AN: First off, I would like to thank Ranger Lauren and Dawnpoolnot for being my only two reviewers. You really keep my spirits up. Second I would like to say I'm so sorry for how long it has taken me to update. With the holidays coming up and finals in college, I have been so busy. And my manager decided that since I didn't have class thanksgiving week that I could work every single day this week. Anyways sorry again for how long it has taken me to update.
Disclaimer: Again I don't own any of the Ranger Apprentice series.
The sun was shining brightly outside when Taryn woke to a soft knock on the door. Still lying in bed she called out for the person to enter. Audry pushed to door open with her shoulder as she entered carrying a large serving tray that held a plate full of fresh bread, fresh fruit and something else that Taryn couldn't make out.
"Good morning! How did you sleep?" Audry asked as she crossed the room to set the tray on the table. "Morning, very well, I slept like a rock. What time is it anyway?" Taryn asked as she started to stretch forgetting about her shoulder wound.
"Ouch!" she cried. "Oh Miss Taryn you shouldn't have tried to stretch, you'll pull the stitching out." Audry said as she rushed over to Taryn and helped her sit up in the bed, then went around the bed to check her patients shoulder for any bleeding.
"Well you didn't pull any stiches out, but next time try not to stretch in the morning or even at all." Audry said when she finished her exam of the shoulder wound. "As for what time it is, it is around noon. Aidan told me not to wake you, to let you sleep till you woke up naturally."
"Around noon? I never sleep that late." Taryn was surprised, even when she gets a cold every now and again she never slept till noon; she would always wake up maybe an hour after she would normally get up.
"Well you are recovering from a very dangerous poison." Audry said as she walked back over to the table and picked up the tray of food. "Yeah, I guess. Where is Aidan?" Taryn asked as she watched Audry bring the food over to her.
"He's riding over to your farm to let your friend Jackson know that you're awake so he can come and see you. You know we had to kick him out because he was in the way all the time. Aidan finally told him to leave and that he would go get him if you woke up or didn't make it." Audry finished as she handed Taryn the plate holding the fresh fruit and bread.
"Oh, this looks so good." Taryn said when she received the plate. It held several strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and an apple. "This bread smells delicious."
"Thank you, I learned how to make it from my mother, but in my opinion she makes it better than I do. I didn't know which berry you like better so I just gave you a little of each one." Audry replied. "Well I like them all" Taryn said as she reached for a blueberry and popped it into her mouth.
Taryn sat eating her breakfast, while Audry asked questions about what Taryn did for a living. Taryn being more than willing to answer but still keep the trade secrets on how they train the horses answered her questions with out fail. Eventually the topic turn from horse training to general back ground questions like, where were you born, any siblings, pretty much anything along those lines.
Taryn learned that Audry was the youngest of eight children. She was also a twin, and that there where two other sets of twins in her family. She was one of three girls and never cared for girlish things until her eldest sister got married and she was one of the bridesmaids, after that it was dresses and bows for the rest of her years.
Audry learned that Taryn started learning how to trick ride when she was eight, finished her apprenticeship as a horse trainer when she was eighteen, two years earlier then normal. She also has a younger brother and sister who live with her parents near Castle Araluen. Never wears her hair down. It is always up in either a braid or a messy bun. Loves horses hence the apprenticeship choice.
Taryn and Audry talked most of the morning before Audry finally said that she must go gather the herbs from the garden before the sun rises any more or the herbs would be to dry for use.
"When do you think Aidan will be back?" Taryn asked as she lay back in the bed. "He should be back any time now, He said he would try to be back before noon." Audry said as the gathered up the plates and set them on the tray to be taken out when she left the room.
"Ok, when you go would you leave the door open please? I'm so tried of seeing these four walls." Taryn asked.
"You've only been awake for a morning and you are already feeling stir crazy, Goodness I would hate to see you when you where little on a rainy day." Audry laughed, as she obliged Taryn request. "When the door is open it looks out into the main room, you should be able to see when Aidan gets in."
"Thank you so much for breakfast Audry, and yes I admit I was quit the monster on a rainy day." Taryn smiled as Audry giggled and bid her a restful day.
The day wore on and on it seemed to Taryn as she lay in her bed with nothing to do but think and listen for when Aidan got back. With nothing to do, Taryn went over the events leading up to the shooting. Her thoughts kept going back to the handsome young Ranger who she met. Thinking back to the conversation they had before she left with Mark, she wondered if he was ok. Wondering if his mission had gone well and if he still wanted to come see her when he got back. Little did she know that said Ranger was on his way there at that very moment to investigate the shooting and death of a fellow Ranger.
Wondering when she would also be able to see Mark and ask him how he was feeling. Taryn was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't hear Aidan and Jackson enter the house until she was pulled into a bone-crushing hug that brought her back to earth.
"I'm so happy you are finally awake! Do you know how worried I've been? I've be loosing my mind, the only thing that kept me from really losing it was the fact that I still had to take care of the horses." Jackson rattled off so fast Taryn only really heard was 'loosing it and taking care of the horses'.
"I'm ok now Jackson, and I'm sorry I scared you." Taryn said as she hugged him back but with less force behind it as her shoulder was still healing. "Have you heard anything on how Mark is doing? I'd like to see him and talk with him." She asked as she pulled away from Jacksons hug.
"Oh, honey, Aidan didn't tell you?" Jackson said glancing back at Aidan who was standing in the doorway.
"I thought it better to tell her when you where here." Aidan said as he walked into the room and sat down in one of the bedside chairs. Jackson who was still sitting on the edge of the bed opted to stay there so he was close to Taryn for the news. Taryn sensed that the news, what ever it was, was not good news.
"Taryn, when you got to the village Mark had already lost too much blood for the arrow, it had pierced one of his lungs. He died a few minutes after you both arrived." Aidan explained softly to Taryn while he held on of her hands.
Taryn jerked back in grief. "What? NO, he can't be dead. He was still alive when I looked back at him before I got hit! He CAN'T be dead." She started to cry as she said this. Jackson gathered her up in his arms and he held her until she fell asleep.
"So Aidan? What do we do know?" Jackson asked as he laid Taryn back down in the bed and arranged the covers over her. When he finished that he took her hand and just held it, waiting for the Healer to answer him.
Aidan answered after a minute or so. "If our information is correct, the Ranger Corps will be sending someone to investigate the death. We need to lay low for a while, then when the Ranger leaves we can continue with our plans."
AN: Dun Dun Dun. 0_0 what's going to happen? Hope you enjoyed it. I most likely will not be updating till after finals are done and over with, that will be at the end of November through to the first week of December. Then the store that I work at will be having it's Grand Opening and I most likely will be to tired in the evenings to even get on my computer so I probably will not be updating till around the middle of December. Hope you like this chapter, I know its kind of a filler chapter but I promise that it will make sense in the later chapters. Happy Thanksgiving! P.S feel free to message me with ideas on the story! Also I'm too tired to think up a name for this chapter so for now it's just Chapter 9.