CHAPTER FOUR, ODELL KIGGUM
Badgermum Nuria Firemouth sat with the ottermaid.
"Listen, ottermaid, we can't get any farther without you telling us your name," Nuria explained gently as Songtamer sat by the Abbey Pond. "Will you just tell us your name?" pleaded Nuria.
"Badgermum, Badgermum!" called the voice of a mousebabe. "Mum Nur'a, when are you gonna play wiv us?" asked the mousebabe, Furrlun.
"Not NOW, Furrlun. I'm questioning the ottermaid." Nuria turned to continue talking to Songtamer, but the ottermaid had already slipping into the Pond.
"Fine. Be that way," Nuria called stiffly to Songtamer. Nuria scooped up Furrlun. "Come on, Furr, let's go inside."
Song watched Nuria retreating. She laughed at something Furrlun had said. Songtamer pined for the days when she was living in her village.
'If Hyas was alive, we could have been living together,' she thought sadly.
"Is your name really Ottermaid?" asked a young voice. Songtamer looked to see an otterbabe looking at her curiously. Song smiled for the first time since before her father had been betrayed and murdered. She scooped the otterbabe out of the water and swam to the side of the Pond.
"'Course not. Hah, Ottermaid? Is that what everyone's sayin' 'bout me?" tittered Songtamer.
"You speak," the otterbabe pointed out.
"Yeah, I noticed that."
"Wot's yer real name?" asked the Dibbun.
"Why, it's Songtamer Swordslash." Song looked surprised that she had told the otterbabe her name when she hadn't even told Abbes Leafswirl. "Wot's yers?" she asked.
"Mine bees Odell Kiggum. You kin call me's Odell," added on the otterbabe.
"You can call me Song or Songtamer. But don't tell anyone that's my name, okay, little matey? Just call me 'Ottermaid' 'round the others."
Odell smiled at Songtamer. "You wanna be chums?"
"Do I!" Song exclaimed enthusiastically. "How old are you?"
"I've been out of my Dibbun seasons for twee seasons, but I still play wiv my Dibbun mates," explained Odell.
"Why do you talk like that then? Like an otterbabe?" asked Songtamer.
"'S easier, don' you t'ink? 'S so much easier th'n 'avin' t'say all o' de words and letterers all de times. And sometimes it sounds funny. I could speak like 'n adult otter, but I don' wanna," Odell proclaimed.
"Can I hear you talk like an adult otter?" asked Songtamer.
"Oh...okay." Odell cleared his throat. "Here, I am talking like an adult otter. Is there anything else to say? Nope, nothing. Okay, can – MAY – I go back to speaking like a Dibbun?"
Song grinned. "'Couse ye may, matey. You know, you don't always have to have proper grammar and stuff like that. Look, I don't!"
"But no 'un e'er 'ears you speaks," whined Odell. "They don' care."
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"We have to do something about Ottermaid," Nuria told Great Hall firmly over supper.
"Oi agree wi' ye, Badgermum Nur'a, but wot kin we do?" sighed Abbess Leafswirl.
"I don't know," Nuria admitted. "The only idea is to trap her somewhere with no food or water till she talks, but that's just – "
"Cruel-'earted!" yelled Odell, standing up on his chair.
"Thankee, Odell, but I was about to tell everyone that," Nuria replied stiffly.
"We must do something about this," Log-a-Log called out. (The shrews were staying at Redwall for a while.) "It's not everyday that some Nameless Ottermaid shows up on the doorsteps of Redwall Abbey, is it?"
"She dinnit just 'show up'," protested Odell. "She came wiv her mummy, 'oo died! You guys wouldent talk if yer mum died when you just traveled who knows 'ow far, and then yer ma died!"
There was a silence. How did the young otterchild, who all still thought of as a Dibbun, know so much?
"I mean to say," Odell continued into the embarrassing silence, "why would she talk? Vermin call this place back luck, 's common knowledge that they do. So why wouldn't she think that this place is back luck, too? Accursed, as they say!"
"Odell, THAT IS ENOUGH!" shouted Nuria. Odell sat back in his chair.
Even though he was a young one, the words he had spoken stung the Redwallers.
