"Stop that at once Mibble!" scolded mother Severnal. "If you do not stop that at once it's to bath and bed without supper for you!"
Severnal, the Abbess at Redwall Abbey had been sitting comfortably in her big, overstuffed easy chair in Cavern Hole and reading one of her favorite books "The Mole and the Muskrat" when she had been rudely interrupted by the childish antics of Mibble the molebabe. Mibble seemed to be the only dibbun she could not control. She had her way with all the others, but Mibble was a real trouble maker. Currently, he was running circles round the chair, staining the carpet with his mud-soaked feet as he did so. Severnal did not enjoy getting mad, but she knew there were times it was necessary.
"Stop that right now or I'll tell Rictess what you did!"
That did it. Mibble stopped his frolicking immediately and stared open-mouthed. Rictess was a forbidden word among the abbey-babes. Legend had it that in ancient times, a mouse named Rictess used to live in the abbey, but she was cast out because she was such an unruly dibbun. It was said she died in the cold and rain outside the abbey and from then on dedicated herself to the torture of dibbuns who broke the abbey rules. Severnal knew there was no truth in this story. It had been told many seasons ago by a wayfaring Strenkan rat who claimed to have thrown off his evil ways. However, it was a scary story and could stop any dibbun in his or her tracks.
Before Severnal could open her mouth to give any further orders to Mibble, the Skipper of Otters emerged panting from the doorway.
"We've found Twurl, mother, out by the east wallgate. She appears unharmed, carryin' some sort o' package."
"That's wonderful news, Skipper," the mother abbess replied, relieved. "Set up brunch in the gatehouse for say, fifteen. Invite whoever you see fit."
"Ah'll get right on that, ma'am," the big, brawny Skipper of Otters replied, casually shouldering Mibble and nonchalantly strolling off to his duties.
The abbess was left by herself. She couldn't help it, but she was still worried about Twurl. She had been noticing her acting up lately; she wasn't the gay little artist she had been when she was little. Worried, Severnal quickly finished her chapter, marked her spot in the book and hurried to the gatehouse for what she anticipated to be a delicious meal.
All the prominent abbey beasts were packed into the gatehouse. There was Skipper of Otters and Chelfer the old Recorder squirrel, along with the abbey's ottercook, Kelff. Frederick cellarhog, Minerva the healer, and an assortment of other beasts were present as well, the most prominent of which was Twurl, who had been seated in the place of honor on the big, overstuffed, highbacked armchair that Chelfer used for afternoon naps. Twurl was suffering from a barrage of questions, jibes and offers of more apple crumb flan and rootberry pudding when Severnal appeared at the door.
"Mother Abbess!" Twurl cried out. "I'm so sorry I caused you all this trouble. I just wanted to have a little fun; I hope you weren't worried about me . . . it won't happen again, I swear it."
"Calm down, child," Severnal said soothingly. "Of course I was not that worried. I know you can handle yourself just fine."
"But I can't, mother," Twurl weeped, "Me and Raff and Billybab, we got attacked . . . it was awful . . . killed him . . . Strenk . . . blood . . . Rictess was . . . . . saved me . . ." Her terrified voice trailed off into a whisper. Her fur was matted with tears. Her audience was deathly silence. All questioning had ceased, as they knew Twurl had been through an ordeal they did not even want to imagine.
"It will be okay," Severnal assured her, breaking the silence. "You can come to my study after brunch and we'll talk about the whole thing rationally, okay?"
Twurl looked up and nodded slowly through her tear-stained fur. The rest of the meal was spent in almost complete silence, the only remark being when the abbey's resident harewife, Jaynie Haverstuckle looked up through a face full of woodland pie and remarked, "Mighty good grub, wot wot?" Her remarks were met only with disapproving stares.
