CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO

Sister Rosette paused when she heard voices coming from behind the closed door.

This late at night, pretty much the only creatures up and about at Redwall were the sentries outside standing watch at the four gates and up on the walltop, and Brother Jerome, whom she'd just passed in the upper halls performing the last of his evening's torch-minding duties. Rosette, one of the Abbey's chief launderettes, deemed this would be a perfect time to change the bedding in Alex and Mina's chamber, and perhaps freshen up some of the other linens there as well, what with the Gawtrybe Lady laid up in the Infirmary and her husband keeping vigil at her side. By all rights, the room should have been quite empty ... and hadn't the door stood open every time she'd passed it earlier this afternoon and evening?

Curious, she set her large basket down on the hallway floor and pressed her ear to the door - whereupon she could no longer hear any voices from within the chamber. But she was sure she hadn't simply been hearing things.

Quite abruptly, the door cracked open, causing Rosette to almost fall against it. Catching herself, she looked up into the stern, shadowed face of a Gawtrybe.

"Oh, my, uh, pardon me! I didn't mean to disturb you! I thought this room would be empty, and I just thought to - um, what are you doing in there anyway? I thought you were all spending the night down in Cavern Hole?"

"We had matters we needed to discuss in private," the squirrel told the mouse. "Please come back when we are finished."

Somewhat put off by his brusque manner and dismissive attitude, she straightened and asked, "Does Alexander know you're using his room like this? Did you ask the Abbot's permission to meet here?"

"As you said, the room was empty and currently unoccupied - and it belongs to Lady Mina too. We are certain she would not object to our use of this space. Now please come back later." And with that he shut the door again in her face, and latched it shut with an unmistakable click.

"Well, I never - " Taking up her still-empty wicker basket, Rosette had half a mind as she stalked down the corridor to go see if Abbot Geoff might still be awake, and inform him of this arrogant breach of Abbey etiquette.

The squirrel Nixalis turned from the locked door back to his five fellow Gawtrybe, crowded together in the chamber with just a single lit candle by which to see. "So much for being left alone here ... "

"I didn't think anybeast likely to bother us here, not this late," said Matowick. "We knew Alex and Lady Mina would both be down in the Infirmary all night ... ah, well, there's nothing to be done now. Except maybe to wrap this up quicker than we'd planned."

"Yes, but we still haven't decided what we're going to do," pointed out another in their group named Brisson.

"No, we haven't," Matowick acknowledged, mouth set in a thin line of determination. "I know it's bad luck to speak ill of our High Lady, especially at a time like this, but she certainly didn't do us any favors with her actions today. She forced me to reveal that cover story about a searat delegation at least a full day before I would have liked, and even so, that did little to divert attention from the fact that Lady Mina tried to slay somebeast this afternoon - and Alexander has figured out that I know who her target was. If it hadn't been for the former Abbess and then the rat herself disrupting the council and giving the Abbeybeasts more mysteries to ponder, I might have been forced to the wall with no room to maneuver. Even as it is, the Abbey leaders have all but rejected my mock proposal, leaving us with no pretense to linger at Redwall. If we don't depart tomorrow, or the day after at the latest, it will simply look too suspicious, no matter what excuse we trot out. Whatever we're going to do, we'll have to do it soon, or not at all ... and that last option isn't an option. We can't return to Salamandastron with our mission unfulfilled."

"Well, can't we use Her Ladyship's condition as grounds for tarrying?" posited a third squirrel named Flaquer. "It wouldn't be entirely untrue, either; what conscientious Gawtrybe could depart with the Queen in her present state?"

"That's a good point," assessed Nixalis. "Maybe the same actions by Lady Mina that have put us in something of a bind can also work to our favor too. That could be the excuse we need to remain at Redwall."

"Except that her wounds turned out not to be nearly as serious as they first appeared - which means she'll soon be awake and able to talk without straining ... at which point Alex will press her mercilessly to reveal all she knows."

"He can't do that!" Flaquer protested. "She's High Lady of the Gawtrybe!"

"And he's chief of the Mossflower Patrol - a force he himself regards as our equal, at least here in Mossflower," Matowick countered. "And in case you haven't noticed, he considers himself Lady Mina's equal as well - and here within these walls, he's probably right. It will be his resolve against hers - and given the present state of affairs, I don't think we should rely on her to put him off for days on end. She'll likely be counting on a swift resolution to this dilemma from our end. As I said, a pretty pickle."

