Chapter 20
It was just a day after the plan was made that it was suddenly put on hold. Wyatt forgot what the currant season was. He immediately told Liz the bad news. "Liz, I forgot to tell you; something's seriously wrong with the plan."
Liz was immediately alert. "What is it?"
"I forgot that it is the fall season now, we cannot go back home till the spring!"
"But why Wyatt? Why can't we go now?"
"I was told that the vermin migrate south during this time, at least; those who are smart enough to go south that is."
Liz threw her hands up in frustration. "Then when are we going to get back home?"
Wyatt shook his head. "I think we'll have to wait till mid-spring before we can even consider going through with the plan. I'm sorry about the terrible news, but Abbess Birch says that it is not a good time for any goodbeast to travel. We will have to wait."
Liz couldn't believe what she was hearing. She would have to wait for a few months because of some vermin! She wanted to go home now before the police started to search for her. But soon, she changed her mind as she looked out the window. There was a large dust cloud on the horizon, which could only mean one thing; there was a large group of creatures coming this way, and they didn't look like travelers. Down in the grounds, Oak was taking a stroll along the walls when he heard the faint sound of wild yelling coming from the north, taking a look; he saw a horde of vermin heading towards the abbey. Getting down from the ramparts, he rushed off to tell the abbess of the vermin threat that was coming ever nearer to their gates. Abbess Birch digested the information as Oak told it to her, so Redwall was going under another attack again. Gathering Trytle, Glen, and the defenders, she told them of the oncoming threat. "Friends, once again I call unto you to defend Redwall from another vermin horde. Therefore, I leave it to you to defend Redwall and everybeast within it; I will work with the healing of the injured. So, in the event of an attack, I leave Glen in charge. Glen, if you would be so kind."
Glen cleared her throat and started speaking, "What I say we do is have a good defense, so all you defenders, gather up your weapons and get be ready to be called onto the ramparts at any time!"
The defenders grabbed their weapons and went about their normal routine. Glen went with Oak and Trytle and they stood on the ramparts for a while, watching the vermin horde come closer and closer every second.
Sharpclaw and his horde were moving to the south where it was warmer when he had heard of Redwall Abbey, and of its self-supporting orchards and pond full of fish. It would be the ideal place to live. Gathering his horde captains, the stoat laid plans for attacking the fabled abbey; after making his plans he gave a sly laugh, nobeast was better at making use of a horde than Sharpclaw was. A few hours later, Sharpclaw and his captains came had finished; ready to execute the plans their chief had laid out for them. Sharpclaw waited for the rest of his horde to meet him in the flatlands, just out of site of the abbey; his horde captains came along after they had gathered their horde groups. Everything was ready; Sharpclaw had heard the tales of famous warlords meeting their doom at Redwalls gates; Sharpclaw did not plan on loosing against the abbey. Seeing his horde assembled, he gave the order to wait till night before attacking. He was going to take the abbey by surprise. Meanwhile, life at the abbey of Redwall went on as normal as it has had done, they had no clue that Sharpclaw was going to attack that night. Being the fall season, it was time for the autumn harvest. Young and old creatures alike were out in the orchard gathering fruits and vegetables, nuts were gathered and in the kitchens, the process of preserving and making were in full swing. When the dinner bell rang everybeast went inside, taking whatever crops they had gathered with them to be stored. Up in the infirmary however, Darkslash, Liz, and Wyatt were having their own dinner. Liz couldn't have helped to watch the Redwallers as they gathered the crops in. Walking back from the window where she was watching, she decided to strike up a conversation with Darkslash. "So uhm, Darkslash is it?"
Darkslash stopped eating and replied, "Yes. And you are Liz, correct?"
Liz nodded her head, "Yes I am. You're a fox right?"
Darkslash nodded, and Liz continued. "So, why are you in here? I thought that vermin were not allowed in Redwall."
