Part Two- Where the Sun Sets
"Well, well," said Friar Danno, gazing at the two mice. "More jobs, you say? I never was so eager as a novice. Lessee, hmm, ah, hmm." The short, tubby otter moved off among the many simmering pots and bubbling pans that the Redwall kitchens housed. Orion and Rowena followed him, occasionally peering into an oven, or sniffing the air.
"AHAH!" cried Danno, startling them. "Here's
what you can do! Summer Slice!" He waved a chubby paw at a
pile of laid out ingredients.
"Strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrants, all have to be
stewed in one o' those big pans. Then you make the oatcake bits,
that should be easy, then put half of the oatcake mix at the
bottom of this baking dish, then the stewed fruit on top, then
the rest of the oatcake. Got it?" Two heads nodded in
agreement. Danno beamed, then something caught the corner of his
eye.
"Hoi, you dibbuns! Just where d' you think you're going
with those pasties?" He marched off towards the cooling
sills. Orion grinned, and rolled up his habit sleeves.
"Right," he said. "You do the stewing, I'll make
the oatcake. Okay?" Rowena nodded, and they set to with good
will.
Just across the kitchen, two dibbuns, namely Garn the mole and
Weddle the shrew, were wreaking havoc with the ingredients for
the famed Redcurrantwall Abbot Alf cake. Redcurrant jelly was
squelched all over the walls, flour adorned the tabletop, and
dried fruit was littered on the floor around them. Friar Danno
was tearing out his headfur in frustration, torn between scolding
the dibbuns, and clearing up the mess.
"Oh you bad, bad mole Gern! You just wait until your father hears about this..... dearie me, must salvage as much fruit as we can if we are to make this cake at all..... You dreadful little shrew, Weddle! I've a good mind to get Log-a-log and the rest of your tribe right now- they're out helping to set the tables. Oooh, must be careful of the redcurrant jelly, it'll fall!"
"Yurr, doan't get thoiself in a tizzle, zurr Danno,"
called a rustic voice from the other end of the kitchens. Kurth,
a mole, and Dran, a shrew, were walking towards the hapless
otter. Kurth clipped Gern round the ear as she approached.
"Yurr, get thoiself daown to cellar, yung ripscaggle. Owr
farther'll 'ave wurds with 'ee thur. Get goin', afore oi takes a
ladle to 'ee!" Gern bowed his head and shuffled out.
Weddle looked imploringly at her brother, but Dran frowned in
reply.
"What have you done now, Weddle?" he sighed. "It's
bad enough that I get lumbered with you when mother goes on a
fishing trip, but you don't have to make extra trouble! Now go
outside, and explain what you've done to Log-a-log. Great
seasons!" Dran threw up his paws as Weddle shuffled out.
Kurth smiled wryly.
"They'm both gurt bags o' trubble, they'm
two. Oi knows 'ow 'ee feels- moi farther allus says oi gotter
look arfter that scallywag, whoil 'eem wurkin' in cellar. Hurr,
samplin' 'tober ale an' suchloike. Hurr, samplin' moi diggen
claws!"
"Aye, that Weddle is the ringleader, I'm sure. You'll always
find her in the middle of any trouble that ensues, surrounded by
dibbuns that'd be as good as gold if she hadn't led them down the
garden path. Mother 'n' I despair of her sometimes, she'll never
learn to be a proper Union member."
The two beasts pitched in with Danno to clear up
the mess.
***
"It's the first day of summer, and
winter's well away,
So sing and dance on this happy day,
The river's flowin' smoothly, the trees are full of fruit,
The plants are all a-laughin', from flowers to the roots,
The birds are singin' birdsongs, and I'm a-singin' mine,
All for the summer and the warm sunshine,
The frogs are all a-croakin', the fish a-swimmin' free,
So join in the summer, and sing with me!"
"Bravo, encore, encore!" cried the beasts of Holt
Kyrie, milling round Caitrin as she took her bow.
"Why don't we get Willow to sing something?" she asked
slyly, pointing at the squirrelmaid seated in a corner.
"She's a lovely voice." Willow blushed.
"Nay, nay, y' don't want me a-singin'. Y'd all run fer
cover!" Caitrin walked over to her friend, and hauled the
squirrel to her paws.
"C'mon, sing tht one about the frog and the butterfly."
"Oh all reet then, I suppose I shall 'ave to."
Willow walked forward to take Caitrin's place at th front of
the hall, still blushing furiously. Caitrin sat down beside her
father, Coyle. Coyle O'Liath was the current head of the family.
He smiled at his daughter, and whispered:
"You just couldn't be bothered to sing again, could
you?" Caitrin pretended not to hear.
"A frog was sittin' in his lily pond,
Lily pond, away-oh,
Then along came a butterfly with wings of gold,
Wings of gold, away-oh,
She flittered an' fluttered above that water,
Flitter an' flutter, away-oh,
An' said 'Will you marry my daughter',
Marry my daughter, away-oh,
An' the frog said 'Why, Miss Butterfly,
Miss Butterfly, away-oh,
Do you come down out of the sky,
Out of the sky, away-oh
To talk to me 'bout marry your daughter,
Talk to me, away-oh
Disturb me in my secret water,
Secret water, away-oh
You got me mad, so fly away,
Got me mad, away-oh
Don't come back another day,
Don't come back, away-oh,
So that butterfly, flew into the sky,
Flew into the sky, away-oh,
She said 'You evil scoffer o' flies,
Scoffer o' flies, away-oh,
My daughter, she have broken heart,
Broken heart, away-oh,
She's loved you true right from the start,
Loved you true, away-oh,
The frog said 'You old fibber you,
Old fibber you, away-oh,
Your daughter never loved me true,
Never loved me, away-oh,
I saw her round 'bout yesterday,
Yesterday, away-oh,
She said 'Sticky-tongue, oh go away,
Sticky tongue, away-oh,
So fly away you silly thing,
Silly thing, away-oh,
Leave me here in peace-oooooooh,
Leave me here in peace!"