"Are we even sure this Latura is the rat we want?" asked Brisson. "I mean, out of all the ones here ... "

"Every Abbeybeast I've spoken with - and every rat too, not that too many have agreed to have civil words with me - suggests that she is. Of course I would have preferred a few more days to make absolutely certain, but that's a luxury I fear we no longer have. We must proceed on the assumption that she's the one Lord Urthblood sent us here for. The question now is, how do we grab her and get away?"

Matowick sighed. "And that's the trick, isn't it? Even before today's incident, she was almost never alone. At night she sleeps in the gatehouse cottage with her father and brother - and that big brute who looks like he could take on any two of us at once. During the day, there always seems to be somebeast around her, whether it's her fellow rats or Redwallers - sometimes both. And now that there's a rumor that Mina may have targeted her for assassination, her rat supporters will be extra diligent about protecting her. We need a diversion, now more than ever, to make this succeed ... except that with Lady Mina out of the picture, I haven't a clue how we would go about pulling that off."

"Maybe it's time to look outside the Abbey, sir," Brisson suggested. "It's hardly like we're alone in Mossflower. Captain Custis has his squirrels deployed all around this Abbey, or so we keep hearing, and then there are all the forces at Foxguard - and the birds and shrews as well. I can't believe we can't make some use of all those assets to our advantage here."

"We never ran into any of Captain Choock's shrews while crossing the Plains, and we were already mingled with the badger's party when we reached the Abbey; it would have been very easy for our fellow Gawtrybe to overlook our arrival, even if they happened to be looking our way at the time. They likely don't even know we're here, unless Lord Urthblood has sent them word directly. And I don't think he has."

"Why not?" asked Flaquer.

"Because he told me on the plateau of Salamandastron that he saw us doing this. Not Tolar's foxes, or Choock's shrews, or his birds ... and not the Gawtrybe who were already in Mossflower either. Just us." Matowick heaved another sigh. "And even if that weren't the case, I can't see how we'd alert anybeast outside Redwall anyway. There's no way we could signal to our allies nearby or confer with them without raising questions we'd not be able to answer. Our stock of trust with the Redwallers is worn so thin you can see through it; anything we do now that looks the slightest bit suspicious will likely end us with us standing out on the main path with the Abbey gates locked against us ... and no Latura either."

"Suspicious, eh?" Brisson said wryly. "Like meeting up here in the dead of night when we're supposed to be asleep down in Cavern Hole?"

Matowick wasn't alone in giving the closed chamber door a worried glance. "Yeah, there is that ... "

"Too bad we don't have any of Lord Urthblood's Flitchaye gas with us," Nixalis lamented. "We could gas the whole gatehouse, put 'em all out cold, and make our snatch in the dead of night with nobeast the wiser ... until it's too late for them to do anything about it."

"I hope your plan would include extra gas canisters to use on the wallgate guards and walltop sentries too, because until we could get them all out of the way, we'd not be going anywhere with Latura, even if we could snatch her. No, this is a lot more complicated than just grabbing a single rat from a smaller group of protectors. We've got all of Redwall to take into account - and Redwall isn't being very cooperative."

"Captain sir," asked Brisson, "is it true that ratmaid made some sort of prophecy about the Abbot? There was some talk at dinner I overheard and, well, since you were at the council ... "

"I really couldn't say, Briss. That whole meeting was so strange, it was hard to follow everything that was going on. She did something with the Abbot that he didn't care for, but it could just as easily have been a display of poor manners as anything. That's what the Abbot himself seemed to think it was, and he was a lot closer to her when it happened than I was. Maybe he just doesn't like being touched in anything less than a respectful manner, or being shunned in his own Abbey ... and who could blame him? But that's not our concern right now. Our immediate priority has got to be - oh, what now?"

A knocking at the chamber door had interrupted him. Scowling, Matowick motioned for Nixalis to answer it, his manner suggesting that the intruder be gotten rid of quickly, if at all possible. Nixalis unlocked the door and cracked it open to find Sister Rosette standing there in the corridor once more. "We'll be a bit longer," he told her, starting to close the door almost as soon as he'd finished opening it.

"Excuse me," she interjected with insistent impatience, "but is your Captain in there with you?"

