CHAPTER NINETY

Upon their return to the surface, having found their way back to the original chamber and righting the ladder there to allow for easier access up into the sloping tunnel, Alex, Clewiston and Log-a-Log faced the decision whether to depart for the Abbey right away or rest for a while.

"Still early in the afternoon, I'd say," Clewiston judged, gauging the sun's position with a paw-shaded gaze. "Prob'ly could make it most of th' way back to Redwall before nightfall - maybe even overtake the others, since they'll be slowed by their wounded. But I could use a jolly breather first, just to get those fumes an' stench outta my snout."

"Me too," Log-a-Log quickly agreed. "But not down 'ere. Let's get up outta this valley, trade these rocks 'n' moss 'n' sorry grass fer a real Western Plains meadow, with sunshine 'n' cheer 'n' fresh breezes!"

"So, which side do we go up?" asked Alexander. "We'll be going east, but Palter will be going west." He looked to the rat. "That's assuming you still plan to go after Latura?"

"Gotta," Palter affirmed with a nod. "Gotta go t' sea."

"Well, y' don't gotta," Log-a-Log scoffed. "But, yer choice if'n y' do. In which case, we may's well part ways here, so none of us hafta waste steps. Let's give this rat fool what he needs t' get him along, an' be rid of him an' his obstinate idiocy!"

As they all chipped in with this task, the hare and shrew noticed that Alex seemed to be helping himself to an overly generous portion of their provisions. "Lookin' t' take the burden of our supplies all on yerself?" Log-a-Log chided.

"I'm going with him."

Clewiston and Log-a-Log gaped at the squirrel, letting his words sink in. "Wot?!" the Colonel exploded at last.

"I need to look Urthblood in the eye and demand an answer from him as to just why he deems Latura so important that he'd risk war with Redwall over her, and throw away his alliance with the Guosim - why he would so willingly spill the blood of goodbeasts to get his way in this. At least one Redwaller need to confront him face to face about this, and demand an accounting. And at least one Abbeybeast needs to tell him to his own ears that Redwall is his friend and ally no more."

"An' hasn't it occurred to you that that beast might very well get itself slain for its blinkin' trouble? Urthblood's treachery knows no bloomin' bounds; today's events should prove that clear as flippin' day!"

"After what happened today, Colonel, all the more reason for me to do this."

"The bunny bouncer's right, Alex," implored Log-a-Log. "Urthblood was willin' t' kill us all; what makes you think that's changed? Marchin' yerself right up to the gates of Salamandastron'll only be deliverin' yerself into the jaws of the enemy - an' that's if his birds don't finish you off first, mebbe 'fore you even make it outta these Plains to th' mountains! What I said b'fore still holds true: Redwall can't afford t' lose you, or th' Colonel. It's yer duty t' make it back home alive, if y' can."

"I fully intend to do just that - after I've gone face to face with Urthblood. The warmaker's might he'd bring to bear against a large armed party of us, he'd dare not use against one alone, unless he wants to reveal himself to everybeast in Mossflower - and even his own captains - as the villain of these times. I don't think even he would go that far. He can't afford to."

"An' if ye're wrong?"

"Then ... tell all my friends back home that I was thinking of them to the last, and make sure my story gets told, as a caution against Urthblood if nothing else. Mossflower must stand firm - and we've just the hearts and spirits to make sure it does."

"An wot of Mina?"

Alex frowned. "The divisions between me and Mina will have to wait until I've addressed the divisions between Redwall and Salamandastron. Any future I'm to have with Mina - if there's to be any salvaged at all - is something I'll attend to once I return."

"If you return," said Clewiston.

Alex gazed to the northwest. "The Gawtrybe are likely far enough ahead of us now that I'll never catch up. Those squirrel fanatics are the one beasts of Urthblood's I could see slaying me on sight, for daring to interfere. Maybe his birds too, but now that it looks like he's going to get Latura uncontested, I have a feeling we'll not be seeing them again, at least not out here on the Plains. I believe Palter and I will have clear marching between here and the mountains - and maybe over them too."

