Mariel Of Redwall Part 21

"Jump!"

The swamp had sucked Dandin under, his head disappeared from view.

Mariel, Durry and Tarquin jumped heavily from the tree to the path, falling in an awkward heap atop each other.

The bough straightened with a tremendous rush. Dandin was hauled clear of the swamp with a huge squelching plop He hung there, dangling above the swamp at the rope's end by both paws, covered from ears to tail in thick foul mud. Pulling the sword from where it stood quivering on the trailside where Dandin had dropped it, Tarquin leaned out, supported by Mariel and Durry. Holding the sword by its blade, he hooked the crosstree hilt into Dandin's belt and pulled him in. Mariel and Durry grabbed Dandin's limp body. Tarquin swung the sword upward with a mighty slash, severing the end of the bough that the Gulhvhacker was tied to. All four fell back in a heap on the pathside.

While Tarquin undid the knots to free Dandin's paws, Mariel poured water from their flasks over his face, was.h.i.+ng away the ooze that caked it. Durry forced his mouth open whilst Mariel poured water into it. Dandin struggled feebly and coughed. Mariel sighed her relief. Her voice choking with emotion for her friend, she tried to sound busy and practical.

"Thank goodness for that. I thought he was gone for a moment there."

Tears were flowing down Durry Quill's homely face as he joked. "Our Dandin a goner? Naw, he'll be a'right, I 'member Father Abbot sayin' he use to eat mudpies when he were a Dibbun. Hahahaboohoo!"

232.

Laughing and crying at the same time, Durry hugged Dandin's paw.

A fire was lit, though only a small one with the limited supply of fuel in the swamp. Tarquin took a turn at making some mushroom and turnip broth while Mariel tended to Dandin. The young mouse had recovered sufficiently to sit up. He looked away from the darklands swamp and shuddered.

"Uuuuuuhhhhh! It filled my nose and eyes and sucked me under. Right under! It was horrible. I'll never forget it as long as I live!"

Mariel patted his back gently. "There, there, it's all right, you're safe now. Good job you thought of the tree, Durry."

The hedgehog looked at her oddly. "I didn't mention no tree, missy."

"Oh, it must have been Tarquin then. Thank you, Tarquin."

"Don't mention it, old thing, but y'don't mind me sayin', what tree?"

"You mean it wasn't you who said, 'the tree, the tree'?"

"Nope, sorry, must've bin some other beastie."

Dandin and Mariel looked at each other. Dandin smiled.

"Aye, the same one who told me to hold my paws up straight after I went under. Good old Martin the Warrior."

After a few hours they were able to resume their journey, backtracking until they found another path which looked fairly straight and safe. Mariel walked in front, holding the wart-skinned toad's lantern; it made the visibility slightly better. Tarquin followed at the rear, cleaning mud from his harolina.

"Supreme sacrifice, wot? Chap keepin' another chap afloat in a bally swamp with his harolina. Not many'd do that y'know. Bet Hon Rosie'd think it was a jolly 233.

n.o.ble effort on my part-fact I'm sure she would!" He turned to the big frilled lizard that was following him. "I mean to say, a chap's harolina is a very personal possession, wot? Omigos.h.!.+ Eulaliaaa!"

Tarquin suddenly brained the lizard with the harolina, knocking it flying into the swamp. Other lizards sinuously scaled up from the sloping pathsides where they had been following the travelers. There were at least twenty or thirty, an a.s.sortment of newts and frilled lizards, their reptilian tongues flickering in and out as they watched the four travelers through cold basilisk eyes.

Durry threw up his paws in despair. "Lackaday, what now? We've 'ad sticklegs, pikes, adders, Flit-chaye, mad owls, a warty toad, an' now this, dragons! My nuncle Gabe wouldn't believe a word iffen I told him. More like he'd say that I 'ad been a-drinkin' of his strong blackberry wine. Mariel, tell a poor lad who's far from home, what do we do now?"

It was a strange scene. They stood on the trail, holding a hasty conference/ watched by the silent unblinking lizards.

"We have two choices, Durry: stand and fight, or make a run for it."

Dandin drew his sword. "I'm with you, Mariel. Just say the word!"

"Now steady in the ranks there, chaps," Tarquin interrupted. "I've already cracked a valuable harolina on one blinkin' reptile's bonce. Hold fast a moment, will you. I could be mistaken, but just a moment ago I swear I felt a bit of a light zephyr."

Durry wrinkled his snout. "A what?"

"A light zephyr, me old scout. A vagrant breeze, a fortunate breath, a bally puff of wind, in fact. Just give me a moment, will you ..."

Tarquin walked back down the trail to a tree, brus.h.i.+ng aside a newt. "Beg pardon, old lizard, 'scuse me."

With an agility which belied his awkward figure, the 234.

hare climbed the tree. He stood on a high branch, paw to forehead, gazing out, nodded with apparent satisfaction, then descended the trunk swiftly, pus.h.i.+ng through the lizards.

