"This is a very ancient sword hilt, a good one. I can make it into a new
weapon. I must give it a blade that will not be broken again by anything."
Martin saw that Boar would not be pressed for answers; he decided to comply
until the badger's mood changed.
"Thank you, Boar. I would dearly like to see my father's old sword forged into
a new weapon. Since it was broken I have felt like half a warrior carrying
half a sword."
Boar shook his massive head. "Your mistake, Martin. You are a real warrior, a
full and true one. You have the heart— I can see it in you. But when I make
this sword anew, you must always remember that it is not the weapon but the
creature that wields it. A sword is a force for good only in the paws of an
honest warrior. But enough now. You and your friends are tired. I will talk to
you tomorrow and show you
262
many things. Sleep here. If you wish to bathe the dust of travel away, I will
send my hares with dry towels for you." Boar took his leave of the travelers.
The hot bath was deep and refreshing. Trubbs, Wother and Ffring turned up with
huge soft towels.
"One each, you chaps. No splashing."
"Wash behind your ears, old sport."
"Night-night. See you in the morning."
Dry, full and warm, they lay on the moss-covered ledges.
"Hoo urr," Dinny yawned, "so we'm come to Samman-dastorat last."
Log-a-Log stared at the high ceiling.
"A wonderful place indeed. Strange creature that Boar, eh, Martin?"
"Oh, he'll tell us what he intends when he's good and ready," Martin said
airily. "Let's get some sleep. I've a feeling tomorrow's going to be a full
day."
Gonff could not resist a rendition of his latest song.
At last the weary travelers
Have reached their hearts' desire.
We quested overland to reach
The mountain of the fire.
To meet with Boar the Fighter,
Who knows secrets dark and deep—
Gonff sat upright scratching his whiskers, "What rhymes with deep, mateys?"
Three wet towels knocked him flat. "You'm moight troi sleep!"
263
The woodlanders were caught completely unawares in the early morning.
Led by Bane and Tsarmina, the joint forces hit swiftly. Luckily the little
ones were still abed at Brock hall and the Loamhedge mice were preparing
breakfasts. The only creatures at the diggings were moles, otters and a few
squirrels.
Bane's mercenaries dashed in, hacking madly, backed by Tsarmina's spears.
Urthclaw, Billum and Soilflyer were deep underground. The rest were caught in
the open.
It was chaos!
Skipper took an arrow in his side. Lady Amber lost an ear to a fox's sword.
The woodlands were alive with yelling, slashing animals. There was only one
thing to do: retreat with all speed. Disregarding his wounds, Skipper stood
fast with a small band of otters, hurling stones as he roared aloud, "Get
away, quickly!"
Amber and her squirrels managed to escape through the treetops, leaving two
slain on the ground. Skipper and his otters saw to it that the few moles were
safely carried off across the river, before vanishing into the water
themselves.
Tsarmina gave out howls of victory across the now silent woods.
Bane leaned on his curved sword breathing heavily. "See, I told you they're no
match for us. Phew! But they can put up a tidy fight, even when they're
outnumbered."
264
Brogg swaggered up and saluted.
"Two squirrels, three otters and a mole slain, Milady,'* he reported.
He was about to turn away when Bane tugged on his cloak.
"How many of ours lost?" he asked tersely.
"Three ferrets, a stoat and a weasel, four rats and a fox."
Bane shook his head in amazement. "Good job, we outnumbered them. No
prisoners?''
'.'No, sir, not a one."
"Hmm, pity."
Ratflank limped up, nursing a cracked paw.
"We've found three big holes over there by the river," he said.
The commanders strode across to the spot. Bane bent down and sniffed the earth
around each hole, while Tsarmina stood watching.
"What d'you suppose they were up to?" she wondered.
Bane spat into one of the holes. "Your guess is as good as mine. We didn't get
time to chop the trees or fire the woodland. Maybe there's some of 'em still
down these holes."
"Then we can fill them in." Tsarmina grinned wickedly. "Brogg, get some big
rocks, fetch that timber lying about there, use the spears, fill them in well
and press the earth down hard. They'll be imprisoned down there until the air
runs out."
Bane wiped his sword and sheathed it.
"Well, that's that. There's not much my band can do around here. We'll head
back to Kotir and try another dawn raid tomorrow."
Tsarmina was right beside the fox leader. She was not about to stop out in the
woods with her soldiers, leaving Bane to take over Kotir in her absence.
"Right, Bane. I'll leave Brogg with some of the others to get on with the job.
The rest of us will go back to Kotir with you."
As they marched off through the morning brightness of Mossflower, one of
Bane's foxes sniggered as he trod on the back of Ratflank's cloak.
"Yah, I think your pussycat Queen's frightened of us locking the fortress door
on her."
265
Ratflank tugged his cloak free, sneering. "Oh yes? Well, you just try calling
her pussycat to her face, hero!"
The first Bella knew of the attack was when the Corim leaders re gathered
their crews at Brockhall. Abbess Germaine and Columbine organized bandages and
herbs, Loamhedge mice bustled about ministering to the wounded. Skipper
refused to stand still, and Goody Stickle chased about after him, dabbing at
his injury, trying to get a bandage around it.
There were tears of rage in the otter's eyes. "Six lost, by the fur. Where did
they come from? Who was that fox with all those scruffy murderers? Tsarmina
could never have done this on her own."
Lady Amber adjusted the bandage around her head so she could see properly.
"I heard someone call him Bane," she told him. "Get Chibb. Tell him to go to
Kotir. He'll have to be very careful, but we've got to find out all we can
about this other lot."
Foremole tapped a digging claw upon the table.
"Us'll avter do summat 'bout Urthclaw, Soilflyer V Bil-lum. They'm stucken
down 'oles. Oo be a-tellen wot they villyuns do to *ee."
"Yes," Bella agreed, "it's most important that we rescue the moles from the
tunnels. Next on the list is to make sure that the area around Brockhall is
completely hidden. If they don't know where we are, they can't attack us.
Furthermore, we will need to find a second hideout, somewhere deeper into the
east of Mossflower. If ever Brockhall is discovered, another refuge will be
very necessary."
Messengers were sent out to find Chibb, and the wood-landers set about erasing
the tracks around Brockhall, while Germaine and her mice tended the wounded
with dedicated care.
The memory of the murderous ambush still lingered.
Lady Amber was not one to forget.
Neither was Skipper.
Before noon, Chibb had reported back to the Corim, but the news was not good.
"Er, ahem. Very serious, very serious. It seems that this fox Bane is an
expert, a mercenary with a band of about
266
sixty. Harrumph. 'Scuse me. Evidently they are planning another ambush, as
deep as they can get into Mossflower in one early morning march. Tomorrow,
they plan to set out at dawn in a skirmish line, killing or capturing all