Chapter 27

Night had fallen over Mossflower as Toka's horde made camp for the night. Separated from the rest of the horde, Mokeet watched the many tents that had been set up cast a yellowish glow in the clearing they had stopped in.

They had made good progress, or at least Mokeet assumed they did, for Toka seemed fairly cheerful, a sure sign that things, for the moment, were going his way. This worried Mokeet, because a happy Toka spelt trouble for someone.

But then he remembered the peculiar and secret meeting with Weylan the day previous. Redwall had a plan, what it was he didn't know, but part of it was to get Toka to leave for the otter treasure, and on that part they succeeded.

But the plan from there was still unknown to Mokeet. He wanted to help, more than he had, but how could he if he didn't know what the Redwallers planned?

He looked over at his guards, sitting around a small campfire they had made joking and drinking, keeping close to Mokeet in case they were needed, but not really keeping at eye on the otter. Mokeet saw that now would be an opportune time to try and escape, but he knew he couldn't. He had already tried several times over the years to no avail.

The time passed. Mokeet curled up in the bottom of his cage, intermittently watching the camp start to fall asleep, and his guards interacting with one another. He wasn't sure exactly when he dozed off, but when he awoke again, he wasn't surprised it had happened. Looking around he saw that most of the camp had settled in for the night, all of them undoubtably sleeping with the exception of the lookouts that had been posted, and obviously Mokeet's guards, who were to keep an eye on him at all times.

But when he turned to look in their direction, he was surprised to see all of them soundly asleep, their campfire having long ago gone out.

This puzzled Mokeet. Toka's horde was very well trained in the arts of war and, in this case, the art of looking over a prisoner. This had never happened before, and shouldn't of ever happened. Frowning, Mokeet turned around to settle back down to sleep again, only to come face to face with Mattimeo.

"Hello!" Mattimeo said softly as Mokeet jumped in surprise.

"Wot're ye doin' 'ere?" Mokeet asked quickly, "Don't ye know Toka's guards are everywhere? They could spy ye at..."

"Don't worry, the only ones posted in this area of camp are them." Mattimeo said, jerking his head in the direction of the sleeping guards. "And they aren't going to be bothering anybody for awhile."

"But 'ow do ye know that they won't wake up at any moment?" Mokeet asked, still worried.

"Because their drinks has been laced with this." Mattimeo explained, holding up a small flask.

Mokeet studied it, beginning to put two with two. "That's..." he began.

"...A sleeping draft, yes." Mattimeo finished. "Our healer is very good at making them. Add this is that drink of theirs, and they're out like lights. I slipped some into our friends drinks earlier today when they set them to one side of camp, unguarded, easily accessible."

"But...why?" Mokeet asked. "I mean, why go to all of that trouble?"

"To make sure you're all right." Mattimeo replied, "And to do so in private. I still intend on getting you out of here, and it will be vital to be able to explain things in full wherever necessary."

"Then explain to me wot Redwall is plannin' to do." Mokeet said, making use of Mattimeo's statement. "I did wot ye asked me to do. I got Toka to ask ye guys fer yore surrender. But I 'aven't the foggiest idea wot ye plan to do from there."

"Well, first off, Redwall isn't going to surrender." Mattimeo began explaining. "In fact, if everything's gone according to plan, they're vermin free at the moment."

"But Toka left a score of vermin behind." Mokeet objected.

"Yes, but Redwall has twice that many of warrior shrews already, and they have means to get to almost anyplace within the abbey grounds without being seen." Mattimeo continued.

Mokeet did not need to ask what that implied.

"But wot about the lookout Toka left to overlook the entire abbey?" the otter asked next. "He would've seen the conflict an' sent word of the event back to the horde."

"Not if he was taken care of first." Mattimeo replied.

"But won't Toka get suspicious if no reports come in from him?" Mokeet asked.

"Oh, the reports will keep coming." Mattimeo said. "That's the beauty of the plan, if it works out right. One of the creatures in Redwall, an otter like yourself, can mimic the voices of others. He'll take the role of the lookout at Redwall, and be sending false reports back here to Toka. And since they can't see each other, only hear each other, the illusion is foolproof."