"Unless they all come down on you hard for 'harborin' a bally fugitive' from his almighty Purge." Clewiston nodded Palter's way.

"That's a risk I'll have to take."

"Hrmm. We're not gonna talk you out of this, are we?"

"No, Colonel. You're not. There's no way I can return to Redwall until I've done this."

"Right. Right. Well then, I s'pose it's up to me an' Loggers here to let everybeast know this was your choice, an' to carry that back to Redwall for you." Clewiston set down his travel supplies and embraced Alex in a fond hug of farewell. "Good luck, chappie. An' give ol' Bloodface some real blood 'n' vinegar from me, even if it's only in words, wot?"

"He'll get it from you and me both, Colonel - I'll make sure of that."

"Yah, stay safe an' come back to us," Log-a-Log added as Alex bent down for a parting embrace with the shrew as well. "We need ya back there - an' they'll never let us hear the end of it if y' don't!"

"I'll do my best. Although there is one last thing the two of you can help me with before we go our separate ways."

"Name it, chap."

Alexander pulled on his quiver and picked up his bow. "As you may've noticed, I'm clean out of arrows - and I happened to notice there are a whole lot of spent Gawtrybe shafts down here and up above, just waiting to be gathered up!"

00000000000

The late afternoon sun lay behind the mountain range by the time Matowick's weary Gawtrybe patrol rendezvoused with Klystra and Latura.

The ratmaid, long grown bored and restless from having the falcon as her only companion - and, even worse, being forced to remain within the confines of the same small patch of the Western Plains, unable to wander and explore as she pleased outside of the bird's sight - stood eagerly awaiting the squirrels' arrival, even as she continued to brand them with the title of her adversary.

"Badred's comin' back, catchin' up! Heya, slowpokes, we been waitin' for ya!"

Matowick and his companions grimaced in relief at once again entering the presence of the simple-minded rat prophetess, knowing that reunion with her and her annoying tendencies also meant they were that much closer to their goal. The Gawtrybe captain looked to his falcon counterpart. "Any trouble to report?"

"Would have sent word if so."

The squirrel gave a tired scowl. "Well, I suppose your winged cohorts suffered enough trouble this day for all of us. Did Commodore Altidor bring you up to date on his way back to Salamandastron?"

Klystra nodded. "Heavy losses, many gulls dead before Redwallers turned back. Captain Scarbatta slain by mad badger, Lord Urthblood sure to be unhappy. Some Redwallers slain too. Unfortunate affair."

"The Redwallers weren't all turned back. The rat and the squirrel are still coming. The rat doesn't bother me - he'd blow over in a strong breeze - but the squirrel's another matter, especially since he's rearmed himself and we're still without arrows of our own."

"Don't need arrows. Birds come again, if needed."

"I'll hold you to that. He may've told Altidor upon resuming his march with the rat that he now seeks only to journey to Salamandasatron to speak with Lord Urthblood, but I'll not feel comfortable if he draws anywhere within arrow range of us. He may get it in his head that he can try to get Latura back on his own, if that's not his true aim anyway."

Nixalis looked to his captain. "Sir, we've been two days and a night on the run, without sleep. We've gotta rest, or we'll be in danger of dying on our footpaws."

"Don't worry, we're stopping here. While we can, anyway. Right now we hold enough of a lead over them that they're unlikely to catch up with us - unless they keep on going through the night, like we did. In which case, we'll have to stir ourselves and be on the move again long before daybreak. We'll need Saugus to monitor the situation closely while we sleep."

Klystra looked to the sun-backlit mountains, their highest peaks shimmering in haloed relief. "Saugus be here soon, then we all sleep."

"I doubt most of my unit will be waiting for dusk, or that owl's arrival." Matowick took a small coil of rope from his supplies and went over to Latura while the rest of his squad collapsed on the grass. "Out with your paws. Gotta tie you up again. Can't have you running away in the night."

