Brian Jacques - Redwall #09 - Salamandastron

Three long shrew logboats shot out into the waters of the Great South Stream. The dawn was gray and overcast with a warm blustery wind coming out of the northeast. In the prow of the lead boat Samkim, Arula and Spriggat sat with their paddles shipped. There was little need for paddling in the fast-flowing current with the wind astern of the vessels.

Arula chuckled with excitement as the sturdy craft skimmed and bobbed over the rushing waters. "Huhurr, boaten beats walken boi arf a season's march!"

Now and then Spriggat would lean to one side and snap at the odd passing winged insect. "Huh, goin' too fast fer an 'og to catch a bite."

Samkim crouched in the prow with Alfoh. Together they scanned ahead for signs of Dethbrush and his five trackers. Spray blew up into the young squirrel's nostrils. It was his first time on a shrew logboat and he found it very exhilarating. Winking across at Affoh, he called over the rushing stream noise, "This is the life, eh? Makes me wish I was a shrew!"

The elder nodded as he shouted back, "You like it? Good! Your fox would have had to come this way because of the speedy current. We can follow this way until we get below the rapids!"

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"Rapids?" Spriggat gave a squeak of dismay. "You never said anythin' about rapids. Where are they?"

"Up there a piece." Alfoh nodded ahead. "Don't worry, they'll come soon enough. I'll pass you the word when they do."

Frequently the shrews would use their paddles to negotiate a rock or ward off floating driftwood, but the pace was becoming faster all the time and the banks shot by in a blur of green and brown as Alfoh roared out directions and warnings.

"Duck your heads, overhangin' willows comin' up!"

Arula barely made it, receiving a smart clip from a branch.

"Rock to port! Get those paddles lined up!"

Samkim shoved hard with his paddle, feeling the shock run through his paws as it struck stone. He pushed and felt the boat skip out away from the rock.

"Wood stickin' up midstream, paddles to starboard!"

Spriggat and Arula paddled furiously, sighing in relief as they whizzed by a tree trunk that had stuck in the muddy bottom.

Alfoh brought his mouth close to Samkim's ear. "No signs yet, but don't worry, we'll catch the blaggards. Here come the rapids now. Stow yer paddle an' hang on tight!"

Samkim threw his paddle in the logboat bottom, gripping the sides tightly as he heard Alfoh yell out, "Rapids ahead! Stow all paddles an' hang on!"

White water boiled up over the prow, drenching Samkim as the boat dipped and hurtled crazily into a mad world of foaming, writhing waters. At the stern two experienced shrews sculled with their paddles, slewing the craft around jagged rocky outcrops. Arula threw herself into the bottom of the boat, digging claws hiding her eyes in fright.

"Oohurr, oi'm bound t'er be a drownded mole choild afore sunset!" Like a roller coaster the logboat tore through the rapids, sometimes with water gushing over the sides, other times with the hull groaning as it scraped over submerged rock ledges. Sterns up, heads down, the three vessels weaved and twisted with terrifying speed down the perilous watercourse. Samkim was amazed the shrews seemed to take it all

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in their stride, neither laughing nor looking fearful they battled away with expertise, competence written all over their faces. Finally, after one long watercourse that seemed more like a waterfall than a rapid, they splashed down into a semicircular lagoon with a thick covering of foamy scum lying slowly swirling on its surface. Behind them the rapids crashed and roared in watery chaos. Dipping their paddles, they began pushing on down the wide calm stream. Traveling easily, they felt possessed of an overwhelming tranquillity after the turmoil of the rapids. The sky was still lowering and overcast, wind soughed softly through the sedge at the banks and margins as the three logboats forged ahead.

It was midday when the stream ahead split two ways and Alfoh held up a paw and called out, "Bows into yon middle bank!"

They headed into the tongue of land that protruded at the parting of the stream. Leaping ashore, Alfoh pointed to a high giant hornbeam.

"Mollo, shin up that there hornbeam tree an' scout the lay o' the waters."

A sprightly young shrew bounded forward, but Samkim beat him to it. "Shrews to water but squirrels to trees, my friend!" Like a shaft from a bowstring the young squirrel shot up the towering trunk. Alfoh watched him in amazement. Arula nudged the old shrew.

"Burr, owzat furr cloimen, zurr. 'Ee be a gud'n, our San-ken."

The giant hornbeam was so high that it was difficult to see Samkim when he was at the top. With the speed and agility of a born climber he whizzed back down again, leaping lightly to the ground, eager to deliver his news.

"I could see them, I could see them! They've taken that stream on the left!"

Alfoh leapt back into the boat. "Lucky for them. This'n on the right would've taken them into another waterfall and the mountain caves. How far away are they?"

Samkim jumped in beside him. "Only about two hours good paddling I'd say."

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The boats pushed off down the left fork of the stream. It sloped slightly and ran straight as a die as far as the eye could see. Alfoh struck out with his paddle.

"Seems they're headed right for the sea, but keep your eyes peeled anyway. You never can tell wi' vermin."

The wind increased. Now dark cloud masses could be seen drifting over from the northeast. Spriggat snapped up a mayfly that had been silly enough to try a landing on his paw.

"Looks like rain's goin' to bucket down afore long!"

Halfway through the afternoon Alfoh peered at the left bank. It was heavily overgrown with willows and bushes. He had been watching out for this particular place.

"Pull over here, shrews. That's it, now back water an' hove to."

Samkim watched intently as the elder inspected the thick-eted edge. "What is it, Alfoh? What are you looking for?"

Alfoh slashed at some vegetation with his rapier and pulled a clump of bush lupin to one side. "Hah! I thought so. Look here!"

It was a hidden side creek, overgrown by bush and tree, which wound its way into thick woodland. Alfoh ponted to recent scrapes in the clay of the bank at water level.

"Aye, that's a fox for ye, always one jump ahead of a grasshopper! The villain knew we'd follow t' get our boat back, so he's sidetracked off down herethough I suspect he doesn't know where he's goin' to. This isn't the way to the sea."

"Whurr do et lead to, zurr Affaloh?" Arula peered up the dim overgrown waterway.

Alfoh scratched his chin. "Only one place it can lead to, Arula: the Great Lake."

It was like paddling through a long green tunnel. The water reflected the trees overhead as they crowded low, and the mossy banks, and everywhere was green. Samkim looked at the faces around him, tinged by the green light. Apart from

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the muted sound of paddles, they were in a cocoon of verdant silence. Spriggat paddled and snacked upon various winged denizens of the hidden waterway, lifting his eyes as the splash of water on the leaves above announced the arrival of the rain. They ate as they went, passing back oatcakes and small fruit scones preserved in honey and flower syrup.

Arula took gulps of cooling lilac and rosewater from a hollow gourd and passed it to Spriggat. "Yurr, wash'ee flies down, zurr."

All along the waterway there were signs that the fox had passed in the stolen boatbroken branches, bruised plants and scrapes in the mossed banks. The wind increased overhead, howling a dirge through the treetops. The banks started to rise higher and the watercourse flowed faster as it took a downward slope.