Extract from the writings Abbess Lily, Recorder of Redwall Abbey in Mossflower Country. My goodness, those Dibbuns are rambunctious today! All yesterday and the day before the rains wouldn’t let up, but they finally did this morning. As soon as our Dibbuns saw the bright sunshine through their windows, they ran outside to play, even skipping breakfast (which I can truthfully say was great!) Looking through my open door I can see the little squirrel Rali waving an imaginary sword through the air. Oh look, here comes Jakahn, our Abbey Warrior. Strangely, Kahn is a fox. He was found by a member of my Holt (or at least the one I lived in before I became Abbess) who brought him to our infirmary. He was cut, bruised, and deep out of conciseness. Since the Abbey rules are to heal any needy beast no matter what species they are, we had to help him. Lucky for us, he developed amnesia, and the only thing he could remember was the art of war. He’s grown very fond of the Dibbuns during the time he’s lived here at the Abbey. Someone’s knocking on the door, so I’m sorry to say that I must leave my writings for now. Goodbye! The gatehouse door swung open to reveal a small group of Dibbuns. One little hedgehog named Borun looked up at the Abbess and asked, “ Muvver Lily, when’s supper time?” “Oh you little bunglebelly! We just ate lunch and hour ago! What could possess you to be hungry again?” Lily answered, laughing. “Well, it’s jus dat Mister Jurne is in the kitchen eating up all the damson puddin an scones. I thought that it maybe was supper.” Borun said back, a little embarrassed. “Eating, is he? Let’s go see what we can do about that!” Abbess Lily grabbed the little hedgehog’s paw and he and she raced across the orchard to the Abbey, with a large group of Dibbuns following behind. As they entered the kitchen they could here a loud scoffing noise. Turning a corner, they found out what was making it. A sandy colored hare stood in the corner with a large white platter in his paws. His light blue tunic was covered in crumbs, and his whiskers were drooping under the weight of the damson pudding that was stuck on them. Lily cleared her throat loudly. Surprised, the hare spun around, dropping the platter. It landed on the floor with a loud crash, and broke. “Jurne! What are we going to do with you?” Abbess Lily fussed. She bent down and stared to pick the little pieces of the plate that had flown everywhere, all the while Jurne was apologizing for his mistake. “Mother Abbess! I didn’t know you were there! I’m so sorry! I, I didn’t mean to break it! Oh Mother Abbess, please don’t send me back to Salamandastron! Lord Lance will absolutely slaughter me! He said that if I got one more bad report from the Abbey he would-“ “Calm down, calm down. It’s all right Jurne, I won’t tell Lance about this little incident. Just help me clean it up and promise me that you won’t eat so much from now on.” Lily said, trying to keep the laughter out of her voice. “Thank you, thank you, Mother Abbess! I promise not to eat unless someone else puts the bally tucker in front of me! You can always trust a hare, as my patter says, wot wot!” “Good, now go up to the infirmary. I believe that Brother Dale was looking for you earlier. I think he said something about working off your dept. Will you tell me what you did this time?” “Umm, I think it might have something to do with the fact that I accidentally broke one of the doors on the medicine cabinet. The jolly ol’ Brother Dale fixed when he found it there broken, but when he found out that I was the one who broke it he told me that I would have to do some work in the infirmary for punishment.” “Oh, okay. Well, go up there and help before the good Brother decides to tell Lord Lance about it.” With that, Jurne gasped and darted out of the kitchen. As soon as he was gone Lily fell to the kitchen floor in a giant fit of hysterics. “Muvver, Muvver, you might wanna stop laughing ‘cos there’s a really big offer coming towards us, an’ I’ve never seen him before at the Abbey!” Borun whimpered from the doorway. “Ooh, he’s a big offer. He’s got lots o’ scars and a really big sword!” “Offer? Oh, you mean otter.” The Abbess gasped when a sudden realization hit her, “Did you say that he was big, with lots of scars, and he carried a large sword?! Oh dear, Bantel didn’t tell me that he was dropping by!” A loud knock was heard on the kitchen door. A tall, lean otter walked through the door. He had a long scar running down his chest, one his right leg, and a multitude of small scars along his wrist. He was clad in a dark green tunic and had a sword belt around his waist, containing a sword, rusted with many years of war and fighting. His face was set in a grim expression, and his eyes were filled with anger and worry. “Why hello, Bantel,” Lily asked. “I was hoping you were bringing good news, but I don’t think you are.” “Sadly, you are right, Mother Abbess,” Bantel replied, his voice filled with melancholy. “As my holt and I were traveling through Northern Mossflower, we found remains of what looked to be a weasel camp. We followed their tracks as far as we could, but we lost them when we hit the northern side of the River Moss. We came strait here, and were lucky that we beat them here. You might want to keep your Abbey guards on high alert, in case they decide to pay Redwall a visit.” Dong, Ding, Dong, Ding! “Why are they ringing the bells at this time of day?” Lily asked worriedly. Suddenly, the kitchen doors burst open, and a frantic squirrel darted over to the to otters. The squirrel didn’t wait to catch her breath before blurting out, “Mother Abbess! The front gate is on fire!”