Cold and Dark Chp6

Chapter 6

Tears poured freely down Dernwyn's cheeks as he glared hatefully up at the wildcat.

"You," he breathed. "You MONSTER!"

The young marten threw himself at the big cat, screaming, striking out, wanting nothing more than to hurt him. To make him feel pain, to make him bleed, to make him wish he'd never been born!


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Skipper considered the small pine marten. He sat there, holding the blankets up to his chin, his face solemn with hollow eyes. The otter chieftain didn't think he had ever seen another creature who looked so... dead.

"Miru, is it?" he asked gently. "So, what happened to ye, mate? How did you come to be in that ditch?"

The marten didn't reply for a moment, closing his eyes as he hunched up his shoulders. He seemed to be recalling some unpleasant memory, which made his next statement a bit of a surprise.

"I... I can't remember."

Skipper had an inkling Miru wasn't being totally honest, but decided not to press the subject. The marten would talk about it when he was good and ready.

"Where are you from?" the otter inquired. "I've never seen you in these parts before. You look like you've been through a famine or something..."

"Yes," Miru answered - a little too quickly. "Yes, I... there was a famine... It... it wiped out... it took away my whole family," the marten explained, his voice slowly becoming a whisper.

A dark shadow passed over Miru's hollow young face. There was no way he could've been lying about that, Skipper realized.

"Oh, matey," the otter chieftain said, putting his arms around the little marten, who laid his head against Skipper's chest.


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Dernwyn's flailing arms were caught by strong clawed paws.

Zurzak's hollow voice tried to sound soothing. "I know you're upset, little prince."

Dernwyn screeched and struggled in the wildcat's grasp. "Upset? You killed my father! You killed him! It was you who turned the whole village against him! If it wasn't for you he'd still be alive! I HATE YOU!"


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"But how did you survive, mate?" Skipper asked quietly. "Wouldn't your family have tried to go in search for other land with you?"

"They... they gave all their remaining food to me. They said I needed it the most."

Skipper became silent, stunned by this. So the whole marten's family had given up all of their food just so one of them could live? That would've meant that the little one had watched them all die, probably one by one.

"Where are you from?" the otter finally asked. "How far away from Mossflower did you come?"

"Mossflow... flow... ah... ahh-choo!"

In a flash, Skipper had a kerchief in the marten's bony paws. "Whoa, seems like you've caught a cold there, matey. Good thing we found you when we did!"

"Thang you," Miru said groggily, his head feeling suddenly fuzzy. As he blew his nose into the kerchief, the otter continued speaking.

"Your welcome. And aye, this is the country that you're in right now, matey. You're in a building called Redwall Abbey, and its in a land called Mossflower. But where is your home located?"

"I... I'm not sure," the marten answered truthfully, laying his paws down. "I didn't keep track of where I was going when I... when I was looking for..."

"Aye. I know, mate."

Just then, the door to the infirmary opened, and in came Sister Grace, bearing a tray laden with a bowl of soup and a piece of bread, her lantern dangling from her fingers.

"Here we are," the motherly hogwife said, coming over to the bed. "Some nice warm vegetable soup for you. And I've cut and buttered the bread already, so you can chew on that a bit while you wait for the soup to cool down, dear. Now I have some water right here in the infirmary, so you can have some of that while I head back down and get you some mint tea. Are the pillows soft enough?"

Skipper watched as Sister Grace set the tray over Miru's lap, making certain that it was steady, before handing over a napkin and putting an extra pillow behind the marten's back.

All the while Miru shied away from the hogwife, only he didn't seem fearful this time. It was more like he was taken aback at such kindness. "Um... yes... thank you."

Sister Grace beamed. "Your welcome, dearie. Now again, be careful with the soup, its still very warm, and it'll be the same deal with the tea when I bring it up, so don't drink it right away. You'll be able to use it to warm your paws, though. And smell it too. Oh, and I better get you some cool water, you'll want to have some of that first, no doubt."

And with that, the motherly hedgehog went and poured her patient some water from a nearby pitcher, placed it on the tray before scurring off to fetch the mint tea.

Skipper chuckled. "Ah, that Grace. She's a darlin', no mistake. So, how do you like the bread?"

But as he turned to gaze back at Miru, he realized that the pine marten hadn't yet touched his food, or his water. He watched Miru paw the bread for a moment before lifting up the cup of water and trying to bring some of the cool liquid to his mouth. But as the marten began to raise the cup, his thin paw began shaking so hard that he began to spill.

"Here, now, matey, let me help with you with that," Skipper said solemnly, taking the cup and holding it level with the marten's lips.

Miru seemed to hesitate when the otter did this, but nevertheless, he placed his paws over Skipper's and brought his mouth to the cup's rim. The marten drank deeply, a good sight to Rorac's eyes. After Miru was finished, he made to pick up the spoon, but again his paw began to tremble.

Skipper helped him out with that as well and took the spoon in his own paw, dipping it into the soup and holding it level with the marten's lips.

And again Miru hesitated, only this time for much longer. For a moment, Skipper wondered if the marten felt embarrassed, being treated like a newborn babe-

-but then a sudden thought struck the otter: what if Miru was not embarrassed... but guilty? His family had given him their food so he could live. They sacrificed themselves for his sake, and he watched them all starve to death. What if this had caused the young marten to feel guilty about eating?

Well, whatever the reason, there was no way he was going to let such a skinny creature go without food.

Taking on as soothing a tone as he could, the otter chieftain whispered, "Hey there, c'mon, matey, these are prime vittles. You won't find food like this for miles around." Skipper suddenly wished he hadn't quite used those words, they might get Miru to think about the famine far away. Nevertheless, he plowed on with his gentle urgings. "Come on, little mate. For me, won't you? Won't you eat a little? Just for me?"

The pine marten turned and looked at the otter when he said those last few sentences.


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"Come on, little brother. For me, won't you? Won't you eat a little? Just for me?"


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There was something strange in the way how Miru looked at Skipper... it was as though he was seeing... somebeast else...

And then slowly, but steadily, Miru turned back to the spoon and carefully took a sip.

"Mm, it's hot."

"Well, the Sister said it was hot, didn't she? We better stick to the bread for awhile, eh? Here, this piece looks nice and buttery, why don't we try that..."