Rufe Brush

Rufe Brush, also known as Rufe Brushtail, was a strong and quiet male squirrel resident of Redwall Abbey. He was the first known official bellringer.

Rufe was a friend of Dandin, Mariel Gullwhacker, Saxtus, and Durry Quill. He was one of the few young ones who was not impressed by Treerose's charms; ironically she, on the other hand, admired him very much.

Rufe was a leader in the defense of Redwall against Greypatch's crew and was adept with a wide variety of weapons. Alert and quick, he was the first to alert the Redwallers that they were under attack from fire missiles by pounding on a hollow log. He also organized sentries to detect areas under threat from the missiles. Despite his fighting abilities, Rufe was not a trained warrior and was very impressed with the military professionalism of Brigadier Thyme and his Long Patrol companions.

Rufe was excited to see his old friend, Oak Tom, return to Redwall and join the fight against the sea rats. When Colonel Clary, Brigadier Thyme, and Hon Rosie organized a final mission to rescue a group of oar slaves taken hostage, Rufe, Oak Tom, and Treerose arrived to assist the hares. While the squirrels led the oar slaves to safety, the heroic Long Patrollers stayed to cover their retreat, without telling their friends of their plan to fight the 100-strong horde head on. Clary and Thyme died fighting, while Hon Rosie was terribly injured.

The normally tough Rufe wept at the deaths of Clary and Thyme. Rufe and Oak Tom led a party to bring Hon Rosie back to the Abbey. Later, Rufe and Treerose buried Clary and Thyme in a special area outside of the walls.

After being mentioned in Martin the Warrior's prophecy as the "bellringer who'd love to stay", Rufe ventured out with Joseph, Durry, Hon Rosie, and Foremole to free Southsward from Urgan Nagru.

Rufe later named one of Finnbarr Galedeep's swords after Fatch, a shrew he befriended. They had promised to look after each other after Rufe had saved Fatch from drowning. Rufe was saddened when his comrade died, therefore honoring his life by naming the sword after him.

During the Feast of the Bell Raising, Rufe climbed to the roof of the Abbey and placed the Sword of Martin on the arm of the weathervane. It was said he was inspired by the Spirit of Martin the Warrior.