The Burning Bridge

by John Flanagan

  8

  “INTO HIS OWN MOAT, YOU SAY?” SAID SIR RODNEY.

  He paused to think about the fact. Lady Pauline noticed that he didn’t seem overly shocked by Halt’s action. If anything, there was a look of grim satisfaction on his face. The Baron frowned at Rodney’s tacit approval.

  “I know the man deserved it,” he said, “but we can’t have people going around throwing knights into the moat. It’s not…diplomatic.”

  Lady Pauline raised one elegant eyebrow. “Indeed not, sir,” she said.

  “And Halt has been altogether too high-handed about it all,” he continued. “I’m going to have to speak to him about it. Most severely.”

  “Someone certainly should,” Pauline agreed, and Rodney grunted a reluctant assent.

  “He definitely needs taking in hand.”

  “You wanted to see me, my lord?” said a familiar voice, and they all turned guiltily toward the door, which Rodney had left open when he barged in.

  Halt stood there, clad in his gray-and-green mottled cloak, his face half hidden in the shadows of the deep cowl. It was uncanny, the Baron thought, how the man could appear almost without a sound. Now Arald, like his two department heads, was conscious that he had been caught talking about Halt behind his back. He flushed in embarrassment, while Sir Rodney cleared his throat noisily. Only Lady Pauline appeared unconcerned—and she had a lifetime of practice at appearing unconcerned.

  “Aaahhhh…yes…Halt. Of course. Of course. Come in, won’t you? Shut the door behind you, there’s a good fellow.” As he said these last words, Baron Arald shot a baleful glance at Sir Rodney, who shrugged guiltily.

  Halt nodded greetings to Lady Pauline and Sir Rodney, then moved to stand before the Baron’s massive desk.

  There was a long and increasingly awkward silence as the Ranger stood waiting. Arald cleared his throat several times, not sure where to begin. Inevitably, it was Lady Pauline who broke the impasse.

  “I imagine you’re wondering why the Baron asked to see you, Halt,” she said, relieving the tension in the room and forcing Halt to say something—anything—at the same time.

  The Ranger, taciturn as ever, glanced at Pauline, then the Baron, and replied in as few words as possible. “Yes, my lord.”

  But it was a start and now Baron Arald had been given a chance to gather his thoughts and overcome his embarrassment. He brandished the letter in Halt’s general direction.

  “This…” He managed in time not to say “brouhaha” again. The word was being grossly overused, he thought. “This…business with Sir Digby, Halt. It’s just no good. No good at all!”

  “I agree, my lord,” Halt said, and the Baron sat back in his chair, a little surprised and quite a bit relieved.

  “You do?” he said.

  “Yes, my lord. The man is a nincompoop and a fool. Even worse, he took me for a fool as well. I suppose I can understand that he might want to keep some of his men for the planting season. But to try to hide them in the forest from a Ranger? Why, that was a downright insult. The man needed to be taught a lesson.”

  “But was it your place to teach him, Halt?” the Baron asked. Now Halt raised one eyebrow in reply.

  “I don’t recall seeing anyone else prepared to do so, my lord.”

  “Perhaps Halt acted in haste—in the heat of the moment?” Lady Pauline interjected, trying to give Halt a graceful way out of the situation.

  But the Ranger simply looked at her, then back to the Baron, and said: “No. It was pretty well thought through. And I didn’t rush at all. I took my time.”

  Lady Pauline shrugged. The Baron’s expression showed his exasperation. He would be willing to give Halt some leeway in this matter if the Ranger would only allow it. But Halt was obviously determined to be pigheaded.

  “Then there are no mitigating circumstances, Halt,” he said firmly. “You have acted excessively. I have no choice but to reprimand you.”

  Halt considered the matter before replying. “An awkward situation, my lord, since I am not technically answerable to you. I answer to Ranger command and, ultimately, to the King.”

