The Softbrush Saga: Chapter 2

    At dawn’s first light, Mariel and Dandin took their full haversacks and set off through Mossflower Woods. The rosy sun on the horizon cast extended shadows through the forest. It felt good to stretch their legs after so much time at sea. They tried to take the same route as they had on their way to Southsward all those years ago.
     About mid-morning, an acorn flew out of the sky and ricocheted off Mariel’s skull. “Ow!” she said sharply, rubbing her head. She and Dandin looked up to see where the acorn had come from. Perched in a nearby oak tree was a young squirrel, barely past Dibbunhood.
     “You little rouge!” Mariel chided with false severity.
     The squirrel giggled mischievously.
     “What’s your name, little one?” Dandin asked.
     “What’s yer name, likkle one?” the squirrel repeated.
     “I’m Dandin and this is Mariel. Who are you?”
     “I’m Dandin and this is Mariel. Who are you?” the squirrel chattered.
     Suddenly an annoyed female voice rang out. “Leafear! There you are! I’ve been searching for you since breakfast, you little whirlwind! You know you’re not supposed to be this far from home!” A squirrel a few seasons older than the first swung through the trees and landed on the branch next to him. “Wait until Mama gets her paws on you! She’s been worried sick, you know, she--” The older squirrel’s voice cut off when she noticed the two warriormice below. She clasped her paws around her little brother protectively.
     “No need for alarm,” Dandin said. “We’re Redwallers. We mean you no harm.”
     “Oh, Redwallers!” the female squirrel said, her face brightening. “Really? I’ve never seen real Redwallers before!”
     “I’m Dandin, and this is Mariel,” Dandin said yet again.
     “I’m Blossomtail, and this little rascal is my brother, Leafear.”
     “Well, Blossomtail,” said Mariel, “perhaps you can help us. We’re looking for a healer fox named Longbrush.”
     “I don’t know anybody like that,” Blossomtail said apologetically.
     “I don’t know anybody like that,” Leafear repeated with a titter.
     “Stop being such a pest!” she chided.
     “Stop being such a pest,” he mimicked.
     Blossomtail turned her eyes skyward. “Maybe our parents would know,” she offered. “I can take you to them, if you like.”
     “Yes, please,” Dandin said politely.
     “Follow me,” Blossomtail said, bounding off through the trees. Leafear hurled another acorn at the mice and tagged along after his sister.
     Mariel and Dandin scrambled to keep pace with the swift squirrels. Soon they reached a homely little shanty nestled between two pine trees. “Home sweet home,” Blossomtail said, dropping out of the trees and plopping to earth by her front door. She opened the door. “Mama! There are Redwallers out here! They want to talk to you!”
     “What?” said an adult female squirrel. She appeared in the doorway, dusting flour off her paws onto her apron. “Oh, hello,” she said. Leafear clung to his mother’s skirts, and she put a loving paw on his small head.
     “Hello,” said Dandin. “We’re Redwallers.”
     The mother squirrel’s eyes widened. “Redwallers! You don’t say! Lackaday, and me all mussed up,” she said, waving her bushy tail.
    “Sorry to intrude,” Mariel said, “but we’re looking for a healer fox named Longbrush. Might you know where we can find her?”
     The mother squirrel pursed her lips and thought. “Let me see...Longbrush... Hmm. I believe I recall that name... Oh, yes! Now I remember. Longbrush. She and her daughter passed through here last summer. Nice beasts, for vermin, really. I think they said they lived due east of here. Yes, east it was.”
     “Did they say how far to the east?”
     “No, I’m afraid not.”
     “Well, it’s something to go on. Thank you, ma’am,” Dandin said.
     “No trouble at all,” the mother squirrel said warmly.
     “No rubble tall,” Leafear mimicked from behind a fold in his mother’s skirt.
     They exchanged good-byes, and Mariel and Dandin headed due east into the morning sun. Abbot Saxtus’ life depended on their success.