Chapter 3
Well, the river certainly was packed.
The young ferret couldn't remember ever seeing so many creatures all in one place!
There were huge crowds of chattering squirrels, squeaking mice, grumbling hedgehogs, mumbling moles, chortling otters, and shrill-voiced voles. Mostly woodlanders, there were, except there was a scattering of vermin here and there. The young ferret knew he saw what looked like a healer vixen tending to the paw of an otter, two rats who were sitting on a couple of rocks, playing a heated game involving colored pebbles, a small crowd of weasels guffawing at something, and a little fox cub sitting in the lap of a large badger.
The young ferret stopped to take another look at the last one to check if he really had seen that, but he was so jostled by the crowd that he could barely see an arm's length ahead of him.
Ugh, he thought. Is what I'm going to Mossflower for really worth all this?
Standing on tip-paw, the young ferret could almost see the river. There were several docks all around the bank, which allowed the shrews to store baggage and supplies for their passengers. The ferret stared at the shrews; he had never seen one before, only heard of them. They were tiny, so short and stocky, with such long snouts! They all wore bright-colored bandanas and belts with rapiers shoved through them. Some of the shrews wore tunics, others wore kilts.
They don't look like the dangerous fighters that they're described as, thought the young ferret, but then again, appearances were deceiving.
The shrews looked as though they were finished filling up their boats and were allowing some of the waiting beasts on board. The young ferret, watching closely, realized that there wasn't any more room on any of the boats! He'd have to wait until the shrew boats came back!
The young ferret groaned aloud and dropped his haversack to the ground. However, after glancing around, he noticed that none of the other beasts looked disappointed by the shrew's departure.
"Don't worry," said a voice near the ferret. He turned to see a gray-furred male mouse wearing a ragged kilt looking up at him from a small fire. "There are more than just those boats," the mouse explained. "There'll be other boats that'll come by after an hour or so. You don't have to worry."
"Thanks a lot," the ferret grumbled as he picked up his bag and pushed his way through the crowds. As he went, he thought heard the mouse say something about "bad manners", but he chose to ignore it.
Oh, but the ferret was hungry!
Why, oh why, hadn't he asked those two squirrels for something to eat? Treebolt might not have given him anything, but the older squirrel might have. Oh, why had he been so rash to get away?
First you wear the wrong tunic on your journey and it gets all torn up by a crazy otter, and now you pass up the opportunity to ask for food.
Tired, hungry, and pawsore, the young ferret found a tree with the roots sticking up out of the ground. The roots were large enough to be a sort of chair, which was why the young ferret plopped gratefully down on them. His shoulders slumped and his paw lost its grip on the haversack.
As he leaned his head back against the tree, the ferret soon became aware of lively, youthful chattering . . . and a strong scent of food.
The young ferret opened his eyes and leaned forward, his eyes following his nose to the place where the scent was coming from. It was coming from a group of woodlander youths who looked like they were out on a picnic. All of them were bright-eyed, cheerful, and eating.
The ferret felt his mouth water as he beheld the young mice, squirrels, otters, hedgehogs, moles, and voles sink their teeth into pasties and farls and tarts, all sorts of hot, streaming scents wafting about them. The scents were rich, spicy, sweet, salty, and succulent.
One of the youths, an otter, was taking a huge bite of a fish (probably one that he caught from the river), and saying to a nearby hedgehog (who was feasting on a crispy golden pastry), "I'm hungry!"
The young ferret felt a small pang in his stomach when he heard those words. He suddenly realized what he was doing and quickly picked up his haversack and dug out his food pack.
Glancing up, the young ferret noticed that the woodlander youths were accompanied by a huge, fierce-looking female badger wearing a funny-looking brown-green robe with a cowl and cord girdle. She watched over them with pleased, gentle dark eyes. There was also a mouse who looked to be in her middle seasons, also wearing a funny greenish-brown robe.