  The Baron opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again. Halt was right. As the Ranger attached to Redmont Fief, he was required to cooperate with the Baron, but he was independent of the Baron’s authority. That fact and Halt’s intentionally unhelpful manner were beginning to get under the Baron’s skin. Once again, it was Lady Pauline who suggested a compromise.

  “Perhaps you could inform Halt, in an official manner, that you are displeased with his actions,” she said. The Baron considered the suggestion. It had merit, he thought. But the wording could be a little stronger.

  “‘Displeased’ is too mild a word, Pauline. I would rather use the word ‘vexed.’”

  “I would be most discomforted to know you were vexed, my lord,” Halt said, with just the slightest trace of mockery in his tone. The Baron turned a piercing glare on him. Don’t take this too far, it warned him.

  “Then we shall make it ‘extremely vexed,’ Lady Pauline,” he said meaningfully. “I leave it to you to put it in the right form.” He looked from her to Halt. “You will receive the official notification of my displeasure tomorrow, Halt.”

  “I tremble in anticipation, my lord,” said Halt, and the Baron’s eyebrows drew together angrily.

  “I think that will be all, Halt,” he said, very obviously restraining his temper. Lady Pauline shook her head slightly at Halt’s sardonic tone. He was walking a very fine line, she thought. The Ranger now bowed slightly to Baron Arald, turned and left, closing the door quietly behind him.

  The Baron let his breath out in an angry sigh.

  “The man is impossible!” he said. “In all the time I’ve known him, I have never seen him like this. He’s touchy, bad-tempered, sarcastic! What on earth is the matter with him?”

  Sir Rodney shook his head. Like the Baron, he had known Halt for many years, and counted him as a friend.

  “Something is obviously bothering him,” he said. “But what?”

  “Perhaps he’s lonely,” Lady Pauline said thoughtfully, and both men looked at her in amazement.

  “Lonely? Halt?” said Sir Rodney incredulously. “Halt’s never been lonely in his life! He lives alone. He likes it that way!”

  “He did,” said Lady Pauline, “but things have been different for the past year or so, haven’t they?”

  “You mean…Will?” the Baron asked, and she nodded.

  “Think about it. Halt has only ever had two apprentices. There was Gilan, five or six years ago. And now Will. And he’s a rather special young man.”

  The Baron nodded, not sure she was right but willing to listen. “He’s that, all right.”

  Lady Pauline was warming to her theme now. “He’s amusing and interesting and talkative and cheerful. I should imagine he’s brightened Halt’s life quite considerably.”

  “Not only that,” Rodney put in, “but he saved Halt’s life as well.”

  “Exactly,” said Lady Pauline. “There’s a very special bond that’s developed between those two. Halt has become as much a surrogate father as a mentor to Will. And now he’s sent him away. I think he’s missing him. He’d never admit it, but I think he’s been enjoying having a young person around.”

  She paused to see what the Baron thought. He was nodding agreement.

  “You could be right, Lady Pauline,” he said. “You could be right.” He considered the matter for some seconds, then said thoughtfully: “You know, it might be a good idea if you were to have a talk with him.”

  “I, my lord?” said Lady Pauline. “Why would I have more influence over him than anyone else?”

  “Well,” said the Baron, “I just thought that since you and he were once…” Something in Lady Pauline’s expression stopped him from going further. “…You know?” he finished weakly.

  “I’m afraid I don’t, my lord,” she said. “What is it that I should know?”

  “Well, it’s just
that people have always said…you know…that you and Halt were once…” He realized he was floundering and he stopped once more. Lady Pauline was smiling expectantly at him. But the smile didn’t reach her eyes. They were like ice. The Baron looked around for help and noticed Sir Rodney. He appealed to him for confirmation.

  “Rodney, you’ve heard what people say, haven’t you?”

  But the Battlemaster was an experienced campaigner and he knew when a tactical retreat was the wisest course.

  “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about, my lord,” he said. “I never listen to idle gossip,” he added, a little smugly. Arald shot him a baleful look. Just you wait, it said. Rodney saw it, read the message there and shrugged. He’d take the Baron’s anger over Lady Pauline’s any day of the week.

