The construction crew arrived, right on schedule. In the span of a day the peaceful ridge had transformed into an industrial worksite. Mole crews in hard hats wasted little time mixing cement and laying foundation. Bulfie ventured to watch a moment clicking his teeth in distaste.
"Wretched thing t'watch eh." He remarked to no beast in particular.
The dig site felt all the more somber today. No beast laughing or joking as they usually did. Wally worked in absolute silence, as he painstakingly recorded every tiny detail. Beth helped her father sift though buckets of soil, looking for smaller artifacts that might have been left behind. She made a face as the sound of drilling echoed though the summer air. "Sure is noisy." She shouted over the din.
"Get used to it." Bulfie shouted back unsympathetically. Of course the moment the quick words left his lips he instantly felt terrible. He hadn't meant to let his short temper loose on Beth.
The young squirrel seemed no worse for wear. She ran her paw over the mesh screen pushing the soil through. "I hope they quiet down when the Abbot gets here." While she hadn't said anything she was curious as to what the visit would entail. After all there were two partially visible skeletons in the soil; it didn't seem like the sort of thing the news would want to broadcast. Before she could venture to ask, Wally recruited her for the task or resolving this. The solution was quite simple, white sheets would be placed over the bodies. As she carefully draped the sheets over the remains she felt the act to be most morbid. At the start of the season the remains had frightened her, even gave her nightmares. Now she had acclimated to the work. Folding the edges of the sheet she tucked it around the small squirrel. Beth found some stones and used them to weigh down the sheet, lest it blow away. As she turned she smiled down at her handy work. "Sleep tight Leroy, night night Francis."
The ferret was cleaning up his tools beside Beth. He blinked several times, and then grinned. "Ah, friends of yours are they?" he recalled the first day when he encouraged her to name the bodies.
Beth nodded. "They sure are Bulfie, I'm sure they're telling you lots of stories. But I think they may be worried that some of their friends won't be found"
Bulfie heaved a sigh, returning his small tools to his work belt. "I know, I suspect that this area is fairly contained as a burial site. But it is hard to tell what else might be around. Pity it don't look like we'll ever know."
Lockben pulled up to the site, the hare was dressed in a full suit and tie looking most official. He had a worried look on his normally calm features. As he was the dean the media would be looking to him for interviews. The rest of the team hadn't bothered to dress up, as the attention wasn't on them. The Abbot's visit and news conference just meant losing two hours of work time.
The hare patrolled around the dig site, making sure everything was neat and tidy. Bulfie couldn't help but toss a sarcastic salute as the hare marched on by. Checking his watch Lockben seemed to become more and more anxious by the minute.
"The Abbot and news presenters will be here any minute now." He cringed at the sound of construction. "I rather hope that din pipes down. Wally, d'ye mind having a word with their foremole?"
Wally excused himself crossing to the other side of the ridge to talk with the construction crew. Meanwhile, the dig site was visited by a rather familiar face.
"Jennifer?" Dr. Lockben was taken aback seeing the weasel again so soon. The trim weasel smiled, stepping out of the car.
"Hello Dr. Lockben, heard you got new neighbours." She nodded towards the construction crews. "Sorry I didn't call ahead, I went by the university, but when they said you were here I thought I ought to come right over."
"I'm sorry m'dear, but we're rather busy today wot. Abbot Alfred is due at any minute."
The weasel nodded understandingly. "Yes, your office informed me of this, I just thought perhaps you would like to have a peak at the gift I brought." She motioned for the team to come to the car. Traveling with her was Captain Tussock. Beth smiled, pleased to see the kind hare again. Winking to the young squirrel Tussock unlocked the back seat. Inside was a special protective case. Fumbling with the keys the hare opened it up. There inside, was a large barkcloth bound book. "Just some light bedtime reading for y'chaps."
Dr. Lockben couldn't believe his eyes, pacing forward his jaw dropped. "That's, that's…"
Jennifer nodded. "Compliments of Lord Urthbriar himself, of course it is only on loan from the Salamandastron records."
Lockben could practically feel his paws itch, he wanted to read the tome so badly.
"Does that have all the information about the battle?" Beth asked, she hadn't seen any document this old before.
