Song stood outside the infirmary, listening with worry to the clangs and crashes within. Poor Sister Neetlebud, having to deal with that squirrel. Still, the abbess's heart leaped with joy at the thought of her granddaughter, Juniper Reguba, alive and safe at Redwall. Ah yes, she could recall that night, when Glendor came to the abbey. It was a rainy, stormy, howling night, a night in which she, like the skies above, wept.
"Mother, I am sorry that I must bring ill news to you at a time when we should be happy." The tall, strong squirrel in the mended tunic stood solemnly at his mother's abbess chair. His usual shining face now bear a look of grief and tragedy.
"Glendor, please, what is it?" Her heart raced. Surely, it wasn't the baby…
"Last week, vermin came to the camp. They killed many, and in the melee, we lost track of Juniper. We searched and searched for her, but we could never find her. We are afraid she was kidnapped by the vermin band. That is the best we can hope for."
"Abbess, marm? What's the trouble?" Neetlebud's small, round face peeked out through the infirmary doorway. "If you mind, marm, could you lend a paw in 'ere? Yore wand'ring friend is puttin' up quite a fuss."
Song managed a smile and stepped inside. She had to stifle a chuckle at the huffy young squirrel covered in sticky herb poultices and ripped bandages.
"Juniper, what is the matter?"
The addressee's eyes were dark as she snapped, "That hog isn't going to touch me."
Song placed a loving paw on her granddaughter's arm. "Dear, we do not mean to harm you; please, would you allow me to dress your wounds?"
Juniper relented, and Song tenderly started to wrap the various cuts and festers the squirrel wore. "That hog didn't even ask if she could; went at me like an overwrought hogmum," Juniper grumbled.
By dinnertime, the entire abbey had heard of the squirrel that had arrived. Dobbin, the gatekeeper, had first spread the word, and then gossipy Pispsey and her friends, Hoffington "Hoffy" Longlegg and the mouse maid Sareen, had exaggerated and bent the story to their liking.
"Came in like a blinkin' roarin' storm, throwin' tables and chairs, screamin' like a madbeast!" Hoffy took secret pleasure at the way the eyes of the Dibbuns in front of him grew as large as dinner plates.
"I heard her claim she's a descendant of Martin the Warrior," Pipsey whispered to a group of elderly female mice.
"She demanded us all leave the room, save the abbess and Brother Dann. Goodness knows what she's been doin' to them. Suppose she's an evil creature and wants a ransom for them?" Sareen by far had the greatest imagination. However, she was reprimanded by Foremole Prum.
"Burr, shame's on youse, missy!" he scolded. "Makin' such loies 'bout a pore creature, probably just lost 'er way and needs doirections."
All creatures in Cavern Hole lapsed into silence as Song and Dann came forth, with Juniper in front of them. Neetlebud hastily came up behind, calling to all the Redwallers, "Don't stand there with yore jaws a-gapin'; welcome our visitor!"
Neetlebud's remark broke the ice as the servers brought food to the tables and the others sat at the tables, with the closest to their abbess questioning she and her husband about the new squirrel.
"What's her name?" "Where is she from?" "Has she been here before?" And, of course, not really a question, but, "She looks starved; eat all you want, young one!"
Juniper remained quiet as Song criticized the inquirers.
"Quiet, all of you! Let her have a mouthful before you expect her to answer your questions. Not to offend anyone, but this is a special guest of Dann's and mine, and we would appreciate her telling us everything before we tell you."
That ended the discussion about the visitor. The other creatures resumed talking about other things: the food, the weather, the day's happenings. Yet, they still all desperately wanted to know about the wanderer, after all they had heard from Pipsey, Hoffy, and Sareen.
Juniper mainly loaded her plate with simple bread, raw fruit, and cheese, and filled her beaker with October Ale. Dann nudged Song, nodding at the simple spread their granddaughter ate, and Dann offered her a strawberry trifle.
"Dear, you are amidst some of the best cooks in the land. Would you be interested in trying some of the fancier dishes?"
Juniper eyed the desert, hesitating at the fact of never eating anything fancier than a blackberry tart in her life. She finally accepted the dessert from her grandfather, and took a large bite. Her eyes swelled as she coughed and wheezed, spitting the food into a napkin.
"Too…sweeeet," she gasped. She grabbed a nearby pitcher of water and took great gulps from it. She finally came back to a normal state, and appeared sheepish.