  “A wise policy, Sir Rodney,” Lady Pauline told him. Then, turning back to the Baron, she continued, “But perhaps I do have a suggestion that might ease the problem with Halt.”

  The Baron seized the lifeline eagerly. “That’s splendid, my lady! Splendid! And in point of fact, that’s all I meant when I said that you might talk to him. After all, you are a very wise woman. Very wise.”

  Lady Pauline hid a smile with some difficulty. For a moment, she played with the idea of teasing him further—pretending to equate wisdom with advancing years. But she felt he had suffered enough.

  “You’re too kind, my lord. Altogether too kind.”

  The Baron breathed a sigh of relief that the conversation had veered away from dangerous ground. He had handled it very adroitly, he thought. Women were always susceptible to flattery, after all.

  “So what is this excellent idea of yours?” he said, piling it on a little more. Lady Pauline hesitated just long enough to let him know she could see right through him, then continued.

  “Well, sir, since Halt is missing his apprentice, I thought we might look at replacing young Will for a week or two.”

  “Replace him?” Arald said, puzzled. “We can hardly give Halt a new apprentice for two weeks, my lady.”

  “No, my lord,” she agreed. “But I thought I might lend him one of mine.”

  It was Rodney who was first to see where she was heading.

  “Young Alyss,” he said, “the tall blond one?”

  Lady Pauline inclined her head in his direction and smiled. Sir Rodney found himself wondering about the rumored relationship between Pauline and Halt. She was tall, elegant and graceful. And even now that her blond hair was streaked with gray, she was still an exceptional beauty.

  “Exactly,” she said. “I mentioned I’m planning to send Alyss on her first independent mission. I thought we might ask Halt to escort her. I’m sure his presence would be good for her confidence.”

  Baron Arald was tugging thoughtfully at his short beard.

  “She’s a rather solemn lass, isn’t she?” he asked, but Lady Pauline shook her head.

  “On the contrary, my lord, she has a delightfully dry sense of wit. And a beautiful smile. We’ve been encouraging her to make greater use of it.”

  “And you think a week or so in her company might snap Halt out of this black mood he’s in?”

  “Well, if he’s looking after her, it’ll take his mind off his own troubles,” Lady Pauline replied. “In addition, Alyss is young and free-spirited—and quite beautiful. I think her company might be enough to cheer up any man. Even grim old Halt,” she added, smiling.

  The Baron smiled too. “She sounds just like her teacher,” he said.

  And this time, it was no idle flattery.

  9

  THERE WERE NO ANSWERS TO BE FOUND IN PORDELLATH. The three companions went through the village and found the same signs of sudden departure that they had seen at the border post. There was evidence of some hasty packing, but in the majority of houses, most of the occupants’ possessions were still in place. Everything spoke of a population that had departed in a hurry, taking what they could carry on their backs and little more. Tools, utensils, clothes, furniture and other personal goods had been left behind. But they could find no clue as to where the people of Pordellath had gone. Or why they had departed.

  As full night closed in, Gilan finally called an end to their search. They returned to the Riadhah’s house, where they unsaddled the horses and rubbed them down in the shelter of a small porch at the front of the building.

  They spent an uneasy night in the house. At least Will did, and he assumed Horace was as uncomfortable as he was. Gilan, for his part, seemed relatively unperturbed, rolling himself into his cloak and falling instantly asleep when Will relieved him after the first watch. But Gilan’s manner was more subdued than normal and Will guessed that the Ranger was more concerned by this baffling turn of events than he was letting on.

  As he stood his watch, Will was amazed at how much noise a house could make. Doors creaked, floors groaned, the ceiling seemed to sigh with every breath of wind outside. And the village itself seemed full of loose items that would bang and clatter as well, bringing Will to a nervous, wide-eyed attention as he sat by the unglazed window in the front room of the house, the wooden shutters hooked back to keep them secure.