"But only if those conditions remain the same." Mokeet pointed out.

"Yes, we have a problem if Toka sends somebeast to find the lookouts." Mattimeo said. "But he won't if he doesn't suspect that the chain has been compromised."

"Okay, so, with a little luck, Redwall's vermin free." Mokeet recapped. "But that doesn't do ye much good. The rest of the horde is still 'ere."

"That's the next part of the plan." Mattimeo said. "The treasure cave is booby trapped."

"Wot?" Mokeet asked, surprised. "Booby trapped?"

"Yes, and hopefully it will be effective enough to wipe out most of the horde, if not all of it." Mattimeo said. "Assuming that all of the horde enters the cave, that is."

"Toka's too cautious, not to mention he's in foreign territory." Mokeet said, shaking his head. "He'll leave guards up just to be safe."

"And that is to be expected." Mattimeo said. "But the less there are, the better this plan will go. So we need Toka to be as confident as possible. Make him think that the risk of attack is real low."

"I'm assumin' that's where I come in." Mokeet stated.

"Yes, if you make sure Toka's confidence remains high, it'll help." Mattimeo replied.

Mokeet nodded in understanding. "But, back to the treasure cave." he said, changing the subject. "How do ye got the place rigged?"

"It's simple." Mattimeo explained. "There are two entrances into the cave. One of the them is hidden. Toka and the horde will enter through one entrance. Weylan and I will sneak in the other way. At the tunnel's entrance is a rope that is tied to..."

But that was as far as Mattimeo got. The pop of a twig snapping rang out behind a ridge of bushes some distance away, ringing out in the silent night. Mattimeo quickly looked in that general direction, saw that somebeast was coming, and quickly vanished into the night.

Mokeet waited anxiously as the sound of pawsteps came to his ears, steadily growing louder as the creature, whoever he or she was, came closer. The brush rustled once, then, finally, after a nerve-racking moment, Knottail's head poked out of the brush, looking straight at Mokeet. He either did not see the sleeping guards or was ignoring them.

"Mokeet." he said calmly.

"Knottail." Mokeet greeted back.

Knottail's eyes surveyed the area around the wooden cage. "Anything happening here?" the weasel asked, his quick search not turning up anything of interest.

"Nothin' but a pore otter tryin' to sleep." Mokeet replied, annoyed. "Doesn't 'elp that there are silly beasts like you trompin' around."

Knottail frowned at that remark. "For your information, I was journeying to the supply tent." the weasel remarked hotly.

"Then why are ye over 'ere?" Mokeet remarked.

"I thought I saw..." Knottail began to reply, but then trailed off, shrugging. "Never mind." he mumbled, and walked off.

Mokeet let out his breath, unaware until then that he had been holding it. That was a very close call. Mattimeo was very lucky tonight. But Mokeet knew that if the mouse kept trying it again and again, eventually his luck would run out...

The following morning, Cheek awoke from his perch in the tree to sunlight streaming though the leafy canopy. Sitting up, the otter shivered, feeling a cool breeze sweep through the branches, a sign that autumn was coming closer. Pulling out a blanket from his canvas bag of tools and items he might need and wrapping it around him, he sat back, staring out intermittently at the neighboring abbey and out at the horizon of trees that was Mossflower woods.

He hadn't been awake long when Swayner suddenly dropped down in front of him from a higher branch, startling Cheek.

"Breakfast." Swayner announced, holding up a sack in one paw.

Eagerly, Cheek took the sack and began rooting through it, saving the best for last. Swayner sat down next to him, watching.

"Hungry, huh?" Swayner asked, watching the otter down a flask of October Ale.

"Aye matey." Cheek replied. "Tis torture havin' to sit up in this tree all day long, cut off from the abbey kitchens, havin' nothin' to do but sit 'ere and watch the sun rise and the sun set. Ye'd 'ave more to do in the abbey right now than up 'ere."

"Not as much as you'd think." Swayner replied. "Father Abbot won't let us out onto the grounds until we get word that the danger has passed for good, just in case something goes wrong with the plan."

