11: The Talk on the Walltop

11: The Talk on the Walltop

Tam's mind was racing as he and Armel met on the stairs leading from Great Hall into Cavern Hole. Why had Lin left the feast? Where had she gone? And most importantly, where was she now? These question and more charged about in his head as he looked at Armel. "Anything?"

His wife shook her head. "Nothing I thought worthy of notice. There's one thing bothering me though; I saw Lin's face as she left the stage, and she didn't look as if she was drinking in the applause. I believe that song called to mind one too many bad memories for her. I was thinking that perhaps she went out to the gardens, or up to the wall. It's a little early in the season to be outside at night, but it's possible."

Tam nodded. "Come to think of it, I did see something odd at the back kitchen door. Ye know, the one that's used for easy access to the storerooms during the autumn harvesting. The wooden bar that normally holds it closed was leaning against the woodpile. It didn't attract my attention at first, but your comment jogged my memory."

Without a word the couple hastened to the door. The bar was indeed leaning against the woodpile at the end of the passage, looking as if it belonged there. The door was only open a crack, but enough to show that somebeast had passed through it in the past few minutes.

Tam slid it open and looked out. Nobeast was in sight. He motioned to Armel outside. out on the lawn everything was still and quiet. The full moon bathed the whole abbey in its solemn brilliance.

Armel glanced round. "I don't see her anywhere about. Perhaps she went to the other side of –"

"Hush," Tam said quietly, pointing to the southwest corner of the walls.

A shadowy figure stood silhouetted on the ramparts. The black fur of the creature seemed to be alive in the moonlight, reflecting the pale whiteness. The simple sandy-brown garb seemed to blend into the sandstone wall, making the creature look as if it had stood there since the beginning of time.

The two MacBurls glided silently across the lawn and up the wallsteps toward the silhouetted figure. Lin surprised them by speaking to them without even turning her head, even though they were still a good ten paces away. "Tis a night for thoughts, isn't it?"

Armel stifled a gasp. "Aye, it is, but how could you tell we were coming?"

Lin smiled somewhat proudly. "I've been getting better at my hearing ever since you had me confined to the infirmary. I learned there how to tell where a beast was in the passage and, with several individual creatures, who it was that was approaching. I've just gotten better since then. I beg your pardon if it sounds like boasting."

Tam leaned against the wall in a casual way. "No, it doesn't in the least. Excuse my asking, but what brings ye up here at this hour, miss?"

Lin's face stiffened. Clearly, Tam had touched a delicate subject. She turned to face the southwest. "That song – it reminded me so much of my family. I feel closer to them up here; we would often sit on the beach after sunset and the breeze would always be blowing. Jome and I – " Here she faltered. A tear trickled down her cheek.

Armel placed a comforting paw on her back. "Someday you'll be living those moments out again if you are faithful and persevere towards humility and pureness of heart. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

Lin bowed her head. Several more tears rolled down her face. Armel and Tam patted her back comfortingly. For a moment the three stood there like a father and mother comforting their distraught daughter.

Finally Lin raised her head, her eyes dry. "Thank you. Both of you. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you two."

Tam drummed his paw on the walltop awkwardly. "Er, well – it was an honor, although we didn't know it at the time. When you set out on your quest, ye'll have Doogy and me to guide ye."

Lin slewed round. "And what makes you say that?"

Tam bowed. "'Twill be a long explanation. The first night ye were here I had a dream of Martin the Warrior. He showed me a great battle, and then spoke one verse to me. Not a poem, necessarily, but still a riddle. His very words were, 'Ye must be there, Warrior; ye must raise your sword against the enemy, and your life-friend must do as well. I place the black diamond in your care.' I didn't understand him at the time. Now I do. Your fur is black, and ye wear a bracelet set with diamonds; ye're the black diamond. Doogy and I are friends for life; my life-friend. I suppose the bit about raising my sword against the enemy will travel its course, but here's my point; Martin placed ye in my care, and that includes journeys and quests. Doogy and I are going with ye, whether ye like it or not!"

Lin and Armel had been staring at Tam open-mouthed. Armel was the first to break the silence. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

Tam shrugged. "Martin didn't want it made known until it was necessary. Don't ask me how I knew, I just did."

Lin looked out to the southwest again. "So, I suppose the next step will be to unscramble that riddle we found. I haven't thought out any answers yet, but I think those strange-sounding words like 'stew' and 'will holloh' have had the letters mixed up. D'you think that's possible?"

Armel and Tam looked at each other. Armel nodded. "Aye, many riddles found at Redwall have words that are jumbled up. I've never read one personally, but Melanda has seen several in the old recordings in the gatehouse. I'll talk to her about it."

"Tam, what are you doing?"

The warrior spun round at Lin's question. "I was thinking about the word 'tub' in the seventh line of that riddle. Armel, remember last summer, when several of the dibbuns insisted that Burlop Cellerhog make them little boats out of barrels? I remember laughing at the sight of them, paddling about on the pond, each in his own little tub. D'ye see the connection?"

Lin nodded, her face brightening. "Aye, I think you're right! But why do we have to go north before we set out?"

Armel glanced up the northern path. "Perhaps the direction you'll have to sail in doesn't line up with the Mossflower coast. Thus, you must travel north to line yourself up with your destination. I'm puzzled as to the saying 'gaping mouths,' though. What in the name of seasons does that mean?"

Lin, who had been thinking hard for the last few moments, suddenly exclaimed. "I've got it! I've got it!"

Tam grinned at her eagerness. "Got what, Lin?"

Lin clapped her paws. "I know what the word 'sile' means! Switch the placement of the 's' and 'i' and you have isle, which must be Tarenta!"

