Halt's dead

A Ranger's Goodbye

Will and Maddie rode up to the Gathering Grounds. It was strange, the first time they were there without Halt. And he wouldn’t turn up later. No, he wasn’t coming. Maddie glanced at Will, and saw him struggling.

“Will?” she spoke up, “you alright? You need a moment?”

Will shook his head and continued riding. He pointed towards the spot he wanted Maddie to put their tents up, and slid off Tug. He gestured for Tug to follow Maddie and walked towards the centre of the Gathering Grounds. There, a slightly bigger tent had been set up as the Commandants tent. That was where he was going, he needed to see Gilan.

Gilan had seen Will and Maddie approach, and had immediately gone to his tent. He knew Will would find him and would probably want some privacy. It was difficult for both of them, the first Gathering without their mentor. He had been there every time. He had always looked forward to it, and so had they, eager to be reunited with their mentor for a few days.

Will entered his tent and Gilan saw the struggle on his face. He got up to hug Will, and they stood quietly for a while.

“It’s weird, you know,” Gilan said, “I still expect to see him riding in on Abelard. I can’t wrap my mind around the fact he is not coming.”

“I know,” Will said, “I kept looking around to see if I could see him. We usually rode together from some point. But he was never there.”

Gilan nodded and pulled Will closer, before letting him go. They had a ceremony to plan to honour Halt the Ranger's way.

—

At the first meal of the Gathering, Gilan had spoken some words about Halt. But the true goodbye would be at the end. It was the tradition that if someone had died, they would be honoured before the last meal of the Gathering. Then they would have a last meal celebrating the deceased Ranger, anyone who retired at that Gathering and all the apprentices who got promoted to the next year or fully graduated. It would also be when any changes were announced as to who would be getting a new fief.

And the time had come to say goodbye to Halt.

As his apprentices, Gilan and Will would be taking the lead. They rode at the head of the group to the Rangers ‘graveyard’. It was a designated spot in the forest, where a new tree would be planted to honour the dead Ranger. The spot was somewhere in the grounds of castle Araluen, and therefore protected from the trees being cut down.

To ensure the tree would live, it wasn’t a seed. Instead, it was a small tree grown by the gardeners of castle Araluen and donated to the Corps. Gilan and Will had travelled to the spot early to dig a hole, and were now heading there with the whole Corps.

They stood in a circle around the spot designated for Halt’s tree, as Gilan and Will walked forward with the small tree. Before they planted it, they had agreed Gilan would speak a few words.

“Legend has it he was ten feet tall. Legend has it he cut his hair with his sax. Legend has it he was secretly the Crown Prince of Clonmel. Legend has it that Halt was a legend. And we all know that is true. Because who didn’t know Halt? He was, is, known well outside the borders of Araluen. When you first got to know him, he was a grumpy man. But he truly cared. He loved being a Ranger. He loved the Gathering. Seeing everyone again. Catching up, sharing stories, learning from each other. It is strange to imagine we will never see him at the Gathering again. But in a way we will, because he left part of him behind. He taught me and Will everything we know. He lives on in us, and in you. Because I believe we have all learned something from Halt. Halt, thank you for all you have done. Love you.”

Everyone watched silently as Gilan and Will placed the tree in the hole and started to fill the hole with dirt. They pretended not to see the tears rolling down the faces of Halt’s apprentices.

Finally, Gilan reached into his pocket to grab a small plaque. He handed it to Will, who nailed it into the tree. This way, future Rangers would know who this tree belonged to.

Gilan and Will stepped back into the circle, locking arms with the other Rangers. They had a moment of silence, and then sang part of the unofficial anthem of the Rangers Corps:

I once lived in this cabin in the trees
I had a good simple life in the trees
I had friends, I had family,
I had everything I could want
But once I left everything changed.

The village grew, the people moved
The whole village in the trees changed
The diverse people died, the small buildings grew
The small village in the trees was no more.

Going back to the cabin
Going back to the forest
Going back to the rivers and the glowing creeks
Going back to the mountains
Going back to the valleys
Going back to the place I used to know but now don't

I never thought I be gone so many years,
I never though the village could change
When I left, I always planned to return,
But time slips away before we know.

The cabin in the trees is past
The small village in the trees is gone
How much can change so fast
How much time can pass
Before you realise its long since gone.

—

It had been Will’s suggestion to force everyone to drink a mug of coffee with honey. It had originally been Halt’s habit, but had spread widely through the Corps. But of course not everyone agreed, as there were still some who thought it ruined the taste of coffee. And so an argument had started whether or not honey was good in coffee.

No one truly minded, and in the end they would all drink the coffee. But they felt for the sake of old times they had to put up a bit of a fight. And so they did.

Gilan eventually put an end to the argument. Raising his mug and shouting, “to Halt!”

Everyone joined in, loudly shouting: “to Halt!”

“And now, we eat dinner!” Gilan shouted.

A loud cheer went up and everyone went to sit at the table.

Two apprentices stumbled over each other in their hurry, and nearly bumped into Will. He watched them with a raised eyebrow.

“Makes you look freakishly like Halt,” another Ranger at the table said.

Will laughed. “I did pick it up from him. The only one who might have gotten more raised eyebrows from him is Gilan.”

“True, but I think you were worse.” Gilan said from behind him, also raising his eyebrow.

“No Gilan, Will is definitely better at raising his eyebrow,” a Ranger said. He tried it himself, but raised both his eyebrows.

Gilan snorted. “Either way, I’m better than you.”

They all laughed as the other Rangers and apprentices tried it as well, many miserably failing.

Halt might have died. But he lived on in his adopted sons, Gilan and Will.