The Legend of Winter

Chapter 4

It was ten days later and Gilan and Jay were leaving the next day. The four people were outside, talking. The horses gave a low growl, but Gilan was talking and didn't notice. Neither did Will. Maddie didn't either. But Jay did. She stopped Maddie mid-sentence. "Do your horses normally give a barely audible growl?" she asked.

"No. Something must be wrong," Maddie replied glancing anxiously at Bumper.

"I feel it," Jay said. Then quietly to herself, "Jeremy." It was kind of sad. She sniffed the air. "Six maybe seven armed men in the trees facing the front of the cabin." She sniffed again. "Six men armed with cudgels and swords."

Maddie asked, "You can tell all that by sniffing the air?"

"Yes, I can. I spent a lot of time hiding in the castle stables. I learned how to use my nose. Your horses tell us when something's wrong. That's a head start on the castle horses," Jay replied. "Should we tell Will and Gilan?" Maddie nodded and they moved closer.

"You two will never believe this, but apparently, Jay can smell six armed men in the trees behind us," Maddie said.

"Jay, can you really?" Will wanted clarification. He didn't trust Maddie's imagination.

She nodded then said, "Two have swords, four have cudgels. All of them have leather armor. They're hiding about ten meters into the woods. They're all quite skilled. I spent a lot of time in the stables at the castle." Will and Gilan were extremely surprised again. "There may or may not be a third sword. I can't tell." Jay sniffed the air. "I think I'll let you three take care of them. I'm going to your stables."

They all were thinking, Wow, that is uncanny. Then, they grabbed their weapons and looked at the trees. Sure enough within a few minutes, six armed men came out of the trees exactly as Jay had described.

The fight lasted for a few seconds. Jay told them quietly before she left, "I want all of them alive. I hate blood and killing." Maddie had elected to use her sling. She shot two of them in the shoulder and the others were taken care of by Will and Gilan. They were tied up and laid on the porch, none too gently.

Jay silently crept around the corner. She saw the men on the porch. Jay backed away towards the stables to wait for the all clear. Unexpectedly, she bumped into someone. As she started turning around, the person grabbed her and held her fast. When she had the thought to scream or make noise, Jay was gagged. She kicked out trying to get away but her captor dragged her backwards. Finally, Jay was knocked out and pulled deeper into the wood.

---

"Maddie," Will said. "Go get Jay. The fighting is over."

Maddie nodded and went around back opposite to the way Jay had gone. She looked in the stables and didn't see Jay. "Jay, you can come out now," Maddie said loudly. Maddie was freaking out because nothing moved. She searched for her in every possible hiding place and every visible place. There was no sign of Jay.

Will heard Maddie before he saw her. She was running. She stopped in front of them and said in a panicked voice, "Jay's missing!"

"What do you mean she's missing?" asked Gilan.

"I mean, she isn't in the stables and I don't know where she's gone!" Maddie said.

"Did you see any tracks? Any sign of her leaving?" Will asked. Maddie shook her head. "How much daylight is left, Maddie?"

"About an hour," she replied after glancing at the sun.

"Right. And by the time we get everything ready for a search we'll only have half that time. I'm sorry, Maddie, but we can't look for her tonight," explained Will.

The next day, the three Rangers found the tracks of Jay and her captor.