For Freedom. Book 1: Chains of Slavery. Chapter 6

    In a fortnight after Bloodpike’s departure, Darm prepared his best ship called Deathtrap to sail to Mossflower. The rest of his army was already there, and Lord of the Seas was ready to start a war. As Maple had predicted, both Shamra and Nabon took their slaves with them, though the weaselmaid didn’t seem to be pleased with it.

     Dom could think of nothing but Redwall since she first set her footpaw on the deck. Will she manage to warn Redwallers or she will witness the fall of the Abbey?

    Maple tried to reassure her. “Look,” he kept saying, “There’s nothing you could do right now. I’ve heard that we’ll arrive to Mossflower in a half of month if the weather is good. Maybe it’s better to calm down and don’t start worrying till we got here?” But Freedom simply couldn’t stop worrying.

     The only good thing about sailing was that Dom didn’t have to see Drooptail and Marduk any more – the stoat had been appointed Fort Commander and the rat was in Bladegirt constantly. However, there were other faces the mousemaid had to see. Like Shamra, whose shot temper hadn’t changed during the journey. Or Zorra the dark-cloaked vixen, Darm’s sly and cunning adviser. Or Captain Greywhisker, an old grizzled pine martin, agile and brisk for his age. Freedom had a good reason to hate this vermin: back on Terramort, she had heard him saying he slew a hogslave trying to escape. Later she finally managed to exchange a few words with Wavehound who told her the said hogslave was Chestnut. The loss of her friend hit Dom badly, and the only appearance of Greywhisker had been giving her pain.

     The corsair crew wasn’t any better. At the very first day of sailing, they tried to make Dom and Maple to serve them. The slaves were on the upper deck when a big fox in a company of other vermin called them “Hey you two, bring us a bottle of seaweed grog from caboose!”

     “We don’t have to obey your commands,” Freedom said to the fox. “We’re the heirs’ slaves, not yours.”

     The fox and his shipmates roared with laughter. “Want to be chained to oars, yeah?” The fox drew a heavy cutlass and stepped closer. “It can be arranged!”

     Maple’s voice was nervous. “Lord and the heirs wouldn’t like that, you know.”

     Corsairs only grinned, surrounding the slaves. “Who’s said they would know?”

     Suddenly a stern voice could be heard. “Stop this! I’m talking to you, Stonetooth!”

     The fox turned to a tall lean stoatmaid watching them with her paws crossed on her chest. “That’s none of your business, Amina!”

    The next moment Stonetooth bent down, his head to his footpaws, as Amina hit him in stomach with all her might. Then the stoatmaid’s fist smashed Stonetooth’s nose and sent the big fox flying down on the deck. Amina pressed down the neck of her defeated adversary with her footpaw and declared. “First, I’m Lieutenant Amina. Second, it’s forbidden to drink grog while aboard. Third, the slaves ain’t your to command. Fourth, there’s nothing Lord wouldn’t know. Anybeast wants to argue?”

     With faint murmurings, corsairs shook their heads and stepped back. “Nay, nay, Amina, er, Lieutenant Amina!”

     “It was Stonetooth who started the whole mess!”

     “Aye, he’s always been a bully!”

     Amina kicked the unfortunate fox lightly and let him go. “Now come and clean your weapons instead of hanging out here!” She turned to the slaves. “And don’t you two have work to do? Go back to your masters!” Then the stoatmaid added a bit softer “Let me or Cap’n Greywhisker know if they trouble you again.”

     Since that Freedom and Maple tried to stick as far from the crew as possible; the crew did the same. Nabon still was the only vermin Dom wasn’t afraid of. She wished they could reach Mossflower as soon as possible.

     ***

    Far away from Deathtrap, another ship sailed across the sea. By that time, Bloodpike had already made her way to the Southern Coast.

     Captain Krugg Bloodpike brought his fist down on the table. “Thieves! There are thieves abroad my ship! And it’s your job to catch them, Squinteye!”

