Mariel stared up at the moon, speaking her thoughts aloud. ‘That same moon will be shining over the Abbey now. I’ll bet my Dad has taken himself off to bed, he’s another one who can sleep anytime, night or day, it makes no difference to him.’
Dandin looked away from the window to the stark, hostile interior of their cell. ‘Makes you wonder if we’ll ever see Redwall again,’ he said, his voice wistful. ‘Though at the moment a beaker of water and a crust of bread would be a welcome sight.’
To take her friend’s mind off food, Mariel climbed down from the window ledge, and said, ‘We haven’t explored this cell yet. Come on – let’s see if we can find a weak spot to escape from.’
Dandin slid from the window ledge to join her. ‘It all looks pretty solid and secure to me; they didn’t build this place with a view to letting anyone break out.’
Together they inspected the dungeon. Walls and floor alike were heavy, close-jointed stone. Dandin tried probing the narrow cracks with his paws but soon gave up. ‘Hammer and chisel’d help, know anywhere we could borrow ’em?’ he said.
Mariel was staring upward. ‘Hmm, ceiling’s the same, rock solid. Let’s take a look at the window bars.’
Meldrum was lying in their way, and they had to move him. The old hare opened one eye and muttered, ‘What’n the name of flattened frogs are you chaps up to? Disturbin’ my nocturnal repose, wot, no respect for age at all, that’s the trouble with this young generation!’
‘We’re sounding the place out, looking for ways of escape,’ said Mariel suppressing a smile. ‘D’you mind moving away from the bars, sir?’
Meldrum moved, rather huffily. ‘Whatcha goin’ t’do, rip the bars out an’ fly away?’
Dandin was kicking the bars with his footpaws. ‘A chance is a chance, no matter how slim. Huh, it’s no chance here though – creature who put these bars in knew what he was doing. They’re bedded tight, set in the stone with molten lead, deep too, I imagine.’
Meldrum sat up, he stretched and yawned. ‘Ah well, no rest for the righteous, I s’pose. So then, escape y’say, let’s see. How did we get into this lockup?’
‘How did we get in here?’ said Mariel, looking at him quizzically. ‘Obviously by way of the door!’
The hare wiggled his ears so that they rubbed together. ‘Full marks, young mouseygel, now you’re startin’ to think properly, wot! Stands to reason, don’t it, if the door is the entrance it’s also the bally exit. Doors were made to close . . . and open, so let’s inspect the jolly old portal!’
Together the three captives moved to the door. Mariel and Dandin, bowing to Meldrum’s seniority, let him take over. ‘Righty ho, young Dandin, bang loudly on this door, please.’
Without question Dandin started thumping as hard as he could. Nothing happened for a moment, then there was a sound of footpaws and a drowsy, irritable guard’s voice rasped out, ‘Stop that bangin’ in there, prisoners!’
Meldrum adopted a whimpering tone. ‘Please sir, we want a drink of water.’
His plea was followed by a harsh laugh from the guard. ‘Water? You three ain’t allowed no water, huh, only water you’ll get is when they fling yer dead bodies inter the moat, now be quiet or you’ll get a taste of me spearpoint. Shurrup, d’yer ’ear?’
This was followed by footpaws receding along the outside corridor. Meldrum winked, signalling them to keep their voices low. ‘Number one, we’ve established that there’s a sentry on duty, out there night an’ day if I’m not mistaken. Two, the villain’s armed with a spear, that’ll come in useful when the time comes.’
‘What time, and how can a guard with a spear be useful to us?’ said Dandin.
The hare frowned. ‘Don’t interrupt laddie, unless y’ve got somethin’ useful t’say. Now, about this door, I’m willin’ to wager it’s got a simple dungeon lock, see if you can take a quick peek.’
Dandin boosted Mariel up to the spyhole. By pushing her face hard sideways into it she strained her eye downward and was able to view the contrivance. ‘You’re right sir,’ she said. ‘It’s just a long bolt that pushes through a staple driven into the side wall, no real locks or keys.’
‘Good, good, exactly as I thought!’ Meldrum snorted with satisfaction.
Dandin let Mariel down quietly. She shrugged, saying, ‘It’s a very strong bolt though, and we’ve no chance at all of reaching it.’
Meldrum was busily scanning the other side of the door. ‘Why should we want t’reach it? Lock’s prob’ly the strongest part of the door, we’re lookin’ for the weakest.’
‘And what part is that, sir?’ Mariel enquired.
