Rangers at Roadsend

by Jane Fletcher

  Synopsis

  After 9 years in the rangers, dealing with thugs and wild predators, Sergeant “Chip” Coppelli has learned to spot trouble coming, and that is exactly what she sees in the unexplained discrepancies surrounding her new recruit, Katryn Nagata. But even so, Chip was not expecting murder.

  Rangers at Roadsend

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  By the Author

  Wolfsbane Winter

  THE LYREMOUTH CHRONICLES

  The Exile and the Sorceror

  The Traitor and the Chalice

  The Empress and the Acolyte

  The High Priest and the Idol

  THE CELAENO SERIES

  The Walls of Westernfort

  The Temple at Landfall

  Rangers at Roadsend

  Dynasty of Rogues

  Shadow of the Knife

  Rangers at Roadsend

  © 2004 By Jane Fletcher. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-60282-351-8

  This Electronic Book is published by

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, New York 12185

  First Edition: March 2005

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editors: Cindy Cresap and Stacia Seaman

  Production Design: J. Barre Greystone

  Cover Image: Tobias Brenner (http://www.tobiasbrenner.de/)

  Cover Design: Judith Curico

  Dedication

  To the memory of Lizzy Evans

  my best friend

  my world

  my love

  Part One

  Chip Coppelli

  16 September 533

  Chapter One—A New Girl in the Squadron

  The new recruits to the Rangers were gasping as they stumbled up the road at an unsteady trot; many looked as though their legs were turning to rubber. Wisely, Sergeant Chip Coppelli stopped to let them pass, rather than relying on rank to grant her right of way. The recruits were clearly in no state to undertake evasive maneuvers. A grin spread across Chip’s face at the sight of the exhausted women. It was not smug or malicious; an easygoing smile was merely her normal expression. Initial training for the Rangers was hell, as she well remembered, but sending out ill-prepared recruits would be verging on murder.

  The trainees tottered to a halt in an open space nearby. Chip watched them form up in a line, swaying noticeably. A drill sergeant strutted forward slowly. The heavy, menacing steps made Chip’s grin grow still broader. She wondered whether newly appointed drill sergeants were given lessons in swaggering or whether their gait was assessed for suitability before they were offered the job. And the voice! There must be a knack to sounding sarcastically ironic at full bellow. Chip could see the recruits flinch. It was a fair bet that they were all bitterly cursing themselves for applying to join the Rangers. Chip knew she had done so during her months as a trainee, but not seriously or for long. And the eight years since she had become a proper Ranger had been the happiest of her life—although it was fair to say that the preceding nineteen did not offer much in the way of competition.

  With her path clear, Chip continued walking across the site, through the collection of barrack blocks, admin offices, stores, stables and training fields known as Fort Krowe. Her eyes took in the surroundings. The paths between the buildings were worn bare of grass, the ground still damp from the previous day’s rain. From its hillside perch, the site commanded a view of the roofs of the town below and beyond them the lowland pastures, cut by the Landfall road heading southeast. The sun shone in a cloudless blue sky, but the weight had gone from its heat. The wooded hillsides held the first tinge of red and orange. Autumn was on the way.

  It had been a busy summer for the 23rd Squadron, chasing from one side of the Homelands to the other. The missions had been successful, and the only losses from the squadron were two women who had completed their period of enlistment and decided not to rejoin. The one from Chip’s patrol had gone only two days before and was probably still nursing her hangover. Chip was not sure whether the woman was wise (in leaving rather than celebrating). While out on assignment, Chip always looked forward to returning to Fort Krowe for the chance to take things easy. It was only when she got back that she remembered how dull it was. Leaving the Rangers might well be the same.

  The barracks allocated to the 23rd were on a gentle slope, slightly detached from the rest of the site. Chip looked at the wooden buildings fondly. Fort Krowe felt like home, far more so than her parents’ house had ever done. She was just approaching the C Patrol bunkhouse when a voice called out, “Sergeant Coppelli.”

  Chip stopped and looked around. “What is it?”

  The Ranger who had hailed her jogged closer. “Ma’am, Captain LeCoup wants to see you in the briefing room. Your new recruit is here.”

  “Already? That’s great.” Chip switched direction.

  The briefing room was in the block housing the officers’ quarters. In a normal barracks, it would have fulfilled a range of administrative functions, requiring desks, bookshelves and cabinets, but at Fort Krowe, there were divisional offices to take care of such things. The only furniture in the room was a large central table and benches pushed back around the walls.

  When Chip entered the room, Captain LeCoup was half sitting on the table, with one foot dangling free. LeCoup was short and square, with a face that epitomized determination. In Chip’s opinion, it would be a brave brick wall that dared stand in her way. LeCoup was looking displeased, which was not a rare expression for her, although her fairness and competence meant that it did not stop her troops from generally approving of her. The current focus of her displeasure appeared to be the woman standing at attention in front of her.