"It just so happens that he is, and if you come back a little - "

"I've a message for him," Rosette cut in, not about to be unceremoniously dismissed a second time. "One I suspect he might wish to receive immediately - unless he doesn't care that a certain Captain Saugus has just alighted on the Abbey ramparts, asking after him."

The door opened wider as Matowick pushed his way past Nixalis to confront the mouse Sister. "Saugus? What does he want? What news does he bring?"

"You'd have to ask him that yourself, wouldn't you?" Rosette replied with a trace of well-justified huff. "The way you lot like keeping your secrets, I'm surprised you even asked. The owl's out on the west walltop, if you're really that curious. You're just lucky I happened to run into Gadden on the stairs while he was looking for you, because otherwise he wouldn't have known where to - "

"We'll talk again later," Matowick told his fellow Gawtrybe, dismissing Rosette anyway in spite of her best attempts not to be so disregarded. "Return to Cavern Hole, and to your bedrolls there. If the news Saugus brings is urgent, I will inform you at once. If it isn't, just try to get to sleep, and we'll assess matters anew in the morning - if the Abbot even lets us stay past breakfast." With that he shouldered by Sister Rosette and hurried down the hall toward the stairs.

Nobeast was about within the Abbey, the otter Gadden having returned to his post upon passing his message to Rosette. Matowick overtook the otter outside on the moonlit lawns, and raced up the wallsteps to find Saugus perched patiently upon the battlements just as the Sister had led him to expect - not that this posed any great hardship for the avian Captain, for owls were nothing if not patient birds. Matowick eyed the Abbey squirrels and hares, wondering how Saugus hoped to relay any confidential information with so many listening ears making their presence known.

"Greetings, Captain," Matowick opened with neutral decorum.

"And to you, Captain," Saugus returned, and then cast his widely-blinking gaze down upon the wan lawns. "My second time at Redwall, and it seems I always arrive at night."

Matowick cracked a smile at this droll observation. "Well, that's to be expected, isn't it? What news from Salamandastron, Captain? Nothing dire, I hope?"

"Quite the contrary. Since you undertook this diplomatic overture at Lord Urthblood's behest at a delicate personal time for you, he felt it only right to dispatch me with the news that your wife has given birth to a son. Both mother and babe fare well."

Matowick's own eyes went nearly as wide as the owl's, and he found himself with a paw to his chest as a smile spread across his face. "I'm ... a father?"

"Indeed you are. Lieutenant Perricone named him Elberon, as you had agreed if it was to be a male. She wishes you success in your assignment here, so that you may rejoin her as soon as may be."

Lieutenant Gallatin, taking the overnight watch above the main gates, said with grudging hospitality, "Suppose congratulations 're in order, wot? The birth of a healthy babe's always glad tidings, isn't it?"

"Yes ... yes, it is." Still grinning like a fool, his dilemma over his mission and the ever-maddening ear-ringing all but forgotten in the wake of this joyous news, Matowick said to Saugus, "Thank you for delivering this heartening word to me, Captain - it is very much appreciated. Will you be returning to Salamandastron forthwith?"

"No. This time I get to stay at Redwall and enjoy the Abbey for a change. I am to stay here until your present business is concluded, and then return with you to Salamandastron."

"Ah. But, don't you prefer flying by night?"

"Lord Urthblood thinks that if he needs you back at the mountain, he may need you in a hurry, as is so often the case in his service. I am to escort you in case it proves necessary for you to travel by night as well as by day."

And there was Lord Urthblood's tactical update, delivered in plainspoken fashion right in front of the Abbey defenders, in a way to raise no undue suspicion. But the owl's meaning was clear: Urthblood still expected Matowick to snatch his target and return with the rat to Salamandastron, and to make his escape from Redwall under sun and stars both, in order to stay ahead of any pursuit - and Saugus was here to provide nighttime guidance and overflight assistance for any nocturnal portions of the Gawtrybe's rushed and strategic withdrawal with Latura. Saugus wasn't any kind of great owl, more a scout and messenger than a battler, and not nearly as formidable a warriorbird as Altidor or even Klystra. But his presence would certainly be helpful now, and Matowick was glad to have Saugus for whatever lay ahead.

"Well, that's good to know," Matowick replied. "Hopefully my business here will require another day or two, so that you have a chance to enjoy what Redwall has to offer before you must depart again. Even though my assignment here has yet to yield any solid results, and some clear differences remain between us and the Abbeyfolk, their hospitality remains unsurpassed, and is everything I've always heard it was. I trust you will have opportunity to experience it yourself before we leave."