The hare smiled craftily. ‘The hinges, of course! This is better’n I thought, just look at these hinges, stupid things! The buffer who erected this door placed the hinges on the inside. Weakest part of a door, hinges, y’know, and these are no exception. Simple pin flattened both ends is the only thing holding this top one together, bottom’s the same. Half rusted too I shouldn’t wonder. There y’go, young warriors, remove two hingepins an’ the door can be shoved outward!’
Dandin rubbed his paws delightedly. ‘Aye, and if we shove hard enough the staple holding the bolt will be torn out of the wall by a big heavy door like this. The whole thing will fall flat into the corridor!’
‘I hate to put a damper on things,’ said Mariel, interrupting his jubilation, ‘but how are we going to cut through the hingepins with no tools?’
Meldrum stroked his twirling mustachio thoughtfully. ‘Good question, good question. Ah well, a chap’s got to make sacrifices, only one thing for it.’
He inspected the medals left on his tunic – some of them had been lost as they were dragged along. Choosing carefully, he selected a huge, silver-coloured orb with serrated edges. ‘See this, order of the shining sun, presented t’me by moles, can’t recall exactly what it was for, jolly pretty though, doncha think. Very hard metal, made by mole craftbeasts, should do the job.’
Mariel tore a strip from the edge of her tunic and wound it around the bar which held the medal. ‘Dandin, we’ll work on the hingepins together. Meldrum sir, keep an eye to the spyhole in case the guard comes.’
Dandin took first try. Grunting with exertion, he scraped and sawed with the medal. He rewound the strip of cloth around it often, as his paws got scratched and tender.
A quarter of the way through the bottom hingepin, Mariel relieved him, hacking and sawing busily. ‘We’re not making too much noise are we, sir? Can you see the guard?’
Meldrum kept his eye glued to the spyhole. ‘No, not really, but I think the blighter’s kippin’. I can hear him snore every now an’ then. How’s it goin’?’
‘It’s hard, but I’m making good progress,’ said Mariel, groaning as she changed position. ‘Just a bit more on this one. Dandin, shove your footpaw against my back so I can lean harder on the medal. That’s it!’ A moment later she straightened up, holding a small length of rusty iron in her paw. ‘There it is, the bottom hingepin!’
Heartened by the sight, Meldrum spat on his paws and took the medal from them. ‘You two take turns at the spyhole, leave the top hinge t’me, wot?’
Using his considerable weight and strength the hare went at the hingepin with a good deal of brute force. His sizeable stomach wobbled back and forth as he sawed, talking all the time to the remaining pin. ‘Hah! Think y’can stand against the strongest hare alive, eh? Let me tell you, m’little feller, I’ve picked bigger than you out o’ me molars after a good dinner!’
Gritting his teeth, Meldrum braced long hindpaws against the floor as he worried and tugged the hingepin. ‘Come out! Out, I say sir! Gotcha, you rusty blighter!’ The door stood free of its hinges, held only by the bolt staple. Meldrum the Magnificent winked at his comrades. ‘Stage one completed! Stage two, how to proceed with a simple escape, lissen carefully in the ranks thah!’
The rat on guard was rudely awakened by panicked cries from the new prisoners.
‘Guard, help, help! Aagh! Look what’s in our cell!
Help!’
Grumbling to himself, he shouldered his spear and lurched dozily along the corridor. ‘Wot is it now? Will you three in there give your gobs a rest! Soon as I can, I’m goin’ to ’ave yous gagged!’ He appeared at the spyhole waving his spear. ‘Shut that noise up, wot’s the matter . . . ?’
Dashing from the far side of the cell the three prisoners hurled themselves bodily at the door.
Crash!
The staple holding the bolt flew from the wall as the door thudded flat into the corridor with the guard beneath it. Reaching under the door, Meldrum retrieved the guard’s spear and unfastened the keys from his belt. Mariel twirled her new Gullwhacker.
Dandin motioned them to be silent. ‘Sshh! Let’s wait a moment to see if the noise has alerted anybeast . . .’
They stood stock-still for a short while. There was no response or indication that anyone had heard. Meldrum stole softly down the corridor, spear poised, to see if rats were on their way. As he passed one cell, a hoarse voice called him. ‘Meldrum the Magnificent, is it really you?’
The hare had to look twice through the spyhole before he recognized the cell’s occupant. ‘Seasons of slaughter! King Gael!’
