Even as the servers laid breakfast places early next morning the news was out, starting as a whisper and growing like a grassfire until it was common gossip throughout Redwall Abbey.

“The poisoner has been caught in a trap—it was Veil!”

Abbess Meriam saw no point in discussing the dreadful affair; she would speak of it when the time was right. Meanwhile, she sat calm and pensive at the table, her mood affecting the many Redwallers until breakfast in Great Hall became a hushed and somber meal. Many looked toward Bryony’s empty place. They nudged one another and shook their heads sympathetically; the good mousemaid would be feeling very sad this day.

When the meal was finished, the Abbess rose to make a short speech.

“Please go about your work as normal and try not to gossip too much about last night’s events. This afternoon when tea is finished, I would like you all gathered on the lawn in front of the gatehouse.” To lighten the mood, Meriam smiled one of her rare smiles. “It is a beautiful morning outside, and I’m sure everybeast has something to do. Come, cheer up now, Redwallers, and let’s not have any creature injured in the rush for the door!”

Grinning sheepishly, the diners rose and ambled slowly out.

*   *   *

Togget, Jodd, and Barlom had put together a plate of food and a beaker of dandelion fizz. They placed them on a cloth-covered tray, with a posy of summer flowers arranged in a small jug. Bryony was sitting beneath her favorite apple tree in the orchard, head bowed. She looked up as her molefriend placed the tray in front of her.

“Coom on, missie,” he said, “eat ee up an’ smoil, lookit that gurt long face, ee’ll ’ave et rainen afore long, hurr!”

The mousemaid let out a long shuddering sigh. “Oh, why, oh, why did he do it? How could he? To try to poison . . . Oh, I can’t bear to think of it. He must have known that he’d be caught sooner or later.”

The squirrelhare waggled his ears playfully. “Sooner, the way I planned it, jolly good ruse, wot!”

Jodd was silenced by a glare from Barlom. The kindly mouse pushed the tray forward encouragingly, saying, “Eat something, pretty one. You won’t solve anything by starving yourself. Come on, just a morsel.”

Tears sprang to Bryony’s eyes as she grasped the Recorder’s paw. “I’m sure Veil didn’t mean to do it, Barlom. What will they do to him?”

Barlom dabbed at her tears with a spotted kerchief. “Bryony, don’t waste your grief on Veil, he will only break your heart. You have a life of your own to live. Whatever punishment he receives will be according to the rules of our Abbey. There is nothing you can do to change that.”

*   *   *

Veil hammered and banged at the thick, elm-planked door of the storecave, his voice hoarse from shouting.

“Let me out of here, d’you hear me? Open this door!”

Clenching his beetroot-stained paws, he battered the door afresh. “You’re only a bunch of stupid mice, you ain’t got no right to keep me locked up; get this door open. Now!” Flinging himself down on a straw pallet, he sobbed.

Skipperjo had taken charge of the storecave keys, and now the brawny otter unlocked the door, following Friar Bunfold inside as he delivered the prisoner’s lunch. At the sight of the food, Veil stopped weeping; he threw himself at the tray and began tearing ravenously at his meal. The Friar turned his head away in distaste as the young ferret slopped and gurgled, half-chewed food and hastily swigged drink spilling from his open mouth.

Veil’s eyes narrowed, and he glared hatred at his captors. “Well, what’re you two thick’eads gawpin’ at, eh?”

Skipperjo shook a warning paw at Veil. “Mind yore manners, ferret, or I’ll mind ’em for ye!”

Veil bared his needlelike teeth at the otter. “What’ll you do, streamdog? Knock me out like that big daft rabbit pal of yours did last night? Well, go ahead, everybeast in this Abbey wants to beat me up, or pull me ears off.”

He switched his wrath to Bunfold. “Oh aye, I won’t forget you, fatbelly. Found your precious blue jar, did you, eh? After blamin’ me for pinchin’ it. Everybeast in this lousy place hates me; I never had a chance from the first day I was brought here as a babe!” He went back to eating, snuffling, and weeping around mouthfuls of food.

