Chapter 7
On the day of the outing, the dibbuns were much more obedient than usual. This seemed strange to Trytle because the dibbuns weren't usually this cooperative when asked to do something. Because Trytle didn't know that it was the ideal opportunity to get some necessary chores done, she only gave them easy jobs. The dibbuns, knowing that she forgot to give them extra chores, wasn't going to abuse the idea one bit. They had finished their morning chores and awaited Trytle's return in front of the gatehouse. After a few tensed minutes of waiting, Trytle showed up carrying the two baskets that she had prepared earlier. Seeing the dibbuns all lined up in front of the gatehouse made her suspicious. Taking a head count, she noted that all the dibbuns were here and apparently ready to go. After having them answer a few questions regarding what to do and what not to do while out in the woodlands, they set off. The dibbuns having only gone on a few other outings with the last badger mum, were already getting into mischief faster than they could get out. Trytle, remembering what her other reason for being out here was, started to head towards where the battlefield was, careful not to go into it, lest the dibbuns see what was left over from it all. Eventually coming onto the field where Glen was injured, Trytle noticed something. There were tracks there from a few creatures, a fox, and an otter, but she couldn't tell what the last set of tracks were. Hey were big, and set in deep into the ground. "Whatever creature this is." thought Trytle. "It's definitely heavier than a full grown badger." After seeing where they went, Trytle gathered up all the dibbuns and headed toward the river.
At the river, things were going well for Darkslash and me. After finding some tough weeds and a stick, I managed to make a splint for his leg. After awhile, Darkslash was able to walk on his leg for a short amount of time. Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out how to bind up my arm with some of the remaining weeds, when I saw it. There, was somebeast coming this way. I couldn't figure out who it was, so I put the question to Darkslash, who was back from the river. "Hey Darkslash. Who's that? They're coming this way."
Darkslash looked at the figure that was getting bigger every second. "Well, it seems to me that it is a creature that isn't wasting any time in getting here. Hold on, here it comes."
Then all of a sudden, a young, wiry looking fox showed up, looked at them, and then ran off as fast as it came. I looked at Darkslash for a moment before saying something. "Well, that fox either didn't like something here, or it was just running around. Exercise is a good thing once in awhile. But jeese, that was fast!"
Darkslash looked at me for a few seconds before responding. "Aye. But there is something about what that fox did that reminds me of something. But I'm not sure what exactly. We'll just have to wait and see what that is exactly though."
I looked back at Darkslash, trying to figure out what he meant by "something". I decided to leave it be for now. "Hey Darkslash. Could you help me with this arm, I can't do this one-handed."
"Oh allright. Seeing as you can't do it, I will."
And with that, he assisted me in propping up and securing my arm. Meanwhile, Quickseyes the fox was running back to his camp, where the rest of the thieving band was awaiting his report. "I got right up to them and took a good look at them. One of them has a splint on his leg, the other, has a broken arm. Strange though, the second creature I've never seen the likes of before. It was big to. It had to be six feet tall!"
Another fox stood up and confronted Quickeyes. His mind trying to figure out what kind of creature it was as he confronted his spy. "You did good Quickseyes. We'll attack them tonight when they are asleep. Slay the big one first, or try to take it captive. In fact, take the big one captive, we can use it to bargain with the other one for their vittles and such. And after that, we'll tie them up, and go and hide nearby in case somebeast comes along and tries to untie them." At the mention of this the others gathered in more closely. "We'll move in, and slay them all!"
At the mention of this, all the foxes present gave a short howl of pleasure at the thought of slaying somebeast soon made them anxious. And they started to go about the business of sharpening their weapons, and preparing for later on.
Trytle was having a rough day. After having lunch utterly destroyed by a few mischief making dibbuns. She decided to have them all take a nap so she could rest and gather her wits about her. After a quick nap, Trytle noticed that she was covered in sticky buds and a few dibbuns who were trying to stifle giggles. Pulling herself up onto her feet, she confronted the dibbuns and pointed a huge blunt claw at them saying, "Will the culprit who put the sticky buds on me please come forward now." Trytle's command was met with even more giggles and shuffling paws. She was getting a bit angry with them now. So she tried a different approach. "Well. Since nobeast here is coming forward to accept their punishment. I guess we'll just have to pack up, and go back to Redwall earlier than expected."
All of a sudden, two young mice appeared before Trytle, and were trying to get the sticky buds off of her. Meanwhile, all the other dibbuns were undoing the tricks that they had set up while she was asleep. Suddenly, Trytle burst out laughing as the two mice removing the sticky buds found her ticklish spot. They started tickling her some more and soon, all of the other dibbuns were on top of Trytle, tickling her. She tried to speak but her laughter was just too much that she couldn't speak. Finally she managed to tell them to get off and surprisingly enough, they did. Trytle held her paws to her sides, finally calming down from her laughing fit she went about setting up supper for the dibbuns when the wind changed, and she could smell something that came with it. Dropping what she was doing, the badger kept sniffing the wind. Trying to figure out exactly what it was that she was smelling. Finally getting a good whiff, she realized that she was smelling a fox, a whole bunch of them not too far off. Sensing the danger of being so close to a group of foxes, Trytle had to act quickly. Grabbing everything and throwing them all into the baskets, she called to the dibbuns and told them that they had to go. They moaned for a bit, but they obeyed, following the badger mum as she headed back towards Redwall.
