Chapter 40

Brome returned a smile and held his paw out. Martin grabbed it and helped him to his feet.

"It's a good thing you and your friends came along when you did." Brome held his sore ribs, jerking his head in the foxes' direction. "That fox thought I was you."

Martin nodded gravely. "That was Stoneclaw, wasn't it?"

Brome narrowed his eyes. "So you know him."

"Well... I've heard about him. That was the first time I've seen him."

Brome was about to ask another question when Wally's voice echoed down to them.

"Um, excuse me old chap. Mind introducin' us to your friend?"

Brome and Martin looked up, seemingly forgetting there were others present. Atheria shook her head and she and Gonff slid down the slope, followed by Trout and Quincy.

Atheria held her paw out, smiling friendlily. "I think I know who you are, sir." She said as she shook Brome's paw.

Brome blinked. "How so?"

Atheria shared a glance with Martin. "Because I now know where Laurel gets her pretty eyes from."

Brome's jaw dropped. "Wait. Laurel? She's here?"

Martin nodded. "Somehow she found her way to Mossflower. I would rather she tell the story."

Laurel and Violet were entertaining themselves by building sandcastles. The rain had stopped but the sky remained overcast and dark. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Dinny and Trimp paced around their charges, worried about their friends.

Violet stuck a shell on the top of her castle and sat back to admire it. She looked over at Laurel. She half heartedly placed smaller shells around the bottom of hers.

"Its okay, Laurel. When they get back, I'm sure they'll take you home."

Laurel sighed. "But something is wrong. I've never felt this... afraid before."

Trimp stopped pacing and knelt down next to her, pulling her into a hug. "Don't be, little one. Everything will be alright."

"Hurr. 'Ere cooms Marthen now."

It took a few seconds before Laurel realized who the other mouse was walking next to the warrior. To her friends' surprise, she jumped up from the sand and ran with all her might.

Brome pulled her into his arms and held her tight as she buried her face into his neck and sobbed.

"Oh Dad, I'm sorry!" She clung to him.

Brome rocked her back and forth, tears in his eyes too. "What are you sorry for, Laurel?"

"I shouldn't have ran away! I shouldn't have said those awful things to you, then none of this would have happened!"

Brome pulled her away so he could look at her face. He wiped her tears, rubbing her cheek lovingly. "No, Laurel. I was too hard on you. It's me who should be sorry." He held her tight again. "I love you."

Laurel sniffed, closing her eyes. "I love you too."

Martin and the others stood nearby, smiling at their happy reunion. Brome stood up, with Laurel still holding on to him. He smiled at the creatures before him.

"I don't know how to thank you all for bringing my daughter back."

Atheria smiled, wiping her tears. "It wasn't my crew. It was Martin and his friends."

Brome nodded to the warrior, looking down at Laurel lovingly.

Trout cleared his throat. "I love 'appy reunions as much as any beast but, we 'ave a big problem starin' us in the face."

Wally coughed. "Trust you to ruin a good moment."

Trout glared at him and looked at Brome and Martin. "You two clearly 'ave some hist'ry between ye that relates to the fox and Verang the Vile. Not only is Noonvale in trouble but so is Kamwe."

Brome nodded. "Keyla and Birch aren't too far away. We need to find them and return to the caves."

"Caves?" Laurel asked, confused.

Brome stroked her head. "They found Noonvale. We had to go into hiding."

"Is Mama alright?"

"She's fine, Laurel. She will be so happy to see you."

Trout put his paws on his hips. "Then wot are we standin' 'ere in the sand, fer? Now that we've joined forces, let's get a plan in motion."

"I second that, ol' tattoo face!" Wally saluted.

Other voices chorused in to do the same. Martin and Brome shook paws but unknown to their friends, there was still tension and anger between the two.

Stoneclaw shook himself again, spraying his remaining band. Greyfur closed his eyes against the droplets.

The black-eyed fox growled. "Are you sure that's what you heard?" He asked his second in command.

Greyfur nodded. "He was telling the truth. He wasn't Martin at all. The mouse that shot you with the arrow is."

Stoneclaw glanced down at his still bleeding paw. "That stoat will be livid when he finds out."

Greyfur raised an eyebrow. "Are you still thinking about-

"Yes, you fool!" Stoneclaw began pacing. "We don't have nearly enough to go up against those Noonvalers now that they have Martin the Warrior to 'save' them. We'll have to join up with the Vile One again."

"I hope you have a good excuse for betraying him like you did." Greyfur reminded him.

Stoneclaw rolled his eyes. "When he finds out what we saw, he'll have no choice. If he wants revenge on Martin, he'll need us. We just need to make a plan."

Greyfur sighed. He sat down on the ground and leaned back against a tree, folding his arms behind his head.

"In the meantime, can we rest? We've been chasing that mouse and his friends for days."

Stoneclaw glared at him, his black eyes cold. "Fine, but we move tonight. I know the stoat will be back this way. I'm sure he's figured out by now that he was tricked. Until he arrives, we remain hidden. Is that clear?" He looked around at the others. They nodded in unison.

The mercenary folded his paws behind his back and looked through the trees to where he could see the ocean in the distance.

"This fiasco won't be over until that mouse warrior is dead."

Hello everyone. I've decided to end the story here but don't worry! I didn't realize I would write this many chapters and that this story would be so long. (I had a lot to tell apparently) So I'm splitting it into parts. Part Two won't 'premiere' for a little while. I'm gonna take a break from writing, especially with work and I live on a farm, I've got baby animals coming that keep me super busy too.

Thank you to all of those who have read my story and commented. You guys are wonderful!

Everyone will be back, I promise!

~ladyofthelake92