“I know that Bryony put the pot back secretly,” Friar Bunfold squeaked sternly, “but I didn’t say anything for fear of getting her in trouble.”

Veil began chuckling through his tears; it was not a pleasant sound. His eyes shifted cunningly around the storecave. Skipperjo moved to block the half-open door as the ferret held up his crimson-stained paws, laughing. “Heeheehee! Nearly got you, Friar Fatbelly, didn’t I? Pity silly old Myrtle never drank enough to finish her off. Oh, but don’t worry, I’ll get you all before I’m finished. Heehee! Veil the red-pawed poisoner, eh! Well, next time it won’t be just poison I’ll use, it’ll be a noose, a rock, a dagger, anything I can lay my blood-colored paws on. Heeheehee!”

Friar Bunfold drew back fearfully from the grinning ferret; Skipperjo shepherded him out and turned the key in the lock, saying, “Something’ll ’ave to be done about that beast, ’e’s crazy!”

*   *   *

Midnoon saw a visitor to the Abbey, a tawny female owl called Wudbeak. She visited Redwall every summer to exchange news and gossip with her Abbey friends, but also to satisfy her craving for candied chestnuts. Abbess Meriam, assisted by Jodd, Redfarl, and Sister Withe, had helped Bella down from her room, and along with many other Redwallers they sat on the banks of the Abbey pond. Wudbeak ate a great many of her favorite nuts from the improvised picnic that had been spread in her honor.

Jodd watched her, frowning slightly. “By the left an’ center! Where’s she puttin’ them all?”

Redfarl whacked him in the stomach with her bushy tail. “Exac’ly the same place you’d be stowin’ ’em if we let you loose on those nuts, you great walkin’ stomach!”

Having finished eating, the owl sucked dandelion fizz through a hollow cornstalk to clear her mouth for speaking. “Ah, very nice, so ’twas indeed! Now, me fine Abbess, ’tis yerself sittin’ there like an ould stone wid ears, waitin’ on me news.”

Meriam was used to Wudbeak’s odd accent, and she nodded quietly as the owl took another suck at the straw before continuing. “D’ye not know a fierce-lookin’ kestrel bird called Skarlath?”

“Yes, he has visited here once before to warn us of an attack.”

“By the faith’n’feathers, that’s the very feller, a fine hawkbird. Well, now, not five days since, no, I tell a lie ’twas six. Anyhow, there’s meself, sittin’ on an ould mossy log countin’ me feathers an’ who should fly up but himself, the hawk that is. Sez he t’me, are there many otters’n’squirrels in this part of the woodlands? So sez I t’him, well yes’n’no in a roundabout sort o’ way; there’s treejumpers’n’waterdogs aplenty, if you was t’take the time t’be lookin’ for the beasts. Why d’you ask? Well sez he, because I carry this amulet round me neck, t’show them, they’re t’come t’the aid of my Lord Sunflash at the mountain of Salamandastron on the far west shores. Well now, isn’t that the wonderful thing, sez I t’him, an’ who, me bold bird, is yer Lord Sunflash when he’s at home? Marm, sez the hawk t’me, he is the great and mighty Badger Lord Sunflash the Mace!”

Bella cast off her shawl and stood up. “Sunflash the Mace, Lord of Salamandastron! Oh, thanks be to fortunes and fates! Did the hawk say what he looked like?”

Wudbeak cocked her head to one side thoughtfully. “Why no, ma, he didn’t, but why d’you ask?”

Bella sat back down, her great silver face wreathed in smiles. “Because he is my lost son. Now I know that my dreams were not just imagination. I have looked upon his face and talked with him as I slept.”

Heartwood pulled Barlom to one side, whispering to him, “Stripe me! We forgot to tell ’er about Skarlath’s last visit. ’E mentioned Sunflash to us then!”

