Disclaimer: This story is based upon characters and situations owned by Brian Jaques and vaious publishing companies including, but not limited to, Penguin Books. I am not trying to make any money out of this, okay? I don't own any of the places mentioned in this chapter, or Freedom. I do own the other characters on the island and the abbey itself.
The Abbey of Riftguard
Prologue
My father, well actually he was not my father, for he was an otter and I am a mouse, he said that this abbey is based on the one in Mossflower. It was created long ago, by a mouse called Martin. Martin saved the people in Mossflower from attack, and he had a wonderful sword. That is all that my father could tell me.
The first 'Father Abbot' of Riftguard Abbey is a young mouse called Harrow. He was one of the first to be born on this island, apart from me. I was the first, found in a cellar just after the rescue, and that is why they called me 'Freedom'
There are many different creatures in our Abbey, most were born here on the island, either into slavery or during the building. Kroova, my father, said that our young ones, Dibbuns, are very well behaved. We have otters, squirrels, mice, hares, moles, rabbits, hedgehogs, and two sparrows.
It was the moles who built the foundations for our white-brick abbey, and the rest of us also helped to place the bricks. I was only two years old when the building started, and I think that I must have got in the way more than helped!
There is one creature who I have not mentioned yet, and that is Mother Gamma, our resident badger. Her main job is to keep the Dibbuns in check, and to make sure that our hares don't eat too much. She is larger than any other creature here, and we all respect her. In her turn, she respects us.
The first day of autumn is approaching, and the sky is blue. It still feels like summer! I can see Farlum and Padan our squirrel twins setting up a tent on the lawn for us to shelter under in this hot weather. It looks very cool and comfortable. I think I shall put away my quill and paper, and see what they are up to. Take a look around, and see what there is!
Freedom
Chapter One
"Catch this, Farlum!" yelled Padan the squirrelmaid to her twin sister. Farlum, who was holding a tent pole steady, reached out to catch the rope flying towards her. Pulling it in she untied the rope end from the canvas and hung the material over to make one corner of the tent.
"Thanks!" she yelled, before jumping down to the ground. "Hello Brother Freedom," she said, bobbing her head politely at the aged mouse.
"Good morning you two. I say, you have done a grand job on this tent," he replied.
"Thank you Brother. Oh, I say, watch out! Here comes that pesky Dibbun, Tagger," said Padan, looking out across the lawn. Farlum and Freedom groaned simultaneously, and then burst out laughing. The squirrelmaids jumped to the floor and caught the young hare before he could wreck the tent.
"Lemme go, wot!" said Tagger, attempting to bite Padan's tail. "Muvva Gam's afta me, old chap, wot wot, old boy!"
"I am not a boy," replied the young squirrel. "And no I will not let you go. Mother Gamma probably has a good reason for going after you. What have you done now?"
"Nuffin, wot! I've done nuffin! Honest chaps!" said the Dibbun, still struggling.
The door to the Abbey opened, and the middle-aged badger came out. She looked about her with her brown eyes, and soon spotted the group. Tagger squeaked nervously when he saw her.
"Is that... yes it is! Why have you got cream on your whiskers?" demanded Freedom, squinting at Tagger.
"Wasn't me, honest it wasn't! Was da ovvas, they got me wiv da cream wen we was in da kitchen!" pleaded the harebabe.
"I'll believe that when I see it," growled Mother Gamma, taking the struggling Dibbun from Padan. "Now, shall we say... baths?"
"No!" cried Tagger. "Nodda baffs! I do anyfing! Honest I be good, wot!"
The pair went back to the castle, Tagger still pleading and Gamma still resolute.
"That Dibbun," sighed Freedom. "He has the wrecking power of ten!"
"I'll agree with you there," said Padan. "Now, why don't you come under this tent and keep cool, Brother?"
"What an excellent idea! Thank you, you two," said Freedom, before moving into the shade.
Father Harrow was sitting in his usual spot beneath the round stained-glass-window depicting a ship. One day, a tapestry of three animals would hang there, the squirrel Triss, the otter Shogg, and the hedgehog Welfo. Shogg had given his life to ensure freedom for all at Riftguard. To the Riftguarders, these three were like Martin of Redwall.
