The sun was finally below the west horizon. The only light came from the lizards' firefly lanterns scattered around the camp. Mari turned to her friends. She nodded and they nodded back. It was time to put their plan in motion.
Gen lay down in the center of the cage. Mari and Gingivere hunched down on either side of the door. Gen started groaning and writhing on the ground. The other two started yelling at the top of their lungs.
"Help, help, she's sick! I think she's contagious!"
"Help us, we don't wanna get sick too!"
Several lizards waddled up to the cage.
"Watsa matter? Shaddap tha' noise!"
"She's sick!" Gingivere cried. "She's gonna die and then we're gonna die!"
"Lemme see dis."
Like they had planned, the lizard and three others entered the cage to investigate. Mari and Gingivere made their move. They dashed out of the cage, bowling over the three lizards who were standing just outside the door. They paused briefly to arm themselves with two of the lizards' spears. Gingivere followed Mari across the clearing. He could hear his sister dealing with the lizards back in the cage.
By now the other lizards had heard the commotion and many were coming out of their burrows to see what was going on. Mari and Gingivere just kept running. They didn't have much time.
It had been decided that Mari would go straight for the mice since she was the fastest runner. Gingivere would provide her with cover; keep the lizards off her back. They would sweep along to the south and meet up with Genevieve once they had the mice.
Mari arrived at the mice's position in mere seconds. Gingivere deflected the attacks of two lizards. He was stunned by his seemly natural ability with weapons. Mari sliced through the ropes securing Polly and Wally to the stake. They latched onto her middle.
"P'ease, get us 'way from da monster," Wally sniffed.
There was a menacing hiss just a few paw lengths from Mari's head. She turned just in time to see Arnaz coming at her, mouth agape. Something whipped by Mari's nose, clipping off the tips of a few whiskers. There was a crack and Arnaz hissed in pain, pulling his head back and up.
It was Gingivere. He had hit the giant lizard across the snout with his spear, breaking it in half.
"Hurry, Mari!" he shouted.
Lizards were running towards the two from the back. Mari grabbed the two mice and slung them over either shoulder. There was an opening to the south, so she took it. Gingivere turned his attention to Arnaz once again. The lizard had recovered from the blow and looked as if he was preparing to strike, but he was moving sluggishly.
The young wildcat gathered all of his strength and thrust down with the broken shaft of the spear. The force of his thrust skewered the lizard's right front paw, pinning it to the ground. Arnaz let out a sound somewhere between a hiss and an agonized scream.
Gingivere took off after Mari. Suddenly, Gen was at his side. She shook a lizard loose from her claws. Her paws, forearms and tunic front were covered in blood. She took out another lizard that got too close. They were several body lengths behind Mari and the mice. She was nearly to the rock cliffs on the south edge of the clearing. She dodged to her left, avoiding a lizard. The lizard fell flat on his stomach.
Gingivere picked up his pace. The lizards were closing in on the coyote and her charges. Burdened as she was with the infant mice, she couldn't fight off the lizards' advances. Gen hurried after him. Gingivere pounced on two lizards that were about to grab Mari from behind. Without thinking, he extended his claws and latched onto them. One in each paw.
His needle-like claws sliced through their scaly skin like butter. He threw them brutally to either side, ripping open their wounds. Gen took out another lizard, her paw balled up in a tight fist.
The trio made it to the cliffs. The cats boosted the coyote up. Mari pushed the two mice up onto the top of the cliff and scrabbled up after them. She reached down and pulled Gen up. Gingivere was busy fending off the group of lizards who were closing in on him with a spear he had picked up. He swung it from side to side, not letting the lizards get too close. They hissed.
He felt a paw grab him by the scruff of his neck and begin lifting him off the ground.
"Come on Ginge! We have to go!" his sister yelled in his ear.
He turned to face the rocks and clawed his way up. Mari grabbed on to him and helped up the last few inches of the cliff. He looked down at the lizards below. A few were trying to follow them up the cliff face, while the others were splitting up into two groups. One went to the right, the other to the left. They were circling around to find an easier ascent. They would be at the small group's location in moments.
"Let's get out of here," Gen said to the others.
Gen grabbed up Wally from Mari and led the way south, away from the lizard camp and the rock cliffs. They ran as fast as their legs would take them. As they got farther and farther away from the camp, it got darker and darker. Soon, they could barely see the ground in front of them.