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"Hey there, little harey."
Mateo felt a knife at his throat, the back of his neck, and on the sides of his neck. If he even move one inch, they would kill him.
"Who are you, you bally vermin! C'mon, don't keep me like this like a coward – oh, whoops, you ARE cowards!" The Dearhares, when in a situation like this, where known for being able to shoot out insults to make their enemy angry, and then unable to concentrate.
"Yer insults won't 'urt us," sneered the vermin. "C'mon, Lord Deyinvo is waiting. So is Sir Kabble!"
Mateo was dragged along. He lost consciousness somewhere over the journey. When he awoke, it was dusk.
"Let me go, you bally rotters, wot!" demanded Mateo. "My Badger Lady – despite, her, uh, past – will come 'n' kill you all! How d'ye feel about that, you verminy type chaps, wot wot? Hahahahaha – oof, ow!"
A ferret, a weasel, a stoat, and a rat were mercilessly beating Mateo Dearhare with the flat of their weapons.
"Verminy types, I don't think! We are...wait, Grudain, wot does the Warlord always tell us?" the rat asked the ferret.
"Harrairdus, will you EVER remember? Anyways, we're not 'verminy types'. As Warlord says, we're 'mindless idiots with a brilliant and great leader'."
"Yes, you're 'warlord' got the mindless idiot part right. But the brilliant and great leader part? I think NOT – ugh, ow!" cried Mateo. Grudain the ferret cackled.
"Thissun has a good sense of humor. Pity we gotta kill it. Ye know, it looks like the other bunny we captured."
"'Scuse me, verminy types – uh, mindless idiots, I mean – oh never mind – but we're hares, not rabbits or bunnies, we're h – wot d'you mean, other hare you caught?" asked Mateo.
"We got another bunny like yew," explained the stoat, grinning maliciously. "Ain't that right, Sadru?"
"Yeah," confirmed the weasel. "Another bunny. Woinada's right."
"Woinada! Sadru! Grudain! Harrairdus! Are you torturing this hare or telling it about the daily life of you thickheads?" boomed a voice.
"Ah, finally! Thankee, chappy, for realizing that I am not a bunny, but a hare, wot wot! Now, who is the other hare you captured?" asked Mateo innocently.
"Silence!" yelled the voice. From behind a tree came a gray ermine. This ermine had flecks of white on its face and the tip of its tail was black. The sleek, stoat-like creature came up to Mateo.
"I am Deyinvo. You never ask questions of me or you will die," Deyinvo hissed, holding a razor-sharp claw underneath Mateo's chin.
"Well, I say, vermin thingy, you better bally well watch out where you put those claws, wot!" Mateo gulped.
Deyinvo gave a scream of fury. Mateo had obviously said the wrong thing. The enraged ermine slashed with his claws at Mateo's face. The hare turned his face to defend his eyes and got slashed on the cheek by the claws.
"Never call me a vermin again, you...you...you...you beast!" snarled Deyinvo. Shaking with rage, the ermine slunk off to the shadowy trees.
"I thought you told me that these hares would be easy."
"Lord, I meant only AFTER I hypnotized them..."
"Kabble Ionaeyes, do not take me for some thickhead! I am Deyinvo Ejunn, the mightiest ermine warlord ever!"
"Sir, many have tried to capture this place. Remember Ferahgo the Assassin? Swartt Sixclaws? Gormad Tunn? Gormad's son, Damug Warfang? Ungatt Trun? These are only four out of the many leader who have tried to capture Salamandastron and – "
"Who was Ferahgo the Assassin? Some mangy weasel. Who was Swartt Sixclaws? Some stupid ferret! Gormad Tunn? Some rat! His son was a rat, too. And Ungatt Trun? Like this mountain can be brought down by a kitty! Look at me, Kabble. I am an ermine. I will conquer where no ermine has conquered before. Do you understand me? I SAID LOOK AT ME, KABBLE! Do you understand me?"
"Y-yes, Milord."
"Good. Now, get out of my sight before I lose my temper!"
Quidjill Dearhare, who had been captured, gave a small sob of despair when she heard Kabble tossed to the ground and scurry away.
