Sparks Flying - A Ranger's Apprentice Story

Chapter Nineteen

The ride back to Redmont was terse, hurried, and mostly silent aside from necessary communication. It didn't help that it rained the entire way - not just a light, calm drizzle, but pounding, stinging, relentless drops of icy water blowing into their faces and soaking their cloaks and keeping them in a general state of cold, wet discomfort.

"It's going to be hard to pick up their tracks after this," Halt muttered. 

Will, who had been thinking the same thing, nodded once. "But we'll figure something out," he almost growled.

Maddie regarded her mentor with more than a little fear. She'd never seen him like this before. It scared her, that her master, who was normally so open and cheerful and confident and supportive, was like this - stony, withdrawn, unapproachable. She missed him.

Plus she was scared for Aunt Alyss. And the baby. As the Crown Princess, Maddie was used to danger. She'd had people try to kill her before. She'd narrowly avoided being kidnapped a few years before. Her parents, too were always on guard. But security at Castle Araluen was tight, and of the few attempts that did get through, all of them had been thwarted.

But now, Aunt Alyss was missing, and Halt and Will and Gilan thought she had been kidnapped by a very dangerous man. A man so dangerous, he'd managed to hurt Alyss before, and had gotten away from Halt and Gilan - two of the greatest Rangers of all time.

Maddie shivered, partly from cold and partly from fear. What kind of man could escape Halt and Gilan? He must be very, very dangerous. And he had Alyss. What if he hurt Alyss, or the baby? The baby was coming soon!

Maddie swallowed back a sob, her shoulders shaking. She had to be strong, for Will. She couldn't cry, not now. But it was so hard.

Gilan, who was riding behind her on the trail, noticed her struggle. He'd been around Maddie for most of her life, given that he was based at Castle Araluen, and he could read her like a book. No matter how hard she tried to hide her emotions, he could always see right through her.

He also knew Will was in no shape or position to comfort Maddie right now. His friend was having a hard enough time just holding himself together, trying not to go crazy with worry about his wife and unborn child. Halt was with him now, keeping a sharp watch. And Gilan would tend to Maddie.

So Gilan urged Blaze forward next to Bumper, reaching out to rest a comforting hand on Maddie's shoulder. "Maddie? Are you okay?"

She turned to look at him, her face pale and her eyes wide in the shadow of her sopping cowl, which she'd pulled up to try to keep the rain out of her face. "I'm scared, Gilan," she whispered. 

"I'm scared, too, Maddie," Gilan told her softly, watching as her forehead wrinkled a bit in confusion.

"You? You're scared? But you're the Ranger Commandant," Maddie protested.

Gilan shrugged slightly. "Just because I'm a Ranger, or the Commandant, doesn't mean I'm not scared," he explained. "I just know how to deal with it. Right now, I'm terrified for Alyss. I'm scared we won't get there in time. I'm afraid Ruhl will get away again, and hurt someone else."

"He's really dangerous, isn't he," Maddie said, and it wasn't a question, but a statement. "To be able to escape from both you and Halt - no one can do that."

"He can," Gilan said grimly. "He's got a brilliant mind, but it's so mad and twisted that no one knows quite what he's going to do next. Just the fact that he managed to avoid all fifty Rangers for more than a year is quite a feat. He's obviously got a great hold on tactics - he waited until all the Rangers were gone at the Gathering before making his move."

Maddie took a quick breath and opened her mouth as if she was going to speak, but then clamped her jaw closed. 

"What is it, Maddie?" Gilan asked softly.

He watched the girl struggle with herself for a long minute before she whispered, "What if he hurts one of us?"

Gilan shook his head. "Maddie, I'm not a prophet. I can't tell the future. But I can tell you that you have me and Will and Halt protecting you. No one's ever completely safe, Maddie. But we'll be doing our absolute best to keep you safe. And we hardly ever fail."

Maddie gave him a grateful look. "Thanks, Gilan," she said.

A little way down the track, Halt pulled Abelard to a stop before swinging out of the saddle. It was time for a short break. As they reached Halt, Will and Gilan and Maddie followed suit. The four Rangers huddled in a loose circle, swathed in their dripping cloaks, as Gilan doled out some dried meat and fruit.

"So what's the plan?" Gilan asked, looking at Halt and Will. Will still seemed shaken, but he looked a little more alert now.

Halt glanced at Will before answering. "We can't really formulate a plan until we get back to the cabin in Redmont and pick up their trail."

"If it hasn't been washed away in the spring storms," Will added dully.

Halt pressed on. "Once we get a general idea of their direction, we can alert the Rangers in the surrounding fiefs as to where they might have gone. That way, we'll have more people searching, and we'll hopefully trap Ruhl before he can get all the way away."

Gilan nodded. "Good idea, Halt. Hopefully the other Rangers will be home by then. There's always the chance the storm might have washed out a bridge or flooded a ford."

Will screwed his eyes shut. "Gilan, can you please stop listing every single thing that could go wrong?"

"Sorry," Gilan said sincerely. He could hear the pain in his friend's voice. He knew it was killing Will not to be with Alyss right now. He put a hand on Will's shoulder, and the two locked eyes for a moment, Gilan giving Will a steady gaze of strength and support, Will responding with sorrow and gratitude.

Halt clapped his hands together. "Well, then, our break is up! Let's get moving." He tightened Abelard's girth strap and swung back into the saddle.

Gilan saw a little of the tension in Will's shoulders melt away as Will followed suit. Now that they were moving again, Will knew he would be getting closer to finding Alyss. 

The horses began to move down the trail again, splashing through puddles and kicking up clods of mud.

"Are we nearly there yet?" Maddie asked.

A/N: Okay, today was the most awesome day in a long time. This afternoon, my sister and I got to perform a piece for two violins and orchestra with an orchestra based in a little town two hours away from where we live. You guys should definitely go listen to it; it's called Navarra for Two Violins by Pablo de Sarasate and it's absolutely epic. We had so much fun performing it, although it was a little stressful. (It's the hardest thing I've ever played on the violin and the orchestra took it really, really fast in performance.) But we had fun, and we made good memories and got a good experience, and that's what really matters. :)