The Story of Two

Chapter 5

    It felt strange for the two wardmates to be leaving it after all this time.  Will and Ashlyn turned back to the castle. The massive walls were towering above them, glowing a faint red.
   "It's going to be weird not seeing the others everyday," Ashlyn said sadly, looking at the wall of the castle they were so used to calling home.
"Yeah, I'm going to miss them," Will replied, bringing the conversation to an end.
    They turned back to the road and continued their journey. The sun was barely rising over the trees as Will and Ashlyn walked towards Halt's cabin. As the cabin came into view they saw smoke coming out of the chimney. They stepped up onto the verandah. Ashlyn watched as Will stepped up to knock on the door.
    "Come in," a voice said from inside. Will opened the door and they both stepped into the small cabin.
    It was surprisingly clean and cosy-looking. They walked into the main room, which was a combined living and dining room. There was a small kitchen at one end, which was separated from the main room by a wooden bench. There were chairs arranged around a small fireplace at the other end. There was a wooden table and pots and pans that shined from polishing. There was even a vase of colorful wildflowers. Halt was sitting in one of the chairs, his feet resting on the table.
    "At least you two are on time," he said gruffly. "Have you had breakfast yet?"
    "Yes, sir," Ashlyn replied for the two of them. Ashlyn looked over at Will who was staring at the Ranger. Ashlyn looked back at the Ranger. This was the first time they had seen him without his gray-green hooded cloak.  The Ranger was wearing simple brown and gray woolen clothes and soft-leather boots. His hair and beard were short and dark, but peppered with gray. They were both unevenly trimmed. It looked like he cut it with a hunting knife. The Ranger stood up. 
    "Finished staring," the Ranger asked.
    Will jumped nervously. "Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!" he said quickly. Ashlyn snickered to herself.
    Halt grunted in reply. He pointed to one of the rooms that they saw when they entered. "There's your room. You can put your things in there," he said simply.
     He moved to the wood stove in kitchen. Ashlyn and Will entered the room he gestured to. It was small, but like the rest of the cabin, it was also clean and cozy. Two small beds lay on opposite walls. There were two wardrobes for clothes and a rough table with a washing basin and jug on it. There was also another vase of wildflowers. Ashlyn put her small bag of belongings on her bed. She wasn't bothered that she would be sharing a room with Will. She counted him as her brother so it wasn't awkward for either of them. They went back into the main room.
    Halt was still busy in the kitchen. He had his back to his two apprentices. Will coughed, trying to gain his attention. Halt continued to stir coffee in a pot on the stove.
    Will coughed again.
    "Got a cold, boy," the Ranger asked, without turning. Ashlyn gave Will a smirk.
    "Er . . . no, sir," Will replied.
    "Then why are you coughing?" Halt asked, turning around to face him.
    Will hesitated. "Well, sir," he began uncertainly, "I just wanted to ask you . . . what doe a Ranger do exactly?"
    "He doesn't ask pointless questions, boy!" Halt said. "He keeps his eyes and ears open and he looks and listens and, if he doesn't have too much cotton between his ears, he learn!"
    "Or hers," Ashlyn added.
    Halt looked at her and gave a nod, "Or hers."
    "Oh, said Will. "I see." Ashlyn could see clearly that he didn't. "I just wondered what Rangers do, is all."
    "Will you just dug out grave," Ashlyn thought to herself, wondering what Halt was going to say to that. Halt looked at the them with a strange gleam in his eye.
    "Well, I suppose I'd better tell you, he said. "Rangers, or more correctly, Rangers' apprentices do the housework."
    Ashlyn deadpanned. "The housework, really. We're doing the housework," she thought. She looked at Will who had a similar look on his face.
    "The . . . housework," Will repeated. Halt nodded looking very pleased with himself.
    "That's right. Take a look around," He paused and gestured around the cabin, then continued, "See any servants?"
    "No, sir," They both said slowly.
    "No, sir indeed!" Halt said. "Because this isn't a castle with a staff of servants. This is a lowly cabin. And it had water to be fetched and firewood to be chopped and floors to be swept and rugs to be beaten. And who do you suppose might do all those things, kids?"
    Ashlyn immediately understood where this was going. "I'm guessing that would be us, sir," she spoke.
    "I believe it would be," the Ranger told them, then rattled off a list of instructions crisply. "Bucket there. Barrel outside. Water in the river. Ax in the lean-to, firewood behind the cabin. Broom by the door and I believe you can probably see where the floor might be?"
    "Yes, sir," Ashlyn and Will replied, both beginning to role up their sleeves and walked outside.
    "I'll get the firewood, unless you want to," Ashlyn said.
    "That's fine, I'll get the water," Will replied.
    Ashlyn grabbed the axe and walked around back. She saw the stack of wood. It was about three and a half feet heigh, stacked in a pyramid like fashion. This was going to be a busy morning she thought to herself as she began chopping.
