Mossflower Redwall 2 Brian Jacques

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The destroyer from Kotir was beaten. Stormfin had finally won!
Tsarmina shot several arrows into the area where the pike had pulled her rat down. The soldiers stood
about on the bank, shuffling awkwardly and fidgeting. A sense of foreboding hung over them after the
defeat of Gloomer. Fortunata tried to stroll casually out of sight, knowing the wildcat Queen would be
looking for a scapegoat to vent her wrath upon.
Get back here, fox. Don t try to slink away. Holding out her paw, the wildcat Queen snapped at a
stoat close by, Give me your spear.
Keeping her eyes fixed on the quaking vixen, Tsarmina accepted the spear. She swung it around until
the point was at Fortunata s throat. So, nothing could stand against the Gloomer, eh, fox?
The terrified fox could think of nothing to say. She merely gulped.
Tsarmina swung the spear away and dipped it into the river. She fished about for a moment then
whipped the point out of the water. Looped over the spearpoint was the collar once worn by the Gloomer.
Tsarmina hurled the weapon. It whizzed past Fortunata and buried itself in an ash trunk, quivering with
bright droplets of water shaking from it.
From somewhere along the river came the deep, barking laugh of an otter.
The wildcat s cloak swirled about her as she tore the spear from the tree and ran to the water s edge
brandishing it.
Laugh, yes laugh all you like, but stay hidden while you value your miserable lives. I am Tsarmina,
Queen of the Thousand Eyes. Before I am finished with Mossflower, every creature who defies me will
wish that its mother had never given birth to it. The crying and the dying will be loud and long. Now let
me hear you laugh at that!
As Tsarmina finished her speech, Fortunata leaped forward. The vixen was thinking of ingratiating
herself with her Queen by adding a few words to the speech.
Thus speaks the mighty Tsarmina, ruler of all Mossfl
As Brogg turned from the river s edge he collided with the leaping fox. Their heads clashed painfully.
The weasel staggered back a step and trod on the hem of the vixen s cloak. They tripped, landing
ungraciously in the mud of the shallows.
The otters laughter was mingled with the chuckling of squirrels.
Chapter 13
The sun was at its zenith in the woodlands. Young bees droned fuzzily around the flowers in anticipation
of their first summer. A venerable oak of massive girth and height towered above the surrounding trees.
Beneath its spring foliage of small green leaves and below its aged trunk was Brockhall, the ancestral home
of badgers. The solid, intricate root structure of the oak provided ceiling beams, wall columns, shelves and
in some places flooring for the beautiful old dwelling. A door was set between the fork of two roots at
ground level. From there a long passage ran downward with rooms leading off it Bella s private study,
small sitting rooms, a nursery and small infirmary. At the other end the passage opened out into the main
hall. This was large and well-appointed, with a hearth, fireplace, full dining board and small seated alcoves
around its walls. Several doors led off the main hall; to the left was the master bedroom and dormitories,
while off to the right was the larder, kitchens and storerooms, behind which lay the bolt hole or escape
door, constructed with typical woodland common sense.
Brockhall had been built by badgers in the dim past, and they had taken great pains that everything
should be just the way woodland badgers like it to be. Great care and the skill of many craftbeasts had
provided every conceivable comfort in the underground mansion; there were elaborate wall torches and
beautifully carved furniture (again, much of this cut into the living root to blend with the surroundings).
The walls were lined with fawn- and pink-colored clay, baked to give it a fine rustic atmosphere. Here and
there throughout the chambers were large overstuffed armchairs of the type badgers prefer, each with a
fuzzy old velveteen pawstool, often used by young ones in preference to the small polished maple chairs [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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