Chapter 9
The next morning, or what seemed like it at least, I awoke to find myself in a big clean smelling room. I looked around to see what was around me. I saw Darkslash in what looked like a bed, after taking a look at myself, I noticed that I too was in a bed. Turning a bit to get a better look at Darkslash I started to talk to him. "Hey Darkslash, you awake?"
Darkslash groaned, and turned his head towards me. Replying, "Yeah. Well, we seem to be inside the abbey now. But as to where, I don't know."
I tried to get a clue as to where we were, when a mouse came in. I wasn't sure what gender it was, and I wasn't sure if it was friendly or not, so I decided that it would be best to let Darkslash do the talking for me. The mouse spoke to us both. "Well, you're both finally awake now! My name is Sister Elm. I am the infirmary keeper for Redwall Abbey. Now, what are you two's names? I like to know who I'm treating in my infirmary."
I looked over at Darkslash, asking him what the mouse said. He replied. "Well, she says her name is Sister Elm and that she's the infirmary keeper here in Redwall. She would like to know our names. Want me to tell her your name?"
I looked at the sister before responding, "Yes, please tell her that I'm Wyatt Carpenter and how do you do." After Darkslash introduced us to the good sister, she went over to Darkslash, and pulled off his shirt. Then taking it over to the fireplace, she burned it in front of our eyes. When she moved towards me, I held up a hand, telling Darkslash what I wanted to say. He told her, and after a few minutes, she came in with what I requested, the bag that I had lost when I was taken captive. Then, another creature entered the room. This creature looked to me like a big squirrel, and it was dressed in a long robe of green, with a soft white girdle cord about the middle. To me it looked like for all the world like a bathrobe! Thinking on such basis, I turned away and asked Darkslash who the newcomer was. The response was not long in coming when he told me that it was the abbess of Redwall abbey. Abbess Birch. "Ohhhh. So, this is the leader of the abbey then eh? Good, just the person to talk to. Ummm, can you help me with that Darkslash, I can't write, and I don't understand their language."
The fox looked back at me and chuckled. "Sure, why not. I'm the only one you can talk to right now anyway."
"Yeah, that is true. I can only talk, and understand you anyway. You taught me how to speak to you, so I only know how to talk to you at the moment. Ummm, you wouldn't mind translating what they say while we're here or until I can speak to them would you?"
"Sure Wyatt. Until you learn to speak to them. Until then, just sit back, we're not going anywhere in our conditions. So sit back, and relax. Let that arm of yours to get fixed up good and proper!"
"Sure Darkslash. As long as my arm gets better, that's all I care about. How's the leg today? Better now?"
Darkslash smiled, and replied, "Well, just like you, I too am hoping to recover from my injury. So, we'll just have to make due with what we got eh? Hold on and let me see about something to eat."
With that, Darkslash motions over the infirmary keeper and asks her what they could get to eat. She does something and exits the room. Meanwhile, the abbess has been looking at me the whole time. What she wanted, I don't know, but she was still holding my bag. After motioning for the bag with my good arm, she places it on my lap. After struggling with the zipper for a few seconds, I get it opened up and I look for something clean to wear, and some deodorant. I smelled awful! After choosing a collared shirt and some pants, I look for the plastic bag I had along with me to put my worn clothes in. Both Darkslash and the abbess were a bit shocked, they have never seen a plastic bag before, and was curious about it. After a few minutes of educating the two, I finally get some privacy to change. After putting the dirty clothing in the bag, I put it on the bottom of the bag and zip it back up again. All of a sudden the abbess says something, and Darkslash translates for me. "The abbess here would like to know if you will be available later on today, if you're feeling up to it that is."
I looked back at the abbess and give her a disarming smile. "Darkslash, tell her I would enjoy it. Please let her know that you will be along with me. For translating purposes of course."
