Mattimeo

Chapter 41

The same moon that shone over Mossflower sent silver grey shafts of light through the windows of Great

Hall. Two rooks perched in the upper galleries on sentry duty. Half awake and half dozing, they stared

down at the scene below. Dark shadows softened the corners of the stones, with lighter areas where the

moonlight shone in.

One rook shifted his claws uncomfortably. “Graah! It is better in the day when the sun shines warm and

bright.”

His companion shook a wing to keep awake. “You are right, Ragwing. I do not like this place in the

darkness.”

“The earthcrawlers are all asleep down in that Cavern Hole place. Why do we have to stand about here

all night? Nothing ever happens.”

“Do not let the General hear you say that. If he says stay here all night, then we obey.”

“Aye, you are right. When the darkness comes again two others will have to stay guard and we will

sleep upon the soft beds of the earthcrawlers.”

“Krakkah! They are good beds. There was nothing like them in the northlands.”

“What is that, Grubclaw? Did you see something move down there?”

“Graah! It is only shadows.”

“No, over there. Look, the big door is open. See, something moves!”

Slowly emerging from a patch of deep shadow, a ghostly figure glided into a shaft of moonlight.

The two rook sentries stood thunderstruck.

It was a mouse in gleaming armour, the mouse from the big cloth!

The spectre turned to face them, but it had no face! There was just a grey misty area where the face

should have been. Raising a fearsome-looking sword, it pointed directly at the fearbound birds and intoned

in a deep booming voice:

“Death comes if you stay in Redwalllll!”

Before the echoes had finished rebounding around Great Hall, the panic-stricken birds had fled in

terror, tumbling and bumping into each other in their haste to get away from the ghastly sight.

Ironbeak was shocked into wakefulness by Grubclaw and Ragwing. The infirmary door banged open wide

as they hurtled through, feathers flying in all directions.

“General, Yaggah! Whoocaw! A ghost, a ghost!”

“Death, it said. Death! Kraggak! Save us!”

Ironbeak struck out with both wings, belaboring the rooks. “Silence, you thickheads! Mangiz, come with

me. You two, quickly, show us where you saw this thing.”

The four birds hurried through to the sentry post in the galleries.

Ragwing pointed a quivering claw. He was shaking uncontrollably. “Th-there-th-there-th-

theretherethere!”

Ironbeak pushed him aside roughly. “Fool, I see nothing.”

“We were here and all of a sudden there it was. Right there!” Grubclaw tried to explain.

Ironbeak stared down at the spot they were both pointing to. “Kraak! There isn’t anything there! Right.

You, Ragwing, tell me exactly what you saw, or I’ll make you more frightened of me than any ghost you’ve

ever seen. Now stop yammering and stammering and talk slowly!”

“Well, Chief, me and Grubclaw were standing right here on sentry. We weren’t sleeping, oh no, we

were wide awake. Then I says to him ‘What’s that moving down there?’ and he says to me, ‘It’s only

shadows.’ Kraakh! When we looked again, there was a mouse, just like the warrior mouse on the big cloth,

except this one had no face. It waved a sword at us, a big long sword, and it said, ‘Death comes to you if

you stay in Redwall.’ That ghost spoke in a voice like no mouse. It was like thunder over the northland

mountains, it was like, like—”

Ironbeak waved his wing threateningly. “Enough! I have heard enough. A ghost of a mouse, eh?”

Grubclaw could not help himself calling out, “A m-mouse all in armour, Chief. With a big sword!”

Ironbeak zoomed over the galleries. Winging downwards, he landed on the floor.

“And this is where it stood. Well, do you see any ghost now, do you?” he asked, his voice echoing

around Great Hall.

The two sentries shook their heads numbly.

Ironbeak called out, “Kraggah! Ghost! I am General Ironbeak, greatest fighter in all the northlands.

Come, ghost, see if you can scare me!”

The raven stood boldly in the shaft of moonlight on the floor of Great Hall. Nothing happened.

“General, the big door is still open,” Mangiz called down to him.

Ironbeak stalked outside. He looked around, then came in again. Slamming the door after him, he flew

up to the galleries.

“You see, nothing inside, nothing outside. No mouse in armour, ghost, call it what you will. Nothing!”

He turned upon the two sentries, waggling his murderous beak under their eyes, his voice heavy with

menace. “So, tell me again. What did you see?”

“Nothing,” they said in fearful unison.

“Then who opened the big door?” Mangiz asked.

Ironbeak’s eyes glittered with rage, as he nodded to the sentries. “Carry on guarding this place. Mangiz,

we will go back to the room.”

As the crow entered the infirmary, Ironbeak gave him a kick which sent him sprawling. Mangiz looked up

in surprise. The General had struck other birds before, but never his seer. Ironbeak stood over him.

“This is all your doing, crow,” he said, his voice thick with anger. “You and your clouded visions.

Kacha! A ghost mouse wearing armour. Those rooks were scared witless. Then when I go and prove to them

there is no ghost, what does my strong right wing have to say?”

Ironbeak imitated Mangiz’s voice mockingly: “ ‘Then who opened the big door?’ ”

The crow cringed, trembling as the General continued:

“So, I show them there is no ghost and you start convincing them there is one. I am no ghost, Mangiz,

and what I say is final. I will teach you not to open your beak at the wrong time.”

The crow screeched in anguish as the big raven’s talons came down.

Ambrose Spike placed a bowl of hot celery and cream soup before Cornflower as Sister May removed her

helmet.

“Try some of this. It’ll help keep your spirits up. Hohohoho!”

Constance held her sides, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

“Ohaha, oh dear! I must say you looked hauntingly beautiful in your armour tonight, Cornflower. Oh

haha hee hee hee!”

Not intending a pun, Sister May remarked as she folded the gauze facemask, “I’m glad it worked. It

goes to show you what can happen from the ghost of an idea — oh dear!”

They fell about laughing.

“Did you see their faces when you pointed the sword at them?”

“Hahaha. They kept bumping into each other when they tried to fly off together.”

“That was thanks to Constance’s ghost voice. It’s enough to scare anybeast. Hohoho! Go on, Constance,

do it again.”

The big badger cupped her paws around her mouth and called in a sepulchral voice: “Leeeeaaave some

of that sooooooup for meeeee!”

Outside on the gallery sentry post, Ragwing shuddered on his perch.

“What was that? Did you hear it, Grubclaw?”

The other rook pecked his companion hard upon the bottom.

“Yak! Don’t you start that again, you’ve got us into enough trouble for one night. Now go to sleep. That

way you won’t be able to see anything worth reporting with your dim imagination.”