A/N: Still binging Norton Graham, in search of a clip that involves a pineapple. They have referenced it 3x and I can NOT find it! Ugh.
Hammy: I actually had to Google that...I had no idea what it was. Yep. Tense.
TheRanger'sDaughter: You'll have to wait a little longer to find that one out :)
AER: Mildly intense...what constitutes majorly intense?
Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan.
Reese couldn't help stealing a few glances towards Gabe as he prepared to leave the camp. They hadn't stayed long. The Rangers wanted to follow the trail while it was still fresh, and Hibernia was infamous for its flash floods this time of year. Will, Alyss, Russ, Liam, and Reese would continue after the boy they'd let go. Talia and Gabe would head back to Roscrea. Gabe wasn't thrilled with this decision and was clearly bitter about being forced back. Reese couldn't blame him, but his lungs had given out three times since they left Roscrea and he was in no condition to continue. Still, this was the first time Reese had ever seen the good-natured Hibernian prince so glum. He glanced to the others readying their horses and went to sit next to Gabe by the dying fire.
"You're needed by Lorelei's side," Reese tried, using the logic Alyss and Talia had when they ordered he turn back.
"I'm not a healer. I can't do anything for her," Gabe muttered coldly. Reese sighed. He may have been forced into a title he didn't ask for, but at least his organs all functioned as they should.
Talia joined them. She doused the fire with a bucket of sand and reached her hand down for Gabe's. "You're no good to anyone if your lungs give out again," she told him gently. "Come. You need to be with Lorelei."
Gabe swatted her hand away and found his feet on his own. Reese got up and walked over to the horses. He stood next to Russ, watching as Talia made another attempt to comfort Gabe.
"I've never seen him like this," Reese whispered to Russ. Russ glanced in Gabe's direction then turned back to his horse.
"He'll be alright. The bad lungs are something he needs to learn to live with."
"I can't imagine having a body that doesn't do what it should."
Russ shrugged. "I guess I'm used to Mum and Anne…and Dad with his back."
Gabe and Russ were less than a year apart in age. They'd been close growing up, often pairing off when they found themselves in the same country. Russ understood Gabe's lungs better than most. He didn't seem put off at all over Gabe's frustration. He'd clearly seen this side of Gabe before. Reese watched Talia abandon the prince to prepare their horses.
"What's it like being close to Talia?" Reese whispered. Russ's hands slowed as he adjusted a strap on his saddle.
"What do you mean?" Russ asked.
"I mean, she's your birthmother right?"
Russ nodded.
"Sometimes I wish I could know my birthmother."
Russ mounted up. "Sometimes it's not all that great," he admitted in a soft voice. "It's strange if anything."
Reese nodded. He let the conversation drop as they joined Will, Alyss, and Liam.
"Ready?" Alyss asked the younger men. Both nodded.
"Good," Will said before heeling Tug through the trees. The others followed in a single file.
Will led the way, tracking the boy's trampled path. He'd been in a hurry for sure. They rode until they came to the edge of a poppy farm. The crop was so large Reese wondered if they supplied the opium Caitlyn used in her research and production. Judging by the rundown state of every structure on the lot, probably not. Reese noticed Alyss touch Will's arm more than once as they navigated the crop towards the central lean-to, as though reminding him she was there every time the breeze brought an especially potent whiff of poppy to them. They came up behind the lean-to, clearly unexpected by those speaking inside.
"We need to find more of this strand and put it into production," an older, scratchy voice mumbled.
"I can get it, sir. Just have to watch for the poachers' snares is all."
Poachers. A problem an Academy agent will have to solve when they get back.
"I expect you will. Here's your ration, boy."
"Thank you, sir!"
The same boy from before darted out. He was so focused on his ration as he ran right past them they didn't have to guess what it was a ration of. Will drew out his knife, prompting everyone else to take out a weapon as well. Reese chose a short blade with a jagged tip, designed to do clean damage.
"Follow the boy," Will ordered Alyss. She nodded, put up her hood, and went off in the direction he had. "You too, Reese. Leave this man to Rangers."
Reese wanted to protest but knew this wasn't the time. He took off after Alyss. They didn't have to go far. The boy led them straight to a makeshift camp pieced together by what appeared to be scraps from the structures on the farm. Splintered wooden boards were nailed between branches to create the main rooftops while long pieces of canvas draped over lower branches and bushes were their main source of shelter. Most opened to the elements with lack of a fourth wall, revealing pallets and cots inside.
The oldest child there couldn't be more than thirteen, Iris's age. Alyss and Reese shared a glance with one another and then dismounted and walked openly into the camp. These were children, not trained warriors. They all stared at their visitors with mild curiosity. The boy they'd been following still hadn't noticed them. He went behind one of the makeshift tents and opened an envelope the man at the lean-to had given him. He put a piece under his tongue and, satisfied, put the envelope away. That was when he finally noticed Alyss and Reese.
"Who are you?" one of the boys finally asked.
"We are looking for someone," Alyss answered with a careful tone. Clearly these children needed help. Reese surveyed their faces, moving in a slow arc. These children were gaunt. Several had far older faces than their high voices and tiny bodies matched. Some lay in their beds and shook. No one paid the shakers any mind, as though it were perfectly normal for them to do that.
"We can help you find them," a girl piped up. Even with shortened hems in style, her dress was clearly meant for someone shorter. The rest of it hung from her scrawny frame as though laid out to dry. "We're good finders."