A Troupe of Dibbuns came out of the kitchen, which was next to the door to the dormitories. They all had mucky paws and faces, and were followed by the molecook, Friar Lusso. He was waving a wooden spoon at them threateningly, but they were taking no notice. Then, the main door to the Great Hall opened, and Mother Gamma entered with Tagger.
Instantly, all the Dibbuns fell silent, and looked at their feet. Mother Gamma looked at them intently, and put Tagger down. He went over to the other Dibbuns and grinned at them, but the rabbitbabe Rayta stuck out his tongue back.
"What has happened?" roared the badger mother loudly. Even Harrow flinched as she spoke. "Friar Lusso, what have they done?",br>
"What 'ave they done? Boo hurr, Oi'll show'ee wot they'm Dibbuns 'ave done. They'm wreckin' vurmin, lookit moy kitchn, boo hurr!" said Lusso, angrily. Mother Gamma went over and looked inside. When she turned around, there was a look of shocked horror on her face.
"Dormitories, now," she stated. The bedraggled and dreadful Dibbuns slunk off wretchedly, giving the kitchen hungry looks as they passed it.
Up in the rafters came the sound of birdsong from the two Sparra up there. It was interspersed with tiny 'tweats' and 'cheeps', and sounded completely out of place after Mother Gamma's outburst. Down from the ceiling flew Phineas, the male Sparra.
"Me King of alla Sparra! Me say, new Sparra born this day. One, two, three, four, five! Me say, you know," and with those strange words, the Sparra flew off. Abbot Harrow looked very confused, but Gamma smiled.
"He means that five new Sparra babies have been born today. I wonder what they've named them?"
"That what I say, new Sparra born this day! Me say, you name Sparra, Harrowmouse, Lussomole, Gammastripedog!" said Phineas, his voice carrying down all the way from the rafters.
"He means that we can name them," interpreted Gamma. "Perhaps we should go and find Brother Freedom, and tell him."
"You mean, we should go and find him, Lusso and myself," said Harrow, smiling. "You have those Dibbuns to sort out, remember?"
"Chop off they'ms tails," growled Friar Lusso, with a grin. "Or give 'em barths and bed. Bo hurr, that'll teach 'em!"
"That depends on what they have to say for themselves," said Gamma, her eyes twinkling. "Brother Freedom is under the tent in the grouds, Padan and Farlum have kindly set it up for us."
"Woy, how noice of them, Oi think that Oi'll make 'em a cake furr that," said Lusso, and they left the Great Hall for the gardens. Mother Gamma headed for the stairs, and deliberately made as much noise as she could going up them.
Deep into Mossflower wood, a horde of vermin were making their way to the shore, led by Gumbo Radd, a stoat.
"Don't rekken we'll try gettin' that place again," said a fox to his water rat companion.
"Yeah, those Redwallers are really tough!" agreed the rat, whose name was Burrad. "Cor, did'ya see the way they threw them slingstones. Those little mice things are scary!"
"Those riverdogs an' treejumpers ain't much better. I'm glad ter get away from that place," added another rat, who bore a scar across his face from the top of his right eye to the bottom of his left cheek. He could only see out of his left eye.
"Stop yer chattin' back there, scum!" roared the captain from the head of the column. "Keep yer minds on where we're goin', I know of a good place ter attack."
"Where'd that be, cap'n?" asked Burrad. "I never heard of anywhere else that beasts live with magic swords and stuff!"
"Riftgard, matey!" said the fox with a grin. They gotta magic sword just like the one at Redwall, only it's been in the cellars fer ages!"
"how d'ye know, Skumnose?" asked Burrad. "I never heard o' that before. Sumbeast tell ye?"
"Ya," said Skumnose, grinning. He rubbed the brown mark on his nose, shaped like a leaf, as he replied. "T'was some stupid creature, some rabbit. Yah, t'was a rabbit, 'cos they didn't complain 'bout bein' a her. Anyways, they said summat 'bout a magic sword that'd work for anybeast that tried ter use it, long as they had the right 'tentions, 'course."
"We 'ave the right 'tentions, don' we?" asked the second rat. "We wanna get rid of people who hate us, same's they do."
"Yah, yer right as usual, Gubby, but don' let it give ya a big 'ead," said Burrad.
