High Rhulain

She fell to crying in earnest, and Deedero wrapped her comfortingly in her wide shawl, hugging her like a babe.

Leatho’s teeth ground audibly. He unwound his sling, muttering to Kolun in a voice tight with anger and urgency, “I’m goin’ on ahead to scout out the situation, mate. Get as many armed warriors an’ good swimmers as ye can from the clans. When ye come to meet me, do it as quiet as ye can. I’ll be lyin’ in the rushes, about a quarter way up the south edge o’ the lake. If’n I ain’t there, then stand by an’ keep yore heads low until I show up. Will ye do that?”

Big Kolun Galedeep picked up an oar and hefted it grimly. “Never fear, Leatho. I’ll pick a good crew out, an’ be on time to meet with ye. You go now, mate, an’ fortune go with ye!”

Chab and Whulky were moored by their necks and waists to the posts beneath the pier. Their wives and the three little ones were tethered several posts away, though only by a thick rope knotted about the otterwives’ shoulders, which still allowed them to hold the babes in their paws. Not knowing what they were guilty of, they stared at Chab and Whulky with wide, frightened eyes. Above them, feral catguards paced the boards on both sides of the pier. More could be seen patrolling the lakeshores.

Chab whispered to his companion, “I’d give my whiskers’n’rudder for an ould shellblade knife t’cut through these ropes. First thing I’d do would be t’free the wives an’ little’uns, so they could swim fer it!”

Whulky strained against the rope about his neck. “No, mate, keep still for the moment, an’ stow those wild ideas if’n ye ain’t got anythin’ to back ’em up with. If’n the wives an’ babes had t’make a run fer it, they wouldn’t stand a chance with all those catguards around. All we can do is to hope somebeast got word to the clans. If’n the Shellhound gets t’know, he won’t leave us t’be slain. I’d take an oath on that!”

A long, thin willow withe was pushed down between the spaces of the pierboards, swung by a cat with a whipping motion. The cane caught Chab a stinging blow to his cheek.

“Sharrap down there, or I’ll lay about the lot of ye, little’uns, too!”

Both Chab and Whulky knew who the voice belonged to: Scorecat Groodl, a minor officer, subordinate to Weilmark Scaut. Groodl was a brutal and sadistic cat, short in stature and savagely cruel to those beneath him, particularly slaves. He twitched the willow withe from side to side, taunting the prisoners.

“Not a peep out of any of ye now. ’Twould be a shame to deliver ye to Slothunog tomorrow, all cut’n’bruised. He likes his meat t’be tender an’ unmarked.”

He continued flicking them lightly with the long, whippy withe. It was some while before Groodl became bored by his callous sport and wandered off, leaving a guard of ordinary rank to watch the prisoners.

Chab’s wife bit her lip to stop a wail of anguish, now that she knew the fate that was in store for them. Angling his neck against the rope, Whulky gave her a confident wink in an effort to keep up her spirits.

“We won’t let anythin’ bad happen to ye, marm. Don’t fret,’twill only upset the little ’uns.”

Big Kolun Galedeep had gathered a crew of paw-picked otters: Streamdivers, Streambattles, Wavedogs and some of his own clan, about fifty in all. They were armed with light javelins, which had fire-hardened tips, and slings, with a few blades in evidence, but these were in short supply. They marched stealthily, with Kolun and his brother Lorgo leading them, to the thick tussocks of reed and rush on the south quarter of the lakeshore. Leatho was nowhere to be seen. They lay low and silent on Kolun’s orders.

They had not waited long when a telltale ripple on the lake surface came toward their hiding place. Banya Streamdog, a lithe ottermaid noted for her aquatic skills, pointed. “Lookit, here comes the very buckoe himself!”

Without a single splash, the Shellhound bounded out of the water into the rushes. He nodded a greeting to the crew before addressing Kolun. “Memsy was right, mate. I got up as close to the pier as I could without bein’ spotted. Sure enough, that hellcat Felis has got Whulky an’ Chab, an’ their families, too. They’re bound to the supportin’ posts. There was no sign o’ Felis about, but there’s enough catguards standin’ sentry an’ patrollin’ all around the area. Ye picked a fit-lookin’ crew there, Kolun. Well done!”

The big otter’s craggy face looked grim. He tightened his grip on the oar he had brought along. “Just give the word, mate, an’ we’ll storm ’em. There’ll be fur an’ catmeat flyin’ everywhere!”

Leatho patted his friend’s powerful shoulder. “Take it easy, buckoe! There’s far too many of ’em, we’d be slaughtered. Felis ain’t planned anythin’ for them otters ’til tomorrow morn. The way I sees it, there’s no point in us makin’ a move afore dusk. That gives me time aplenty to tell ye the plan I’ve hatched. Now lissen careful. We’ll free our friends, but this is wot ye must do!”