"But you two never went up there, only Dwopple did, right?"
Both molebabes nodded. Butty tried to hold his patience. "Why did you not tell us all this before?"
'"Cos you'm never axed uz, zurr."
Cregga could not help smiling, despite her anxiety. "Well, Friar, there's a bit of true mole logic. Wugger's right, though, we should have thought to ask them a lot earlier. Come on, you two, 'tis dark out and way past your bedtime."
Friar Butty walked back to the Abbey with them. "Cregga, marm, I don't like the sound of this. Sounds like the Marlfoxes to me. Remember the night of the storm? These two practically described Marlfoxes to us, but nobeast believed them."
Cregga felt for the Abbey door handle. "Aye, that's true, Friar. But I want no mention of what they've told us made to anybeast yet. There's no need to cause alarm. Dwopple may be found hiding somewhere before morning. We'll just have to kelt;*p searching."
"But what if we can't find him?"
"Then we'll just have to search the whole of Mossflower." Mokkan and the other Marlfoxes sat around a fire on the creek edge, roasting a couple of plump waterfowl. The rats sat farther away, cooking fish over their own fires. Mokkan blew a feather from his muzzle tip and watched it float off into the night.
"Plenty of good vittles in this part of Mossflower. Nothing like a roasted bird after a good day's work, eh!"
The cloak, with its top tied securely, hung from the bough of a beech tree close by, bobbing about as Dwopple kicked and protested from inside his prison. "You fibba liars, where mista Stickabee? Lemme go, I wanna bag o' candy sweets, you let Dwopple go!"
Gelltor slapped the bag lightly. "Quiet in there, or I'll give you something to shout about!"
The mousebabe did a dance of rage inside the cloak. "Rottin fosskers, toucha Dwopple an' I get you wirra me slinger!"
One of the vixens, Predak, stared across the flames at Mokkan. "You're very confident this is going to work, brother?"
Mokkan tested the roasting bird with a knife tip. "Why d'you say that? No reason it shouldn't work. You'll see, those Abbeybeasts would part with anything rather than have one of their babes hurt. But speak up if you have a better idea."
Predak watched a moth shrivel as it ventured too near the firelight. "Oh, your idea's a good one, but wouldn't it be better if we had another plan to fall back on in case anything goes wrong?"
Mokkan's pale eyes glimmered as they reflected the flames. "Tell me. I'm not like our brother Gelltor, I'm always ready to listen to other schemes."
On the island, two rat guards marched up a ramp toward the main chamber. One of them whispered irately, "Well, what is it tonight? There's no storm to disturb 'er."
The other rat's eyes flickered from side to side among the gloomy recesses and curves of the winding stone passage. "Keep yer voice down, mate. Y'never know who might be lissenin'. Queen Silthll let us know wot's on 'er mind soon enough, an' you can bet yer tail it won't be good news. It never is!"
Outside, the great lake was calm and the island quiet in dim peaceful summer night. But the main chamber was lit like noontide, with banks upon banks of thick tallow candles ranged from floor to ceiling, their light reflecting amber and gold against the long brass wallplates the Marlfoxes used as mirrors.
Threescore rats of the Guard Command stood stiffly to attention, their black livery marking them apart from the brown of lower ranks. Each carried a leaf-bladed short spear and a small round buckler shield. Above in the crisscrossed roofbeams more than fifty magpies swaggered and strutted, hopping boldly about, some even venturing to perch on the big circular candle-laden wheels that served as chandeliers. These were the tribe of Athrak, feared favorites of the High Queen. The two water rats from the shoreline patrol hurried to stand in formation with their fellow Guard Commanders, flinching as drops of hot wax from the ceiling fell on them each time a magpie caused one of the wheels to sway. After a while, even the magpies became still and silent, and an uneasy quiet fell over the chamber as Silth made her entrance.
The carriers bore their burden with exquisite care, setting the silken-curtained palanquin slowly down on a raised block of speckled marble at the chamber's far end. All eyes were now centered on the stone, though they had seen it many times before. A gasp went up from the onlookers as the vixen Lantur seemed to materialize from the speckled marble block. She had been standing there since the first rat entered, completely undetected, camouflaged by the stone's pattern. Lantur held her paws wide as two water rats hurried forward and draped the brown-green cloak about her shoulders. At a nod from her the Guard Commanders raised their spears, calling out as in one mighty voice: "O eternal Silth! High Queen, live for ever! Beauty be yours alone!"
The harsh rasping voice that issued from behind the curtains held a petulant note, like that of a spoiled young one. "Noise! All night long. Noise! I hear the waters of that lake, trying to eat away the rocks of my island! I hear the night breeze whispering like death, swirling about my castle, trying to find me! But what have you done about these things ... Nothing! Sleep will not come, it flies away from me on dark wings, I cannot catch it. Why?"
The water rat Commanders stood rigid, not daring to move a muscle, watched by the bright searching eyes of the magpies above them. Lantur strode up and down between the ranks, chastising the hapless rodents with her tongue. "You are growing fat and idle while your Queen suffers. There are no excuses for your stupidity. At night, while you are shirking your duties, the White Ghost wanders the rooms and corridors of Castle Marl!"
The Queen's voice interrupted Lantur, shrill with fear. "Fools! I know what you are thinking, but I have seen it!"
At that point one of the unfortunate Guard Commanders dropped his shield. The clang of metal upon stone echoed through the chamber. Athrak launched himself from a crossbeam, calling his tribe.
"Rakkarakkarakka! Gerrimclaw!"
The magpies zoomed down like lightning upon the wretched creature. Talons and beaks gripped fur, paws, tail and tunic cruelly, lifting him bodily from the floor. Knocking other rats aside, the magpies rushed their prisoner forward, chattering gleefully as they dropped him in front of the marble block and stood surrounding him. The water rat lay cringing on the'floors tones. Silth's voice was harsh and accusing. "Have you seen the White Ghost?"
A thin smile played about Lantur's features. She adopted a tone of reasonable inquiry. "Well, friend, have you seen the White Ghost or haven't you? Answer your Queen."
The rat was in a quandary. If he said he had seen the White Ghost Silth would make him describe it. If his description did not ring true, then what? His only hope was to tell the truth.
"O High Queen, I have not seen the White Ghost, I swear it!"
It was the wrong answer. The tasseled silk curtains shook as Silth raged insanely.
"Of course you haven't, because you've been sleeping on duty and idling your time away! Athrak, tell my protectors of the skies to remove this worthless heap of offal from Castle Marl! He shall answer for his laziness to the Teeth of the Deeps!" The rat gave a pitiful moan as Athrak's magpies seized him with wicked joy and bore him off.
At an upstairs window the curtains of the palanquin parted slightly. Silth watched the scene below on the lakeshore. Blazing torches had been spiked in a semicircle into the rock at the water's edge. The head of the Guard Command chopped a dead fish into chunks and hurled them into the dark waters. There were no shallows; the island was a massive, steep-sided mountain, its bottom resting on the lake bed, unfathomable depths below. The water rats stood watching the surface, their stomachs knotted in terror, mouths dry with fear, as the waters began to thrash and churn. Dorsal fins and gold-green scales, hooked jaws and curved sets of ripping teeth flashed in the torchlights. Pike! The great freshwater predators set up bow waves as they stormed to the spot, whipping themselves into a feeding frenzy as they fought for gobbets of the dead fish. The condemned water rat screeched as Athrak's ruthless birds lifted him out over the depths. "No, no, I lied. I've seen the White Ghost! Eeeeeeyaaaagh!"