Grabbing the sword, Jess swung skilfully aloft. She was like a dusty red streak of lightning. Any foebeast standing in her way was hacked aside. The painted leader saw her coming. He screamed at the others and pointed to Jess, but she bulled her way through, scattering the painted attackers like ninepins. The leader hesitated a second to see if she had been brought down. That second’s wait cost him dear.

As he launched himself off the bough, Jess landed next to him. She seized him by the tail and hauled him roughly back. Grasping him by the ears, Jess gave a strong heave and held him kicking and dangling. Then she swung the sword in a glittering arc, shouting, “Redwall! Redwall!”

The savage chief, held fast by the ears with the great sword flashing in front of his eyes, gave one loud piercing squeal.

Immediately all activity halted.

The small green and black painted beasts crowded the branches and packed the boughs, uncertain of what to do. One or two of the bolder ones began edging forward, until Jess swung the sword as if to strike. The captive leader gave a series of angry screams, so they fell back and remained still.

Basil paced up and down, using a broken lance as a swagger stick. “Quick thinkin’, Jess. That stopped the little devils. Y’deserve a mention in despatches for that, wot?”

Jess glared about her fiercely. “It wouldn’t do any good mentioning anything to this horde of hooligans. They don’t have any recognizable language; screams and squeals are their only way of communication. How do we get out of this? It’s like having a serpent by the tail.”

Basil turned to Matthias. “She’s right, y’know. We’re caught in a bloomin’ old standoff. The moment she lets that chap go we’ll have the whole silly tribe down on our heads.”

Matthias had been thinking furiously. He whispered to Log-a-Log before shouting up to Jess, “See if you can make them understand that we want to trade their leader for Cheek. Leave the rest to me. I’ve got an idea and with a bit of luck it might work.”

Jess went into a series of mimes. She pointed at Cheek, then pointed to the ground. Holding the leader at paw’s length, she let the sword hang loose by her side. The performance was repeated several times before the leader realized what she meant. Screeching and growling, he pointed at Cheek, then to himself.

“When they’re both free, what then?” Orlando whispered to Matthias. “We’ve broken the standoff but they won’t let us walk unharmed through their territory.”

There was a clicking, scratching sound from the shrews surrounding Log-a-Log. Matthias watched anxiously until Log-a-Log winked at him. All was ready. Matthias took a deep breath.