Bren of Redwall
Chapter Nine
The rabbit's name was Penidrop.
"Dearie me," He fretted over a cup of steaming mint tea, his paws sliding all over each other. "Oh Dearie, Dearie, Dearie…whatever shall I do? The missus will surely worry, and my children, oh gracious me, my children!"
"Don't you worry, Mr. Penidrop," said Sonata comfortingly, patting the distraught parent on the back. Some of the older abbey beasts like Narzi the Abbey Recorder and Emmy the Cellar hog were awake, hustling and bustling about. "I'm sure your wife and children are fine. Tomorrow, we will provide you with an escort to bring you home safely. In the meanwhile, why don't you tell us your story?"
"Very well, very well," Penidrop took a deep breath. "It all started yesterday, noon, almost, yes, I do believe it was around noon. The missus was out tending the garden, to be sure, to be sure, and the children were in the den doing whatever it is that the children do. Why, now that I think about it, the eldest of mine, Tizzy, is almost a leveret, yes, a leveret. I was planning to go on a long fishing trip with an old friend of mine; Amos the mole; you've heard of him, of course. A splendid fellow, I must say."
Sonata nodded. "Yes, we have had him as a guest here many times. Please go on, Mr. Penidrop."
"Ah yes, I shall, I shall…now where was I…oh yes! Amos and I were about to go off to one of the smaller tributaries branching off from the River Moss, yes, the River Moss, when I remembered that I forgot my tackle box. You cannot go fishing without a tackle box, my no. So I say to Amos, 'Amos my friend, I must go back and get my tackle box. We simply cannot go fishing without it!' He agrees with me, my friend Amos, a most agreeable mole, as most moles will be."
"Hurr…ye be aroight about that 'un, Penidroop zurr." Foremole smiled up at the rabbit, black button-eyes disappearing under his velvety wrinkles.
"Yes, yes indeed. On our way back to my charming cottage, Amos says to me that while I go get my tackle, he'll dig around for bait; you know the type, I'm sure you do. Tidbits like tasty little worms, oh, but not to me, my no, to the fishes, naturally, yes."
Skimear made gestures of wanting the rabbit to get on with it, but Saril tugged on his tail to keep him back. "Sh…" She whispered, "Let him finish, Skimear."
Meanwhile, the rabbit was still rambling on and on about what kind of bait which fish liked, and he looked as if he might go on forever if it hadn't been for Bren and the Abbess, who politely cleared their throats simultaneously.
"Oh, excuse me." Penidrop sighed. "I have lost track of myself again, haven't I? Yes, yes of course I have. I shall now go on." He gave a little cough.
"I rummaged around our den for a while, the children can get it quite messy, you know, but the missus does an impeccable job of keeping it shiny-clean most of the time, that she does. I couldn't find the tackle box and I suspected it was out back, so I went to the door and looked around."
Here, he shuddered daintily. "As soon as I closed the door behind me, I was…bagged, by two filthy vermin! One was black with a massively large gold earring in his right ear; the other had the most terrible red eyes I had ever, ever seen! I didn't even get a chance to cry out for help! Next thing I knew, it was night-time and I was brought outside these walls." After that, the rabbit seemed reluctant to speak any more.
Abbess Sonata decided that it was definitely time for bed, now. There was a lot to swallow, and if they slept on it, possibly, a solution would come to them.
But sleep would not come to Bren. He tossed and turned in his bed. Something was definitely not right. There were so many questions still unanswered…why were there vermin in Mossflower Wood? Why had they kidnapped Penidrop? What was their purpose? Was Penidrop's family okay?
The questions kept rotating around in his head until the warrior-mouse fell into an uncomfortable doze.
The next time he opened his eyes, there was sunlight filtering through his window and the normal sound of morning bustle from outside. Bren yawned and stretched before lying back down in his bed. Suddenly, he realized that he was hungry. As he was getting out of bed, there was a knock on the door and Maple came in.
"G' morning, sleepy head!" The mouse-maid grinned at her brother. "I heard that a lot happened last night. Yuan told me this morning."
Bren nodded sleepily. "Mm…"
"You can tell it to me over breakfast." Grabbing his wrist, she half-led, half-pulled him towards the stairs. "Quickly, before it gets cold! Or all gone; the hares have probably all woken up by now."
"Aye, aye, Cap'n!" Bren saluted and hastened his step.
As it turned out, Maple was right. Cavern Hole was even more crowded than usual with an additional thirty hares and a squirrel.
"Whoo…" Yuan wiped his head spikes. "Bless them; they're worse than all the Guosim shrews in Mossflower put together! It's a wonder Miz Alva can put up with it all!"
"Bren! Hi!" Rye came bustling over to them from across the room. "Good morning, Maple, Friar Yuan." She curtsied.
"Good morning, Rye." The two older Abbey-beasts replied.
"If you'll excuse me now, I think I see a scone that hasn't been touched yet! Tell me about last night later, okay, brother?" With a wave, Maple pushed through the throng and disappeared.
"I managed to nab a flask of Dandelion and Burdock juice and a few strawberry scones before everyone arrived. Care to share it with me?" The pretty mouse-maid held up a basket.
"I'd love to, Miss Rye." Bren smiled at her and she smiled back. "Shall we look for a less-crowded place? I keep thinking Skimear is going to pop out at any minute and steal a bite right from my paw."
The two mice ended up picnicking in front of the tapestry of Martin the Warrior. It was a lot more peaceful and the faint buzz of conversation in Cavern Hole provided a comforting atmosphere.
"I never thanked you for saving Susy and I that day," said Rye, and Bren looked surprised.
"You don't have to thank me, Miss Rye." He said, "It's my duty, isn't it?"
"Oh, yes…I suppose it is, because you're the Abbey Warrior and everything." She took another mouthful of scone before continuing. "Will you tell me about all the places you've been? Like that gigantic mountain all the hares come from?"
"Well…Salamandastron is the biggest mountain I've ever seen. Skimear says that sometimes, it even spits fire into the sky, even though I've never seen it. Lord Whitetooth is the current Badger Lord; he says that old Mother Cecil was his grandmother." The mouse took a swig of dandelion and burdock juice. "There are a lot of corridors and chambers; it took me a long time to be able to navigate through the mountain. But there are over nine-hundred hares living there, so they were able to help me out."
"Salamandastron borders the sea; it's the only thing bigger than the mountain. I can't even see across it, that's how big it is. And the seabirds…"
Rye listened attentively as Bren described to her the home he had adopted for the last four seasons.
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Authoress's Note: Good news. It's finally time for character requests to show up. Keep in touch, neh?
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