Cregga Badgermum and Rimrose completed their after-lunch stroll by calling in at the gatehouse. Grandma Ellayo and the owl, Nutwing, sprawled on the old sofa, fast asleep after the amount of food they had eaten. Song, Dann and Dippler had joined Friar Butty at the table, searching through ancient scrolls and dusty volumes of Abbey records. Rimrose guided Cregga to the armchair and seated her.

“Whew, ’tis warm out there today!”

Song filled two beakers with rose hip tea. “This is nice and cool. Where’s Dad?”

Cregga sipped her tea, the beaker almost lost within her huge paw. “Taking up a new career, I think. He’s with Tragglo and the cellarmoles, learning all about October Ale and such. When your mum and I passed there earlier he seemed t’be enjoying himself.”

Rimrose glanced at the books and documents on the table. “And what are you up to, missie?”

Song flicked idly through the pages of a hefty tome. “We’re helping Friar Butty to look for more information about Marlfoxes. Grandma told us all she knew, but it’s not enough.”

The blind badger held out her beaker for more rose hip tea. “But she did tell you a few things that you didn’t know before?”

Friar Butty rerolled a scroll neatly. “Indeed she did, although at first her story was a bit muddled. She began talking of a white ghost and a lake monster that lived in a great lake until it was slain. Then she said that the white ghost left the hidden island, but she said she didn’t remember much about it. I think it was probably some figment of Ellayo’s imagination from her young days.”

Cregga sat up straight. “Maybe not. I was once Badger Ruler of the hollow mountain by the sea called Salamandastron. Badgers always rule there. I recall seeing some rock carvings in a chamber on the mountain. I never really paid them much attention. Strange how it comes back to one at the mention of certain words. A lake monster means nought to me, but a white ghost, I remember that. You see, those wall carvings told of all the great Badger Lords who had held sway on Salamandastron. Two of these were twins, Urthstripe and Urthwyte. I think the tale goes that they were separated at birth and lost to each other. However, Urthstripe discovered his brother, Urthwyte, on an island in the middle of a vast lake. There, Urthwyte, who was born completely white of fur, became known as the White Ghost. They both traveled from the island to Salamandastron, where Urthstripe was Badger Lord. There was a great battle against vermin hordes and Urthstripe was slain. Urthwyte became Badger Lord in his stead and was often known to the hares that serve the mountain as Whiteghost. That’s all I can tell you, but it may prove Ellayo wasn’t imagining things.”