Ranger's Apprentice 12: The Royal Ranger

by John Flanagan

  She scanned the horizon again. There was no sign of any other men following the first and hope began to grow in her heart. Nevertheless, she unslung her bow and eased the string in and out a few times to stretch her muscles. And she pushed back the flap in her cape that protected her arrows from bad weather.

  ‘Who is it?’ Tim asked.

  She squinted, trying to see the figure more clearly. He was bare headed, she saw, and that wasn’t a good sign. Will would normally have the cowl of his cloak up. Her hand moved in an automatic gesture and selected an arrow from her quiver, nocking it to the string of her bow with practised ease.

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said. But as the figure came closer, she could make out more detail. He was carrying a massive longbow and she could see the fletching of a sheaf of arrows visible above his right shoulder. The knot that had formed in her stomach began to unravel and, as the figure stopped and waved, holding the longbow above his head, she started to laugh.

  ‘It’s Will,’ she said, with a huge sense of relief. She called to the children. ‘It’s Will Treaty. He’s here to take you home!’

  Most of them were too exhausted to show any reaction. One or two looked up at the word ‘home’. But Tim was grinning at her, the relief obvious on his face. He alone had been aware of her fear that they might be followed by the kidnappers and he shared her sense of relief as she recognised the figure striding towards them.

  Maddie moved closer to Tim and put her arm around his thin shoulders. She shook her head and laughed again. Will was here and now everything was going to be all right.

  ‘You’ve done well to get them this far,’ Will told her approvingly.

  She shrugged. ‘I didn’t think so. We’ve still got a long way to go.’

  They had agreed to give the former captives a long rest, to help them regain some energy. They made a simple meal of flat bread, smoked meat and dried fruit, sharing it out among the hungry children and using up all their supplies in the process.

  ‘We can always get more at Ambleton,’ Will said.

  Maddie sighed happily. She was delighted to be free of the responsibility of guiding the children to safety. Will was so capable, so experienced. Everything was all right now that he was here. She felt a huge burden lift from her shoulders as she turned the responsibility over to him.

  ‘Are you sure Ruhl and his men aren’t around?’ she asked.

  He shook his head. ‘They’re miles away. I doubled back on them just before daylight and cut across country to catch up to you. Last I saw of them, they were still chasing their tails and heading south.’

  He bit off a tough piece of smoked meat and chewed it thoughtfully to soften it.

  ‘Unless one of them’s a tracker,’ he added. ‘But the way they were blundering around all night, I doubt there’s anyone among them who could follow a trail. I had to keep showing myself to let them know where I was.’

  Maddie settled back, the last trace of doubt wiped away by his confident statement.

  ‘So we can take it easy?’ she said. He regarded her for a few moments.

  ‘We can take it a little easier,’ he corrected her. ‘It never pays to take too much for granted. We’ll let the children rest for another hour, then get them moving again.’

  ‘Jefe! Here! Here is where he doubled back!’

  The Iberian was on one knee, studying the ground. He pointed to a line of almost invisible depressions in the long grass. Already the stalks were beginning to recover and stand upright once more. Ruhl could barely see the difference that the tracker’s experienced eye had recognised. The Iberian reached forward to a scrubby bush, where a grey thread of cloth was snagged on a branch. In the dark, and confident that his departure had gone unnoticed, Will had been a little careless.

  Ruhl smiled. It was not a pleasant sight.

  ‘Well done, Enrico,’ he said. ‘Keep us after him and there’ll be gold for you when we catch him.’

  Enrico smiled in return, his teeth white against his olive skin. ‘Sí, Jefe,’ he said. ‘Enrico will find him. Just follow me.’

  Ruhl waved an arm and his men fell into line behind him. Enrico quartered ahead of them like a hunting dog, bent double, studying the ground, following the almost invisible traces that their quarry had left behind. The man had made no attempt to cover his tracks, the perseguidor thought. Although in long grass like this, there was little he could have done. And only an expert tracker would have noticed the slight traces that he left.

