Ranger's Apprentice 12: The Royal Ranger

by John Flanagan

  MADDIE CROUCHED AT the top of the path leading down to the beach. The kidnappers and the ship’s crew were gathered in the mess tent, finishing their evening meal. The table was brightly illuminated by half a dozen lanterns. That’ll make it easier to remain unseen, she thought. If the men were looking into the light cast by the lanterns, their night vision would be ruined.

  Most of them were seated round the table. Donald and Thomas, the two men who had been in the camp when she and Will first arrived, prepared and served the meal. They then sat on the ground with their own food, a few metres away from the fire.

  The kidnappers and the sailors seemed to be in good spirits. Their conversation was noisy and animated, and laughter broke out frequently. She guessed they had good reason to be content. They had ten captives to take off to the Socorran slave markets.

  The moon rose over the ocean, bathing the water in silver light. The black outline of the ship stood out in stark contrast. Water was lapping around the hull, and the ship was no longer canted to one side.

  There was no sign that the captives in the cave had been fed. Presumably, they were given only one meal a day. Ruhl wasn’t the type to waste money feeding his prisoners more than they needed to stay alive.

  She waited, squinting at the moon with her hand held out at arm’s length, until it was four finger widths above the horizon. That was the time she had agreed with Will. By now, he’d be making his way down the cliffs on the northern headland of the bay. She moved in a crouch to the beginning of the path. She paused, checking the men in the mess tent once more. But they were busy eating. And, judging by the raucous laughter that came more frequently with each passing minute, they were drinking as well.

  She set her bow to one side. It would only be a hindrance as she made her way down the path and, in the dark, she’d probably need both hands free. She wound the sling around her right hand and started down the track to the beach.

  The footing was uneven and she went slowly, testing each step. Once she was below the level of the clifftop, she would be all but invisible against the dark cliff face. But if she were to slip and fall, the chances were high that she’d be heard. And someone might come looking to see what had caused the noise.

  Her foot slipped as she stepped on a loose layer of pebbles. Several of them clattered over the edge of the path, bouncing off the rocks below. She froze, her heart in her mouth. To her, the skittering pebbles sounded as loud as an avalanche. Her left hand went to the shot pouch, ready to select and load a lead ball into the sling.

  She waited a full minute. But there was no sign that anyone had heard her. Taking even greater care, she set off again, a black, uneven shadow sliding slowly downwards, barely visible against the dark background of the cliff.

  She reached the first switchback, where the path angled back on itself. The ground was rough and strewn with small boulders here and she picked her way carefully around the turn. She glanced back over her shoulder at the mess tent. The slavers were still intent upon their food and drink. A loud burst of laughter rang out.

  ‘Keep making noise,’ she said under her breath. ‘That way, you won’t hear me.’

  The second stretch of the track was more even underfoot. She’d been crouching on the rougher ground higher up to maintain her balance, but now she straightened and moved faster until she reached the second switchback. She picked her way carefully around it. There was only twenty metres to go now and she’d be at the bottom. She forced herself to concentrate. With the end of the track in sight, it was tempting to relax and rush. Yet she continued her slow, careful pace, crouching once more, feeling the ground twist underfoot as she stepped on larger rocks, occasionally sinking into unexpected dips and ruts in the track. One was deeper than it looked and she jarred her back as she stepped into it. She grunted in surprise, then froze. But there was no reaction from the men at the mess tent table and she continued, finally stepping down onto the level ground at the foot of the track.

  Now she had to wait once more. As Will had once described it to her, a Ranger’s day seemed to be made up of hours of waiting followed by a few minutes of frantic, frightening action.

  She waited now for those frantic minutes to come. Her stomach was a tight knot. The tension was almost unbearable. She had no idea whether Will had reached the rocks at the base of the northern cliff yet. He could have fallen and injured himself. If the path he had found was anything like the one she’d traversed, one incautious step could have left him lying with a broken ankle. Or unconscious.

  The longer she waited, the worse the picture in her imagination became. What would she do if Will didn’t fulfil his part of the plan? If he was incapacitated somewhere on that cliff path, how could she get the children away?