"D'you fellows mind not hoggin' the trail? Bad form, y'know, idlin' about an' stickin' your flippin' tongues in an' out like that."

Returning through the dumbfounded lizards to his companions, Tarquin murmured under his breath to Mariel, "Tarquin L. Woodsorrel reportin' back, marm. Don't show too much excitement, but I could see the sea from up in that tree, about a couple of hours' good hike from where we are. Does that alter the situation? Just thought you ought t' know, bein' expedition leader an' all that."

Dandin gave a wriggle of suppressed joy. "The sea! Well, that does change things, but we've still got these lizards to contend with. Look, there's more coming out of the swamp."

The lizards from the mud joined their fellows upon the trail, waving long, prehensile tails and strutting about slowly with sinuous reptilian grace.

Mariel weighed the situation carefully. "Hmrn, they haven't made any move to attack us yet. Maybe it's just a display of strength in numbers, though if we made a run for it they could easily stop us. This is their territory, they know it better than we do, and we're outnumbered at least ten to one. Right, one thing's clear- we can't stand here much longer or something's bound to happen. I've got an idea that might work. Hold my Gullwhacker and give me that sword, Dandin. Don't ask questions, just trust me."

Wordlessly Dandin gave her the sword. Turning from her companions, the mousemaid faced the gathering of reptiles crowding the path. "Which one of you is the leader?"

There was no reply. The lizards merely stood staring at her.

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"Don't you have a chief, some creature in command?"

Further silence. Mariel brandished the sword of Martin. She gave a great leap and yelled, "Redwaaaalll! I am Mariel the Warrior. I'll fight you all together or one at a time! Come on, send your best killer out here and I'll meet him in combat! Lizards don't bother me, buckos. I've ate lizard stew before today."

Behind her she could hear Durry and the others snorting to suppress a fit of laughing giggles.

"Sounds like Mariel Stonehead to me!"

"Lizard stew? Oh I say, that's goin' it a bit!"

"D'you reckon they can understand her? Teeheehee!"

Mariel ignored them. She approached a large crested lizard who stood half a head above the rest.

"What about you, sliptongue? You're big and lazy enough to be a chief. Do you fancy your chance against Mariel the Warrior?"

The lizard blinked, turned slowly and walked majestically away, with Mariel shaking the sword at it.

"So, you're not only dumb, but cowardly with it! Well, let me tell you, slimenose, if any of your tribe try attacking my friends, you're the first one I'm coming after. I'll chop off your tail and stuff it up your nose! We're leaving now. I hope you'll heed my warning!"

Swaggering outrageously, the mousemaid joined her companions, telling them from the side of her mouth, "Right. Get moving. I'll stay at the back. Don't run, keep it to a brisk walk. Off we go!"

Tarquin led the way, almost helpless with laughter. "Good egg, Dandin. Did y'see that swagger? Hohoho, I thought she was going to wriggle clear out of her skin. Never seen anythin' so funny in all me life, young mouse."

"Haha, and did you see the way that big lizard looked at her when she called him slimenose? Cawhaw! His face was a picture."

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"Chop off his tail 'n' stuff it up his nose!"

Mariel stifled a chuckle, picturing herself as the others saw her. "Don't laugh too much, pals- they're still following us."

And sure enough they were. Still silent, tongues flickering, eyes fixed staringly on the travelers' backs, the pack of lizards followed at an even pace.

"Not to worry, chums," Tarquin called back. "I can feel that breeze quite clearly now. Hey, d'you suppose the big chappie'd give me a ride on his back if I asked him nicely? After all, we are going the same way, aren't we 00.

Two hours later the swamp thinned out, overhanging trees became few and far between, and the path petered off, giving way to firm ground and fragrant gorse-bushes. But the greatest joy to the four travelers was the clear blue summer sky overhead. After days of dark forest and swamp, the fresh air tasted like springwater to them. They halted and looked back to the darkland swamp. The lizards were gathered on its fringes, still silent, flickering-tongued and beady-eyed, though some of them were preening and stretching in the sudden warmth of the sun, settling themselves down languorously to bask.

Free now of the reptilian threat, Mariel and her friends could not resist shouting their humorous goodbyes.

"Cheerio, you baggy-skinned blighters. Don't get your noses too muddy in the jolly old swamp, wot wot!"

"Bye-bye, tonguepullers. Give our regards to the old warty-skinned toad!"

"Yes, goodbye, you great bunch of dumbos. By the way, I've never tasted lizard stew before- it'd prob'ly make me sick. 'Bye now!"

"Ta-ta, vermints. D'you think you could make your 237.

way to our Abbey someday, just in case my nuncle Gabe don't believe me when I tell 'm about 'ee?"

Across the gorsefields they trekked, toward a range of high hills which fronted the westerly edge. Seabirds wheeled in the sky above while the irrepressible Tarquin strummed away on his cracked harolina.

"O, I wouldn't go through the swamps no more, Not for an Abbot's feast.