Darkslash looked indignantly at Liz before saying, "I am in here because I helped Wyatt over there and the Redwallers are okay with my being here. It's not like I'm going to be able to hurt anybeast when I can barely move anyway." At this he points to his leg, which is unmoving underneath the bed covers. "When I first met him, I was a horde leader, and was going against Redwall. There was a battle in a field near here and Wyatt came out of the woods during the battle. My creatures knocked him out and dragged him back to camp. There, I tried to communicate with him, but I soon learned that he didn't know any language used here. I taught him the vermin language and soon after that, had my final assault against Redwall. There, after seeing that my forces were defeated, fled taking Wyatt along with me. We rolled down a hill and into a group of rocks. I broke a leg, and Wyatt broke an arm. We were stuck here for a few days, and then some robber foxes attacked us when a crew from Redwall found us and brought us backs here. Since then we have been here in the infirmary resting and healing. Strange thing though, his arm healed faster than my leg. I don't know why."
I thought about this and a sudden thought came to me. Maybe the time difference had something to do with Wyatt's quick healing. She decided to leave it at that and get to her meal.
In another part of Mossflower, Sharpclaw was with Mysteye, a seer vixen he ran into on his march towards Redwall. She had sensed a powerful energy in the area and was searching for its source. Leaving his top lieutenant in charge of camp operations in the flatlands near the path, he took a score of his best fighters and went along with the vixen, superstitious like every other horde leader. A half an hour later, the party makes it to the grove of trees where Wyatt and Liz had come through. Sharpclaw was ordering his small force to set up a perimeter when suddenly there was a loud cry and he saw a weasel and a ferret fall, both with a lance in his middle. Blurred shapes showed up, commanded by what looked like a huge specter swinging a large club made from Oak. Seeing that his forces would be overrun, he ordered a retreat and ran back for the camp, the vixen and five horde members that made up what was left of the force he started with. Confronting his lieutenant, he was pleased to hear that nothing happened while he was gone. When asked as to why he returned with less horde beasts then what he started with, Sharpclaw said, "Whatever it was, it isn't going to last much longer. I'm postponing the assault on Redwall, I'm going back to the grove; with half the horde, and you will stay here and start the assault in a few days. The ferret lieutenant he was conversing with saluted him smartly, "It is as you say. I will begin the assault on Redwall Abbey in a few days!"
"It better go well for the horde's sake, and yours."
The ferret cringed at this, Sharpclaw was a stoat of his word; when he says it's for your sake, you obey or die.
It was just a day after the plan was made that it was suddenly put on hold. Wyatt forgot what the currant season was. He immediately told Liz the bad news. "Liz, I forgot to tell you; something's seriously wrong with the plan."
Liz was immediately alert. "What is it?"
"I forgot that it is the fall season now, we cannot go back home till the spring!"
"But why Wyatt? Why can't we go now?"
"I was told that the vermin migrate south during this time, at least; those who are smart enough to go south that is."
Liz threw her hands up in frustration. "Then when are we going to get back home?"
Wyatt shook his head. "I think we'll have to wait till mid-spring before we can even consider going through with the plan. I'm sorry about the terrible news, but Abbess Birch says that it is not a good time for any goodbeast to travel. We will have to wait."
Liz couldn't believe what she was hearing. She would have to wait for a few months because of some vermin! She wanted to go home now before the police started to search for her. But soon, she changed her mind as she looked out the window. There was a large dust cloud on the horizon, which could only mean one thing; there was a large group of creatures coming this way, and they didn't look like travelers. Down in the grounds, Oak was taking a stroll along the walls when he heard the faint sound of wild yelling coming from the north, taking a look; he saw a horde of vermin heading towards the abbey. Getting down from the ramparts, he rushed off to tell the abbess of the vermin threat that was coming ever nearer to their gates. Abbess Birch digested the information as Oak told it to her, so Redwall was going under another attack again. Gathering Trytle, Glen, and the defenders, she told them of the oncoming threat. "Friends, once again I call unto you to defend Redwall from another vermin horde. Therefore, I leave it to you to defend Redwall and everybeast within it; I will work with the healing of the injured. So, in the event of an attack, I leave Glen in charge. Glen, if you would be so kind."
Glen cleared her throat and started speaking, "What I say we do is have a good defense, so all you defenders, gather up your weapons and get be ready to be called onto the ramparts at any time!"
The defenders grabbed their weapons and went about their normal routine. Glen went with Oak and Trytle and they stood on the ramparts for a while, watching the vermin horde come closer and closer every second.
