Daughter of a Ranger

Chapter 4

Jemma was excited to be back on the road, towards her mother. They rode on the horses steadily, so as not to exhaust the spare horses (that weren't Ranger horses).

As they rode, the four Rangers and the knight encouraged her to tell them the whole story. She spoke about being a servant, her plan to escape, the stories Alyss told her of the people around her and the actual escape. But she became upset and her voice faltered and the others noticed. They needed to know though what happened to make her sad, she hadn't spoken of the mysterious Ranger.

Jemma decide then and there she needed to speak about Liam.

"I told you before a Ranger was trapped with us. The Ranger was Ranger Liam of Trelleth Fief. Everybody thought he was dead because he was swapped with an exact look-a-like. Liam said that he didn't escape Oracle because he wanted to help Alyss and me. He trained me in Ranger skills since I was seven years old and he helped me escape from the castle. I trained every afternoon with him and when we left, mother was going to cover up for us. When we left, Oracle sent out men to find us. We hid in a bush and they saw us. I don't know how but they did. I think it was because of me. My hair shone because of the blondness. Anyways, we tried to escape, as they were throwing weapons at us. Liam saw a spear coming towards me and he jumped in the way, knocking me back and getting the spear himself. I smelt something, but I didn't know what it was. He then told everyone where the gathering was and gave me his equipment before he..."

The others knew that he died. She just didn't want to say it.

She then explained about meeting the thieves and Young Bob and everything else was self-explanatory.

Halt knew that she was incredibly skilled in Ranger skills so far, probably inherited from Will. But he wanted to see Will see his daughter and her skills. So he suggested the idea with Jemma and she agreed.

Jemma remembered that she knew the sling too and she asked Maddy to borrow hers, who happily agreed.

So that night, the others stood around the camp in the trees while Jemma picked up Will's longbow. Will stepped forward saying, "Honey, I think that is a bit too heavy for you."

Jemma just looked at her father as if he was crazy and laughed, "I have been training with Liam's longbow for three years. I also borrowed your longbow to train at the gathering. I am fine with the weight."

She walked over to a chosen spot and laid the bow down. She was wearing the shot pouch for Maddie's sling on her scabbard, next to Liam's old knives.

Quick as a flash, she threw the two knives at a log. They thudded in, point first. A blow that could kill. Before the knives had even landed, she had picked up the sling and sent a shot on its way.

She released five shots in quick succession, then quickly picked up the bow and released ten shots in quick succession.

All the shots were to separate areas and targets. All the shots hit their mark.

Everyone stood back in awe. Halt hid a smile and looked over at Will. His mouth was open and you couldn't see his eyes. But he grinned and wrapped Jemma in a hug. The accuracy and speed they had just seen was amazing when it came from a 14 year old girl.

Gilan turned to Halt and grinned, "She's better then you!"

Halt smiled steadily, putting Gilan into some discomfort before saying, "She's better then all of us." Before putting his grim composure on.

He heard Jemma turn to Maddie and say, "Why is grandpa Halt so grumpy?" He heard Gilan and Will burst out laughing. He was a little touched that she thought of him as a grandpa, but annoyed for her to say that.

"I'll get you Jemma." He growled before stepping towards her, menacingly.

"No you won't!" She sang, before jumping away from the group and climbing a tree, at lightning speed. She jumped from tree to tree, all the while singing at Halt, until she reached camp first.

Halt turned to the others, surprised at the speed she had disappeared. The others put on innocent faces and Halt sensed that he would be the point of jokes for several days.

...

The next morning Jemma walked over to Abelard, Halt's horse and said the password. 'Permettez Moi?' Before climbing onto him so he could become familiar with her presence. She had planned a joke for Halt.

After breakfast, she offered to saddle all the horses. She saddled them readily, but left Abelard's saddle a little loose, so she could loosen it without anyone realising.

As they got onto the road, she made sure she was at the back of the group, so when no one was looking, she slipped out of the saddle and landed lightly on the road, without making a sound.

She slipped over to Abelard and climbed under him, so she was lying under the saddle, with the strap supporting her stomach. She listened carefully, but Halt didn't notice any change. Abelard had made sure that his hooves were placed lightly down, to cover up the fact that he was carrying extra weight. She patted his leg affectionately in thanks.

Maddie noticed her lying under the saddle and pointed her out to Horace. They stifled laughs but didn't say anything to anyone else.

Later in the morning, Will and Gilan had noticed too. They were all in on the joke, and Halt still didn't know. Everyone stopped for lunch, with Will sneakily passing some food to Jemma.

They were on the road all afternoon, and Halt still hadn't noticed. Gilan had told her that he could tell that Halt wasn't putting it on, he genuinely didn't know.

As the afternoon wore on, Halt finally noticed.

"Where's Jemma?" He asked, before everybody burst out laughing.

"She's been missing all day." Horace said, trying to keep a straight face.

"I had to sneak her some food." Will laughed.

"And it's starting to become uncomfortable down here." Jemma groaned. Halt looked underneath the saddle and saw her, before she climbed out.

"I think you're becoming a bit old grandpa Halt. You're losing some of your senses." She laughed, before climbing onto her horse.

Everybody burst out laughing and Halt even laughed too. He couldn't help it, she was right. He should have noticed that a girl was hanging from his saddle all day. He had a feeling his horse was in on the joke, and his suspicion was confirmed when Abelard turned his head to Halt, and he sweared it looked like Abelard grinned.

Jemma then explained how she played the joke, about telling the password to Abelard early that morning. Halt was annoyed that she knew he password, but he accepted it. She had been through a lot of hardships, after all.

The group laughed and chuckled for the rest of the day.

Halt knew that he was at fault here. But, he knew, there was no way he could get her back. He couldn't outsmart her.

She was too much like a Ranger already.