Everybeast clapped, as Willow breathed deeply, clambering down
from the small platform. She smiled, flopping down in a chair
next to Caitrin.
"Few, that wus a-gettin' difficult. I shouldn't sing such
long songs, it damages me throat."
Suddenly a great cry went up.
"The Feast! The Feast!" There was much grating of
chairs as everybeast stood up. Six otters dressed in white aprons
and tall chefs' hats walked in, pushing six trolleys laden with
food. The foremost one walked up to Coyle O'Liath, and swept off
his hat as he bowed.
"Sir, the Summerfeast is served!" Everybeast cheered as
the cooks slid the trolleys alongside the tables and begn
unloading the food. As usual, the spread was wonderful, with
dishes ranging from salads to cheesecakes, fruit pies to hotroot
soup.
"'S ver' gudd," mumbled Coyle, shoving salad and
watershrimp garnish into a hot roll as he munched on a beetroot.
"Dad!" cried Caitrin, elbowing him. "You shouldn't
talk with your mouth full.It's bad manners."
"'S bad mammers t' elbo' me."
The feast went on happily, everybeast tucking in with good
will. Willow nudged her friend.
"Heey Caitrin, did you git that soop aff ol' Tac?"
"Aye, I finally managed to. Old skinflint, he kept trying to
back out of it. Cringer. Did I tell you he called me a 'little
trainee'? Trainee my quiver. I'm twice the archer he'll ever be,
and I've not finished the complete training."
Willow shook her head when Caitrin had turned away. The young ottermaid was always full of the fact that she was an O'Liath, and a very good archer, as were her whole family. Frankly, Caitrin's head was beginning to swell. In a short while, she would probably become like most otters in the Eastlands- self-important, patronising to other creatures, and completely sure of the fact that they were the most important creatures in the world. Willow's family had always seemed to be fated to become attatched to an O'Liath, then pushed away when the otter grew older.
"O'Liaths and Flynns," whispered Willow, shaking her
head again. "Close as peas in a pod, they say. But someday
that pod will be broken."
***
Juniper was awakened by a knock on the door of his chamber. The young badger sat up, bedclothes falling off him, as three young leverets. shyly pushed the door open. They were dressed in tunics as blue as a cloudless sky, and they each had rings of flowers around their heads. The foremost one, a female, carried a wand of hazelwood. They looked almost fearfully at the adolecsent badger. He smiled at them, to ease their fear. They smiled back nervously.
"Er- The spring has passed us," began the
wand-carrier.
"The-um- winter is to come," continued the second.
"But here's the -ah -summer," said the third.
"Under the sun!" they said together, and ran away.
Juniper grinned as he dressed and washed. That was an old tradition at Salamandastron- three young ones going from dormitory to dormitory and waking up the occupants on the first day of summer with a verse. No wonder they had been nervous of him- when he had come back after storming off, he had had a row with his father that shook the foundations. Very rarely were there two grown or nearly-grown male badgers at the mountain- fighting always ensued.
Pinning his navy blue cloak around his shoulders with his best
brooch, Juniper straightened his dark green tunic and walked out
of the room. It felt good to be alive on such a beautiful
morning.
"Good mornin' sah!" said a tubby young hare named Whils
as Juniper passed him in the hallway.
"Morning Whils, and happy Summertide to you!"
The young badger walked happily into the dining room, where his mother and father sat. His mother, Lady Rosemary, wore a long dress of soft yellow. On her head was a silver band, with summer flowers woven around it. Lord Oakpaw was dressed in the traditional manner for Badger Lords on the first day of summer, with wild flowers woven in his beard and a green hazel wand in his paw. His tunic and cloak were beautifully woven, of all the greens of summer.
"Welcome to Salamandastron on the first day of a new summer!" cried Oakpaw as his son drew close to the twin thrones he and his wife sat upon. Juniper wanted to roll his eyes. Every summer his father insisted on addressing everybeast as if they had only just arrived. Last year there had been a row when Juniper had pointed out how silly this custom was. But Lady Rosemary gave her son a warning look, and he kept his peace.
As the hares sat down to partake of the First Summer Breakfast, Rosemary inwardly sighed. It would only be a matter of time before Juniper either ran away, or Oakpaw ordered his son out. Whenever the two badgers even came into the same room, you could almost feel the air buzzing from the tension. Young male badgers were rarely brought up at the mountain- normally it was the preserve of solitary rulers (apart from the hares of course). But the tradition had been broken by Russano the Wise, who had raised his son and daughter at the mountain.
Russano was Oakpaw's grandsire. Melanius his daughter had taken over the mountain after him, whilst her brother Snowstripe went wandering. But she had died childless, and he had returned to the mountain one day with a wife and a young son- Oakpaw.
But now Juniper was growing into an adult, and he was breaking out of the mould that had been set for him since he was tiny. He was trying to break free of what he was, who he was. And Oakpaw did not understand why.
Chatter went up and down the tables, as everybeast helped themselves to a portion of food. But not one morsel was touched. Oakpaw stood up fom his throne at the end of the table. Each and every hare, and the other two badgers, bowed his or her head, as the Lord of the Mountain began to recite.
"The changing seasons whirl around,
As we stumble blindly on the ground,
Our fate surrounds us, and near is death,
By the edge of the shoreline where the sun sets."