We take a break from our runaway heroine to see what happens when Halt, Pauline, and Will find out Maria is gone.
Halt paced the hallway in fury. His stubborn daughter refused to come out of her room, or even answer him at the least. Pauline had tried to sweet-talk her daughter out of her her room with her diplomatic charms, but she remained a hermit in her room. Will was avoiding him at all costs, Halt didn't blame him. He had threatened to shoot his former apprentice with his bow and arrows. He never missed his target.
"Maria, you get your sorry butt out of your room right now or so help me…!" Halt threatened, but with no avail. Maybe telling her she couldn't be a Ranger wasn't such a good idea... It was too late now. Pauline walked over. She had forgiven him, but if she couldn't get Maria out of her room, no one could. She glided over to her fuming husband.
"Halt, did you try opening the door?" Pauline asked in a hushed voice. Halt opened his mouth to angrily reply that he did, in fact, try the door. But he hadn't. So Halt closed his mouth and walked over to his daughter's bedroom door.
With a twist of the knob, the door swung open with a creak. Halt let out a small grin. His daughter knew the dangers of an oiled door hinge. That grin disappeared the moment he stepped into Maria's room. In a word, it was empty. Her oak bed was made, there was no broken hearted teenager weeping under the covers. Maria's bow and arrow quiver were gone, along with her two Ranger knives. Halt looked around, taking all of this in.
Pauline walked past him to the bed. She picked up a small piece of parchment off Maria's pillow. She opened it and scanned the contents. A small gasp emitted from her, she sat down suddenly on the bed. Halt walked over and managed to wrestle the small scrap of parchment out of his wife's grasp. He read the few short words on the paper, in Maria's handwriting.
If it is a Ranger you don't want me to become, than a Ranger I shall be.
Seventeen words that will haunt Halt forever.
Will, not his usual cheerful self, walked in Maria's bedroom door. He had news for Halt and Pauline, news that would probably get him shot full of arrows. The news was in the form of a question, one that Halt might know the answer to. Will was pretty sure he knew the answer, but he hoped he was wrong. Halt looked up at his former apprentice and scowled. Will took a deep breath and said;
"Halt, did Maria go out for a ride this morning? Blizzard is gone." Halt gasped. He stood up and ran out the door, shoving Maria's goodbye letter into Will's hands as he flew by. Will scanned the document. Fear clenched his gut. He had been right. Maria had run away. Will ran out of the room too, just as Alyss walked in to greet Pauline.
"Lady Pauline! What on earth is wrong?" gasped Alyss as she rushed to comfort her former master. Two brief words summed up her fears.
"Maria's gone."
"Oh, no!" Alyss exclaimed. The small girl in the Ranger cloak she had come to love as a sister was gone.
At the stables, Halt and Will examined the ground around the stable, trying in vain to find some sort of clue to where Maria could have gone. The dew that had coated the ground was making the tracks that Blizzard had made very hard to see. It was as if the weather was covering up for Maria. Halt grabbed the nearest stone and hurled it into the woods in frustration. Will jolted up from the ground he was observing.
"Halt, I have an idea! Tug and Abelard would have seen where Maria and Blizzard would have gone!" Will exclaimed, thrilled with his stroke of genius. Halt didn't dare himself to hope too much. The two men raced into the stable, only to emerge from it a minute later with their horses in tow. Tug yanked his reins out of Will's hand and trotted back into the warm comfort of the stables, almost breaking Will's arm in the process.
"Hey! Tug, you get back out here and help us find Maria!" Will shouted, stomping after his horse. Halt sighed and could only hope that his horse didn't rebel like Tug did. Abelard stood across from him, his gaze clearly saying This is your fault.
"What? My fault? How?" whispered Halt. How could his own horse be blaming him? You told Maria she couldn't become a Ranger. You broke her heart. Therefore it is your fault. Don't expect help from me. Abelard accused Halt with a withering gaze. Halt dropped the reins in shock, as he realized that his horse's accusations were true. Abelard promptly turned and trotted back into the stables. Will came out, bruised from his round of tug-o-war with Tug. It was evident he lost. Seeing Halt standing there looking at the ground, Will asked;
"What wrong?"
Halt replied in a hushed tone, "This is my fault. I thought I was helping Maria by refusing to take her on as my official apprentice. I was wrong, and now she's gone." Will had never seen or heard Halt blame himself. He was dumbfounded.
"Who told you this?" demanded Will. I swear, whoever told Halt this was his fault...
"Abelard did." answered Halt, interrupting Will's wonderful thoughts of revenge.
"What? You talk to your horse too?" asked Will. He had thought he was the only one.
"Yes. All the Ranger's do. Didn't you know that?" replied Halt.
"No, I didn't. Let's go inside and get some coffee. I'm freezing." said Will.
"Sure." replied Halt in his usual grim fashion.
Will looked at his former mentor and said, "Halt, we'll find her. You, me, and Horace can leave as soon as he gets here. We will find Maria."
Halt looked at the man he considered his son. "Thanks, Will." he said. Halt knew that everything Will had just said was true. They would find Maria.