  It was too late to go for help. Ambleton was the nearest settlement of any size. By the time she got there and brought help back to Hawkshead Bay, the slavers and the children would be long gone, heading for the Socorran slave market and a life of misery.

  Could she somehow set fire to the ship, then double back up the beach to release the children? She discarded the idea almost as soon as she thought of it. The chances that she could make it across the open beach unobserved were slim to none. And she needed Will to draw off the pursuit to the south while she got the children safely away.

  She thought of another option. She had two dozen arrows in her quiver and there were eighteen men sitting round the table. She could simply start shooting at them. She’d take them by surprise, possibly drive them off in panic.

  Then she considered the plan realistically. She might get two of them, even three if she was fast enough. But they weren’t simple villagers to be frightened off by a surprise attack out of the darkness. They were ruthless men with an investment to protect. They were armed and, she assumed, experienced fighting men. They’d go to ground, taking cover behind the tents or the table, or the large rock outcrops that dotted the beach. Then they’d begin to move to outflank her, and sooner or later, she’d be overwhelmed.

  Besides, she thought bitterly, she’d left her bow at the top of the cliff.

  She sighed. There was nothing she could do if Will didn’t make it to the rocks on the south side of the cove. She’d have to watch helplessly while the children were herded aboard the ship and taken away.

  Then she saw it. A flash of light, briefly visible among the dark jumble of distant rocks. Will must have opened the shutter on his dark lantern to light one of the fire arrows. Then it was gone as he closed the shutter.

  But now she thought she could see a pinpoint of light among the rocks. She realised it was the glowing tip of one of the fire arrows. She glanced back fearfully at the slavers. But they were sitting in a circle of bright light and hadn’t noticed the brief flash from the rocks.

  As she watched, the yellow pinpoint arced up into the night sky, then curved down towards the black ship. It seemed to strike close to the base of the mast. There it remained, still visible, but not growing any larger for the moment. It must have hit in a clear section of deck, where there was nothing flammable to catch alight. The arrow would burn itself out and the ship would remain unharmed.

  She cursed silently.

  Another pinpoint briefly soared, then descended. This one travelled on a higher arc that seemed to end in the middle of the vessel’s loosely furled sail.

  And this time, it was seen by one of the slavers.

  ‘What was that?’ The blue-cloaked figure of the Storyman, who was sitting facing the ocean, suddenly sat up straight, pointing towards the ship.

  Ruhl looked at him with idle curiosity. ‘What?’ he demanded. He was replete with good food and wine and not in the mood to be disturbed.

  The Storyman continued pointing and the others turned, casually, to look at what he was indicating.

  ‘It was a light,’ he said. ‘Looked like a falling star. And it came down on the ship. There’s another!’

  He added the last two words in a shout as a third fire arrow soared briefly across
the cove. Even as it struck near the base of the mast, yellow flame suddenly flared in the sail, as Will’s previous shot finally ignited the tarred canvas.

  ‘Fire arrows!’ the Iberian captain shouted. ‘Someone’s trying to burn La Bruja!’

  Chairs crashed over backwards as the men leapt to their feet. The Iberian crew were the first to react, sprinting across the sand to save their ship. Another source of flame was visible at the base of the mast now, then a fourth point of light soared across the sky and struck the side of the hull.

  The fires in the sail and at the base of the mast were burning steadily. But they were yet to attain the fierce, uncontrollable rage that would spell the end of the ship. An unbidden memory of her Iberian classes strayed into Maddie’s mind as she watched.

  ‘La Bruja. The witch,’ she murmured. That was the name of the ship.

  ‘Help us!’ the Iberian captain stopped and yelled at the slavers, who were standing uncertainly by the table. He beckoned furiously with his arm, waving them to follow. Already his own crew had reached the ship and were dashing sea water on the flames at the base of the mast. The sail, gradually beginning to burn with more intensity, was out of their reach.

  ‘If we lose the ship, we lose everything!’ he shouted and that seemed to penetrate the stasis that gripped Ruhl and his men.

