The end...? (Ranger's apprentice/ Brotherband fan-fiction)

Chapter 14

Horace leaned against the railing, feeling content with the way things were going. In the west the sun was lowering itself towards the sea, colouring the clouds purple and orange. This was their third day of travelling with the Skandians, which meant they were halfway Skorghijl. He sighed. At last they were on their way to their meeting point. For the hundredth time that day he wondered how Will and Evanlyn were doing. He missed his daughter. Of course he missed his best friend as well, but that felt different. He couldn't put it into words. He tried to imagine what the two of them had run into in their flight. Would the Scoti have captured them too? Would they already be in Skandia? Or would they have been surprised by other hostile forces? Horace couldn't stand the thought. What if something bad had happened to them? He would never forgive himself. He dropped his head, staring sadly into the calm little waves of the sea below him.
A hand slid over his arm. Horace looked up to see Cassandra standing with him, staring at the sunset. His heart felt like breaking, seeing the sadness in her eyes.
"She'll come back," Horace assured her, hoping he was speaking the truth. Cassandra sighed and turned her gaze away from the scenery in front of them.
"What if something happens to them?" she asked, her voice soft. She looked up at him with pleading eyes, as if her hope depended on him answer. Horace hesitated for a moment.
"Then Will shall fix it. I believe in him," he then replied in a powerful voice. A large weight was lifted from his shoulders as he saw the hope reappear in her eyes. He put his arm around her and together they watched as the sun disappeared behind the horizon.

Will sent Hal a conspiratorial smile. He knew damn well that they had made the other Herons suspicious, to say the least, but to be honest he was enjoying it pretty well. The break with the tense, serious veil that seemed to be hanging over them all the time was very welcome. Hal was busy giving out orders to his crew, dividing jobs Will hadn't even thought of yet. Will had to admit that he admired the young Skandian; he was a true leader. The better Will got to know him, the more he realized he wasn't like every other random Skandian.There were not many of them who could say they had designed a new, revolutionary ship, to give an example.
Will didn't have a lot to do at that moment, which led him to seek out Evanlyn. The girl had been taken aboard the Heron along with all the supplies. She was patiently waiting, sitting on top of one of the benches, hands folded onto her lap, legs dangling above the deck. As soon as she spotted him, however, she jumped up, grinning from ear to ear and ran towards him.
"Willie!" she cooed, raising her arms up to him to let him know he should pick her up. He laughed, throwing her up into the sky. Evanlyn was beaming and gave him a hug when he caught her again. Her face was all serious again the moment she pulled back, as far as a toddler is able to look serious.
"When are we going back home?" she asked. Will, who hadn't seen this question coming, noticed he didn't have a clue what to say. Evanlyn looked at him, an expectant expression on her face, her head tilted slightly to the side. Will met her gaze, thinking of Araluen, the country and the castle.
"Soon, Evanlyn, soon," he assured her then. He smiled. "First we are going to visit Hal's home, alright?" Her eyes went wide with surprise.
"Doesn't he live here, on the little boat?" she asked naively. Will chuckled.
"It does seem like that, doesn't it? How about we go ask him himself?" Evanlyn nodded enthusiastically, as Will took her to the beach.
Amused, he regarded how her short legs took her across the sand, in the direction of the Herons. Before she had stopped running completely, she tugged on Hal's sleeve. She was too far away for Will to hear, but her finger, pointing towards the Heron, and Hal's surprised expression told him all he needed to know. Will laughed, shaking his head and wandered towards the now hard-working Skandians. The floorboard of the construction he and Hal had designed was already taking shape. Ulf, Wulf and Stefan were busy putting together the separate parts. Lydia took the initiative to play with Evanlyn for a while, moving away to find a suitable spot for a sandcastle. Small parts of their conversations reached Will, causing the ranger to shake his head again, a faint smile tugging on his lips, as he heard Evanlyn's suggestion to make a castle just like castle Araluen.
"It's starting to look good, don't you think?" Hal remarked, who was watching the work being done in front of them with his arms crossed over his chest. Will nodded pensively.
The two of them lent the crew a hand at the moment the construction needed to be put upright. With ropes tied to the top, they managed to lift the ominous looking wooden machine. Within ten minutes the last safety features of the three meters high construction were finished. It was so stable and secure that even Ingvar couldn't manage to tip it over. Will observed the thing voor a moment and got to the conclusion that it was exactly as he'd imagined it. The floorboard formed some sort of base platform, made up of several small planks. They had been put together in such a way that it was basically impossible to separate them from each other. A dozen smaller planks stuck out of the floorboard, angled down towards the ground, as if they were the legs of an insect. These legs were stuck in the ground, in order to secure stability. Sticking up into the air from the middle of the floorboard was a pole of one and a half meters. Tied to this pole was another, similar pole, angled towards the water. A third and last pole was again tied to that one, also angled, making this parallel to the ground. This one was twice as big as the others, so that it hung above the water. A construction of small bits of wood and rope ensured that the construction remained balanced. A rough gully was cut into the topside of the poles. Through this, a rope with a hook at the end hung from the tip of the longest pole. The hook had been made out of scrap metal they had found in the huts; it wasn't the most beautiful thing, but it sufficed. Nobody knew exactly to whom the huts belonged, but they were sure of one thing: that person would not be happy with the thorough demolition the Herons had done...
Will had prefered to make something that did the job faster and more effective, but they didn't have the time for that; their spare supplies were running out. They needed to be on their way to Skandia. The hook was supposed to be fastened on the pieces of the barricade. The crew would pull on the rope, which went on for seven or so meters on the shore side of the construction. This way, they had to be able to loosen up the barricade, and when the next tide came, these loose pieces would drift out onto sea. The process needed to be repeated several times, and it had to be done quickly. After all, he Herons needed the tide to get out of the bay as well, otherwise they would have to way another half day for a new opportunity. On top of that, the odds were that certain pieces of driftwood would come back in as the tides changed; there was no telling.

