Brian Jacques - Redwall #09 - Salamandastron

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Brian Jacques

by a powerful straight right paw, smack dab on his chin. Goffa crumpled to the ground, senseless.

Pikkle came dashing over, puzzlement and concern on his face. "I say, steady on, Sappers oP boy ..."

Sergeant Sapwood seized him by the ear. "Liddle block-'eads, there's a whole harmy of vermin jus' over yon 'ill. Yore in a trap. Run for yore lives!"

A yelling horde of Ferahgo's creatures came charging over the hill in front of them. Sapwood threw an imploring glance at Mara, then snatched his javelin from behind the rock and thrust it into her paws.

"Too late, missie, but run. Y'might 'ave a chance, both of you. I'll lead 'em off!"

The Nameday celebrations at Redwall Abbey were in full swing. Early that morning they had started with the young ones marching round to the orchard, where they were met by Thrugg. As there was no badger to challenge them, the big otter had disguised himself, striping his face black and white and garbing himself with dusty old gray drapes. He shook a ladle at them as if it were a club and called out the challenge,

"What want you here, young beast, young beast, What want you here at my feast, my feast?"

Two young mousemaids, Turzel and Blossom, stood forward. They danced around Thrugg as they chanted,

"O stripedog, great guardian, some food for us all, For we are good young ones who live at Redwall!"

Thrugg appeared fearsome and waved his ladle at them.

"Some food, you say. Nay nay, away, Unless our good Abbess says it is Nameday!"

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It fell traditionally to Dumble, being the youngest, to call upon the Abbess to open the feast. He was pushed forward, his head wreathed in a posy of flowers and a willow wand in his paw. Twice he forgot his words as he waved the wiilow wand, but finally he plucked up confidence and got it right, the Sisters and Brothers laughing and applauding his baby-speech.

"Kind muvva, gudd muvva, er, er, O pleeze tell this

beast

Dat this is our Nameday, an', an', an' we wanna feast!"

Every creature cheered aloud as Abbess Vale came forward, dressed in her best ceremonial habit, and declaimed loudly:

"Fie on you, great guardian, for can you not see, These young ones are hungry, and they are with me."

All the young ones shouted at Thrugg:

"So stand aside and let us pass!"

Thrugg stood to one side as they dashed cheering to the tables. Samkim took Thrugg's paw and led him to the feast. "Mr. Thrugg, I dreamed about you last night." "Hohoho, I'll bet you did an' all, young un!" "Mr. Thrugg, why does everybeast call you great guardian?"

"Oh, that's only on Nameday, Samkim, when I'm dressed up as a badger. In the old days the Abbey badger was often called guardian. It was usually a female badger, like a great mother to Redwallers she was. Why do you ask?''

But the excitement of the feast had gripped Samkim, and he ran to his place at table between Arula and the two stoats, knotting a napkin about his neck as he called out, "Hey, Mrs. Spinney, are those apple turnovers hot? Pass me one, will you

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please. Oho, look at our Great Hall cake, Arula. It's the best one in all Mossflower, isn't it, Friar Bellows?"

Farther down the table, the Foremole and his crew were setting to with a will.

"Yurr, Grunel, pass oi some damsen pudden, hurr hurr!"

"Moi o moi, wot wunnerful unnycream. Oi spreads it on ever'think."

"Gurrout, you'm be a-spreaden et on moi veggible pastie!"

"Yurr, zurr hotter, you'm been at this soup agin?"

Bremmun was demonstrating a special traveling hare snack to two openmouthed fieldmice. ' 'When I was your age I saw a traveling hare do this when he visited us one Nameday. Hares are real gluttons. Watch! First he took a good flat apple turnover like thispass me that meadowcreamthen he spread it thick and stuck a pair of blackberry tarts on it, like this. Next he ladled it with honey, so, then he placed a huge slice of hazelnut and pear flan on top and ate the lot. Just like this! Mmmfff, snnninch, grooff!"

Dingeye, his face shrouded in whipped strawberry cream, was bolting down candied chestnuts and mintcream wafers at die same time. Thura was dipping a hot vegetable pastie into honeyed plums and woodland trifle, stopping now and then to gulp down great swigs of dandelion and burdock.

"Phwaw! Mucker! This is the life. Good ol' Redwall, that's wot I say!"

"Yer right there, mucker. It was almost worth washin' all those greasy pans for, an' gettin' a bath too!"

"Nothin's worth gettin' a bath for, bubblenose. Yowch! That's me paw yore tryin' to eat!"

Arula watched the two stoats glowering at each other. The little molemaid took her nose out of a slice of Great Hall cake long enough to chuckle.

"Oi must tell Froir Bellers about that un. Stoatpaw pudden, hurrhurr! Yurr, Dumble, get you'm nose out'n moi drink!"

The infant dormouse guzzled the last of Arula's cider and Started making inroads upon the Abbess's elderberry wine. *Tm firsty, tumble firsty!"

Bunley mole and Tudd Spinney had cornered a great heap

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of cheeses and October ale, which they sampled judiciously.

"Ho, Maister Tudd, try'ee big yeller cheese wi' chesknut-ters innit. Et be a gurt fav'rite o' moin."

The old hedgehog blew the foam off a flagon of ate. "Hmm, nice V nutty. 'Ave some o' my special fieldwhite cheese wi' celery an' onionvery tasty wi* that oatbread."

A challenge was thrown out by Thrugg's sister Thrugann: which of them could eat a bowl of the shrimp and bulrush soup with the most hotroot pepper in it. Thrugg threw a paw-ful in his bowl and started spooning it down. Thrugann promptly put two pawfuls into her soup and went at it with her eyes streaming. Not to be outdone, Thrugg added a full ladle of the pepper to his, whereupon Thrugann tipped the full peppersack over the top of her bowl. With tears gushing from their reddened eyes, both otters spooned away bravely until the Abbess called out, "I declare a draw, the winners, Thrugg and Thrugann!"

Both otters bolted from the table and immersed their heads in an open cask of old cider. Amid the laughter from the tables, the sound of Thrugg and Thrugann sucking in massive drafts of cider to cool their burning mouths could be heard all over the orchard.

Brother Hollyberry tipped both the bowls into his own and spooned the lot down without turning a hair, his only comment-being, "Hmm, this soup could do with a little more pepper. I like it good and spicy!"

Friar Bellows sat back and loosened off his waistcord. "Phew, very good, very good! I don't know which is the hardest, preparing it ail or trying to eat it all. Pass me a ma-plecream tart, will you, Brother Hal."

The Brother broke open an oatloaf stuffed with summer salad. "Tut tut, not beginning to flag, are you, Bellows?"

The good Friar sat up straight and quaffed a beaker of mint tea. The maplecream tart disappeared rapidly, even though it was a large plate-sized one.

"Beginning to flag? Listen, my goodmouse, flagging is for young fellers like yourself. I'm one who knows how to keep

up a steady pace. Cut me a wedge of that Great Hall cake, please."

Toward the bottom of the table several baby mice and young hedgehogs had secreted a sizable fruit and cream trifle under the table. They sat on the ground, eating it with their paws, out of the sight of older creatures who insisted on them using spoons, and there was trifle everywhere.

"Mmm, 's better wivvout spoons!"

"Heehee, I c'n eat it wiv all four paws. Lookit me!"

By noon most creatures had deserted the festive board and were lying beneath trees and bushes all over the orchard. Dumble and the rest of the infants were snoring loudly in a hammock that Sister Nasturtium had strung between two ap-