Badgermum Nuria Firemouth sat with the ottermaid.
"Listen, ottermaid, we can't get any farther without you telling us your name," Nuria explained gently as Songtamer sat by the Abbey Pond. "Will you just tell us your name?" pleaded Nuria.
"Badgermum, Badgermum!" called the voice of a mousebabe. "Mum Nur'a, when are you gonna play wiv us?" asked the mousebabe, Furrlun.
"Not NOW, Furrlun. I'm questioning the ottermaid." Nuria turned to continue talking to Songtamer, but the ottermaid had already slipping into the Pond.
"Fine. Be that way," Nuria called stiffly to Songtamer. Nuria scooped up Furrlun. "Come on, Furr, let's go inside."
Song watched Nuria retreating. She laughed at something Furrlun had said. Songtamer pined for the days when she was living in her village.
'If Hyas was alive, we could have been living together,' she thought sadly.
"Is your name really Ottermaid?" asked a young voice. Songtamer looked to see an otterbabe looking at her curiously. Song smiled for the first time since before her father had been betrayed and murdered. She scooped the otterbabe out of the water and swam to the side of the Pond.
"'Course not. Hah, Ottermaid? Is that what everyone's sayin' 'bout me?" tittered Songtamer.
"You speak," the otterbabe pointed out.
"Yeah, I noticed that."
"Wot's yer real name?" asked the Dibbun.
"Why, it's Songtamer Swordslash." Song looked surprised that she had told the otterbabe her name when she hadn't even told Abbes Leafswirl. "Wot's yers?" she asked.
"Mine bees Odell Kiggum. You kin call me's Odell," added on the otterbabe.
"You can call me Song or Songtamer. But don't tell anyone that's my name, okay, little matey? Just call me 'Ottermaid' 'round the others."
Odell smiled at Songtamer. "You wanna be chums?"
"Do I!" Song exclaimed enthusiastically. "How old are you?"
"I've been out of my Dibbun seasons for twee seasons, but I still play wiv my Dibbun mates," explained Odell.
"Why do you talk like that then? Like an otterbabe?" asked Songtamer.
"'S easier, don' you t'ink? 'S so much easier th'n 'avin' t'say all o' de words and letterers all de times. And sometimes it sounds funny. I could speak like 'n adult otter, but I don' wanna," Odell proclaimed.
"Can I hear you talk like an adult otter?" asked Songtamer.
"Oh...okay." Odell cleared his throat. "Here, I am talking like an adult otter. Is there anything else to say? Nope, nothing. Okay, can – MAY – I go back to speaking like a Dibbun?"
Song grinned. "'Couse ye may, matey. You know, you don't always have to have proper grammar and stuff like that. Look, I don't!"
"But no 'un e'er 'ears you speaks," whined Odell. "They don' care."
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"We have to do something about Ottermaid," Nuria told Great Hall firmly over supper.
"Oi agree wi' ye, Badgermum Nur'a, but wot kin we do?" sighed Abbess Leafswirl.
"I don't know," Nuria admitted. "The only idea is to trap her somewhere with no food or water till she talks, but that's just – "
"Cruel-'earted!" yelled Odell, standing up on his chair.
"Thankee, Odell, but I was about to tell everyone that," Nuria replied stiffly.
"We must do something about this," Log-a-Log called out. (The shrews were staying at Redwall for a while.) "It's not everyday that some Nameless Ottermaid shows up on the doorsteps of Redwall Abbey, is it?"
"She dinnit just 'show up'," protested Odell. "She came wiv her mummy, 'oo died! You guys wouldent talk if yer mum died when you just traveled who knows 'ow far, and then yer ma died!"
There was a silence. How did the young otterchild, who all still thought of as a Dibbun, know so much?
"I mean to say," Odell continued into the embarrassing silence, "why would she talk? Vermin call this place back luck, 's common knowledge that they do. So why wouldn't she think that this place is back luck, too? Accursed, as they say!"
"Odell, THAT IS ENOUGH!" shouted Nuria. Odell sat back in his chair.
Even though he was a young one, the words he had spoken stung the Redwallers.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
"Hey there, little harey."
