The Outcast of Redwall

26?

At the front of the horde Swartt was busy plotting with Nightshade against his Corsair ally.

“Lord, this Zigu creature, said Nightshade, “I do not need shells or omens to tell me that he will slide that thin blade of his into your back one night if he is not dealt with soon.

“Oh, dont worry yerself, vixen, Ive got me eye on Zigu, but we need im to take us to the mountain. E knows where it is, an the best way of approachin it.

“And after that, Lord, what then?

“Simple, we let everybeast know ow brave our Corsair is, then let im take the honor of leadin a dangerous charge. If e dies, well an good, but if he wins the day an comes out alive, you know wot tdo, dont yer.

“Aye, Sire, we hail him as a hero and let him drink fine wine from the silver chalice, like Bowfleg and Damson-tongue.

“Right, we cant let bravebeasts go thirsty, twouldnt be good manners!

Skarlath was too high up to hear what went on below. A mere hovering speck, he noted the moving horde on the shore before winging off toward Salamandastron.

The great mace now hung in the forge room. Sunflash no longer carried it everywhere looped on his paw; it had become a hindrance to his new occupation. Clad in a flowing smock and wearing a woven straw hat, the Badger Lord had become the perfect farmer. Every available surface of the mountainside cultivated: berries and hardy little fruit trees flourished on leeside, root crops in the deeper-soiled hollows of the south e, and cereals on the front where the dark ancient volcanic 1 was more sandy and shallow.

Sunflash sat with his hares on a high ledge. Their chores the day completed, they were enjoying a picnic. Filling his cup with pennycloud cordial, the badger pointed out an area to them, and said, “Well have to shore the edges of that garden with rocks, stop the rains washing the soil away. Leave a few small gaps for drainage, though.

The fat Forty saluted furiously, tugging his eartips and im rustic molespeech. “Hoo urr, zurr Sunnyflasher, roight if I be farmer, burr aye!

Sunflash chuckled as he flung his straw hat at the cheeky hare. “When you get weary of being a mole, let me know. you impudent young rip. Ill teach you how to become a gull and well see how well you fly, from here down to the shore!

Sundew and a hare called Fleetrunn appeared from a side tunnel, carrying a cloth-covered tray between them. Bradberry sniffed, and said, “I say, somethin smells jolly good!

Sundew twitched her ears severely at Bradders. “Keep your grubby paws away from this, gannetface, it was made specially for Lord Sunflash.

Uncovering the tray, Fleetrunn set it before the badger. A heavy dark cake still warm from the oven gave off fruity aromas. The golden stripe quivered as Sunflashs muzzle twitched. “Bradders is right, it does smell nice! Cut it up quicklyhungry farmers dont like to be kept waiting!

“Its a plum-and-almond cake, Fleetrunn explained as she cut it into dark, fragrant slices. “Bloggwood used old cider to mix it with; it had to be baked slow to keep it moist.

“Kreeh! Cake is good for hungry birds!

Suddenly, Skarlath landed on the Badger Lords broad shoulder and started in on the slice that Sunflash held up to him.

“Well, my faithful friend, said the badger, “its more than a season since you last visited me. Eat your cake before you tell me the news. Sunflash blinked as crumbs flew left and right. “Now I know what somebeasts mean when they say hungry as a hawk. I dont suppose you get fresh-baked cake often.

The kestrels throat bulged as he swallowed the last morsel. “It is good cake. I will take some when I go. News is all bad. friend. The Sixclaw is three days from here, with a great horde. There are no young ones and families with him now. These are fighting vermin: Corsairs, searats, marauders, plunderers, the rakings and scrapings of sea and shoreline, as many as leaves in an autumn gale!

The big badgers jaw tightened. “What of our friends Tirry and Bruff and their families; did Swartt find their dwelling cave?

Skarlaths fierce eye winked. “No, they are safe. The horde entered Mossflower farther south. Tirry and Bruff are out of their path, more northerly.

Suddenly, the cake was forgotten. Sunflash rose, taking the hawk with him, and said, “Come to my forge room, Sundew, and tell the Officers of our Long Patrol to meet me there urgently. This is a counsel of war.