"Well, on my end of the ordeal, things are goin' well." Cheek announced proudly, taking another long drink from the flask. "Nobeasts suspects nothin'. I'm confident we can pull this off."

"As am I." Swayner replied, staring down at the ground below, dangling his paws off of the branch.

This time it was Cheek watching Swayner curiously. "Somethin' on yore mind, Swayner?" he asked.

Swayner nodded. "It's Marigold." he replied.

"Wot, were her injuries worse than we thought?" Cheek asked urgently, fearing the worse.

"Oh no, she's doing fine." Swayner quickly assured Cheek. "Sister May says she'll make a full recovery. It's just...well...just...see, I kinda...kinda...er..."

"Ah." Cheek said knowingly, catching on. "You like her, dontcha?"

Swayner nodded, slightly embarrassed.

"Well, mate." Cheek said, readjusting his position so he could face Swayner. "I don't know much about this kind of thing, havin' never had that much luck with the maidens yet. But Basil told me once that the best thing to do is to first find out what the maiden thinks of you."

"I'm still working on that." Swayner admitted.

"Second, ye impress her." Cheek said.

"How?" Swayner asked.

"Can ye keep a secret?" Cheek asked.

"Yes." Swayner replied instantly.

"Ye know those stories Basil is always tellin'?"

"Yes."

"Half of 'em ain't true."

"Really?"

"Yep. He says he makes 'em up to impress the maidens."

"So I'll have to make up wild stories in order to impress Marigold?" Swayner asked, not liking the idea of that.

"No." Cheek answered. "Ye do wot interests the maiden the best, an' wot ye do best. Which leads me to me final point. Just be yoreself."

"Be myself." Swayner repeated, thinking that through. "It's that simple?"

"Accordin' to Basil." Cheek replied, munching on an apple. "'Course, he ain't always the best source fer this kind of things, but in this case, wot he says makes sense."

"In that case, guess I'll try it." Swayner said.

"Jolly good mate. I'll bet..."

But Cheek got cut off as a shout rang out into the air.

"Hey! This is Dorrin, checkin' in. Ya there Whiptail?"

"Aye, I'm 'ere mate!" Cheek called back, perfectly mimicking the late Whiptail's sniveling voice. "Wot's up?"

"Just checkin' in." the unseen vermin named Dorrin called. "Anythin' goin' on at the abbey?"

"Nope!" Cheek called back. "Everythin' 'ere's quieter than a sleepin' mouse!"

"Good!" Dorrin called back. "One more thing, however. Have yeh seen any beats sneaking out of the abbey?"

Cheek frowned. "No, why?"

"Got orders from the horde to keep an eye out for anybeast sneaking in or out of the abbey." came Dorrin's answer. "Pass the word along immediately if yeh see any."

Cheek frowned and glanced at Swayner quickly before asking again, "Why?"

"Dunno." Dorrin called back. "Just know that we've got orders and we gotta keep 'em."

"Okay, will do!" Cheek answered, wrapping up the conversation. "I'll keep yeh posted!" Cheek then returned to his usual voice, turning to Swayner. "Wot was that about?" he asked.

Toka was watching his horde making it's final preparations to march again when Knottail walked up.

"Milord, I don't want to cause you any alarm, but we have a problem." he said urgently.

Toka turned his full attention to his captain. "What's wrong?" he demanded.

"Two beasts, hanging about somewhere out of sight in the woods." Knottail said. "They've been following us."

Toka cursed, then continued softly, "What do you know about them?"

"That's there's at least two." Knottail answered. "I think one of them was trying to talk with Mokeet during the night."

"Can we find out exactly where they are, and who they are?" Toka asked.

"Not really." Knottail admitted. "They're doing it very well, following us along the same path as the horde's so that their pawprints would be mixed up with ours. They're on a constant lookout for trouble as well. As for who they are, I'd say that they're most likely abbeybeasts. And I was able to find one pawprint indicating that at least one of them is a mouse."

"Mouse?" Toka repeated, then glared off into the shaded woods that surrounded them darkly. "Mattimeo..."