"Yes, I would like that." Saugus cast his gaze down toward the sprawling rat encampment. "Although there are some parts of the Abbey grounds where I'll try not to venture."

Just then Grota and two of Harth's other rat fighters came bustling along the walltop, alerted to the owl's presence. "Hey, what's this goin' on 'ere? Is this owl a friend o' Redwall's?"

"I am not a foe," Saugus cooly replied.

"One o' Urthblood's birds," Gallatin added, rather unhelpfully.

It was clear Grota would have tightened his grip on his sword or spear, if he'd been allowed a weapon; as it was, he was left clenching his fists reflexively. "What's 'ee doin' 'ere?"

"Just delivering some news of a personal nature," said Matowick, "so don't go worrying your scaly tail over it. Nothing that directly affects you at all."

One of Grota's underlings loudly whispered, "I don' like it, sir. If that badger keeps insertin' 'is creatures one or a few at a time like 'ee is, mebbe it's a way o' takin' over the Abbey in bits 'n' pieces!"

Matowick scoffed. "And I'm sure the Abbey leaders and defenders will just sit back and let that happen. If you'll all excuse me, I'm going back down to rejoin my Gawtrybe before I find out whether stupidity is contagious. Goodnight, Captain. Gentlebeasts."

As he descended the wallsteps and crossed the lawns, Matowick found that not even the accusatory encounter with the rats could dim his spirits, and his light and springy pawsteps left him feeling like he was walking on air. All the frustrations and uncertainties of this missions, and worries about Lady Mina's condition, ebbed away to be replaced by a relaxed elation. All those problems could wait until morning.

For tonight, he was a father!

00000000000

Midnight came and went, and still Gadden held to his vigil along with his fellow otters and Guosim shrews, guarding the main Abbey gates as well as the piles of rat and Gawtrybe weapons. The earlier moon had disappeared behind a lowering overcast, and although the spring night air held no threat of heavy rain, the obscuring clouds cast the Abbey grounds into a deep dark gloom which stood in stark contrast to the friendly moonglow under which Matowick had received his happy news from Captain Saugus.

And when Vanessa materialized out of the blackness, it promised to make their rotation even more interesting. "What a night this's shapin' up to be!" Gadden chuckled to his companions. "First owls 'n' squirrels, an' now the invisible badger-mouse!"

The stripe-faced former Abbess strode right up to the knot of guards, a long plank balanced upon one shoulder. "Ahoy there, Captain Rudderpuppy! Open the gate, please!"

Gadden wasn't sure whether to be amused or surprised at this request. "Hey, Nessa, what're you doin' out an' about in these predawn hours? An' what're y' doin' with that wood?"

"Got some work to do outside. Now open the gate."

The otter chuckled again. "Now, Nessa, you know I can't do that."

"Open the gate."

Gadden opened the gate.

It was a funny thing - or perhaps not so funny after all - that none of the other shrews and otters with Gadden, and none of the squirrels or hares nor even Captain Saugus up on the walltop overlooking the main north-south path, raised any fuss about Vanessa parading through the open gate with her plank, if they even noticed her at all. A short time later she returned, minus her burden, and waved to the sentries as she passed between them. "Keep up the good work! I'll be right back!"

After she'd vanished into the dark, Gadden blinked in confusion, and heard one of the Guosim gruffly bark, "Hey, what's the gate doin' open? Who unbarred it?"

"Dunno. Guess we'd better get it shut, hadn't we?" And so Gadden did just that.

A short time after that, Vanessa appeared from somewhere within the Abbey, another plank on her shoulder. "'allo, Cap'n Thicktail! Open the gate please!"

"Why, Nessa! Why would you wanna go outside this late? An' what's with that plank o' wood y' got there?"

"Open the gate."

Gadden opened the gate, while the other otters and shrews stood by, either approving or oblivious.

"Hey, who opened th' gate?" a shrew grumbled loudly.

"Uh, dunno," said Gadden. "Guess we'd best get it shut, hadn't we?" No sooner had the stalwart otter done so than there came a heavy knock on the closed gate. Puzzled, Gadden lifted the bar and cracked the gate, only to behold Vanessa standing impatiently without. "Why, Nessa, ya liddle scamp! How'd you get out there?"

"Looks like some puddledog's being especially forgetful tonight. Lemme in!"

