Invaders of Redwall --- No Comments Please

[cairn destop]

EPILOGUE

THREE YEARS LATER

Thunder rumbled off in the distance and the sudden noise had Wobbles jumping off the bench.  Her stubby tail slashed the air behind her as she fidgeted in the empty room.  She tried distracting herself by gazing out the transom window where the black clouds rolled towards the Abbey, blotting out the summer sky.  Another clap of thunder sounded and the windows rattled in their frames echoing the sound.

Wobbles kept kneading the fur on one arm with the paw of the other as she tried to relax.  Her guide had informed her that the restored Grand Tapestry depicting Martin the Warrior provided a sense of peace to those who contemplated his features.  It did not calm her.  As she paced the distance of her bench, she chewed her lip, wondering when somebody would come.  The longer she waited, the more she questioned her decision. 

The idea of fleeing this place came to her worried mind.  She turned to the distant door but froze when a strange clomping sound came from above her.  She glanced up the staircase where a hare dressed in a green habit hopped down each step.  It wasn't until he reached the bottom that she noticed his missing leg.  The hare placed the crutch he carried under his arm, moved before her, and gave her a slight bow of his head.

"Welcome again to Redwall Abbey, Wobbles.  I'm Abbot Markus."

"My invitation is from Abbess Robertasin.  Where is she?"

The hare's expression changed.  His face turned sad as he lowered himself to the bench, patting the cushion next to him.  As Wobbles joined him, another loud clap of thunder drew her eyes to the rattling windows high overhead.  When her attention returned to the hare, he took both her paws in his.  Such a firm, yet gentle grip acted as a balm to her jangled nerves.

"It's my sad duty to inform you that Abbess Robertasin traveled to Dark Forest two weeks ago.  Her passage from this life came peacefully while she slept, which I consider a true blessing from the Eternals.  Perhaps the strain of restoring the Abbey proved too much for her weak heart.  Three days ago, the Council of Elders selected me as her replacement.  I'm still learning my new responsibilities."

When Wobbles focused on the hare, that friendly face emerge once more.  It renewed her confidence as she withdrew the letter she carried next to her heart.  Since they were alone, she passed it to Markus.  While the hare opened the letter, Wobbles spoke of her life since the war ended.

"Chitter and his wife, Highclimber, have treated me like some long-lost hero.  They cannot do enough for me and I enjoyed such adulation, for a while.  Now Highclimber is tending to another newborn and I felt it was time to make a life of my own."

"And is there something special you want to do here, Wobbles?"

Wobbles kept her muzzle down fearing this unknown creature might consider her unworthy.  She remembered back to that day three years ago when a vision told her that she would find acceptance and peace at Redwall once she felt ready to rest.  Now she faced somebody with the power to deny her, somebody who knew nothing about her.  Her confidence waned and her voice came out sounding like a pleading whisper.

"I understand the Recorder has a library of stories that would take several lifetimes reading.  I want to see how many tales I can read in what remains of mine, if I am still welcomed here."

Markus gave her leg a light pat.  "Indeed you are.  When you join me for dinner, you will notice many familiar faces here at Redwall.  All of them want to meet the mother that sacrificed her freedom to save her child and the grand dame who inspired a mighty warrior."

Wobbles felt the blood rush to her face and hoped the hare didn't notice her blush.  For many seasons, Chitter thought his mother dead and he had her declared a fallen hero.  Finding her alive made her an icon for freedom.  A title she considered misplaced, and one she never wanted.

"Do forgive the sudden change of topic, sir.  Nobody ever told me what happened after the siege at Redwall ended.  I knew so many that severed with the Horde, yet nobody speaks of them."

Abbot Markus leaned his back against the wall.  Wobbles tried copying his casual demeanor, but she remained attentive.  For a time, the hare's eyes lingered on the tapestry.  When his eyes refocused on her, he related what had occurred some three years past.