  For a moment, he lost the trail. Then he picked it up again. The man had angled off to the left. He waved to Ruhl.

  ‘This way, Jefe. I have him!’

  ‘Time to get them moving again,’ Will said. They had rested by the side of the road for over an hour, eating and drinking. Maddie and Tim had refilled the water skins in a small stream that cut under the road through a culvert, and there was no need to ration the water any further.

  If they stayed much longer, Will reasoned, with the heat of the day growing as the sun passed its zenith, they’d never get the children moving again.

  As it was, there were grumbles and complaints as he and Maddie moved among them, rousing them and getting them back onto the road once more. As before, the smallest children and Rob rode on Tug and Bumper.

  While they were assembling on the road, a young boy who was riding on Tug called out to Will.

  ‘Will Treaty, did you kill the Stealer?’ he wanted to know.

  Will glanced at Maddie, a question in his eyes.

  She shrugged. ‘I told him you were going to. He’s a bloodthirsty little wretch and he wants details.’

  Will turned to the boy, looking up at him where he sat on Bumper’s saddle, in front of Rob.

  ‘Not yet,’ he said, and, seeing the boy’s disappointed face, added, ‘But I plan to. Any day now.’

  ‘Can I watch?’

  Again Will looked sidelong at Maddie.

  ‘I told you. He’s a proper ghoul,’ she said softly.

  Will shook his head and looked back at the little boy. ‘I don’t think that would be appropriate. But I’ll tell you all about it.’

  ‘Oh . . . all right then.’ The boy looked properly crestfallen.

  Will shook his head, then called to the group assembled on the road. ‘Come on, let’s get moving! Pace it out there!’

  Still dozy from napping in the warm sun, they began to shamble northward. Will strode to the head of the line, goosing the leaders with the tip of his bow.

  ‘Come on! You can move faster than that! Shake it up! Get a move on! Show a little speed!’

  Maddie smiled to herself. They were the same exhortations he had used on her when she was running the obstacle course back at Redmont Fief. And he’d poked her backside with his bow more than once, too. It was strangely pleasant to see other people suffering the same treatment.

  But it was effective. The children gradually shook off their torpor and began to stride more purposefully down the road. Will moved along the line, repeating his demands for greater speed. There were still some who grumbled or complained. Predictably, Julia was the loudest.

  ‘It’s not fair,’ she whined. ‘My feet hurt. I’ve been walking all day and I’ve got a blister.’

  She sniffed loudly and artfully wiped a tear away. But if she thought that Will would be more inclined to pity her because he was a male, she was mistaken.

  ‘Dry your eyes, princess!’ he stormed at her. ‘No time for tears here. Or do you want me to leave you behind?’

  By chance, they happened to be passing an area where there were more hillocks and humps in the surrounding ground, similar to the one Maddie had pointed out to her earlier. Julia took one look at them, went pale and accelerated, marching briskly to the head of the column and striding ahead of the leaders. Will was a little puzzled by her swift reaction. Maddie said nothing. She still felt guilty about the way she had frightened Julia and she thought Will might think less of her for doing so.

  As the afternoon wore on, t
heir initial speed and enthusiasm gradually drained away and Maddie and Will were kept busy urging them along, demanding greater speed.

  ‘How long can we keep pushing them like this?’ Maddie asked, as she and Will stood by the side of the road, watching the children file past. Once again, their heads were down and their shoulders were sagging. ‘They look just about done in.’

  Will shook his head. ‘They’ve still got plenty in reserve,’ he said. ‘They’re all farm children and they’re used to hard work. Point is, they don’t feel any urgency any more. There’s no threat so they’ll try to drag the chain to have an easier time of it.’

  ‘Kids,’ she said critically, shaking her head.

  He looked at her, amused by her attitude. She was only a year older than the oldest of them, he thought. She was really not much more than a kid herself. Yet she was showing levels of stamina and resolve and responsibility that did her credit.

  It didn’t occur to him that her behaviour was also a testament to the way he’d trained her and to her respect for him.

  ‘Come on!’ he roared. ‘Get a move on, you lazy lot!’

