7: That which is underground.

[Tiny Pest]

That which is underground.

Nibs watched as Jaskia headed into the tunnel mouth, her fur raised in fear. It didn't look too bad, from what he could see. The heavy wooden door that closed off the entrance was well made, and the tunnel seemed to have had equal quality in workbeastship.

The hedgehog lifted the spade in his paws, switching his gaze from its long shaft to the relatively narrow space they'd be in and deciding it wasn't worth taking. He had his hatchet if he needed a weapon, and why would they anyway? They were searching for a lost dibbun, not an escaped criminal, though the two seemed to blend every so often, particularly with the dibbun in question.

Chuckling quietly to himself at his own humour, Nibs descended into the depths of the tunnel, lifting his torch to better see the place. It was dark, but dry and fairly spacious for a forgotten secret passage. Turning around, the hedgehog held out a gallant paw to assist Celandine down into the tunnel, gesturing around with the burning stick he held.

"Nice place. Made by moles, from the look of it."

There was an earthy sort of echo following his words. It wasn't taunting, merely there. It existed, and made the place feel all the more like home. Nibs was tempted to give a booming laugh to test it, but noticed the gardener's unease and held off.

Friar Timothy and Elsine followed, one glancing around nervously, the other appearing more annoyed at being interrupted than anything else, though there was a distinct sense of relief at not having to put up with the negotiations.

Hornby leaned down from the tunnel entrance and passed his teacher a small canteen and a bundle.

"I'll take care o' your brews, Mr Nibs. Don't worry 'bout a thing. Here's some of your favourite ale and cheese. Be careful, sir."

Nibs beamed at the young mouse and fastened the packages to his belt. He saluted the apprentice and grinned at his companions.

"And 'ere I was, thinking this would be a good opportunity to lose the belly."

The hedgehog laughed, nudging whoever happened to be standing beside him to see if they got the joke.

The beast happened to be Elsine, and he was knocked backwards as she nudged him in return, not appearing amused in the slightest. Nibs picked himself up, ignoring the fact as he continued chuckling, tapping his nose and grinning at the badger.

"Don't worry. I'll share."

The group began to move, slowly at first as the ever diligent Friar called instructions and reminders as he walked backwards down the tunnel.

"And for season's sake, don't forget to add my secret ingredient to the deeper'n'ever pie! You know what to do! Make sure it's a nice, young piece. The old stuff is still edible, but it doesn't have the same flavour, and it's too tough."

Arthur nodded, his head illuminated by the bright winter sun.

"Ah-huh. Pine bark. I won't forget, Sir. Good luck!"

The Friar began to answer, tripping over a stray stone and falling against Elsine's back. She grunted and helped the Friar up again as the doors closed and the squirrel finally turned and began marching forward, clutching his wooden utensils as he remembered how dark the tunnels were and how much he preferred being above ground. Nibs felt rather sorry for the poor beast. He had the same sort of worries at having to leave. His elderflower champagne wasn't going to ferment itself, and even though Hornby was competent, transferring the responsibility to somebeast else made things a lot less reassuring. The Brew Barreling was going to take place that evening, too.

Nibs snickered quietly at his joke, smiling and repeating it to himself a couple of times until the snicker turned to a chuckle and he felt obliged to share the thought with the rest of the group, choking on his laughter as he explained the humour of it.

"My elderflower champagne won't ferment itself. Harhar! It's just- a saying, y'know. Hoho! How beds won't make themselves and such- hehe! So I said- hah! that my champagne won't- hehehe! Won't ferment itself!"

The hedgehog stopped to lean against the wall, heaving in gulps of air and attempting to stop himself from laughing so boisterously so others could appreciate the joke. Celandine shook her head, chuckling at either the joke or her friend's own amusement at it.

"Hurrhurr. You'm be a gurt silly beasty, Aqillian, but 'ee be right. 'Ee beds bain't be makin' ee-selfs anymore'n th' dibbun'll found 'eeself. We'm best get lookin' afore 'ee misses th' feast an' yon Barrilly Brews, burr."

Nibs nodded, still chuckling but largely under control now, and the party began again, torches lifted high to inspect the walls for any nooks and crannies the mischievous mousebabe might be hiding in.

How much time passed, nobeast knew. Nibs' tummy rumbled and he took out a piece of cheese, halving it to share with Mrs Flowers as they walked, chattering to each other as they checked behind loose rocks or in little hollows.

Nibs' first torch began to flicker and he lit another one, smiling at Mrs Flowers.

"That means we can't 'ave been down 'ere more'n four hours. That's still a long way for a little
dibbun to travel. I wonder how my champagne is getting on? I 'ope 'Ornby's remembered to ease the pressure on the bottles."


The group continued walking and searching until the tunnel became wider and smoother and there weren't any small heaps of debris to look behind. Nibs looked back over his shoulder, thoughtfully offering Elsine a piece of cheese.

"I can't imagine a dibbun would come all the way down 'ere in the dark. Supper'll be ready soon. I wonder if they'll have the feast without us, and the Brew Barreling."

Elsine didn't immediately take the cheese and the hedgehog began nibbling it pensively. Friar Timothy glanced at the cellarhog, shaking his head at the idea.

"They won't do that! We've been waiting to try your elderflower champagne all autumn, there's no way they'll miss their opportunity. Besides, Arthur is a good beast, but he's young and I'm not sure he'll manage to organise a Redwall feast without me. They'll wait for us to get back."

