Chapter 4

Kelaiah could see nothing but dense green forest on either side of the boat as he was swept along down the current with all the singing shrews and novices. There were two boats going in the same direction; Sister Nellwyn, the middle-seasoned mouse lady, had taken half of the novices and got onto the first boat, while Brockrose had taken the other half onto the second boat.

Kelaiah began to wonder if it was such a good idea to go down river; he hated being on water. After a none-too-savory event where he had almost drowned while going down some rapids on a leaky raft, the young ferret shunned all activity to dealed with water. He could swim just fine, but he still didn't like it. The water always chilled him and there was always the chance of getting a leg caught in a fallen tree branch, or having it being bitten off by a pike.

But after awhile Kelaiah didn't feel quite so nervous; the shrews certainly seemed to know what they were doing: they were singing lustily and loudly, encouraging the novices to join in. Even Brockrose, who was sitting behind Kelaiah, was singing.

The young ferret sat silently between Fern the mousemaid and the sturdy squirrel with the extra-red tail (whom he found out was named Redbrush; Kelaiah was hardly surprised), trying to appear as calm and as carefree as the rest of them seemed to be. Suddenly a shrew appeared in front of him.

"So wot's this one doin' 'ere?" the shrew asked, pointing his long snout at Kelaiah, causing the young ferret to lean back. The shrew spoke so loudly that the singing stopped and everybeast turned in the ferret's direction.

"This is Kelaiah," said Brockrose, putting a heavy paw on the ferret's skinny shoulder. "He's a friend, and has come to Mossflower to meet his new bride."

At this, several shrewmaids all giggled and batted their eyelashes at Kelaiah, while several males chortled and nudged each other.

The shrew that had spoken first, a tall (for a shrew), broad-shouldered fellow wearing a belt with a rapier shoved through it, looked disbelieving.

"To get married, eh?" he said, his dark eyes peering at the ferret. "And wot's the business of this marriage?"

"Grimp!" shouted a deep, hoarse voice.

"Logalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalog-" shouted all the shrews on the boat as a old stern-looking shrew jumped his way onto their boat from the other (the boats were sailing quite closely), but they were cut off by the old shrew.

"Ah, shuttup!" he snapped, before turning to the big shrew, Grimp. "I know that look in your face," he growled, making Grimp shrink back. "You was gonna go on another fight and cause my boat to sink again, eh?"

"Was not!" said Grimp, stamping his foot (a gesture which surprised Kelaiah).

"You was too-"

"Was not!" shouted Grimp, pointing at Kelaiah. "Was just questioning 'im, is all!"

The old shrew turned and saw the young ferret for the first time. He stared open-mouthed.

Brockrose, however, laughed. "Oh come now, Log-a-log, you give business to anybeast, remember?"

The old shrew, Log-a-log, quickly regained his composure. "I assure you, Marm, tis nothing to do with 'im bein' a vermin. I just didn't realize 'e was on the boat, tis all."

"I understand," said Brockrose, nodding.

"Alright, young un," Log-a-log went on, turning to Kelaiah. "Wot's your business? Us shrews gotta know who we're shippin' down river an' all."

"Um," said Kelaiah, who felt his face begin to burn. "M-my name is Kelaiah, I'm on my way to Mossflower to get married."

"Wah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" laughed the old shrew, putting his paws on either side of his ample middle. Some of the shrews joined in. Kelaiah couldn't see what was so funny. He was glad none of the novices or Brockrose were laughing.

"Well in all my seasons," wheezed the shrew chieftain. "I never thought I'd be escorting a vermin to 'is weddin'! Wah ha ha ha ha! And who's the lucky maid, eh?"

"Her name is Germantha," said Kelaiah.

"Germantha, eh? Funny name. But then again, don't we all have funny names? Lookit my name! 'Log-a-log'! Wa ha ha ha ha!"

And with that, the shrew started laughing again, his other shrews joining in. Suddenly thier chieftain turned on them. "Wot are you all laughin' about, eh?!" he roared. "Git back to your rowin' and sailin' now! You'll have us all crashin' into the rocks!"

There was some grumpy mutterings among the shrews.

Their leader danced with complete rage. "Will you lot get back to work?!"

The shrews quickly complied.

