Chapter 26
Three days later, Will, Halt and Horace rode up to the sign of the Sleepy Bush in Loudbrook. They had finished up business in Heathcliff fairly quickly. As planned, the soldiers from Norgate arrived and took the Scotti prisoners, releasing the Redmont contingent to head home. The Baron of Norgate sent gifts of appreciation to Baron Arald of Redmont for his swift action in intercepting the Scottis. No mention was made of Rangers, although more than a few people wondered how Baron Arald knew the Scottis would be there.
Sir George, the Redmont captain, had been sent with several of his men-at-arms to the capitol at Castle Araluen with MacDougal. Sir George, whose marital plans centered around one of the courtesan's daughters at Araluen, did not complain at all at the chance to visit his bride-to-be. In fact, he thought he might offer to give extra watch over the important prisoner for a few additional days before he headed back to Redmont.
Innkeeper Muffins didn't seem sad at all to see his recently acquired "wife" carted off to prison at Norgate. Possibly the fact that she was already Penner's wife cooled his feelings for her.
Surprisingly, he wanted to know if Granny Cooper was available to fill the role. She was nice, he said, but Will also suspected that he enjoyed her stories and enjoyed the business that storytelling brought in. Will promised to ask her when he saw her again, and he and Horace shared a good laugh over it when they achieved the privacy of the stable.
They also took Firebolt with them when they traveled south. Halt planned to return him to Old Bob, the Ranger horse trainer and breeder. Will had grown fond of the little shaggy horse, although it was nothing like his bond with Tug. He hoped Firebolt would gain a new Ranger soon and have someone to protect and argue with.
Now it was late afternoon and they had arrived at the inn. They hadn't encountered highwaymen this time, only a talkative farmer who shared their fire and told them stories of his three pigs who were probably smart enough to build themselves houses, although one was certainly smarter than the others and likely would be the only one to keep a wolf away if he came knocking. Will thought the man had missed his true calling as a traveling storyteller.
They left the horses standing in front of the inn, with Kicker the big battle horse looking like a mother hen with three chicks next to the much smaller Ranger horses. When Will pushed the door open, he was nearly knocked backward by 27 kilograms of happy Teutlandt Shepherd, wildly licking his face and whining with joy.
"Get off me, Beast," he told the young dog with mock annoyance. Toot got down and stood panting, looking at Will, his body almost vibrating with expectancy. Will couldn't resist. He went down on his knees and took the regal head in his left hand, scratching behind Toot's ear. Toot pushed his head into Will's hand in a doggy hug, his tail fanning the air.
"That dog has not been himself until this moment," said Granny, coming toward them. "He would hardly eat and just lay watching the door."
"Aww, Tootles, you missed me that much?" Will asked him. In answer, Toot pushed forward until his head pressed against Will's body.
"I'd heard before that Teutlandt Shepherds chose a single person, but I've never seen it for myself," Halt commented. "Will, bring that monster and we'll go sit down and get some food."
"Food?" Horace repeated happily, and Will laughed.
At last they were seated at a table, with Toot laying on Will's feet. Halt requested some coffee, and the innkeeper brought an entire pigeon pie to the table. His wife was an excellent cook: the pastry crumbled into golden flakes, and inside the pie, the birds fell apart into the gravy, they were so tender. For a while there was no conversation around the table as they ate the savory food.
Halt was the first to look up from the trencher, and asked Granny how she had fared the days that she was in Loudbrook. She replied that she had gone for a few walks in the spring sunshine and told a few stories in the evenings but that she was growing restless. She missed her goat and her cat, and her duties as healer and midwife at home.
Halt gravely told her about the proposal of marriage from Innkeeper Muffins in Heathcliff. Her first reaction was a roar of laughter, which Will and Horace joined.
"You seem not to appreciate the great honor of being Mistress Muffins," Halt told her, still with an absolutely straight face, which sent another shout of laughter around the table.
