Mattimeo, Valia, and Weylan put a plan into action, Tim sends Martin's riddle to the other Redwallers, and Cornflower, Tess, and Violet take it upon themselves to solve it. A familiar face in a sense ;) appears.
Chapter 34
Kaon sat in his tent sharpening his dirk, contemplating his plans for the future. Escaping Castle Floret was one thing. Staying free was a completely different matter, and that matter was further complicated by the fact that he and his compatriots still had a mission to finish, postponed by their brief stay in prison.
However, Kaon knew his little gang well, and knew that together they could handle whatever the future presented them.
The ermine heard someone approaching long before they came within his line of sight. He glanced at the door of his tent, and saw three figures approaching. Two of which he recognized as the red fox twins, Tay and Jay. Being escorted between them with two scimitars was a creature in a cloak that Kaon did not recognize.
He stood as the two foxes brought the presumed prisoner into the tent.
"We have a visitor, then?" he asked, smirking.
"Caught 'im wanderin' 'round th' camp, sir." one of the two foxes replied.
Kaon looked the prisoner up and down, but wasn't able to deduce much. The cloak the prisoner wore covered most of his figure. Not even his tail was very visible. A hood covered his head, hiding his face. Kaon grew suspicious of all this secrecy, wondering what the creature had to hide. Still, he did smell like vermin, so that one fact could be confirmed.
Regardless, Kaon didn't like it.
"Maybe we've got a bit of a spy in our paws, gentlebeasts." Kaon remarked, approaching the trio.
Tay and Jay snickered, however, the prisoner remained neutral.
"I ain't a spy." he remarked flatly.
"Oh really?" Kaon asked. "Then what are you doing around this camp?"
"Wanderin'." the creature replied. "Came across yer camp by accident, so I did."
Kaon gave the creature a long stare. "If all of that is true, then you won't mind if I ask a few questions then, correct?"
"Not at all." the creature replied, staring straight ahead.
"First off, what's your name?"
"Hood." the creature replied. "Me name's Hood."
Mattimeo watched these proceedings as best as he could from afar, cupping his paws over his eyes.
"Well?" Valia asked impatiently from beside him.
"He's in the camp." Mattimeo reported. "And he's meeting with the ermine leader, Kaon. Can't make out what's happening, really, as that tent door is mostly closed, and that lot of vermin is blocking Weylan from view."
"So 'ow can we tell if everythin's goin' accordin' t' plan?" Valia asked.
"Well, they haven't killed him yet, if that's what you're asking." Mattimeo responded flatly. "Really, all we can do now is wait. It's all up to Weylan now."
Valia fell silent for a moment, tapping her rudder against the ground. "Ye sure this is a good idea?" she asked. "Wot if 'em vermin don't buy it?"
"This isn't the first time Weylan's used the Hood disguise." Mattimeo said, remembering. "Once before, he managed to fool a whole horde of well-trained vermin, and their leader for days on end. In fact, I'm not sure the horde's leader ever figured out it was really Weylan that was behind Hood's cloak."
"But this lot ain't like that lot." Valia pointed out.
"Very true." Mattimeo agreed. "Weylan probably won't be able to pull off the ruse for nearly as long with Kaon and his followers. But he won't have to. He just needs to be there long enough to get an idea of what they plan to do next, then get out. Once we safely have that bit of information, we'll hightail it back to Castle Floret. Easy, really."
"I certainly hope yore right, mouse." Valia said, cupping her own paws over her eyes to watch Weylan in the vermin camp.
"Sparra not understand." the sparrow perched in the window of the gatehouse remarked.
"You don't need to understand." Tim pressed, tying a parchment to the feisty bird's leg. "Just get this parchment to the others in the abbey. All they need to know is on it already."
"What 'portant 'bout wormsign?" the sparrow asked, still puzzled.
Unfortunately, Tim only understood parts of what the bird said, not being fluent in the Sparra language, and merely shrugged.