She put her paws behind her back. "Don't wanna. They bind an' pain me. I'll be good, an' promise I won't run off while ye're all snorin'!"

"No promises - just guarantees. Now put out your paws, or I'll club you senseless and tie you up even tighter than before."

Grumbling her recalcitrance, Latura reluctantly held forth her paws and stood fidgeting as Matowick bound them together. Having thus immobilized her, Matowick shoved her hard in the chest, forcing her back onto her tail with a hard thump. "Hey! T'weren't nice, pushy badred!"

The squirrel ignored her protests as he fastened her footpaws together at the ankles with a second length of rope. "Nice? A captain of Lord Urthblood's was slain today, all on account of you. I missed the birth of my son, all on account of you. Good creatures out here are suffering and dying, all on account of you. The last thing I need is you adding to our woes by making a getaway under cover of dark."

"Shouldn'ta gone an' snatched me then, shouldja? Trouble is as trouble does, as Da allers says."

"You'll know trouble yourself once we get you to Salamandastron. Until then, you'll sit tight when I say to sit tight, move when I tell you to move, and give us no more grief unless you want a nice set of bruises under your fur. Lord Urthblood instructed me only to get you back to the mountain alive; he never said anything about not pummeling you if I felt you deserved it."

Latura stared toward the high mountain passes, still far before them, and fastened on one word of Matowick's admonishment as she regarded their nearer destination. "Grief ... "

"Yah, you seem to be good at that. And what's with your friend coming after us anyway? Our scouts say he isn't even armed! Why didn't he join the others going back to Redwall? He probably could have made it safely. What's he up to?"

"Hasta go t' sea. Couldn't turn back."

"Yeah, I keep hearing you say that about him. But he was free, and in the company of beasts who would have protected him. He didn't have to keep going."

"Sure 'ee did. Got no choice. He's gotta go t' sea."

"But what for?"

"Dunno. Just hasta."

Matowick shrugged. "Whatever you say." Done with the exasperating ratmaid, he turned to Klystra. "We all need sleep, and desperately. Are you up for standing watch for us until Saugus arrives?"

"Not problem. Will do." The falcon flicked his beak skyward. "And won't be only bird on watch. Gulls fly over until dusk, keep eye on us, squirrel rat too."

"Good, good. Thank you, Captain." Matowick unfastened his bedroll and laid it out on the meadow grass alongside Nixalis, who'd already stretched out on his own travel blanket. Seating himself, the Gawtrybe commander eyed the distant mountains, emerging silvery and clear in the approaching twilight. "This throws our timing way off. I'd hoped to be setting camp at the base of the range around this time of the evening, so that we could make it over and to the coastlands in a single day. Now, we've still got at least another half-day's march to reach them, and then we'll need to decide whether to stop there or keep on going - which would mean spending a night up there, which I'd not relish."

"Now that there are only two beasts coming after us - and only one of them an armed fighter - maybe it's not so vital we stay ahead of them, sir. We could always lay an ambush, capture them, and take them both with us to Salamandastron."

"Six of us, trying to wrangle three unwilling captives over those treacherous high passes? I think not. You saw how narrow some of those paths are, and how sheer the drops. I'm not even thrilled with the idea of trying to marshal a single prisoner along that dangerous route."

"Then maybe we could lay an ambush, and not take prisoners."

Matowick turned a sour gaze Nixalis's way. "Not sure I care for that idea either. An unarmed rat, and a Redwaller ... "

"The rat's of no consequence, sir, an' if the Redwaller's armed an' coming after us, he's nobeast but himself to blame for whatever happens."

Matowick shook his head. "There's been too much bloodshed already, on both sides, even if we didn't see any of that action ourselves. I'll not spill a Redwaller's blood if I can help it; we'll just have to make sure we stay ahead of him, whatever it takes. And as far as that rat, while he may not be of any consequence to you, he apparently is to Latura. And she says he's gotta go to sea, remember?"

