Drull booted him to one side and drew his sword. "No I never. Get t'the main gate an' stand fastthat's where they'll try t'break through. Shift yerself!"
Jukka climbed back inside the mountain and began making her way down to the cellars. She was still on the highest level, racing along a passageway, when she ran slapbang into Ungatt Trunn. They fell headlong, both tripped by the wildcat's trident haft, down a short flight of stairs. Jukka landed on top, extricating herself from Trunn's cloak folds and mumbling hasty apologies. Momentarily forgetting herself, Jukka fell into her natural speech.
"I beg thy pardon, sire. Art thou injured, pray?"
Ungatt Trunn scrambled to get upright, locking eyes with her. "You're no Hordebeast, I can tell. Come here!"
Jukka did the only thing she could do in the circumstances. She leapt over the wildcat and ran for it. Trunn was speedily up and after her, calling for assistance.
"Guards, stop that creature, she's a spy, stop her!"
Jukka took a sharp left along a corridor which branched off two ways, and jammed herself into a darkened niche as Captain Drull and a mob of guards raced by.
Drull came to a forced halt as he turned the corner and the wildcat grabbed him.
"Where's the spy? Did you see which way that spy went?"
Ignoring the question, Drull babbled into Trunn's face. "Attack, sire, we're bein' attacked! They're all over the shore outside! They're attackin' us!"
Ungatt Trunn shook the unfortunate rat mercilessly. "I'll go and see to the attack. You take these with you and find that spythere must be others inside my mountain. Don't stand there dithering. Catch the spy!"
Jukka saw the wildcat race down the opposite arm of the corridor, and waited until he was out of sight before she emerged. Drull came skidding around the corner at the head of a large mob of vermin, almost face-to-face with her.
"That's the spy! Hey you, halt! Stop, I say!"
But Jukka was not about to stop or halt. She went off down the passage with the vermin pack hard on her heels.
Chapter 34
Dotti blinked. Lights shimmered in her vision each time she closed her eyes, and she stumbled against Southpaw. He gallantly held her upright. "Steady on, miss Dotti. Here, take m'paw!"
The haremaid was glad of his assistance. "Whew, we've been blunderin' 'round in the gloom down here for absoballylutely ages. Those lights are makin' my eyes go all funny. D'you suppose we're lost?"
"Good grief, I jolly well hope not, eh, Bob?"
"What, lost? I dunno, but it looks like we could be, old chap. I think this is the second blinkin' time I've passed this rock. It's shaped like a salad bowl. I've come t'know it rather well, wot!"
Brocktree held up his torch, illuminating the rock in question. "Is he right, Stiffener? Are we lost?"
The boxing hare's ears drooped in shame. "I 'ates to say it, lord, but I'm afeared we are."
A groan rose from those who had been following him.
"Lost? D'ye mean we've been traipsin' 'round here for hours'n'hours only to get lost?"
"Hmm, bit of a blinkin' frost if y'ask me, old lad!"
"Yurr, zurr Stiff dunn a gudd job, oi reckern. Us'n's nearly thurr, hurr aye!"
The Badger Lord sounded hopeful. "What makes you think so, Gurth?"
The good mole wet his digging claws by licking them, and held them up as high as he could. "'Coz oi be's feelen ee fresh hurr frumm above, zurr. 'Tis ee thing uz moles do be a-knowen abowt!"
Bucko, who hated the dark, congratulated Gurth. "Och, guid for ye, mah braw laddie. Lead on!"
Fleetscut chortled aloud. "Well, twoggle m'paws, the old salad bowl. I remember that when I used to pinch puddens an' come down here to eat 'em, when I was only a young 'un!"
Sailears chuckled dryly. "An' that must've been only last season. I recall cook Blench complainin' about a lot of missin' vittles, you lanky-shanked pudden-purloiner!"
But Fleetscut was not listening. He was away, helter-skelter down the rock tunnels, his cries echoing into the distance. "Haha, salad bowl, o' course! Can't fool old Fleetie. I know me flippin' way out, 'course I jolly well do!"
