“Watch youmouth, magicfox, we came plenty plenty quiet. Oldmouse runnin’ away didmuch shoutin’, kye arr, that one shoutshout!”

Vannan interrupted the dispute. “He’s right, brother, we charged without a single sound. It was the old Redwaller who alerted them.”

Ascrod was not in a good mood at their failure to get inside the Abbey building. He turned on his sister, snarling. “Who asked you? There were eight sentries on that wall, but the stupid ferret and his gang slew seven of them, so now we only have one hostage to bargain with. Perhaps you’d like to side with Raventail and slay him too?”

The Guosim shrew Mayon lay on the grass, wounded and bound. He kicked his legs, catching Raventail. “Aye, go ahead an’ slay me, slimesnout. I’m tied up an’ you’ve got me outnumbered. Shouldn’t be too ’ard for a hero like you!”

The barbarian ferret began kicking Mayon repeatedly. “Kye arr, I kicka you plenty good for dat!”

Ascrod dragged Raventail roughly off the shrew. “Idiot! You kill that shrew, an’ I’ll slay you!”

Raventail brandished his cutlass under the Marlfox’s nose. “Yakkachak! Dat’ll be th’day. C’mon, magicfox, you wanta fight Raventail, mefight plentygood, kye arr, plentygood!”

Predak dragged them apart. “What’s the matter with you two? We should be fighting the Redwallers. Let’s concentrate on getting inside the Abbey!”

Rusvul came downstairs grim-faced to make his report to Janglur. “They’re all over the place out there an’ our main gates are wide open. Bargle’s dead an’ six other shrews who were on wallguard. They’ve got Mayon, he’s still alive. What do we do?”

Janglur sat on the bottom stairs, gnawing at his lip. “Well, we can’t break out an’ fight ’em, they’ve got us far outnumbered, matey. Then there’s the old ’uns an’ the Dibbuns to think of. Looks like they’ve got us boxed in.”

Florian was crossing the hall. Shards of crystal glass exploded on the floorstones around him and the hare dodged quickly to one side, his ears standing up with indignation. “They’re slingin’ stones at the windows. Vandals! Wreckers!”

He sprinted across to one of the tables set by the windows. Leaping upon it, he began returning the stones that had fallen on the table. “Scruffynecked bogsplatchers, take that, an’ that too! Haha! I say, you chaps, I got one, right in the fizzog, wot!”

Janglur whipped the sling from around his waist. “Well done, mister Florian! That’s wot we can do, Rus, strike back at ’em. Let me at the scum!”