They ran into a cluster of large rocks and boulders. Without warning, Gen, who was leading the group with Wally on her back, ran slap-bang into a dark figure. The dark figure yipped in alarm and the three creatures toppled down a gentle incline. Five more dark figures jumped out from the surrounding rocks.
Marisol sniffed the air.
"Rats!"
The five rats surrounded Mari and Gingivere. Gingivere sprung forward and bowled over one of the rats. The rat just to his left ran at him with a spear. Pulling from some previously unknown store of knowledge, he dodged agilely to the side and slashed out horizontally with his claws. The rat cried out and fell to the side.
By this time, Gen had picked herself up. Mari kicked a rat to the side and joined Gen.
"Let's go, Ginge! Now!" Gen shouted to her brother.
Gingivere batted a second rat to the side and grabbed them by the paws. He pulled them along with him, past the small group of rats. The lizards had made it to the top of the cliff and clashed with the rats, killing another. The remaining rats scattered. The lizards continued their chase after their prisoners. The older trio ran as fast as they could while carrying the mice. They were managing to keep a good distance between themselves and the lizard army.
"I see a stream!" Gen shouted, pointing to the east.
The water of the stream twinkled in the starlight. It was at that point that they realized that they had a new addition to their small party, a dark furred young wolf. His tongue was lolling as he ran doggedly beside them. He didn't appear to realize they were there. Genevieve considered her options. She couldn't fight him, it would slow them down and get them caught by the lizards again. He hadn't done anything to them and wasn't hindering their escape. He could have been with the rats, but it seemed that they were just caught up by the lizards, just as she and her group was. She decided to just let him be.
They made it to the stream moments later. As it turned out, it was more than just a stream, it was more like a small river. A fast flowing river. Gen looked at her brother and Mari and they all nodded. They flung themselves into it, holding on tightly to each other's paws. Gen saw that the wolf had done the same, but he had picked up an elm branch. They did their best to stay afloat and to keep the two mice's heads above water. Gingivere looked back at the bank. The lizards were running along the western bank after them, but they were not particularly fast moving. The five youngones were quickly out pacing them.
How long the five creatures, plus the wolf, were in the stream, they didn't know. They went over a small waterfall and landed in a relatively calm pool. Coughing and spitting, the group climbed up on the eastern bank. The wolf continued on with his elm branch down the stream and disappeared from sight. Gen, Gingivere, Marisol and the two baby mice lay down on the muddy bank to rest after their ordeal. Before they knew it, they were asleep.
Gingivere snapped back to wakefulness. At first he couldn't remember the circumstances that brought him to be lying partially submerged in bank mud, but the memories of the previous night's ordeal came back to him all at once. As he rose up off the bank, the mud made a sucking, squelching sound. He brushed off some of the mud and then shook the others awake.
"Come on, sleeping here was foolish, those lizards could still catch up with us."
Genevieve and Marisol pulled the baby mice to their paws. The mice thought the squelching noises were hysterical. The cats and coyote looked about them at the surrounding area. They were in an old forest. The morning sun shone down onto the floor in beams through the thick foliage of the ancient elms, oaks and willows. Gen looked down stream.
"It's flowing north," she said. "I'm sure that is where that river, River Moss, is. I remember dad saying that the path that runs north to south past Redwall crosses River Moss somewhere north of the Abbey. I say we follow this stream north and then follow the river east to the path."
"It's as good a plan as any," Marisol said. "Let's go."
Before they left the pool below the waterfall, they covered their tracks and marks they had left in the mud. With Polly perched on Gen's shoulders and Wally on Gingivere's, the small group set off up stream, sticking to the knee height shallows to avoid leaving prints. The sun was just reaching the western horizon when the friends reached River Moss. They lay down under a rock outcrop along the river. Their stomachs were growling, but their need for sleep was more urgent. Moments after settling down they were blind to the world.
Ranulf shook his fur free of water. He had finally managed to drag himself out of the stream. He vowed to never go into the water again. He straightened up and took stock of his surroundings. He had made it to the end of the stream where it met up with a river. Ranulf assumed that the river was the one he had crossed the evening before.
Ranulf climbed into an oak and looked around. He knew the horde was not far off. He spotted the faint smoke columns from camp fires to the north and slightly east of his position. He jumped down and crossed the river. As he walked, he shuddered, but not from the cold of the river water. He was thinking of what his father would do once he returned to camp empty pawed and minus Denfoil and her trackers, which he assumed had been killed by the spiked lizards.