Nixalis scoffed. "That one's a crack-skulled, addled-pated simpleton. Why should what she says carry any weight at all?"

"Remember what happened back outside Redwall, when we tried to tie her up?"

This silenced Nixalis.

Matowick gazed over at Latura, still fussing with her bonds. "Never forget what we're doing here ... what Lord Urthblood is risking all because of her, and what it's already cost us. He'd not have committed to this course if she weren't a lot more than she appears."

Latura, having lost interest in the ropes restraining her, took to amusing herself by tickling her own footpaws with her tail, and giggling like a youngbeast. Suddenly her face fell. "Uh oh. Now I gotta pee ... "

"Must be a whole lot more," Nixalis grumbled as he turned over and closed his eyes, eager to catch whatever sleep he could before they'd have to be on the move again.

00000000000

Clewiston and Log-a-Log walked until nightfall, planning to set camp when the evening grew too dark to safely place their footfalls upon the unfamiliar terrain. But, as the last traces of daylight faded from the sky and landscape, they noticed a series of lights bobbing in the flat distance ahead, the telltales of lamps or lanterns borne by nocturnal travellers.

"Who y' reckon these are?" the shrew wondered. "None o' our party was carryin' such with 'em."

"Hope it's not those Northland shrews again. You chaps already had to battle through those hooligans on your way out, an' they might be holdin' a grudge - 'specially if Lord Sodexo had to bop their skulls a few more times on his way back to the Abbey. I'm all fought out for this day, an' not looking for anymore scrapes 'n' scuffles, wot?"

"Yah, but if we bed down here, they might keep comin' and creep up on us while we're slumberin'. P'raps we'd best just push on an' see who they are. Might be able t' sleep easier that way, an' not hafta take turns keepin' watch."

Clewiston sighed. "S'pose that makes a certain modicum of sense, my good Log-a-Thingy ol' shrewbean ... gah! I'm so tired I can't keep my blinkin' colloquialisms straight!"

Log-a-Log smirked in the deepening dusk. "Oh? Sounds just as fool ridiculous t' me as it allers does!"

"Harr-bally-harr-harr-harr. Lead th' way, then, an' this old fool of a hare'll bring up th' rear."

It soon became apparent that the bobbing lights ahead were drawing closer far faster than the tired duo's plodding pace could account for. "Whoever it is," observed Clewiston, "they're in a jolly hurry t' meet up with us. Hope it's not trouble - I'm bally bushed, don'tcha know."

Log-a-Log kept a paw to his rapier hilt. "I'm about tapped out my own self, Colonel, so let's hope words'll get us past whatever it is, without me havin' t' draw my steel agin this day."

Holding to their own measured speed, through both weariness of body and wariness of the dark terrain, they took longer to rendezvous with their phantom fellow travellers than they otherwise might have. But when the two parties did at last meet up some time later, the members of both companies were glad for it.

Clewiston regarded the knot of Redwall otters with surprise in the glow of the lanterns they bore. "You're hardly th' bloomin' beasts we expected t' find all th' way out here. Aren't we still a ways from the Abbey?"

"A ways," Rumter confirmed, "tho' not so far we couldn't make it back well 'fore midnight, if you landlubbers're feelin' up for the slog!"

Clewiston mulled this over. "Hmmm. Tempted as I am to simply drop in this spot an' sleep 'til morn, the promisin' prospect of my own soft Abbey bed might just be wot it takes to keep these paws poundin' th' Plains. 'Sides which, sooner I get this shredded ear an' my other various hurts addressed by somebeast who knows wot it's doing, better chance I'll have of keepin' all my parts. Logger-old-thing, wot say you?"

"Doesn't take as much legpower t' stir these shorter stumps of mine as it does those ungainly, gangly shanks o' yers. You set th' pace, graywhiskers, an' I'll match it all th' way back to Redwall, an' ten circles 'round it too!"

