Rusvul looked at him. “Somethin’s wrong, mate. What’re they up to?”

Janglur passed him the leaf. “Oak! They’re choppin’ away at an ole giant three-topped oak. If’n it falls the wall could be breached, an’ then we’d ’ave our paws full tryin’ to stop ’em comin’ in. We’ll need t’get our thinkin’ caps on, Rus. They could maybe fell a tree that size by tomorrer mornin’ or midday.”

*

Somewhere in the depths of Mossflower Wood, Skipper gritted his teeth as he sat on a streambank, tugging a broken spear from his leg. As he pulled, the otter Chieftain was giving himself a good telling-off. “Uuunj! Puddle-’eaded ole rivergo, that’s wot you are, matey. Fancy, a great big lump like yoreself gittin’ caught off guard by a lousy painted varmint. Ooh! Easy now, messmate, out she comes. Aaaaah . . . there now! Ferret spear ain’t made that could lay a decent otter low. That’ll teach yer t’jump quicker nex’ time, an’ keep yore eyes peeled too!” He sorted through the plants he had garnered from nearby. “Hmm, dockleaves, sanicle an’ young burdock. That should do.”

Crushing them together with pawfuls of bankmud, he applied the cooling poultice to his injured limb and bound the lot with a strip from his jerkin.

“Liddle Sister Sloey’d ’ave a fit if’n she saw this sloppy job, but it’ll have t’do fer now. Right, set sail, matey, in we go!”

He slid awkwardly into the stream. Once in the water, however, the otter swam slowly and gracefully away into the night, going in the opposite direction to Redwall Abbey.

*

Only two creatures at a time could chop at the great oak. At first Vannan had set four to the task, but they got in each other’s way until two suffered ax cuts. Raventail snorted impatiently at the Marlfox. “Kyre, arr, yousay bigtree be halfdead, no takelong. Yakkacha!”

Vannan regarded the barbarian ferret disdainfully. “The tree is half dead, ’twill fall sooner or later. Patience seems to me a much better idea than charging in like your lot did. Screaming and yelling, with lighted torches to advertise your presence, what kind of stealth attack is that? They were ready for us long before we arrived at the wall.”

Raventail took a pace back, executing a scornful bow. “Woah! Bigmagic fox be cleverer much much, scyoosee me!”

Vannan ignored the jibe, signaling to two water rats. “You and you, take over chopping. I’ll make it work this time!”

As the water rats stepped in to take over from the two ferrets currently wielding the axes, a big arrow from a longbow felled one of the vermin.

On the walltop, Janglur fitted another shaft to his powerful weapon. “Ain’t much to aim at, Rus, but ’tis all we can do to stop ’em.”