HE STRODE THROUGH THE village, his eyes scanning the view around him. The faint sound of laughter reached his ears and he turned his head in the direction.
He slipped past the inns and shops, hiding in the shadows. The noise from Jenny's inn faded, and it was the laughter he'd first heard that he could hear now.
Silhouetted figures were around a campfire, most of the occupants laughing like a pack of fools. One the girls spoke, her words slurred. "And you shaid 'shay' as well," she said, and the laughter doubled.
A familiar girl with blonde hair was rocking back and forth on her feet, and then lost her balance, crashing to the ground. Instead of regaining her footing, she curled into a ball, throwing a mottled gray-green cloak over herself.
"Nobody can shee me," came a cackling voice, far different from the one he had heard since the beginning of her apprenticeship. "Trusht the cloak."
"What the blistering blazes do you think you're doing?" Will stepped forward, glaring down at the form of his drunk apprentice. Maddie opened her eyes, and her gaze widened with surprise and shock as she stared at him. He ignored the others' exclamations of fear and shock, focusing on his apprentice. "Sit up, Maddie."
The girl's hands slipped across the ground as she searched for a hold, and he stared at her in open disgust as she somehow tangled herself in her cloak. What seemed minutes later, she had freed herself and was now swaying awkwardly on her feet. Will glared at her a moment longer before turning to the other four.
"Give me that cask," he demanded. The boy who had it nearly dropped as he handed it over. Will snatched it and shook it; his disgust grew further as he realized only a fourth of it was left, by the wild sloshing.
He clenched his teeth and raised the cask, hurling it to the ground. Splintered wood cracked, and the liquid shot through the air, bubbling and sinking down as it reached the ground. The girl cried out in fear, and the other boys scrambled back from the commotion. "Your parents will be hearing of this," he told them coldly. The girl rose to her knees and shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
"Please, Ranger Will, don't tell my mam," she cried pathetically. "She'll beat me something terrible if she knows."
Do you really expect pity from me? he wondered. "Good," he snapped at her. His gaze returned to Maddie. She had sat on the ground, still rocking back and forth. "On your feet, Maddie," he demanded.
His apprentice rose to her knees, her arms flailing wildly. He watched as she tried to regain her balance, and it took the girl a while to realize she was on her cloak. A moment later, she stood up, staggering around.
Will took a deep breath to keep from shouting at her. "On your way," he ordered her, jerking his thumb towards the stable. "You three get home as well. Right now!" The teenagers scrambled away, the girl sniffling, drowning in her own tears.
Will made his way over and swung himself up into the saddle. Barely giving his apprentice a second glance, he pointed up the street. "Get going."
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
Ranger's Apprentice: Tales Untold
फैनफिक्शनYou've heard of their adventures, of the wars, of their accomplishments. You know where they've traveled. But what about the parts you don't see? The parts of their lives that have been untold?