Clewiston grumbled at the shrew's colorful vernacular as he and Log-a-Log made to press on in the company of their otter escort. "Ungainly shanks? Gangly? More like elegant, limber-limbed limbage - enuff in these old legs to leave any shrewpoke wonderin' wot t' do with it all!"

Brydon held up his webbed paw. "Whoa, not so fast! Ain't we fergettin' somebeast?" Straining to peer into the dark night behind the two weary battlers, he said, "Where's Alex, bringin' up the rear? Looks like you two got purty far ahead of him!"

Clewiston and Log-a-Log traded tired glances. "Alex isn't coming," the hare told the otters. "He decided to go on, an' confront Urthblood alone at Salamandastron for an accounting - if he makes it that far."

This revelation stunned the burly waterbeasts. "Can he ... can he do that?" Rumter asked.

"He jolly well is, so guess he can, wot? Sure wasn't list'nin' to any bally thing we had t' say to try'n talk him out of it."

"An' what of the rat?" inquired Gadden. "That fellow villager of Lattie's the Gawtrybe grabbed up to use as a decoy? Does he think 'ee's gonna confront Urthblood too?"

"Hardly," Log-a-Log snorted. "He went on 'cos 'ee's gotta go t' sea. Lattie kept sayin' it, so there was no talkin' sense t' that hardheaded numbskull neither."

The otters digested this. "So," Gadden said at last, "who gets t' tell Lady Mina her husband ain't comin' back to her 'cos he'd rather go yell at th' Lord she's sworn obedience to?"

"I'll claim that distinct privilege for myself," Clewiston volunteered. "Truth is, Alex had been confidin' in me for some time now - long before Lattie got snatched - that he's got greater suspicions about Urthblood than he's let on ... an' after today, it's clear he sees that badger as an enemy of Redwall. I'll enjoy lookin' her in the blinkin' eye when I tell her that!"

"An' I'll make no secret of the fact I'd take just as much delight in doin' th' same, if it were my place. Mebbe I'll make a point o' bein' there when you tell 'er." Changing the subject, Log-a-Log said to the otters, "Weren't sure just who we'd be runnin' inta with those bobbin' beacons. Worried you might turn out t' be those shrews of Urthblood's we hadta fight our way through on th' way out. Didja run inta them yerselves, perchance?"

"Matter o' fact, we did, tho' not in th' way yore thinkin'," answered Brydon. "Yore bigger party o' wounded, led by Lord Sodexo, came upon 'em, an' they offered to help bear the dead an' injured back to Redwall."

This nearly astonished both Clewiston and Log-a-Log. "Y' don't bally bloomin' blinkin' say? Don't s'pose they knew about all Urthblood's birds we slew in today's fracas?"

"Um ... it may've not come up. Then again, one glance at yore casualties might've been enuff for 'em to figger there hadta've been losses on both sides. But I think they were so shocked at seein' Abbey 'n' Guosim dead, not t' mention seein' you in retreat without what you were out her for, that they sorta felt obliged t' lend a paw. Either way, it freed us up so we could keep headin' out to meet up with you two - even if we were expectin' t' find more o' you than we did."

"Is that how y' knew t' come out fer us?" asked Log-a-Log. "From those Northlanders bringin' our mates back to the Abbey?"

"Ho no," replied Rumter as they all got underway at a modest pace. "We were already well past the roadside ditch an' out inta the Plains when we ran inta them. T'were our Sparra friends who let us know back at the Abbey what was going on out here. Even after Urthblood's gulls chased 'em outta the battle proper an' most returned to Warbeak Loft, a few stayed circlin' overhead as observers, tho' you may've been too occupied with yore own battlin' to notice 'em. They kept us appraised of things, an' when we heard the tide had definitely turned 'gainst you an' you were in full retreat, the Abbess gave us leave t' mount a party t' meet you halfway an' help you on yore journey home."