"Of course." Said Darkslash. Darkslash smiled. This was the first time he had a good reason to smile about anything, and since finding Wyatt a few days ago, he had changed. He was doing something nice for another creature and it made him feel, good. Then, Sister Elm re-entered the infirmary with some food on a tray. Setting down a couple a portion of the food in front of each of us, she explained what the meal was. Darkslash told me what she was telling him so I knew what it was. Sister Elm explained what the meal was. "Today, we have a special soup. It is a slightly weaker version of the famous otter delicacy, Shrimp'n'Hotroot soup. Less hotroot pepper has been added in order to accompany creatures that can't stand spicy food. There is some dandelion cordial to drink it down with, and there is some fruit pie for afters. Enjoy your meal! We went at it with the best of our abilities. Darkslash seemed to have taken a liking to the dandelion cordial, while I was favoring the soup. It was spicy, and yet, it tasted good. I think the soup was to hot for Darkslash though. He kept drinking more cordial, and then he'd have soup. After we both finished the soup, we started in on the fruit pie. I didn't care for it too much, but I was hungry and ate it anyway.
During all this, the abbess was still in the room, watching to make sure that nothing happened. When we finished the meal, she went outside and signaled for somebeast to clear the dishes away. After that, she came back in, carrying a few things. One was a book, and the other also looked like a book, but it looked really old as well. She set them down on a bedside table, and moved her chair closer to where I was. To be quite honest, she looked really nice, but I was more interested in the books she brought in. Upon further inspection, I figured out that one must belong to the abbey, and the other was mine. Motioning for my book, the abbess passed it to me. When I was looking through my bag earlier, I didn't see it in there, now I know where it went. I decided it was time to talk to the abbess and figure out what happened. "Uh Abbess Birch?"
Darkslash translated for us both as we conversed. "Yes Wyatt. What is it?"
"Well, when I was looking through my bag earlier for some clean clothes, I noticed that my book was not in there. Did you take it out by any chance?"
The abbess nodded. "Yes I did. When you were taken captive, your bag must've fallen off and was left behind. Glen and her otters brought it back here and I went through your bag in order to figure out who you were. That's when I ran into your book. There was some writing near the back that I could actually read."
"The Riftguard script near the back? Does it actually work?"
The abbess nodded her head. "Yes Wyatt. It does work, more than you think. Using that, I was able to translate your book and read it."
"I guess that you lie to read then huh?"
"Oh yes, very much so. I'm surprised that a creature like you could have a book about such. It actually happened many seasons ago."
"Oh. I just had that book along for reading because I didn't even know I was in Mossflower till Darkslash here took me captive and told me. Of course, he had to teach me how to talk to him. My language is somewhat different from his, and yours. All I can hear when you speak is a lot of noise. Maybe you could teach me how to speak not just to you, but to every creature. What do you say?"
The abbess thought about it for a moment, and then replied, "Well, after your arm heals, I can help you get started to learn our language, but it will not be an easy thing to accomplish. Meanwhile, you two are confined to the infirmary. Get some rest, and I'll see about starting the lessons sooner or later."
I nodded my agreement, but I still had something to say. "Allright uh, can everyone here read? I have a book here that can help the infirmary keeper to heal me better. Could you bring her in here so as I can give it to her and give her some instruction as to what pages to look at?"
The abbes nodded. And went outside to go and get Sister Elm. I turn over to Darkslash, wondering what he was thinking about all this. I decided to ask him. "Darkslash, what do you think about all this? I honestly didn't know about it either, till Abbess Birch told me."
"And I believe you Wyatt. You were in Mossflower for not too long when we took you captive, so how could you know?"
Just then, Abbess Birch came back with Sister Elm in tow. I nodded to the good sister before I explained through Darkslash. "Sister Elm, I have here in my bag a book on my species physiology. In simple terms, a book on how my species bodies are made up and stuff like that, now, I am going to show you the section on arms, the bones and muscles there. This information should help you heal my arm better."
The infirmary keeper looked a bit lost, but she responded anyway. "Um, sure. I hope I fixed your arm correctly. If just one bone is out of place here, it could result you loosing that arm, forever."
