Ranger's Apprentice 3 & 4 Bindup Read Free Page A

to one, a dirty-faced youth who couldn’t have been more than fifteen.
    â€˜Not you!’ he said and the boy hesitated, on his hands and knees. ‘You take their belts and tie their hands behind them.’
    The terrified boy nodded several times, then moved towards the first of his prone comrades. He stopped as Halt gave him a further warning.
    â€˜Tie them tight!’ he said. ‘If I find one loose knot, I’ll …’ He hesitated for a second, while he framed a suitable threat, then continued, ‘I’ll seal you up inside that oak tree over there.’
    That should do it, he thought. He was aware of the effect that his unexplained appearance from the tree had on these uneducated country folk. It was a device he had used many times before. Now he saw the boy’s face whiten with fear under the dirt and knew the threat was effective. He turned his attention to Gubblestone, who was plucking feebly at the thong securing his cloak as it continued to choke him. He was already red in the face, his eyes bulging.
    They bulged further as Halt unsheathed his heavy saxe knife.
    â€˜Oh, relax,’ said Halt irritably. He slashed quickly through the cord and Gubblestone, suddenly released, fell awkwardly to the ground. He seemed content to stay there, out of the reach of that gleaming knife. Halt glanced up at the occupants of the carriage. The relief on their faces was all too obvious.
    â€˜I think you can be on your way if you like,’ he said pleasantly. ‘These idiots won’t bother you any further.’
    The merchant, remembering guiltily how he had tried to shove his wife out of the carriage, tried to cover his discomfort by blustering.
    â€˜They deserve hanging, Ranger! Hanging, I say! They have terrified my poor wife and threatened my very person!’
    Halt eyed the man impassively until the outburst was finished.
    â€˜Worse than that,’ he said quietly, ‘they’ve wasted my time.’

    â€˜The answer is no, Halt,’ said Crowley. ‘Just as it was the last time you asked.’
    He could see the anger in every line of Halt’s body as his old friend stood before him. Crowley hated what he had to do. But orders were orders and, as the Ranger Commandant, it was his job to enforce them. And Halt, like all Rangers, was bound to obey them.
    â€˜You don’t need me!’ Halt burst out. ‘I’m wasting time hunting these imitation Foldars all over the Kingdom when I should be going after Will!’
    â€˜The King has made Foldar our number one priority,’ Crowley reminded him. ‘Sooner or later, we’ll find the real one.’
    Halt made a dismissive gesture. ‘And you have forty-nine other Rangers to do the job!’ he said. ‘For God’s sake, that should be enough.’
    â€˜King Duncan wants the other forty-nine. And he wants you. He trusts you and depends on you. You’re the best we have.’
    â€˜I’ve done my share,’ Halt replied quietly and Crowley knew how much it hurt the other man to say those words. He also knew that his best reply would be silence – silence that would force Halt further into the sort of rationalisation that Crowley knew he hated.
    â€˜The Kingdom owes that boy,’ Halt said, with a little more certainty in his tone.
    â€˜The boy is a Ranger,’ Crowley said coldly.
    â€˜An apprentice,’ Halt corrected him and now Crowley stood, knocking his chair over with the violence of his movement.
    â€˜A Ranger apprentice assumes the same duties as a Ranger. We always have, Halt. For every Ranger, the rule is the same: Kingdom first. That’s our oath. You took it. I took it. And so did Will.’
    There was an angry silence between the two men, made all the uglier by the years they had lived as friends and comrades. Halt, Crowley realised, was possibly his closest friend in the world. Now here they were, trading bitter words and angry arguments.