Windred sat by the fire, bathing sand from the babe’s face with warm water and the hem of her dress. ‘Aye, an’ he never made a single sound the whole time. Pore liddle mite, they slew his mother. Scum, they are! I’ll remember that ’un’s name to my dyin’ day. Vilu Daskar! She tried to fight him off with a stick, but he had a big curved blade. He was shoutin’ his own name, Vilu Daskar, an’ enjoyin’ what he was doin’. That stoat was laughin’ as he cut my daughter down. Laughin’ like a madbeast!’
Drunn looked up from a wound he was attending to. ‘Ee maister o’ redship shows mercy to nobeast, marm. Yurr, but whurr be zurr Luke gone to?’
The young mouse Timballisto, who had survived by climbing the cliff face, nodded towards the sea. ‘Luke’s out there, but nobeast can come near him, sir.’
Waist deep in the sea stood Luke, buffeted by the cold waves, with ice forming on his tear-stained features as he gazed westerly, after the red ship which was now nought but a blurred dot far out by the horizon.
Twoola shook his head sadly. ‘He will not even look upon his own son, or his wife’s mother. Alas, he has no ship to sail after the murderers. But he would have ended up slain if he did. Either way, I think Luke will die and be swept away when the tide turns. His life has been destroyed and he cannot exact a warrior’s vengeance upon the Sea Rogues. Luke has no will to live.’
Welff hitched up her apron decisively. She turned from the sight of the forlorn creature standing in the sea to those who stood watching. ‘I ain’t havin’ this, by the paws’n’prickles I ain’t! You there, Cardo, go and fetch a stout rope. Vurg, give that stave you carry to Drunn. That liddle mousebabe’s not growin’ up without a father. Twoola, get every able-bodied beast out here. Move!’
Galvanised into action by Welff’s no-nonsense manner, they dispersed quickly to their allotted tasks.
Drunn Tunneller tied the rope end around his middle and gripped Vurg’s stave tight. ‘Hurr, oi never was one furr pagglin’ in ee sea, marm.’
The hogwife eyed him sternly. She was not about to be disobeyed in any circumstances. ‘Go to it, Drunn, afore Luke freezes t’death!’
The mole trundled dutifully into the sea. ‘Hurr, ’tis a good job oi trusters ee, missus!’
Luke was totally unaware of the mole wading up behind him, his eyes fixed on the horizon where the Goreleech had disappeared from sight. Drunn heaved an unhappy sigh. ‘Whurrrr! Oi ’ates t’do this, zurr Luke, but ’tis furr thoi own gudd an’ furr ee h’infant too, burr aye!’ With one blow of the stout beech stave he knocked Luke unconscious. Looping the rope about Luke so that they were bound together, Drunn called back to the watchers onshore. ‘You’m ’eave away farst. Oi’m most colded t’death out yurr!’ Willing paws pulled the rope swiftly in to dry land.
The days that followed were hard upon the survivors. They buried their dead and would have gone on mourning all season, but for the help of the moles and the hedgehogs. Welff chided them ruthlessly and Drunn bullied them cheerfully, until they began to pick up the pieces and get on with the business of living. Luke recovered, but he spoke to none, sitting silently at the back of his cave, gazing into the fire. Every once in a while he would wander out into the night, and then sleepers would be awakened by his roaring down at the water’s edge, shouting one name.
‘Vilu Daskar! Vilu Daskar! Vilu Daskaaaaaaar!’
The morning following one such night, Luke’s cave had become the meeting place for everybeast. They were gathered around the fire, breakfasting on hot oatcakes and blackberry preserve. Welff brewed a big pot of mint and comfrey tea, which they sipped as they ate. Luke had returned from the sea’s edge, and he lay on a rocky ledge, wrapped in his cloak, sleeping. Cardo had a flat driftwood board, and his knife was heating in the flames as he announced to the gathering, ‘I’m going to burn the names of our lost ones on to this wood with my knifepoint. Don’t let me forget anybeast. I’ll fix it in the sand on top of the big grave, agreed?’
Young Timballisto sniffed and rubbed a paw at his eyes. ‘Will you put Fripple’s name on it, sir?’
Cardo took his blade from the fire. He smiled sadly. ‘Of course I will, Timbal. How could I forget my own daughter? I’ll put a little flower after it, she’d like that.’