  Those nearest the two Rangers looked up sulkily. But the column began to move a little faster, led by Tim Stoker in the front rank. Will nodded towards him approvingly.

  ‘He’s a good kid,’ he said and Maddie agreed.

  ‘He was a big help before you turned up,’ she said. ‘He was the one who took on the Storyman when he caught up with us.’

  She had told Will the bare facts of the confrontation with the Storyman but she hadn’t gone into detail. She didn’t want to dwell on the fact that she had killed him. Or on the savage pleasure she had felt at the time. Such feelings still made her vaguely uncomfortable.

  ‘Maddie! Will Treaty!’

  It was Rob, seated on Bumper. He had turned back when Will had yelled for greater speed. Now he was staring beyond the two Rangers, to the horizon in the south.

  ‘What is it, Rob?’ Maddie asked. But there had been a shrill note in his voice that made her fear the worst.

  ‘Someone’s coming,’ he said.

  ROB HAD SEEN them first, from his slightly elevated position on Bumper’s back. But within a few seconds, they were visible to Maddie and Will and the other children.

  For the moment they were just dark figures against the skyline. Maddie tried to count them but as they moved she lost count. There seemed to be almost a dozen of them and they were coming from the south, bunched together on the road.

  One of them was slightly in the lead and he waved the others on. Even from a distance, Maddie fancied that he was pointing to the small group ahead of them.

  Frightened cries rang out among the children. They had thought they were safe. Worse, they had been assured they were safe. Now they were in danger again and they looked at Will and Maddie with distrust. They had no doubt who was following them.

  ‘It’s the Stealer!’ one of them said and, as the words were spoken, the others whimpered in fear.

  ‘You told us he was gone!’ That was one of the older boys, and he shouted the words at Will.

  The Ranger met his accusing eyes steadily.

  ‘I thought he was,’ he said evenly. ‘Apparently I was wrong.’ He turned back to watch the pursuing men, frowning as he concentrated his gaze on the man leading them, recalling how he had been crouched, peering at the road, when they had first seen the slavers.

  ‘Seems I was wrong about them having a tracker too,’ he said in an aside to Maddie. ‘Looks like that fellow in the lead has been following our trail.’

  Maddie looked at him, panic clutching at her throat. ‘What do we do?’ she said. Her voice threatened to betray her and rise into a high-pitched quaver. She fought against it, forcing herself to remain calm. Will reached out and took her wrist, squeezing it firmly. The contact calmed her down. She drew in a deep breath and looked him in the eyes.

  ‘I’m all right,’ she said.

  Will nodded. ‘Good. Now here’s what you do. You run. Get these kids running as fast as they can. I’ll stay here and hold off Ruhl and his thugs.’

  She glanced fearfully around the open terrain that surrounded them.

  ‘Here?’ she said fearfully. ‘You can’t stop them here! You’ve got open ground on either side, with nothing to protect your flanks. They’ll outflank you and kill you!’

  He nodded approvingly at her assessment of the situation. ‘Seems like you’ve learned a lot about judging terrain,’ he said. ‘But I’m not going to try to stop them. And I’m not planning to let them outflank me. I just want to slow them down – although maybe I’ll be able to pick off a few of them. Then I’ll fall back and do the same thing over again. And I’ll keep doing it for as long as it takes for you to get away.’

  As he was talking, he walked to where Tug was standing and unbuckled the arrow case hanging from his saddle. He took an extra dozen arrows and crammed them into his back quiver.

  Tug snorted nervously. I don’t like this.

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ Will said softly. Maddie assumed he was talking to her to reassure her.

  ‘Let me stay with you,’ she said impulsively. ‘Together, maybe we can hold them off.’

  He shook his head. ‘Together we’d still be outflanked. And it’d be twice as hard for two of us to slip away unseen. Besides, I need you to get the children to safety. If we leave them on their own, they’ll give up after a few kilometres. You’ll have to drive them, Maddie. Keep them running. Force them. Threaten them. Scream at them. But keep them running.’