"Halt!" roared Gumbo Radd suddenly. Everyone stopped still. "I told ye ter stop chattin', an' yer di'nt. Fox, ye can come up 'ere with me. Burrad, yew go ter the back wiv Kazzik and Lumbat. Gubby, yew can stay were yew are. No arguin'!"
The line moved on again, in complete silence, until they reached the shore. They could see their boat, and the crewmembers left behind to look after it. They could also see the three slavebeasts, each a young female badger, sitting down on the shore.
"Getup you lazybeasts! Stripedogs!" yelled the largest stoat, who was only the size of the largest of the not yet fully-grown badgers. "Look lively now!" he pulled hard on their chains and they were forced to their feet.
"Yew ready to leave?" asked Gumbo to the stoat.
"Yessir!" he replied, saluting smartly.
"Very well, everyone on board! We sail for Riftguard today!"
"What happened, Captain?" asked the stoat, first mate aboard the large ship.
"We didn't take Redwall, and so we head for Riftguard, where there is another magic sword for our own use. It is very useful to listen to your own crewbeasts sometimes," said Gumbo, laughing wildly. The stoat chukled along with him, and then went off to the galley to get some food. He would be taking it to the Captain's cabin personally, as he was the only beast allowed in there.
A few hours later, the three badgers were working in separate parts of the ship. They were triplets, but a few days after their birth their parents had been brutally murdered by Gumbo's crew. They should never had survived, and would not have done had a stoatwife not taken them under her wing. Once they were a year old, they had been made into slaves, and now they had done so for a whole year, and were used to it.
Tawny, the one with the brownish fur instead of black, was down in the hull of the ship, sorting out supplies for the crew. Clothing went in one pile, food in another. She also had to keep it watertight, and was forced to stay in the hull for the whole trip. When not working, her two sisters would also be down there, under guard from three of the vermin crew. It was Skumnose and two ferrets watching her now, as she carried a crate full of sailcloth to a steadily growing pile.
Nightshade, who had the darkest fur, was in the kitchen. It was her job to prepare the food for the crewbeasts. The savage female fox, Juxta, was watching her through cold, blue eyes. Juxta picked up on everymistake that Nightshade made, and beat her badly for them afterwards. Nightshade had bruises all down her back and arms from this mistreatment.
Pallor had pale grey fur in the places where it was supposed to be black, making her look almost albino in colour. However, her piercing blue eyes gave away the fact that she was not. Pallor was forced to steer the ship under the eyes of Gumbo himself. He had a biting tongue, but always fell silent when she turned her eyes on him. Pallor, unlike her sisters, had never learnt to speak. She communicated soley through the emotions flashing in front of her eyes. No one could stand up to here glare.
The three badgers, however, did not even need to see each other to communicate. Being triplets, they could talk by just thinking to each other, and keep each other from feeling lonely. Pallor was the best at this, and Nightshade the worst.
'Tawn, I think I'll kill Juxta if she hits me one more time!' thought Nightshade to Tawny. Although she was not good at telepathy, she could still get her meaning across. Emotions were the easiest things to transmit.
'I wouldn't advise it,' replied Tawny. 'You'd just get hurt even worse if you did that.'
'I know it's just that it hurts so much, and... thought Nightshade, her depression coming through sharply as she tailed off.
'Night, are you alright?' butted in Pallor urgently, and the ship jerked as she thought this.
'Fine, keep an eye on what you're doing, Pal,' urged Nightshade. 'I don't want you to suffer on my account. I just burnt myself on the pan, that's all. Wasn't concentrating.'
The ship settled again, as Pallor thought back, 'You just be careful, okay? Your back's only just healed, and it would be dreadful to have it worse again.'
'I will,' replied Nightshade. She continued to spoon the disgusting-looking slop into the bowls from the large pan, three for each crewbeast. There were one-hundred crewbeasts, so that made a lot of the 'searat stew'. Most of the creatures were searats, but there were two foxes, four stoats and several ferrets too.
Soon, she had finished her work, and the crewbeasts arrived to take their food. Many of them leered at the poor, terrified young badger, but didn't dare to do anything to her under the gaze of Juxta.
Skipper of otters was Freedom's adopted brother, and son of Kroova and Sleeve. He could often be seen at the shore with the other otters messing about in the water. There were several good things about being close to the shore, and one was that the abbey was never in need of fighters if it came to that situation.