Nibs smiled at the squirrel's statement about his pride and joy. Redwall's chef was a wonderful fellow. He was silent for a while, likely to everybeasts' relief. He'd been experimenting with some other wines, and discovered that he could make some sort of essence out of different flavours, and that could be used to flavour cheeses, or be rubbed into a barrel before it was used so the ale would have a particular flavour. He'd used mostly ginger and peppermint flavours, but he could imagine a dandelion would be nice.

His latest cheese was coming along nicely. Soon it would be time to add fruit or nuts, or other things. He'd thought about the ingredients he wanted to use for a while, and decided that some candied rhubarb would go nicely with walnut.

What sort of drink would suit that?

There were a few options. Strawberry fizz would go nicely with the rhubarb. The flavours complemented each other, and the strawberry would be sweet enough to balance out the tang of the cheese. Maybe a raspberry wine would be good too, for older beasts, possibly with some additional ingredients, like burdoc.

"'Ow does fennel and blackberry sound to you, Celandine?"

Mrs Flowers looked sidelong at the hedgehog, confusion clear on her face.

"What you'm be talkin' about, Nibs? Whoi you'm be thinkin' about fennel an' blackburry?"

Nibs plainly showed his excitement at the idea.


"Well, 'ow does a fennel and blackberry cheese sound to you? Or maybe fennel cheese, with blackberry wine? Or blackberry- No. Not blackberry cheese. That would be wrong."

Mrs Flowers looked at her friend, still confused, but with some idea of what he was talking about now.

"Whoi not? 'Ee said fennel an' blackburry be alright, so wuddn't just blackburry be gudd? Oi be thinkin' 'ee could make et work."

Nibs pondered the idea, scratching his chin with a quill.

"A soft cheese, maybe, but not an 'ard one. Served with sticks of celery, it could be quite nice as a morning tea on a warm, lazy mornin', when there's no Brew Barreling to prepare for. Still, you wouldn't 'ave it with wine."

The Foremole shrugged. Nibs had been at the job for a while. He knew his business.

"You're making me hungry."

Elsine's complaint interrupted their conversation and Nibs reached into his package for a piece of cheese for the badger, surprised to find it alone. He shrugged and offered it to the massive beast anyway, licking the crumbs off his paws when she'd taken it.

"Hmm, either 'Ornby didn't pack very much, or somebeast's been pilfering my rations."

Mrs Flowers chuckled, poking his belly with a blunt digging claw.

"That gurt beasty be 'ee, hurr hurr. You'm be munchin' on yore cheese furr a whoile naow. Bain't anybeast but yoreself t' be blamin' furr yon empty ration bag, burr aye!"

Nibs looked sheepishly at his rather round middle, patting it comfortingly and chuckling at himself.

"Oh, I 'adn't noticed, being so wrapped in me thoughts. I think I'll make a rhubarb and walnut cheese, and later, I'll make a soft blackberry cheese. It'll be the best blackberry cheese you've ever tasted."

Mrs Flowers chuckled, frowning as they followed Jaskia through the tunnel. She was less at ease than she'd been before, and she hadn't been very relaxed at the beginning of their journey.

"Oi bain't never had blackburry cheese, so Oi be agreein' with that. What be th' matter, Jaskia? You'm not be lookin' very happy."

Jaskia stopped, letting out a sigh as she showed them her map.

"We've gone past the point we stopped last time, and I feel like this cave is closing in on me. I can't think."

Nibs moved forward and took the map, turning it upside down and giving it to the foremole.

"Turn it up the other way, and it's like a whole new set of  instructions, see. 'Ere, Mrs Flowers, you lead the way, since you're comfortable underground. Don't worry. The walls 'ave stayed exactly where they were from the time they were built, and they'll continue to stay there for a long while. Nothing will cave in on us."

Mrs  Flowers took Nibs' torch and moved to the head of the group, leading the way while Nibs gave Jaskia's paw a reassuring squeeze and offered her a sip of ale.

"I'm alright at the moment. We should save it, in case we need it later."

The tunnel became rougher and narrower as they continued, so the fat hedgehog had to walk by himself. Small crevices became visible again, and they had to check them before moving on. Nibs noticed the mole frowning at the ceiling for the fourth time in the last quarter of an hour, clearing his throat to get her attention.

"Everything alright, Mrs Flowers?"

The mole held up a paw, stopping the group.

"Burr, Oi doan't loike 'ee cracks in 'ee tunnel roof. You'm wait here. Oi be needin' t' check 'ee tunnel up ahead."

Nibs watched his friend disappear, waiting until the beast came back into view, a relieved smile on her face as she stopped, calling out to them.

"Ho urr, nothin' to be worryin' about. Et be smooth soon enough. Foller Oi."

The rest of the group rose to their footpaws, hurrying to catch up at the reassurance. The tunnel did indeed smooth out, and the need to search diligently ceased, until they found their path obstructed by a large stone, cut out for a gap but not pushed in yet. Mrs Flowers assessed the rock and the hole it had come out of, then instructed everybeast to give her space as she moved it. Nibs watched proudly as his friend busied about and then somehow, miraculously to his eyes, managed to move the heavy sandstone obstruction, sliding it across into its assigned position. There was an odd click as it fell into place, and the tunnel around the mole collapsed.