Chapter 29

Will next went to find Toot where he had left him and told him to stay, next to his tent. He hadn't wanted Toot with him during the morning's trial but this afternoon he certainly did. He wondered if having the dog help him with tracking was "cheating?"

He decided to go ask in advance. After he had taken Toot to the stream for a drink and fed him lunch, Will told the dog to go find Halt. Toot joyfully did so, taking Will to where Halt stood at the common fire talking to Crowley in low tones. He saw Will approach and greeted him with the usual, "Will."

"Halt, I need to find the leader of the tracking trial," Will said urgently.

"You've found him," Crowley said with a smile. "I'm leading the tracking trial this year."

"You are?" Will asked in surprise. Crowley's administrative duties usually kept him too busy to lead any of the trials.

"A Ranger needs to have a little fun now and then," Crowley said.

"Well, then, it's you I need to ask," Will said in a rush. "I need Toot with me for the tracking trial. Is that cheating?"

"The dog?" Crowley asked. Then, almost to himself, "I wondered how you were going to do this one. Makes sense." Aloud, he said, "you can use anything that gets you to the goal. As far as I'm concerned anything that helps you track a deer or a brigand in the wild is fair to use here."

Will breathed a sigh of relief. "Isn't Unseen Movement the same way?" he asked.

Crowley stopped him. "Gilan is the leader of that trial. It will be up to him to announce the results."

Will pressed his lips together in frustration, but he knew Crowley was right. Even as commandant, it wasn't his right to dictate another leader's trial results.

"We'll start soon," Crowley reminded him.

The apprentices and Crowley were beginning to congregate in the common area near the fire. Once they were all the together, Crowley announced the rules for his trial.

"We'll start south of here about a kilometer," he said. "To get away from the jumble of tracks we've all made here the last two days. Each of you will follow one set of tracks. I sent five Rangers out to the starting place before lunch. They each walked in a different direction: west, southwest, south, southeast and east. A stick marks the beginning of each trail. You'll follow the trail until you find your Ranger's hiding spot and he will give you a token. Bring that token back to me here to pass the trial."

His unspoken words also rang in the air: the first person back will gain prestige as well. Everyone knew the Rangers all waited to see who the best new tracker was.

Will smothered a grin. He knew he had an advantage in this trial with Toot and it felt good to finally be confident about something.

The group followed Crowley south to the starting place: a small meadow surrounded by woods. They drew straws again to determine placement and Will was given the southbound trail.

"I'll show you where your stick is," Crowley told him.

"Thanks, but don't touch it please," begged Will.

"All right," Crowley answered, sounding a little confused.

He took Will and Toot to the spot where a stick was planted in the ground with a small strip of cloth attached. Will touched it with the toe of his boot to make sure he knew where it was.

"Everyone at your trails?" Crowley asked. When he received five affirmative answers, he announced, "start!"

Four other boys started off into the woods immediately, but Will knelt down with an arm around Toot. He showed Toot the stick, reasoning that the man he would follow had handled the stick when he thrust it into the ground. Toot sniffed at the stick obediently.

"Find him," Will commanded. "Find this," he indicated the stick. It wasn't much to go on, but Toot seemed up to the challenge. Will held his rope loosely, the guide handle down on Toot's back. Toot sniffed around beyond the stick for a bit, then set off purposefully into the woods with Will behind him.

Many times, Will wished he had brought his staff during the hour-and-a-half that followed. Toot led him through thickets, up hills, down hills, across fallen logs and over little streamlets. Once in a while, he stopped to search for the scent, but he always seemed to pick it up again quickly.

Finally, they walked through a cedar grove. The ground underfoot was smooth dirt and the cool air felt calm and serene.

Ahead of him, a voice said, "well, would you look at that. The blind kid and his dog found me."

Will couldn't hold in his grin. "Yessir," he said to the Ranger.

"Here's your token," the man said and Will held out a hand for it. A carved wooden oak leaf was placed in his palm.