"How do you know that? It might be Volkendo, the island to the north of Tarenta."

"Armel's right, Lin. As no explorer seems to have been to Tarenta, the riddle could very likely mean Volkendo. Melanda told me once of a writing about a mouse traveling to an island with a dead volcano in its center. I'll mention it to her. Ha, looks as if Melanda has her work cut out for the morrow."

Lin drummed her paws on the walltop fretfully. "Well, if the isle the riddle mentions is Volkendo, I'll have to set out on my journey as soon as I can."

Armel, ever the rock of good sense, placed a firm paw on the squirrelmaid's shoulder. "You're not going anywhere until we unravel this puzzle. Also, it's too early on in the season for anybeast to be traveling. At least wait until mid-spring."

"Mid-spring!" Lin fumed. "That's too long! A fortnight; that's the longest I will wait."

Tam shook his head sternly. "Ye'll wait until mid-spring. Ye've never seen a spring at Redwall; Armel and I have. Early spring here is unpredictable; sometimes it's cold for the first half of the season, and sometimes it's beautiful, warm, and sunny all spring. We're just giving ye advice, but we do know what we're talking about.

"Also, if ye're going to be heading north, then it'll get colder the farther ye go. I come from the Northland border, and I've experienced the early spring there. It's usually still snowing this early on in the season, and it'll only really be spring there when it's about mid-spring her at Redwall. Something to keep in mind when ye do start your journey."

It took a great deal of urging, but the two MacBurls finally got Lin to agree not to leave until mid-spring. When she finally consented, Armel sighed gratefully. "I'm glad you changed your mind, Lin; not only because of the earliness of the season, but because – well – because I won't be seeing either you or Tam for at least a season. When you leave I'll miss you. Both of you."

Lin looked into the infirmary keeper's soft brown eyes. "I'll miss you too. You, Tam, and Melanda have been like family to me over this past winter, and it filled a gap that I thought would remain empty forever."

Tam looked at Armel. Then he turned to Lin. "Will ye wait here for a moment? I'd like to discuss something with Armel."

Lin curtsied. "Of course."

Tam and Armel moved a few paces down the south wall, whispering. Lin turned to face the southwest. How she wished she knew what was brewing at Tarenta at this moment!

After a few moments of deep conversation, Tam and Armel walked back to the south wall. Tam stood shifting his weight awkwardly from footpaw to footpaw, muttering to himself. "I don't really know how to open up this topic, Lin, so ye'll have to pardon my abruptness. Armel and I have been talking this matter over for the last fortnight. Like ye said, my family and I have made ye feel as if ye were one of us. Armel and I just decided that, with your consent, we'll make it official. Lin, will ye be our adopted daughter?"

Lin jumped and stared. The proposal caught her completely off guard. She pulled herself together, summoning her answer. It saddened her, but she knew that it was the truth. "I'm sorry Tam, but I can't rest until each and every member of my family, no matter how distantly related, is set free. I couldn't bear to have my immediate family, or at least part of it, living free and happy with the remainder of my kin suffering. I wish I didn't have to say that, but until Groomyer is put paid to, I will not change my mind."

Armel was startled at the anger in Lin's last sentence. "Lin, I know what you feel towards Groomyer, but vengeance is an evil thing. If that is all you are fighting for, than your risk is senseless. If you are fighting to free your tribe, that's a different matter. But if your primary goal is to slay Groomyer to even the score for your parents' deaths, then you'd be better off at Redwall."

Lin shook her head vigorously. "Oh, no, I'm not fighting for vengeance. My brother Jome, my friends, and my tribe are under the heel of Groomyer, who is an oppressive tyrant. My goal is to free them and take back my homeland, which was stolen from me and my tribe. I do not fight for vengeance, but for justice. I never did, nor ever will, make a vow to slay Groomyer because he slew my family. I think he should die because he is cruel, evil, and slays innocent creatures just for the fun of it. That is the reason I will set out to do battle with him, and his horde. For justice."

Tam bowed gallantly. "Well spoken, my lady. The words of a warrior, not a killer. Ye have yet to experience a battle with a weapon in your paw, but you speak as if ye have been in many battles and have the knowledge of a great scholar."

Armel broke the solemnity of the moment. "Tis getting chilly up here on the wall. Why don't we go back to Great Hall? There should still be a good deal of food left, if we can beat the DeMaynes to it."

All three chuckled. The three Salamandastron hares were well known for their appetites. Friar Glisum had said not too long ago that he'd 'like to stew those hares and serve them up to a regiment so as to give them the food's perspective!' "

As the three squirrels strolled across the abbey lawns under the huge silver moon, Lin couldn't help breaking into song.

"The moon shines brightly upon the hill
Its light dancing upon the river.
A broad beam of light settles on me
As I sing my praise to the moon.

Hark! The lady of the night,
Garbed in her silver gown.
Her crown of stars twinkle like diamonds
As she smiles down on us all.

The wind stills at her touch,
Her beauty calms the waves.
Trees bend before her gaze,
As she guards sleepers at rest.

Hark! The lady of the night,
Garbed in her silver gown.
Her crown of stars twinkle like diamonds
As she smiles down on us all.

Her light reflects on the sea,
To give her a mirror so vast,
That only the one who stands next to the sun
Can be granted a gift so great.

Hark! The lady of the night,
Garbed in her silver gown.
Her crown of stars twinkle like diamonds
As she smiles down on us all.

I hope you liked that chapter. I know the song at the end didn't really rhyme, but it has a nice rythm to it that I thougut made up for that. the same drill as usuall, wot! R&R!