The badger hefted his huge axe. “A sound proposition. I need help more than any beast. I’m hopelessly lost in these woods, and it was only by chance that I came this far. Bear in mind, though, I’ll be extremely useful when we catch up with these slavers.” Orlando accentuated this last remark by testing his axe blades on the side of his paw.

Jabez Stump and his brood drew to one side and had a whispered debate, then the hedgehog returned and offered his paw.

“So be it, we search together.”

Matthias, Basil, Jess and Orlando linked paws with Jabez. “Together!”

Rosyqueen pointed the direction. “South, that’s the way the slavers always travel, though no one knows what lies beyond the great Southern Plateau. But afore you travel you must eat with us.”

*   *   *

The Stump family lived in a great hollow beech tree that had fallen on its side. They were not very strong on table manners. Immediately the food was set out, the ten husky daughters threw themselves upon it and had to be beaten off by their father to make room for the guests. Matthias and his friends thanked them politely and carried their portions of woodland stew, acornbread and cider outside because of the lack of room in the hollow log. They sat on a grassy sward, eating and watching the incredible scene inside. Rosyqueen hit out indiscriminately with a heavy wooden ladle as the ten daughters fought, bit, licked the stewpot, stole bread from each other and generally created uproar in the limited space.

“Bless their ’earts,” Jabez Stump laughed. “They’s all fine big maids wi’ ’ealthy appetites. You should see my liddle Jube, though. He can outspike the lot o’them when ’e’s at ’ome, hoho! It’s a lifetime’s work keepin’ this lot fed, it is that.”

By now the hedgehogs had finished the food and were starting to eat the soft wooden casing that formed the walls inside the log. Rosyqueen belabored them furiously until they spilled out onto the sward, tumbling and fighting for leftovers, so much so that Matthias and his friends were hard put to finish their meal in peace.

Jabez Stump tossed his soup bowl to one of them to lick as he stood up dusting his paws. “Right then, we about ready to start trackin’?”

*   *   *

They set off south, with Rosyqueen and the ten daughters waving a cheerful goodbye.

“You find them liddle uns now, d’you ’ear?”

“Aye, and bring us back some weasels to bully.”

“If we ain’t ’ere when you returns it’ll be ’cos we’ve etten the log an’ gone a-searchin’ for another. Goodbye!”

As Jabez was making his goodbyes, Basil Stag Hare whispered to Matthias and Orlando, “Some blighter’s watching us from those bushes to the right.”

Orlando moved casually in the direction of the bushes. “Leave this one to me.”