Chapter 9

The trio of Cupper, Drepp and Troblaw had continued onward quite a ways, until they found a stream and heard voices from nearby. Troblaw identified them as shrews' voices, and Cupper found tracks that were evidently shrew tracks, because there was a piece of molding shrewbread on the trail. The hares followed the tracks until they met up with two big logboats bobbing on the stream, and there, a big argument was in full swing. A fat, short shrew was arguing with a tall, short-limbed one.

"Why'd ye leave that shrewbread back on that trail? By now, some vermin or other probably found it and followed the tracks. Huh, I'm surprised if'n we aren't bein' watched!"

At that moment, a shrew who the hares recognized as Log-a-Log Taggler noticed them peeking out from behind a big spruce tree and roared, "Who are ye, an' do ye come in peace? I can tell from the ears you're hares, so me an' me Guosim won't harm ye. Speak up!"

"Cupper, Drepp, an' Troblaw, from Salamandastron, sah! Us three are on a quest to kill some vermin, sah! You're Log-a-Log Taggler, correct, sah?"

Log-a-Log's face broke into a wide grin. "Aye, I'm Taggler, sure enough. This un here is Kelgar, an' the short un is Peggle Shortleg, our tracker. Peggle says he found vermin tracks leading downstream, doesn't look like a big army, only two hundred or so. Want ter help us find 'em?"

Cupper smiled. "Aye, an' maybe these vermin are the vermin we're searching for. You in, Drepp an' Troblaw?"

Drepp and Troblaw agreed immediately. "Yes, definitely! When do we start, sah?"

"Less of the 'sah' an' more of the 'mate' or 'Taggler', but not 'ole'. Got it?"

"Yes, sah-Sorry!"

"I think ye got it. Ready ter start our search for those vermin?"

"Yes, Taggler!"

Close to dinnertime, the trio of hares and the Guosim had paddled to a strange sinkhole. Log-a-Log Taggler was a bit nervous about it, and ordered the shrews to paddle super-fast. A short time after they had gone, the adder Setorus came out, gnawing on the headless carcass of Arril the rat, slain by Fattooth. Setorus had already eaten the carcasses of Ripnose and Fattooth, and had saved the worst for last, as the space where the head had been was already full of maggots.

Dinner was quite large as it was a celebration of three new paddlers. The appetizer was shrewbread, with vegetable soup to dip it in, the main course was a surprise (which Log-a-Log had learned from some moles) of deeper'n'ever turnip'n'tater'n'beetroot pie, grilled fish (cod or salmon) and a choice of blackberry cordial or strawberry fizz, a recipe the Guosim had learned on one of their many visits to Redwall, and dessert was a giant plum-strawberry-bilberry pie. Log-a-Log was surprised at how much Cupper, Drepp and Troblaw ate. Together, they had eaten and drank two and a half loaves of shrewbread, eleven bowls of soup, an entire deeper'n'ever turnip'n'tater'n'beetroot pie, a whole salmon, six beakers of blackberry cordial, five beakers of strawberry fizz, and almost half of the giant plum-strawberry-bilberry pie. Drepp was scoffing his sixth slice of deeper'n'ever pie, while Cupper was chugging his beaker of strawberry fizz and enjoying the feeling of his stomach fizzing like the strawberry fizz he was drinking, and Troblaw was eating his thirteenth piece of shrewbread. By contrast, all the shrews combined had eaten and drank two loaves of shrewbread, eight and a half bowls of soup, ten-twelfths of a deeper'n'ever turnip'n'tater'n'beetroot pie, two cod, seven beakers of blackberry cordial, three beakers of strawberry fizz, and the rest of the giant plum-strawberry-bilberry pie. Log-a-Log Taggler sat back and remarked to Peggle, "Whew! That was a big meal, I'm stuffed. Look at those hares; they're still eating, and mighty fast. What gigantic eaters!"

"Aye, they're scoffin', sure enough. Lookit Troblaw, he's eatin' his fifteenth piece of shrewbread!"

"Definitely, they c'n scoff. Cupper's tryin' to eat the rest of the second deeper'n'ever pie. Hoi, Cupper, are ye a mole now?"

Cupper imitated the molespeech perfectly. "Aye, oi'm a mole. Wot be's you?"

"I'm a shrew, as is Taggler an' Kelgar over there. Wait, I'd better check. Kelgar!"

"Wot?"

"Are ye a shrew?"

"No, I'm a frog wid three noses!"

The hares overheard the sarcastic reply and dissolved into giggles.

The next day, Skorret and his fourteen score vermin were travelling somewhere they didn't know, as there were no good pathfinders in the Vtcoah. They were completely lost. Skorret scanned the sky for smoke, and instead found a red belltower rising up amidst the dense trees.

"Hoi, you there, stoat, wot's yer name?" he said to Browntail.

"Browntail, Chief," he replied.

"Alright. Browntail, you see that belltower there?"

"Aye, why?"

"Go an' scout it out. Take somebeast with yer."

"Aye, Chief!"

Browntail chose a big, stupid fox called Norrig to help. They went off toward the belltower, wondering what they would find.

In a bit Browntail and Norrig had reached a small side wallgate which was below the belltower. The structure was quite big, with ivy covering the walls, and weeds growing out of the cracks between the big red sandstone bricks that made up the building. Browntail ran a paw across the worn stone, and shaded his eyes against the bright morning sun.

"So this is Redwall Abbey. What a place!" Browntail's eyes shone with greed. "Just imagine what sort of treasure is in there, and vittles!"

The fox nodded in agreement. "An' woodlanders fer slaves, heh heh!"

"We'd best report back to Skorret about this."

"Aye, heh heh heh!"

Norrig was focused on the thought of coming back to Rukkar with several hundred slaves, and a palace for his home. He thought of the reward he and Browntail would receive. Maybe they would be promoted to Captain, and the horde split between them, or maybe he could be the Slavemaster, and whip all the woodlanders every five minutes, just for the fun of it.

"Are ye comin'?"

"Huh? Oh, aye."

They began walking back to Skorret, conversing about Redwall and its inhabitants.

"Are there any warriors in Redwall, Browntail?"

"Nah, just farmers an' such. Sometimes there's a hare or two, but that's about it."

"Wot's a hare?"

"A long-eared rabbet, they're usually at Salamandastron. Have you heard of Salamandastron?"

"Huh?"

"I'll take that as a no. It's a big mountain; some say it was a volcano long ago, afore it was inhabited. Now it's not, but I wish it was. Just imagine, all those badgers an' hares blown up, an' this place an'..."

A sudden thought occurred to him.

"An'?"

"Never mind."

Norrig had a lot of questions.

"How do ye know?"

"Ah, we'd best stop talking; bugs keep flyin' in me mouth."

"Wotever ye say."