Must be from Redwall, the ferret thought as he opened up his food pack. But what would Redwallers be doing in this neck of the woods? Besides, the youths that the two females were with weren't wearing the traditional robes, just belts, kilts, and tunics.
Oh well. It was none of his business.
The young ferret looked down into his food pack to find two biscuits left. One of them, the bigger one, was staler than the other. The young ferret hesitated, and then took out the smaller biscuit that was fresher.
Sitting with his back straight and setting a carefree look on his face, the ferret gave the biscuit a dainty nibble, bravely pretending that he had little appetite and was not in the least bit interested in what those woodlanders were eating.
After he took his first nibble, the ferret noticed something beside him. Turning his head, he saw that it was a little mousemaid, about four seasons old, as cute as she could be, staring up at him with huge blue eyes.
Immediately the ferret knew what the mouseling was after, but didn't want to draw attention to himself, so he tried to ignore the little mouse and took another dainty nibble.
But the little mouseling still continued on staring at him with those enormous blue eyes. . . .
Finally, with strained calmness, the ferret held out the biscuit between two claws. The mouseling took the offered item in her small paw, and, with a polite curtsy, trundled off to her mother.
From the crowd of woodlander youths, a squirrel had been watching the young ferret intently.
He turned to a mousemaid that was standing beside him, and whispered into her ear.
The two shared a meaningful look and a nod, and started walking toward the ferret.
The young ferret was furious, but not in the same he had been at Skipper.
He was hungry and now had only a stale biscuit to sustain him for the rest of his trip, which would probably take days before it was over. But there was no fire in his rage, only a resigned resentment. That mouseling sure had been cute, and of course she hadn't been exactly rude. . . .
Konk!
Startled, the ferret yelped when realized his food pack was being knocked out of his lap.
"Oh! Dear me! I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you!"
The young ferret yelped again; it was that crazy otter!
But no! It was only a mousemaid, who had his food pack back in his lap before the ferret could say or do anything.
"I'm so sorry! How rude of me!" the maiden said, her hazel eyes filled with sincerity as she tried to wipe off dirt and grass from the stale biscuit.
Before the ferret could reply, a sturdily-built squirrel appeared at the mouse's side.
"Say Fern," he said jovially. "Have you ever tasted a vegetable gravy pasty?"
"Vegetable gravy pasty?" the mousemaid asked, laughing. "What's that?"
"Well, it's an old recipe of my aunt Pineflowers'. It won her four proposals. Try it, and see if you like it," he said, holding out a luscious-looking pasty.
"Oh, no thanks, I'm full," the mousemaid said, holding up her paws.
The squirrel turned to the ferret. "How about you, sir?" he asked, holding out the savory-smelling pasty, smiling. "Would you like to try it?"
The ferret was taken aback. He looked at the steaming pasty and then up at the mouse and squirrel. Both of their faces were open and kind, warm, welcoming smiles on their faces. If they were putting him on, he couldn't tell. Oh well, if they were, he better get on with it.
"Why, yes, thank you," said the ferret as he tentatively took the offered pasty. "Matter of fact, I've always wanted to taste a vegetable gravy pasty." He blew on the pasty and took a bite. Then he gobbled it all down with relish.
The mouse and squirrel laughed.
"Looks like you liked that just fine," chuckled the squirrel. He was a strong-looking beast, with an extra-red tail. "Here, you have to try a chestnut cheese sandwich and a maple hazelnut pastry to balance the whole thing," he added, holding out a sandwich and pastry.
"Well thank you," the ferret said, eagerly taking them. "I hope I'm not troubling you."
"If Cluny the Scourge had our provisions, he'd still be alive," said a gruff but friendly voice from above.
The three youths looked up to see the badger lady. She stood with her paws akimbo, towering above them, her eyes alight with approval as she watched the young ferret eat. Standing beside the badger was the middle-seasoned mouse, her face kind and smiling.