    His first mate, a stout weasel Squinteye, asked hesitatingly “Maybe it’s not that important, Cap’n? It’s not the end of the world, after all! It’s just a few vittles, a handful of crops here, a pair of scones there, maybe somebeast from the crew was a bit more hungry and we have plenty of vittles.”

     Krugg brought his fist down once more, this time on his mate’s head. “Plenty of vittles, aye, but not for thieves to grow fat! I order you to catch them!”

     “But how, Cap’n? We’ve searched all the ship from top to bottom, and we’ve found nothing! Each time we’re laying an ambush there’s nobeast to appear, and the next day we’re leaving it there’re vittles missing! What else can we do?”

     “How could I know? I’m the Captain, I’m running the whole ship, and it’s your job to keep the crew in order! Lay another ambush if you want, but bring me the thieves!”

    In a small cabin next to the Captain’s, Chestnut took his ear away from the thin partition. So, vermin are laying another ambush. Good luck he had left one scone in store. Of course, it’s not enough to feed a hedgehog, even as small as him, but he was afraid to steal more food in case corsairs would guard caboose constantly. Anyway, he would hold out that far, for they will reach the Southern Coast in a day!

     ***

     Broom clenched his teeth when slave-driver’s lash descended across his back. “Back water and ship oars, lazypaws!” Then Vuten, thin lanky searat, whipped Broom once more, chuckling “Sleep well, tree-hoppers, it’s a long march to your new masters tomorrow!” Still chuckling, he left the bottom deck.

     A young female squirrel chained about two rows back growled hushfully, “Can’t wait to choke this scum with his own whip!”

     Broom shook his head “I’d liked to, Yew, but we shouldn’t mess in battle with corsairs. Most of oarslaves are exhausted and famished, and those villains are skilled murderers.”

     Yew nodded with a deep sigh “I know. And when it will be time to escape?”

     “We should wait till moon is high.”

     When moon was high, the slaves easily freed themselves from already notched chains. Most of them armed themselves with the same chains, other took a few weapons Chestnut managed to find – rusted daggers, splintered clubs, spearshaft with no spearhead.

     “Wee’s Chesknut?” murmured Myrra. “He shoud ‘ave got ‘ere bye naow!”

     Broom looked worried. “Let’s get out of here and see.”

     ***

     Chestnut had a very good reason for not coming to his friends: when he tried to open the door of his cabin it was locked! He poked the door lightly only to find out it was too solid to break.

     “O great seasons,” he whispered. “Why it should have happened tonight? Not the night before or, even better, the night after?”

     Picking up a half-broken knife, Chestnut began working on the hinges of the door.

     On the other side of the door, Squinteye bared his teeth. He’d caught the thief at last! He’d noticed scone crumbs in the cabin this morning and just locked it to deprive the thieves of their hide-out. And now, he thought, there’s a thief as well, for who else could be inside? Cap’n will be very glad to know it!

     ***

     After Squinteye left the upper deck, the oarslaves went up on it. There were only two sentries, and they were looking to the coast, not behind them. Two good strokes with Broom’s spearshaft laid them unconscious.

     Broom armed himself with a fallen corsair’s sword. “Yew, Myrra, lead the others away to the shore and further to the dunes. I’ll look for Chestnut.”

     The molemaid nodded and waved her paw to the freed slaves, but Yew cut the air with searat’s cutlass. “I’m staying here. Pinesquirrels Tribe doesn’t leave anybeast behind!”

     “I don’t want to risk the lives of the others. I’m risking my own, and that’s enough.”

     “Broom is right,” a big squirrel put his paw on Yew’s shoulder. “We should take those who can’t defend themselves to the safety.”

     The squirrelmaid frowned but eventually nodded to her companion. “Okay, Elm. We will.”

     After his friends left the ship, Broom quickly discovered a small cabin near rostrum from which faint scratching noise could have been heard. Holding sword at the ready, the squirrel approached to the cabin. “Who’s inside here?”

     He sighed with relief when he heard the familiar voice, “It’s me, Chestnut! Open the door, Broom!”