Granny finally wiped her streaming eyes on her sleeve. "He needs a wench who can cook better than I can," she responded, which set Will and Horace giggling again.
"Come on, Granny Cooper, become Granny Muffins," he cajoled and more laughter ensued.
"In all seriousness, it mightn't be a bad place," she said, "but I have my home and my life to go back to."
"Poor man needs a goodwife after that Scotti spy," Horace pleaded, but he couldn't keep the teasing out of his tone.
Granny snorted. "A man who'll up and marry any wench who comes along, including a Scotti spy, is NOT going to marry me."
"You're quite a woman, Nemwyn Cooper," Halt said fondly. "I'm glad you're my friend."
She patted his hand. "Now, ye lot o' brigands, tell me your stories! It's been a busy week for ye."
While they sipped the hot sweet coffee, Will, Halt and Horace took turns telling her all about the defeat of the Scotti invaders and the capture of the three spies. She listened with active delight, giving ooo's and ahhh's at satisfyingly regular intervals. When they had finished, she said, "Good! Those northern rogues shan't get Araluen to turn into more howling banshees."
"Is that what they would do?" Halt asked, so dryly that it set off the giggles in Will and Horace again.
"They certainly howled," Will commented, gasping through his laughter, and described the noise that the Scottis made as they landed on the beach.
"You know," Halt said, "I need to bring these Skandian mercenaries to the attention of Oberjarl Erak. He may not like the idea that some of his wolf ships have become pleasure crafts for anyone who can pay."
"Never thought I'd hear you call a wolf ship a pleasure craft," said Will in imitation of Halt's dry tone. He remembered how seasick Halt became whenever he went on board one of the Skandian sailing vessels.
Laughter bloomed around him again, and he assumed Halt was shooting him dirty looks, which, since he couldn't see them, he gleefully ignored.
They talked long into the night, and then rode home at an easy pace the next day. Halt allowed Granny to mount Firebolt, getting her to repeat the horse's passphrase without knowing why she was saying it. She still complained about having to ride, but went along with her usual grace.
Once they returned home and Horace continued on to Castle Redmont and the Battle-School, Granny insisted on treating Will's arm every day or two until it healed completely. "Can't have ye losing the use of it; ye need to shoot that big bow of yours," she told him firmly. Will agreed wholeheartedly with that sentiment and submitted to her ministrations until the cut healed up and his arm, though stiff and weak, was mended.
He was worried when he couldn't draw back his bow the first time but Halt didn't seem concerned. He merely told Will to be patient and keep trying every day. Will did as he was told and soon was pulling the heavy bow back to full draw.
As spring warmed into summer, Will spent time every day on his running, the obstacle course, shooting, knife-throwing, riding and of course his chores. But the bulk of his interest centered around training Toot.
Ever since the dog had pulled him back from the cliff in Norgate fief, he had begun to realize what a useful team member a dog could be.
One day, he discovered another skill that Toot brought to their partnership.
He had bemoaned the fact that he couldn't track. Tracking, he discovered, was something he couldn't do by touch. Noticing a bent blade of grass or the brush of a footprint simply required keen vision.
"What am I going to do?" he asked Halt in despair one night as they sat together on the veranda making arrows and twisting rope.
Halt was silent for a long while, which told Will he had an idea and was working it through in his mind.
"Wait for ten minutes," he told Will. "Then tell Toot to find me."
Will frowned in confusion. "Find Halt" was already a skill he had taught Toot weeks ago, and whether he was in the stable, the archery field or at the woodpile, Toot had no trouble locating him and leading Will there, acting inordinately pleased with himself every time he did it.
Still, Will knew that Halt always had a reason for what he said, so he waited what felt like about ten minutes (he hadn't yet figured out an alternative to the sand timer that he couldn't see or that his fingers disrupted the flow of sand through the narrow, carved wood opening), and stepped off the veranda, calling Toot to him. He slipped the harness handle over Toot's head, and smiled at the dog's joyous enthusiasm to complete whatever task Will asked him to do.