Not even for a kiss from Rosie dear, Though she's a lovely beast.

Give me the summer suns.h.i.+ne, Don't mind a cloud or two, Rather than that bally bog And a pot of lizard stew!"

238.

Graypatch and his searats were back sooner than any creature at Redwall Abbey expected. Smarting from the ignominious defeat and with the crew beginning to mutter behind his back again, the searat Captain decided to turn the tide in his favor with a shock attack.

He camped his crew farther up the path for the remainder of the night, waking them at dawn light to explain his scheme.

"Fire-swingers! That's the thing, buckos-the old fire-swingers!"

Bigfang was feeling a bit c.o.c.ky now Graypatch's first attack had failed. "Fire-swingers me tail! I already tried fire, an' it didn't work. What's so good about your plan?"

Graypatch ridiculed Bigfang. "I'll tell you, matey. My plan'll work because I've got a brain an' you haven't. Rush the gate an' set fire to it-huh, I could think of a better plan than that in a storm at sea with both claws tied behind me back. So you either shut up an' listen, or I'll cut you loose in this country to fend for yerself, unnerstand?"

Bigfang subsided into sullen silence while Graypatch continued.

"Cut up all those lengths of rope we used for grap- 239.

nels, tie rocks to the ends, all wrapped in dead gra.s.s an' soaked with lamp oil. That'll make good fire-swingers. Now, we sneaks along that there ditch so's those Redwallers don't see us a-comin'. Then we gets out on the flatland, lights up our fire-swingers an' twirls 'em an' hurls 'em. Think of it, mates-a good fire-swinger has more range than any weapon, so they won't be able to touch us with bows or lances or spears. We can stand around all season flingin' fire into their precious Abbey, an' they can't do a thing about it. Sooner or later some part of the buildin' will take flame. Haharr, then they'll be ready to talk terms, or be roasted alive. Well, what d'ye say, s.h.i.+pmates?"

The scheme was not greeted too enthusiastically, but Graypatch worked upon them, painting pictures of the good life to come when they would be masters of Redwall. His eloquence finally won, and they set about making large numbers of fire-swingers.

Midmorning at the Abbey found a repair crew clearing away the debris from the previous night's battle. The front gates had been made good and piles of green branches and rubble stacked in front to prevent them being set alight again. Because the normal Abbey routine had been disturbed, a large late breakfast was being served upon the southern wallsteps. Friar Alder and his young a.s.sistant, c.o.c.kleburr, had made crusty country pasties, and these were being served with melted yellow cheese and rough hazelnut bread. There was new cider, strawberry cordial and a number of latticed pear and redberry tarts to follow. Bagg, Runn and Grubb were the heroes of the hour, regaled with outsize portions of everything as they related their feats of derring-do, embroidering and expanding as they pleased.

"Hohurr, oi cloimed down 'ee roaps an' foighted with they'ns awhoil, then oi clambers back oop an' cuts a few more o' they roaps."

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"That's true, I let some of 'em climb right over the top, 'cos I'm not afeared o' searats, then I jabbed 'em in their bottoms with my big sharp knife, so they screamed an' jumped back over the wall. Eek! they went. I'll bet there's a few sore be'inds 'mongst 'em today!"

"As fer me, I went choppo choppo with my sharp knife, though I let some of 'em climb right up on the battlements so I could stand on Grubb's shoulders an' punch 'em in the nose. Puncho! Ain't that right, Grubb, me old warrior pal?"

"Aye 't were so. They was a-cryen an' a-wailen. Oh mercy me, spare oi, they was moanen. Hurhurr, we'ns spared they aroight-more like splattered they all over t' woodlands. Burrhurr, us'n's the boys aroight."

Friar Alder squinted vindictively at the heroic trio. "Yes, and you used my best vegetable knives to do it with. I think you must have been chopping stones with those knives. I've been up since an hour before dawn, trying to sharpen new edges on them."

Ignoring the caustic remarks, Bagg and Runn propounded new ideas.

"We could have a Dibbuns army, y'know."

"Good idea, mate. An' we could fight lots of battles an' all that."

"Aye, that'd show some o'these old fogies."

"Haha, we'd send them all t' bed early."

"Burr, wi' no supper or brakkist on the morrow."

"Heehee, I'd scrub 'em all be'ind their ears, twice a day."

"Hoo urr, oi'd spank a few o' they, just fer nuthin' 't all!"

They froze at the sound of Sister Serena's voice behind them.

"Personally I've never spanked any creature for nothing at all. But I hear there were three of our Dibbuns missing from their beds in the dormitory last night. Sister Sage said that they were out on the east 241.

walltop, playing with Friar Alder's sharp knives. Now, if I found out who they were I'd give them a real good hide-tanning for being naughty little creatures. But I don't suppose you three would know who they were, would you?"

"Us, er, phwaw, er, oh no, not us, Sister!"

"We were in bed fast asleep, all night!"