"Y'know, the bloomin' bird does bring up a good point." Wootiberg said, standing nearby. "If it doesn't understand, why should the Redwallers? I mean, we've only solved one bit of the flippin' puzzle, and you claim that Martin the Warrior told you that part, Tim!"
"I know it's not much to go off of, but there really isn't much we can do from here." Tim persisted. "As I see it, now that we have a starting point to work with, we can figure out the rest from there. But as we're trapped in here, away from it all..."
"The only creatures who can help are in the abbey." Gooding realized, also present.
"Makes sense." Flugg added, present as well. "I'm just glad we managed 't git the attention of th' sparrows. Been virtually ignorin' us."
"Well, they do run a jolly risk flyin' by here." Wootiberg reasoned. "Puts 'em just within range of Toka's archers."
"Sparra good flyer, no touchie pointy-sticks." the sparrow objected suddenly.
"Right." Tim said, giving the string that held the parchment to the sparrow's leg one last tug. "Whatever. Just get this parchment to the others."
"And watch out for 'em bloomin' arrows!" Wootiberg added.
"Badworms no reach sparra with pointy-sticks!" the sparrow repeated hotly, then flapped out the window, rapidly gaining altitude.
An arrow or two was fired from the captured grounds below, but never came close to reached the sparrow. Tim watched the bird, until he saw it had safely reached the abbey.
He nodded, and grinned. "Now, we wait." he said.
"'To find my treasure, hidden safe and secure,
One must go fifty paws down the room of rainbows.
Then traverse up the staircase that turns against itself.
Then go to the third left in the corridor past the bridge in the air.
Find the clue engraved there, in a place of remembrance.
It will lead you to the one treasure Redwall will ever have.'"
Abbot Mordalfus lowered the parchment and adjusted his spectacles. "Hmm, quite a riddle, this." he remarked to the others, all gathered into a dormitory that had been turned into a kind of meeting room.
"And wot did Tim say this was for again?" Violet asked, doubtful how the riddle could help them.
"According to the note he attached to it, he says it's a riddle he found in a recordbook and was written by Martin the Warrior himself." Matthias explained, reading the note that had been attached to the parchment. "Apparently, Martin had hidden a treasure somewhere in this abbey, containing a wide variety of things he found important to him. Tim doesn't list what these things are, but states that one item is complete copies of Abbess Germaine's original plans for the abbey. Tim claims that somewhere in these plans may be a way to get help from the gatehouse cottage over to here, in the abbey."
"We certainly could use that help." Basil agreed.
"I don't know." Orlando muttered. "Seems to me Tim's desperate to try and help. We can't even confirm if this treasure even exists."
"Which is why we need t' find it, eh wot?" Cheek pointed out.
"Cheek's right, Orlando." Cornflower agreed. "Besides, Redwall contains many secrets. It stands perfectly to reason that the abbey still contains some that we do not know about."
"So all we have to do is solve the riddle." Tess surmised.
"Well, actually, Tim has already determined that the 'room of rainbows' the riddle speaks of is Great Hall." Matthias said, reading the note still. "That gives us a place to start."
"We can work our way from there." Tess said.
"I still say this is distracting from were our attention should be focused, and that's the threat of attack from that horde out there." Orlando said.
"Orlando's got a bally point." Basil was forced to agree. "With the aftermath of Judd nearly getting up here and catchin' us all, Toka's goin' t' be workin' of figurin' our how the blighter got his creatures up here so easily and without our knowin'. And when he figures it out..."
"We're dead." Matthias said gravely. "Father Abbot, I am forced to agree. Tim's riddle may provide a solution to this situation, but we can't spare the time to work it out. My warrior's instinct says we should focus on Toka and his horde, as Orlando has said. We don't even know how Judd's forces got up here. So far as we know, they just did. If we can't figure it out before Toka does..."