Barlom kept his voice low as he replied, “Aye, but Bella wasn’t feeling too well at the time, and the Abbess told me not to mention Sunflash in case she got upset. It would have done Bella no good at all had it turned out that Sunflash was some other badger and not her son. No harm done, friend, at least she knows now for certain that he is.”

From behind Bella’s back, Meriam winked slowly at them and held a paw to her lips, before turning back to the owl. “Pray continue, my friend.”

“Right, where was I? Oh aye, well it seems that there’s this dreadful ould ferret, a six-clawed vermin they call Swartt. Do ye know what the villain’s up t’doin’? I’ll tell yer, so I will. This Swartt has gathered a mighty horde of vermin, oh, the rakin’s’n’ scrapin’s of the earth, they are, and he’s after attackin’ the mountain of Salamandastron! That’s why the hawk was lookin’ for otters’ n’squirrels, t’help out his Lord the badger. So, that’s me news, Ma.”

Wudbeak went back to devouring candied chestnuts as the Abbess bowed to her. “Thank you, my friend, you are welcome to stay as our guest. When you are ready to leave I will have Friar Bunfold pack a good supply of chestnuts for you; the harvest was very good to us last autumn. Wonderful news for you, Bella?”

The silver badger was nodding as Skipperjo and Redfarl helped her to her feet. “Nobeast can know just how wonderful, Meriam. So, my son fights a war against some vermin horde, that is the way of the warrior. Badger Lords are never satisfied until warfare touches them. This Swartt, no matter how great his army, will be defeated and slain by Sunflash. My son carries the blood of Boar the Fighter in his veins, and it was he who helped our warrior Martin.”

Abbess Meriam walked alongside her old companion. “But do you not fear or worry for him?” she asked.

“All my life, Meriam. He is too far away for us to do anything for him, but I can dream, and the spirit of Boar will aid him, and that of his sire and great grandsire. Who knows, maybe even the voice of our own warrior Martin may reach my son. How can he lose with such allies to advise him? My only wish is that one day he might walk through our Abbey gates before my seasons have run.”

The Abbess felt immensely relieved. “Don’t go up to your room yet, Bella,” she said. “Stay down for afternoon tea. I will need you to support me in the unpleasant task I must carry out.”

Bella stared at Meriam through her crystal glasses. “You have enough to worry about as Abbess of Redwall. I feel better today, stronger. Leave the business to me; you will need to comfort and reason with Bryony.”

*   *   *

Throughout the afternoon tea, Togget tried his level best to cheer Bryony up, but to no avail. The mousemaid sat stone-faced, neither touching food nor talking to anybeast. There was only Veil that she wanted to see, but the otter Skipperjo had banned all from seeing the ferret, save for himself and those who brought him his meals. Platters of fruit scones, wedges of white nut-studded cheese, blackberry tarts, honey, meadowcream, new cider, and mint tea passed in front of Bryony, their delicious aromas not even tantalizing her. Two of Redfarl’s squirrels did a hobjig with a pair of Skipperjo’s otters, while the molemaid Figgul beat a small drum in time with Sister Withe’s herbsong. It was all done for the mousemaid’s benefit, though Bryony paid no attention. Sister Withe got her voice around the tongue twister admirably:

The good Sister took a deep drink of cold mint tea and held a paw to her heart. “Phew! I’m glad I don’t have to sing that twice!”

Nothing seemed to cheer Bryony up, but she leapt to her feet immediately when Jodd poked his head around the doorway of Great Hall.

“Attention, chaps’n’chapesses, Abbess wants every beast out on the lawn by the gatehouse soon as y’ve finished vittles!” There was an immediate exodus from the tables, with Bryony in the lead, her face a picture of anxiety.