General Zavallin retreated south, thinking none would follow.  He was wrong.  The Unity Division dogged them every step, picking off their stragglers and raiding their camp each night.  On the sixth day, the Horde leader devised a plan he thought would dissuade any further attrition.  The Horde tried executing two slave youths by burning them alive at a spot considered too well guarded for any successful rescue effort.  The remaining slaves were threatened with a similar fate if the Unity Division continued its harassment.

It worked, but not as intended.  It fired a righteous wrath that allowed no quarter.  Captain Serenity led her force on an attack aimed at saving the two victims.  The battle cry of the woodlanders matched the intensity of the two wailing slaves as they burned.  Though the Horde outnumbered them, the Unity Division soldiers refused to retreat and each fought like a dozen seasoned warriors. 

Thanks to the captured chariots, the two injured slaves were rescued and rushed to their medical staff.  Their actions made it quite clear that harming any slave guaranteed dire consequences.  Over the following days, many slaves walked away from the Horde's camp while the guards watched.

"Those two slaves the Horde tried roasting know you by name, Wobbles.  They're the daughters of Wiana, Redwall's resident cook.  The two girls prefer keeping their legs and tails hidden under their petticoats since the burns disfigured them, but they always have a ready smile for every visitor."

"Wiana lives?"  Wobbles felt terrified.  "Last time we met, I flogged her daughters until they both passed out from the beating.  Wiana swore vengeance because of my actions."

Wobbles leaped from the bench and tried running but Abbot Markus seized her paw, holding her in place. 

"That comment was a mother's indignation speaking.  She knows now that you saved them from some sadistic wildcat's version of torture that could have meant the death of one or both of her daughters."  Markus leaned closer to her.  "It was Wiana that suggested tonight's welcoming feast.  As she tells it, without you, she would have lost her children months ago."

The hare stared at the tapestry for a few moments.  The summer sky turned black as the clouds rolled across the transom windows, pitching the chamber into a shadowy gloom.  The hare closed his eyes while he recollected the story about the Horde and how it all ended.

General Zavallin's retreat almost turned into a rout, but military discipline won the day and the army continued their orderly retreat.  As the Horde marched south, the Unity Division paced them, holding to a parallel path on their right flank.  The day after the rescue, the High Kickin' Sixth Division, along with the unit commanded by King Brisson, took up station on the Horde's left flank.

Markus laughed.  "Wish I was a tick in the General's fur.  Can you imagine his surprise when they sighted Ferretville and saw the Long Patrol's banner flying from every flagpole?  My sister, Colonel Darlow, sailed from Salamanderstron twenty days before the relief of Redwall, intending to lay siege to the port.  What happened sure surprised her."

Colonel Darlow anticipated a prolonged engagement as she thought General Zavallin commanded the port of Ferretville.  What she found was the dregs of Brigadier Shawarran's unit, injured soldiers unfit for combat.  Without a strong central command structure, anarchy ensued.  A hostile populace left the garrison with an enemy inside the city's walls and an army threatening them from outside their fortifications.  Slaves had gone feral as they fought for whatever food was available, including the bodies of the dead.  The Horde soldiers were so demoralized that when the Long Patrol offered terms, they surrendered without a fight.

Horde ships were allowed into port and their supplies confiscated over the next three months.  When the ships departed, bound for their homeland, they carried only the dispirited remnants of a once victorious army.  Their slaves were offered their choice of returning with the defeated raiders or staying in this new land.  Most chose to remain.

King Brisson then offered all invaders who chose to remain, amnesty for any wrongs committed since their arrival.  Markus recalled the badger king's proclamation.  "The scars of war must be healed, but not through bloody vengeance."  His generosity to a former enemy proved to be the first step.  Many slaves remained in Ferretville doing the same work they did under their former master's lash.  Thanks to their efforts, the town has grown into a major port city populated by every known species.

"Freedom transforms a beast, Wobbles.  Your weasel friend, Avbron, started a shipping business in Ferretville with his new mate.  Tergello married our Abbey's warrior, Firelog, and has become a mother and quite a quilter.  The fox engineer, Pucha, is overseeing the reconstruction of the Abbey wall she helped destroy."