To break the atmosphere, Welff turned their attention to the baby Martin. ‘Dearie me, will you lookit that mite, he’s out of his cradle again. Where’s he a-crawlin’ to now?’
Windred knew. ‘He’s after his father’s sword again. Watch.’
The solemn chubby mousebabe crawled over until he could get his paw on Luke’s swordhilt. He sat quietly enough, trying to lift the weapon, which was twice his height.
Drunn squinted his eyes admiringly at the babe’s efforts. ‘Ee vurmints beware when that ’un grows!’
Windred looked across to Martin’s sleeping father. ’Aye, an’ bad fortune to any Sea Rogues when Luke awakens properly. He will, you mark my words. I know him!’
* * *
19
IN THE SEASONS that followed, Luke and his surviving tribe did well, and learned many things. No longer were they hungry, farming the clifftop land, foraging further afield in good weather, and gathering molluscs, shrimp and shellfish from rockpools and tide shallows. Drunn and his moles taught them how to create screens of rock, driftwood and overhanging vegetation for their caves, disguising them from the gaze of unwanted visitors and providing windbreaks against harsh weather. Windred looked after little Martin, who had become a sturdy toddler, living the simple life, still as solemn and well behaved as ever. Luke, however, was a different creature from the easy-going, good-humoured leader he had been before his wife’s death. His tribe learned to give him a wide berth and ask no questions of him. He kept a cave apart from the others, in which he was making and storing weapons. He came and went at odd times, returning with materials he had gathered in his wandering. Martin was the only one he would confide in, though he constantly questioned Drunn and Welff on the habits of Sea Rogues. How often did they visit the north coasts? Did they ride at anchor or beach their vessels? What sort of discipline did they employ, what was the average size of a crew, what type of weapons and tactics did they favour? If a ship was sighted out on the main, all creatures ran for cover, but Luke would lie on the clifftops with Martin, watching it. The little fellow listened carefully to what his father had to say.
‘I hope that vessel doesn’t put in here, son. I’m not ready for them yet. Better that it stays out to sea and sails off. But when I’m ready, the day will arrive when I’ll be looking for a ship to land here, and then we’ll see what the seascum are made of. Look, she’s veering off southward. We won’t be bothered by that one, thank fortune. Come on, you can help me to build up our weapon supply.’
Luke showed his son how to make arrows, whilst he himself attended to the bows. ‘See these, they’re ash branches, good heavy wood. I’ve chosen the ones that are medium thick and straight, and dried the ends out by standing them in warm sand around the fire. Now, we make a slit in the opposite end and fit a piece of feather in it, like so, then bind above and below the feather with twine. Next, I place the dried end of the wood in the fire, let it bum, but not too much, then rub it to a point on this rock, burn a little more, rub a little more. Here, Martin, try the end of this with your paw. Be careful.’
Martin dabbed his paw gently on the needlelike point his father had rubbed on to the fire darkened ash. He smiled. ‘Oo, it shark!’
Luke smiled at his little son, who was still learning to pronounce words. ‘Aye, ’tis shark all right, very shark. Sea vermin don’t wear armour, so an arrow doesn’t need a metal or flint tip. A good hefty ash shaft with a firepoint will stop ’em!’
Vurg entered the cave, and indicated Martin with a nod. ‘His grandma Windred is lookin’ for him. Dinner’s ready in the big cave. Are you coming, Luke?’
Luke glanced up from the bowstring he was twining and greasing. ‘I’ll be along. There’s still work to do here.’
Vu
rg looked around at the rows of stakes waiting to be sharpened, flint axeheads, unstrung yew bows, and gnarled driftwood limbs waiting to be fashioned into clubs. ‘A fair ole bit o’ work I’d say, Luke. Why don’t me’n’Cardo an’ some of the others help you?’
Luke knotted off the end of his finished bowstring. ‘My son’s a good little helper, but I could do with some like you to lend a paw. Why didn’t you offer sooner, Vurg?’
His friend smiled wryly. ‘Because none of us fancied gettin’ our heads bitten off.’
Luke offered his paw. ‘Sorry, mate. I accept your help gratefully. ’Tis not your heads I’m lookin’ to bite off, just the Sea Rogues’.’
Vurg took Luke’s paw and shook it warmly. ‘Good. Let’s go an’ get some dinner, then every able-bodied beast in camp will pitch in with pleasure!’
