High Rhulain

Brink began by appealing to what Dibbuns loved most: their stomachs. “Lissen now, ye big workbeasts. I ’eard that Friar Bibble ’as got lots o’ candied chestnuts to reward willin’ bodies with. So ’ere’s the plan. See all this hard sour fruit wot’s fallen? Well, that’ll go for preservin’ an’ picklin’. All those green nuts, too—they’ll be used in the cheesemakin’. Toss the lot into yon barrow, an’ we’ll take ’em to the kitchens, that’ll please the Friar greatly. Come on now, let’s see those big muscles bulgin’!”

Squeaking with delight, the Dibbuns rushed to obey Brink.

Banjon spotted some of the older ones about to leave the orchard. They were led by his daughter, Tiria. He called to the ottermaid, “Ahoy, me gel, where d’ye think yore off to?”

Tiria Wildlough stood a head taller than her father. She was a big, strong otter, with not a smidgeon of spare flesh on her sinewy frame. She shunned the typical dress of a maiden, wearing only a cutdown smock, to allow her free movement. This was belted around her waist by her favourite weapon, a sling, which she had named Wuppit. Despite Tiria’s young age, her skill with the sling was readily acknowledged by everybeast within Redwall.

She waved cheerily to her father, whom she always addressed as Skip. “We’re going to help the molecrew with their compost heap, Skip. Was there anything else you wanted us for?”

Banjon paused a moment, as if making up his mind. “Foremole Grudd told me he’d like a load of posts an’ staves. He’s thinkin’ of buildin’ fences to act as a windbreak from any more wild weather we might get. It’ll cut down on damage to his fruit an’ veggibles. D’ye follow me?”

One of Tiria’s chums, a young squirrel called Girry, shook his head doubtfully. “No wood like that growing in our Abbey grounds, Skip. . . . ”

His friend, a young mole named Tribsy, interrupted. “Nay zurr, h’only in ee Mossflower wuddlands will ee foind such timber—yew, ash an’ mebbe summ sturdy willow. They’m all a-growen out thurr.”

Banjon nodded. “Aye, Foremole asked me to go for it, but I got me paws full with wot’s to be done here. Tiria, me gel, I was thinkin’, would you like the job of woodcuttin’?”

The ottermaid’s eyes lit up like stars. “What, you mean go out into Mossflower? On our very own, me an’ Tribsy, an’ Girry, an’ Brinty? Of course we can!”

Her father’s offer meant that they were grown-up and capable enough to be let out without supervision, alone into the vast thicknesses of the Mossflower Woodlands.

Banjon eyed his daughter with that no-nonsense look he had cultivated. “Right, so be it. Tiria, I’m holdin’ you responsible, yore in charge. No larkin’ about or strayin’ off too far!”

Tiria strove hard to keep from bubbling over with excitement. “Count on me, Skip. Straight out, get the wood and right back here to the Abbey. Right, come on, mates, let’s get going!”

Skipper coughed. Turning aside, he stifled a smile. “Not so fast, crew. Take yore time, the wood won’t run away. Oh, an’ ye’d best take a cart along, an’ two of Brink Cellarhog’s axes. See Friar Bibble, he’ll give ye vittles an’ drink for a break at noon. Now remember, Foremole only wants sound wood—good strong branches, straight an’ well-trimmed. Right, off ye go!”

Skipper Banjon watched as they strode off together, raucously singing an old work song.

“Oh the seasons turn again again,

as Redwall beasts do work work work,

through sun an’ wind an’ rain rain rain,

we never never shirk shirk shirk!

To table then each eventide,

as sun is setting down down down,

a-feasting drinking singing,

with ne’er a tear or frown frown frown!

We all! We all! Are happy at Redwall!

Our Abbey! Our Abbey!

We’re proud to serve Redwall one and all, one and all!”

Brink Greyspoke stood up from fruit gathering. Rubbing his back, he nodded at the departing group. “First outin’ on their own, eh? You sure yore a-doin’ the right thing, Skip?”

Banjon nodded. “They’ll be right as rain with my Tiria in charge. Ye can’t keep young ’uns penned atwixt Abbey walls forever. Do they know where ye keep yore axes in the cellars?”

Brink stroked his chinspikes. “Aye, they know alright, Skip. I just ’ope they bring my new ’un back in one piece. I fitted a beech haft on it only two days back, ’tis a good axe, that’un. . . . ”

He was about to expand on the subject of axes when he spotted the Dibbuns marching off in a determined manner. “Whoa there, liddle mates! Where are ye bound?”

Grumby the hogbabe pointed toward the main gate. “Ho, us is goin’ to ’elp Miz Tirrier to choppa wood. Don’t not worry, Skip, we keep a h’eye on ’em for youse!”

Brink gathered the little ones up and placed them in the big wheelbarrow amid the windfall fruits. “Yore far too young t’be rovin’ about woodlands. I’ll take ye up t’the kitchens an’ tell Friar Bibble to feed ye all well for yore hard work. Will ye lend a paw ’ere, Skip?”

Banjon took one of the barrow handles. “I certainly will, matey. Friar Bibble might feed me, too. A liddle bird told me that he’s bakin’ sugarplum pudden today.”