The Ranger and the Thief (Book two of The Ranger and the Thief series)

Chapter Six

The room was silent, and the messenger was awfully pale. Jesper suddenly broke the silence by pushing his chair back, scraping it against the floorboards.

"What?!?" He asked forcefully. The messenger looked like he was about to bolt at any second. Will nodded to him, indicating for him to leave, and he ran off too his horse. Will shut the door and looked at everyone around the table. Everyone was pale, and MJ looked as if he were about to hurl.

"Will, my son. My son's been taken by gold thieves?!?" Jespers voice was full of a mix of anger and worry. Will could see the tears forming in Jespers eyes.

"We will get him back. We leave tomorrow at dawn, All of us." He said, seeing Jespers eyes full of anger. "We will hunt them down, Jes. They will pay." Will said placing his hand on Jespers shoulder. Jesper nodded and they all began to prepare for the trip the next morning.

***

"Willy, I'm starving." Bente moaned. He nodded. The gold traders had given them nothing but moldy bread to eat the past three days, and little amounts of the fresh water, to keep them alive long enough to sell them. Since Willy had grown up eating freshly baked bread from his grandmother each day, he wouldn't even touch the bread, and neither would Bente.

"Same here." He said. They both looked longingly at the jerky that the sailors were chewing to pass the time as they went about their work.

"Have they told you anything about your job yet?" She asked. He shook his head.

"You know as much as I do." He replied dully. They sat in silence until the servant boy placed their dayly moldy bread in front of them. Bente let out a small whimper at the sight and held her stomach, ready to vomit. The boy gave them a look of sympathy and quickly looked around to see if any of the sailors were watching, before he slipped them both a strip of jerky. Bente almost began to cry at the sight of the meat. The thanked the bboy and quickly hid the meat, eating pieces at a time and savoring the wonderful flavor.

By dusk, the temperature dropped and the two of them huddled closly together, trying to get as much warmth from each other as they could. Some of the men began to fall asleep, and Willy could feel himself nodding off as well. Bente was already asleep, with her head in Willy's lap, huddled close to his body. Willy opened his eyes up quickly as he heard boots on the deck approach them. Bente was exhausted, so she didn't even move. It was the caption, the man that assigned Willy his job.

"We will be arriving in Socorro tomorrow morning." He said. Willy nodded once.

"Yes." He said.

"You are to do exactly as we say, or else the girl gets put into the market." He continued. Willy gripped Bente's arm, pulling her closer too his chest.

"I will do exactly as you say." Willy promised. the man smiled, nodding.

"Good. When we arrive tomorrow, You will dress ob the traditional clothing, which will hide your lightish hair. You are my nephew, understand?" He asked. Willy nodded. "Both of us will head too the gold market. You are to stay silent the whole time. I will point out which stall you must go too. then you will grab as much as you can carry in this pack." He held up a pack for Willy to see.

"Yes sir." Willy said, not meeting the mans eyes. He was only doing this for Bente's safety. She didn't deserve any of it, it wasn't her fault she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Good. I will see you tomorrow." He then left Willy to think about what would happen the next day. He was giving up his freedom for Bente's sake. He looked down at her sleeping face. She looked so peaceful. Her hair was a mess and was stringy from the wind and the water from the sea.

"You'll get to Araluen, Bente. You'll be safe." He whispered. She was still asleep, so he leaned down and kissed her forehead softly.

***

MJ looked out at the sea, staring at the grey water, and thinking about his brother. Where was he right now? Was he scared out of his mind? He let out a deep sigh and ran his fingers over the smooth grains of the Herons wooden structure. MJ never liked ships, they just didn't appeal to him like the way of the rangers. Hunting down criminals and being able to practically disappear was what he had wanted too do since he was little. He fit in among the Skandians, but he felt more comfortable with the Araluens. His brother on the other hand didn't fit in anywhere. He wanted to be in a brotherband, and be part of a crew. He even loved ships. But he was nothing like a Skandian. MJ, like every other boy and girl in Skandia, had thought Willy was strange, and the fact that he was a thief made him even less likeable. The only true friend Willy had was Bente, Edvins daughter. Willy also liked her, as in thought she was pretty. MJ had felt horrible after trying to break the two of them up a while ago. He liked taunting his little brother, but the look on Willy's face when Lance asked him to steal from his best friend was unbearable for MJ. And now Willy was captured by thieves, and it was possible he was never going to see the only brother he ever had again.

Footsteps came up from behind him, and his grandfather then stood by him. Will looked out at the sea and let out a deep sigh.

"Thinking about Willy?" He asked. MJ nodded.

"How did I not realize how cruel I've been to him?" He asked. Will rose an eyebrow, "He's the only brother I have, and I treat him like he's a rotten piece of meat."

"Don't beat yourself up about it, MJ." Will said. MJ closed his eyes, trying to clear his head.

"Do you think we can get him back?" He asked. Will nodded.

"Yes. But there is also a big chance we will never see him again." He said dully. MJ's throat tightened at the thought.

"There's so many things I need to apoligize for." MJ shuddered. Will patted MJ lightly on his back.

"He loves you, MJ. He may never have told you, but he does. You're brothers, he can never stay mad at you." Will pressured him. MJ felt tears forming in his eyes. Willy, if we find you, I promise to be a better brother. MJ promised in his thoughts, somehow hoping that where ever Willy was, he could hear him.