Dotti started to run after him, but Gurth stopped her. "Ee woan't catch zurr Fleet, missie. You'm toiler Gurth, oi'll get us'n's safe out, trust oi!"
Brocktree smiled at the stolid, reliable mole. "Friend Gurth, I'd sooner trust you than a cartload of Fleetscuts. We'll follow faithfully wherever you lead!"
Fleetscut halted for an instant to regain his breath, not too sure if he was on the right path. "I say, you lot . . . where've they gone? Oh, never mind. Now, was it this way, or that? Oh corks, I'm starvin'. Hope those blue-bottoms have left a morsel in the larder for supper. Or maybe tea. Huh, it could be blinkin' brekky time for all a chap'd know down this confounded hole. Hello, is that them comin' from the other way? I must've been travelin' in circles, wot?"
The sounds Fleetscut was hearing drew nearer, but they did not resemble any noises his friends would make.
"Come on, we've nearly got the spy!"
"Catch the spy! Stop that spy!"
It was one long passage, with no exits left or right. Fleetscut looked rather nonplussed as Jukka came panting up out of the gloom, and held up his torch. "Oh, it's only you. Stolen any good weapons lately, wot?"
Jukka collapsed beside him, words pouring out of her. "Right behind mea load of vermin coming fast! Where are thy friends? Are they not with thee?"
"No, they're back there a ways. Should imagine they'll be along in a while..." He caught sight of the yelling mob of vermin racing up the tunnel. "Great seasons, there'll be murder if they clash with our lot. We weren't expectin' anythin' like this."
Jukka grabbed him savagely. "No time for explanations now, longears. Hast thou weapons? We must hold them here, thee an' me!"
The enormity of it dawned upon Fleetscut. He snapped his javelin in half and brandished the torch. "We'll have t'stop 'em. Here, take this. Eulaliiiiaaaa!"
Holding a half of the double-pointed javelin apiece, they charged forward. Both creatures threw themselves at the vermin mob in the narrowest part of the tunnel. The move took the Hordebeasts completely by surprise. Battering away with the lighted torch and thrusting with his piece of javelin, Fleetscut battled side by side with Jukka. They gave no quarter and stood their ground, fighting like a pair of madbeasts, yelling when their javelins found marks and gasping with pain when vermin blades found theirs.
Further down the tunnel, Sailears held up a paw for silence. "What was that, sah? Did y'hear it?"
Brocktree was already rushing by her, his blade drawn.
"Battle ahead! Eulaliiiiaaaaa!"
They thundered along the tunnel and hit the vermin like a tidal wave. The awesome Brocktree went straight through the Hordebeasts, his sword scything a harvest of death. Dotti had hardly a chance to whirl her sling. Bucko shoved her to one side as he went in like a battering ram.
"Oot mah way, lassie. Yerrrahaaah! Ah'm the mad March hare frae the mountains! Tak yer last look at me, ye vermin!"
Skulls cracked against rock as Stiffener Medick and his two grandsons went in weaponless, punching and kicking. Dotti staggered upright, ducking again as a rat went sailing over her head. Gurth placed her politely out of his way.
"Stan' ee asoide, miz, lest ee get you'm dress mussed!"
Sailears hugged Dotti to her. "Don't look. We should never have brought a maid to this place. Turn your face away, Dotti, 'twill soon be done."
It was done in a frighteningly short time. No vermin was allowed to escape and raise the alarm. Treading carefully, Sailears led Dotti forward, clear of the carnage. On the other side of the battleground, Bucko was waiting for them. He stood up from the two forms he had been crouching over, Jukka and Fleetscut. The mountain hare wedged a torch into the rocks above them. As she knelt by their side, Dotti could see that Jukka was already dead. Fleetscut had tight hold of the squirrel's paw. His eyes flickered briefly. He was whispering something, and Dotti had to put her face close to his before she realized that the old hare was talking to Jukka.