Chapter Three

Matthias Methuselah Mortimer. Matthias loved the name, loved it dearly, and loved it even more every time he looked at his child. His son. His legacy.

However, the little boy would need a nickname: 'Matthias Methuselah Mortimer' was such a mouthful. Would they think of one? Or would their son dub himself when the time was right?

It had been a full week since the birth of the warrior's son. Cornflower was almost back to her normal state, and she could once again walk where she could—when she found the time. Their little baby was a miracle indeed, no trouble at all; he barely cried, and he cried even less in the night. Many separate times during the night, Matthias would hear his wife walk across the room just to check on the baby, and as soon as she was back in bed and sleeping he would do the same. Matthias was going soft—he knew it. And secretly, he loved it.

Matthias woke early one morning and took a walk to the pond, leaving his wife and son sleeping in the gatehouse.

Matthias sat down and placed his footpaws in the water, swishing the water around gently, watching the morning sky reflect in the calm water. He gave a startled jump when Abbot Mordalfus snuck up and spoke from behind him. "Placing your paws in the pond in the early February will give you a cold and if your wife saw you she'd scold you, telling you how it will make your baby sick."

Matthias instantly pulled his feet out of the pond, his paws red with the cold, his face a mask of guilt.

The Abbot chuckled, then he whispered so only Matthias could hear, not that it mattered, since they were the only ones awake and by the pond at that time in the morning. "May I join you?"

Matthias laughed to himself and then stuck his paws back in, next to his dear Father Abbot.

Sighing, the Abbot laid back. "Remember that grayling?"

"How could I forget?" Matthias' laugh died away. "Was it really that long ago? I mean…I was a dundering little novice, and… I'm the Abbey Warrior and a father now."

The Abbot smiled in memory. "Yes, and I was a foolish brother. The war changed us indeed."

Matthias nodded. "I would never have thought that a war, something I wish would never again happen to a place of such peace, could have changed us all. For the better, even."

Mordalfus shook his head and turned his eyes toward the surface of the pond. "It's a shame that so many died, though."

Matthias nodded again, wanting to ask the Abbot what was really in his heart at the moment. He was saved by the mere fact that his dear friend knew him better then he did at times.

"What's troubling you, Matthias?"

Matthias drew his paws from the water, and drew his legs up and hugged them to his chest. "A few weeks ago, Cornflower asked me a question."

"Oh, yes?"

Matthias started playing with his claws. "Something I never really considered before, and I don't really know why."

Abbot Mordalfus locked eyes with Matthias, waiting for him to continue.

He sighed. "She said she wanted to be a good mother."

The Abbot smiled. "Well, that's certainly good!"

"But, she asked me about being a father, and she…well, I…" Matthias paused. "Do you remember when I came to this abbey?"

The kindly Abbot looked away from Matthias then, and gazed up into the early morning sky. "I was young then myself." He sighed, but told the story. "You were such a tiny, small mouse. You're tiny paws banging at the door. No one knew why you were there, or where you even came from, but we took you in." Mordalfus chuckled then. "We could hardly take you away from Great Hall for the first season, you were so transfixed to Martin's tapestry." He stopped laughing then. "I guess we now know why, I-am that is." He paused, and then looked directly into Matthias eyes before he continued. "Cornflower asked you about being a father, and that led you to wander about your own?"

"Yes," he whispered.

He sadly shook his head. "I remember you coming here, I remember you growing up. I know nothing of who your parents were, or where your home was." He put an extra stress on the past-tense words. "It's in the past, Matthias. As much as we want our questions answered, sometimes we cant. You were already at a dead end before the quest ever began. I'm sorry, Matthias."

There was an awkward silence between them, when the Abbot asked, "will you come with me to breakfast?"

Matthias tried to put his question behind him, and cleared his mind as he made a more cheerful conversation with his Abbot over an early breakfast.

There really wasn't much to say about the visitors that showed up at the Abbey Gate that afternoon: they were short in stature, their fur was as bright as there eyes, which were as colorful as each other. They wore the garments of traveling gypsies, but they carried the gait of noble creatures. They completely contradicted themselves, from their bell-studded silk scarves to their faded homespun tunics. The two creatures that arrived were very different from each other, one being a mouse and the other an otter.

They were greeted by the Abbot and Constance, and Matthias hailed them as he usually greeted any new guest to Redwall. He wore a bright smile and he talked energetically, even though he could only stay for a moment, because he had to leave to help Cornflower in the gatehouse. As he walked away, the two visitors looked hopefully after Matthias, and then to the Abbot..

"Who is that mouse?" The young, female mouse asked.

"Oh? Him? He's our Abbey warrior, Matthias." The Abbot's attention was now on the visitors again.

A twinkle lit up the otter's eye even more. "Oh? Is he, then?"

"Matthias, you say?" The mouse giggled.

The Abbot looked from one to the other, nodding his head slowly. "Yes…"

"I see." Said the otter. "I'll introduce us, then, mate. I'm Meight an' this here young maid is Nahtal." Both of the guests bowed to the Abbot, showing their respect.

"Thank you both. Would you care for tea?"

"An' a chat?" The otter asked hopefully.

"Yes, why?"

Nahtal smiled. "We need to know about this Matthias."