  ‘Come on!’ the Stealer shouted, and led them running down to the ship. The captain was yelling at his men, ordering them to let the yardarm with its burning sail fall, then smother the flames with buckets of water.

  As they did, another fire arrow hissed down, landing in the bow of the ship, where coils of tarred rope were lying ready for use. The flame shot up, licking at the tar, melting it, then igniting it.

  ‘Put that out!’ the captain yelled at Ruhl and his men. His own crew almost had the burning sail under control. As Maddie watched, they heaved a still burning remnant over the side into the sea. There was an immense hiss and a cloud of steam. Realising that there was nobody paying any attention to the camp site, she darted out from the shadows and ran towards the mess tent with its abandoned table and overturned chairs. In her haste, she went to the wrong upright and had a moment of panic when she saw there were no keys hanging there. Then she re-oriented herself and saw them hanging on the next post. She seized them and turned towards the cave.

  In the bow of the ship, the coil of rope had begun to burn fiercely, and the flames spread to a spare sail furled and stowed along the bulwark. Ruhl and his men beat at the flames with their jackets and cloaks. Unfamiliar with the layout of the ship, they didn’t know where to lay their hands on the buckets that the sailors were using. The captain realised this and sent two of his men forward, laden with half a dozen buckets. The men began to hurl sea water on the flames, slowly bringing them under control.

  Ruhl searched frantically for the source of the arrows.

  ‘Who’s shooting at us?’ he screamed in fury. As he said the words, another arrow hissed down. But this wasn’t a fire arrow. It was a war arrow and it buried itself in the chest of the man beside him.

  The slaver staggered under the impact of the heavy shaft, then fell across the burning sail, extinguishing some of the flames. Ruhl looked around, in time to see another fire arrow arc up from the rocks. It was Will’s final fire arrow, but there was no way the panicked men on the ship could know that.

  ‘They’re in the rocks at the base of the cliff!’ Ruhl shouted, pointing to the spot where he’d seen that curving light begin. He felt the deck of the ship lurch under him and looked around to see the captain severing the anchor rope with a small axe. La Bruja began to move. Ruhl ran down the deck, grabbing the captain’s arm.

  ‘What are you doing? Are you mad?’

  The captain glared at him. His face was smeared with ash from the burning sail and his arm was red and blistered where the flames had seared him as he had helped throw it overboard. He was in no mood to argue with Ruhl. He knew how quickly fire could claim his ship.

  ‘I’m getting her out of danger. She’s a sitting duck here and I’m not risking her!’

  The ebbing tide was moving the ship faster and faster. Ruhl looked around in desperation.

  ‘They’re in the rocks!’ he shouted. ‘The archers are in the rocks! We can catch them!’

  ‘Then do so! I’ll leave two of my men with you.’ The captain glanced down the deck, assessing his crew. ‘Enrico! Anselmo! Go with Señor Ruhl!’ He looked back at Jory Ruhl. ‘You’d better go if you’re going. We’ll return tomorrow.’

  Ruhl hesitated a moment, then came to a decision. He leapt over the bulwark, landing in waist-deep water, yelling at his men to follow. He heard a series of splashes behind him as he waded ashore. Glancing back, he saw his men and the two Iberian sailors forcing their way against the tide behind him.

  He staggered onto dry sand, then stumbled, saving his life. An arrow sliced through the air just over his head. He looked at the rocks. He had no idea how many archers were hidden there but he realised that he and his men were armed with nothing but knives.

  ‘Get your weapons!’ he shouted as an arrow slammed into the upper arm of the man nearest him. The slaver cried out in pain, but it was a glancing blow and the arrow tore free. One of his companions quickly bound the flesh wound with his neck scarf.

  ‘He’s okay!’ he called to Ruhl.

  The Stealer nodded, then, crouching in an unwitting attempt to avoid further arrows, led his men up the beach to the camp.

  MADDIE HAD REACHED the barred gate that closed the entrance to the cave. She was fumbling with the keys, searching for the correct one. Inside the cave, she heard a querulous voice cry out. Obviously, the prisoners thought the time had come for them to be taken to the ship. They could see only a dark, cloaked figure at the entrance. One of them began to cry.