At the moment, he was watching the three beasts who were creating the tapestry of Shogg, Triss and Welfo. In respect to these three beasts, one of the tapestry-makers was an otter, one a squirrel, and one a hedgehog. The otter making the tapestry was Skip's daughter, Ransay.
"Hello, dad!" said Ransey, cheerfully, as she bent over the large work. "How's it going?"
"How's what going?" asked Skipper, innocently.
"Choosing a new skipper," said Ramsey with a sigh. "Ye said it yerself, 'I'm gettin' too old fer this skipperin' lark. I really ought'er choose somebeast ter take over,' didn't ye, you old wavedog?"
"Aye, I did," said Skipper, thinking. "But I'm not so sure now..."
"Come on, there are lots'a otters much younger an' fitter than ye, an' ye know you jus' wanna go an' sit in the kitchens all day anyway..." said Ramsey, raising her eyebrows at her father.
"Yes, I do," said Skipper, decidedly. "I'll announce who it is at the feast, add to the celebrations!"
The sun shone down outside the gatehouse where the tapestry-building was taking place. Skipper left the room, and went over to see his brother and friends under the tent.
"Mind if I join you?" he said, rubbing his back as he sat down.
"You're getting old, Skip!" Freedom admonished his brother. "You really should give up your position to some youngbeast, Garchee perhaps."
"I've been meaning to talk to you about that, actually," said Skipper. "I was thinking that I could announce it at the Autumn feast. But it won't be Garchee, I was thinking... Fidesa."
"Ur femaler skippur?" asked Friar Lusso. "Thart shudd be inturestin', an' she'ms a good h'otter, she'm liken 'er food 'ot!"
"Aye, she do, an' that's a good quality in a otter skipper, ye gotta be able ter eat yer food 'otter than anybeast else," said Skipper.
"I have an idea!" said Harrow, grinning at the other three. "A competition for the otters, whoever can eat the hottest soup wins a prize, but we don't tell them what it is until the end!"
"Aye, that's a good idea," said Skipper. "Shall we do it?" He raised his paw and placed it in front of him. The other three placed theirs on top of his, and they paused for a moment.
"Let's do it!"
The Abbey of Riftguard
Prologue
An extract from the writings of Freedom, recorder of Riftguard Abbey, in the first year of its founding.
The building of the abbey on this island of Riftguard has finally been completed. When this island was first inhabited by the ex-slaves, there was a castle on here. Now, it had been destroyed, and an abbey for anybeast on the waters is in its place.My father, well actually he was not my father, for he was an otter and I am a mouse, he said that this abbey is based on the one in Mossflower. It was created long ago, by a mouse called Martin. Martin saved the people in Mossflower from attack, and he had a wonderful sword. That is all that my father could tell me.
The first 'Father Abbot' of Riftguard Abbey is a young mouse called Harrow. He was one of the first to be born on this island, apart from me. I was the first, found in a cellar just after the rescue, and that is why they called me 'Freedom'
There are many different creatures in our Abbey, most were born here on the island, either into slavery or during the building. Kroova, my father, said that our young ones, Dibbuns, are very well behaved. We have otters, squirrels, mice, hares, moles, rabbits, hedgehogs, and two sparrows.
It was the moles who built the foundations for our white-brick abbey, and the rest of us also helped to place the bricks. I was only two years old when the building started, and I think that I must have got in the way more than helped!
There is one creature who I have not mentioned yet, and that is Mother Gamma, our resident badger. Her main job is to keep the Dibbuns in check, and to make sure that our hares don't eat too much. She is larger than any other creature here, and we all respect her. In her turn, she respects us.
The first day of autumn is approaching, and the sky is blue. It still feels like summer! I can see Farlum and Padan our squirrel twins setting up a tent on the lawn for us to shelter under in this hot weather. It looks very cool and comfortable. I think I shall put away my quill and paper, and see what they are up to. Take a look around, and see what there is!
Freedom
Chapter One
"Catch this, Farlum!" yelled Padan the squirrelmaid to her twin sister. Farlum, who was holding a tent pole steady, reached out to catch the rope flying towards her. Pulling it in she untied the rope end from the canvas and hung the material over to make one corner of the tent.
"Thanks!" she yelled, before jumping down to the ground. "Hello Brother Freedom," she said, bobbing her head politely at the aged mouse.
