Brian Jacques - Loamhedge

Bol unwound the object from around Gornat’s waist. “From be’ind, this thing got ’im—ye mean from the Abbey?”

The Searat nodded vigourously. “Aye, it came from over that way, I swear it, Cap’n. Pore Gornat got a terrible smack from it, the thing ’it ’im an’ wrapped right round ’is waist. It musta cracked a rib, ’cos Gornat shouted an’ jumped up. That’s when the arrer took ’im, straight through the neck!”

Turning to face the Abbey building, Raga Bol saw another of the missiles come whirling through the air. It spun round and round on its twine, weighted on one end by the pepper bomb and on the other by the stone. This time it missed and struck the wallside. The pepper bomb burst, sending its load over two rats crouched directly beneath. One had the sense to stay down and do his sneezing. The other leaped up and sneezed once, then an arrow silenced him for good.

Down in Great Hall, the Redwallers had unblocked the shutters from one of the tall windows.

Toran took the windowpole from Brother Gelf. “Can I try yore new slingpole out, Brother?”

Gelf smiled quietly. “Be my guest, sir.”

Laying the twine across the hooked metal end of the pole, the ottercook raised it straight up, facing out of the window. Holding the end of the pole in both paws, he let it lean back across his shoulder until it lay flat. Then he whipped it upright with swift force. The missile flew off through the high open window. There was a short interval of silence, followed by an agonized screech.

Toran grinned. “It works!”

There was no shortage of the homemade weapons. More window poles were brought, and more volunteers came forward, eager to try out the new weapons. Competition became so fierce that, owing to several of the defenders hurling the missiles at the same time, some of them missed the open window space. These projectiles struck the walls and lintels, bouncing back into Great Hall and bursting. Undeterred, the Abbeybeasts kept going, muffling their faces with towels. Soon, however, the atmosphere proved too much for the onlookers; many fled the scene, sneezing uproariously.

The Dibbuns thought the whole thing was huge fun. They chortled and giggled, dashing about and bumping into one another, shouting, “Hachoo! Blesha! Harrachoo! O blesha blesha!”

Martha helped Abbot Carrul and some of the elders to shepherd the little ones downstairs into Cavern Hole. The haremaid actually carried two Dibbuns down the steps on her back, chuckling and joking with them.

The Abbot cautioned her. “Careful, Martha, should you really be doing that? You don’t want to put too much strain on those limbs!”

Martha deposited the Abbeybabes in a corner seat. “Oh fiddledeedee, Father, I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt. It’s as if I had brand-new footpaws and legs, they’re as supple as greased springs!”

Granmum Gurvel sent down some kitchen helpers to carry baskets of fresh-baked tarts and pastries and jugs of sweet elderflower cordial.

Martha lent a paw to serve the Dibbuns, then went to sit on the stairs with the Abbot. She felt very happy and carefree as they shared the food. “Oh Father, isn’t it wonderful, having that giant badger on our side! I wager things will be different now.”

The Abbot seemed somewhat thoughtful, though he agreed with her. “Yes, indeed, those Searats obviously fear the big badger a lot. Wouldn’t it be marvellous if he were inside the Abbey with us? Things would be so much easier.”

Martha sipped her cordial. “In what way?”

The Abbot warmed to the subject, propounding a theory which had been growing in his mind ever since he had first sighted Lonna standing out on the flatlands.

“Our badger fires that bow like a mighty warrior, that’s for certain. If he were inside the Abbey with us, I guarantee he’d send those Searats packing in short order.”

Martha thought for a moment about what the Abbot had said. “Aye, he could stand at the dormitory windows and pick the Searats off at his leisure. They’re hemmed in by the outer walls, so it would make it hard for them to avoid him. The badger could use the upstairs windows on all sides.”

Abbot Carrul put aside his food. “But the problem is that the badger’s outside the walls at the moment. Those Searats aren’t stupid, they’re not likely to leave Redwall and take their chances outside. Not with that giant and his bow waiting for them.”

Martha saw the wisdom in her Abbot’s logic. “Hmm, that could make Raga Bol doubly dangerous to us because he’ll probably try twice as hard to get inside the Abbey now. It would give him an advantage over the badger, who would have to fight his way into the grounds and take the Searats on from inside the grounds. That would place him in range of their weapons. Oh dear, I wonder what the answer is to all of this!”

Carrul had already anticipated the problem. Unfortunately, he could not hold out a great deal of hope. “We need to contact our badger friend and get him inside here, but that’s not possible. The Searats are standing between him and us. We’ll just have to wait our chance, though there isn’t much likelihood of that at present.”

Martha tried to hide the frustration in her voice. “But there won’t be a much better opportunity than right now. Most of the Searats’ attention is on the badger. If only we had somebeast who could slip out unnoticed! Whoever it was could leave by the small eastwall gate. They’d be shielded from any attention by the Abbey building. It wouldn’t be hard to steal through the woodlands to the corner of the northwest wall. When it got dark, it would be simple to creep out onto the flatlands and make contact with the badger. Then they could both return the same way.”

The Abbot folded both paws within his wide habit sleeves. “No, ’tis far too risky at the moment, Martha. We’ll wait—tomorrow, perhaps. Oh dear, all this worry and strife. I’m longing for the day when those villains are long gone from Redwall and we can all get back to a normal, peaceful life.”

Martha stood up. “Don’t fret, Father, it’ll happen when you least expect it. Do you know, I feel restless. Think I’ll exercise my new walking skills. I’ll go up to the dormitory windows and see how things are going. Best steer clear of Great Hall, and all those pepper bombs bursting inside.”

The Abbot smiled wearily at his young friend. “Take things easy, Martha, don’t go tiring yourself out.”

She paused on the stairway. “Oh, I’ll go as slowly as Old Phredd. By the way, Father, could you do me a favour? Will you sit guard on these stairs and make sure those Dibbuns don’t go rushing back to Great Hall?”

Abbot Carrul stretched himself lengthways across the step. “Certainly. I might doze off a little, but they won’t get past me. You go on now, and remember what I said about taking things easy!”

However, taking things easy was the last thing on the young haremaid’s mind. Martha had a mission: she would be the one to contact the badger. She went up to the back rooms on the east side, choosing one that was mainly used as a linen store. It was filled with blankets, sheets and tablecloths.

Knotting bedsheets together, she fashioned a makeshift rope, reasoning aloud to herself. “Finally I can do something useful to help Redwall. Now I can walk, and run, too. After all those seasons stuck in a chair, it would be a crime to waste my new gift!”

Climbing down the rope was easier than the haremaid had imagined. She had forgotten how strong her grip had become from wheeling a chair about for most of her life.

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