     Then suddenly a pikeshaft was dropped over Broom’s head from behind and was pulled backward, choking him.

     “Hahar, decided to run away, squirrel?” growled Krugg Bloodpike. “No slave leaves my ship alive!”

    Broom was still holding sword in his paw. He pushed it backward, slicing corsair’s hind paw. The huge fox roared with pain and let his captive go. Broom fell on the deck on all fours, but before he could get up two more vermin lunged at him. Vuten whipped his lash round the slave’s neck while Lugear snatched sword out of his paw and brought his whole weight upon Broom.

    Krugg already picked his pike up. “Rotten tree-hopper, you’ll become fishbait before dawn! Arr, what do you want, Squinteye you fool?”

     Squinteye was pulling his Captain’s sleeve. “But Cap’n, what ‘bout the one locked in here?” He pointed his claw to the cabin were Chestnut was banging the door furiously and shouting “What’s going on out here? Lemme out, lemme out!”

     “Open the door,” ordered Krugg.

    Chestnut burst out the cabin into the crew of Bloodpike like spiky lightning. It wasn’t easy to capture him, and those who tried to do this leaped back, yelling in pain at the spikes, embedded in their paws and bodies that they had collected from the hedgehog. Finally Krugg brought him down with a blow of his pikeshaft.

     “Now, let’s finish with the- auch!” A big pebble hit corsair Captain’s jaw.

     “Freeeedom! Hurray!” With that thunderous cry, even more pebbles came down on the corsairs, hitting them on their heads, paws, sides and backs. Vermin could only whine in pain and cover their heads with paws.

     Vuten dropped his lash when a big pebble hit him right between ears. It was the chance! Broom pushed the slave-driver away from him, grabbed a sword from Lugear’s belt and hit him with the flat of his own blade.

     Chestnut was already back on his footpaws, making his way through corsair crew, his half-broken knife was replaced with a long dagger. “Broom! Behind you!”

     The squirrel ducked, and Vuten’s sword slipped down on the side of Broom’s head instead of chopping him in two. However, Broom was knocked off his footpaws with the blow, and Chestnut rushed to his friend with all speed his short paws had allowed him.

     “Noooo!” the hedgehog run Vuten through with dagger before the slave-driver could finish the helpless squirrel off.

     “Jump overboard! Quick!” cried a voice somewhere from above.

     Chestnut didn’t look up. He grabbed Broom by his waist and shoved him overboard, then jumped off the ship himself.

     But corsairs did look up. Three squirrels were hanging on masts ropes.

    “One, two, three, go!” All the squirrels cut off the ropes at once, and huge red sail sank down on the vermin crew, capturing almost everybeast beneath the spreading canvas. With furious shouts corsairs tried to cut through the sail, but it wasn’t that easy. Most of them ended up hitting and knocking their own crewmates, and chaos issued.

     The squirrels jumped to the shore, where about of dozen freed slaves lead by Myrra were helping Chestnut and Broom out of water. “Ho urr, bee ye hurt?”

     Blood was gushing from Broom’s head, and the molemaid couldn’t help shivering while cleaning the wound with salt water, as his whole right ear was sliced clear off with corsair’s sword. Finally, she bandaged her friend’s head with a shred of her tunic. “Burr, dat’ll bee better.”

    Broom stirred and opened his eyes. “I’ve told you… to take the others to the safety…”

    “And we did, friend. Hid them in the dunes and came back to help you. And just in time, I think!” Elm triumphally waved his self-made sling. “Now let’s hurry before that scum will get out of sail!”

     “Where we are going?” asked Chestnut while they trotted down the shore.

     “Well, north bees nought but dunes, eest bees Juska cump an’ west bees see. So fur we ‘ave unly un way – south!” noted Myrra.

    South. The same direction that the Mountain of the Fire Lizard laid. Chestnut automatically touched the bark scroll still hidden in his bosom. He wasn’t going to give it to Longstep whoever he may be. Perhaps, Chestnut thought, he wouldn’t even meet him if they keep away from the mountain.