Chapter 3
That night after all the singing had been done, everyone decided to
retire to bed. It was near dawn; after all, they did have a Nameday
Festival! The next day got started on a slow roll, being tired after last
night. Breakfast was a short affair, with scones and a little summer
salad. Every beast began to start his or her chores for the day. Foremole
got up and commented, "Burr aye, et be a burnin' day ou' ere" And it was,
too. Once the chores had been finished everyone decided to retreat into
the orchard, beneath the fruit trees where the heat hadn't penetrated. A
chattering conversation was started. A mouse named Amber started the
conversation. "So, what do we do now that we're finished with everything?"
Rosie Replied, "Whatever we can, but out of this heat!" The conversation
rolled around to Matthew who commented, "Last night I had a dream about
Martin the Warrior telling me that poem I sang yesterday, over and over. He
then told me to use it when the time came." A squirrel named Treebreeze,
suggested, "Maybe then we should just wait for whatever it is." This
brought a silence, following to the suggestion of sleep, which was heartily
taken.
~
Back at Death Island, Saucony was furious of the reports of not only
coming back empty handed, but losing their ships to oar slaves! "Yew
useless tripes! You couldn't get a scrap of food if it weren't for me! I
don't know why I feed yew, yew sea scum! Yew ain't worth a scrap of meat!
Now get out o' my sight before I change my mind on feedin' yew!" The
entire group of captains fled to the banqueting hall, where their crew was
waiting for them. The captains just started grabbing as much food as they
could. " Crew, yew better do the same, pack! Cause' what you get will be
your rations! We're leaving as soon as we can hoist anchor!" Then a
crewmember said, "We ain't got no ships!" This last comment started a riot.
~
At the caves, Treeleaf had learned that the group that was rapidly
expanding was called the DRAS, for Death Island Resistance Against Saucony.
She was promised a tour before dinner, and now she was trying to find her
guide. Once she found him, they started. "My name's Harold, I'm the
leader of the DRAS. What's yours?" She replied, "My name's Treeleaf."
Harold then stated that they had little time before dinner, so they had
better hurry. On the tour, he showed her tunnels, under rocks, that lead
right into Death Castle. They could pop up in the banqueting hall, in the
courtyard, or in the cove. Treeleaf wanted to see more, but it was
dinnertime. That night they had a huge dinner set up to impress the
newcomers, and did the singing while eating, as everyone there loved
singing. Treeleaf was asked to sing.
Way, way down in the south,
At a very big river mouth.
That is where we built my home,
A nice little hut shaped like a dome.
There we lived in harmony and peace,
And my mom always made her pies with an extra crease.
And then at night when I went to bed,
She'd tell me the story of how all the evil fled.
Treeleaf unconsciously stated, "Everything was perfect until the vermin
came back and forced us out to sea. They gave us 2 days to make a boat and
leave. If we had been given a week, we could have made a proper boat. But
then, we where lucky to have made what we did. There were 50 of us because
our neighbors were forced out too." The entire cavern was silent, sad
because of the tale that was shortly told. Then a young hare spoke up and
asked, "What's all the moping for? We should be happy! We escaped!" That
set the entire party into full action. They forgot their food and got up
and danced around to the lively tune of "Otter in the bushes" The rest of
the night was danced away to music and happiness.
