#blaggut

Blaggut took a few minutes to sit and rest, soaking his paws in the cool stream and listening to the gentle rippling of the water as it flowed past him. He had a good life in Mossflower. Though the winters could be harsh, he found that he was attached to the peaceful woodland, and it was rare that he found himself missing his life on the high seas.

A quiet rustling of the bushes pulled him from his thoughts, and a voice called out, “Hullo there, Mister Blackguts!”

Blaggut turned around and saw a young pair of creatures, a mouse and a mole, enter his homestead, followed by a fully-grown squirrel. A broad smile appeared on Blaggut’s face, showing off his crooked and broken teeth. “Little mateys!” he exclaimed happily getting up to meet them.  When they drew near, he pulled them both into a hug, one in each arm. “You’ve done quite a bit o’ growin’ since I last sees ya.”

The two young creatures were no longer the little Dibbuns Blaggut had known at the Abbey. Though far from fully grown, they had become much taller over the past seasons. They were still young beasts by any measure, though they were old enough to be wearing the proper green habits of the Redwall brothers and sisters.

“We’ve been a’missin’ ye fiercely, Mister Blaggut,” the molemaid said as she wrapped her arms around Blaggut’s waist.

“I’ve missed ye too, Furrtil,” Blaggut said as a happy tear formed in his eye. “And ye as well, um, Mousebabe.”

The young male mouse chuckled as he let Blaggut go. “Never did get much of a proper name, did I? Folks call me Embee now. Get it? Mousebabe, M, B, Embee.”

Blaggut shrugged. “Still haven’t learned much o’ letterin’ or spellin’, but ye’ll always be little Mousebabe to me,” he ruffled his friend’s headfur. “Did ye bring ‘em out here just to see me, Tom?” he asked of the squirrel who had stood silently off to the side.

Oak Tom, a robust and sturdy squirrel, nodded. “They’ve been begging to come out here for a while. I finally couldn’t say no anymore.”

“Well, thank ye for bringin’ ‘em here. I’ve been missin’ me little Redwall friends. What have ye been up to? Stayin’ out o’ trouble, I hope.”

“Oh, I still get in plenty of trouble,” Embee said with a mischievous grin, “but most days when I’m not in the Abbeyschool I’m helping in the infirmary. Brother Simeon thinks I have the makings of a healer.”

“Oi be a learnin’ ‘ow to be a Cellarmole,” Furril said proudly. “Durry Quill be teachin’ me to be makin’ ales an’ cordials.”

“That’s wonderful, little mates.” Blaggut said, still smiling.

“Do you like living out in Mossflower, Mister Blaggut?” Embee asked. “Do other creatures treat you well?”

“It took a while for some o’ them to get used to an ol’ searat living nearby, but those shrews and otters seem to like ‘aving somebeast to build and fix up their boats.”

“Do you even get lonely out here?”

“I used to, but I made a very good friend. I’ll introduce you.” He called toward his house, “Ivy, me mates from Redwall have come to visit. Come out an’ meet ‘em.”

A female rat stepped out into the doorway of the cave-house. She raised a paw and shyly waved at the newcomers.

“Ivy don’t say much, but she don’t mean anything by it,” Blaggut explained. “I’m sure she’s glad to meet you all.”

Ivy nodded with a faint hint of a smile. Embee saw she was holding her other paw to her noticeably swollen abdomen.

“Missus Ivy, are you having a baby?”

“That she is,” Blaggut said proudly. “Our first. Our own little babe.”

Both Furrtil and Embee squealed in excitement. Oak Tom patted Blaggut on the back. “Congratulations to you both.”

“You should bring her to Redwall when the baby is ready to be born,” Embee suggested. “The healers there have delivered lots of babies.”

“I was thinkin’ o’ doin’ that,” Blaggut said. “I wouldn’t know the first thing t’ do.”

“Have ye finished a’buildin’ any boats, Mister Blaggut?”Furrtil asked as she looked the piles of lumber and half-finished vessels scattered around the area.

“I’ve got one beauty that’s almost finished, and I have a nice little rowboat that still needs to have its maiden voyage. How’d ye like to have a boat ride down to the pond, little mates?”

Furrtil and Embee were excited to have a chance to ride in one of Blaggut’s boat. With Oak Tom, they piled into the rowboat. Ivy stayed behind to make lunch and look after the house.

Having spent much of his early life on the water, Blaggut was an excellent navigator on the water. He rowed the boat down a side-branch of the stream, leading to a large pond, which some beasts may have called a forest lake.

The waters on the pond were calm, only interrupted by the splashes of the little fish or by the dragonflies skimming along the surface. In the safety of the pond, Blaggut handed the oars over to Furtill and Embee, letting his young friends row the boat wherever their hearts desired.

Furtill and Embee moved the craft all around the pond for a while, but the exertion combined with the warmth of the sun soon made them sleepy. As they leaned against each other and dozed off, Blaggut took control of the boat once again.

“Bless ‘em, they’ve dropped right to sleep,” Blaggut said to Oak Tom. “We can head back slow and wake them up for lunch.” He turned the boat around and began rowing back up the stream.

“You know you’d be welcome back at Redwall,” Oak Tom said quietly to Blaggut so as not to wake the young ones. “You and Ivy could both stay there for as long as you wanted.”

“I know, Tom, and I would like that very much, especially if I got to see my little friends every day, but I don’t think I can go back there for long. It reminds me too much of what I used to be, an’ what me an ol’ Slipp did.”

“We don’t blame you for that,” Oak Tom assured him. “You paid your debt a long time ago.”

“I think it’s for the best if I just visits every now and again. I’m going to be busy soon, what with my own babe an’ all.”

“Have you thought up names for your child?”

Blaggut pondered for a minute. “If it’s a maid, I was thinkin’ o’ callin’ ‘er Mellus.” He paused and looked at Oak Tom. “D’ye think that’d be all right?”

The squirrel smiled. “I think that’d be wonderful, friend.”

The boat softly bumped up to the shore near Blaggut’s home. Oak Tom and Blaggut gently lifted the young ones from the boat and set them on a soft spot in the shade of a willow tree, letting them slumber a while longer while Ivy finished stirring up a pot of soup.

Both Furtill and Embee sat next to Blaggut as they ate, peppering him with questions between mouthfuls. He was more than happy to answer whatever they asked. When the meal was over, it was time for Oak Tom to take the two young ones back to the Abbey.

“Will you come and visit soon, Mr. Blaggut?” Embee asked.

“We’s been a’missin’ ye sommat awrful,” Furtill added.

“Ye can be sure I will, little mates,” Blaggut assured them. “Maybe ye can be baby-minders once me little one is growed a bit.”