Chapter 24

Ranger Byron sat with his apprentice Ryan at the rear table, their backs to the wall, in the shadows. It was a fair size tavern attached to a large inn. There were eight tables across the room spread evenly and a bar, a real bar with stools in front of it that was tended by a man in his mid-forties. They had just finished a meal of local stream caught fish with steamed carrots and peas still in the pod sprinkled with herbs and a salad lightly sprinkled with oil when a middle-aged man walked in with a small boy. He sat down at the next table with his back to the Rangers and motioned for the boy to sit beside him. He said to him "In a few minutes a man will arrive to take you to work for him. You will do whatever he asks you. Do you understand?"

"Yes father. But why? What did I do wrong?"

"You were born. At least your mother and I will get something from the misery you and your sister caused us. Now keep your trap shut boy!"

Ryan leaned over to Byron and in a whisper asked "What do you make of that? Where do you think the sister is?"

"I don't know," he replied in a similar tone "but it might be worth checking out." With the boy and his father's backs toward them Byron removed his cloak and set aside his bow. He got up and went to the bar and bought two mugs of ale. He turned from the bar and looked around paused then looked again slowly making sure to move his head even though it felt so wrong. He shrugged his shoulders then walked around a couple of full tables then sat down across from the father and said "You haven't seen anyone leave have you?"

"No." was the curt reply.

"Well how about you boy, did you see anyone leave?"

The boy moved closer to his father but answered "No sir, I can barely see anything. I'm a bit small to see through this crowd."

"Well thanks for replying. What's your name?"

"Aiden Sir."

"Well Aiden sir, my name is Byron. Is this your father?"

"Yes sir."

"I'll tell you something Aiden, I got this second mug of ale for my friend but I can't find him so I thought there is a nice man with a young boy, If I can have a bit of a conversation with him I'll give him the ale." The father looked at him with eager eyes till Byron continued "But he didn't want to chat. Now you have been a conversational kind of guy so would you like the mug of ale?"

The boy looked at him then at his father then back at him and replied "I've never had ale before."

"I guess your father kept it all for himself eh!"

"Are you trying to get the boy drunk then take advantage of him?" asked the father

Noting that he only called Aiden 'the boy', not 'my son' or by his name, he replied "Aiden and I were having a nice conversation and I was thinking he might be a bit dry from all the talking he's been doing. So Aiden are you thirsty?"

Behind the father Ryan had been thinking and came to the conclusion the man was here to meet whoever he was giving the boy to. If the man came in and saw him there in his cloak they might not get to the bottom of this. So as quietly as possible he took off his cloak then moved the bench he was sitting on alone closer to the wall allowing him to have his strung bow on his lap out of view with an arrow notched and waiting. He leaned back against the wall and seemed to close his eyes.

Aiden answered Byron saying "I am thirsty, but I don't think I want your ale sir."

Byron looked around and caught the attention of the barmaid who came over and asked "What can I get ya?"

"Do you have any milk here?" to which she nodded the affirmative so he asked "Would you get a mug of milk for Aiden here? He wants to look like the rest of us but doesn't think he's ready for ale yet."

Sure I'll do that for you Aiden" She said smiling at the boy, then off she went returning a few minutes later with an ale mug full of milk. "There you are Aiden. Enjoy your first ale." She said quite loudly. As he took his first drink it seemed everyone in the place turned and raised their mugs high calling out "Hey. There's a new man in the house." Then cheered.

Byron laughed as he saw the look of awe on Aiden's face. He was pretty sure everyone knew it wasn't ale in the mug by the white mustache Aiden was sporting.

Just after the cheer died down the door opened and in walked a man holding a two meter length of rope. He had long curly hair that was matted and greasy looking like he hadn't washed it since he was born. His eyes were a deep blue so in the fire light they looked almost purple. He had a mustache that drooped on each side of his grimacing mouth and he had waxed and twisted it into points that looked like he could stab someone with. He wasn't tall but not as short as the two Rangers, he wasn't as built in the chest and back as the Rangers were either. It seemed to Ryan the man's chest had fallen to where his waist should have been. That being said he still looked strong enough to be trouble. He looked around then came over and sat across from Aiden and his father but a bit away from Byron. He asked "You're Brandon?"