"Nice t' know those birdbrains were keepin' a feathered tether 'tween us an' you folks during this misfortunate melee. An' it's always nice t' see a friendly face or three after endurin' something like wot we went through."

"Aye, that's what Nessa thought too," said Brydon. "So, here we are, lightin' yore way back home!"

"How is the Abbess doin'?" Log-a-Log inquired. "I mean, she came back to 'erself so quick yesterday, takin' charge o' things with a vengeance like she were makin' up fer her lost seasons. She holdin' up a'right? No sign o' relapsin', or nought like that?"

The otters exchanged glances amongst themselves, then Brydon said, "That's right - you don't know 'bout the Infirmary yet, do you?"

"Ah, right, I'd almost fergot 'bout that," the shrew confessed. "How did that all work out, anyway? Did Nessa use her diplomatic touch t' negotiate a peaceful outcome, an' get Lady Mina released without harm?"

"Diplomatic touch? Er, not exactly, matey. That's a tale in itself ... "

"But not a full one," Rumter picked up from Brydon. "We c'n tell you how it ended, but we can't really tell you what happened - an' Nessa ain't tellin', so it's all a bit of a mystery. But Mina's safe 'n' our Infirmary's liberated, so all's well that ends well, I guess."

"'cept fer those four rats," Brydon added somberly.

"There's a lot that didn't end well this day," said Log-a-Log, "fer Long Patrol hares, Guosim shrews an' th' one rat we spent so much of our blood 'n' courage tryin' to rescue. So, what's that you say about th' four rats in the 'firmary?"

"That's part o' the tale, it is," Rumter responded. "But speakin' of rats, when you get home ye'll find one more livin' at the Abbey than when you left. Lattie's friend from her village finally delivered her babe safe 'n' healthy - tho', even in that, Nessa had a paw in th' drama."

Brydon caught his fellow otter. "But, Rums, wouldn't that still make it three less'n when they left? One new babe, but four taken away ... "

"Oh, yeah. Reckon yore right, Bry. Hadn't figgered it that way."

Log-a-Log looked to the Colonel. "You got a clue what they're natterin' on 'bout? 'Cos they lost me."

"Yah, count me lost too - an' if they keep it up, they're liable t' send me t' sleep right on my bally stompers. All sounds bloomin mysterious indeed."

"Well, it is!" Brydon offered in his own defense. "So far, Wink an' Mother Maura 're the only two Abbeybeasts Vanessa's taken inta her confidence, but neither of them 're tellin' either. Like some big secret's afoot, an' ev'rybeast else's bein' kept in the dark - even Geoff, an' he used to be Abbot!"

"Mebbe they're just waitin' fer us to return," Log-a-Log speculated. "Wantin' the Colonel an' me t' be on paw fer any 'portant announcements or plannin' they got in mind."

"Hope they're not intendin' t' keep it all mum until all the Abbey bigwigs are back, includin' Alex," added the Colonel. "'Cos if he really does go all th' way out to Salamandastron, could be well into summer 'fore we know wot's wot, wot!"

"You've explained Alex," Rumter said to the hare and shrew, "but you just seein' him off an' havin' a parting of ways couldn't account for how far behind you two were from th' main group. What kept you anyway?"

"Well, Urthblood's birds took all his arrows during th' bloody battle," Clewiston explained, "so we had to help him replenish his supply before he started off for the coast. But there was also somethin' else we needed to look into, an' that's wot really delayed us."

"Oh?" The otters were clearly intrigued. "What struck you as so vital that you put off gettin' home for healin' attention yoreself, or accompayin' yore fallen comrades?"

"Something I'm guessing will jolly well alter Redwall's view of His Bloodiness even more than just today's fightin' would."

Rumter nodded in tune with his fellow waterbeasts. "Hmm. Sounds like we'll each have a tale t' tell on this homeward trek. So, who wants t' go first?"