From his position on the cell floor Meldrum the Magnificent blew a long sigh of boredom. ‘Somebeasts love t’hear the sound of their own voice, don’t they. Tell that wallah to buzz off, will you, I’m takin’ me noon nap!’
Silvamord drew a dagger and leapt at the hare. Nagru restrained her as she snapped at him, ‘Dolt! Can’t you see they’re not going to tell you anything? Kill them now, I say!’
Nagru placed himself between Silvamord and the captives. ‘I want them kept alive for the moment. Leave this to me.’
The three friends sat up facing Nagru, conscious of the vixen prowling back and forth behind him. The Foxwolf crouched, letting his metal claws show ominously.
‘You’d do well to listen to my words. Make it a lot easier on yourselves and just tell me where Serena and that brat of hers are hiding.’
Dandin eyed him coolly. ‘Or?’
Silvamord leaned over Nagru’s shoulder, brandishing her dagger lovingly as she hissed, ‘Or you won’t be able to talk for screaming!’
The Foxwolf shook his head pityingly. ‘She’ll get to you sooner or later, probably after you’ve rotted in here awhile from hunger and thirst. So give me your answer now and we’ll reach an agreement. I could do with three warriors such as you, it would spare you all this.’
The trio looked from one to another. Mariel nodded. They lay back down, with Meldrum yawning. ‘Close the door on your way out, will you, it gets quite draughty in here with it open.’
Surprisingly Nagru kept his temper, though he had to signal the guards to restrain Silvamord. She was struggling to get at them, spittle and foam ringing her lips as she shouted wildly, ‘Leave me an hour with them, just an hour, I’ll have them talking so fast they won’t be able to stop!’ The guards hustled her out. Nagru stood framed in the doorway, a thin smile on his lips.
‘Fine words from warriors, but think on this. You are no longer warriors free to do battle. You are my prisoners, to do with as I please. Without liberty, food or drink. Soon you will begin to feel weak, thin and hungry, sick and thirsty. I have seen it before. You will be reduced to whining, cringing wretches who will betray each other for a cup of water or a crust of bread.’
Meldrum raised his head, careful not to show how painful the effort was. ‘Hard luck laddie, fear won’t work on us, we’ve faced death too many times taking felons like y’self down a peg or two. Y’see, there’s a world of difference twixt warriors’n’windbags, between real fighters an’ jumped-up johnnies who go around wearin’ the skins of other creatures – bad form, y’know! Quick as y’like now, toddle off an’ close the door quietly!’
The cell door slammed shut with an ear-splitting bang. Nagru shouted through the spyhole as he left, ‘Bravado won’t feed you and stupidity will kill you!’
In the silence that followed Mariel untied the rope that bound their footpaws together. Standing up carefully, she gave an agonized groan. ‘Ooahh! That villain’s right, you know, we’re hardly in a fit state to stand on our own paws, let alone defy him.’
Supporting each other they staggered over to the window. It was not as high as it had first looked. They scrambled up on to the broad sill and Mariel pulled herself forward, craning her neck to peer between the bars.
‘Oh my giddy paws! It feels like sitting in the clouds looking down from here, it’s a sheer drop down to the valley. The trees look like tiny blobs of green moss!’
Meldrum crawled over to join her. ‘Right m’dear, we’re at the rear of Castle Floret, straight drop, no moat round this side, no need for one y’see. If I’m not mistaken we’re on the third floor, north wing. Nice view across the valley, wot? Pity we ain’t got nothin’ t’ do but sit here an’ admire it.’
Dandin took a look and then sat back, resting against the sunwarmed stone. ‘Don’t you wish you were a bird?’
The garrulous old campaigner flexed a stiffened paw. ‘Wish I were any flippin’ thing but a three-quarter dead hare at the moment, young feller, ‘deed I do!’
Mariel felt her back, raw, through the holes that had been made in her tunic with being dragged along. ‘Injured, imprisoned, hungry, thirsty. There’s only one way for us to go now, up!’
‘We’re already up old gel, how much further up would you like us t’be, eh?’ said Meldrum, probing gingerly at a loose tooth. ‘Listen to a veteran, you two, best thing to do in a case like this is sleep. Calms the nerves, clears the brain, an’ helps nature heal the body, wot? Bit of shuteye, that’s the ticket!’
He received no arguments on that score, and within moments the three of them were dozing on the broad windowsill in the noontide sun. Deep sleep overtook the trio of battered warriors immediately.
