Treaty's Daughter (Book one of The Ranger and The Thief series)

Chapter 9

   Wolfgang watched Abby carefully through to cover of the undergrowth. She was fetching a bucket of water from the well and hauling it back to the kitchen, holding it away from her body so the icy water did not splash on her. Wolfgang smiled to himself. She was perfect.

***

   That evening, Abby and Hal were walking along the shore where Eraks old ship, Wolfwind was usually moored, but at the moment it was taking Will and Maddie back to Araluen.

   "Are you ever going to visit your father?" Hal asked. She shrugged a bit.

  "Yeah, I guess. I want to see Halt and Pauline again too." She said. He let out a deep sigh.

"I'm just glad you're still here, Ab." He said taking her hand. "And I think the crew is happy too." She smiled in return.

"Well that's good." She said. She looked up and froze.

"What is it?" He asked, following her gaze. In the sky, was a column of smoke, coming from the area where the Heron was moored. Hals eyes widened and he took off at a run towards Bearclaw creek with Abby following him at his heels.

     The boat shed was in flame, and several Skandian men were trying to calm the fire by throwing buckets of water on it. Thorn was among them. When he caught sight of Hal, he rushed over too them.

"Who did this?" Hal asked, suddenly panicked. Thorn let out a disgusted sigh.

"Wolfgang. I saw him do it as I was headed down here to check on the Heron." He said. At the mention of his boat, Hal looked over too where she was moored in the jetty. She was fine, much to their luck.

"Why would he do this?" Abby asked. Thorn shrugged, but Hals eyes went cold.

"He must have still been mad about the incident with Ninas cat." He said gruffly. Abby rose an eyebrow.

"Come on, We have to move the Heron, She's still to close to the shed." Abby said. They quickly rounded up the rest of the crew and carefully rowed her away from the shed. When she was a safe distance away, they headed back to Hallasholm. The fire was now under control, and Hal was able to salvage a few of his inventions and drawings. The rest had no hope, much to Hals displeasure.

"Why would Wolfgang do something like that?" Edvin asked.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because Stefan drowned Ninas cat!" Jesper said sarcastically.

"But he thinks it was me." Abby said. A sudden realization dawned on her. "He knew how much the shed meant to you." She said to Hal, "It's your work space and where you think. He must have thought that if he burned it down, then it would make you mad. He didn't expect for Thorn to catch him doing it. He was going to blame it on me!" Hal nodded a bit.

"He's trying to destroy our family." He said bitterly.

"Why would he do that?" Ulf said.

"Easy." Came a voice behind them. "They're a family of Araluens, They don't belong here." They all spun around to see Wolfgang leaning up against one of the wooden structures. He had his battle axe rested on his shoulder. Hal slowly drew his sword, knowing it would be no match for the huge battle axe. Wolfgang chuckled.

"You're cute, kid." He said. "Now why don't you and your family go hop on that row boat you call a ship and head back to Araluen." Abby drew her sword also.

"We're not going anywhere." She said. Her voice sounded more confident then she felt.

"Gorlogs breath, these Araluens are as annoying as they come." Wolfgang mumbled to no one in particular.