Just then, the windows turned into drums as raindrops fell.  At first, the cadence remained slow, like a funeral dirge.  Then the timing picked-up as the rains fell heavier.  Soon the beat came so fast that no single drop could be heard.  Windows turned translucent as water cascaded like a river flowing over the glass barrier.

Down the far end of the hallway, three shadowy forms walked into the room.  The first morphed into a male badger that surprised Wobbles.  The fellow's resemblance to Bruno was so strong that for a moment she thought him a reincarnation of her son's guardian.  Though the boar had a wide grin on his face, his fur remained plastered to his body.  Each step he took left a small puddle of water marring what had been a pristine slate floor.

A female squirrel hung onto his paw.  The child swung the badger's arm back and forth, as if it were a clock's pendulum.  Like the male badger, she too was drenched.  Her clothing clung to her fur and the fluffiness Wobbles spent hours achieving had gone for naught.  The dibbun kept staring at the badger with eyes full of wonderment.

Wobbles jumped to her feet.  Her voice boomed through the hallway louder than the thunder outside catching almost everyone's attention.  The severity of her tone never registered on the girl and she took no notice of her standing there with paws resting on her hips.  A light growl from the badger and his muzzle pointing from the kit squirrel to Wobbles had the enthralled girl shift her eyes away from the badger.

"My word, child.  Don't you have sense enough to come in out of the rain?  Just look at you.  I swear you're the very definition of a tree rat if ever there was one."

The girl reacted to the harsh tone.  She ducked behind the huge badger.  The youngster peered up at her protector who smiled at the dibbun.  That gave the girl a measure of confidence and she moved back to his side, but never released his paw.  She then danced in place; her singsong voice filling the hall with a gleeful sound as her eyes remained focused on the boar badger.

"I found Uncle Thorn, Granny Wobbles.  I found him.  I found him.  I found him."

Thorn gave the Father Abbot and "Granny" Wobbles an impish grin while doing nothing to curb the girl's exuberance.  He ignored the child's manipulations, satisfied that she found his paw such a great source of entertainment.  He spoke at a level that overpowered the young squirrel's song.

"Your granddaughter found all the children enjoying themselves at the pond too much of a temptation.  At the time, I thought the storm would pass us by so I didn't have the heart to end everyone's fun.  Seems we all got caught in the rain.  I sent the other children to the Dormitory so they could change into dry clothing."

His eyes shifted from Wobbles to the girl and back.  "I asked the child for her name, but she said I had to come here and meet you."

The girl used the badger's paw like a springboard as she leaped upward, her giddy voice interrupting Thorn.  She giggled each time she spoke, no doubt enjoying the game she played.

"It's a secret.  It's a secret.  It's a secret.  It's a secret."

"Enough child."  Wobbles saw the humor in this moment and her anger vanished.  "She calls you uncle because her parents lived here when you were a pup.  I told her while she visits, she could live in the Dormitory with you, Pa Badger Thorn.  If you would allow it." 

Wobbles interpreted his silence as a question regarding the girl's status.  If Wobbles stayed at Redwall, why house the girl with his young charges?  His worried expression told her what concerned him.

"It's not permanent, Pa Badger.  She will be returning home next month after Chitter stops for a visit.  Highclimber wants her to have some time with children other than squirrels or otters."

Thorn's nod made Wobbles slump onto her bench, pleased that the badger accepted the child as a guest.  Wobbles then retrieved the smaller of two backpacks from under the bench she occupied.  She handed it to Thorn.  While he checked the packed garments, Wobbles reached around Thorn.  Her paw flicked out as she gave the girl a playful cuffing, which had the girl giggling. 

"Grandma Wobbles wants you to tell everyone your name." 