From then on Luke became a real Warrior Chieftain, directing his creatures in the making of weaponry, drilling and training his fighters and marking off the shoreline around the caves in various strategies and plans for when the time was ripe.
It came unexpectedly, one evening the following summer. Having finished their day’s chores the tribe sat about after dinner in the big cavemouth, their backs warmed by the fire within, enjoying the pleasant evening. Windred was singing an old song which had been passed down through her family.
‘Old Ninian mouse and his goodwife,
Needed a house to build,
They had a family grown so large,
Their tent was overfilled.
To setting sun the old wife toiled,
From daybreak in the east,
But Ninian was a lazy mouse,
Who loved to sleep and feast.
The wife heaved stone and carried wood,
For door and wall and beam,
Whilst Ninian idly in daylight,
Snored on in peaceful dream.
She raised the gables, built a roof,
Her back was bent and sore,
As Ninian ate up all the food,
And loudly called for more.
So when the house at last was built,
His wife nailed up a sign,
Which stated “THIS AINT NINIANS!”
She said, “That shows ’tis mine!”
Then when the countless seasons passed,
And all within had died,
The rain and storm of ages long,
Had swept the sign outside.
It washed the first three letters out,
But left the rest intact,
That sign now reads, “S AINT NINIANS!”
A church? A joke? A fact!
So traveller if you read the sign,
Then take my word ’tis true,
A dreamer can become a saint,
So can a glutton too!’
Welff applauded with the rest, chuckling and shaking her head at Windred’s song.
‘Tell me, Windred m’dear, is it true, is there such a place as Saint Ninian’s, or is it really a joke?’
Luke answered for her. ‘’Tis a fact, marm. I was born at Saint Ninian’s, as was Sayna my poor dear wife. We were driven out, when I was a babe, by an evil warlord, a wildcat named Lord Greeneye Verdauga who had a horde of vermin at his command, so they told me, but I was far too young to remember. This is our home now, and nobeast will ever drive us from here whilst I am about.’
Drunn Tunneller dashed towards them, waving. He was panting hard, having clambered down from the clifftops.
‘Burr, git ee insoid, guddbeasts all, ee Sea Rogue ship be a cummen yurr!’
Immediately the tribe began pulling out driftwood and vegetation to disguise the cave’s entrance as they had been shown. Luke nodded to Vurg and Dulam to accompany him down to the tideline.
Shading their eyes against the westering sun the three mice stood in the ebbing tide shallows watching the ship. Vurg scratched his head and looked to Luke. ‘Doesn’t look quite right t’me, mate. What d’you make of it?’
Luke scrutinised the vessel keenly. It was still a good distance from land. ‘Hmm, could be just an honest merchant trader, but in these waters I doubt it, Vurg. It doesn’t seem to be making good headway – if it’s trying for land it won’t make it here until near daybreak tomorrow at the rate ’tis goin’, eh, Dulam?’
Dulam watched the strange craft take a north tack, as if trying to catch the wind. He pointed. ‘See, she’s got a broken mast, I think. That’s why the going’s so hard for that ship!’
Luke checked Dulam’s sighting. ‘You’re right, mate. Maybe this is just what we’ve been waiting for. Back to the cave and rouse our fighters!’
Reynard Chopsnout, captain of the vessel Greenhawk, was in high bad humour. His ship was taking on water, and to make matters worse add a broken mainmast and ten days on short rations. Moreover, the crew were becoming mutinous and he was hard pressed to maintain command. The Corsair fox pawed irritably at the hard polished blob of pitch which served him as a snout. It was stuck on where his nose had been until he came off worse in a swordfight with a skilful ferret.
Chopsnout roared at the hapless weasel who was wrestling with the tiller. ‘Hold ’er fast to the wind, Bootbrain. What’s the matter with ye? To the wind I said, wagglepaw, the wind!’
Some of the vermin crew were aloft, trying to rig a jury mast. One of them called down mockingly, ‘Don’t shout too ’ard, Choppy, yer nose’ll fall off!’
Chopsnout grabbed a belaying pin and hurled it up at the rigging. It fell back, almost hitting him. Amid the hoots and jeers of the crew, he yelled, ‘Who said that? Come on, own up, ye lily-livered poltroon!’
