Chapter 11

As the padded hooks thudded over the wall, the vermin started to haul themselves up the ropes. They found it rather difficult, as they had never climbed anything before. The band of vermin had to wait in mid-air as Meade, the abbey badger chased a group of evading dibbuns along the wall. The weasel leader, Skuuler, earlier mentioned by Amber, was first up the wall. However, he quickly retreated back down to his rope as he saw the badger and the dibbuns running back in his direction. One of the rats in Skuuler's horde thought it would be fun to trip Meade. As she ran by he stuck out his sword and she tripped heavily on the ramparts. The badger felt the stinging pain lancing through where the rats sword had meet her foot. She realized that this was no regular trip. Pretending not to suspect the vermin on the other side of the wall, she quickly ran down the stairs into the kitchen, where she grabbed a pot of steaming water, ready to be made into a stew and ran off. This caught the attention of the abbot and some other creatures, and they followed her. When the followers got up to the wall, they saw Meade pouring the steaming water over the edge of the ramparts. They heard multiple screams as the vermin either jumped off the ropes or were killed by the steaming water. Meade watched with grim satisfaction. Hardly any of the vermin had survived. Those who had survived ran off in fear of the badger coming out at them. The abbot was astounded at how cooly Meade had handled the situation, however the cook wasn't so pleased. "I had been boiling that water for three hours for our dinner stew, now we'll have to do with just some cold gruel!" Meade looked horrified, and ran down the stairs yelling for a very large fire to be built to boil some water. Later that night, the stew became a success. Meade herself had added a few ingredients and boiled the stew for an extra hour, perfecting a masterpiece. Not only did it prove a success, but more had to be made to fulfill the appeites of the hungry Redwallers. To go along with the stew that was made, large loaves of bread had been made especially for dunking in the stew. There were many flavors ranging from cheese to garlic and all other types that would go perfectly with the stew, but went even better after Meade had added her special spices. After the dinner everyone started to snack and watched the singing and dancing with great pleasure.