"Yes." Aiden's father replied

"This is the boy I'm taking?"

"Yes"

"Who's this?" he asked pointing a thumb at Byron

"Just a local here." Was Brandon's reply

He turned to Aiden and said "Ok boy let's go." As he made a loop with the rope.

Byron said "Hey hold up there, let the boy finish his drink. What's the hurry anyway? How far are going at night?"

"We need to leave NOW boy!" turning to Byron he added "It's none of your business yokel."

"Father must I?"

"Hey boy, we paid good money for you so get up and let's go NOW!" He said loudly. As soon as he said it he swore coarsely and pulled a knife and took a swing at Byron. His arm was about halfway toward Byron when Byron's saxe intercepted his swing and pinned his arm to the bench between them. The man hollered in pain and tried to pull his arm back which only made it worse as the saxe was very sharp. Every conversation in the room stopped abruptly and several men at the far side stood to see if escape would be needed, the rest just stared at the screaming man. Only those on the bench directly behind Byron could see what was causing the hollering. Byron took out his strikers, a weapon all Rangers carried. Then with his left hand he slammed a practiced blow into the man's temple cutting off the hollering as the man went unconscious. Now the crowd was staring at him so he stood and said "King's Ranger business. Please go back to your seats and continue to enjoy your evening. To make that easier Bartender could the King please pay for everyone to have another drink except this unconscious man and the man with his hand on the door who is about to be skewered with an arrow for trying to evade arrest."

A cheer went up from everyone, as loud as the one Aiden had received just minutes before. Brandon, Aiden's father, froze with his hand on the door latch. He didn't remember the Ranger having a bow but they were said to be sorcerers. He didn't move till someone slid something over his thumb and then pulled his hands behind his back and slid something over his other thumb. He then felt the pressure as whatever was on his thumbs tightened to a point just below agonizing. He was then guided back to the table where his son still sat. Ryan now sat between Brandon and Aiden, who looked bewildered at what had happened in front of him so quickly, he was still trying to process all that had happened. Ryan put his arm around Aiden's shoulders as Byron said to him "Your father did a very bad thing selling you to this man and his friends. They were going to take you far away and treat you badly. Your life would be very difficult and full of unending labor. I know you don't understand any of this so Ryan and I promise you we won't let any harm come to you. There are some questions we will be asking both your father and this man that may take some time. In the meantime would you like another mug of milk?"

"Yes please sir." Byron caught the attention of the barmaid, it wasn't hard as she was staring at him, and pointed at Aiden and motioned for another drink.

"Aiden," asked Ryan, "Have you had your supper yet?"

"No sir, father said I didn't deserve to eat."

Ryan felt an anger he had never felt for anyone else in his life rise within him. He so wanted to hurt this man who would treat his own offspring this way, hurt him badly. With a struggle that only Byron saw he pushed it down and hid it deeply for when the right occasion arose. Byron for his part saw the anger rise within Ryan only because he had felt the same thing and had the same struggle to push it down. With a voice that seemed tight and strained to his own ears Ryan asked the barmaid, when she brought the milk, if she could bring Aiden some food to eat. She for her part smiled warmly at Aiden and asked "What would you like to eat Aiden? We have a bit of roast beef stew left and a bit of fresh fish too."

Aiden replied "We don't get to eat fish much."

"Ok fish it is. I'll be right back with it." And giving him another bright smile she left.