  ‘Quiet!’ she hissed. ‘It’s all right! I’m here to help you. I –’

  She became aware of running feet behind her and whirled around. Ruhl and his men were racing back up the sand towards her. For a moment, she thought she’d been discovered and she reached into her shot pouch to load her sling.

  Then she heard Ruhl issuing a string of orders.

  ‘Get your weapons! Brad, bring your crossbow! They’re in the rocks at the base of the cliff. Spread out, use cover as much as you can!’

  Maddie pressed herself against the dark rock face beside the gate. Inside, one of the children was still crying. She could hear another making soothing noises and trying to comfort his companion. She wished fervently that they’d both shut up. All she needed now was for Ruhl or one of his men to come and see what was happening.

  The Stealer was still yelling orders and she turned back to the cave, hoping that the slavers wouldn’t hear her above his shouting.

  ‘Quiet!’ she hissed again. ‘Quiet or I’ll come in there and whip you!’

  She was reluctant to threaten the obviously terrified children that way, but it seemed to have the desired effect. The crying died away to a few desperate muffled sobs. She shrugged. She’d make it up to the unfortunate child later.

  In the rocks at the base of the cliffs, Will had been studying his handiwork with grim satisfaction. The black ship was now halfway out of the bay, drifting on the outgoing tide while her reduced crew struggled to get a pair of oars in the water.

  He’d had a moment of panic when Ruhl had led his men back to the tents. At the time, he feared that someone had spotted Maddie. Then he heard the slaver yelling orders and realised they were fetching their weapons before coming after him.

  ‘Should have thought of that,’ he muttered. It was one of those unforeseeable things that can spoil a plan. He hoped they hadn’t caught Maddie napping. Then he saw the slavers heading back down the beach again, rushing from cover to cover.

  He thought about whittling their numbers down a little but rejected the idea. If he made things too risky for them now, they might stay in cover close to the camp, and that would ruin Maddie’s chances of getting the children
out. He needed to let them reach the rocks, needed them to follow him as he led them away.

  ‘Time enough to reduce their numbers tomorrow,’ he said and began to make his way up the rough path to the clifftop.

  Without thinking about it, he moved silently and swiftly, as he had practised for so many years. Then he realised that this wasn’t the time for stealth. He wanted them to see him and to follow him. There was a small pile of rocks on the edge of the path and he nudged them over with his boot, sending them clattering and bouncing down the cliff face.

  Ruhl heard the noise, looked up and saw the dark figure halfway up the cliff.

  ‘There they go!’ he yelled, pointing the way. Then he led a rush towards the base of the cliff. One of his men, armed with a crossbow, stopped and knelt down to aim. He aimed the weapon at the dark figure on the path and tripped the trigger.

  Will heard the all too recognisable slamming sound of a crossbow releasing and dropped flat to the ground. A second later, the heavy quarrel buzzed overhead and screeched off the rocks, its iron point striking sparks where it hit.

  The crossbowman stood. He had seen his target drop to the ground as he shot.

  ‘I got him!’ he yelled in triumph.

  Ruhl snarled at him. ‘You missed him, you fool! There he goes again!’

  The dark figure was back on his feet, moving quickly to the crest of the cliff. As Ruhl urged his men on, the crossbowman paused to reload. He put his foot into the stirrup at the front of the short, stubby bow, and heaved back on the thick string with both arms. Will turned as he reached the top of the path. The crossbowman was in the open, straining at the heavy string on his weapon. Will hated crossbowmen. He nocked an arrow, drew back and released, sending a shaft flashing down the cliff face.

  It struck the crossbowman full in the chest. He gave a shriek of pain, then staggered back and fell, dropping his weapon. Ruhl paused to take it from his lifeless hands, and dragged the quiver of short, heavy quarrels free. Then he glanced back up to the top of the cliff. But the dark figure, who had been briefly silhouetted when he turned to shoot, was gone.