"It's always nice to see young uns eating," the mouse lady said, her paws folded as she also looked upon the ferret with approval.
The ferret was even more taken aback. He thought that Redwallers couldn't abide vermin. . . .
The mouse lady and badger seemed to pick up on this, for they both laughed. "Don't look so suprised," said the mouse. "We Redwallers are willing to give help to anybeast in need."
"Just so long as those beasts don't try to attack us," said the badger, a grim twinkle in her eye.
The other woodlander youths had noticed how there was a group forming around the young ferret, and so this resulted in the entire crowd huddling themselves at the ferrets' feet, as though he were a famous storyteller. All of them looked upon the ferret with keen interest.
The young ferret was quite bewildered by all of this, but nevertheless took it all in stride, and decided to introduce himself.
"Well, thank you all for the food. I'll try to repay you-"
"I wouldn't hear of it," said the mouse lady, waving her paw. "We've got plenty to spare. And besides, we're going back to our Abbey today, so I don't think we'll have to worry about food for awhile."
"Well, thank you," said the ferret, even more taken aback. "Um, my name is Kelaiah, I'm from up north," he added before he took a bite of his pastry.
"We're Redwall Novices!" announced the young squirrel with the extra-red tail.
"Novices?" Kelaiah asked, taking a proffered napkin that a volemaid offered him.
"Redwall Abbey is sick and tired of having only oldbeasts and dibbuns around whenever there are vermin attacking our gates," explained the badger lady, her face serious, thought there was a slight smile about her lips. "Oh, we have been able to keep ourselves alive until help comes, but it can't always be like that. Things would be easier if we had some young strong paws about to help keep the abbey safe from trouble. So, we held a counsel, and we all decided to go out and ask if any youngbeasts would like to come to live at the Abbey."
"And Brockrose here insisted that she go," said the mouse lady, a playful grin on her face. "Couldn't wait to get away from the dibbuns."
Before Kelaiah could ask what a "dibbun" was, the badger lady was barking good-naturedly, "I did not! I just didn't want a bunch of oldsters wandering around where there's danger."
"Oh yes!" said a young otter eagerly. "I've heard about all the skirmishes that Redwall endures! It'd be great to-"
"Remember, young one," said the middle-seasoned mouse, "that even though there will times when fighting is necessary, Redwall is still a place of peace, where we tend and care for the sick, the wounded, the hungry, and the afflicted, no matter what age, gender, or species. You all must remember that," she added, looking out seriously at all the now-sober young faces.
In the silence that followed, Kelaiah spoke up. "So yer all going to Mossflower, then, eh? That's where I'm going."
Immediately the young ferret was bombarded by eager questions.
"Oh, do you live there?"
"No."
"Are you visiting?"
"No."
"Are you moving there?"
"No."
"Are you joining a horde?" asked a snooty-looking vole, who received a kick from the sturdy squirrel. "Ow!"
"No," said Kelaiah, laughing.
"Then why are you going?"
Kelaiah looked out at all the eager, curious faces, and revealed his mission: "To get married."
This brought on such an outcry that many other beasts on the bank looked over at the youths worriedly.
The maidens giggled and cooed, while the males grinned and nudged each other.
"Does she live in Mossflower?"
"No, not really," explained Kelaiah. "You see, I'm from north of Mossflower, and she's from south of Mossflower, so we're going to set up our home right in between our homelands."
"What's her name?"
"Her name is Germantha."
"Hm, strange name."
"No stranger than mine," Kelaiah said, feeling that he ought to stand up for his wife-to-be.
"What's she look like?"
"Is she pretty?"
"Is she tall and willowy?"
"Mm-hmm," said Kelaiah as he took a bite of pastry.
"With sleek glossy black fur and emerald-green eyes?"
"Mm-hmm."
"I always thought violet eyes were pretty," said somebeast else.
Kelaiah started to say something, but ended up coughing on his pastry. Taking a proffered cup of mint tea, he managed to say, "Hers are violet."