"Yeah, we all work for Mr. Joey finding things. We're really good finders," another girl added. She came to stand next to the first. This one was just a copy of the first, only she was two inches shorter and her thin hair was slick with more grease if that was possible. Sisters.
"What do you usually find for Mr. Joey?" Reese asked.
"Poppies," the taller sister answered. "And he gives us poppy candy in return."
"Poppy candy?" Alyss repeated. She raised an eyebrow. "What does the poppy candy look like?"
"I'll show you," the younger girl eagerly volunteered. She pulled an envelope identical to the boy's and ran up to show them. She opened it, cautiously holding it so they could see but not touch. She wanted to protect her 'candy'. Clearly the dark green flakes inside weren't candy. Reese and Alyss shared a glance.
"Is that boy there sick?" Alyss went on, moving towards one of the tents. "He's shaking."
"Yes. He ran out of candy two days ago. He'll have to find something for Mr. Joey to get more," the younger sister explained as she put her envelope away. "Everyone is getting sick, everyone in Hibernia. The poppy candy makes the sick go away."
Alyss ducked inside and sat next to the shaking boy. She held her hand to his face. "This boy needs a physician," she said.
"Mr. Joey says the physicians can't treat the sickness because they don't know what it is. He says it's better we just stay together so it doesn't spread. We don't want to hurt our mummies and daddies," the younger sister quickly answered.
"You need to get some candy from Mr. Joey so you don't get sick," a boy piped up. "Now that you've been here with us you'll have what we have."
"We don't feel sick." Reese told him.
"You will though. You'll die if you don't get the poppy candy soon."
So that's how this Mr. Joey was controlling the children. Reese wondered how he came to collect so many.
"We're going to leave now," Alyss told the children. "And when we come back we're going to bring a physician who is smarter than Mr. Joey. You should all stay here in this camp until the physician comes. You will be safe here."
At least, Reese thought, as safe as they've been for however long Mr. Joey had them trapped. He and Alyss turned to leave, knowing there was no way they could hide among these children or take all of them along, when a tiny hand clutched Reese's tunic. He looked down to a little boy that couldn't be more than five or six. His large round eyes set far too back in his skull and his skin was far too pale for a boy the age he should be spending most of his days running around outside.
"Yes?" Reese asked as he knelt down to the boy.
"Will you take the new girl with you?" the boy asked as though he were asking them to take a puppy his parents said he couldn't have.
"New girl?" Alyss repeated, coming over to them. "What new girl?"
"She's really sick. Mr. Joey makes new finders wait a week before he'll give them the candy. I don't think she'll last a week. Will you take her to the physician?"
"Where is she?" Reese asked. All the children pointed towards the smallest makeshift tent of all. Inside, the lone occupant shook just as the boy Alyss had checked on did. Her short dark locks were just barely longer than Robin's but far choppier, as though they'd been hacked at in a hurry.
The roots, though, were blonde. The blonde she'd gotten from her grandmother.
"Maggie!" Alyss exclaimed. She rolled Maggie over and pressed her hand to her cheek. Maggie's eyes opened but not for long. She clearly hadn't recognized her grandmother. Reese went next to Alyss, reaching for Maggie's arm.
"Alyss, we should probably leave. Now."
Alyss nodded. Reese scooped Maggie up into his arms and carried her over to his horse. Alyss helped him balance Maggie while he mounted and then went to her own horse. Reese kept his arms around Maggie, knowing she had no balance of her own. He held her in front of him as he followed Alyss back to the campsite they'd been at just the night before. Alyss dismounted first and went to reach up for Maggie. Maggie slumped into her arms with no awareness. Alyss lowered her to the ground, cradling the lanky ten year old as though she were an infant. Reese dismounted and loosened both their saddles before joining Alyss on the ground. Alyss hummed to her while stroking her short hair. The dress she wore wasn't the dress she'd been kidnapped in for sure. It looked more like the dresses Hibernian Couriers wore, only Maggie didn't have the accessories that typically accompanied the green dress. It'd clearly been made for an older girl, perhaps one closer to Reese's age than Maggie's.
"Maggie?" Alyss whispered as her granddaughter continued to shake. Maggie turned into Alyss' warmth, but said nothing. Alyss readjusted her grip and bent down to kiss Maggie's forehead. "She's cold."
"Here," Reese offered his cloak. It was made from the same water resistant material Ranger cloaks were made from. It enveloped Maggie in warmth. Though she sweated profusely, her skin was cool to the touch. They sat together, both trying to work some warmth into Maggie, until the Rangers returned.
"Where's our friend?" Reese asked as he stood to meet them.
"Dead," Will answered. "And good riddance."
"He tried to say we didn't have the authority to take him in and put up a fight. Even after Liam revealed himself as the queen's father he argued," Russ muttered. Clearly the man had annoyed them.
"Who do you have there?" Liam asked, noticing the tiny body in Alyss' lap. Alyss looked to Will, her eyes clear with worry. Will knelt next to his wife and pushed back a strand of Maggie's hair. He recognized her immediately.
"No," he whispered, taking her from Alyss into his own arms. "Maggie knows better than to put that stuff in her mouth. We taught her…"
"Let's not put blame on Maggie," Alyss quickly interjected. "How long will she be like this?"
"Maggie?" Will whispered, cupping her cheek in his palm. "Maggie, open your eyes for me."
Maggie only shoved his hand away. She curled up in his arms, going towards the warmth, as though she were simply trying to sleep.
"She needs a healer," Will said firmly. "I'm taking her to Gabby."