"It does one better missy." Tussock smiled. "Our historian wallah had a peek at it before sending it along, said it has copies of the full recruits list. Never was much of a history buff, but the chaps say Lord Russano was top notch when it came to keeping important writings. Mayhaps that's why they called him Russano the scholar."
"T'was Russano the wise actually." Lockben corrected.
Tussock shrugged and locked up the book once more. More cars were arriving now, news crews, and of course Abbot Alfred.
Beth was slightly disappointed by the Abbot. She had seen him on the news before, and had expected he would be taller. Instead to the teenager, he looked nothing more than an old mouse in a bathrobe. His frail paws her folded in his wide habit sleeves. Alfred strolled towards them with another mouse in a deep green habit. Recognizing Lockben immediately he held his paws wide in greeting. Departing from the others the hare quickly joined the Abbot to discuss the matters of the day.
Beth's attention was on the Long Patrol officer. "Are you visiting long?"
Tussock shook his head. "Just a few days, they wanted an official escort for the book dontcha know. The bally thing is still considered a military record, even if it's nearly a thousand blinking years old. Now isn't that the strangest thing you've ever heard?"
They shared a laugh and the hare continued. "I don't mind though. Penny came along too, she's off with her girlfriends. Picking out wedding dresses more than likely." He grinned and shook his head. "Quite the to do with the Abbot being here and all wot?" he nodded towards the elderly mouse. "'spose y'don't get things like this in your neck of the woods."
The young squirrel shook her head. "No, that's for sure."She watched as one of the news reporters interviewed the Abbot and Lockben. "Dad, do you think they can save the site?"
Dan patted his daughter on the shoulder. "Hard to say at this point Beth, but we can always hope."
With the interview over Abbot Alfred and his small contingent of Abbey mice walked solemnly towards the dig site. The cameras followed close behind. Lockben guided him around where they had been digging, explaining the procedure and all the other boring technical stuff. Beth tuned all this out, standing just outside of the camera's view, but close enough to hear and watch everything. Wally returned, slipping into the small forming crowd. He appeared to have been successful as the noise had died down considerably. Even a few of the moles had come over to see what the Abbot had to say, each removing their hard hats respectfully.
Abbot Alfred cleared his throat and stood before the news cameras. Peering through thick glasses he read from a speech he had prepared.
"I stand before you today, humbled and in great admiration for what is taking place here. What was once lost to our history has been rediscovered. Many fine creatures from St. Ninian's university have toiled long hours in the summer sun, to answer our questions of our past. History tells us that Mossflower was not always the land of prosperity and peace it is today. There has long been strife and hardship, throughout the ages Redwall has stood as a symbol of harmony and sanctuary during these most trying times. It can be easy for us to forget that in the far reaches of the past, we nearly lost everything. These warriors, the brave creatures entombed here, perhaps only dreamt of the world we enjoy. They sacrificed their lives so that the old, and young would enjoy a woodland free of tyranny and death. It is for these brave creatures that now rest in the dark forest, I say these words of gratitude and thanks. Without them, we might not be here this day. Please join me in a moment of silent thought for those who gave their young lives for our woodland." The old mouse raised his paws and bowed his head. The other robed mice folded their paws before them and bowed their heads.
Glancing around Beth noticed other creatures following these actions. So to not draw attention to herself she bowed her head as well. Glancing around she wondered how long this moment would last. It seemed to go on for a life time. Beth didn't really know what thoughts Abbot Alfred wanted her to think. Sure she thought it was sad that young creatures died, or that any creature was killed in war. For Beth this battle was so far removed in the past, it didn't really strike her as particularly sad anymore.
When the moment ended, the Abbot thanked all the news casters for being there, then went along for more interviews. Beth just stood around, unsure of what she ought to do. They couldn't exactly return to work with so many creatures around. So she milled about, trying not to look too awkward. She was about to talk to Bulfie, when she saw the ferret talking on his phone. With a cross look on his face he put the mobile back in his pocket and headed towards the car. There was no explanation, he just drove off.
"What happened?" She asked a baffled looking Wally.
The otter had grown used to this from Bulfie. "Probably something up with his kids again."