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Alder of the Laughing Lot
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Date Posted: 12:53:37 08/11/04 Wed
ALDER'S TALE
A young vixen crouched in the bushes, watching the Abbey. It was deserted, but that wasn't what worried her. No it was Cluny the Scourge. She could smell his band of rats quite easily. Had there been wind that night, even just a gentle breeze, she wouldn't have been able to smell the ambush that lay in the bushes before her. Three ahead of her, and two either side. She could see the glint of weapons. Thank the lord that rats were terrible at making bows and arrows. She spoke to the tiny blue budgie that sat on her shoulder. "Crystal, go find Beech and Rowan. Tell them to come quietly, there's an ambush waiting ahead of us." The budgie raced off into the bushes, making a buzzing sound with his wings. Alder then sat, mourning the group's bad luck. She silently prayed to Kiela, wife of the trickster god Talya and goddess of luck. She could choose to give you luck, and she could take it away even faster. Soon two more foxes emerged from the trees with Crystal. One was a young male fox, with swirling blue tattoos on one side of his face and two swords strapped crosswise on his back. The other had a broadsword on his back and held three bows and three full quivers of arrows. "Here, take your bows," he said. "If there's an ambush, it would be better that we shot down the rats rather than run through and hope they don't catch us. Alder, you take down the three ahead. Rowan, you and me will take care of the sides." He handed two of the bows to Alder and Rowan and two of the quivers. Alder raised her bow and sighted. There was a whizzing sound and then a thud. A rat fell out of the bushes, an arrow in his chest. As Alder sighted, rowan and beech took aim and fired simultaneously, shooting two more rats. Beech let Alder take care of the next two. Alder had two arrows on the string, and she let one go and then sighted the next rat. But suddenly the rat broke cover and ran. He didn’t get far. Alder aimed again, and she let the arrow fly. The figure in the bushes toppled to the ground and rolled down the hill. "So Cluny was here." muttered Rowan. Beech laughed. "Haha, course he was here. Every vermin army has come here since who knows when. Why not try and take Redwall?" "You've got a point, you know. Still, I don't see why he doesn't just waltz right in there now." Rowan looked at her, then at Beech. As Alder crept through the bushes, looking left and right to check for another ambush, Rowan whispered to Beech, "Do you have a feeling she knows something we don't?” he said. Beech replied, "No, more likely she knows but we haven’t looked for the answer yet." Suddenly, Alder froze as a dry hiss came from behind them. An adder slid off into the bushes. Alder remained frozen. "It's coming back." she said. Rowan panicked and said, "Let's run for it then. Remember when you outran that black mamba back home? A black mamba's twenty times faster than an adder." Alder then sprinted off, and Rowan and Beech followed as the adder broke cover behind them. Beech was had put trying to catch up to Alder. She was the victor of twelve Mossflower 24-hour Endurance races, so she was one of the fastest runners alive. Considering her family mostly specialized in kayaking and rowing in the Mossflower Games. Beech shook his head and continued running toward the Abbey which towered over them.
Brother Rufus watched the road anxiously. That incident with the ferrets had shaken him and he didn't think he could take another one like that. Then he spotted three shadows emerge from the ditch and creep across toward the gatehouse. He dropped behind the battlement and began to listen.
Alder eyed the building suspiciously. "I don't like it. If this Abbey is supposed to be occupied then why aren't there any lights on? And why are there no sentries on the walls?" Rowan growled. "Why that lying, cheating, scummy ferret. He said that Redwall Abbey had thousands of creatures living there! Remind me to throw him in a river next time we come across him." "Rowan! He was the one who gave us the food to get here. You should at least be grateful." Alder hissed. "Now don't make me dunk you both in the river so you cool off you two. You haven't stopped arguing and bickering since we got here. So shut up." growled Beech. Alder sighed and then said, "Well if somebeast had noticed, when you want to see if somebeast is at home you knock on the front door." Alder rapped on the door and then stood back, waiting for an answer. Brother Rufus stood up, holding his staff firmly. "What do you want?" he said. Alder then stepped forward. "My friends and I only need shelter for the night and some food in the morning. Cluny the Scourge is about and we were ambushed on the way. I thought it best to look for somewhere to stay rather than remain out in the open." Brother Rufus frowned. "Put down your weapons. Then you may come in." Alder took off her cloak and spread in on the ground. She then dropped her bow and her quiver into the cloak. She unclipped her sword and dagger from her belt and dropped them too. Rowan added his two swords and his bow and quiver to the pile, but kept his little dagger hidden in his cloak. Unlike Alder, he didn't know much about paw-to-paw combat so he preferred to keep it with him. Beech then dropped his broadsword, bow and quiver onto the pile, and then wrapped the weapons in the cloak. The gates creaked open and Beech picked up the bundle. He carried them in as Alder and Rowan brought up the rear.
Alder stared about in wonder. This place was wonderful! She could see herself settling down here for a well earned break from being a fugitive on the run. Then she turned to look at a tapestry on the wall beside her. It depicted a mouse leaning on a big sword, with several vermin running away in the distance. This part was obviously older than the other parts around it. It showed clear evidence of being waterlogged more than once, and the thread was a little faded. Easy to fix. A bit of dye, a fine paintbrush and a few hours alone with the tapestry should have it looking like it was made yesterday. Beech gave her a tiny shove forwards. "Get a move on, I can smell a feast." he said. About time, Alder thought. I'm sick and tired of grass, fish and berries every night. Some proper food might put her in a better mood, and maybe a full stomach would let her catch up on the sleep she'd missed out on in the last week or so. She continued forwards, following her nose. The smell was coming from a door nearby. Alder walked up and knocked softly on the door. Nobeast answered. Frowning, she knocked a little harder. Again, nobeast answered. Sighing, she turned away from the door and said to Rowan, "It's no use, there's so much noise in there that nobody can hear me knocking. Maybe we can look for the kitchen instead. I might be able to get us something to eat.""Good idea", said Rowan. "We might as well; I don't think we should interrupt that feast." Alder walked off.
A few minutes later they were thoroughly lost in the massive building. Alder walked about, trying every door they found, but none of them were the kitchen. Finally, Rowan found the door into the kitchens. He peeked around the door frame, and then closed the door quietly. "It's in there." he said. "I think we'd better knock." Alder obliged happily, grateful that she could have relief from the hunger pangs in her stomach. They'd been troubling her for days on end, at some times so bad she curled up in a ball and went to sleep to take her mind off of it. For the third time that night, nobeast answered. Beech was plainly frustrated and said, fighting to keep his voice steady, "Maybe we should ask the mouse who let us in. He'd know what to do." Alder, remaining silent, walked back the way they'd gone and back out into the cool night air. "Excuse me; do you know how we could get to the kitchens?" Alder called up to the mouse outlined by the starry night sky. He clambered down and beckoned for them to follow. Alder followed the mouse, being careful not to lose him. Eventually, they found themselves in the exact same corridor as they had just been in. The mouse opened the door and let them in. Alder's stomach gurgled at the sight and smell of all the food. A fat mouse waddled up and asked the mouse, "Brother Rufus, what is the meaning of this?" Brother Rufus replied, "They're travelers. Just give them something to eat and I'll talk to the Father Abbot about somewhere to stay for the night."
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