Log-a-log turned to Kelaiah with a smile. "Ah, marriage," he said wistfully. "I remember when I got married to my wife. There wasn't a prettier shrewmaid in all the world."

Kelaiah exchaned a glance with his friends before the old shrew settled himself down in front of the young ferret.

"Tell me, young un," the old shrew said. "What does your bride look like?"

"Oh, I've never met her," Kelaiah explained.

Log-a-log looked surprised. "Never seen her? But then how-?"

Kelaiah then went on to explain the story to the shrew, telling about how it was an arranged marriage and all.

"But where are you planning on meeting her?" Log-a-log asked, cocking his head to the side.

"I-I don't know," said Kelaiah slowly. "But I think Krar might be able to help me."

"Krar?" asked Log-a-log.

"Who's Krar?" asked Brockrose. "You never mentioned him before."

"Oh, he's a raven, he's a messenger of my father; that's how my father told Germantha's father about how he wanted to join forces and such."

"Ah, I see," said Log-a-log. "So this bird flies around and tells you what's going on, eh? Very good, I wish I had a bird," he mumbled to himself. "It'd certainly help me out with-"

"Krrrrarrrk!"

Several startled heads looked up at where the strange sound had come from.

"Well what do you know," Kelaiah murmured to himself as he saw the raven it self come flying down to him.

It was almost as if he knew they were discussing him and decided that he wanted to be apart of the conversation. The bird in question flew down and landed in front of Kelaiah. There was a general outcry at his sudden appearance.

Shrews grabbed for their rapiers, but Kelaiah called out, "It's alright! It's alright! I know this bird!"

"Krrrr!" squawked Krar, looking out on everybeast with fierce eyes. They all backed away from the huge black bird; he looked more than capable of great harm. The raven turned to Kelaiah, the only one who didn't back away. "Your bride is waiting for you at the docks!"

"She is?" asked Kelaiah, surprised. "But, how did she know - oh, wait, of course," the ferret said, rolling his eyes at his own stupidity. "You saw me get on the boats and-"

"Yes!" squawked the big raven, spreading his huge black wings and flying off, leaving most of them breathless.

In the silence that followed, Log-a-log turned to Kelaiah. "Well, that was a very nice, social creature, eh?" he said with a trace of sarcasim.

"He's always like that," Kelaiah explained. "He doesn't like being in one place for too long. That's why my father thought he'd be a good messenger; he'd never dawdle."

"Well, it certainly saves you the time of wandering around," said Fern the mousemaid.

"We're almost at the docks!" shouted one of the shrews in the boat ahead.

"Get ready, young uns!" called out Brockrose. Ready cheers greeted her.

The sturdy squirrel, Redbrush, suddenly turned to Kelaiah and said, "Hey, I just realized something."

"Yeah?"

"How are you going to know its her? Is Krar going to introduce you two?"

"I doubt it," said Kelaiah. "He's never been the type to make introductions. My father knew this, so that's why he came up with the idea to have the bird bring back a scarf from each of us, so that we'd know who we were."

"What?" asked Fern, who had been listening, and was now confused by how the ferret had worded his sentence.

"Here, let me explain," said Kelaiah, reaching into his haversack. "Our fathers had communicated through the bird. My father sent the raven to go speak to Germantha's father and offer his terms. And because they were old rivals they decided that it was best for their children to meet without having the hordes at their backs, so that's why I'm traveling alone. Of course I brought a dagger, but that was only for any other trouble I might've run into."

"You've got a dagger?" asked Redbrush, who hadn't noticed the ferret carrying around any weaponry.

"Yes, and I've kept it well-hidden," said Kelaiah, pulling out the dagger in question. Both Redbrush and Fern gasped at the sight of the weapon's marvelous beauty. It was sharp and white in the blade, but the hilt was made of gold with glittering jewels. The dagger's luxurious beauty did not go unnoticed by any of the other novices or Brockrose or the shrews.

"May I hold it?" asked Redbrush before any possible panic might break out.

"Sure," said Kelaiah, handing it over; normally he wouldn't have given any of his weapons away, but these novices seemed so nice and trustworthy, he thought it was safe to do so.

The sturdy squirrel held the dagger in a way that told Kelaiah that he knew how to use it.

