Ch 4 Hunting Time
Silence his companion
Wicked in his wrath
He'll catch you all someday
And you'll pay
For your dark past
Once they returned to Rannel's farm, he said goodbye to his brother. He didn't have to worry about the locked doors, All of his brothers had been given keys in the past, though only Gedrun knew about the hidden chamber.
He only stayed long enough for the men to round up his herd of horses, he wanted to see which were missing, it would make it easier if he knew the beasts he was tracking. There were about a dozen missing, some of his best broodmares. Then he started, combing the perimeter of his land for any sign of the horses. It was on the north side that he found the first signs. Careless, he thought to himself, they had left the gate ajar, not enough that any of the cattle would have noticed and escaped, but he could see.
He dismounted and examined the ground, grateful that the huntsman on his father's estate had taught him to track as a boy. He had always been looking for new skills, and made sure to keep them up. He used to play tracking games with Marren. He stopped as the wave of anguish hit him at the thought. He stood shaking for a moment before he was able to remount.
He had the trail now, he knew he was going to have to learn more control, if he lost it when he found them, it wouldn't be good, he thought grimly.
The trail wound around to the west before he found their first campsite. He tied Shadow and Mist to a tree well away from the camp and went over it carefully, he needed to know as much as he could about the enemy.
He shook his head in disgust as he looked over the camp, What a bunch of pigs, he thought to himself, garbage was strewn across the camp, here and there he found things that had come from his farm, they must have been going through the booty.
His breath hissed through his teeth when he saw one of the items, he carefully picked up the bronze necklace, whoever had thrown it had picked out the stone. He gently cradled it to his chest, his hand tightening slowly. He had given it to Graella for their first anniversary, she never took it off.
Roughly he put it in his pouch, and continued the search. He froze when he saw one of the footprints in the dried mud, he knew that print, it was Farnam, one of the hands he had hired this last season. I have you, a surge of pure joy shot through him.
Soon he was able to tell that there were about fifteen of them, he wasn't sure, but two looked to be injured. One definitely was, even if he hadn't seen the bloody knife, the way the prints looked, with one deeper than the other, he could tell the man was limping.
And he could see the remnants of one of his sheets torn, and in a nearby bush, a bloodied rag, that must have been a previous bandage. He wished the trail had been fresher, but he had to take the time to get his brother, before going on the trail.
He sighed and went back to his horses.
Over the next two days the signs were getting fresher, then what he feared happened, they split up with ten heading north, and the other five heading towards the trade road.
He ended up following the smaller group, Farnam was with them, he would make him tell who the others were. Once on the trade road he had to stop at every town and tavern to ask about his quarry, it slowed him down so it was nearly two weeks before he found the first sign of them.
"Friends of yours" the server asked when he mentioned Farnam and his companions.
"No, they owe me" he said softly.
"Not surprised" the girl said. "They snuck out without paying their bill, stiffed Maressa too" she added.
"Could you describe the four with Farnam" he asked.
"I'm not sure" she said slowly, looking at him hopefully.
"Maybe this will help" he said slipping her a coin.
She nodded and the coin disappeared quickly. "One's tall, looks like a scarecrow, he even has hair that looks like straw, Two of the others could be twins, dark hair, almost black, like yours" she said looking up. "They had grey eyes though, the fourth man had red hair and green eyes, that one had a bad limp" she said thoughtfully.
He nodded "My thanks, do you know when they left town" he asked.
"Two days ago, I think they were going to join a caravan as guards" she said. "I hope that helps, you'll make them pay" she asked.
"They'll pay" he said, she shivered at the look in his eyes.
It took three days to catch up to the men, he had taken a wrong turn on the road and had to backtrack, by the time he found them, they had already joined the caravan.
It was a large one, and the guards were diligent, an armed man riding up to the caravan had them on alert, and they stopped him before he got too far.
"What's your business" the guard asked him, others stayed close watching him carefully.
"I need to talk to your master" Rannel said carefully.
"Why should we bother him, we're not looking to hire anymore guards" the man said.
"I'm not looking for work" he said.
"Then what are you looking for" the guard asked.
Rannel sighed, he knew he wasn't going to get anywhere unless he gave the man more information, though he wasn't giving his name if he could help it, he didn't want his quarry to have any warning."There's a chance your harboring some men who are thieves and murderers".
The man shook his head, but Rannel continued "I've tracked them this far, in Parcen, I was told they were planning to join a caravan as guards".
"How do you know it's this one" he asked.
