Ch.10

Plans and Volunteering

Again I took forever to update and I apologize for it. Summer reading projects, my part time job, and a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands August 17-26 have hindered my progress a bit. Enjoy my latest installment and please R&R!

After Sister Adela finished dressing Log-a-log's wounds, a council of war was called. Father Abbot, Alastair, Isaac, Skipper, and Log-a-log took a seat in the Abbot's room.

Skipper put a paw on the shrew chieftain's shoulder. "What happened back there mate?"

Log-a-log winced as the otter's paw patted his shoulder. "There's not much I can tell ye all. Me an' my crew were venturin' through the forest when we caught sight o' the horde. We could tell they just went to battle, so we launched a sneak attack on them. Unfortunately, we were outnumbered an' had to retreat, but we slew quite a few vermin!"

"You and your crew risked their lives to help the Abbey" said Abbot Grayson. "I cannot begin to thank you and your shrews enough for us all!"

Log-a-log beamed with pride. "Ah, twas nothin'!

"But there's no doubt that Hallthor and his horde will be back" commented Alastair. "We need to think of a plan to drive them away for good!"

Skipper looked around the group, his soft dark eyes resting on each in turn. "So, any suggestions?"

"Ah've got one!" exclaimed Isaac, fighting vainly to keep a grin off his chubby features. "We're gonna need a catapult an' all thae 'edgehog quills in Redwall!"

The others in the room couldn't help but chuckle at the lack of seriousness Isaac resented towards the war with his harebrained idea.

"Um, maybe we should try something different" Alastair suggested.

Hallthor sat alone in his private tent. Only the brave and the foolish would risk venturing near the stoat warlord in his foul mood. Not only had he lost several vermin in the siege against Redwall, his encounter with the Guosim caused him to lose more than a pawful of his hordebeast. Hallthor grabbed his war helmet and chucked it at Broderick, who had just entered.

The fox nimbly side-stepped the flying helmet, which hit the tent with a dull smack! and crashed to the ground. "Somebeast's a little cranky."

"'Cranky? Wanna know why I'm so 'cranky'?" spat the warlord. "Thanks to your fiasco of a battle strategy, we lost numerous hordebeasts!"

Broderick wiped Hallthor's spittle of his face managing to control his instinctive grimace of disgust. "There were unknown variables that came into play, but now that I know what we're up against, I've come up with a new plan."

"Well, what is it?" snarled the warlord, scraping his claws impatiently down the arms of his throne.

"If you shut your mouth and open your ears, I'll tell you," Broderick sneered.

Although Keith wanted to be part of the council of war, he was unknowingly volunteered to help Friar Gilbert in the kitchens. He knew deep down that Isaac was the one who'd set him up for this, but he decided to make the best of it.

Keith walked the hallway of the Abbey, on his way to deliver more food from the storage to the kitchen. "I wish I found that storage when I snuck in here. It would have saved me the trouble of whackin' Dawson in the head with that ladle!" The two Dibbuns, Hardy and Casper, came running up to skunk.

"'Ello mista Stinky!" exclaimed Hardy.

Keith raised his tail slightly in annoyance. The squirrelbabe was only second to Isaac when it came to calling Keith "Stinky".

"Please, just call me Keith," said Keith.

Casper wrinkled his nose politely. "Hurr, but maister Oisaac tol' us yer name be Stinky."

"Oh did he now?" asked Keith. "That reminds me. He told me that he likes being called Spikybottom." The two dibbuns giggled with glee.

"Heeheehee! I go find mista Spikybottom!" exclaimed the energetic squirrel dibbun. He bumped Keith as he raced off, causing an apple to fall out of the basket Keith was holding. Keith bent over to pick up the fallen apple, lifting his tail high in the air as he did.

Thinking Keith's attention was towards the fallen apple, Casper leaned in toward's the skunk's rump. With his snout merely inches away from Keith's backside, the mole dibbun began to sniff at it audiblely.

The skunk looked over his shoulder, rather disturbed to say the least. "Casper, what are you doing?"

The mole backed away, his face flushed red with embarrassment. "Urr hurr, oi heard you'm makez a funny zmell from there, zurr, but oi don't think ee zmell. Casper leaned in towards Keith once more and gave him another couple sniffs. "Oi think you'm zmel quoite lovely!"

"Um, thanks" said Keith as he stood upright, making sure to lower his tail. Although it was a weird compliment, it was a compliment nonetheless. "and Casper, you're right. If somebeast tries to hurt me or my friends, I can spray something that'll make them go away."

Casper frowned. "Burr hurr, oi wish oi 'ad somethin' loike tha'."

"But you do" replied Keith. "You're a mole, so you've got those great digging claws!"

In an instant, Casper was smiling so widely, his muzzle cracked with happiness. "Hurr! You'm be roight! Oi can dig tunnels!"

"That's right" said Keith. "I wise friend of mine told me that nobeast is insignificant. Anyway, I'll see you later. I have to go help Friar Gerald in the kitchens."

Casper nodded in understanding. "Can oi 'elp Friar Gilbert too?"

Keith took Casper's digging claw in his paw. "Sure! The more the merrier!"

Bryon walked across the walltops with a makeshift spear grasped tightly in his paws. He volunteered to be a lookout, just in case the vermin made an early attack. The task, however, was less exciting than he thought it would be. With no vermin in sight, there wasn't much to do but pace around and stare at the scenery.

Mossflower's a beautiful place, but I've looked at the same tree a hundred times already! thought the squirrel. Isn't there anything else to look at?

His wish was granted sooner than he thought. Bryon's keen eyes caught a glimpse of Phoebe carrying a tray of assorted vittles.

Bryon rushed over to the Recorder. "What are you doing up here? You could get hit by an arrow if you're not careful!"

"Calm down, I'm just thought you were hungry so I brought you something to eat," explained Phoebe.

Bryon accepted the plate from the female squirrel. "Oh, um, y-you're welcome." He was about to dig in when he saw the worried look on Phoebe's face. "Are you alright?"

Phoebe sighed. "Oh! Yes, I'm okay. It's just that I'm worried about the war. I know Redwall will be victorious, but how many of us will die before we can claim freedom?"

Bryon put the tray down and grasped her paws. "Don't worry. I'll make sure nobeast harms you."

Phoebe looked into Bryon's chestnut eyes. "Thanks Bryon. I know I can count on you."

Bryon couldn't help but blush a little. He's had a crush on Phoebe as long as he could remember. She was the perfect mixture of brains and beauty in his book, but he never known whether or not Phoebe liked him back or not. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but he could never gather up the courage to do so.

The moment was spoiled as Phoebe let out a gasp. "Look!"

Bryon saw it too. A pillar of smoke was rising up above the trees; judging by its size it was probably from a campfire.

"Do you think it's a friend or foe?" asked Phoebe.

"I don't know" answered Bryon, his paws tightening on the spear handle. "But I do know I should report this!"

Sorry if this seemed a little rushed. Its past midnight and I'm leaving for a trip soon, so I wanted to get a chapter in before leaving. Speaking of which, I'll be gone August 17-26. Please R&R and wait patiently! He's a fun idea, guess what happens next in your review!