"This is marvelous," said Redbrush, gazing at the jeweled hilt, but when he saw his reflection in the blade, the squirrel wrinkled his face and handed it back to Kelaiah. "Bit too reflective, that blade, eh?" the squirrel said, running a paw over his unattractive features.

There was a bit of general laughter, and Fern said, "Well, go on, Kel, what's the rest of your story? Hurry, before we get to the docks!"

"Well," said Kelaiah, putting away the dagger. "My father's raven had traveled in between our parents, and he brought scarves from each one of us; Germantha is going to be wearing a scarf that I own (or used to own). It's black with red trim, so that's how I'll know its her. And how Germantha will know its me, I'll be wearing one of her scarves." And with that, the young ferret pulled out the garment in question.

There was quite a bit of gasping and giggling at the sight of it. Eyebrows lifted, jaws dropped, eyes narrowed.

"You're going to be wearing that?!" cried the shrews and novices. Even Brockrose looked incredulous at the sight of it.

"Don't remind me," Kelaiah said, looking at the scarf with distaste. It was a hideous thing: a weird shade of yellow-green with overly-pink flowers on it. (It was, in fact, the same garment that Skipper had picked up nervously when he had bumped into Kelaiah.)

"Logalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogggggggggggg!" shouted one of the shrews.

"Oh, we're at the docks!" cried one of the novices.

The docks are filled with more woodlanders and vermin; a lot of them looking impatient to be off.

As Kelaiah got off the boat alongside Fern, Brockrose, and Redbrush, he noticed a big otter coming over towards them.

"Brockrose of Redwall?" the otter called.

"Yes, that's me," said the badger, drawing herself up in a regal manner. "May I ask who's inquiring?"

The otter brought his tail up and tapped his chin, a gesture that was supposed to be polite among otters. "I am from the otter Holt of Skipper Rudd, marm."

"Skipper Rudd?" said Brockrose. "I know no Skipper Rudd."

"Aye, that's because our Holt has never been to Redwall, or at least we haven't been there for awhile," the otter explained. "We only just recently come to the abbey and-"

"Is anything wrong?" Brockrose said sharply.

"Oh no, no! Nothing like that!" the otter hastened to explain.

"What's going on?" said Sister Nellwyn, who had just come over with the rest of the novices.

"Good day, marm," the otter said, lifting his tail to her. "I'm from the Holt of Skipper Rudd, and we've only just arrived at your abbey when the abbot made known your mission to us, so Skipper sent some of us out to help guide you all back to the abbey safely."

"Well isn't that nice?" said Sister Nellwyn delightedly. "And it's been so long since we've had a Skipper at Redwall!"

Now while all this was going on, a certain ferretmaid was watching the crowd of novices carefully. She waddled over and spoke up in a loud, shrill voice, "Anybeast 'ere know a ferret named 'Kelaiah'?"

Brockrose turned and found herself looking into the hideous features of a ferretmaid, who was wearing a black scarf with red trim. She stared in disgusted disbelief at the maid for awhile before turning to Kelaiah.

"Th-that's Kelaiah over there," the badger lady said, speaking before she had time to think.

Germantha, for it was her, looked right over at the male in question. He was holding a scarf that had once belonged to her. She grinned, showing off rows crooked yellow teeth. "You much better-looking than the last one!"

Kelaiah didn't respond. He didn't say anything. He couldn't even move. He couldn't even lower the paw that was holding up the repulsive yellow-green scarf.

The rest of the novices stared at Germantha too, but the ferretmaid didn't seem embarrassed. In fact, she looked quite pleased with all the attention she was getting.

Finally Brockrose patted Kelaiah's shoulder. "Good-bye," she murmured. "And good luck!"

Kelaiah couldn't even nod.

The novices walked by, all of them casting half-teasing, half-sympathetic glances over their shoulders at him.

Germantha waddled up to him. "Hello Kel-lay-uh!" she said, saying his name funny.

"Hello, Germantha," said Kelaiah, his voice sounding like a frogs'.

"You don't have to worry," she said, patting his shoulder and taking him by the paw and leading him away. "I'm not disappointed. I really like you."

It would take a while to describe the look on Kelaiah's face.

"Uh, yeah," he said, swallowing. "But, uh, there's one thing my father forgot to mention: I haven't got a house for you!"