Sharpclaw and his horde were moving to the south where it was warmer when he had heard of Redwall Abbey, and of its self-supporting orchards and pond full of fish. It would be the ideal place to live. Gathering his horde captains, the stoat laid plans for attacking the fabled abbey; after making his plans he gave a sly laugh, nobeast was better at making use of a horde than Sharpclaw was. A few hours later, Sharpclaw and his captains came had finished; ready to execute the plans their chief had laid out for them. Sharpclaw waited for the rest of his horde to meet him in the flatlands, just out of site of the abbey; his horde captains came along after they had gathered their horde groups. Everything was ready; Sharpclaw had heard the tales of famous warlords meeting their doom at Redwalls gates; Sharpclaw did not plan on loosing against the abbey. Seeing his horde assembled, he gave the order to wait till night before attacking. He was going to take the abbey by surprise. Meanwhile, life at the abbey of Redwall went on as normal as it has had done, they had no clue that Sharpclaw was going to attack that night. Being the fall season, it was time for the autumn harvest. Young and old creatures alike were out in the orchard gathering fruits and vegetables, nuts were gathered and in the kitchens, the process of preserving and making were in full swing. When the dinner bell rang everybeast went inside, taking whatever crops they had gathered with them to be stored. Up in the infirmary however, Darkslash, Liz, and Wyatt were having their own dinner. Liz couldn't have helped to watch the Redwallers as they gathered the crops in. Walking back from the window where she was watching, she decided to strike up a conversation with Darkslash. "So uhm, Darkslash is it?"
Darkslash stopped eating and replied, "Yes. And you are Liz, correct?"
Liz nodded her head, "Yes I am. You're a fox right?"
Darkslash nodded, and Liz continued. "So, why are you in here? I thought that vermin were not allowed in Redwall."
Darkslash looked indignantly at Liz before saying, "I am in here because I helped Wyatt over there and the Redwallers are okay with my being here. It's not like I'm going to be able to hurt anybeast when I can barely move anyway." At this he points to his leg, which is unmoving underneath the bed covers. "When I first met him, I was a horde leader, and was going against Redwall. There was a battle in a field near here and Wyatt came out of the woods during the battle. My creatures knocked him out and dragged him back to camp. There, I tried to communicate with him, but I soon learned that he didn't know any language used here. I taught him the vermin language and soon after that, had my final assault against Redwall. There, after seeing that my forces were defeated, fled taking Wyatt along with me. We rolled down a hill and into a group of rocks. I broke a leg, and Wyatt broke an arm. We were stuck here for a few days, and then some robber foxes attacked us when a crew from Redwall found us and brought us backs here. Since then we have been here in the infirmary resting and healing. Strange thing though, his arm healed faster than my leg. I don't know why."
I thought about this and a sudden thought came to me. Maybe the time difference had something to do with Wyatt's quick healing. She decided to leave it at that and get to her meal.
In another part of Mossflower, Sharpclaw was with Mysteye, a seer vixen he ran into on his march towards Redwall. She had sensed a powerful energy in the area and was searching for its source. Leaving his top lieutenant in charge of camp operations in the flatlands near the path, he took a score of his best fighters and went along with the vixen, superstitious like every other horde leader. A half an hour later, the party makes it to the grove of trees where Wyatt and Liz had come through. Sharpclaw was ordering his small force to set up a perimeter when suddenly there was a loud cry and he saw a weasel and a ferret fall, both with a lance in his middle. Blurred shapes showed up, commanded by what looked like a huge specter swinging a large club made from Oak. Seeing that his forces would be overrun, he ordered a retreat and ran back for the camp, the vixen and five horde members that made up what was left of the force he started with. Confronting his lieutenant, he was pleased to hear that nothing happened while he was gone. When asked as to why he returned with less horde beasts then what he started with, Sharpclaw said, "Whatever it was, it isn't going to last much longer. I'm postponing the assault on Redwall, I'm going back to the grove; with half the horde, and you will stay here and start the assault in a few days. The ferret lieutenant he was conversing with saluted him smartly, "It is as you say. I will begin the assault on Redwall Abbey in a few days!"
"It better go well for the horde's sake, and yours."
The ferret cringed at this, Sharpclaw was a stoat of his word; when he says it's for your sake, you obey or die.