  He glanced up at the sky, noting the position of the sun, where it was beginning its slanting journey down in the west.

  ‘It’s a few hours till dark. If you’re still ahead of them at sunset, look for a good hiding place off the road. Let them rest up for a while, then get them running again before daybreak.’

  ‘But . . . what about their tracker? He’ll be able to find us,’ she said.

  Will raised an eyebrow. ‘When they get closer, he’s going to be the first one I look for,’ he said.

  She looked fearfully at the dark figures on the road behind them. Already, she could see they were getting closer.

  ‘They’ll kill you,’ she said miserably, tears welling in her eyes. Will shook his head.

  ‘Nobody’s done that yet,’ he said. ‘And a lot have tried. Now get going!’

  He snapped the last three words at her, galvanising her into action. She reached out and touched his arm and he nodded to her. Then she turned away, yelling to the children.

  ‘Come on! Run! Run for your lives!’

  The children turned and began running. Inevitably, the oldest led the way, pulling away from the smaller children. Only one turned back. It was the small boy on Bumper’s back, in front of Rob. He seized the reins and held Bumper still for a moment.

  ‘Can I stay and watch Will Treaty kill the Stealer?’ he asked.

  ‘No! Now get going!’ Maddie yelled at him. ‘Run, Bumper! Run!’

  Reluctantly, the boy released the reins and Bumper turned, trotting along the road, overtaking the children who had begun running already.

  ‘At least someone’s got faith in me,’ Will said, with the ghost of a smile. He looked back to see Ruhl’s men beginning to spread out in a long line, either side of the road. He nodded to himself. Maddie had been right. With open ground on either side, they would try to outflank him, and there was little he could do about it.

  He counted them. There were eleven men in the line. Most of them were now waist-deep in the long grass. Two remained on the road itself. That would be Jory Ruhl and the tracker, he thought, wondering idly where the tracker had come from. Those two were still fully exposed on the road and for a moment he was tempted to try a long shot at Ruhl. After all, the slaver had no idea who he was facing and he wouldn’t be expecting the sort of uncanny accuracy with which a Ranger could launch his arrows.

  Then, reluctantly, he discarded the notion. His first order of business was to get ri
d of the tracker, to give Maddie and the children a better chance of escaping. His own personal revenge would have to wait – although not too long.

  Calmly, unhurriedly, he drew an arrow from the quiver. He inspected it for flaws, although he knew there would be none, and nocked it to the string.

  He turned side on, the massive longbow ready, but as yet undrawn, as he watched the small figures approaching on the road. The men on either side were making heavier weather of it, pushing through the waist-high grass, and Ruhl and his tracker had unintentionally got ahead of them. They were within long bowshot now, but Will waited a little longer. He rarely missed but he wanted to make sure of this shot. Mentally, he reviewed his actions. Draw, sight, release. Then, when he knew the shot was going to hit its target – and he could usually tell within the first few seconds – he would loose a second arrow at Ruhl.

  ‘Come on,’ he muttered. ‘Just a few more metres.’

  And then he was ready. The bow came up to the shooting position. He saw the sighting picture, which included the bow’s elevation, the line of the arrow and the tiny target, hundreds of metres away. He felt his forefinger touch against the corner of his mouth as he drew back against the eighty-five-pound pull of the yew wood, felt the intense pressure of the thick string against the reinforced tips of his gloved fingers.

  With a separate part of his mind, he saw the figure on the road stop, as if he sensed imminent danger. Too late.

  He released and the arrow shot away from the bow. In the moment after releasing, he knew it was a good shot. His hand automatically found another arrow, nocked it. The bow came up and he switched his aim to Jory Ruhl, sighted and released again.

  Ruhl became aware that he was ahead of the line of advancing men. He hesitated, calling to Enrico to stop. As he did, he heard a hissing sound, then an ugly thud.

  Enrico cried out in surprise and pain and threw out both arms, staggering back under the impact of the speeding shaft. Then he crashed over on his back, his sightless eyes staring up at the sky.