"Oh don't you worry," says Germantha patting him on the back, nearly knocking him down. "I'm used ta liven' outside mostly enyway!"

"Oh," said Kelaiah; he preferred living inside.

They walked on a little farther.

"I'm a terrible tracker!" he said quickly. "I won't be able to forage for food."

"Don't you worry," said Germantha. "Dada said he'd give me some trackers to take care of us."

"Trackers?"

"Uh huh. You can just boss them around all you like."

Kelaiah didn't like bossing other beasts around; only when he knew that he knew how to do something that they didn't. But giving orders to beasts on how and when to track when they themselves knew so much more on how to it, the thought didn't settle well on his mind.

The fat ferretmaid looked up at him with her beady eyes, and grinned, showing off again her crooked yellow teeth. "I can't wait for us to be hitched, can you?"

"Can't wait," Kelaiah answered bleakly. Then he said, "Eh, you said earlier that I was better-looking than that last one. What 'last one'?"

"Oh, Dada once went looking for a husband for me, but he displeased us, so we got rid of him," she said cheerfully.

"Uh huh," Kelaiah said, and continued letting himself be lead further into the forest.

Don't judge on looks, Kelaiah told himself. You're not exactly much to look at either.

Right.

And so, Kelaiah smiled bleakly down at his wife-to-be.

But then again, he argued with himself, she got rid of the last one because he displeased her, and she's not bothered at all by it, so she's not at all kind or thoughtful, and she's dirty and spoiled, in fact, I'd say she's something of a monster, so. . . .

The male ferret nodded to himself.

He gently pulled his arm out of her's and looked down at Germantha with a smile on his face. The female looked back up at him, surprised by his actions.

Then he looked over her shoulder. His eyes widened.

"Look!" he yelled, pointing.

Germantha turned to look.

Kelaiah didn't waste a second.

Turning, he ran full speed into the woods. Everything was a blur on either side of him as the ferret jumped over logs, climbed up trees, leapt through the branches, and changed direction several times.

Low branches snaked out and whacked him in the face as he leapt from tree branch to tree branch, but Kelaiah did not stop. He finally returned to the ground and started running.

Tree roots reached up from the ground, trying to ensnare his footpaws, but the young ferret jumped over them nimbly, dodging everything that would've hindered him.

His footpaws slamming against the ground with bruising force, Kelaiah never once looked back, only forward, every grain in his thin body intent on escaping.

The ferret splashed through brooks and waded across small rivers, for once not caring about chill or log or pike.

The young ferret pumped his arms for more speed, his breath coming in ragged gasps, he was getting tired, he couldn't run for much longer, oh, side-cramp. . . .

Finally, the young ferret stopped, leaned forward and took several deep breaths, nearly falling to his knees.

When he looked up, Kelaiah realized that he was in a clearing of some kind . . .

. . . and in front of him . . .

. . . was Redwall Abbey.

Brockrose the badgermum was just about to close the abbey gates after she had ushered all the new novices inside, when suddenly-

"Wait!"

The badger lady turned and looked out in surprise, and saw across the plain a skinny creature wearing a ragged cloak, waving a tattered haversack, come racing toward her.

Almost immediately Brockrose realized who it was, and her face broke out into a smile of suprised delight. "Why Kelaiah!" she called jovially.

Then the young ferret was lost from view.

Brockrose blinked. Wha. . . .?

That was odd; he just disappeared. . . . then the badger realized that he probably fell in the ditch.

"Kelaiah!" Brockrose called, hurrying out. The otter gatekeeper followed closely.

"Kelaiah!" Brockrose called again as she neared the ditch. "Are you alright?"

The young ferret's frazzled head appeared over the edge. "I'm okay," he called back. He tried climbing out, but the big badger put her massive paw down and hoisted him up as if he weighed nothing at all.

"Well, well," Brockrose said as she dusted the ferret off. "What brings you here? I thought you were going to get married?"

Kelaiah looked up at her, and said, "Brockrose, you've got yourself another novice."

A/N: Well, there you have it! A (hopefully) original reason for a vermin to come to Redwall: to get out of an unsavory marriage!

So what do you all think? Do you think I should go on with this? Is there any reason why I should or shouldn't?