"Thank you," Will said sincerely. He put it into his belt pouch for safekeeping.

"Well done, young man," said the Ranger, whose voice Will didn't recognize.

"Thank you," Will said again.

"Better head back," advised the man. "You may be in the running for first place."

Will bobbed his head one more time, and turned, grasping Toot's guide handle.

"Toot! Find halt! Go back!" He gave the handle a little shake. Toot was as keen as Will was. He threaded his way directly toward camp, with Will running alongside whenever the way was clear enough to run. There was still some scrambling to do, but Will made pretty good time back toward the camp.

"Find Halt, Find Crowley," Will repeated, hoping they were both there. The dog led him up near the fire and Will gasped to catch his breath.

"Will!" Crowley exclaimed. "Well done," he said as Will held out the wooden oak leaf. "You're number two."

"Not first? Who is first?" Will asked once he had his breath.

"Denis came in a few minutes ago," Crowley told him. The boy was a year older than Will, a fourth-year apprentice and was hoping to earn his silver oak leaf this year. He had been the best shot in the archery trial and the last caught in the unseen movement trial, not counting Will.

"I guess that's not too surprising," Will commented, and headed down to the brook to wash his face and get a drink. Toot drank also, and after Will took his harness off, he gave himself a shake. His attitude seemed to be "I did good!"

"You did!" Will told him, taking the dog's head in both of his hands. Toot touched Will's nose with his, and Will laughed. He ruffled Toot's ears, one of which still tended to flop forward.

Will had some time to relax before dinner, so he visited Tug, taking an apple. Spending a little time with the horse and dog was just what Will needed.

At dinner, Crowley announced the results of the tracking trial. All five boys had brought in their oak leaf, although the last two had taken many hours to do so. Many of the Rangers expressed surprise at Will's second place result until they learned that the dog had helped. Most of them had heard of dogs trained in tracking although none had considered using them in the Ranger Corps. The other boys were given a chance to tell the details of their afternoon and what they found challenging or successful. Will leaned back against Toot, who lay behind him. He held his mug of sweet coffee and took contented sips as he listened to the talk around the fire.

Halt decided this evening was a good time to show the other Rangers the writing he and Will had developed.

He got out some parchment and wax wicks, demonstrating how the tactile writing was both an unreadable code and how it could be read in the dark. Many of the Rangers showed interest in the new idea and wanted to learn. Another Ranger showed how he had carved a space inside a wooden toy to conceal a message. Another, whose father had been a leatherworker, demonstrated a slight alteration to the leather thumb cuffs that Rangers used as restraints. The new design made them easier to slip on and harder to get off once they had tightened. From there, the talk drifted to gossip and girlfriends. Will listened and took part in the banter for a while, then headed to his tent. It had been another long day.

The trials set for the next day were running and knife-throwing. Running with Toot posed no problem for Will and he held his own in the trial. He doubted he could have come in first even back when he could see, since Lionel, the winning boy, was lanky and very fast.

In knife throwing, he had someone tap the wooden target with a stick to give him a sound to aim for and again he did well but not outstanding. All the boys passed the trial, and both they and their mentors were praised for their diligent practice.

Halt and several other Rangers had spent the last few days setting up an obstacle course for agility similar to the one he and Will had made at home. Will took time that afternoon to slowly feel his way over the whole thing. After several practice runs to get a feel for it, he and Toot ran it together as fast as they could, causing the spectators to laugh at Toot's antics.

Toot had become a celebrity with the boys and some of the younger Rangers. Whenever he wasn't working, someone would call him to run with them or tug on a stick or play chase.

That night Gilan came to sit with Halt and Will in front of their tents.

Halt greeted him, but Will said nothing.

"Listen, Will," he began awkwardly. "I'm sorry… you know, when you first came. I was sore about your dog ruining my joke…" he seemed to have trouble admitting this, but he ploughed on. "I'm sorry I was so… I mean thinking you didn't belong here, because of… you know."