A search party scoured the collapsed sand dune, sifting through the sand. Furpp straightened up, unable to find anything. He shook his head at Bowly, saying, ‘You’m sure they’m been round boi yurr, maister?’
Iris waved a paw at the upset state of the wrecked sandhill. ‘They must have been, look at all the activity that’s taken place round here – prints, tracks, holes. I’d say some sort of fight took place. Whoops, careful there!’ The female otter had been standing on one end of Meldrum’s rod, and she toppled backward downhill as Coltvine unearthed the other end vigorously. He gave a whoop.
‘What ho! Lookie here, Uncle Mel’s fishin’ weapon!’
‘Aha! The Gullwhacker, I was right!’ said Bowly as he tugged Mariel’s rope from the sand.
Greenbeck shook his head in admiration as he unearthed the paw of a dead horderat. Letting it go limp, he kicked sand back over it. ‘Sink me, wot a tussle they must’ve put up!’
‘Aye, just like Muta an’ my Rab, brave creatures!’ Iris said as she blinked back a tear.
Furpp patted her with his huge digging claws. ‘Roight marm, they uns gived us toim to rescue ee Queen an’ ee babby, leastways they’m safe naow.’
Greenbeck sat down between them, keeping his voice low and out of earshot of Bowly and the leverets. ‘Furpp, get yore moles to dig round ’ere,’ he said. ‘If they ain’t buried under this lot then they’ve been taken by the Foxwolf an’ that ’orde.’
‘Fate and seasons have mercy on the poor brave beasts,’ Iris shuddered. ‘If they’re in the cells at Floret no creatures can help them, even supposing that they are still alive!’
12
‘UP IN THE riggin’, out on those yardarms, crew!’
Finnbarr Galedeep fought with the tiller to keep the Pearl Queen ploughing southwest as he roared orders.
‘Pile on every scrap o’ sail, buckoes! Log a Log, search the lockers, we need more canvas! Joseph, lash that boom on the same course we’re runnin’, sou’west an’ keel down! I’ll show the scurvy flotsam, with me own paw on me own tiller there’s not even the seagulls kin outsail the ole Pearl Queen!’
Out on the yards, lashing down sheets like two old salts, Durry and Rufe roared into the blasting winds, whilst at the same time comforting a thoroughly seasick Foremole.
‘Foremole, forget that your stomach’s heavin’, just roar like we do, you’ll feel better right away, promise!’
The good mole tried, but he was not convinced, roaring fitfully as he glanced backward to the Shalloo. ‘Hooourrrarrruurrg! Oi wishes oi wurr back ’ome, ‘stead o’ bein’ chased by a gurt boatload o’ vurmints. Hooarrurg!’
Strapp was perched high on the prow of Shalloo, clinging to the wet lines as the bow dipped and heaved. He howled encouragement at his double crew.
‘Bend yer louse-ridden backs, cullies, I said we’d be sailin’ south, didn’t I? Keep yore glims on the prize ahead, the Pearl Queen, me new ship! If I can’t catch ’er wid two crews to speed us on, nobeast can!’
Rappsnout joined him, shouting to be heard above the shrieking gale and hissing spray. ‘Don’t fret yer ’eart Cap’n, they got a few lengths start on us, but we’ll overhaul ’er soon!’
‘Yer right there mate,’ Strapp said as he wiped bow-spray from his eyes. ‘Get some archers up ’ere, an’ some grap
plin’ ’ooks. When we gets close enough then we’ll clap grapplers an ’old ’er close, while the archers picks ’em off. Tell ’em t’get that rogue Galedeep first!’
Rappsnout cackled happily as he leapt down to obey Strapp’s orders. He spat on his paw and patted a bulkhead. ‘Haharr, that’s fer luck, Shalloo, ole Rappsnout’ll soon be yer new master. Ahoy Snicker, get below an’ break out bows’n’arrers. Sharkoe, lay yer paws on some grapplin’ irons an’ lines. Jump to it, messmates, we’re lucky rats this day, a ship’n’crew an’ plunder too!’
Finnbarr knew his old ship like the hairs on the back of his paw. He ordered triangle sails to be set between the bowsprit and the cable from the topmast, and two square sails sitting low amidships to port and starboard. It worked like a charm, lifting the for’ard end, and sending Pearl Queen skimming. Log a Log smiled at the sight of many searats crammed into the bows of Shalloo, sending her head deeper down and slowing her.
‘Hoho, look at that, Finnbarr, Shalloo’s starting to wallow like an old leaky bucket!’
