Contents ( 7)
Text copyright © The Redwall Abbey Company Ltd, 1988
Illustrations copyright © Gary Chalk, 1988
All rights reserved
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE PHILOMEL EDITION AS FOLLOWS:
Jacques, Brian.
Mossflower / Brian Jacques.
p. cm.
Summary: Martin the warrior mouse and Gonff the mousethief set out to find the missing ruler of Mossflower, while the other animal inhabitants of the woodland prepare to rebel against the evil wildcat who has seized power.
[1. Animals—Fiction. 2. Fantasy.] I. Title.
PZ7.J15317Mo 1988 [Fic]—dc19 88-17921 CIP AC
ISBN: 978-1-101-66599-2
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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Contents
Tsarmina the Ruthless
Other Books
Title Page
Copyright
Map
Introduction
Book One
Kotir
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Book Two
Salamandastron
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
Book Three
Of Water and Warriors
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
Late autumn winds sighed fitfully around the open gatehouse door, rustling brown gold leaves in the fading afternoon.
Bella of Brockhall snuggled deeper into her old armchair by the fire. Through half-closed eyes she watched the small mouse peering around the doorway at her.
“Come in, little one, and close the door.”
The small mouse did as he was bidden. Encouraged by the badger’s friendly smile, he clambered up onto the arm of the chair and settled himself against a cushion.
“You said that you would tell me a story, Miz Bella.”
The badger nodded slowly.
“Everything you see about you, the harvest that has been gathered, from the russet apples to the golden honey, is yours to enjoy in freedom. Listen now, as the breeze sweeps the last autumn leaves off into the world of winter. I will tell you of the time long ago before Redwall Abbey was built in Mossflower. In those days there was no freedom for woodlanders; we were oppressed cruelly under the harsh rule of Verdauga Greeneyes and his daughter Tsarmina. It was a mouse like yourself who saved Mossflower. His name is known to all: Martin the Warrior.
“Ah, my little friend, I am grown old. So are my comrades; their sons and daughters are fathers and mothers now. But that is life. The seasons still look new to young eyes, the food tastes fresher in the mouths of the young ones than it does in my own. As I sit here in the warmth and peace it all lives again in my memory, a strange tale of love and war, friend and foe, great happenings and mighty deeds.