Here is chapter eleven.
0o0
The morning dawned bright and early. It was dawn and it was Will's watch, the last of the night.
He stretched, and jumped down from the tree he had sat in to take his turn of the watch.
He went to start the fire for coffee and stopped, frozen in his tracks.
The spot where had Calwyn had fallen asleep by the fire last night was empty and her blanket lay discarded on the ground.
Will couldn't move, he couldn't even yell out for the others, he was completely frozen.
There was a curse as he saw Gilan crawling out of the tent he now shared with the boy Jem.
Both stopped, exchanged a glance then walked over to him their backs to Calwyn's empty place.
"Will? Will what's wrong?"
Will could do nothing but point. Gilan turned around and his eyes widened. Jem turned too, and like Will he froze then after a minute swore.
"What's going on?" it was Horace and he had crawled out of his tent, yawning.
He saw the direction they were all looking in and started to stutter
"W-what? H-how?..." he turned to Halt's tent, realised he wasn't up and shouted "Halt! I think you should come out here!"
There was a curse then Halt stood and walked over
"All right this had better be good, and there had better be coffee"
Halt stood, crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
"All right. Care to explain why you're all standing frozen like statues?"
Will pointed again, and Halt turned in the direction he indicated. Halt felt his eyes narrow, though no other outward sign showed.
Last night he had seen his apprentice fall fast asleep by the fire, tired and worn out. Now she was gone. All that was left was her blanket.
Halt turned back to Will and the others.
"All right. Will go see if you can find anything. The rest of you pack up camp"
They got to work. Will and Halt looking for tracks or some sign as to where Calwyn had gone. Jem, Gilan and Horace packed up the tents, and saddled the horses.
"Halt!"
Will was crouched in front of some tracks. There were two pairs one smaller than the other, and the smaller pair were scuffed, telling Will the owner had struggled.
Calwyn had been ambushed, or dragged from her bed. Either way, she hadn't willingly gone off into the woods by herself and gotten lost.
Then as Halt came and crouched beside him, Will picked up a knife off the ground. It was Calwyn's Saxe knife and it was covered in blood.
"She didn't just go off by herself Halt. She either heard something, went to investigate and got ambushed on the way back, or she was dragged from her bed"
Halt nodded.
He felt so very furious. He had never wanted to kill someone more than the person who had taken his apprentice.
Halt remembered how she ill she had looked over the past few nights. She had been pale and covered in cuts and bruises, both old and fresh.
Halt felt a feeling of despair and even more rage come over him. He had never felt this way before. He felt…protective. He was angry his apprentice had been taken from him.
This reminded Halt all too painfully of the time Scandians had taken Will to Scandia. Halt had promised to find Will.
It was only later Halt realised why he made such a promise and why he had gone to such lengths to keep it.
Halt had grown to love Will more than an apprentice. He had come to love Will as a son, and still did, though he didn't openly go saying it around, knowing that Will knew.
Now here he was again, making the same promise, but to the girl. To find her. To bring her home.
The girl was his apprentice. He was furious because someone had managed once again to sneak past his defences. That's all.
"Come on. Lets follow the tracks and see where's she gone to"
Will nodded and mounted Tug and Halt mounted Abelard.
As they rode Halt remembered something. He had heard a scream last night. A young girl's scream. He had been barely awake at the time to hear what she had been screaming but now he remembered
"Halt!"
His apprentice had been screaming for him. Halt berated himself over and over, for not inspecting the sound. For not checking on his apprentice last night.
Halt then made the same vow he had made to Will all those years ago. For some strange reason he even felt the need to say it softly under his breath.
Knowing his apprentice couldn't hear him didn't stop him.
"I will find you"
It didn't take long for them to find the clearing. It was trampled and Calwyn's tracks had been lost among many.
It was Jem who recognised the Wagon ruts and marks. He counted three of them, and even managed to find Calwyn's footprints again, disappearing by the first wagon.
"Ranger Halt, Ranger Will!"
The others gathered and Jem pointed out the wagon tracks.
"I know these all to well. They're made by traveller wagons. I counted three of them, and Calwyn's footprints disappear into the first wagon. The lead wagon"
Will caught on to Jem's meaning.
"And that's means she wasn't just taken by accident. She was kidnapped"
Jem stood and looked in the direction the wagons had gone. Will thought he looked older and more serious than he had ever see the boy look, in the short time he had known him.
"We have to find her. I don't think ordinary Travellers took Calwyn"
Gilan frowned and asked
"What do you mean?"
Jem gestured around the clearing.
"I mean, this is way too sneaky and crafty even for Travellers. Besides what kind of Travellers do you know that take a girl between the ages 10 to 17, in the middle of a secluded wood, at the same time the ones we're looking for, disappear"
Horace growled, and Gilan looked enraged and Halt swore.
Will was angry.
"Let me see if I understand you right Jem. You mean to tell me the ones we've been tracking almost the entire time we've been here… Were under our noses the whole time!"
Jem nodded looking and feeling just as angry as Ranger Will. He couldn't understand why he felt so mad Calwyn was gone but he did.
Jem then made a promise. Normally he never made promises he knew he couldn't keep but this one he was keeping. He was going to find Calwyn.
He wasn't going to abandon her as he had done his parents. He had followed her out here, and he was going to keep following her. He wasn't going to leave her side again until she was safe.
Jem wasn't to know that someone else was doing the same thing. A small, very badly hurt and hopeless person with black hair, staring out a wagon window as it drove along.