Joseph came dashing up. ‘Finnbarr, what’s that roaring noise I hear?’ he shouted.
The big sea otter grasped Joseph’s paw. ‘Come aloft with the Galedeep, Bellmaker, and I’ll show ye!’
Together they climbed into the rigging, and Finnbarr pointed direct on the course they were heading. ‘There’s a sight ye can tell yore grandmice about. Look at the hole in the sea, Joseph!’
The sight took Joseph’s breath away. Less than a sea league southwest was a gigantic whirlpool, more than ten shiplengths wide, a complete circle, whirling around like a tornado, with a massive hole at its centre. The roaring noise increased until it filled the air for miles around. Finnbarr’s single eye watched it impassively.
‘Few creatures ’ave ever seen it an’ lived. ’Tis called the Green Maelstrom. See there, it spins off south creatin’ the fastest part of the current they call Roaringburn!’
Redoubtable as he was, Joseph found himself trembling with fear of the unknown hole in the deep. ‘But we’re heading straight for it,’ he said. ‘We’ll be sucked in!’
Finnbarr’s scarred face was grim as he grabbed Joseph’s paw. ‘Trust me, the Galedeep knows wot ’e’s about! It’s not my ship that’ll be pulled over the edge o’ the Green Maelstrom, no, that’s where Shalloo’s bound for!’
Joseph was horrorstricken. ‘Shalloo has two crews aboard her!’ he cried.
The sea otter’s face quivered with emotion. Joseph was not sure whether it was seaspray or tears he saw running down from Finnbarr’s single eye.
‘Aye, two crews of murderin’, torturin’, fate-forsaken searats. I was the only one escaped when they captured Pearl Queen – they killed my ’ole crew, wife an’ two sons as well. Left me fer dead, but it takes more’n searats to finish Finnbarr Galedeep, you can lay t’that! Now git below an’ foller me orders to the word, or we’ll all find out what the earth below the ’igh seas looks like!’
Cap’n Strapp was laying about with the flat of his cutlass at the rats crowding the bows. ‘Git back, yer shellbrained slackers, wait’ll I gives the word, go an’ shove on more sail, yore slowin’ the vessel by all pilin’ up ’ere. Belay an’ git back, I say!’
Rappsnout came scurrying forward, still grinning. ‘Cap’n, Cap’n, looks like Pearl Queen’s flounderin’, she’s limpin’ like a lame duck with all sails on the starboard side slack!’
Strapp was jubilant at this sudden stroke of luck. ‘Hararr, she ain’t goin’ nowheres. Ahoy, where are you lot off to? Git back up for’ard ’ere, stan’ by with weapons an’ grapplin’ ’ooks! Runnin’ with this gale we’ll hove alongside ’er in no time!’
A rat in the rigging on lookout began shrieking, ‘Waaah Cap’n! There’s a big ’ole in the seas!’
Strapp shook his head in mock despair. ‘You bin up there too long, Drangle, come on down.’
But the lookout persisted. ‘I never seen nothin’ like it, Cap’n, off t’the sou’west, can’t you ’ear the noise it’s makin’?’
Strapp could ignore the warning no longer, even though Shalloo was upwind of the maelstrom. At first he thought the roaring of the vortex was thunder, but there had been no lightning flashes. The Corsair Captain hauled himself high into the forepeak rigging to take a look. Most of the crew did too, and the sight of the colossal whirlpool caused chaos.
‘Drangle’s right, ’tis a pit in the waters!’
‘Put about or we’re all deadbeasts!’
‘We’ll be sucked down into it, mates!’
‘Bring ’er round, Cap’n, afore we perish!’
Strapp gritted his teeth – he was determined to have the Pearl Queen. Luck had been with him so far; he had rid himself of his brother and gained another crew. Now after chasing the prize halfway across the main he was not about to give up and turn tail. Booting the closest rats down to the deck, he railed at them.
‘Down an’ stand ready, every rat jack of ye! I ain’t goin’ back empty clawed! Are you searats or landswabs? Wherever Pearl Queen goes, we can follow. Anybeast not with me is agin me, an’ it’s over the side with the cowards! Now look lively an’ jump to my biddin’!’
Spume and roaring water were everywhere, enveloping the crew of Pearl Queen. Log a Log and Finnbarr fought against the tiller as it bucked and yawed. The shrew Chieftain had to shout at the sea otter to be heard above the gale. ‘Are y’sure you know what you’re doin’, Galedeep?’
