Chp 14

The creatures of Redwall Abbey liked to look at Primrose. But this was nothing new, as the creatures of Noonvale, the Troupe, and countless others liked to look at her.

Cellarhog had once compared the ferretmaid's eyes to a pair of goblets filled with the finest nutbrown ale there was. Friar Gleesum said at one time that her fur reminded him of the topping of a woodland summercream pudding. Brother Samuel, the head gardener, compared her body to a willow being blown by a soft spring breeze. Abbot Grove even put in his own description, that she was as beautiful as the late rose bush in full bloom.

Yes, the beasts of Redwall Abbey did indeed like to look at Primrose.

Now, however, they were all looking at her for completely different reasons.

Within the space of one mere second, she was now the prime suspect in a series of mysterious burglaries, simply because one abbeydweller had seen her in the area during the time one of the missing items was stolen.

The first to break the silence was Pansy.

"What?" the squirrelmaid shouted, standing forward. "Wha- that's ridiculous! Primrose would never steal! My sister is no thief! What are you trying to pull, Sister?"

Sister Serena looked indignant and defiant. "I'm not trying to pull anything! I'm just-"

"You're just trying to lay the blame on some poor innocent creature so you can get away with stealing all those things!"

"Pansy!" barked Merola.

"Are you accusing me of being the thief?" demanded Sister Serena, firing up.

"You betcha I am!" Pansy shouted, her red fur becoming even redder.

"Pansy!" shouted Merola. "You've no right to accuse the Sister without any proof-"

"Proof? The mere fact that's she's labled my sister as a no good thief is proof! She's just trying to-"

"That's enough!" Abbot Grove cried over the din. "Come now, Pansy, Sister Serena has not actually accused Primrose of doing anything. She merely stated that Primrose was in the vicinity at the time-"

"She said that the ferret came out of the room before Sister Myrtle's kerchief was stolen," spoke up Grikkle, a rather ill-tempered old vole. "That's accusation enough for me!"

"Well it isn't for me, old one!" Pansy shouted. "And keep your remarks in your head if you can't be civil!"

"Civil? I could show you what civil means, you little wre-"

"You want to finish that sentence?" Rogak said, stepping closer towards the old gray vole.

"Here now, stop this!" Abbot Grove yelled. "I'll have no threatening or insults hurled in this abbey! We are to live in peace with one another!"

"Well we certainly can't when so many beasts around here are accusing innocents of being a no good robber!" Pansy shouted.

"Pansy, hush! All this shouting won't help!" barked Merola, whose voice was also rather loud at the moment.

"Huh, awful little savage," Grikkle muttered audibly.

"Grikkle!" the abbot reprimanded.

"Well maybe Grikkle's got the right idea!" put in Oakwen, a tall male squirrel. "Maybe," he turned to Pansy, "somebeasts around here shouldn't be so quick to defend creatures that-"

"Hey!" Vanna interrupted. "You accuse one of us, you accuse us all!"

"That's right!" nodded Spike. "If'n you say that our Primrose is a thief, then you're saying we're all thieves!"

"Well maybe I am!" Oakwen said recklessly.

Rogak cracked his knuckles dangerously.

"Well now this is a sight I never thought I'd behold!" shouted Ferdinand, stepping forward. "To think, you Redwallers are supposed to be kind, just creatures, and-"

"This hasn't happened to us for who knows how long!" objected one of the Sisters. "We barely know how to act in a situation like this-"

"Madam, that is no excuse!"

"-and the only ones who're suspects are ourselves and you! Any of us could be the thief! And nobeast around here wants to be pointing an accusing claw at their friend!"

"So you all just settle for pointing an accusing claw at my family!" Pansy shrieked.

BAM!

A startled scream rippled through the crowds of angry animals, and all eyes turned to Skipper, who had whacked his tail on the floor.

"As much as fun as it all is listening to you all scream at each other like seagulls," the otter chieftain said softly, "I suggest that we make things a little bit simpler by hearing a word or two from miss Primrose about all this."

Abbot Grove swiftly agreed. "Yes, indeed, that is always fair and sensible. Now then, tell us, Primrose, what were you doing in Sister Myrtle's room during the time her kerchief was stolen?"

"Go on, tell 'em, Prim!" Pansy said, smiling confidently up at her sister. "Tell them you're innocent and its all just a pack of compost!"

But Primrose did not speak.

"...Primrose?"

This time, Pansy did not sound so confident.

"Primrose?"

The ferretmaid would not look up, her paws folded nervously in front of her skirt.

"Prim, c'mon! You're no thief!"

"Idon't hear her saying anything to the contrary," Grikkle snapped.

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID VOLE!"

Only this time, it was Merola who shouted, much to everybeast's shock.

The badgermum took her favorite charge by the shoulders and spoke roughly, "Primrose, you have just been accused of stealing something, now come out and say it! Did you steal that kerchief, yes or no? Come on, you have a working tongue, you're not a mute! Out with it!"

