Brian Jacques - Redwall #15 - The Taggerung

Bodjev waded in and patted it. "Yikyikyik! Make an' 'undred pies outta Yo Karr; mebbe two!"

Chichwife splashed in and cuffed his ear smartly. "Phwah! I not gonna cook datbeast inter pies. Back inna lake wirrim. Back inna lake, brudders!"

As best they could, Nimbalo, Bodjev and Alfik dragged Tagg from the water onto the cavern floor. He lay there exhausted and watched the shrews roll the eel off the ledge. It sunk limply into the depths until it was lost to sight. The shrewmaid Dinat and her three sisters set about dressing Tagg's shoulder, and then she clasped the otter's paw gratefully.

"Thankee much much, big fella, you save this Dinat's life!"

Nimbalo took the knife from Tagg and cleaned it. "Sorry I took so long gettin' the net to ye, matey. I 'ad t'pull Dinat out wid it first, an' by then you'd gone so far down we could 'ardly see yer. I thought you was a goner that time, on me oath I did."

Tagg grinned. "Well, I'm back now, handsome golden one."

Taking his blade back, he beckoned to Bodjev. "Yo Karr's dead now. Listen, friend, you're the Chieftain here. You should never have let that happen to your own daughter."

Bodjev looked sheepish. He shrugged awkwardly. "Law. It was ole Cavemob law, always be'd thataway."

Tagg jabbed his fat stomach with the knife handle. "Don't let it ever happen again. Sacrificing creatures' lives! What an awful idea. You're the Chief, make some new laws. The elvers'll still come back, you'll see."

Bodjev stuck out his stomach and shouted to the pigmy shrews, "Lissen, alla Cavemobs. I Chief make lotsa new law. Nomore Yo Karr, nomore die, snakeyfish still come back, you see."

Alfik stepped up beside his father amid the cheering. "Nomore Cavemobs die! Good ole Daddy!"

Bodjev cuffed his ear. "Worra I tell you, nit'ead?"

Tagg caught Bodjev's paw as he raised it again. "And no more ear-smacking, or name-calling. Why not be kinder to one another? It'll make life a lot nicer."

Alfik saw his father's footpaw starting to rise. "An' nomore tailkick!" he shouted.

Bodjev stared at Tagg in disbelief. "Nomore tailkick?"

The otter shook his head. "No more tail kicks, ear smacks or name calls. The Cavemob will be polite and live happily together. This is the law now. All who wish it this way, raise your paws and shout aye."

The response was thunderous. Paws waved wildly and roars of "Aye" resounded throughout the cavern. Tagg noticed that Bodjev was looking rather crestfallen, so he waited for the noise to die away and made another announcement.

"This is the new law of Bodjev, mighty Chief of the Cavemob, whose name will be forever remembered among your tribe."

Cheering themselves hoarse, the pigmy shrews waved their clubs and danced around the big otter as he carried Bodjev shoulder high around the cavern.

"Your biggun be wisefriend," Alfik whispered to Nimbalo. "Lookit Daddy, he smile an' smile lots!"

The harvest mouse feigned a yawn and sat himself down. "So 'e should be, mate. I taught 'im everythin' 'e knows!"

Chapter 18

For the first time since the start of an ill-fated trip, Gruven felt himself really in command. He sat by the replenished fire, which Vallug had made, watching Dagrab, Ribrow and Rawback. Dawn was well up and the three vermin were lying so close to the fire that he could smell singeing fur. Gruven snapped twigs, flicking them at the sleepers until they stirred and sat up rubbing their eyes. Rawback looked around. "So, Vallug an' Eefera never came back durin' the night, Chief?"

Gruven poked at the fire with his sword. "Huh! Did you expect 'em to? Those two are long gone, an' good riddance too, I say. Who needs 'em?"

He listened as the three vermin speculated.

"Mebbe they picked up the otter's tracks an' went after 'im their selves, eh?"

"Suppose they got lost an' they're layin' out there in the snow, frozen stiff?"