Finnbarr laughed like a madbeast. ‘Yahaharr! I’ve wrung more salt water out o’ me whiskers than that lot ’ave sailed on. Leave it t’me! Keep those starboard sails slack an’ this rudder ’ard over. When I gives the word then pile the starboard sail back on an’ slack off the larboard sail, an’ swing this tiller over for all yore worth, matey. Joseph, get our crew up in the riggin’, tell ’em to stand by. Rosie, marm, ’ow far off is Shalloo now?’
Hon Rosie sloshed her way up to the high stern. ‘Less than forty shiplengths, bearing down fast, old thing!’ Her voice was cut off as Durry and Rufe fell from the rigging and clung tight to her neck, wailing.
‘We’ll never see Redwall again!’
‘We’re goin’ t’fall off the sea’s edge into that pit!’
Foremole and Joseph untangled them, the mole unable to tear his eyes from the maelstrom, which was hardly more than six shiplengths off now.
‘Boi okey, ee must’ve be’d a gurt seabeast to dig an’ ’ole loik that’n, whurr, lookit ’er!’
Pearl Queen seemed to be almost tottering on the brink of the whirling water tunnel now. The terrifying greeny-grey walls revolved at a breathtaking speed, a gaping hole reaching down, down, into mysterious darkness.
Joseph boosted Rufe and Durry aloft. ‘Come on, you two, I’ll climb up there with you. Try not to look at the whirlpool and keep your ears pinned back for Galedeep’s orders. Up you go!’
‘Finnbarr, here she comes,’ Rosie’s voice rose above the mêlée. ‘Shalloo’s sailin’ straight at us, she’ll strike the centre of our ship soon. Look out!’ Expertly Rosie caught the first grappling hook that shot out from Shalloo’s bows and hurled it back, ducking a volley of arrows. Cap’n Strapp’s jubilant roars rang above the thunder of the Green Maelstrom.
‘Lay on, buckoes, she’s ours, she’s ours!’
Suddenly Finnbarr was swinging the tiller over, calling out his orders: ‘Lash those starboard sails tight, let the wind catch ’er. Rosie, lend a paw on this tiller with me’n Log a Log! You shrews up there, look smart, slack off the sails on the larboard side. Move yerselves!’
Durry laboured furiously, trying to get his cold, spray-soaked paws to work on the ropes. Joseph toiled alongside him.
Rufe’s footpaws left the yardarm momentarily as a sail caught the wind and billowed out. ‘What’s the sea otter doin’, Joseph sir,’ he cried, ‘larboard, starboard, slack off an’ tighten up, pushin’ that tiller thing here an’ there, I don’t unnerstand none of it.’
The Bellmaker’s weatherbeaten face creased
into a grim smile. ‘Nor do I, young un. That’s the thing about being crew, we’re not here to understand, just to obey orders. Though I think Finnbarr has left it too late. Duck!’ Arrows hissed viciously overhead as the three ducked.
The searats of the Shalloo were only a boatslength away. They crowded the bows of their ship, snarling as they fired arrows and whirled grappling hooks. Finnbarr held the tiller hard over as Rosie and Log a Log secured it in position with a rope halter. The larboard sails fluttered loose as Guosim shrews slacked them off. Shalloo’s bowsprit was a fraction from striking the Pearl Queen amidships when Finnbarr’s seaskills paid off. The first six grappling hooks caught as it happened.
With a groaning of timber and creaking of rigging the Pearl Queen turned sideways! Finnbarr drew both the swords from their back scabbards, tossing one to Log a Log. Both creatures sprang to the rail, shearing the taut grappling lines with single strokes of the finely honed swords. Durry and Rufe stared wordlessly as Shalloo shot by them, her decks crowded with silent searats, numbed with shock as their ship caught the spinning edge of the Green Maelstrom. Halfway round the whirlpool it spun, hanging a split second in midair with its entire keel visible, then it tippled head first into the dark abyss. The Shalloo was gone into the depths, never to be seen again by living eyes.
A gasp of horror arose from the crew of the Pearl Queen. Then Finnbarr was in the midst of them shouting, ‘Save yer pity for the ones they murdered! They’ve gone where all searats should go, mates! Stand by, we ain’t safe yet by a long chalk!’
Pearl Queen travelled sideways around the far outer rim of the whirlpool, seemingly helpless, until they jumped to obey Finnbarr’s next commands.
‘Pile on all sail agin, crew!’
Slashing the rope that held the tiller he centred it and held it level with Log a Log and Rosie’s help. When she saw what was happening the Hon Rosie’s natural exuberance returned in full force.