"Good morning you two. I say, you have done a grand job on this tent," he replied.
"Thank you Brother. Oh, I say, watch out! Here comes that pesky Dibbun, Tagger," said Padan, looking out across the lawn. Farlum and Freedom groaned simultaneously, and then burst out laughing. The squirrelmaids jumped to the floor and caught the young hare before he could wreck the tent.
"Lemme go, wot!" said Tagger, attempting to bite Padan's tail. "Muvva Gam's afta me, old chap, wot wot, old boy!"
"I am not a boy," replied the young squirrel. "And no I will not let you go. Mother Gamma probably has a good reason for going after you. What have you done now?"
"Nuffin, wot! I've done nuffin! Honest chaps!" said the Dibbun, still struggling.
The door to the Abbey opened, and the middle-aged badger came out. She looked about her with her brown eyes, and soon spotted the group. Tagger squeaked nervously when he saw her.
"Is that... yes it is! Why have you got cream on your whiskers?" demanded Freedom, squinting at Tagger.
"Wasn't me, honest it wasn't! Was da ovvas, they got me wiv da cream wen we was in da kitchen!" pleaded the harebabe.
"I'll believe that when I see it," growled Mother Gamma, taking the struggling Dibbun from Padan. "Now, shall we say... baths?"
"No!" cried Tagger. "Nodda baffs! I do anyfing! Honest I be good, wot!"
The pair went back to the castle, Tagger still pleading and Gamma still resolute.
"That Dibbun," sighed Freedom. "He has the wrecking power of ten!"
"I'll agree with you there," said Padan. "Now, why don't you come under this tent and keep cool, Brother?"
"What an excellent idea! Thank you, you two," said Freedom, before moving into the shade.
Father Harrow was sitting in his usual spot beneath the round stained-glass-window depicting a ship. One day, a tapestry of three animals would hang there, the squirrel Triss, the otter Shogg, and the hedgehog Welfo. Shogg had given his life to ensure freedom for all at Riftguard. To the Riftguarders, these three were like Martin of Redwall.
A Troupe of Dibbuns came out of the kitchen, which was next to the door to the dormitories. They all had mucky paws and faces, and were followed by the molecook, Friar Lusso. He was waving a wooden spoon at them threateningly, but they were taking no notice. Then, the main door to the Great Hall opened, and Mother Gamma entered with Tagger.
Instantly, all the Dibbuns fell silent, and looked at their feet. Mother Gamma looked at them intently, and put Tagger down. He went over to the other Dibbuns and grinned at them, but the rabbitbabe Rayta stuck out his tongue back.
"What has happened?" roared the badger mother loudly. Even Harrow flinched as she spoke. "Friar Lusso, what have they done?",br>
"What 'ave they done? Boo hurr, Oi'll show'ee wot they'm Dibbuns 'ave done. They'm wreckin' vurmin, lookit moy kitchn, boo hurr!" said Lusso, angrily. Mother Gamma went over and looked inside. When she turned around, there was a look of shocked horror on her face.
"Dormitories, now," she stated. The bedraggled and dreadful Dibbuns slunk off wretchedly, giving the kitchen hungry looks as they passed it.
Up in the rafters came the sound of birdsong from the two Sparra up there. It was interspersed with tiny 'tweats' and 'cheeps', and sounded completely out of place after Mother Gamma's outburst. Down from the ceiling flew Phineas, the male Sparra.
"Me King of alla Sparra! Me say, new Sparra born this day. One, two, three, four, five! Me say, you know," and with those strange words, the Sparra flew off. Abbot Harrow looked very confused, but Gamma smiled.
"He means that five new Sparra babies have been born today. I wonder what they've named them?"
"That what I say, new Sparra born this day! Me say, you name Sparra, Harrowmouse, Lussomole, Gammastripedog!" said Phineas, his voice carrying down all the way from the rafters.
"He means that we can name them," interpreted Gamma. "Perhaps we should go and find Brother Freedom, and tell him."
"You mean, we should go and find him, Lusso and myself," said Harrow, smiling. "You have those Dibbuns to sort out, remember?"
"Chop off they'ms tails," growled Friar Lusso, with a grin. "Or give 'em barths and bed. Bo hurr, that'll teach 'em!"
