The Story of Two

Chapter 12

The ground was covered in a thick layer of snow. Will, Ashlyn, and Halt rode slowly home from the forest. 

Ashlyn looked at Will, who was off in his own world. Ashlyn rolled her eyes. He was snapped out of his thought when Halt spoke. 

"Could we continue our tracking, or do you have something more important to do?" Halt asked sarcastically. 

Instantly, Will looked around, trying to find what Halt had pointed out. Halt pointed to the tracks.
Will observed the tracks. "Rabbit."

"Rabbit?" Halt asked.

Will looked at the tracks once more and immediately correct his mistake. "Rabbits."

"I should think so," Halt muttered. "After all, if those were Skanidian tracks, you'd need to be sure how many there were."

"I suppose so," Will said.

"You suppose so!" Halt exclaimed sarcastically. "Believe me Will, there is a big difference between one Skandian and half a dozen."

One of the changes that had come over their relationship was that Halt didn't call them "girl" or "boy" anymore. Now he always called them by their name. The two apprentices liked the change.
Halt's low voice snapped them both out of their thoughts.

"So is that all?"

Ashlyn studied the tracks. "A stoat," she replied. 

"A stoat," Halt agreed. "But you should have known there was something else there. Look at how deep those rabbit tracks are. It's obvious that something had scared them. When you see a sign like that, it's a hint that you should look for something extra."

On their way back to the cottage, Will spotted a set of tracks they hadn't seen before.

"What's that," he said pointing at said tracks. Ashlyn looked at the tracks, also confused to what left them behind.

"Hmmm," Halt said thoughtfully. "That's one I haven't showed you yet. Take a good look, you don't see many of those, now a days."

He swung down from his horse

"What is it?" the apprentices asked.

"Wild boar," He replied. "And a big one, at that."

Will and Ashlyn looked around nervously, they knew enough about boars to know that they are dangerous creatures.

Halt saw the nervous glance and gave a reassuring gesture.

"Don't worry. It's no where near us."

Can you tell from the tracks?" Will asked. Ashlyn look at the tracks. The deep ruts and furrows had obviously been made from a large animal.

"No," Halt said. "If there was a boar that size near us, our horses would've warned us."

Suddenly, there was a rustle in a bush near them. She watched as Will pulled out his bow and knocked an arrow. He pointed his bow at the bush, where a farmer she saw earlier was hiding. 

"Halt?" Will said. 

Ashlyn sent a smirk toward the older Ranger, knowing a snarky comment was forming.

"I hope you're not thinking of shooting the farmer in those bushes," Halt said seriously. Yet he raised the volume purposefully, so the farmer would here.

Instantly, there was a bit of movement from the bush. The old farmer came out of the bush with his hands raised. 

"Don't shoot good sir. Don't shoot, it's only me," he said, as he stepped out. His foot got caught on a root. He stumbled forward and landed in the snow. He awkwardly got back on his feet. Ashlyn raised an eyebrow at the old farmer, a habit she a picked up from Halt.

"Only me. No need for shooting. I ain't dangerous to the likes of you," the farmer said. Will released the tension in his bow and returned his arrow to his quiver. The farmer was dressed in an old, dirty farmer's smock. He was skinny, and had long arms and legs, and knobby elbows and knees. His beard was long and gray and he was almost bald.

"Only me," he repeated once more.

A/N
And I'm back from falling off the face of the Earth. Sorry for the shortest chapter. I am struggling with ideas for the story, so if you have ANY requests or suggestions, please don't hesitate to comment. I most definitely consider them.
Bye for now!
Catherine

P.S

If you find any mistakes point them out and I'll fix them.