Tarnell stood in the doorway of the gatehouse cottage, soaked in rain and panting heavily. Matthias, Mattimeo, and Cornflower all went to meet the saturated otter as Tess stayed with Martin, who stared in semi-fright at Tarnell. Mattimeo closed the door as Matthias helped Tarnell to a chair. Cornflower brought the drenched creature a towel.
"Dear me, Tarnell, you gave us all such a fright, bursting into the door like that," Matthias remarked. "What was so important that you ran through rain to tell us?"
Tarnell sat with the now-wet towel in her paws, still panting from the long run through the forest. When she'd regained her breath, she looked up at the warrior mice standing over her.
"I was fishing at the River Moss to bring something home for the family to eat tonight. I nearly caught this grayling, see. Very clever fellow; got away from me in the end and…"
"Get on with it, otter!" Tess said softly but urgently.
Tarnell nodded. "Right. Sorry. Anyway, I was making my way back to Redwall when I smelled something. It was a very curious scent the wind brought me, it was. It was unlike any woodland creature's, I'll tell you that. I stood there and stood for minutes. But it was such a long stand and my knees were about to…"
"Tarnell!" Matthias chided. "You haven't told us anything other than you failed your fishing excavation and smelled something."
"Sorry, sorry!" the otter uttered. She started up in a louder voice. "Well, before too long, out of the forest came a horse. Big one, too. Big black stallion, he was. I stood still as a stone, just watching him. The stallion waded into the river and drank. Very deeply, if I do say so myself. Just gulping it down, swallow after swallow after…"
"Tarnell!" everyone but Martin chorused.
"Okay, fine! Then, the breeze shifted and the black caught my scent. He stared at me with those big brown eyes, even after I introduced myself. Well, that just unnerved me altogether and I was quite relieved when he took off back in the direction he'd come. Very strange, very odd," Tarnell finished.
Everyone looked at one another. Tess turned to Tarnell. "Didn't say anything at all, did he?"
The otter shook her head. "No, nothing at all."
"Hmm," Mattimeo sighed. "It makes no sense at all. Where did this stallion come from in the first place?"
"Your guess is as good as any of ours, son," Matthias answered. "But it isn't just the question of where he's from. It's mostly what he wants. Is he peaceable or will he threaten the forest or the Abbey?"
Everyone shrugged. Cornflower took the loaves out of the oven in the nick of time. "Nearly burned them!" she exclaimed as she set them out to cool.
"Tarnell, will you stay for supper? We'll talk to Alf afterwards about this incident," Matthias invited.
The otter stood. "No, no thanks. I must return to the Abbey to tend to that injured squirrel. Coming along nicely, but you never know with these types of wounds."
"I still haven't heard of what happened to that squirrel, Tarnell," Tess said, setting Martin on her lap. "Care to enlighten me, matey?"
Tarnell sat down once more with a small smile. "Sure, all right. Well, I was out on a stroll in Mossflower, see. And then all of a sudden, I hear this cry for help. It came directly above me, see. I looked up and saw the squirrel, caught in a snare and turned upside down by the middle. He'd tripped and fallen into the snare and had been hurled up there in the blink of an eye. The squirrel told me he'd been in there for four days. The nasty trap cut severely into his middle. Blood everywhere; he was a mess. But he's healing up quite nicely."
Cornflower set the supper on the table: Fresh loaves with sweet honey dip, carp baked in various spices, upside down apple cake, turnip and parsley soup, candied chestnuts, and strawberry cordial. She looked up at Tarnell. "Sure you won't stay? There's plenty here."
Tarnell looked at the food and sniffed deeply of the strong aroma the meal produced. The otter licked her lips; she hadn't eaten since this morning.
"Well, I'm sure I can't stay, but d'you think I might be able to take some on the run with me?" she asked.
"Certainly, Tarnell," Cornflower replied. She took a basket and placed two loaves with the leftover honey dip, a slice of carp and cake, a jar of turnip and parsley soup, ten candied chestnuts, and a beaker of cordial inside. Tarnell accepted the basket gratefully and headed for the door.
"Thanks, mateys. If I see or hear of the black anymore, I'll let you know," she called behind her. A chorus of partings followed her as the otter made her way to the Abbey. The family sat down to their supper in the cozy cottage as the rain continued to pour down.