I thought about it for a few minutes, weighing her words. Then I responded. "I understand. But, I would rather have my arm fixed then not give a try at all. I'll just have to rest some more then won't I?"
Sister Elm nodded. "That would be a wise decision on your part. I'll be by a bit later with an herbal treatment if you can't sleep."
I nodded. "Alright. You know what's best Sister Elm. I'll take a good rest now."
And with that all said and done, Wyatt went to sleep.
When Darkslash saw Wyatt go to sleep, he tensed up a bit. Knowing that a certain otter would be after him should she know he was here. Hoping that he didn't hurt her too badly, he settled down to take a nap. Meanwhile, in Great Hall, Glen was pressing a matter unto the abbess. "I don't think that it's a good idea to let that fox stay here longer than necessary. He is dangerous to those in the abbey!" She tried making her point clear by pointing to the scars now forming on her legs.
Birch nodded, but not about to give a decision. "Right at the moment he is unable to do anything. When he came into the abbey, he had a broke leg, and was unable to walk. And right now, he doesn't seem to want to do any harm to anybeast at the moment. Give him a chance Glen."
Glen shook her head in disagreement. "No, it's not that simple! A vermin is a vermin, no matter what! Just because his legs broken doesn't mean he'll give up his evil ways! He can still hurt somebeast. Broken leg or not!" Glen started to storm away toward the infirmary.
Birch had to act fast. In Glen's present state of anger, she was liable to kill Darkslash, and might hurt Wyatt in the process. "Glen! I forbid you to do anything to Darkslash while he's in the infirmary! He may be a vermin, but he's changed somehow. I'm not sure in what way, but he's changed! You must give him time to prove himself. If he proves to be a vermin still, then he will be put on the outside of the abbey and will never be allowed to come inside again! Do you understand Glen?"
The big otter stopped to think over the abbess's wise words. Then nodding her agreement, she allowed herself to be led away by Birch.
The next morning, or what seemed like it at least, I awoke to find myself in a big clean smelling room. I looked around to see what was around me. I saw Darkslash in what looked like a bed, after taking a look at myself, I noticed that I too was in a bed. Turning a bit to get a better look at Darkslash I started to talk to him. "Hey Darkslash, you awake?"
Darkslash groaned, and turned his head towards me. Replying, "Yeah. Well, we seem to be inside the abbey now. But as to where, I don't know."
I tried to get a clue as to where we were, when a mouse came in. I wasn't sure what gender it was, and I wasn't sure if it was friendly or not, so I decided that it would be best to let Darkslash do the talking for me. The mouse spoke to us both. "Well, you're both finally awake now! My name is Sister Elm. I am the infirmary keeper for Redwall Abbey. Now, what are you two's names? I like to know who I'm treating in my infirmary."
I looked over at Darkslash, asking him what the mouse said. He replied. "Well, she says her name is Sister Elm and that she's the infirmary keeper here in Redwall. She would like to know our names. Want me to tell her your name?"
I looked at the sister before responding, "Yes, please tell her that I'm Wyatt Carpenter and how do you do." After Darkslash introduced us to the good sister, she went over to Darkslash, and pulled off his shirt. Then taking it over to the fireplace, she burned it in front of our eyes. When she moved towards me, I held up a hand, telling Darkslash what I wanted to say. He told her, and after a few minutes, she came in with what I requested, the bag that I had lost when I was taken captive. Then, another creature entered the room. This creature looked to me like a big squirrel, and it was dressed in a long robe of green, with a soft white girdle cord about the middle. To me it looked like for all the world like a bathrobe! Thinking on such basis, I turned away and asked Darkslash who the newcomer was. The response was not long in coming when he told me that it was the abbess of Redwall abbey. Abbess Birch. "Ohhhh. So, this is the leader of the abbey then eh? Good, just the person to talk to. Ummm, can you help me with that Darkslash, I can't write, and I don't understand their language."
