aye, thats my Mariel, all right, he said. “Shes got herself a new Gullwhacker. Do you think you could put an arrow through that window, Iris?

The otter shouldered her bow and quiver busily. “Get me close enough and I know I can, third shot!

As Mariel watched the three figures duck and weave across the valley floor, she commentated on their movements to Muta and Rab. “Here they come; theres three of them. I think one is Meldrum, but I cant be sure. Theyre holding a great chunk of bark in front of them as a shield. They must have been sighted by Nagrus ratsarrows are being shot at them, one or two have struck the bark shield, but theyre still coming forward. Oh come on, come on, friends!

Meldrum the Magnificent pulled his twitching ears in below the top of the bark. “The blighters are shootin at us; nearly had my bally ears pierced just then. Much further tgo, chaps?

Dandin held tight to the sheet of bark, sidestepping as an arrow thudded into the earth close to his paw. “What dyou think, Iris, is this far enough? he asked.

The otter squinted through a knothole at the castle. “This will do. Here goes number one!

She ran from behind die shield, a shaft already strung tightly on her bowstring. Taking quick aim, Iris fired and nipped uuck behind the shield as a volley of arrows zipped from the battlements at her.

“Too high, she said. “It hit the stones above the gatehouse window, but Mariel knows what were up to now. Shes pulled back out of sight and put a table upright in the window space. Right, here goes my second shotit wont hit; its only a rangefinder.

Notching another arrow on her string, the otter leaped out and fired. She watched the arrow in flight for a brief moment before diving back under cover. “Thought sotoo low! Give me the arrow with the message tied to it, Dandin. Ive got the range now.

Fitting the third arrow to her bow, Iris waited a moment as a hail of arrows passed overhead.

“One ... Two ... Now!

She sprang into the open, bowstring taut against her cheek, and squinting one eye along the arrow she released it.

Sssssst thunk!

Muta and Rab stood guarding the door against any sudden attack as Mariel tugged at the arrow buried in the tabletop. “Whew, whoever shot that one knew what they were doing! she said, admiringly.

Nagru and Silvamord had both been in line with the rats on the battlements, shooting arrows for all they were worth. The Foxwolf put aside his bow as the three figures retreated behind their shield.

“Stop shooting, he ordered. “Theyre out of range now. All down to the drawbridge. Come on, you fumblepawed lot, shift yourselves!

A big gray rat named Crutch was in charge of the ranks that stood six deep blocking the open drawbridge entrance. He saluted Nagru smartly. “All quiet here, Lord. No sign of any attack yet.

The Foxwolf glanced up at the gatehouse window high above. “It will come, though. Crutch, I want this entrance guarded night and day. No lapsesstay alert. Those three in the gatehouse have received a message from their friends.

Mariel unrolled the thin strip of cloth from around the arrowshaft and read aloud the charcoal scrawl to the badger and the otter. “Hold gatehouse long as you can. Gael gone to raise an army. It is war!

Загрузка...