On the day of the outing, the dibbuns were much more obedient than usual. This seemed strange to Trytle because the dibbuns weren't usually this cooperative when asked to do something. Because Trytle didn't know that it was the ideal opportunity to get some necessary chores done, she only gave them easy jobs. The dibbuns, knowing that she forgot to give them extra chores, wasn't going to abuse the idea one bit. They had finished their morning chores and awaited Trytle's return in front of the gatehouse. After a few tensed minutes of waiting, Trytle showed up carrying the two baskets that she had prepared earlier. Seeing the dibbuns all lined up in front of the gatehouse made her suspicious. Taking a head count, she noted that all the dibbuns were here and apparently ready to go. After having them answer a few questions regarding what to do and what not to do while out in the woodlands, they set off. The dibbuns having only gone on a few other outings with the last badger mum, were already getting into mischief faster than they could get out. Trytle, remembering what her other reason for being out here was, started to head towards where the battlefield was, careful not to go into it, lest the dibbuns see what was left over from it all. Eventually coming onto the field where Glen was injured, Trytle noticed something. There were tracks there from a few creatures, a fox, and an otter, but she couldn't tell what the last set of tracks were. Hey were big, and set in deep into the ground. "Whatever creature this is." thought Trytle. "It's definitely heavier than a full grown badger." After seeing where they went, Trytle gathered up all the dibbuns and headed toward the river.
At the river, things were going well for Darkslash and me. After finding some tough weeds and a stick, I managed to make a splint for his leg. After awhile, Darkslash was able to walk on his leg for a short amount of time. Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out how to bind up my arm with some of the remaining weeds, when I saw it. There, was somebeast coming this way. I couldn't figure out who it was, so I put the question to Darkslash, who was back from the river. "Hey Darkslash. Who's that? They're coming this way."
Darkslash looked at the figure that was getting bigger every second. "Well, it seems to me that it is a creature that isn't wasting any time in getting here. Hold on, here it comes."
Then all of a sudden, a young, wiry looking fox showed up, looked at them, and then ran off as fast as it came. I looked at Darkslash for a moment before saying something. "Well, that fox either didn't like something here, or it was just running around. Exercise is a good thing once in awhile. But jeese, that was fast!"
Darkslash looked at me for a few seconds before responding. "Aye. But there is something about what that fox did that reminds me of something. But I'm not sure what exactly. We'll just have to wait and see what that is exactly though."
I looked back at Darkslash, trying to figure out what he meant by "something". I decided to leave it be for now. "Hey Darkslash. Could you help me with this arm, I can't do this one-handed."
"Oh allright. Seeing as you can't do it, I will."
And with that, he assisted me in propping up and securing my arm. Meanwhile, Quickseyes the fox was running back to his camp, where the rest of the thieving band was awaiting his report. "I got right up to them and took a good look at them. One of them has a splint on his leg, the other, has a broken arm. Strange though, the second creature I've never seen the likes of before. It was big to. It had to be six feet tall!"
Another fox stood up and confronted Quickeyes. His mind trying to figure out what kind of creature it was as he confronted his spy. "You did good Quickseyes. We'll attack them tonight when they are asleep. Slay the big one first, or try to take it captive. In fact, take the big one captive, we can use it to bargain with the other one for their vittles and such. And after that, we'll tie them up, and go and hide nearby in case somebeast comes along and tries to untie them." At the mention of this the others gathered in more closely. "We'll move in, and slay them all!"
At the mention of this, all the foxes present gave a short howl of pleasure at the thought of slaying somebeast soon made them anxious. And they started to go about the business of sharpening their weapons, and preparing for later on.
Trytle was having a rough day. After having lunch utterly destroyed by a few mischief making dibbuns. She decided to have them all take a nap so she could rest and gather her wits about her. After a quick nap, Trytle noticed that she was covered in sticky buds and a few dibbuns who were trying to stifle giggles. Pulling herself up onto her feet, she confronted the dibbuns and pointed a huge blunt claw at them saying, "Will the culprit who put the sticky buds on me please come forward now." Trytle's command was met with even more giggles and shuffling paws. She was getting a bit angry with them now. So she tried a different approach. "Well. Since nobeast here is coming forward to accept their punishment. I guess we'll just have to pack up, and go back to Redwall earlier than expected."
All of a sudden, two young mice appeared before Trytle, and were trying to get the sticky buds off of her. Meanwhile, all the other dibbuns were undoing the tricks that they had set up while she was asleep. Suddenly, Trytle burst out laughing as the two mice removing the sticky buds found her ticklish spot. They started tickling her some more and soon, all of the other dibbuns were on top of Trytle, tickling her. She tried to speak but her laughter was just too much that she couldn't speak. Finally she managed to tell them to get off and surprisingly enough, they did. Trytle held her paws to her sides, finally calming down from her laughing fit she went about setting up supper for the dibbuns when the wind changed, and she could smell something that came with it. Dropping what she was doing, the badger kept sniffing the wind. Trying to figure out exactly what it was that she was smelling. Finally getting a good whiff, she realized that she was smelling a fox, a whole bunch of them not too far off. Sensing the danger of being so close to a group of foxes, Trytle had to act quickly. Grabbing everything and throwing them all into the baskets, she called to the dibbuns and told them that they had to go. They moaned for a bit, but they obeyed, following the badger mum as she headed back towards Redwall.