A dozen or so big lean hares of both sexes gathered in the forge room for the counsel of war. These were the Officers of the Long Patrol, tough and skilled in the fighting arts. Sunflash sat on the window seat, and Skarlath perched on the sill. The Badger Lord let his kestrel speak.

“This ferret has a horde greater than any ever seen, far too big to be met in the open. You have not got a quarter of their numbers, but I have been busy raising helpthat is why I got liere so late.

A hare carrying a long sword spoke out. “Help, old chap: what sort of help?

Skarlath pointed north with his outspread wing. “Guosim shrews; their Log a Log has promised me six logboats of shrew warriors to come in from the sea and strike at the rear of the vermin when they arrive on the beach.

Sunflash nodded his approval. “That is good; if the horde of Swartt is as large as you say, we will need all the help we can get. Have you any other ideas, Skarlath?

The kestrel preened a few crumbs from his pinions, saying, “Give me the talisman you wear around your neck, Sunflash, I will seek the help of otters and squirrels.

“Take it, and fortune fly with you, my good hawk! said the badger as he looped Elmjaks greenstone leaf around his friends neck.

Skarlath bowed his head slightly to the Officers, then he was gone, shooting like an arrow through the open window-space.

Then Sunflash addressed the hares.

“Our main fighting will be done from the mountain. We have supplies here, food and water to last us, and that puts the foebeast at a disadvantage. Their provisions are earned with them and cannot last long. Now, is there anything we can do to harass them while they are down on the shores in front of here? I am open to suggestions.

Sabretache, the hare who carried a long sword, put forward an idea that had worked in the past against invading searats. “MLord, we can dig long trenches, line em with sharpened stakes, an cover em with rush mats disguised by sand, wot?

“Good idea, but surely theyll see them.

A female hare called Hedgepaw held up a light javelin. “Not if mena few jolly old Sleepers give the blighters a taste of these. Theyll run straight into the blinkin pits.

The badger looked puzzled. “Sleepers? he asked.

The most senior hare, a rangy male named Colonel Sand-gall, winked knowingly at Sunflash. “Sleepers, sah, take too bally long to explain what they do, but rest assured that each of these blighters, who fondly call themselves Officers, have a job tdo an can do it rather well, doncha know. Beggin ypardon, mLord, but if you concentrate your efforts fortifyin all entrances an exits at ground level, then well see to the rest. Actually, I think the right form for the present is to marshal an arm all the troops, wot?

Sunflash was impressed with the confidence and ingenuity of his hares; he knew that despite their affected speech manner, they were dangerous beasts and expert warriors. But he had a final word. “Good enough, Ill leave you Officers to it. However, stay away from the Warlord, Swartt Sixclawhes mine!

Every hare in the forge room knew by the look on the Badger Lords face that he would brook no interference in the matter of his sworn enemy. They saluted smartly and went off about their duties.

Overnight, Salamandastron was transformed into a military garrison. The hares emptied both forge room and armory of weapons; and bows, arrows, slings, and rocks were stacked at every rock slit and window in the mountain. Young ones were taken deep inside to the central inner caves. Old ones took over the forge, repairing, sharpening, and creating weapons. Random trenches were dug halfway up the shoreline; sharpened stakes stuck up from the trenchbeds. Boulder piles began to grow from halfway up the mountain, ready at the removal of wedges to topple down on any foebeast.

Sunflash worked with a team he had selected. They move around Salamandastrons base, blocking off entrances and exits with boulders cemented together by powdered limestone and sand mixed with water. The main entrance was blocked by a large, rough-timber gate. Old harewives began baking extra food, readying the sick bay for wounded and manufac-oning poultices.

In the midst of all this activity, Sunflash stopped for a moment, to gaze sadly out at the areas he had cultivated. The salad garden had been stripped bare to allow the hares to set up a large, timber-framed rock catapult. He shrugged, sighing deeply. All this peace and beauty that he was trying to create would be ruined by war.

A war that would begin two dawns later.