Halt's Ranger Apprentices- John Flanagan Ranger Apprentice fan-fiction

CHAPTER EIGHTEEEN:

In the morning the two kids ate a brief break fast of porridge. They then brushed down their new horses. As Will and Squirt walked into the stable, Beauty and Tug called a whinny in greeting. Squirt opened the stall and led Beauty out making sure there were no gaps that Beauty could push through to escape. They grabbed the brushes in an old trough that was only used to hold supplies and no water. They grabbed the brushes and started grooming. They brushed in silence for several minutes until Will broke the silence,

"So, do you like Beauty?" Will asked. Squirt surprised by his voice stuttered for the first few seconds trying to gather her thoughts back together as she was miles away thinking about Horace, worrying about how he was.

"Oh...Eh...What?...oh yes...uh yes I do" she said "How about you Will? Do you like Tug?" It was silent for a while with Will trying to think of a way of saying that Tug wasn't what he wanted.

"He's not completely.....uh..." he was trying to think of a word to show his truthful feelings, with out offending her or her horse or Halt or Old Bob. Squirt understanding his hesitation helped him out,

"What you imagined him to be?" she said in  more of a statement than a question. Will blown away that it was exactly what he was thinking stood there smiling at her

"How did you know?" he asked in amazement. Squirt simply shrugged. I saw your eyes darken when you saw Tug for the first time and now that I look at them now..." she squinted looking at his eyes more closely. "They haven't lightened up at all" she said. Will and Squirt looked at each other in the eyes for several eyes. Will noticed, that her eyes had a certain look of mystery mixed with cheerfulness in them. He smiled

"Right..." he said unable to break the eye contact with her. Then she moved closer to him. He kept looking in her eyes getting butterflies wondering what she was doing. Then he heard her voice once she got in arms reach,

"Would you like me to take that brush for you?" she asked casually, seeming as if she didn't feel anything about the moment they just had. Will caught by surprise by the sudden change of subject wasn't sure about what she was talking about.

"What brush?" he asked and Squirt giggled.

"The brush you're holding in your hand, or am I just imagining that there's a brush there" as she said this she pointed to the grooming brush. Will looked down, realising how stupid he must have looked replying like he did. He felt his face flush red in embarrassment.

"Oh! uh yeah sure" he said and passed the brush to her. As he passed the brush to her he accidently touched her hand and she looked at him as he did it. They locked eyes. Her eyes were now a brilliant brown that was full of warmth and friendliness, Will thought. Beautiful, that's all Squirt could describe his eyes, they were full of happiness and embarrassment, with a sweet nature. While they were looking in to each other's eyes they edged an inch closer and, Squirt noticed, that Will quickly glanced at her lips. She then edged closer a little. They were only 10 centimetres from each others face when BAM! The stable door was being pulled open. Will and Squirt both jumped back in shock and surprise from the unexpected noise. They looked at each other quickly then, Squirt realised she was still holding the two brushes and put them back in the trough. When she turned around Halt and Bob were walking through the doorway with impatient looks on their faces.

"Halt, Bob!" Squirt called in greeting

"What are you two doing?" Bob asked. Will and Squirt flushed red, thinking that Bob had seen them almost kiss.

"Uh...We...were...eh..." Will started. Squirt and Will glanced at each other unable to reply to Bob's question.

"I didn't realise grooming took 15 damn minutes!" Bob said. Will and Squirt smiled in relief, realising that Bob hadn't seen anything