Total exhaustion suddenly enveloped Dann. Gratefully, he held on to the rope and lay back while Song paddled back to the bank.
The Reguba warrior was hauled dripping onto the mossy sward by Song, and sat shivering as reaction to his wild charge set in. Song found his sword in the shallows.
"Great seasons, what a fighter y'are, Dann. I never saw anythin' like that in my whole life. You were like a Badger Lord in Bloodwrath thereI was sure you were going to slay that vermin bare-pawed!"
"Yiss yiss, but are yer goin' t'talk about it all day an' leave us two pore creatures hangin' 'ere like apples waitin' fer autumn?"
Song turned to the two wet bundles hanging from the willow bough. "Oops! Sorry, pals, I completely forgot you there for a moment. Hang on, I'll soon get you down."
Viewing the scene from his upside-down position, Burble winked at Dann. "Ah well, isn't that decent of the young missie now, she's gettin' round to releasin' us. If'n she don't put a move on with it we'll both have great fat purple heads with hangin' this way!"
The irony of the watervole's remarks was not lost on Song. Smiling mischievously, she crouched with her face level to Burble's. "Hmm, then again I might just leave you to ripen and drop off like two damsons in the orchard. How long is it till autumn, Dann?"
Struggling upright, Dann swung Dippler in so that Song could cut his bonds, and together they lowered him onto the moss. The Guosim shrew had not said a word throughout his ordeal. Now he sat rubbing circulation back into his footpaws as he spoke. "Sleepin' again, I was, same as last time when the Marlfoxes stole my tribe's logboats. Huh! Haven't learned much, 'ave I? Same puddle-'eaded beast as ever I was, that's me!"
When they had cut Burble down, Dann sat by Dippler and put a friendly paw about his shoulders. "Don't blame yourself, Dipp. We were all asleepit wasn't yore fault. Next time you'll be ready, wait'n'see. I think you'll surprise yourself when the time comes. I certainly did. After what took place here t'day I'll never be afraid of any creature livin'. What d'you say, Song?"
The squirrelmaid tossed her Leafwood in the air and caught it deftly. "Don't think 'tis a question of you being afraid anymore, Dann. In the seasons to come, any foebeast facing you will be the one who feels the fear, of that I'm sure!"
As the afternoon wore on the four friends sat on the bank discussing their next move. Burble was not happy about going back to the river. "Tisn't the thing t'do, y'see. That ole Gray One an' the River'ead tribe'll scour that open water fer days yet. Yiss yiss, we'll only be like a butterfly flyin' into the mouth of a hungry crow, goin' straight inter trouble, so we will!"
Song glanced up from the scroll that contained Friar Butty's rhyme, which she had been studying carefully. "You could be right, Burb, the river might be a dangerous place for us. You say we weren't far off some rapids when your tribe were chasing us, is that correct?"
"Oh yiss yiss, missie, the ould rapids are fast an' fierce. 'Tis a good job we never had t'face them so 'tis, yiss yiss."
Song tapped the parchment thoughtfully. "Hmm, it doesn't say anything in this rhyme about going over rapids on the river this early. All it says is:
"Just follow as I run away.
Discover the speechless hidden mouth,
Alas, my friends, our ways part there,
Go down green tunnel, bounden south,
Through trees with blossoms in their hair."
Dann poured them the last of the dandelion and burdock cordial. "So, what does that tell us, Song?"
"Think on a bit, Dann. While we were following that river, did we see any streams or creeks running south before this one?"
"No, I'm sure we didn't. There wasn't a break in the bank until I saw this sidestream when they were chasing us. What are you getting at, Song?"
"Well, 'tis just an idea, but I think this is the speechless hidden mouth we were looking for. Dippler, you know about waterways, what's your opinion?"
The Guosim shrew scratched his whiskers. "Mebbe so. The inlet does look a touch like a mouth, an' all that foliage makes it a proper green tunnel. So if yore poem says that's where our ways part, it must mean that is the spot where we part company with the river. Aye, I think yore right, Song!"
But Burble scoffed at the idea. "Ah, will y'lissen t'the wisdom of 'em! 'Ow can words on an ole scrap o' parchment be right? This is a dead end, or is it meself is the only one can see it?"
Song shook the scroll beneath Burble's nose. "Remember, though, this was written many many seasons ago. Couldn't this have been a proper stream before that? Mightn't it only have become a creek after those trees fell and blocked it?"
Dippler butted in. "Ha! But y'forgot sumthin', missie. Aren't we supposed to be chasin' the Marlfox an' his crew?"
Song stood up and stamped about on the bank. She was fast losing patience with the whole affair. "Look, I don't care which way the fox has gone, we can't follow on the open river with Gray One on our tails. Another thing, we know the Marlfox is bound for the secret island on the lost lake. This way we're sure to meet up with him. Burble, where d'you think you're off to?"
The watervole was already climbing over the fallen treetrunks that blocked the creek off.
"Don't git yore paws in a tizzy, bossytail, I'm just goin' to see if yore idea is right, yiss yiss. Well, are you comin'?"
They climbed over the trunks and inspected the ground. Among the clumps of agrimony, sawwort and saxifrage the old streambed was still identifiable by the narrow trickle of water filtering through the logs that had dammed it off. Song splashed about in it triumphantly.
"You see? I told you, this is the sidestream we're supposed to take. Look, it's running south just like the rhyme said it would. What d'you say to that, fatty volenose?"
Burble had only one word to say. "Porterage!"
They stared at him, repeating the word together. "Porterage?"
"Yiss yiss, have ye not heard of porterage? Well, I'll tell ye, me fine-furred friends. It means that we've got to toiler this liddle water trickle till it becomes a stream agin. Yiss yiss, a-carryin' the good boat Swallow upside down on our 'eads!"
Dann started climbing back over the treetrunks. "Stands to sense, Burb. We'd never get anywhere tryin' to float the Swallow in that tiny dribble. Come on, porters, let's try a bit o' porterage. I'm game if you lot are!"
Fortunately the Swallow was a comparatively light craft. Shouldering their packs and placing the paddles flat across their shoulders, the friends turned her upside down, lifted her over their heads, then lowered her onto the outstretched blades. This meant that their heads were inside the upturned boat and one had to follow the other blindly. Dann took the lead, being the tallest, followed by Dippler and Burble, with Song at the rear of the line. It was hard going, hot and stuffy inside the boat, where they were visited by various winged pests. However, they pressed on stoically, trying to ignore the hardships.
Dunk!
"Yowch! Watch where yore goin' up there, Dann!"
"Sorry. 'Twas a big overhangin' branch, didn't see it."
"Yiss yiss, maybe y'didn't see it, matey, but we felt it!"
"Well, so did I, so stop complainin', will yer!"
"Burb ain't complainin', he's debatin'. Creatures got a right to debate, watervoles as well as us shrews. Any'ow, how can y'tell if we're goin' the right way, Dann?"
"Pudden'ead! Because I'm walkin' in the liddle stream an' me footpaws are soakin' wet and soggy, that's 'ow! Song, will y'please sing a ditty or two to shut that pair up. Honestly, talk about gabby. Guosim an' wofflin' watervoles, spare me from them!"
Song liked the way her voice echoed inside the upturned boat.
"Oh how could a hedgehog marry a mole,
He's prickly prickly prickly,
An' live with a squirrel all in a great hole,
Very tickly tickly tickly.