"You said they were emerald," said the snooty-looking vole.
"Well they are," said Kelaiah, swallowing. "I mean, one of them is."
"One of her eyes is emerald and the other is violet?"
"I mean, well. . . ." Kelaiah looked at all the young woodlanders who had been so nice to him, and suddenly felt a wave of guilt and shame.
"I'm sorry," he began, blushing. "I was wrong to lie like that."
The woodlanders looked more surprised then offended.
"You mean you're not getting married?"
"Oh, I am getting married. I was lying like that earlier to give myself some face; I haven't met my bride."
"If you've never met her," said the snooty-looking vole. "Then why are you marrying her?"
"It's an arranged marriage," explained Kelaiah grudgingly.
This brought on some giggles and chortles, some indignant sounds, some surprised sounds.
"Well really-!" said the vole, but received a shove from the sturdy squirrel, who turned to Kelaiah.
"Eh, back home," the squirrel said. "Our chieftain's daughter was wailing one day about how lonely she was. So I offered her my paw in marriage. She took one look at me and said, 'I'm not that lonely'."
As soon as the general laughter receded, the mousemaid, Fern, said, "Well I think it's lovely! I'm sure you two will be very happy!"
"Thank you, I hope so," said Kelaiah, making a comical face so that the youths laughed again.
"Is there any reason why your marriage is an arranged one?" asked the snooty-looking vole, who quickly dodged another kick from the squirrel.
"Oh, there's been a feud between both of our fathers for seasons, until finally my father said to her father, 'Look, there is little point in us being rivals when we could just simply let bygones be bygones and join forces.' And so our fathers agreed that the marriage between their children (that's us) would be more or less the seal on the agreement."
"Well," said the badger lady, Brockrose. "I think you're doing the right thing, helping your father get rid of a rival and gain an ally at the same time. Truly honorable, young un."
All of the others heartily agreed.
"Have you got any wedding garments?" somebeast asked.
"Yes, I have, actually," said Kelaiah as he reached into his haversack. He pulled out a magnificent black tunic with elegant embroidery about the hem and collar.
There were gasps of admiration as the young ferret held up his wedding garment.
"Well, I must say, young one," said the middle-seasoned mouse. "I admire your spirit. I hardly know any male who'd get that dressed up for their wife-to-be."
Just then a deep cry filled the air.
"Logalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogalogloooooooog!"
"Oh, the shrews! There's more here!" cried the youths, jumping up.
"Come on, now, young uns, calm down," barked out Brockrose. "Pick up your things and get to a big boat."
The middle-seasoned mouse turned to Kelaiah, a welcoming smile on her face. "Well, since you're going south anyway, why don't you come along with us?"
Next thing Kelaiah knew, he was sitting in a shrew boat, sandwiched in between Fern and the sturdy squirrel (whom he found out was named Redbrush), surrounded by loudly singing shrews and woodlanders in a rocking boat, on his way down the river to Mossflower. . . . and his new bride. . . .
Well, this is certainly something I never expected myself to do, Kelaiah thought to himself. He wondered just what new events would befall him on this trip. . . .
A/N: The reason I didn't name the ferret in the last chapters is because I wanted him to introduce himself. And yes, I named him after me. That's because he has certain quirks that belong to me. But then again, so far a lot of my main characters have qualities that are similar to my own: hard, bitter, resentful Horty; brave, wild, charming Gerrith; gentle, mellow-hearted Windblade; dark, sinister, mysterious Zurzak; and fragile, doomed Dernwyn.
Anyway. . . .
How is my character (Kelaiah) coming along so far? How would you describe him? What needs to be improved about him? What more should we all know about him?
Please read & review, and thank you all so much for all the previous ones! (To reward you all for being so nice in reviewing me, I shall write extra good stories, eh? I can hear you all holler for joy (sarcastic mode on, btw). Whatever. R&R!)