"Find Halt," Will instructed, and was surprised when Toot led him, not around to the stable or out to the play field but straight into the thickest part of the woods that surrounded the cabin. Will felt a flash of worry. Where were they going and why was Halt clear out here?
Holding his hand in front of his face to ward off branches, he doggedly followed Toot, who, nose to the ground, pulled him around bushes, through thickets and what felt like walking in circles.
Suddenly he stopped, his entire body wagging with joy.
"Toot, where in the world have you brought us?" Will asked in exasperation. "Halt would not have come out here!"
He nearly jumped out of his cloak when Halt's voice spoke quietly not half a meter in front of Will. "You should trust your dog."
"Aah! Halt!" Will exclaimed. "What are you doing out here?"
"Finding out if you could track me," replied Halt, still more quietly.
"But I didn't track you," replied Will in exasperation. "Toot led me…" He stopped suddenly as it dawned on him. "Toot can track?" he asked wonderingly.
"Dogs use smell, not sight," Halt explained. "But yes most dogs can follow a trail. In fact, some people in Hibernia have been experimenting with using dogs they call wolfhounds exclusively as trackers. They find game mostly, but I've wondered if the Rangers might try using dogs to find criminals or poachers."
"We can show them Toot's ability!" Will exclaimed. "I've never seen anything like that! It would have taken me four times longer to track you back when I could see."
Halt agreed, and they walked together back to the cabin.
Another skill Will worked with Toot on mastering was the ability to hold absolutely still and hide. This one was much harder for the excitable young shepherd.
At first Will had him sit. He stood beside him, the cowl of his cloak pulled far over his face. When Halt came to check on them, however, Toot always moved his head or wagged his tail, and the movement gave away their position.
"Try making him lay down," Halt suggested. So Will taught Toot to lay on the ground, his nose between his paws and his tail tucked in. Then they worked on holding the position. Halt still said he could see the dog's eyes as he looked up at Halt, but Will felt that it was a good start.
He trained Toot to assume the same low crouch whenever he had his bow out. He was worried he'd accidentally hit the rambunctious pup, so he taught the dog to stay behind him or crouch down whenever the bow came up.
Toot accompanied Will on the obstacle course. He loved jumping and running along the course and though he couldn't manage the rope bridge, he found an alternate route that brought him to the rope swing across the stream. The first time Will managed the rope swing while carrying Toot across his shoulders, he felt as giddy as the dog acted. Toot could jump a surprising distance, however, and he usually jumped down and met Will at the finish.
On walks into the village, he trained Toot to guide him to certain landmarks so he knew where he was. And on rides with Tug, Toot stretched his strong, young body out in a run as they raced across the meadows. He liked to run with Will too, who found that a short rope tether worked well instead of the rigid handle.
Again, it was the small things with Toot that proved to be the most frustrating. Toot's propensity to get distracted and rush away after a hare drove Will towards madness when he couldn't seem to stop the dog doing it.
As usual, he shared his lack of success with Halt, whose laconic response was, "just give him time" or "keep trying," both of which Will found extremely unsatisfying.
Halt knew why. As midsummer passed, the time drew near for the Ranger Gathering. Though Will rarely spoke of it, Halt knew it was much on his mind.
It was on Halt's mind as well. Although he himself was a senior and well-respected member of the Corps, and he planned to present their case, he didn't know how the other Rangers would view a blind apprentice Ranger. Crowley, the Ranger commandant, was in charge of organizing missions and reporting to King Duncan, but the Corps was an independent-thinking group and made decisions on new Rangers by consensus, not because Crowley or Halt decided. And some of those Rangers did not like change, nor would they welcome someone they felt they could not trust with their lives. Will would have to prove himself, maybe above and beyond what the other apprentices would have to do, and Halt hoped it would be enough.