"I completely agree Matthias." Mordalfus said, rolling up the parchment. "However, not all of us need to work on this at once. You and the other defenders can work on defending the abbey as always. The rest of us can be working on the riddle. However, there will be time for all of that later. It is coming on time for lunch, and I believe our cooks have managed to put together a decent meal for us all, despite our limited supplies and such."
He stood and left, many of the others following. Soon, all who were left were Tess, Cornflower, and Violet.
Tess reached across the table and pulled the parchment towards her. She reread the riddle to herself.
"Thinking about getting a head start?" Cornflower asked, scooting her chair closer so she could read as well.
Tess nodded. "Ever since all of this began, I've felt a bit helpless, being with young as I am." she patted her growing middle. "I've wanted to help fight Toka somehow, but no one has let me. This might actually be a chance for me to help, though."
Cornflower nodded. "I know the feeling." she said. "Many of the times Redwall has gotten into a conflict, I had to find odd ways to help the cause, besides fighting."
"Me, I'm just bloomin' curious." Violet remarked, leaning over both mousemaidens to look at the riddle too. "Always did like a good riddle, eh, wot?"
They looked at the seemingly complex writings.
"So where should we start?" Tess finally asked.
"Well, with the room of rainbows, I suppose." Cornflower said. "We know what that is, don't we?"
"Great Hall." Violet said.
A few moments later, they were all standing on the balcony above the hall and were peering down at the vermin horde that filled the room.
"I hope we can figure out wot Martin's jolly well talkin' about from here." Violet remarked, looking down at the multitudes of vermin. "Not gonna get a better view."
"'One must go fifty paws down the room of rainbows.'" Tess read from the parchment before looking up. "Well, we found the room of rainbows." she gestured to the sunlight streaming in through the stained glass windows the hall bore, casting rainbow-colored shadows on the floor. "Now what?"
Cornflower took the parchment from Tess for a moment. "What do you think it means, 'go fifty paws down?'" she asked before handing back the parchment.
"Sounds like a flippin' measurement to me." Violet remarked, still looking down at the vermin below.
"A measurement?" Tess repeated.
"Aye, at Salamandastron, we're trained t' use various things to measure with." Violet explained. "See, in combat, you're not really goin' t' have much t' measure with, like a ruler or something like that. So, you have t' find somethin' else t' use, something you're bound t' have while doin' battle. Common one is usin' the length of your footpaw."
"So when the riddle says 'go fifty paws down the room of rainbows', it could be saying to 'go fifty pawlengths?'" Cornflower asked.
"Or fifty pawsteps." Tess said thoughtfully, getting an idea. "I remember Tim telling me of a story about a quest to find treasure he found in a recordbook once. To find it, you had to travel a certain amount of pawsteps in a certain direction."
"Guess that's wot the riddle's takin' about." Violet said with a shrug.
"But how do we do that?" Cornflower asked. "Like Violet said, we can't actually go down there and measure it, not with that lot of vermin down there!"
"And in which direction are we supposed to go fifty pawsteps in?" Violet asked. "Could be in any direction."
"I'm guessing from the entrance." Tess said, pointing at the large wooden doors that led in and out of the abbey. "Stands to reason, doesn't it?"
"So go fifty pawsteps right up the middle." Violet summarized. "But how do we measure that?"
Cornflower watched the vermin walking around for a moment. "Maybe we can use the vermin." she proposed. "Think about it. They're making pawsteps all over this room! All we have to do is count how many pawsteps it takes for one of them to go from the doors to wherever we're supposed to end up after fifty pawsteps."
"Sounds like a perfectly spiffin' plan." Violet said, rubbing her paws together. "There. The blighter that's just comin' in should work. Now start countin'."
They did. They reached fifty just as the vermin stepped under the balcony they stood upon.
Violet frowned. "Huh, that takes you straight t' the bloomin' center of the room." she noted.
"So what's here?" Tess asked, leaning over to get a better look at the floor far below the balcony. "Anyone see...what was it...'the staircase that turns against itself?'"
"I do." Cornflower said, grinning suddenly.
She pointed a claw at the bottom of the spiral staircase.