Relieved and exultant, the soldiers of Kotir rose up, cheering and stamping about in a victory dance.

“We won, we won!” “Won what?” Tsarmina’s voice rose angrily above the celebration. “Fools, can’t you see it’s an empty triumph: no plunder, no slaves, no submission. They’ve vanished completely, and what have we gained? A few yards of woodland that belongs to me anyway.”

The sudden volley of arrows slashed down, taking them unawares. Soldiers threw up shields, diving headlong for the undergrowth. Even the wildcat Queen had to beat an undignified retreat behind the elm tree she had conquered.

Once again the chattering derisory laughter of squirrels, as they swung off into the fastnesses of Mossflower, was all that remained of the woodlanders.

* * *

Gingivere had enlarged the two holes so that Ferdy and Coggs were able to squeeze through into his cell.

Gleefully they upturned the contents of the first pack.

“Good old mum’s apple pie!”

“Ooh, elderberry cordial!”

“Look, cheese and hazelnuts!”

“Candied chestnuts, too. Hahaha, bet old Chibb didn’t know about ’em.”

“Come on, Mr. Gingivere. Here’s some seedcake and milk. Let’s have a secret supper together, then you can tell us the news from Chibb.”

Amidst the laughter, Gingivere brushed away a tear from his eye. He was delighted with the company of his two little hedgehog friends, after the long lonely confinement following his father’s death.

* * *

It was noontide when Martin and Dinny sat down to rest. Gonff stood surveying the vastness that surrounded them; undulating plain, flatland and moorland stretched away into the distance, the far horizon danced and shimmered in the unseasonal heat. Gonff thought he could detect a smudge on the horizon, but he could not be sure until they had traveled further. The mousethief turned, looking back to where they had come from.

“Well, mateys, it’s certainly a big wide world outside the woodlands and good old Mossflower. I can still glimpse it back there.”

Dinny lay back chewing a blade of grass. “Hurr hurr, an’ can ’ee still see yon liddle mousemaid a-waven to ’ee?”

Gonff shielded his eyes with his paw and played along. “Why yes, and there’s someone else too. It looks like your grandad waving his stick. He wants that deeper ’n’ ever pie that you stole from him.”

“That wasn’t Dinny,” Martin yawned. “You probably stole it. See anything else?”

Gonff’s whiskers twitched. “Aye, those three vermin that are tracking us. Looks like they’ve picked up our trail, matey.”

Martin and Dinny leaped up, staring in the direction Gonff was pointing.

“There, see—a weasel, a ferret and a stoat. Now they’ve started to run. Why are they in a hurry all of a sudden?”

“Prob’ly cos they’m soighted us’ns, now we studd up,” Dinny suggested.

“Aye, matey, you’re right. Well, what do we do now, warrior? Stand and fight? You just say the word.”

Martin gnawed his lip, stopping his paw from straying to the otter sling bound about his middle.

“No, that’s not what we’re questing for. We’d be losing valuable time. It’s our duty to find Salamandastron and Boar the Fighter, so that he can return with us to save Mossflower. The first thing a warrior must learn is orders and duty.”