"Do you want to take a chance" Rannel asked him. "They have gotten hired in the past and come back to attack after they've gotten the information they needed" he said grimly.
"You'd better come with me, you can leave your horses with Gremmal" he said, Turning he looked at the others. "Talk to no one, if they're here we don't want to warn them". The other men nodded. And Rannel dismounted giving his reins to the man.
He followed the guard, only stiffening once when he saw a man who could have been one of those the barmaid had described.
Soon they came to a tent a little larger than the others "Master Geren" he called out.
A man poked his head out the tents flap, Rannel recognized him, he had traveled with him in the past. "Rannel" he asked doubtfully, not sure that this grim stranger was the same man he had traded jokes with two years ago.
"Yes" Rannel said. "It's me".
"What's wrong" he asked.
"Maybe we should sit, this might take awhile and I don't want to stay in the open, where I might be seen" he said.
He nodded and waved Rannel into the tent.
"You know I take an annual trip to the Fenscrossing horse fair"he asked Geren.
"Yes, you've gone with my caravan there in the past" he said.
"This year, when I arrived home, everyone was dead, my family, my men and some of my cattle" he swallowed hard before continuing. I was able to determine that about fifteen men were involved. At least two were injured. They took twelve of my best broodmares. They split up several days ago. I was able to track the smaller group to Parcen, where I was told they had left looking for work at a caravan." he paused.
Geren had stayed quiet while he had talked "Can you describe these men" he asked.
He nodded "One's named Farnam, he's short, brown hair and dark eyes, almost black. One's tall, I've heard him described as a scarecrow" he said.
"I know them" Geren said nodding. "Go on" he said to Rannel.
"There are two that looked related they had dark hair and grey eyes, the last one has red hair and a limp, maybe a bad knife wound".he finished.
"Yes, a group can in and joined as guards yesterday, I wasn't sure about Bert, the red haired fellow, but the other's said he was fine". He frowned then added "You said they have gotten themselves hired to get information before attacking" he asked Rannel.
"Yes, Farnam worked for me this last summer, I thought he was lazy and wondered why he chose to work for me, but he did work if you pushed him" he said.
Geren turned to the guard who had been listening "Get me fifteen good men, but quietly, we don't want to alert them". The guard nodded and left. Geren turned back to him "I'm sorry for your loss, Graella was a lovely woman and I'm honored to have known her" he said gravely.
Rannel swallowed hard, but kept in control "She spoke kindly of you" he said.
When the men came they were told who they were to take prisoner, it went much more smoothly than Rannel could have hoped for. Soon the five were tied and marched into the caravan master's tent.
Farnam's eyes widened when he saw Rannel standing at the side of Geren, his helmet under one arm.
"You" he whispered.
"Yes, me" Rannel answered his eyes holding his, a cold anger in their depths.
Farnam swallowed, his blood turned to ice, he glanced wildly around looking for escape, but there was none.
"You're just a farmer" he said quickly "you can't do anything to me".
"Did I ever mention my father's name to you" Rannel asked.
"No" Farnam whispered.
"Perhaps you've heard of Lord Marren" he asked the man.
Farnam started shaking.
"If not, you will, you've killed his grandson".
After that the questioning went quickly, he found out where the other men were headed, near a small town halfway to Valdemar named Timmersdale. When the men had been led away Rannel made arrangements for the men to be sent to his father, and the three horses that were his to be sent back to Gedrun.
"Please at least stay the night before you go" Geren asked.
Rannel nodded "Very well, one day won't matter".
"I want to replenish your trail rations too" he waved off Rannel's objections. "It's the least I can do, I can't leave the caravan or give you any of my men, especially now that five of them are gone".
He nodded.
The next morning Rannel felt better for the rest, he packed and was ready to leave, when one of the guards came in as he and Geren were eating breakfast.
"Jethric's gone" he said to Master Geren.
"Jethric" he asked, then he remembered, Jethric was the one that had recommended they hire the five men "Damn" he said.
"What is it" Rannel asked.
"I think we missed one" he said.
"I only tracked five here" Rannel said.
"Jethric was here already, he was someone I had hired before, it was on his bond that we hired the others". Geren said.
"What does he look like I need a good description" Rannel sighed, now the man had a good start, there was a good chance that he would warn the other's.
"He's an average looking man, but he had a large gold ring he's very proud of".
"Aye" the guard said. "I've seen the ring, it's got a large red gem on it, and a strange design on the side".
"Thanks" Rannel said. "I need to leave as soon as possible, he's gotten a head start".
Master Geren nodded "May the Gods be with you" he said as they walked to the horses.