Monsters of the Night

Chapter Eight

Jemma strolled down to the water, where on the bank, she saw the Skandians laughing as they spoke.

She smiled as she got closer, moving to sit next to Ingvar. Lydia moved to sit behind her and braid her hair.

"How's everything going?" Jemma asked, leaning back to make it easier for Lydia to braid her hair.

"Good thanks, Jemma." Hal grinned. "It's good to be back in Araluen."

"Yes." Jemma smiled. "Maddie said she'd be down to say hi later. I'll just assume everybody else will turn up as well."

"Wouldn't surprise me." Thorn snorted. "You all move in packs. I just hope someone will bring some beer with them. We'll have a real party then."

"Probably not, Thorn." Lydia said from behind her. "I don't think they want to get intoxicated, what with the conference starting soon."

"I never said the beer was for them." Thorn said. "No, I meant for me."

"I don't think you need any more, Thorn." Stig said reasonably.

"And you're going to stop me?" Thorn grinned light-heartedly. "Bring it on."

"Gladly." Stig said with his own wide grin, standing up and reaching for the older man.

Ingvar chuckled beside Jemma as Jesper, Stefan and the twins crowded together to make bets.

"Boys." Lydia sighed, finishing Jemma's braid and putting it over her shoulder, patting it down and moving to sit on her other side. "You're done now, Jemma."

"Thanks Lydia." Jemma smiled, fiddling with the end of the braid.

"We got to know your husband while he was travelling with us." Lydia continued the conversation as the men bartered about. "He's a nice man."

"Yeah." Jemma agreed. "I love him so much."

"I can see why." Lydia smirked, then her face softened. "He's only just met your two boys, and already he's so sweet to them. It's like he knows exactly how to do everything to look after them. You don't get that often with men. Most of the time they'll pass the children back to the woman, because they're completely clueless."

The two girls shared a grin.

"I think Dan and Stan have already grown accustomed to David." Jemma closed her eyes and smiled. "I'm glad. I was worried how they would react."

"I don't think your worrying was necessary." Lydia grinned. "You've got a nice little family now."

"I already did. The family just keeps getting bigger."

Jemma studied for a moment as Lydia sighed, watching over the boys.

"Do you ever get lonely?" Jemma asked her. "Being the only girl on board?"

"I did, until you came around." Lydia smiled gently. "I suppose that's come to an end now that you're back home."

She looked away, to the fire that Edvin had finally managed to set alight, putting a pot of water over to start and heat up so he could cook.

"It doesn't have to." Jemma said. "We can still visit each other, whether you come to Araluen, or I come to Skandia."

"It's not the same." Lydia sighed, looking back to Jemma. "You won't be able to leave Araluen because you'll constantly need to prove yourself as a worthy asset to the Rangers. And I can't come to you because you've got the whole family together again. You need to spend time together."

Jemma paused a moment, before saying quietly. "How about we make a deal? For a trial period of five years, we see how often we can visit each other. If it's not working for us, we can think of a new idea then."

Lydia nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Deal."

"Good." Jemma clapped her hands together. "Now that the doom and gloom is over, how about we go watch Stig attempt to stop Thorn from drinking."

"Sounds good."

...

"I can't believe we can't find anything!" Jemma exclaimed one evening, the night before the Ranger conference was finally due to start. After three weeks of Rangers arriving, they wanted the conference to go smoothly so that the fiefs weren't unprotected for long.

"Maybe your gut feeling was incorrect." Maddie shrugged. "Maybe mine was too."

"Don't say that!" Jemma said, clearly frustrated. "Ranger gut feelings are always correct. We're trained like that!"

"Maybe it just hasn't happened yet." David said reasonably. "Both of your gut feelings could still be correct, they just haven't happened."

"David's right." Will said. "Nothing happening yet doesn't mean you should let down your guard."

"We know." The two grumbled together.

"So impatient." Cassandra grinned teasingly.

"I just feel like there should have been a sign!" Jemma complained, resting her forehead on her crossed arms.

"Why did you list the people you did, Maddie?" David asked. "What made you think to suspect them?"

"They were Rangers that waited outside the Castle with a bunch of Knights and villagers once, for me to come out so they could take my Ranger gear." Maddie said. "Two were already in the Castle and let the drawbridge down."

"When did this happen?" Jemma asked. "Who were the two Rangers?"

"I forgot, you didn't know, did you?" Maddie asked.

"At the time this happened, you were in the forest...with Holly." Halt said gravely.

Jemma nodded, quickly becoming sad as she remembered her best friend.

"The two Rangers inside the Castle were Andrew and Quigley."

"What?" Jemma said. "Really? They don't seem the type to do that!"

"They're not." Gilan said. "They are both people who are easy to boss around. I think they were pushed into doing the job. I know Quigley sends some of his wages home to look after his mother and two sisters. He could have been threatened into doing it, at the risk of his family."

"Is that why you put them on the list? You think they might be forced into doing something again?" Jemma turned to Maddie, who nodded.

"Wait, before this goes any further, can you please tell me what happened?"

Maddie nodded, opening her mouth to recount the story.