  The moon seemed keen to join in on the subterfuge as well, soaring high above the village and casting deep pools of shadow between the houses of the village. Shadows that seemed to move slightly when you caught sight of them out of the corner of your eye, then stopped as soon as you stared directly at them.

  More movement came as clouds flew across the face of the moon, alternately causing the main square to be illuminated, then plunged into sudden darkness.

  Just after midnight, as Gilan had predicted, a steady rain set in and the other noises were joined by the gurgle of running water and the plash-plash-plash of drops falling off eaves and into puddles below.

  Will woke Horace to take over the watch at around two in the morning. He piled up a stack of cushions and bedcovers on the floor of the main room, wrapped his cloak around him and lay down.

  Then he lay awake for another hour and a half, listening to the creaks, the groans, the gurgles and the splashes, wondering whether Horace had dropped off to sleep and whether, even now, some unseen horror was creeping up on the house, bloodthirsty and unstoppable.

  He was still worrying about it when he finally fell asleep, without noticing that he had done so.

  They were on the road early the following morning. The rain had stopped just before dawn and Gilan was keen to press on to Gwyntaleth, the first large town on their route, and find some answers to the puzzles that they had found so far in Celtica. They had a quick, cold breakfast of hard bread and dried fruit, washed down with icy water from the village well, then saddled up and rode out.

  They wound down the stony path from the village, taking their time on the uneven surface. But when they hit the main road once more, they urged their horses into a canter. They held the canter for twenty minutes, then rested the horses by riding at a walk for the next twenty. They maintained that alternating pattern through the morning, and the miles went by steadily.

  They ate a quick meal in the middle of the day, then rode on. This was the principal mining area of Celtica and they passed at least a dozen coal or iron mines: large black holes cut into the sides of hills and mountains, surrounded by timber shoring and stone buildings. Nowhere, however, did they see any sign of life. It was as if the inhabitants of Celtica had simply vanished from the face of the earth.

  “They may have deserted their border post, and even their villages,” Gilan muttered once, almost to himself. “But I’ve never yet met a Celt who would desert a mine while there was an ounce of metal still to be torn from it.”

  Eventually, in midafternoon, they came over a crest and there, in a valley dropping away from them, were the neat rows of stone roofs that formed Gwyntaleth township. A small spire in the center of the town marked a temple—the Celts had their own unique religion, which had to do with the gods of fire and iron. A larger tower formed the main defensive posit
ion for the town.

  They were too far away to make out whether there might be any movement of people in the streets. But, as before, there was no sign of smoke from the chimneys and, even more significantly, according to Gilan, no noise.

  “Noise?” Horace asked. “What kind of noise?”

  “Banging, hammering, clanking,” Gilan answered him briefly. “Remember, the Celts don’t just mine iron ore. They work the iron as well. With the breeze blowing from the southwest as it is, we should be able to hear the forges at work, even from this distance.”

  “Well, let’s go see then,” Will said, and began to urge Tug forward. Gilan, however, put up a hand to restrain him.

  “I think perhaps I might go on ahead alone,” he said slowly, his eyes never leaving the town in the valley below them. Will looked at him, puzzled.

  “Alone?” he asked, and Gilan nodded.

  “You noted yesterday that we were making ourselves pretty obvious when we rode into Pordellath, and you were right. Perhaps it’s time we became a little more circumspect. Something is going on and I’d like to know what it is.”

  Will had to agree that it made good sense for Gilan to go on alone. After all, he was possibly the best unseen mover in the Ranger Corps, and Rangers were the best unseen movers in the kingdom.

  Gilan motioned for them to fall back from the crest they were standing on, and down the other side to a spot where a small gully formed a sheltered campsite, out of the wind.

  “Set up a camp here,” he told them. “No fires. We’ll have to stay with cold rations until we know what’s going on. I should be back some time after dark.”

  And with that, he wheeled Blaze and trotted him back over the crest and down the road toward Gwyntaleth.