The kit squirrel puffed out her tiny chest like an important dignitary preparing to deliver a speech.  Were it not for her drenched fur, her tail would have been a lot fuller as it stood upright.  She locked eyes with the Father Abbot's before turning to the boar that stood next to her.

"Tassel, my name's Tassel."

Thorn lifted the dibbun squirrel.  He glanced at the others before he complimented the child on such a pretty name and told her it was also his mother's name.  The badger nodded to the elders gathered in the room and excused himself, claiming he and the girl needed dry clothes.  All watched Thorn climb the stairs the Father Abbot used earlier and waited until the two wet creatures were out of sight. 

Once they left, the third interloper stepped forward.  The lady hedgehog gave a slight head bob in the direction of Markus before facing her.  She appeared taller than most of her kind, but maintained a slim figure.  Based on the touch of snow along the edge of the hedgehog's muzzle, Wobbles guessed her at double her age.  She introduced herself before speaking to the Father Abbot.

"She's not the only dibbun in this area named after our former Badgermom," said Healer Shortspike.  "Hiding those babies in the root cellar and protecting them with her life made Tassel quite a heroine.  I've found families visiting her grave atop the hill almost every day since her death.  I even caught Lady Sydamo paying homage to her for saving her grandchild's life, though if asked, I know she'll deny it."

"You're right," said Markus.  "She proved herself a most honorable beast.  Though her son has proven to be an excellent Pa Badger, we all hope that Major Serenity will one day resign her commission and become our next Badgermom."

Markus offered his services as a guide to Wobbles.  He claimed many first-time visitors to the Abbey became lost and wanted to save her such an indignity.  The Father Abbot told her he knew Redwall's many corridors and would be honored escorting her to her new quarters.  They were about to depart when the Father Abbot reached out and took hold of Shortspike's arm.

"I found this letter among the personal effects of my predecessor.  She had it hidden in her desk and I just found it this morning.  Imagine my surprise, it's an envelope that has Robertasin's seal and instructions that it be given to you, but it also said you had to be in this room when I gave it to you.  I might've asked you later about its contents, but her instructions for me insisted I honor your privacy.  It seems our former Abbess has something to say that had to wait until after her death."

xxxxx

Healer Shortspike accepted the envelope and waited until the one-legged Father Abbot led Wobbles out of the Tapestry Room.  She ignored the steady downpour beyond the room's high windows and sat on the bench recently vacated.  Her paw turned the envelope over and she examined the thick wax that contained the signet ring mark of the former Abbess.  Her eyes misted over as she recalled the many memories they shared, both good and bad.

You grew into the role, Robertasin.  I think you sought the job more for the opportunity at wielding power over others, but you learned there were more important things to consider.  In the end, you were the one who assured this Abbey's continuation.  We all owe you a great debt.

Shortspike's claws shook as she slid one talon under the seal.  For a moment she thought about leaving the message unread.  There didn't seem to be anything more that needed saying between them.  Yet curiosity had her destroy the seal.  She unfolded the document.

My dear Shortspike:

Remember that day I had Tassel shaved?  If you gaze closely at the face of Martin the Warrior, you will know why.  The Eternal told me to weave her fur into an old skein of grey wool and present it to Lady Sydamo for repairing the face of our founder.  It's funny how things worked out.  Our vermin badger has become part of our greatest treasure.  I mentioned this once in my personal diary, but since most historians only read the summary journals, it might be many decades before this secret is ever learned.  Guard it well as I fear there are still some within our Abbey that have never forgiven our former Badgermom for her crimes committed so long ago.  Until we meet on the other side.

Robertasin,
Deceased Abbess of Redwall Abbey

The Healer folded the letter and placed it deep in her pocket.  She stood up and approached the Grand Tapestry.  Like many of the other residents, she had complimented Lady Sydamo on her exceptional skill at restoring the greatest treasure of the Abbey.  With tears falling like the rains outside, Shortspike spoke to the image of Redwall's founder.

"May you find the peace you deserved in life, Tassel.  May you find comfort knowing we shall honor your memory for all time."