Bella stood on the lower wallsteps by the gatehouse, supported by Abbess Meriam, the owl Wudbeak at their side. Ancient as Bella was, the recent events at her beloved Redwall had driven her to speak. Every Abbey creature sat on the lawn, facing the three. There was a profound silence over the gathering, then heads turned to see Skipperjo and Redfarl escorting Veil from the main Abbey building. Bryony drew in her breath sharply. Jodd was walking in front of the prisoner, but she could see Veil’s paws were bound in front of him. He jumped and snarled, biting at his guards as they hauled him along to the bottom step.

Bella came forward, spreading her silver-furred paws. “First, let me say that I take responsibility for what will happen here today. Any resentment or grievance you hold must be against me, and not our Mother Abbess.” Bella looked directly at Bryony. “Is that clear?”

Bryony nodded, looking stricken, and the ancient badger continued. “You see before you a young ferret called Veil. I gave him his name when he was brought to this place many seasons ago. Abbess Meriam, myself, and one other, our friend Bryony, aye, and all of you for that matter, showed him every kindness. The goodbeasts of Redwall helped Veil to grow from a Dibbun to a youngbeast, trying to teach him the values of the life we live here, to honour, help, befriend, and never to harm others. Sadly he ignored all advice and went his own way, lying, cheating, stealing and creating bad feeling among otherbeasts. All this could have been forgiven, and has been countless times in the past. However, now Veil has passed the point of forgiveness. He tried to kill one of us, and there is no absolution whatsoever for a creature who would do this to a Brother or Sister of Redwall. Had he lived among badgers, who have a far more rigid code, I tell you, he would have been slain instantly. But this is not the way at our Abbey, though nothing as terrible as this has ever before occurred here.

“Therefore I must say something to you, Veil, that has never been said to another creature within these walls so far, and it is a hard thing for me to say. You are no longer one of us: there is no place for you at Redwall; once you are put on the path outside the Abbey, our gates are closed to you for ever. Veil, you must go now. I declare you Outcast!”

A cry like that of a wounded animal broke the silence. Bryony dashed forward, trying to get hold of the young ferret. “No, no! Not my Veil. Please, let him stay. I’ll look after him, he’ll change, you’ll see, I’ll talk to him . . .!”

Meriam got to Bryony before she reached Veil; wrapping her in the folds of her gown, the Abbess hugged the mousemaid tightly. “Hush now, be still, little one, he is a poisoner and would have murdered had he not been stopped. There is nothing more you can do for him!”

Veil looked stunned as Jodd cut the bonds from his paws, and he stared at the old badger on the steps, crying, “What about me? Where’ll I go now? I’ve got no family, I’m alone. What’ll I do?”

Seizing both the ferret’s paws in a vicelike grip, Skipperjo brought his face close and said through gritted teeth, “Little sixclaw the poisoner, eh? I knowed who you was, matey, from the day I picked you up suckin’ frogspawn in a muddy ditch! Yore the whelp of that other six-clawed vermin, Swartt the Warlord. Aye, the one who’s over at Salamandastron mountain right now, fightin’ the great Badger Lord. Why don’t yer travel over thatways, due west and through the mountains, they say, an’ take a look at some real slayin’, or would ’onest warfare be too noble fer a sneakin’ poisoner!”

Then, dragging Veil by both paws, the big otter lugged him through the gateway and flung him on the path. “Go an’ work yore evil someplace else, scum!”

As the gates of Redwall slammed shut on him, Veil stood quivering with rage, shaking his six-clawed paw at those inside. “Stupid oafs!” he yelled. “Bumblin’ fools! You ain’t heard the last o’ me! See these paws, well, you dyed them red, an’ red they’ll stay, to remind me that someday I’ll be back! Aye, with my own horde, I’ll tear this Abbey apart, stone by stone, then I’ll slay every livin’ one of you, I promise!”

Inside on the lawn, Bella and the Abbess held Bryony close between them as she pleaded, wept, and begged for them to give Veil one last chance—Veil, the ferret she had reared and loved from a babe, despite all his evil ways.