While Ryan was arranging for Aiden's supper Byron put his strikers away and removed his saxe from the man's arm. He cut a piece of the man's shirt off to use as a bandage to stop the bleeding. He took the rope the man had brought and tied his elbows together behind his back and put a pair of thumb cuffs on him as well. He leaned him over so his head rested on the table then taking a piece of rawhide from Ryan he tied his ankles and knees together. He then cleaned his saxe off on the man's shirt. Grimacing he thought 'I'll have to clean this better later' as the man's shirt was filthy. "Ryan, would you take Brandon over to the wall and keep him from sneaking away?"

"Sure," Ryan said, "I know just what to do. Be right back." He took Brandon by his arm and led him to the wall. On the wall about a meter and a half high were pegs used to hold the patrons cloaks and coats. He took a piece of rawhide and tied it around his elbows then another piece and strung it from his elbows to one of the pegs on the wall tightening it just enough to lift his arms slightly behind his back. If he tried to move away in any direction he would force his own arms up higher causing himself pain. If he stood still he might not be comfortable but he wouldn't suffer pain either.

"How long am I going to be here like this?" Brandon asked.

"Till we're ready to talk to you," was the answer. "The more you distract us the longer that will be."

Aiden had just finished his supper when the unconscious man groaned and tried to sit up. Ranger Byron just pressed down on his head with one finger to hold him down and said "Stay". The man sunk back down and Byron wiped his finger on the back of the man's shirt. Aiden also put his head down on his arms and soon his eyes closed and his breathing evened out to the steady breathing of the sleeping.

"So what do we do with these two?" asked Ryan.

"There are a few trees we could string hang them from. We could have this one charged with illegal sale of restricted merchandise. The father though is another issue." Replied Byron

"Selling your child is legal? That just doesn't sound right."

"No it's not legal, so he could be tried and convicted. However we only have one of the children and we can't wait for that to happen, so the dilemma. Also if we put him in the tree, Aiden will see it and I would rather spare him that. Also can a man sell his child then go home and grab another to sell without his wife's knowledge and approval?"

"He did say he and his wife would gain something from selling the children. But I expect she will act all distraught and deny any knowledge of her husband's actions."

"True," Byron replied and looked over at the man tied against the wall and smiled a grim smile. "Let's have a discussion with this man here before we discuss Brandon's future. What should be done with a man who would pay for children to sell into slavery?"

"I don't think we can charge him with kidnapping given that he had the father's approval. But I do think we may be able to charge him with treason and you know what the sentence is for that."

"I don't see how it could be treason." Byron said unsure if his apprentice was letting his desire to punish the slaver twist his reasoning.

"Well, he couldn't sell the children in Araluen, nor could he sell them in any of our allies' countries, so he would have to sell an Araluen citizen to our enemy. I believe that would be aiding an enemy of the state, which is treason unless I have it wrong."

"I see your point. But could we prove it?"

"That's the problem. I don't see how. It would be a lot easier if we were at war, just the act of taking the child could have been called looting."

Aiden sat up rubbing his eyes, he was still sleepy but his mind wouldn't let him rest without an answer to a vital question. So it seemed out of the blue when he asked "Are you going to find my sister?"

"We are going to try." Bryon told him. Then looking at Ryan added "and she is going to help find the evidence we need to bring a good conclusion to this mess." When he had heard the reply Aiden's head again fell to his arms resting on the table.

"It would help considerably if we knew which way the gang was headed." Ryan noted, "I suppose we could ask for a lesser sentence for someone who would tell us all we need to know to find this bunch."

The head of the man seemed to jump off the table as he said "I know which way they are headed and I'll tell you if you promise not to hang me."

We won't hang you." Byron vowed. "IF you tell us where they are headed and how many of them there are. Also we need to know the names of them all especially the leader. I also promise you that if we find you lied to us you'll wish we had hung you." He paused looked over at Aiden's father again and added "You will also testify to the arrangement that was made with Brandon in regard to the boy and his sister. Do you understand the terms I am giving you?"

The man answered slowly making sure he was clear "Yes, I understand."

"First question. What is your name?"

"Scott."