"Why, shore, Nessa - but don't you go doin' this again! T'ain't safe outside fer a solitary mousemaid!"

"Oh, don't worry about me - I can take care of myself! See you again in a bit!" And into the Abbey grounds she stalked once more.

Moments later, the otters and shrews were standing around on their uneventful late watch when the same shrew said, "Hey, anybeast here seen Vanessa 'round lately? Fer some reason, she's on my mind alla sudden."

"I know whatcher mean, matey. Hey, look, 'ere she comes now! Ain't that coincerdental? Wunner what she's doing with that wood ... "

"Let me out."

"Now, Nessa, you know I can't - "

Gadden opened the gate.

"Got a funny feelin' 'bout tonight," said the shrew. "Like sumpthin' ain't quite right, an' - hey, th' gate's open!"

"I'll get it!" Vanessa volunteered, stepping through the cracked doors and shouldering them shut. "Mind getting the bar for me? Thanks!"

"That was mighty strange," Gadden commented as Vanessa seemed to evaporate into the darkness right before there eyes. "Wonder what that was all about?"

"Hrmm?" said the shrew. "What what was all about?"

"Um ... don't rightly know. What was I just sayin'?"

"If you dunno, then I sure don't neither. But let's have a little less o' you talkin' to yerself while on duty. It's downright distractin'!"

00000000000

The next morning, when a fully-refreshed Colonel Clewiston led the change of watch rotation up to the west walltop to relieve Lieutenant Gallatin, the first thing the Long Patrol commander noticed upon gazing out over the battlements was the crude plank bridge spanning the roadside ditch just south of the Abbey.

"I say, 'tenant, wot's that confounded contraption doin' there? Wasn't there yesterday. More subterfuge from our local neighborhood Gawtrybe, d'you suppose?"

"Oh no, Colonel sah. Nessa laid 'em there. Just part of her fun an' games, don'tcha know. No need t' go raisin' any jolly fuss about it."

"Nessa put 'em there? Where'd she even get that wood from? An' who let her outside to do it? Sounds like somebeast's been rather lax on their gatekeepin' duty. Think I'll hafta have a word or three with those shrews an' otters right now, 'fore I relieve you chaps. An' mebbe let the Abbot know too."

"Sah, I really don't think there's any call for - "

"Hold to your station, 'tenant. I'll be right back." Clewiston turned to retrace his steps down the wallstairs, but found the former Abbess standing before him, blocking his way.

"It's quite all right, Colonel," she assured him. "It's all just harmless fun. The Abbot doesn't need to know."

Clewiston blinked at her in the light from the newly-risen sun. "Sure are makin' a spectacle of ourselves lately, wot? Gone from bein' the mouse nobeast ever sees to showin' up everywhere at once. Well, I'll leave all your pranks 'n' pratfalls to you, an' you leave Redwall's security to me. I'll jolly well decide wot our right old Abbot gets told an' what he doesn't. So step aside, or I'll take you by your trickster tail an' drag you off to Mother Maura."

"The Abbot doesn't need to know."

Clewiston's ear twitched and his whiskers quivered. "On second bloomin' thought, this is all rather inconsequential frivolity an' nonsense, wot. No sense grayin' the old bean's whiskers any grayer with minor an' fleetin' trivialities, wot. 'Specially when he's got so blinkin' much else on his plate an' under his pate, wot wot wot? Be off with you then, an' don't go distractin' your elders when they're on serious lookout duty. Jolly bad form, wot wot wot wot!"

"If you say so, Colonel sir!" Vanessa acknowledged in a half-giggle, then turned and skipped down the wallstairs and out onto the shadowed morning lawns, where she was quickly lost to view, in spite of the fact that there really weren't that many creatures out and about yet in which to lose herself.

"The pique of that one, tryin' to tell her minders how to mind her! Colossal cheek, eh wot, Lieutenant?"

"You said it, Colonel sah. Um, permission t' join ev'rybeast else in Great Hall for brekkers, 'fore the tuck's all gone? Been a long night's shift, after all."

"Course, 'tenant. Dismissed."

"Thankyew, sah!" Gallatin snapped off a crisp salute and led his fellow Long Patrol down from the wall, the nightwatch Abbey squirrels having already preceded them.

Clewiston gazed down at the plank crossing as he leaned against the battlement stone, then shook his head at the sheer silliness of it all.