The mousebabe sat in Rufe Brush’s lap, half awake as he nibbled a redcurrant tart. Mariel was about to doze off in her chair when she noticed mousebabe watching her. ‘What are you looking at, cheekywhiskers?’ she asked.
‘I wanna be a warrior like you.’
The mousemaid winked at him as she took a sip of mint tea. ‘Then you’ll have to grow up honest and true to your friends – a warrior needs good companions to learn from. One day you may become a warrior, as great as the squirrel who is taking care of you right now. Isn’t that right, Rufe?’
Rufe Brush smiled down at the Dibbun. ‘Aye, it’s right enough, but first you’ll have to get Durry Quill to teach you to roar like this.’
Rufe threw back his head and roared.
‘Grooooarrarrarrrrgh!’
Mousebabe leapt with fright, and Rufe stroked his tiny ears until he began to doze. The young squirrel talked to him in a low, gentle voice. ‘But that’s only part of it. I had to learn many things, but I was lucky, I had the right teachers to guide me. The fighting spirit of Finnbarr Galedeep, the friendship of Durry Quill and a brave Guosim shrew named Fatch. Wisdom and strength are needed by a warrior, and I got them from Mariel’s Father, Joseph the Bellmaker.’
Mousebabe repeated the final word before sleep overtook him.
‘Bellmaker!’
Epilogue
The Bellmaker’s tale took three days in the telling, three days in which the storm never once abated. Food and blankets were sent in to the gatehouse, and each night the two old friends and the Dibbuns slept there. On the fourth day they woke to find the sun beaming through the windows from a gentle blue sky. But the Dibbuns would not move until certain questions had been answered.
‘Did our Abbey get another badger, sir?’
The ancient squirrel smiled and shook his head. ‘Ah, that’s a story for another day.’
The little mouse Jerril climbed down from the arm of the chair. ‘What ’appened to Mariel an’ Dandin?’ he asked.
The old hedgehog answered from the depths of his armchair. ‘They stopped at Redwall for a season, then one mornin’ Dandin, Mariel an’ Bowly Pintips took the Pearl Queen an’ sailed out, to see what was over the horizon they said. I was goin’ to go with ’em, but in the end I stayed home with my old matey ’ere.’
The bass-voiced molebabe wiped a tear from his eye. ‘Ee sea h’otter, Finnenbarr Galeydeep, ’twere sad ee was slayed, oi would’ve loiked to ’ave met ’im.’
The squirrel exchanged glances with the hedgehog. Rising slowly they went over to a cupboard. The squirrel talked as he rummaged among objects that he treasured. ‘Finnbarr Galedeep was a mighty warrior, maybe you’d like to see his swords.’
He drew the pair of matched curving blades from the cupboard, passing one to the hedgehog. A gasp of wonder arose from the Dibbuns as they stared open-mouthed at the two shining weapons. The molebabe clambered into the armchair vacated by the hedgehog. ‘Whurr did ee get em frumm, zurr?’
The ancient squirrel straightened his back proudly. ‘Joseph the Bellmaker presented them to us when we left Southsward, a token of our bravery as warriors in the battle, he said they were. Right, Durry?’
Durry Quill whirled the blade he was holding above his head and it glittered in the morning sunlight. ‘Aye, right Rufe, I’ll never forget that day. I named this sword Finnbarr!’
Rufe Brush blinked back a tear as he stared at the name engraved upon the blade of his sword. ‘And I named mine Fatch!’
The Dibbuns poured out yelling into the spring morning. They roared and shouted as they fought again the Battle of Southsward. Rufe and Durry stood in the gatehouse doorway watching. The young mouse Jerril ran back to them for a final word.
‘Did any of them ever come back to our Abbey?’
Durry leaned on the doorframe and nodded. ‘Aye, quite a few times as I recall. Log a Log, Blaggut, even Joseph the Bellmaker and his three friends one summer. Though Wincey, Benjy an’ Figgs was so big I scarce recognized ’em. But y’know what we always say?’
The molebabe came trundling past, stick in paw, serving as his sword as he fought off two small squirrels. ‘No, wot do ee allus say zurr?’
Rufe answered for Durry. ‘We always say that Redwall is here to welcome any with a good heart. Call in, our door is open to all friends.’
The molebabe thought about this for a moment before replying, ‘Hurr, vurry good zurrs, but ee know wot I allus say?’
Rufe smiled at him. ‘No, tell me what you always say.’
The bass-voiced molebabe waved his stick in the air and charged off shouting.
‘Redwaaaaaaaaallllll!’
About the Author
Brian Jacques was born and bred in Liverpool. At the age of fifteen he went to sea and travelled the world. He worked as a stand-up comedian and playwright and hosted his own programme, Jakestown, on Radio Merseyside. His bestselling Redwall books have captured readers all over the world and won universal praise. He died in 2011.
THE TALES OF REDWALL
Lord Brocktree
Martin the Warrior
Mossflower
The Legend of Luke
Outcast of Redwall
Mariel of Redwall
The Bellmaker
Salamandastron
Redwall
Mattimeo
The Pearls of Lutra
The Long Patrol
Marlfox
The Taggerung
Triss
Loamhedge
Rakkety Tam
High Rhulain
Click onto the Redwall website and find out more about
your favourite characters from the legendary world of Redwall,
and their creator, Brian Jacques!
www.redwall.org
THE BELLMAKER
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 448 15710 5
Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company
This ebook edition published 2012
Copyright © Brian Jacques, 1994
Illustrations copyright © Allan Curless, 1994
First Published in Great Britain by Hutchinson, 1994
The right of Brian Jacques to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The Bellmaker (Redwall) Page 30