Swiftly unlocking the door, he hauled forth a squirrel, thin to the point of emaciation. Mariel and Dandin hurried forward to help support the frail figure of the Squirrelking.
A raucous cackle issued from the next cell. ‘Gwaw! Norra nuff to mayka dinna thirr!’
Dandin peered through the spyhole, but withdrew hastily as the tip of a pointed beak sought his eye. Meldrum drew him to one side and, using the spearbutt, the hare rapped the beak sharply until it withdrew. Standing a cautious distance away, he looked through the spyhole.
Mariel was filled with curiosity. ‘What is it, what’s in there?’ she said.
‘Kchakchakcha! Glokkpod inna hirr!’
‘By the ancient ears of me grandsires,’ said Meldrum, turning to Mariel and Dandin. ‘It’s a shrike!’
‘What’s a shrike?’ both mice chorused together.
The hare pointed to the cell with his spear. ‘A maniac killer, that’s what a shrike is. Butcher Birds some call ’em! Not as big as some owls, bigger’n most hawks hereabouts, but more dangerous than the lot of ’em! Stab y’to death with that beak an’ hang you out on a thornbush like some cob o’ meat, that’s why they’re known as Butcher Birds. Very rare, ‘stremely dangerous!’
There was a flap on the bottom of the door to allow food to be pushed in. Meldrum held it up to let his friends see the shrike.
Gael sat against the far wall of the corridor breathing heavily.
‘He’s called Glokkpod,’ said the Squirrelking. ‘He flew in there when they were replacing the old bars, and they blocked the window. Poor bird’s been living in the dark – they torment it with spears just for fun.’
Mariel and Dandin could see the strange bird. It was indeed a great, red-backed shrike. The mousemaid murmured in a kindly tone to it, ‘Hello there, don’t be afraid of us. I’m Mariel and this is Dandin, Meldrum and Gael.’
Obviously crazed through captivity, the shrike laughed. ‘Kchakchakcha! I Glokkpod, ’fraida nothin, Glokkpod killa! Watcha me alltime, badbird!’
Dandin looked away from the wild glittering eyes. ‘Whew! Wouldn’t like to meet him on a dark night.’
Glokkpod inched closer to the flap. ‘Wouldan like meet me anytime, mousa!’
Meldrum shoved the shrike back with his spearbutt, saying, ‘This is gettin’ us nowhere, chaps. We’ve got to make good our escape an’ take poor ol’ Gael with us. I say there, Glukkpuddle, or whatever y’call y’ self, listen! If you ain’t with us you’re against us, ’fraid I haven’t time t’bandy words with you, understand?’
He received a swift reply. ‘Openna door longears, Glokkpod witcha, killa rats, lotsa rats!’
The hare unlocked the cell and, standing to one side, he shoved the door open with his speartip. Glokkpod hopped out, eyes glittering, beak flicking from side to side. ‘Glokkpod badbird, killa anybist!’
Mariel whispered to Dandin, ‘Looks like we’ve caught a whirlwind by the tail!’ Swinging her Gullwhacker she brought it within a hairsbreadth of the shrike’s eye. ‘Try killing this bist and you’re on a loser!’
Completely unafraid, Glokkpod winked one beady eye at her. ‘Glokkpod make jokah, kchakchakcha! On’y killa rats!’
‘Help! Help! Murder! Escapin’ prisoners, rouse the guard!’ The rat sentry had crawled out from under the fallen door – he scampered off down the corridor in the opposite direction of the escapers, shrieking full blast. He was too far away to be caught – Meldrum’s spear bounced harmlessly off the wall and he threw up his paws in disgust.
‘Tchah! That’s blown it, they’ll be on us in force soon. Which way now, we can’t go down, they’ll be comin’ up!’
Mariel shouldered her Gullwhacker. ‘Like I said yesterday, there’s only one way to go. Up!’
The sound of masses of hordebeasts dashing towards them clinched the issue. Supporting Gael, the three friends sped along the corridor and up the flight of stairs at the far end. Glokkpod brought up the rear.
It was a stone spiral staircase and it did not take them long to realize they were in a narrow round tower. The stairs seemed to continue endlessly upward, terminating in a small circular chamber. Sounds of guards pounding their way upwards reached them. Dandin shut the door and barred it from the inside. Crossing to a narrow slit window he looked out.
‘We’re twice as high up as we were before, it makes me dizzy just looking down. We’re as high up as anybeast can go in this castle. Let’s face it, we’ve trapped ourselves good and proper this time!’
