Daughter of a Ranger

Chapter 15

Jemma was traveling with Will and Halt to the Ranger Gathering.

Socks was happily talking with Abelard and Tug, and Sapphire was trailing behind Jemma. Jemma was happily chatted to Halt about what her father had taught her, and Will was looking out for new tracks to teach her.

As they arrived, they were greeted by Gilan. Will and Halt said that they would have to discuss things with the other older Rangers, so Jemma set up their tents and wondered around.

She noticed that there were only a few females. She was one of them, then there was Maddie, and she noticed one last one talking to two boys.

She walked up to them nervously and introduced herself.

"Hi, my name is Jemma."

The girl spoke first. "Hi Jemma, my name is Holly. This is Mark and David."

Holly had long, straight brown hair with bright green eyes. David was tall, with dark hair - Jemma wasn't sure if it was dark brown or black - and brown eyes and Mark had blonde hair with blue eyes.

She shook hands with all of them, "My mentor is Will Treaty, and he is also my dad."

"Really, that is so cool!" Mark exclaimed.

"How old are you?" David asked.

"I'm fourteen."

"Woah, aren't you supposed to be fifteen before you can start training?" Holly asked.

"It's a special circumstance. I have been training in some of the skills since I was seven, and when I escaped from capture and helped my father and some friends to save my mother, they decided that I could continue training."

"Well, that's cool. We're all fifteen."

"Ok, so that means that you are all in your first year of training?"

"Yep, that's right."

Suddenly the children heard a growl.

"Woah, that's a wolf!" Holly exclaimed.

Mark and David bit had a weapon and were waiting to pounce.

"Wait! That's my pet!" Jemma shrieked.

"You have a pet wolf?" Mark asked incredulously.

"Yep." She said. She beckoned to Sapphire and the wolf snuggled her hand. "Her name is Sapphire."

The four teenagers sat underneath a tree, chatting. When it started to get dark, they all helped each other to carry firewood to their campsites. Jemma was pleased that they were all really close to each other.

They all started to cook dinner, still talking.

...

Later that night, Will asked his daughter, "So, did you make any friends?"

"Yeah I did. There was Holly, Mark and David."

"Oh I know who they are. You know, David is being trained by the Ranger in the fief next to ours. And Holly and Mark are in two fiefs closer to Celtica."

"Ok, cool."

"Goodnight, Jemma."

"Night, dad."

...

Jemma was sitting eating breakfast with her three friends. She was weaving a nest and David watched her as her nimble fingers created a complicated design.