The fox looked back at me and chuckled. "Sure, why not. I'm the only one you can talk to right now anyway."
"Yeah, that is true. I can only talk, and understand you anyway. You taught me how to speak to you, so I only know how to talk to you at the moment. Ummm, you wouldn't mind translating what they say while we're here or until I can speak to them would you?"
"Sure Wyatt. Until you learn to speak to them. Until then, just sit back, we're not going anywhere in our conditions. So sit back, and relax. Let that arm of yours to get fixed up good and proper!"
"Sure Darkslash. As long as my arm gets better, that's all I care about. How's the leg today? Better now?"
Darkslash smiled, and replied, "Well, just like you, I too am hoping to recover from my injury. So, we'll just have to make due with what we got eh? Hold on and let me see about something to eat."
With that, Darkslash motions over the infirmary keeper and asks her what they could get to eat. She does something and exits the room. Meanwhile, the abbess has been looking at me the whole time. What she wanted, I don't know, but she was still holding my bag. After motioning for the bag with my good arm, she places it on my lap. After struggling with the zipper for a few seconds, I get it opened up and I look for something clean to wear, and some deodorant. I smelled awful! After choosing a collared shirt and some pants, I look for the plastic bag I had along with me to put my worn clothes in. Both Darkslash and the abbess were a bit shocked, they have never seen a plastic bag before, and was curious about it. After a few minutes of educating the two, I finally get some privacy to change. After putting the dirty clothing in the bag, I put it on the bottom of the bag and zip it back up again. All of a sudden the abbess says something, and Darkslash translates for me. "The abbess here would like to know if you will be available later on today, if you're feeling up to it that is."
I looked back at the abbess and give her a disarming smile. "Darkslash, tell her I would enjoy it. Please let her know that you will be along with me. For translating purposes of course."
"Of course." Said Darkslash. Darkslash smiled. This was the first time he had a good reason to smile about anything, and since finding Wyatt a few days ago, he had changed. He was doing something nice for another creature and it made him feel, good. Then, Sister Elm re-entered the infirmary with some food on a tray. Setting down a couple a portion of the food in front of each of us, she explained what the meal was. Darkslash told me what she was telling him so I knew what it was. Sister Elm explained what the meal was. "Today, we have a special soup. It is a slightly weaker version of the famous otter delicacy, Shrimp'n'Hotroot soup. Less hotroot pepper has been added in order to accompany creatures that can't stand spicy food. There is some dandelion cordial to drink it down with, and there is some fruit pie for afters. Enjoy your meal! We went at it with the best of our abilities. Darkslash seemed to have taken a liking to the dandelion cordial, while I was favoring the soup. It was spicy, and yet, it tasted good. I think the soup was to hot for Darkslash though. He kept drinking more cordial, and then he'd have soup. After we both finished the soup, we started in on the fruit pie. I didn't care for it too much, but I was hungry and ate it anyway.
During all this, the abbess was still in the room, watching to make sure that nothing happened. When we finished the meal, she went outside and signaled for somebeast to clear the dishes away. After that, she came back in, carrying a few things. One was a book, and the other also looked like a book, but it looked really old as well. She set them down on a bedside table, and moved her chair closer to where I was. To be quite honest, she looked really nice, but I was more interested in the books she brought in. Upon further inspection, I figured out that one must belong to the abbey, and the other was mine. Motioning for my book, the abbess passed it to me. When I was looking through my bag earlier, I didn't see it in there, now I know where it went. I decided it was time to talk to the abbess and figure out what happened. "Uh Abbess Birch?"
Darkslash translated for us both as we conversed. "Yes Wyatt. What is it?"
"Well, when I was looking through my bag earlier for some clean clothes, I noticed that my book was not in there. Did you take it out by any chance?"
The abbess nodded. "Yes I did. When you were taken captive, your bag must've fallen off and was left behind. Glen and her otters brought it back here and I went through your bag in order to figure out who you were. That's when I ran into your book. There was some writing near the back that I could actually read."
