"Did you find anything?" Will was anguishing. "Can we help his papa?" he asked.
"His papa is gone." He shook his head as he said it and Will understood, "Bairn is our responsibility now. This was his home. We'll let him get some of his things and then we'll decide what to do with him." Halt was more taciturn than usual.
Will felt a sharp pang of guilt for the contempt he'd held for the child. How could he have let himself become so jealous over nothing. He thought of himself as more mature than that, and now he was overwhelmingly ashamed. "I suppose we will need to bury the body." Will whispered with his head down.
"No, I will bury him. You take Bairn into the house and find what you can to comfort him, we may be on the road for a while and he can't come back here." Halt stole a glance at Bairn, then stalked back behind the house, muttering indiscernible curses under his breath.
Bairn had crumpled to the grass holding his knees. Will gently raised him to his feet and led him to his old home. Bairn went obediently without a sound.
The interior of the shack was disheveled, unmistakable evidence of someone looking for something was everywhere. Drawers dumped on the floor, mattresses overturned, an old chest with its hinges broken as it was flung aside in haste, all told the story of a careless robbery. Will went through anything that seemed to hint at the identity of the inhabitants. As he searched, Bairn went to the bedding and found an old tattered blanket and sniffed it, holding it tightly. It was obviously something that he held dear. Then he fell to the floor pushing away debris until he found what he sought. He rose from his knees holding a miniature wooden horse with old cloth wedged into cracks on the neck and rump to create the mane and tail. Then he returned to Wills side waiting patiently for him to finish his inspection of the room.
The grizzled ranger waited until his two young companions were occupied in the house before he began the gruesome task of burying the boys father. He dragged the limp body beneath a tree where he had seen the site of another grave. This grave was not new and it had a wooden grave marker that read Pansy Hendly, beloved wife and mother
Here, Halt dug the new grave and placed a simple stone for the marker. Then standing to one side he stared at the grim sight wishing he had some words to say over the man who lay beneath the freshly turned earth. Deciding he'd spent enough time in respect he made his way back to Abelard and replaced the small camp shovel. Already the sun had started its slow descent behind the trees and they would need daylight to follow the trail left by the vicious murderer.
Satisfied that there was nothing more to be found in the meager dwelling, Will, followed by a tattered little shadow, emerged into the angled sunlight. He looked down to find the boy staring back over his shoulder at the only home he had ever known. The home that he had shared with his papa, who was now lost to him forever. Will felt a strange bond with this forlorn orphan and seeing the hurt in his eyes only kindled his determination to avenge the death of Bairn's father.
Halt was waiting at the edge of the clearing with Tug and Abelard when he saw the two boys making their way towards him. "Was there anything in the house?" He asked, holding out a canteen to Bairn who took it gratefully. He wanted the boy to have something to occupy himself while he and Will talked.
"It doesn't look like anything is missing in there. I don't understand why someone would go through all this trouble when there was nothing worth taking. They must not be very bright thieves." Will replied with disdain.
"Oh, they were bright enough not to leave any witnesses." he looked at Bairn, "at least that they knew of. There are two of them and they won't be that hard to follow. Desperate fools don't usually think of covering tracks. We still have a few hours of daylight and they have three days on us, so we need to get moving."
"Aren't we going to eat?" Will argued and Halt cut a look at him.
"I'm not eating here with this stench. We'll eat in an hour. You mount and I'll hand the boy up to you, it's your turn to entertain him."
The three travelers continued for the next hour intent on covering as much ground as they could before taking a break to eat. When Halt finally held up a hand to signal a stop he noticed that Bairn was sleeping, laying his head back against Wills chest. "If he isn't causing you any trouble maybe we can get in another hour before setting up camp." He waited for an answer.
Will entertained the thought of asking for something to eat, then decided he would endure another hour if it meant being closer to there goal. "I'm fine." he finally said, even though his arms and back were cramping as he supported the dead weight of his passenger. "I'm going to need some coffee when we rest."