A/N: Maggie Part 2
TheRanger'sDaughter: Yeah. Whoever decided to let him around children wasn't thinking.
Aubrey: Yes. He is.
Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan. Neither is Raider.
The leaves crunched under the man's feet as he approached Tammy's fire. They would camp tonight, as they did every night. He swung two rabbits from his snares as he walked, their heads lolling at awkward angles. Tammy quickly looked away not wanting to incite anything more than what she had already endured over the past few days as they travelled through village after village. He walked over to Tammy and dropped the rabbits in her lap. She flinched at the corpses' sudden appearance. She righted herself quickly to keep a hard slap from following.
"Clean them," he ordered in a gruff tone.
Tammy ducked her head in obedience. How had she reverted to such a servant status so quickly? Calvin hadn't been a good husband, but he hadn't treated her like his slave the way her first husband had. She paused a long moment considering her words before she said, "May I borrow a knife to do so?"
The man paused for several moments before answering.
"Of course."
He took a knife from his belt and dropped it, point down, inches from Tammy's hand. She withdrew her hand quickly while the man laughed and walked to the edge of the clearing searching for a stick to serve as a spit. Tammy had to remind herself that, unlike Maggie, she was here willingly, posing as a weak woman who needed protection on her travels. Perhaps it wasn't as much of a pose as she thought.
Tammy moved away from Maggie to protect her from the mess of cleaning rabbits. As Daniel and Julia's daughter Maggie could probably take the task herself without batting an eye, but in her drugged state Tammy couldn't be sure of anything. She had that glazed look in her eye, proof she was currently dosed. Tammy protected her from some of the drug, but couldn't save her from all. Bringing her off completely now would probably be a bad idea anyway.
While Tammy cooked, she noticed their kidnapper fiddling with the water skin he handed exclusively to Maggie at meals. More drugs. He set the spiked water skin next to Maggie and then put the one he and Tammy drank from next to her. Tammy narrowed her eyes. He checked on dinner and then went to look over his horse. Tammy immediately snatched Maggie's water away from her and emptied the entire skin into the ground. The worms could enjoy the warmweed laced water. Maggie had enough. She took the skin of clean water and filled Maggie's smaller skin halfway.
"I'm thirsty," Maggie whispered to Tammy, reaching for the skin. Tammy quickly used her skirt to wipe warmweed residue from the top and let her take it. She sighed as Maggie drank. How had the daughter of the Ranger Commandant and his resourceful wife found herself in this position? Surely they were looking for her. Why hadn't they found her?
Glancing behind him, the kidnapper said, "Drink up, Your Grace."
As she had since Tammy joined them, Maggie tilted back her head and finished off the entire skin.
"Dinner's ready," Tammy announced.
The man nodded and held his hand out to Tammy.
"Knife," he ordered. Tammy swallowed her anger and handed him the knife she had been hoping he would forget about. He smirked when she handed it over, disregarding her as a threat. Tammy sighed. Of course she wasn't a threat. She was just a woman unlucky enough to grow up believing she needed a man to protect her. Now that no woman had to rely on a man, she had no skills to attempt independence. Even now she knew she'd rely on Elizabet's kindness to build yet another life for herself.
At least this time it wasn't a man.
The man slept in his cramped, poorly made tent while Maggie and Tammy shivered in the open air under Tammy's cloak close to the dying embers. Maggie's body shook and she moaned slightly in her sleep. Tammy hugged her close trying to keep the girl warm. It was a restless night.
The next morning, Tammy awoke when the man dumped water onto the smoking fire. It steamed and hissed, flecks of wet ash jumping onto Tammy's face. She opened an eye in annoyance.
"Time to move," he huffed. He nudged "Wake up, Princess Mara."
Maggie moaned and rolled over, trembling slightly. He looked at her curiously.
"I think she's ill," Tammy said, trying to cover for Maggie's unusual behavior. When fully on the drug, Maggie did what she was told, and stared listlessly all the while in between. Shaking meant she needed a stronger dose. "It was cold last night."
While Tammy tried to get Maggie on her feet, Tammy could feel the eyes of the man staring at her. She glanced behind her and he broke eye contact. He moved to the horse and took Maggie's water skin. Even from a distance Tammy could see it was full. He'd filled it. No doubt it was also freshly dosed.
Tammy turned back to Maggie and adjusted the tattered coat he'd given her before Tammy joined them. Maggie would ride while Tammy and the man, who changed his name with almost every village, walked. She had probably walked a quarter of Hibernia by now and her feet hurt at the very thought.
Tammy took advantage of fixing the twisted collar and whispered, "Today."
She hoped the Maggie she knew was awake inside and understood.