Another insult rang out from below, where other crew members were baling out the water the Greenhawk was shipping. ‘Bootbrain’d ’andle the tiller better if yer fed us proper, yew ole vittle robber!’
Chopsnout could not see who made the remark. He danced and stamped in anger on the deckplanking. ‘Liar. Filthy foul-tongued liar. I get the same amount o’ vittles that everybeast aboard gets!’
There was an ominous clack. Chopsnout quit stamping and dropped on all fours, scuttling about the deck. This caused great hilarity among the crew, and bold ones began yelling.
‘Oops, ole Choppy’s lost ’is hooter agin, mates. Hahaharr!’
‘Let’s ’ope it don’t bounce down ’ere an’ kill somebeast.’
‘Give ’im a chance, mateys, ’e’s on the scent of it. Heehee!’
‘Arr now, don’t say that, bucko, ’e’ll go an’ get all sniffy on us. Hohohoho!’
The irate fox soon found his pitchblob nose and stuck it on hastily. He paced the deck waggling his cutlass ominously. ‘Go on, laugh, ye slabsided slobberin’ swabs, but don’t come whinin’ t’me for aid or advice. I’m finished, d’ye hear, finished!’
He strode off huffily to his cabin. Bootbrain dithered at the tiller, not sure of which way to swing it. ‘Harr, cummon, cap’n, we was only funnin’. Wot course d’yer want me to set?’
Chopsnout poked his head round the cabin door and cast a withering glance at the weasel. ‘Course? I couldn’t give a frog’s flipper wot course you set. Sail where y’fancy, let the ship leak ’til she sinks, leave the mainmast broken. ‘Tain’t my bizness. I’ll leave the command o’ the Greenhawk to youse clever-tongued beasts, an’ see ’ow you like it!’
There was an uneasy silence from the crew. Darkness was falling fast and nobeast was about to take on the responsibility of running the vessel. Chopsnout smiled triumphantly. ‘So, what’ve ye got to say t’that, me fine buckoes?’
Bootbrain, who was never given to teasing or insulting his captain, could not help making an observation. ‘Cap’n, yore nose is on the wrong ways round. Ye’ve stuck it on backwards.’
The final straw came when a strangled titter rang out from below. Reynard Chopsnout slammed his cabin door shut and sat sulking in his cabin.
Sometime after midnight there was a rap on the cabin door. Chopsnout snarled at the beast without, ‘Go ’way an’ leave me alone!’
&n
bsp; The rapping persisted, accompanied by a voice. ‘But cap’n, lissen, ’tis yore ole mate Floggtail. I’ve spotted somethin’ on the shore. Come an’ look!’
Adopting a stern face, Chopsnout emerged from his cabin. The crew were gathered on deck, peering at a fire burning on the beach some distance away. The Corsair fox could not help smirking as he addressed Floggtail, the searat first mate.
‘Well well, a fire, eh? Looks no different from any other I’ve seen. What d’ye plan on doin’ about it, mate?’
Floggtail stared hard at the firelight, scratching his fat stomach distractedly. ‘Er, er, Scritchy an’ Wippback reckons we oughter tack a bit an’ sail beyond that point stickin’ up south’ards, cap’n.’
Chopsnout smiled encouragingly at the two searats. ‘Hmm, clever thinkin’, you two. Wot next?’
Both searats hastily explained their plan.
‘We drops anchor t’other side o’ the point, cap’n.’
‘Aye, then, er, we climbs over that point an’ drops in on ’em.’
‘That’s right, then we slaughters ’em all an’ robs any vittles we find!’
Chopsnout shook his head in despair at their stupidity. ‘How d’ye know that those creatures on shore ain’t already sighted us an’ armed theirselves up, eh? An’ tell me this, wot’s t’stop this ship sinkin’ if’n you takes the time to tack around be’ind yonder point? Well cummon, I’m waitin’ fer an answer off’n some bright spark?’
There followed a deal of paw shuffling and blank looks, then Floggtail appealed sheepishly to Chopsnout. ‘Er, cap’n, ’ow would yew go about it, sir?’
Chopsnout snorted airily. ‘Ho, yore in trouble now, so youse need yore ole cap’n agin, eh? Well I ain’t makin’ a move ’till gets a full apology off’n this crew for the insults I’ve bore!’