"The Riftguard script near the back? Does it actually work?"
The abbess nodded her head. "Yes Wyatt. It does work, more than you think. Using that, I was able to translate your book and read it."
"I guess that you lie to read then huh?"
"Oh yes, very much so. I'm surprised that a creature like you could have a book about such. It actually happened many seasons ago."
"Oh. I just had that book along for reading because I didn't even know I was in Mossflower till Darkslash here took me captive and told me. Of course, he had to teach me how to talk to him. My language is somewhat different from his, and yours. All I can hear when you speak is a lot of noise. Maybe you could teach me how to speak not just to you, but to every creature. What do you say?"
The abbess thought about it for a moment, and then replied, "Well, after your arm heals, I can help you get started to learn our language, but it will not be an easy thing to accomplish. Meanwhile, you two are confined to the infirmary. Get some rest, and I'll see about starting the lessons sooner or later."
I nodded my agreement, but I still had something to say. "Allright uh, can everyone here read? I have a book here that can help the infirmary keeper to heal me better. Could you bring her in here so as I can give it to her and give her some instruction as to what pages to look at?"
The abbes nodded. And went outside to go and get Sister Elm. I turn over to Darkslash, wondering what he was thinking about all this. I decided to ask him. "Darkslash, what do you think about all this? I honestly didn't know about it either, till Abbess Birch told me."
"And I believe you Wyatt. You were in Mossflower for not too long when we took you captive, so how could you know?"
Just then, Abbess Birch came back with Sister Elm in tow. I nodded to the good sister before I explained through Darkslash. "Sister Elm, I have here in my bag a book on my species physiology. In simple terms, a book on how my species bodies are made up and stuff like that, now, I am going to show you the section on arms, the bones and muscles there. This information should help you heal my arm better."
The infirmary keeper looked a bit lost, but she responded anyway. "Um, sure. I hope I fixed your arm correctly. If just one bone is out of place here, it could result you loosing that arm, forever."
I thought about it for a few minutes, weighing her words. Then I responded. "I understand. But, I would rather have my arm fixed then not give a try at all. I'll just have to rest some more then won't I?"
Sister Elm nodded. "That would be a wise decision on your part. I'll be by a bit later with an herbal treatment if you can't sleep."
I nodded. "Alright. You know what's best Sister Elm. I'll take a good rest now."
And with that all said and done, Wyatt went to sleep.
When Darkslash saw Wyatt go to sleep, he tensed up a bit. Knowing that a certain otter would be after him should she know he was here. Hoping that he didn't hurt her too badly, he settled down to take a nap. Meanwhile, in Great Hall, Glen was pressing a matter unto the abbess. "I don't think that it's a good idea to let that fox stay here longer than necessary. He is dangerous to those in the abbey!" She tried making her point clear by pointing to the scars now forming on her legs.
Birch nodded, but not about to give a decision. "Right at the moment he is unable to do anything. When he came into the abbey, he had a broke leg, and was unable to walk. And right now, he doesn't seem to want to do any harm to anybeast at the moment. Give him a chance Glen."
Glen shook her head in disagreement. "No, it's not that simple! A vermin is a vermin, no matter what! Just because his legs broken doesn't mean he'll give up his evil ways! He can still hurt somebeast. Broken leg or not!" Glen started to storm away toward the infirmary.
Birch had to act fast. In Glen's present state of anger, she was liable to kill Darkslash, and might hurt Wyatt in the process. "Glen! I forbid you to do anything to Darkslash while he's in the infirmary! He may be a vermin, but he's changed somehow. I'm not sure in what way, but he's changed! You must give him time to prove himself. If he proves to be a vermin still, then he will be put on the outside of the abbey and will never be allowed to come inside again! Do you understand Glen?"
The big otter stopped to think over the abbess's wise words. Then nodding her agreement, she allowed herself to be led away by Birch.