Mateo felt a knife at his throat, the back of his neck, and on the sides of his neck. If he even move one inch, they would kill him.
"Who are you, you bally vermin! C'mon, don't keep me like this like a coward – oh, whoops, you ARE cowards!" The Dearhares, when in a situation like this, where known for being able to shoot out insults to make their enemy angry, and then unable to concentrate.
"Yer insults won't 'urt us," sneered the vermin. "C'mon, Lord Deyinvo is waiting. So is Sir Kabble!"
Mateo was dragged along. He lost consciousness somewhere over the journey. When he awoke, it was dusk.
"Let me go, you bally rotters, wot!" demanded Mateo. "My Badger Lady – despite, her, uh, past – will come 'n' kill you all! How d'ye feel about that, you verminy type chaps, wot wot? Hahahahaha – oof, ow!"
A ferret, a weasel, a stoat, and a rat were mercilessly beating Mateo Dearhare with the flat of their weapons.
"Verminy types, I don't think! We are...wait, Grudain, wot does the Warlord always tell us?" the rat asked the ferret.
"Harrairdus, will you EVER remember? Anyways, we're not 'verminy types'. As Warlord says, we're 'mindless idiots with a brilliant and great leader'."
"Yes, you're 'warlord' got the mindless idiot part right. But the brilliant and great leader part? I think NOT – ugh, ow!" cried Mateo. Grudain the ferret cackled.
"Thissun has a good sense of humor. Pity we gotta kill it. Ye know, it looks like the other bunny we captured."
"'Scuse me, verminy types – uh, mindless idiots, I mean – oh never mind – but we're hares, not rabbits or bunnies, we're h – wot d'you mean, other hare you caught?" asked Mateo.
"We got another bunny like yew," explained the stoat, grinning maliciously. "Ain't that right, Sadru?"
"Yeah," confirmed the weasel. "Another bunny. Woinada's right."
"Woinada! Sadru! Grudain! Harrairdus! Are you torturing this hare or telling it about the daily life of you thickheads?" boomed a voice.
"Ah, finally! Thankee, chappy, for realizing that I am not a bunny, but a hare, wot wot! Now, who is the other hare you captured?" asked Mateo innocently.
"Silence!" yelled the voice. From behind a tree came a gray ermine. This ermine had flecks of white on its face and the tip of its tail was black. The sleek, stoat-like creature came up to Mateo.
"I am Deyinvo. You never ask questions of me or you will die," Deyinvo hissed, holding a razor-sharp claw underneath Mateo's chin.
"Well, I say, vermin thingy, you better bally well watch out where you put those claws, wot!" Mateo gulped.
Deyinvo gave a scream of fury. Mateo had obviously said the wrong thing. The enraged ermine slashed with his claws at Mateo's face. The hare turned his face to defend his eyes and got slashed on the cheek by the claws.
"Never call me a vermin again, you...you...you...you beast!" snarled Deyinvo. Shaking with rage, the ermine slunk off to the shadowy trees.
"I thought you told me that these hares would be easy."
"Lord, I meant only AFTER I hypnotized them..."
"Kabble Ionaeyes, do not take me for some thickhead! I am Deyinvo Ejunn, the mightiest ermine warlord ever!"
"Sir, many have tried to capture this place. Remember Ferahgo the Assassin? Swartt Sixclaws? Gormad Tunn? Gormad's son, Damug Warfang? Ungatt Trun? These are only four out of the many leader who have tried to capture Salamandastron and – "
"Who was Ferahgo the Assassin? Some mangy weasel. Who was Swartt Sixclaws? Some stupid ferret! Gormad Tunn? Some rat! His son was a rat, too. And Ungatt Trun? Like this mountain can be brought down by a kitty! Look at me, Kabble. I am an ermine. I will conquer where no ermine has conquered before. Do you understand me? I SAID LOOK AT ME, KABBLE! Do you understand me?"
"Y-yes, Milord."
"Good. Now, get out of my sight before I lose my temper!"
Quidjill Dearhare, who had been captured, gave a small sob of despair when she heard Kabble tossed to the ground and scurry away.