Everything considered, the plan was not nearly as stable as their construction. Will and Hal couldn't tell whether or not they would succeed, but it was the only plan they had, so they might as well give it a try. The next half hour everyone was busy doing their part in breaking up the barricade. The tide go stronger on the exact right time and a line of wood drifted out of the bay onto sea. Will overlooked their progress contently and noticed Hal doing the same. He walked over to the skirl."We're not going fast enough," he muttered, frowning. Will was surprised to hear this, but the only way to tell was his slightly raised eyebrow. "By the time we have created a big enough hole to sail through, the tide will start to turn." Will suppressed the panic that was starting to rise inside him. If their supplies would run out before they'd reach Skandia, the results would not be very pleasant. He knew he was able to live on limited or no food for a while - he had done it often enough - but Evanlyn couldn't. He couldn't bare the thought of arriving in Skandia without the little girl, to see the expression and the realization dawn upon the faces of his two best friends..."Then what are we waiting for? Let's give them a hand!" he exclaimed and he dragged Hal over to the rope, where Stig was busy leading another go at demolition. Will saw Hal straightening his back, a determined expression on his face while grabbing hold of the rope. Will braced himself, ready for pulling apart another piece of the barricade. As soon as Stig gave the signal, the entire group threw their weight into the struggle. After no more than half a minute of tugging, they all fell backwards, accompanied by a loud cracking noise arising from within the bay. Hal let go of the rope and swam towards the barricade. He hooked the rope onto another big piece, checked his work for a moment, to then climb back on the shore, where the group got ready to break it. Countless of times they repeated this, but the work that still needed to be done didn't seem to reduce in quantity. They proceeded frustratingly slow and from Hal's more and more worried expression, Will could deduce that everything would depend on the last few minutes. He tried to focus on the work at hand as much as possible, hoping this would help to finish it quickly and effectively. Loud cheering was heard from the crew as the last major support beam of the barricade was pulled away, causing most of the wood to drift purposely out of the bay."Everyone aboard!" Hal roared tensely. The tide was about to turn; it was now or never. Will was glad that Lydia had brought Evanlyn onto the ship already, certain he would have lost her in the turmoil that was taking place. Stig and Ingvar were already pushing the ship into the water, before everyone had gotten aboard. Will grabbed hold of the railing, hurling himself aboard. He scanned the beach on last time, checking if the hadn't forgotten anything. He did his best to stay out of the crew's way, as they followed Hal's orders to get the ship moving. Evanlyn toddled towards him."Hal said this is his home too," she informed him triumphantly. "He has two homes!" Will met her gaze with feigned confusion. "But how can that be?" Evanlyn shook her head, seemingly unable to understand how Will couldn't see the logic of it. She started explaining her entire theory, about how Hal travelled a lot as a Skandian, and therefore needed an extra home. Will smiled at her, figuring she was paraphrasing the explanation Hal had given her. He wondered how she'd respond when she saw her parents in Skandia. It wasn't hard to imagine what Horace and Cassandra's expressions would be like. How would they be doing? Would they even manage to get to Skandia? Or was Will the only one to hold onto that hope? He quickly wrapped an arm around Evanlyn and braced himself against the railing at the moment the Heron was maneuvered over the last bits of the barricade. Again, loud cheering came from the crew as they succeeded and reach the sea. The sails caught the wind and they were able to leave Skorghijl behind, on their way to the harbour of Hallasholm, their destination.