Rufe Brush, also known as Rufe Brushtail, was a strong and quiet male squirrel resident of Redwall Abbey, and the first known official bellringer.
He was a friend of Dandin, Mariel Gullwhacker, Saxtus, and Durry Quill. Rufe was one of the few young creatures 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 attacked with 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 companions.
Rufe was happy when his old friend, Oak Tom, returned to Redwall and joined the fight against the searats. When Colonel Clary, Brigadier Thyme, and Hon Rosie organized a final mission to rescue a group of oar slaves taken hostage by searats, Rufe Brush, Oak Tom, and Treerose came to assist the hares. While the squirrels led the oar slaves to safety, the heroic members of the Long Patrol stayed to cover their retreat, without telling their friends of their plan to fight the horde of a hundred searats head on. Clary and Thyme died fighting, while Hon Rosie was terribly injured in the battle.
The normally tough Rufe wept at the death of Clary and Thyme. Rufe and Oak Tom led a party to bring the gravely injured Hon Rosie back to the Abbey. Later, he 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 who he had 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.