Will wasn't sure what to say. He didn't feel quite ready to wholly forgive Gilan, and the matter of his unseen movement trial still hung undecided.

Halt, usually taciturn, was the one who spoke. "At first, I underestimated Will too," he said honestly. "When he first lost his sight and couldn't find his way around the cabin, I didn't know what we were going to do."

"Really?" Will asked him. "I didn't know that. I was scared too."

"We learned together," continued Halt, "but it took a long time. It took me a long time to trust him, to know he could look out for himself. When he talked Crowley into letting him go north, I was angry at first. I didn't want him to get hurt."

Halt had never talked this candidly about him before, and Will listened, fascinated.

"I didn't know if he could be a Ranger or not. It's a tough job," Halt said. "I wouldn't expect you to get over that in one day."

Halt's words seemed to open something in Gilan. Words poured out, confiding in his former mentor, drawing on the years of training and trust. "I don't know!" he burst out. "I don't know what to do, how to be. I feel like I'm doing something wrong and I don't even know how to talk… like I want to look him in the eyes, but I know he won't look and…" he fell silent for a few moments. "I worry too about… what if we are fighting together someday and…" Gilan didn't finish the statement, aware that what he was about to say sounded hurtful.

"I've fought twice now, since I went blind," Will said softly.

"How can you… how do you…?" Gilan struggled to ask.

"Hand-to-hand," Will said simply. "Get in close." He suddenly knew what would change Gilan's mind, get the man to accept him, and also allow himself to release all of the pent-up frustration and anger that had built up during the week.

Without warning, and with the lighting reflexes of a young cat, Will lunged past Halt and tackled Gilan where he sat on the ground. Gilan wasn't expecting it, but he was a fully trained Ranger and he reacted swiftly.

Will had intended to go for Gilan's throat, but he missed, instead landing his weight and momentum on the taller man's chest. Gilan rolled to the side, throwing Will off; then as though all of his confusion and anger came surging to the top, he attacked. Will was glad: in that moment, he and Gilan were equals again.

"It's dark," Gilan ground out between clenched teeth.

"I know, isn't it great?" Will goaded back with gasping breaths, and then Gilan was on top of him. Just as the bigger man's weight came down, Will rolled toward him, letting the momentum throw Gilan off-balance. He grabbed him around the waist and used his own body weight to toss Gilan on his side. Gilan was taller, heavier and more experienced, but Will was wiry and fast, and much more determined. He had an arm around Gilan's neck but Gilan put his left leg forward and reversed, sliding out from under Will's hold.

Normally fighting was discouraged at the Ranger Gathering, but when a few of the older Rangers heard the fight and came over to find out what what happening, Halt whispered to them to let the boys get it out of their systems. The men gave understanding nods in the dark but stayed to watch anyway.

Gilan got hold of Will's shoulder and threw a hard left hook, which started Will's nose bleeding. Will ducked under Gilan's arm and got onto his back, pinning his arms. Gilan responded by flipping Will over his head, crashing into Will's tent.

Will realized it was probably fully dark by this time and that Gilan might have trouble finding him. He rolled over twice, and then lay still. He was right; Gilan staggered this way and that trying to find Will but having no luck. Will waited until he stumbled closer and then jumped toward Gilan, driving his head into Gilan's gut and pushing the air from his lungs. Gilan fell backward, and Will pinned his arms. For a moment, Gilan resisted, and then relaxed. The fight was over.

Will released him and then took his hand to help him up. Gilan was still gasping for breath.

"You're a little wildcat," he rasped.

"A little BLIND wildcat," Will corrected, and this started Gilan laughing and wheezing for air.

"I never would have thought it," he said. "And you're right about the unseen movement," he added.

"I wasn't trying to make you look bad," Will explained. "Just somehow make it work."

"Yeah, I see that now," Gilan admitted. He felt for Will's hand in the dark, and holding it steady with his left, he gave Will the Ranger handshake with his right, grasping Will's forearm while Will grasped his.