"I'm sorry. I just, well, I've lived on plain food all my life, and that was quite different from anything I've ever eaten."
"No need to be sorry, dear," Song consoled to her. "Every beast has their own tastes. Have all the breads and fruit and cheese you like."
Later that night, Dann and Song took Juniper to their small dormitory, posting old Sister Sloey as a guard, telling her to shoo off anyone who appeared to loiter around their doors. The old mouse Sloey was nearly completely deaf anyways, so she wouldn't be able to hear the confidential information that would be told within.
Juniper and Dan sat on small armchairs next to a fireplace and Juniper perched on the bed. The elderly couple waited for a few minutes, thinking of the best way to start.
"Juniper," Dann finally began, "we haven't seen you in such a long time. We were quite shocked when we first saw you, but please know that we are so glad that you are home. We only had you for a season after you were born, and then your parents took you back to be with your mother's clan. We didn't see any trace of your parents or you until your father came to us late one night. He said that his camp had been invaded and, you-"
"-had been kidnapped by vermin," Juniper finished in a whisper. "Yes, I was kidnapped. Those foul, treacherous, terrible vermin took me when I was young, but I already had a sharp mind. They took me over many miles, needing me to scale trees for them to gather bird eggs and acorns and such, and had me cook. Eventually, a few seasons later, I had finished fashioning a sharp stick that I hid under my jerkin and worked on at night. I severed the rope that bound me to their grimy paws, and slew all of them." She slowly raised her paws, indicating the permanent rope marks at her wrists.
"How terrible," Song murmured.
"Anyway," Juniper continued, "I realized I had to go back to my family. My father, Glendor, had always wanted to live in the Abbey, and have a solid life. But my mother was of a different line of squirrels. The Wandering Whites, as you probably know, are squirrels of the north whose fir is light gray and white and mottled with other colors. As you can see, I took after my father, and my brother, Birchbark, took quite after my mother. Anyway, the Wandering Whites do not stay in one place too long. I had been taken quite a ways south, away from my family's northlands. It took me two seasons before I found them, and they were quite overjoyed to see me.
"By that time, my brother had rejoined my clan, and my father had planned on coming to Redwall. The entire band was persuaded to travel south, and we were on our way here when we were attacked. Our warriors fought fiercely, as did I, but I was knocked senseless. When I awoke, the forest floor around me was covered in the corpses of squirrels, all skinned-"
"Skinned!" cried Song, alarmed.
"Yes, marm," Juniper explained, her voice growling. "The skins of the Wandering Whites are highly valued throughout the vermin world. Anyway, I found my parents and nearly all my family and friends dead. My brother and a few others had probably fled when they found the battle lost. I decided to continue on my father's quest, and now, here I am."
The two squirrels' faces were lined with rivulets of tears, imaging their brave son and his beautiful wife dead and skinned in the desolate forest without a proper burial.
"How long ago did they die, Juniper?" Dann asked, wiping his eyes.
"About a month." She was quiet, and her eyelids began to droop. "I am sorry for saying so at a time like this, but, could I possibly find a place to sleep? I mean, I usually sleep outside, and that is where I shall sleep. I am much more comfortable out of doors than in them."
Dann and Song leaped to her wish, ushering her out of the abbey and to the orchard to the softest patch of grass in the whole lawn. Perhaps they had lost their son, but they would treat his daughter as a memorial to him. Dann and Song stayed by her as though she was a babe, and the three watched the night sky.
Song reached into the back of her mind and found a lullaby she had sung to Glendor, but not her two other offspring. Somehow, it suited Glendor more, and now, it felt natural to sing it to Juniper.
"The day, the night, both guided by light,
The moon, stars and sun, all take their run.
Who can catch them, who can tame them?
No beast, my dear, no beast, my dear.
"The seasons, the time, they pass on by,
We watch them fade, watch them run away.
Who can see them, who can touch them?
No beast, my dear, no beast, my dear.
"Now, you ask, what is my task?
Shall I stay here, shall I walk far and near?
Who can answer, who knows for sure?
No beast, my dear, no beast, my dear."
Juniper's soft voice joined Song's on the last line, as she remembered her father's kind face, singing sweetly to her. A single tear arose from Juniper's closed eyes, slid down her cheek, and into the soft ground.