Ashlyn could barely hear a comment from a particular Ranger enjoying a nice cup of coffee.
    "I'd forgotten how much fun having an apprentice can be."
    Ashlyn and Will were working hard all day. They finished their first chore around the same time. For the rest of the day they were doing job after job. They couldn't believe that such a small and seemingly neat cottage need so much cleaning and maintenance. After Will had filled the water barrel and Ashlyn chopped the wood and piled it into a neat stack, Ashlyn swept the cabin while Will beat the living room rug. From time to time, Halt leaned out the window to give him encouragement, which usually consisted of curt comments such as "You've missed a bit on the left side" or put some energy into it, boy." He would do the same to her, telling her she missed a spot, or something like that. When the Will put the rug back where it belonged, Halt decided that several of his cooking pots didn't gleam with sufficient intensity.
    "We'll have to give them a bit of a scouring," he said, to himself. Both Will and Ashlyn knew this actually meant "You'll have to give them a bit of a scouring. So without a word they both took the pots to the river's edge and half filled them with water and fine sand, scrubbing and polishing the metal until it shined.
    Halt had moved to a chair on the verandah. He sat reading through a tall pile of what looked like reports. Passing by, Ashlyn had noticed that several of the papers had crests and coats of arms, but most of them had a simple oakleaf design. She knew from her studies that it was the sign for the Ranger Corps.
    When they returned from the river, they held the pots up for Halt to inspect them. The Ranger cringed at his distorted reflection in the copper surface.
    "Hmm. Not bad. Can see my own face in it, " he said, the added without a hint of smile, "That might not be a good thing."
    Ashlyn cracked a small smile. She wasn't quite sure if he was joking or not. Halt studied them for a second, then he gestured for them to put the pots back to the kitchen. They were halfway through when they heard Halt say:
"That's odd."
    Thinking that the Ranger was talking to them stopped.
    "What is it?" the two apprentices asked. Each time Halt found a new chore for them to attend, he usually began the instruction with a statement like "How unusual. The living room rug is full of dust." Or "I do believe the stove is in dire need of a new supply of firewood."
    Ashlyn found it very annoying, although Halt seemed to be rather fond of it. This time it seemed that he was actually confused. He was reading through one of the reports from the Ranger Corps. Halt looked up at them, a little surprised that they addressed him.
    "What's that?" he said.
    Ashlyn shrugged. "Sorry. When you said 'that's odd,' I thought you were talking to us."
    Halt shook his head a few times, still frowning at the reports. "No," he said, a little distractedly. "I was just reading this . . ." His voice trailed off and he frowned thoughtfully. Will and Ashlyn's curiosity roused.
    "What is it?" they asked immediately. The Ranger turned his dark eyes to them. Halt regarded the for a second or two.
    "Curious, are you?" he said, and when they both nodded he went on, "Well, I suppose that's a good trait for Ranger's apprentices. After all," he said looking at Will, "That's why we tested you with that paper in the Baron's office," he then turned to Ashlyn, "And when you followed me into the wood. I was hoping you'd do that."
    "You tested us?" Will set the heavy copper kettle down by the door. "You expected me to try to see what it said?"
    "And you expected me to follow you into the wood," Ashlyn said shocked, also setting down her pot.
    Halt nodded. "Would have been disappointed if you hadn't. Also, I wanted to see how you'd go about it."He said answering both their questions. The he held up a hand to forestall the torrent of questions that were about to fall out of Will's and Ashlyn's mouth. "We'll discuss that later," he said, glancing at the pots. Will and Ashlyn picked them up and turned to the house once more. But curiosity still burned in them and they turned to the Ranger again.
    "I'm still mad you threw me in the river, that was just unnecessary," Ashlyn grumbled. She saw Halt looking at her with a smirk.
    "So what does it say?" Will asked, nodding toward the report. Halt gave them a meaningful look.
    "Lord Northolt is dead. Apparently killed by a bear last week while out hunting."
    "Lord Northolt?" Ashlyn asked, "I thought Cordom Fief was too far west for bears. And isn't a very experienced hunter. I wouldn't have expected a bear to kill him."
    "My thoughts exactly,but then again life is full of surprises and people do make mistakes." Halt said.
    "Wait, who's Lord Northolt?" Will asked.
    "He was the former supreme commander of the King's army," Halt told him, and Will nodded.
    Halt gestured toward the kitchen again. "When you've put those away, you might like to clean out the fireplace," he said, ending the conversation.
    Ashlyn moved to clean out the fireplace while Will put the pots away. A few minutes later, Ashlyn looked out the window near the fireplace and saw Halt. He was tapping his chin with his finger, obviously deep in thought.

A/N
Here's the next chapter. As always thanks so much for reading and if you have any tips or suggestions leave them in the comments. Thanks!
Until next time!
-Catherine