Monsters of the Night

Chapter Six

After speaking with Maddie, Maddie gave Jemma a list of suspects she had made. Jemma carefully studied the list and made the decision to study each suspect to watch what they were doing. 

With Halt, Will, Kyle, Jamie and Harold, the six Rangers took two suspects each to watch. 

Jemma studied her two Rangers, Ranger Andrew and Ranger Quigley. The two spoke in hushed whispers, and Jemma strained to hear them.

"should be arriving soon...I have their payment, don't worry...yes we're going to meet him down the road..."

Jemma let out a quiet breath as she processed the information, confident that these two were the ones that had betrayed them. She continued to watch the two, studying every move they made. 

The two stuck together everywhere they went. They seemed to stay out of the way of other Rangers, making them seem more suspicious.

At midday, as Jemma ate her lunch on the ceiling rafters, Will, Halt, Kyle, Jamie and Harold joining her.

"Nothing suspicious." They all reported.

"I think Andrew and Quigley look a little suspicious, but I don't think they are our suspects." Jemma told the group.

"Why not?" Kyle asked.

"It's almost as if they are acting too suspicious." Jemma told them. "They're not trying to be discreet at all."

"I know what you mean." Halt said. "If they really were planning something, they would be trying to be a bit more secretive. They might arouse the suspicions of all the Rangers at this rate with the way they're acting."

"They're Andrew and Quigley." Jamie said with a grin. "They've always been like that at Gatherings. They're fairly quiet men. I don't think people would be suspicious of them."

"That could be cause for more suspicion, though." Will said reasonably, "If people are used to them having that behaviour, it means that they can get away with continuing that behaviour and hiding a plot."

"I don't think so." Jemma said. "Call it a gut feeling."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I've had quite enough of your gut feelings lately, Jemma." Maddie teased as she joined the group.

"Just because my gut feelings are correct." Jemma replied in turn.

Maddie laughed and gave Jemma a side hug.

"Thank you for listening to me, Jemma."

"Well I've come to learn by now that you give pretty good advice." Jemma told her quietly. "And it took some persuasion from Harold, of course."

"He's a nice kid." Maddie smiled. "I think he would make a good Ranger."

"Me too." Jemma nodded. "I already told him I will take him on as an apprentice when everything is cleared up."

"You probably shouldn't have done that." Kyle said. "It generally has to pass by the Ranger Commandant...usually."

"Do you seriously think that Gilan will have a problem with it?" Will said. "He trusts Jemma's judgement, and besides, we need new Rangers desperately. I think the conference will also cover either changing fief sizes so that a Ranger may cover more than one until we can get new Rangers trained, or change the length of training time."

"Let's not go into all this boring stuff yet." Maddie sighed. "How did he react, Jemma?"

"He was really excited. I think that if it was up to him, we would be in whatever fief I'm assigned and training him already." Jemma grinned.

"That's much different to Will's reaction." Halt grinned. "When I told him that I wanted to take him on as an apprentice, he protested so much he considered not showing up."

Will snorted, causing a few Rangers to look up with confusion when they saw the cloaks of seven Rangers in the rafters. Assuming there was some reason they were there, they looked down again. 

"I wanted to be a Knight." Will grinned, causing the group to chuckle softly. "I can't imagine being anything other than a Ranger now."

"I can't imagine you being a Knight, Will." Maddie teased. "You're too scrawny!"

"Oi!" Will said with a grin, chasing Maddie as she jumped down from the rafters, landing in a roll and running out of the hall with a grin, startling many Rangers who tried to pass off their surprise casually.

"We'd better follow them." Halt sighed. "Knowing those two, one of them is probably tying the other up somewhere in the castle."

Jemma grinned as the others jumped down, startling the Rangers below once again. She followed them, sticking to the rafters, as her presence in the castle was not known yet. 

Chuckling softly, she chased her friends down the halls, later having to untie Will when they found them.

...

In the afternoon, the Heron arrived. 

Jemma ran out to meet them, followed by her friends, who walked. She was there in time for them to walk off the ship, the twins running into her arms. David quickly followed them, lifting Jemma in a hug.

"This is it." He murmured into her hair. "I'm not leaving you again. I'm staying by your side until we die."

"You keep saying that." Jemma smiled into his neck. "I wonder when it will actually be possible."

"Don't say that." He mumbled. "I can't wait for this conference to be over and we can have our own fief."

"It won't be quiet." Jemma said. "We'll have the twins and Harold."

"Harold's coming with us?"

"Yeah." She told him. "I'm taking him on as my apprentice."

"That's a good idea." David said. "He would make a good Ranger."

"You guys have just met once again, and you've decided to talk about Ranger business?" Will said, shaking his head as he came to embrace the two. "I can't believe you two."

He broke off in a grin, patting David on the back. "It's good to see you again."

"Grandpa Will!" Dan and Stan called, embracing a leg each.

"That makes me feel old." Will said, as Halt shook his head and murmured to Jemma.

"I assume this means that you are making your presence at the castle known?" 

Jemma nodded. "You bet."

She turned to David. "Come on, I'll tell you what's been going on as we walk up to the castle. You fine with those two, Dad?"

Will looked up with a smile, a child in each arm. "I'm quite sure."

Jemma linked arms with David, waving to Hal as he jumped to shore, and together, the group walked back up to Castle Araluen.