"That depends on what they have to say for themselves," said Gamma, her eyes twinkling. "Brother Freedom is under the tent in the grouds, Padan and Farlum have kindly set it up for us."
"Woy, how noice of them, Oi think that Oi'll make 'em a cake furr that," said Lusso, and they left the Great Hall for the gardens. Mother Gamma headed for the stairs, and deliberately made as much noise as she could going up them.
Deep into Mossflower wood, a horde of vermin were making their way to the shore, led by Gumbo Radd, a stoat.
"Don't rekken we'll try gettin' that place again," said a fox to his water rat companion.
"Yeah, those Redwallers are really tough!" agreed the rat, whose name was Burrad. "Cor, did'ya see the way they threw them slingstones. Those little mice things are scary!"
"Those riverdogs an' treejumpers ain't much better. I'm glad ter get away from that place," added another rat, who bore a scar across his face from the top of his right eye to the bottom of his left cheek. He could only see out of his left eye.
"Stop yer chattin' back there, scum!" roared the captain from the head of the column. "Keep yer minds on where we're goin', I know of a good place ter attack."
"Where'd that be, cap'n?" asked Burrad. "I never heard of anywhere else that beasts live with magic swords and stuff!"
"Riftgard, matey!" said the fox with a grin. They gotta magic sword just like the one at Redwall, only it's been in the cellars fer ages!"
"how d'ye know, Skumnose?" asked Burrad. "I never heard o' that before. Sumbeast tell ye?"
"Ya," said Skumnose, grinning. He rubbed the brown mark on his nose, shaped like a leaf, as he replied. "T'was some stupid creature, some rabbit. Yah, t'was a rabbit, 'cos they didn't complain 'bout bein' a her. Anyways, they said summat 'bout a magic sword that'd work for anybeast that tried ter use it, long as they had the right 'tentions, 'course."
"We 'ave the right 'tentions, don' we?" asked the second rat. "We wanna get rid of people who hate us, same's they do."
"Yah, yer right as usual, Gubby, but don' let it give ya a big 'ead," said Burrad.
"Halt!" roared Gumbo Radd suddenly. Everyone stopped still. "I told ye ter stop chattin', an' yer di'nt. Fox, ye can come up 'ere with me. Burrad, yew go ter the back wiv Kazzik and Lumbat. Gubby, yew can stay were yew are. No arguin'!"
The line moved on again, in complete silence, until they reached the shore. They could see their boat, and the crewmembers left behind to look after it. They could also see the three slavebeasts, each a young female badger, sitting down on the shore.
"Getup you lazybeasts! Stripedogs!" yelled the largest stoat, who was only the size of the largest of the not yet fully-grown badgers. "Look lively now!" he pulled hard on their chains and they were forced to their feet.
"Yew ready to leave?" asked Gumbo to the stoat.
"Yessir!" he replied, saluting smartly.
"Very well, everyone on board! We sail for Riftguard today!"
"What happened, Captain?" asked the stoat, first mate aboard the large ship.
"We didn't take Redwall, and so we head for Riftguard, where there is another magic sword for our own use. It is very useful to listen to your own crewbeasts sometimes," said Gumbo, laughing wildly. The stoat chukled along with him, and then went off to the galley to get some food. He would be taking it to the Captain's cabin personally, as he was the only beast allowed in there.
A few hours later, the three badgers were working in separate parts of the ship. They were triplets, but a few days after their birth their parents had been brutally murdered by Gumbo's crew. They should never had survived, and would not have done had a stoatwife not taken them under her wing. Once they were a year old, they had been made into slaves, and now they had done so for a whole year, and were used to it.
Tawny, the one with the brownish fur instead of black, was down in the hull of the ship, sorting out supplies for the crew. Clothing went in one pile, food in another. She also had to keep it watertight, and was forced to stay in the hull for the whole trip. When not working, her two sisters would also be down there, under guard from three of the vermin crew. It was Skumnose and two ferrets watching her now, as she carried a crate full of sailcloth to a steadily growing pile.
Nightshade, who had the darkest fur, was in the kitchen. It was her job to prepare the food for the crewbeasts. The savage female fox, Juxta, was watching her through cold, blue eyes. Juxta picked up on everymistake that Nightshade made, and beat her badly for them afterwards. Nightshade had bruises all down her back and arms from this mistreatment.