"Come on. Lets go find her"
They all mounted and went to ride off.
It was Halt who told them to wait.
"Someone needs to go back to Sean and tell him what's going on."
They all exchanged glances. It was Horace who spoke first
"Well seeing as I'm a knight and, while I hate to say this, a prince I have a duty to go. Besides Calwyn's like my little sister, I'm not going to abandon her"
Gilan frowned.
"Horace I think I speak for both me and Will when I say, Calwyn's a little sister to us too. I'm staying, since I'm the one who's the master at unseen and unheard movement. And you'll need me to sneak into the camp where they're holding her"
Will coughed and said
"Well I'm not going. I've known Calwyn longer and a lot better than you two. I'm staying to help find her"
Halt sighed, then simultaneously all four of them turned to the remaining member there. Jem stared at them then his face cleared in understanding.
"Oh no don't look at me! I'm staying. I'm the only one here who knows the land." And I feel a lot more closer to her. Jem shook himself.Where had that come from?
Again Halt sighed.
"Someone has to go" he looked at them all then his gaze finally rested on Gilan.
"Gilan you're going, because I know with Blaze you'll be back here in less than a day. Now get going"
Gilan tried to argue but to no avail. Soon he and his horse Blaze were disappearing into the trees.
Halt kept thinking about his apprentice and knew that, if any harm had come to her, he would disobey his nephew Sean's orders to bring the Shadows back to be trialled.
No he would kill them.
He wasn't going to let them get away with this.
Halt just had to hope he wasn't to late to save his apprentice. For if the Shadows stuck to their horrifying routine, his apprentice would have her memory wiped.
Halt was going to keep his vow.
He repeated the four simple words over and over in his head. Like a mantra.
"I will find you"
It was a promise, and Halt knew, when it came to giving promises to young ones, promises you kept.
0o0
It was mid-morning when they stopped to rest and water the horses.
Calwyn was sore, tired and still dizzy and being in a bouncing wagon when you had a cracked rib was not enjoyable.
Snatch, Slash, and Jagger got out the wagon and locked the door behind them, leaving the man Hunter and her alone.
Calwyn felt a stab of panic and fear and wished Hunter had gone out with them. She had seen the condition the other captive girls had been in. She wasn't too happy about being locked in a wagon alone with one of Jagger's men.
The one thing she was grateful for, was they had pretty much left her in peace. She looked up and froze. Well, they had left her in peace…until now.
Hunter placed a mug of water on the table just out of her reach in front of her.
"You should drink"
She didn't say a word. She wasn't going to give him a reason to hit her. She knew how these things went. He wanted her to talk, so he could beat her for talking out of turn.
"Its just water. I've haven't poisoned it" the hurt, clearly obvious in his tone made her blood boil. He was trying to make her feel guilty for shunning him when he was trying to 'help' her.
What made her even more mad was the fact, it was working.
She was so furious she forgot her vow not to speak and opened her mouth
"You know I wish I could believe you, but seeing as you're an assassin that kidnaps young girls, lying wouldn't be all that hard to do, for you. So you can see where I have trouble"
She turned back to the window, cursing herself in the five languages she knew, for even speaking to him.
She heard a chuckle and whipped around to see the man laughing.
She glared, and he stopped but he was still smiling wistfully and amusingly at her.
"You remind me of someone I know. He too is witty and sarcastic. It's remarkable how much you take after him"
Now she was confused. Was he insane or just plain creepy? Hunter sighed, rolled his eyes then took a sip of the water he tried to give her.
He sat and then after a minute he glanced at her.
"See? Not poisoned. Now drink"
He pushed the cup closer to her, and eyeing him the whole time, Calwyn awkwardly swung her legs down and reached across and picked up the mug.
She watched him over the rim as she drank. The water flowed down her throat and eased the ache. She had been coughing since she had been thrown in here, but hadn't dared ask for water.
She put down the mug and eyed Hunter again. His brown eyes blazed as he gazed at her.
"Thanks…?"
He smiled at her again.
"It's Hunter"
She nodded, glad he had clarified her suspicions then held out her hand.
"Calwyn" he shook, then let go.
He smiled, glad she was at least talking, and re-filled her mug.
Hunter frowned, then leaned forward and gazed at her, thoughtfully
"Here drink some more. You've been locked in here for hours"
Calwyn could sense he generally was trying to help. She didn't trust him, but she trusted him a lot more than any of Jagger's other men.
"Thanks"
Before they could say anything more the door was unlocked and Jagger walked back in.
His sandy blonde hair was mussed from the wind and his brown eyes danced with…Calwyn thought it looked like satisfaction as he saw her.
Behind came Snatch, his hand on his dagger encase she tried to run out the door, brown hair tied back, and piercing grey eyes watching her every move.
The last one to enter was Slash. He was very thin, skeletal thin. he had short dull blonde hair and ice blue eyes. He sneered at her on his way past.
Calwyn shrank into the wall behind her as the wagon started to move again.
It was still raining outside. Normally she loved the rain, and her love for it got her into trouble with her mentor a lot.
Now seeing it just brought home the fact that she was far from the cabin in the woods, far from her friends and mentor, with no one to help her.
She would just have to help herself then, wouldn't she?
If there was one way to earn her bronze oakleaf, getting kidnaped and escaping single handed, would do it.
She just hoped she'd still be alive afterwards to receive it.
0o0