"Couldn"t we just go after them one last time, Bella?" Skipper pleaded.
The badger shook her head at the Corim leaders. "No, friends. WeVe won, Mossfiower is ours again."
"Hurr, let"s go *ome!"
Foremole"s words in his rough molespeech sounded like the sweetest music ever heard.
369.
A score of days had gone since the banishment.
The lakesh.o.r.e rang to the sounds of late evening merriment. Colored lanterns were hanging from the trees, reflecting a ma.s.s of orange, pink, blue and gold lights upon the calm waters. Stars twinkled above, woodlanders danced below, garlands of flowers were Strewn everywhere and delicious smells came from the great fires at the lake margin.
Martin awakened to the sounds of Gonff singing.
Let no foul beast give one command, I"ll say, "O no not me, My back bends to no tyrant"s rule.
Hey, friends, this mouse is free."
Free has a sound, it rings around, A lovely way to be.
So dance or sing, do anything, You"re free free free free freeeeeeeeeee!
"Hurr, that"s wot "ee think, Gonffen. You tell "im missus."
"Gonff, come and help me to get the stopper off this strawberry wine, right away."
"Immediately, my Columbine, O nurse of warriors and charming mouselet. I"m coming, my little candied chestnut."
There were roars of laughter.
370.
Timballisto flopped down on the edge of Martin"s blanket.
"So, you"re awake, mate. The Abbess said it"d be sometime today."
Martin smiled and grasped his friend"s paw.
"Don"t worry, I"m back now. How long have I lain here?"
Before Timballisto could answer, Ferdy and Coggs dashed up.
"Ha, so you"re awake, sleepyhead," Ferdy teased.
"Yes, fancy dozing off when there"s a party," Coggs added.
The Abbess and Bella came over, decked in flowers and carrying a bowl of woodland vegetable soup, which the old mouse started feeding to Martin from a ladle.
"Good evening, Martin. Don"t answer, just keep eating; we want you up and about as soon as possible."
The warrior mouse did as he was bidden. Soon all the woodlanders had gathered around him.
"Look, Martin"s awake now!"
"My, my, doesn"t he look well!"
"Urr, loivly as pepper V strong as ale."
"Haha, ahoy there, shipmate."
"Well, how do you feel, Champion of Mossflower?" Bella chuckled happily.
Martin gazed about him at the friendly faces and smiled through the tears falling from his eyes.
"Good to be alive, Bella!"
There was a loud cheer, then the voices poured in thick and fast.
"Guess what, matey-while you were asleep I wedded Columbine."
"Yes, Gonff"s given up being a thief-I"ve seen to that."
"Ha, we found them a place, y"know, while we were out on border patrol down south along the path. It"s just inside the woods."
"Yes, it"s a tiny old church called Saint Ninian"s or some-such. How it came there, goodness knows. It"s all overgrown and rickety.""
"Oh, my Gonff will soon fix that up."
"Hey, matey, have you noticed that the lake"s gone down a bit? Skipper and Log-a-Log have practically refloated Wuddshipp. "
371.
"Indeed they have. Before summer"s out we"ll be shipping stone down from the quarry near Gingivere"s Farm."
"Have you heard? We"re going to build a great stone Abbey."
"A huge place where we can all live together."
"Right at the side of the path, not far from where Gonff will be living with Columbine."
Bella waved her paws for order. "Hush now. Go and enjoy yourselves. Our warrior has fallen asleep listening to your chatter."
The fires burned low, though the festivities continued on the lakesh.o.r.e as the sounds of happiness drifted up into the soft summer night, traveling onto the places beyond the stars, where legends live.
372.
Some creature was knocking on the gatehouse door.
Bella of BrockhaU rose slowly from her armchair by the embers of the fire and shuffled across to the threshold.
A fine plump mouse stood framed against the starstrewn night. He entered, nodding toward the small mouse who lay asleep, propped up on the arm of the chair by a cushion.
"I knew he"d be here listening to your stories, marm."
Bella squinted closely at the plump mouse. "You must be Gonff, son of Gonif and Columbine from Saint Ninian"s. I thought I recognized your son. He"s the image of his grandfather."
The plump mouse chuckled. "Aye, you"d better check your candied chestnuts and cheese, marm. There"s nothing safe while he"s around. Lucky he"s asleep, eh."
Bella picked up the sleeping mouse with great gentleness. "Little rogue. Look, his tunic"s full of acorns. Wonder where he got them from. Come on, I"ll carry him back home for you."
Together they made their way south along the dusty path, Bella talking quietly as they went.
"Pity he went to sleep like that, I never told him of the great vow that Martin made when he hung up his sword to become a Redwall mouse. Or of the wonderful feast when the main gate was raised. That was when you were born, y"know. Hoho, we certainly made a double celebration of it 373.
that summer. Skipper of otters ate so much that he sank in the Abbey pool, and Lady Amber dived in to fish him out. Did your mum and dad ever tell you about it?"
Gonff, son of Gonff and Columbine, nodded, smiling in the late autumn night.
"Aye, at least a hundred times, matey!"
374.
The last day of autumn was hot and bright as midsummer. Still as a millpond, the sea reflected a cloudless blue sky. Seabirds wheeled and called, soaring lazily on the warm ther-mals above the sun-baked sands of the sh.o.r.e.
Two hares stood shaded by the cave entrance, watching a folly grown male badger plough his way wearily across the beach toward them. He was big and dangerous-looking, the fierce light in his eyes glinted off the metal tips of an immense warclub which he carried easily in one paw.
The hares stepped from the shadows of the rock into the sunlight, the stranger stood before them, pointing at the mountain.
"What do they call this place?" he asked.
The oldest of the hares, a male, answered him.
"Salamandastron, the place of the fire lizard."
The badger gave a huge sigh. Leaning against the rock, he rested his club on the sand.
"I feel as if I"ve been here before," he said strangely.
The female hare produced victuals from within the cave entrance. "Rest awhile. Eat and drink. I am called Breeze, and this is my brother Starbuck. What do they call you?"
The badger smiled. He touched one of his headstripes, which was yellow rather than white.
"Some call me Sunflash the Mace. I am the son of Bella and Barkstripe. I"m a traveler."
375.
Starbuck nodded in satisfaction. "Your travelling is at an end, Sunflash, you are the grandson of Boar the Fighter and great grandson of Old Lord Brocktree. It is written on the walls of our mountain that you would come here someday.""
Sunflash straightened up. He stared hard at the hares.
"Written, you say. By whom?"
Breeze shrugged. "By whoever wrote that other hares will follow after us. That is the way it has always been and always will be."
Both hares stood in the cave entrance. They bowed to the badger. "Welcome to your mountain, Sunflash the Mace, Lord of Salaraandastron,"
The high sun above watched as the badger and the hares went together into the mountain on the sh.o.r.es below.