But still Primrose would not speak.

Water began to form at the corners of Pansy's eyes. "Prim... you can't be..."

Oakwen the squirrel smirked. Grikkle gave a horribly triumphant laugh. "Hah! Well what do you know, I was-"

BAM!

"AUGH! Skipper, don't do that, my heart isn't what it used to-"

The otter's voice drowned out the protesting vole's. "Father Abbot, if you'll permit me, I'd like to talk to Primrose myself. Maybe in a room where nobeast can interfere?"

"I should say not!" Pansy cried. "How do we know you won't-"

"I give my word as an otter, as a Skipper, and as a Redwaller that I won't harm her in anyway, Pansy-"

"Hah! What good's the word of a Redwaller these days-"

"Merola, if you will consent...?"

"Don't do it, Merola! He'll just be... be... mean to her! He might hit her! She didn't do anything, I know she didn't! Primrose, you..." But the poor squirrelmaid couldn't think of anything else to say.

Merola, whose eyes looked rather red (whether it was from anger or from tears it was hard to say), nodded her consent, however, and nudged the ferretmaid toward the otter chieftain. "Go with Skipper, Primrose."

The whole room was dead silent once again save for the sound of Primrose's footsteps as she headed in Skipper's direction.

"You're not the thief."

Primrose blinked up at the otter. They were now in a small storeroom with no windows and only one door, which was wide open to allow light in.

"I know you're not the thief, I can tell," Skipper Torren nodded, his dark eyes gazing shrewdly at the ferretmaid, who was seated on a small stool.

Finally Primrose's tongue began to work. "W-what?"

"I could tell by that look on your face back in Great Hall. Oh sure, it was a guilty look, but not the same kind of guilty as a remorseful thief. No, it was more like the kind of guilty of... somebeast who knows something."

The ferretmaid blinked again. Silence reigned for a moment as both creatures locked gazes.

Then Skipper leaned forward, his piercing dark eyes burning into hers'. "Who's the real thief, Primrose?"

Primrose blinked a third time, but then sat back a bit and crossed her legs. "So you think you can guess all that by what you thought was the expression on my face?"

"That, among other things," nodded Skipper. "Such as the fact that if you were a thief, your troupe would most likely be thieves as well, and would have left the abbey by now before anybeast was the wiser.

"Plus you're not the stealing type. No, you've got plenty of trinkets of your own already, I've seen all those costumes you wear when you lot put on shows and whatnot.

"And not only that, but even I can tell you've had too good an upbringing to delve into any of that stuff. You're not a thief, Primrose, and I doubt you ever will be.

"But then I've got to wonder, why aren't you defending yourself? Why aren't you coming out and saying that you're innocent? Why are you letting all this rage and confusion increase around you?

"It would only stand to reason that you know who the thief is, Primrose. You know who they are, and you're relunctant to turn them in."

In spite of everything, Primrose was impressed. She supposed it took brains to be a chieftain, but she had never figured Skipper to be much of a thinker. Otters always seemed to be the creatures who took action, who would rather fight first and ask questions later.

"Who's the real thief, Primrose? Are you going to tell me?"

The ferretmaid hesitated. She considered the otter before her, his muscular arms folded across his broad chest. Torren was in some ways a typical otter, lithe and brawny, but he was also very unlike the majority of otters Primrose had come across. He wasn't as tall as Rogak and some of his crew, and the area around his waist wasn't nearly as flat as it would've been when he was younger - although he actually didn't seem that old. He must be in his late twenties, and despite the haggard look about his features, he was actually a handsome creature.

Could she... could she trust him? Confide in him? Would he understand her plight?

For a moment it seemed like she couldn't... but then there was a certain... light... a certain... something... in his eyes that suddenly made revealing the truth to him the most obvious thing in the world.

"I... I know who the thief is."

"...And? Who is it?"

"Do you promise not to tell?"

"You know I can't promise you that, its my job right now to find out who the thief is."

Primrose sighed. "Well then, I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Oh, if only you knew."

"Look, stop being so melodramatic. I know you acting types like to be all dramatic and stuff, but come on, this is serious! If you don't come out and say who the real thief is, then you'll be labled a thief yourself and be forced to leave the abbey - but not before you'd have to return as the things that were stolen, and we both know you have no idea where those are... or do you?"

"...Skip, please. You can't tell anybeast."

"I just said-"

"Please let me explain first before you say anything."

"Alright, I'm listening."

"Its a long story, though."

The otter sighed and headed out the door. Primrose was taken aback by this sudden act and wondered if she should leave too, but Skipper soon came back in with a lantern and some tinder and flint. After lighting the candle inside the lantern, the otter chieftain shut the door behind him and sat down on the floor.

"There. Now I'm listening."