The man returned with Maggie's water skin. "Drink," he ordered, and stared them down into obedience. Maggie held the skin to her lips and tilted back her head, taking a long drink. "You too," he told Tammy.
Tammy pretended to sip and swallow, not daring to part her lips. She glanced quickly at Maggie, praying that the girl remembered her instructions after whatever residue of the drug touched her lips. The man turned away to fix a saddle bag.
While his head was turned, Maggie coughed violently into her arm. A mouthful of water spilled to the grass.
"Good girl," Tammy whispered. The man drank from his own skin, the one he used to share with Tammy. Maggie glanced at Tammy, nodded slightly, and then quickly looked away again, staring into space.
Once the horse was geared up the man walked over and grabbed Maggie by the arm, dragging her to the horse. "Time to go," he said and put the girl in the saddle. Before moving off, he took a roll of warmweed from its packet in his pocket, squeezed Maggie's cheeks to open her jaw, placed the dose directly in her mouth, and then gave her a light slap on the cheek. It took a few minutes but Maggie coughed again, gagging what hadn't dissolved up into spit. Tammy sighed with relief.
Maggie had remembered! Underneath her bruised mask, Tammy was ecstatic. Today they were going to escape when they came to the next village, and she knew they would. Tammy knew this area well. She could get them back to Roscrea once they were away from this man.
From the distance, a green speck grew larger as another traveler passed down the road. It was a young woman wearing a green cloak with Roscrea's insignia embroidered on the front. A Hibernian Courier.
Without warning, Maggie leapt off the horse, crashed to the ground, and ran to the young Courier before Tammy could stop her.
"Please, help us! He's kidnapped us! I need to go back to the castle!" she screamed at the Courier.
Tears flowed down Maggie's face in desperation. The Courier's eyes widened. She began to draw the lightweight sabre from under her cloak. Just then Tammy heard the rush of air and the Courier fell from her saddle, a knife embedded in her chest. Maggie screamed, and the man laughed at her fear. He urged the horse over to where Maggie stood sobbing, staring at the girl who was alive just thirty seconds before.
Tammy knew that this was the moment, although not the right one. Tammy, still walking alongside the horse, reached for the knife she'd used to skin the rabbits the night before. She then lunged for the cruel man.
"Run Maggie!" Tammy yelled. Maggie looked at Tammy. She grabbed the Courier's bag and darted away. "Run to the village! I'll find you there!"
The lanky 10 year-old, though weak, disappeared through the trees.
Tammy was out of time. The man shoved her over a fallen log. "I took you in after you pleaded with me for safety!"
"I'm sorry," Tammy blubbered while trying to think of a plan. He took a shot to her gut. She dropped the knife. She didn't even see his next swing before he struck her in the eye. Tammy fell over top of the Courier, the girl's blood seeping through her dress. Lights flashed in her eyes and she immediately felt that eye swell, but not before she noticed the knife in the dead courier's chest. Tammy quickly drew it out, ignoring the stickiness, and condensed into a protective ball.
The man in his rage noticed nothing. He kicked viciously at Tammy's back, two, three times. Then without warning, and a speed attributed to adrenaline, Tammy spun herself around and lashed at the man. She aimed blindly and somehow found his throat. He staggered and fell on the ground, blood pooling around him in a thick puddle.
Tammy's eyes widened. She felt sick, but that didn't last long. Her mind went to Maggie.
"Maggie!" she called. "Maggie! Where are you?"
Only birds answered her cry. Tammy mounted the horse and took off towards the village. Maggie may have been in Araluen the past few years as her father became Commandant, but she traveled with her mother all through Hibernia before that. Surely she remembered this trail. Tammy would find her in the village and take her home. After all this Tammy would need to find someone to travel with. That could get expensive, but Mason and Scout would surely pay for Maggie's return. After all, they were her godparents and she was among their daughter's closest friends. For a moment Tammy thought about collecting Maggie and turning back to Claymound, but decided not to. She'd have to lie and say Maggie was indeed Mara for him to help her. He paid the girls so little attention he wouldn't know the difference. Mara he would be obligated to help by his service to the crown.
But Maggie? To Calvin she was just Daniel and Julia's daughter. He didn't mind Daniel too much. As their liaison he'd made an effort to assimilate into Hibernian locals and was popular among them for his good nature and willingness to help when he could. Julia, however, had played chaperone for Elizabet's visits too many times for Calvin to like her. He considered her and Warden his greatest enemies. Helping Maggie wouldn't interest him. In fact, he may even go so far as to block Maggie from getting home out of spite.
Or take her to Roscrea demanding a reward.
They couldn't go to Claymound. Tammy would have to find another route, but first things first.
She needed to find Maggie.