Clapping both paws over his ears Florian dashed off, yelling, “Yah, you great overstuffed pincushion, bad form! Addin’ insult to injury. Go ’way an’ leave me alone, y’fatty needle-bottomed cask-thumper!”

Rusvul joined the listeners at the doorway. “Pore ole Florian. Don’t ’ave much luck, does he, hohohoho!”

*

Ascrod and Predak were the least hurt of the besieging army. Raventail was unrecognizable, his head completely misshapen by stinging lumps, made uglier with a thick coating of pounded dock and stream mud. Vannan was so full of poison from termite bites that her footpaws had swollen like balloons.

Ascrod shook his head. “Who’d believe it, sister, the injuries that insects can inflict. I took count a while ago. Six are missing, either stung to death, or run away after being driven mad.”

Predak viewed the scene in grim silence. After a while she gripped her ax handle resolutely. “We’re not going to be defeated, brother. This thing has gone too far. There has to be something simple, a thing that everybeast has overlooked. Redwall Abbey can be conquered, I know it can!”

Ascrod was impressed by his sister’s fervor. “I believe you, Predak, but what’s the answer? Everything we’ve tried so far has failed, and two Marlfoxes are slain!”

Predak looked about her desperately. “Leave these fools to nurse their wounds. Come on, we know that no creature alive can outwit a Marlfox. We’re going back to Redwall. We’ll lay low and study it carefully from every possible angle. We won’t rush into any harebrained scheme. We’ll stop and watch and listen, take note of everything, until we come up with a simple, foolproof solution.”

Ascrod stared levelly at the vixen. “Yes, I believe we will, sister of mine. Remember that rhyme our mother used to recite when we were little more than cubs?

“The Marlfox cannot be bested,

Either in cunning or stealth,

Whenever there is power to be seized,

Plunder, land, or wealth,

When other minds are slumb’ring,

The Marlfox is wide awake,

Figuring how and where and when,

To deceive, to slay, to take!

Invisibly, by the magical guile,

Slyly, with less than a sound,

Count your paws, make sure they’re yours

When the Marlfox is around!”

Like smoke on summer wind Ascrod and Predak vanished from the camp, into the thicknesses of Mossflower, back toward Redwall Abbey.

*

The mousebabe Dwopple and his partners in crime, molebabes Wugger and Blinny, had become Marlfoxes again. Daubed with flour and ashes and wearing gray blanket cloaks, they trundled into the kitchens and loaded a full plum pudding onto a cart. Believing themselves invisible they hauled the cart away, looking back over their shoulders and giggling. They made it safely out of the kitchens only to be halted by the javelin of Rusvul Reguba. “Haharr, you didn’t know that I’m the only beast in Redwall who can spot Marlfoxes, did yer? Now prepare to be slain!”