Pallor had pale grey fur in the places where it was supposed to be black, making her look almost albino in colour. However, her piercing blue eyes gave away the fact that she was not. Pallor was forced to steer the ship under the eyes of Gumbo himself. He had a biting tongue, but always fell silent when she turned her eyes on him. Pallor, unlike her sisters, had never learnt to speak. She communicated soley through the emotions flashing in front of her eyes. No one could stand up to here glare.
The three badgers, however, did not even need to see each other to communicate. Being triplets, they could talk by just thinking to each other, and keep each other from feeling lonely. Pallor was the best at this, and Nightshade the worst.
'Tawn, I think I'll kill Juxta if she hits me one more time!' thought Nightshade to Tawny. Although she was not good at telepathy, she could still get her meaning across. Emotions were the easiest things to transmit.
'I wouldn't advise it,' replied Tawny. 'You'd just get hurt even worse if you did that.'
'I know it's just that it hurts so much, and... thought Nightshade, her depression coming through sharply as she tailed off.
'Night, are you alright?' butted in Pallor urgently, and the ship jerked as she thought this.
'Fine, keep an eye on what you're doing, Pal,' urged Nightshade. 'I don't want you to suffer on my account. I just burnt myself on the pan, that's all. Wasn't concentrating.'
The ship settled again, as Pallor thought back, 'You just be careful, okay? Your back's only just healed, and it would be dreadful to have it worse again.'
'I will,' replied Nightshade. She continued to spoon the disgusting-looking slop into the bowls from the large pan, three for each crewbeast. There were one-hundred crewbeasts, so that made a lot of the 'searat stew'. Most of the creatures were searats, but there were two foxes, four stoats and several ferrets too.
Soon, she had finished her work, and the crewbeasts arrived to take their food. Many of them leered at the poor, terrified young badger, but didn't dare to do anything to her under the gaze of Juxta.
Skipper of otters was Freedom's adopted brother, and son of Kroova and Sleeve. He could often be seen at the shore with the other otters messing about in the water. There were several good things about being close to the shore, and one was that the abbey was never in need of fighters if it came to that situation.
At the moment, he was watching the three beasts who were creating the tapestry of Shogg, Triss and Welfo. In respect to these three beasts, one of the tapestry-makers was an otter, one a squirrel, and one a hedgehog. The otter making the tapestry was Skip's daughter, Ransay.
"Hello, dad!" said Ransey, cheerfully, as she bent over the large work. "How's it going?"
"How's what going?" asked Skipper, innocently.
"Choosing a new skipper," said Ramsey with a sigh. "Ye said it yerself, 'I'm gettin' too old fer this skipperin' lark. I really ought'er choose somebeast ter take over,' didn't ye, you old wavedog?"
"Aye, I did," said Skipper, thinking. "But I'm not so sure now..."
"Come on, there are lots'a otters much younger an' fitter than ye, an' ye know you jus' wanna go an' sit in the kitchens all day anyway..." said Ramsey, raising her eyebrows at her father.
"Yes, I do," said Skipper, decidedly. "I'll announce who it is at the feast, add to the celebrations!"
The sun shone down outside the gatehouse where the tapestry-building was taking place. Skipper left the room, and went over to see his brother and friends under the tent.
"Mind if I join you?" he said, rubbing his back as he sat down.
"You're getting old, Skip!" Freedom admonished his brother. "You really should give up your position to some youngbeast, Garchee perhaps."
"I've been meaning to talk to you about that, actually," said Skipper. "I was thinking that I could announce it at the Autumn feast. But it won't be Garchee, I was thinking... Fidesa."
"Ur femaler skippur?" asked Friar Lusso. "Thart shudd be inturestin', an' she'ms a good h'otter, she'm liken 'er food 'ot!"
"Aye, she do, an' that's a good quality in a otter skipper, ye gotta be able ter eat yer food 'otter than anybeast else," said Skipper.
"I have an idea!" said Harrow, grinning at the other three. "A competition for the otters, whoever can eat the hottest soup wins a prize, but we don't tell them what it is until the end!"
"Aye, that's a good idea," said Skipper. "Shall we do it?" He raised his paw and placed it in front of him. The other three placed theirs on top of his, and they paused for a moment.
"Let's do it!"