As he spoke the first spearblades and axeheads came crashing through the door.
15
LATE AFTERNOON FOUND Pearl Queen riding dangerously low in the water. Heavy swelling seas and an overcast sky were causing Finnbarr Galedeep problems. He muttered from between clenched teeth to Joseph as they fought to push the tiller hard over. ‘We’re shippin’ too much water, mate, got to get ’er out o’ this Roarin’burn current an’ find land where we can make the Queen shipshape agin!’
A fork of lightning crackled across the western horizon. Joseph glanced up at the storm-bruised clouds. ‘Aye, and we’d better make land soon, Finnbarr.’
Durry and Rufe stood in line, passing basins, bowls and buckets, anything the crew could lay their paws on to pass down the for’ard locker, where Log a Log and Rosie were baling out furiously.
Foremole felt useless. Stricken by a severe attack of seasickness, he sat in the scuppers moaning softly. ‘Hurr, oi must be the furst ever green mole t’put t’sea. Burr, shame on oi! ’Ow be it goin’ maister Quill?’
Durry staggered on the bucking deck as he emptied a bucket over the side. ‘Not good at all, Foremole, the water’s coming in so fast an’ the sea’s so heavy that it’s making the hole bigger!’ Thunder boomed directly overhead, causing the crew to jump.
Finnbarr yelled orders as he clung gamely to the tiller. ‘Slack sail afore we’re driven under, slack sail! Keep balin’ below decks there messmates . . . Whoooooooaaah!’ Pearl Queen lurched mightily as she slewed out of the Roaringburn current to eastward. Rain came in torrents, lashing and stinging, wind-driven curtains of it, until it was difficult for the crew to see each other. Night set in without warning, aided by the dark stormy skies. Pearl Queen was driven scudding sideways across the face of the deeps, sails torn and flapping, lines and ropes whipping viciously and masts creaking as she settled lower in the water.
‘Belay the balin’,’ Finnbarr bellowed, ’tis doin’ no good, we’re in the paws o’ fate now, mateys. Lash yerselves fast to anythin’ that won’t be washed overboard!’
Rosie and Log a Log were hauled out of the locker. They grabbed ropes and made themselves fast to the rails with the rest of the crew. Several of the shrews trapped Foremole as he came rolling past, a wet, furred ball of misery. ‘Wohurr, let oi be drownded zurrs, loif
b’aint gudd no mores furr the loikes of oi. Buhurr!’
Drenched as he was, Durry could see that Rufe was weeping from the way his body shook in the ropes that held him fast. The good hedgehog clutched his friend tightly. ‘Bad luck fer us all, Rufey, but you stick by me and we’ll go down t’gether. I won’t leave ye to sink alone, Rufe Brush.’
The young squirrel buried his head against Durry’s chest where the spines gave way to softer fur. ‘Will they remember us for a long time at Redwall, Durry?’ he wept.
The hedgehog gagged as he spat salt spray from his mouth. ‘Always Rufe, that’s how long they’ll recall us. Father Abbot’ll put up a marker stone with our names on, an’ Mother Mellus’ll teach young Dibbuns about us an’ how bravely we perished. We’ll be famous, I bet.’
Chain lightning lit up the whole eastern horizon as Joseph looked up. Suddenly he smiled through the torrential gale and cried out, ‘Land ho!’
Finnbarr Galedeep grabbed Joseph’s paw in a vicelike grip. ‘Land ye say, Bellmaker – where away?’
‘Due east, we’re headed straight for it, that’s if we don’t fill up and sink first. Keep looking east, Finnbarr, next lightning flash will light it up.’
All the sea otter could see was black night, rain and spray in front of him. Suddenly there was a roll of thunder and sheet lightning illuminated everywhere, revealing a rocky coastline jutting up less than a league away! The realization that he could save his ship and crew sent Finnbarr roaring out commands again. ‘Untie yerselves mates, start balin’ agin! Log a Log, get yoreself in the bows an’ watch out for reefs! Hoist for’ard sails to keep ’er stem up! Lively now, jump to it, me lucky buckoes!’
Pearl Queen became a hive of activity amidst the storm. Even Foremole picked himself up at the mention of land and began baling furiously. Whilst Joseph supervised deck operations, Rosie took several creatures up into the for’ard rigging to set the sails. Rufe and Durry scurried upward to the highest sails, Rosie ahead of them. The vessel heeled perilously as a towering wave struck her broadside on, and there was a piercing squeal.
The Bellmaker Page 12
