Ranger's Apprentice 3 & 4 Bindup by John Flanagan Page A

each other and fighting among themselves. That’swhy the fields are so sloppily tended. Half the farmers have been conscripted to one army or another.’
    Horace looked around the fields that bounded the road on either side. There was no sign of battle here. Only neglect. A thought struck him.
    â€˜Is that why people seemed a little … nervous of us?’ he asked and Halt nodded approvingly at him.
    â€˜You picked that, did you? Good boy. There may be hope for you yet. Yes,’ he continued, answering Horace’s question, ‘armed and mounted men in this country are seen as a potential threat – not as peace keepers.’
    In Araluen, the farm workers looked to the soldiers to protect them and their fields from the threat of potential invaders. Here Horace realised, the soldiers themselves were the threat.
    â€˜The country is in absolute turmoil,’ Halt continued. ‘King Henri is weak and has no real power. So the barons fight and squabble and kill each other. Mind you, that’s no great loss. But it gets damned unfair when they kill the poor innocent farm folk as well – simply because they get in the way. It could be something of a problem for us, but we’ll just have to … oh, damn.’
    The last two words were said quietly, but were no less heartfelt for that fact. Horace, following Halt’s gaze, looked ahead along the road.
    They were coming down a small hill, with the road bounded on either side by close-growing trees. At the foot of the hill, a small stream ran through the fields and between the trees, crossed by a stone bridge. It was a peaceful scene, normal enough, and quite pretty in its own way.
    But it wasn’t the trees, nor the bridge, nor the stream that had drawn the quiet expletive from Halt’s lips. It was the armoured, mounted warrior who sat his horse in the middle of the road, barring their way.

Evanlyn felt Will’s light touch on her shoulder. She gave a small start of surprise. Even though she had been lying awake, she hadn’t heard him approaching.
    â€˜It’s all right,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m awake.’
    â€˜The moon’s down,’ Will replied, equally softly. ‘It’s time to go.’
    She tossed back the blankets and sat up. She was fully dressed, apart from her boots. She reached for them and began to pull them on. Will handed her a bundle of rags he had cut from his blanket.
    â€˜Tie these around your feet,’ he told her. ‘They’ll muffle the sound on the shingle.’ She saw that he had swathed his own feet in large bundles of cloth and she hurried to do the same.
    Through the thin wall between the lean-to and the dormitory, they could hear the sound of men snoring and muttering in their sleep. One of the Skandians broke out in a fit of coughing and Will and Evanlyn froze, waiting to seeif he had woken anyone. After a few minutes, the dormitory settled down again. Evanlyn finished tying the cloth bundles around her feet and stood, following Will to the door.
    He had greased the hinges on the lean-to door with fat from the cooking pot. Holding his breath, he eased the door open, letting go a sigh of relief when it swung silently. With no moon, the beach was a dark expanse and the water a black sheet, dimly reflecting the starlight. The weather had been moderating over the past few days. The night was clear and the wind had dropped considerably. But they could still hear the dull thunder of waves crashing against the outer face of the island.
    Evanlyn could just make out the dark bulk of the two wolfships drawn up on the beach. To one side was a smaller shape: the skiff, left there by Svengal after his latest fishing trip. That was where they were heading.
    Patiently, Will pointed out the route he had selected. They had gone over it all earlier in the night but he wanted to make sure she remembered. Unseen movement was almost second nature to him but he knew that