Sparks Flying - A Ranger's Apprentice Story

Chapter Seven

A silent tension gripped Will, Alyss, and Pauline after Halt and Gilan left. None of them mentioned it, but they all felt it, stilling the air and making them jump at sudden noises.

During Halt's absence, Pauline took to spending more time at the little cabin in the woods, coming most evenings after supper to spend some time with her surrogate children and drink coffee and talk. 

As the days passed with no news from Halt and Gilan, the evenings in the cabin grew progressively quieter, as Will, Alyss, and Pauline worried while trying not to let the others know they were worried. 

One evening three weeks after Halt and Gilan left on their mission to capture Ruhl, Will, Pauline, and Alyss were sitting in the living room. The only sound was the crackling of the low flames in the fireplace. It was now late fall, and the night wind had grown chilly over the past few weeks. Alyss's ribs were completely healed, and her burns had scabbed over, so she no longer needed to wear the bandages. However, the scars were still bright red and ugly, and she had taken to wearing dresses with long, tight sleeves to hide them. She still wore her right arm in a sling, as the broken bone hadn't finished healing yet.

The door banged open suddenly, and Will was on his feet instantly, his saxe knife leaping into his hand, and Sable's barking filled the air. A cloaked and hooded figure stood in the doorway.

The first to realize what was going on was Pauline. Ignoring Will's cry of warning, she leapt to her feet, running to the figure and throwing her arms around him. Belatedly, Will realized it was Halt, and sheathed his saxe sheepishly. 

Pauline pulled Halt inside, shutting the door against the chilly night air. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears as she pulled Halt's hood down, leaning forward to kiss him desperately. Halt's arms came up and around his wife, pulling her closer.

When they had finished, Halt removed his cloak, hanging it up on the pegs behind the door next to Will's and Alyss's cloaks. Then Halt took a chair close to the fireplace, rubbing his cold hands above the flames and trying to get some warmth back into his fingers. Will brought him a cup of piping hot coffee, which Halt took with a grateful glance.

Will, Alyss, and Pauline somehow managed to hold in their questions until Halt had drained half his cup of coffee and was looking somewhat thawed. Will was the first to break.

"So?" he burst out. "How did it go? Did you and Gilan get Ruhl?"

Halt scowled. "He escaped," he muttered.

That news brought a sudden, shocked silence to the group. People didn't just escape from Rangers. Especially not from Halt, and especially not from Halt when he had Gilan as backup.

Pauline was the first to find her voice. "Halt?" she said, taking her husband's hand, "what exactly happened?"

Halt stared into the flames dancing in the fireplace as he spoke. "We underestimated him," he said. "Ruhl is incredibly cunning, and when we ambushed his smugglers' camp, he somehow slipped away in the fray. Gilan and I tried to track him after we subdued all of the smugglers, but we lost his trail in a river."

"What does this mean for the case?" Will asked.

"Gilan's writing up a report," Halt said. "As you can imagine, he's furious. We'll find him eventually, even if he does go to ground for a while."

Halt's eyes were troubled, and Will could see that his mentor had something big on his chest.

"What's wrong, Halt?" Will finally asked. 

"I don't want to scare you or Alyss," Halt said after a few seconds of gathering his thoughts. "But I think you need to know. When we ambushed the camp, we snuck in and targeted Ruhl first. But he somehow managed to raise the alarm before we could finish him, and we lost him when the rest of the smugglers attacked us. But before that, he said something. He said, 'You're here about that Courier, aren't you. Well, give her a message from me. I'll find her eventually, and when I do, I'll make her suffer for all she's done to me.'"

"'For all she's done to him?!" Will burst out angrily. "That's ridiculous! Ruhl is the one that burned the inn! He's the one who hurt Alyss in the first place!"

Alyss reached out and grabbed Will's hand, hanging on. Her face had gone deathly pale. Suddenly concerned, Will sat down again and pulled her into his arms, holding her protectively.

"You didn't see him, Will," Halt said quietly. "I could see it in his eyes. The man is mad. Terribly and utterly clever, but mad. And when you think about it from his perspective, I can see why he thinks that. By injuring a King's Officer like Alyss, he's brought down the wrath of the King on himself. He's suddenly a fugitive with a bounty on his head. His crimes warrant death. No wonder he's mad at Alyss."

Will shuddered. "Well, he's never getting anywhere near you," he vowed softly to his wife.

Alyss was trying to put on a brave face in front of Halt and Pauline, but Will could feel her shaking in his arms. "So what do we do?" she asked.

Halt looked at her seriously. "Whatever happens, Alyss," he said gently, "your protection is our first priority. So Gilan will send out a description of Ruhl and a warrant to capture him to all of the Rangers. It will be a high-alert warranty, so all of them will be on the lookout for him. He can't hide from fifty Rangers forever. He'll be found eventually. But even if he gets to Redmont - and that is a very, very slim chance - he'll have to get through both me and Will to get to you. And we don't die easily."

"Alyss, dear," Pauline said, "we'll do anything to protect you. We have no idea what Ruhl's planning, so we'll have to be on the alert at all times."

"Will is right," Halt continued. "Ruhl is never getting anywhere near you. We'll make sure of that," he said darkly.

Alyss relaxed against Will's chest, and closed her eyes momentarily, and Will could tell how exhausted she was. He simply held her as he, Halt, and Pauline talked logistics about the Ruhl situation.

Some time later, he glanced down at Alyss and realized she was asleep in his arms. Will realized it was a blessing; he'd noticed she was less likely to get nightmares about the inn fire if she fell asleep peacefully.

Halt and Pauline looked on gently as Will carefully eased Alyss into his arms. "All of us need to sleep," he said almost grimly. "We'll need all of our energy to defeat Ruhl."

A/N: Sorry it's been so long! I'm trying to get back on top of everything. So look for updates on this story every Sunday.

Expect Maddie soon!! :D And more Ruhl drama to come.

~Koko