"Don't talk daft. One of 'em lit this fire, an' it was still burnin' when we found it last night. I think somethin' 'appened to 'em!"

"Like wot?"

"I dunno, maybe they was attacked."

"Attacked by who? Vallug an' Eefera are both good fighters, they could take care of themselves."

"Suppose it was somebeast who was better'n 'em. You don't know wot sort o' creatures are livin' on this mountain."

Gruven jumped upright and scattered the fire with his sword. The trio leapt back, brushing sparks from themselves as he snarled, "Yore like a bunch of ole gossipers, sittin' there arguin'. I'll tell ye wot I think, then we'll go an' do somethin' about it instead of sittin' freezin' our tails off!"

By the respectful silence that followed, Gruven knew he was boss.

"If Vallug an' Eefera was killed by otherbeasts up 'ere, we ain't stoppin' 'round t'find out. I always said climbin' this mountain was a waste o' time. That otter was never up 'ere. So this is wot we're gonna do. We'll get off the mountain an' track Vallug an' Eefera, an' I bet they'll lead us to the otter. Then all three of 'em are goin' to die, the otter 'cos that's who we came to kill, Vallug an' Eefera 'cos they're traitors, desertin' their own clanbeasts, leavin' us to perish from cold an' starvation. Come on, let's move!"

The two stoats, Rawback and Ribrow, walked behind Gruven and Dagrab, conversing in whispers.

"D'you think Gruven knows where 'e's leadin' us?"

"No, mate, but anywhere's better'n 'ere."

"Right y'are. Keep yore eyes peeled for vittles. I'm famished."

The rat Dagrab slithered alongside Gruven, warm sunlight on the hard-packed snow making the downhill descent quite difficult. She kept her eyes down, watching the ground underpaw.

"Look, Chief, prints in the snow!"

Gruven inspected the faint impressions left in the previous night's snowfall. "Hah, I was right! Vallug an' Eefera passed this way. Good work, Dagrab. We're on their trail right enough. Scout on ahead a bit, see wot y'can find!"

"Huh, 'e was right?" Ribrow scoffed, covering his mouth with a paw. "Wot 'e means is 'e was lucky Dagrab wuz keepin' 'er eyes about 'er."

Once they were clear of the snow, the going became much easier. By midafternoon Gruven's party were on the lower slopes among huge boulders, scrub vegetation and shale. Gruven and the two stoats rested by a trickling stream, gnawing on some milk vetch leaves. Gruven was feeling cheerful.

"See, warm weather, clean water an' a bit o' food. Good, eh?" Ribrow and Rawback continued eating in silence as Gruven continued, "Dagrab lost the tracks a bit back there, but she'll pick 'em up again. Don't worry, I won't steer us wrong."

Ribrow spat out a hard bit of stalk, nodding downhill. "Oh, we ain't worried, Chief, but Dagrab doesn't look too 'appy. 'Ere she comes now, see."

Scrabbling breathlessly uphill, Dagrab returned to make her report. "Looks like all kinds o' stuff growin' down there on some ledges, Chief. Proper vittles, mushrooms, wild onions, some turnips an' stuff like that. Only thing is there's a load of liddle beasts, look like shrews. Good job they never saw me. There's a lot of 'em an' they look well armed, clubs, knives, spears ..."

Gruven tossed away a pawful of vetch leaves. "Liddle beasts like shrews, eh, with plenty o' vittles too? Let's go an' take a look."

From their vantage point on a rocky boulder-strewn spur, the four vermin lay looking down. Far below were broad terraces above the foothills covered in deposits of rich alluvial soil. The pigmy shrews were farming, planting seedlings and gathering in their vegetable crops. Between where they were working and the high spur where the vermin lay was a steep wasteland of thistle, fern, scree, boulders and shale.

Gruven's smile was one of pure wickedness. "This'll probly make a bit o' mess, but we're not interested in next season's crops, just enough fer a few good meals."