  LeCoup’s eyes shifted as the door closed. “Sergeant Coppelli, the new member of your patrol is here. Private Katryn Nagata.” Her voice was clipped.

  Chip covered her surprise. Everyone managed to annoy LeCoup at some time; however, doing it within minutes of arriving in the squadron was both unusual and unwise. Chip took a few steps forward until she was standing beside the newcomer and then turned to look at her.

  She was almost exactly the same height as Chip, her body lightly built but too well balanced to appear weak. Her head was small and neat, with a finely cut profile. The first thought to strike Chip was that Katryn Nagata was incredibly good-looking. The second thought—that the woman was older than she had expected, in her mid-twenties—was followed immediately by a mental double take. LeCoup had given the woman’s rank as private, not Leading Ranger. A quick glance at Katryn’s shoulder badge confirmed it. The shield was blank.

  Promotion to Leading Ranger was a formality granted when a woman had completed two years of service and was marked by a single bar on her badge. It was possible for an officer to recommend that the promotion be delayed, but it was exceptional for that to happen, and certainly for no more than a year. In Chip’s experience, you only met someone the newcomer’s age who had an empty badge if she had been busted to private for a disciplinary offense.

  LeCoup’s next words supported this inference. “Private Nagata has been transferred to us from the 12th.”r />
  Chip mentally completed the story. The offense had not only been serious enough to merit demotion, but also had made Katryn so unpopular with the other members of her squadron that it had been necessary to move her. Gross cowardice would have done it, or stealing from her comrades, and either would probably have earned her a flogging as well. Whatever the crime, she was unlikely to be an asset to the 23rd. Chip could understand LeCoup’s annoyance.

  Chip studied Katryn’s face in profile. The new arrival’s gaze was fixed on the wall; her jaw was clamped shut. She was trying to look impassive, but the line of her mouth gave her away. She was miserably nervous, and she was very beautiful. Chip knocked the thought away and turned back to LeCoup.

  The captain was glaring at Katryn, but then she sucked in a deep breath. “Okay, Private. You’re not the person I’d have chosen, but I suppose someone had to have you. I’ll assume that all appropriate action has been taken and we can draw a line under the past. You’re in the 23rd Squadron now, and this is day one. Behave yourself, and things will be fine. Step out of line, and you’ll regret it. Understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “You’ll be in C Patrol, under Sergeant Coppelli here. She’ll be watching you very carefully. Make sure she sees only good things.” LeCoup paused, glaring. “She’s all yours, Sergeant. Dismissed.”

  Chip led the way to the C Patrol bunkhouse. The dormitory layout was standard. An unlit iron stove was close by the door. A single bed for the corporal and double bunks for the other six members of the patrol stood in the corners. The door to the sergeant’s room was at one end. All remaining wall space was taken up with lockers to hold the Rangers’ possessions.

  Chip pointed out the vacant top bunk and spare locker. “They’ll be yours.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Katryn’s voice was taut to the breaking point.

  Chip looked at her. Katryn’s hands were shaking visibly. Her eyes were bleak and despairing. “Trapped” was the word that came to Chip’s mind. A ripple of sympathy flowed through her. Everyone made mistakes. You should not have to pay for them more than once. In a lighter tone, she said, “Don’t be too worried by Captain LeCoup; she doesn’t do the chummy act, but she’s not vindictive, and she means exactly what she says. She’s given you a clean sheet in the squadron. The rest is up to you.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” Katryn sounded no happier. She looked like a condemned woman on her way to the scaffold.

  Chip stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re over the worst bit with LeCoup and me. The rest of the patrol can do reasonable impersonations of human beings—on a good day.”

  On cue, the door opened, and Lee came in. Chip accosted her and made the introductions. “This is Private Katryn Nagata, who has joined C Patrol, and this is Corporal Lee Horte, who is going to sort out your horse in the stables, show you where everything is and trot you around to say hello to everyone while I go and put my feet up in the approved fashion for sergeants.”

  Chip shot a warning glance at Lee before heading out through the door. Lee would be a good person to help Katryn settle in. It had to be stressful to be dumped in a group of strangers who were going to distrust you. Lee was the calmest person Chip had ever met. In five years in the Rangers, fighting their way out of countless dangerous situations, Chip had never heard Lee lose her composure enough to mutter an oath stronger than “Oh, dear.” Lee was far more diplomatic than the average Ranger and could be counted on to not overplay a drama. Lee would also protect Katryn from too much tactless curiosity from the other patrol members.

  Standing outside the bunkhouse, Chip paused and thought. It was not just her and the captain who would add things together and draw conclusions. For the sake of unity in the patrol, it would be nice to have the facts; no matter what, they would be better than rumor. While Lee sorted out the practical details, Chip decided to go back for a talk with Captain LeCoup and see whether she could find out exactly what Katryn Nagata had done.

  *

  General mail arrived at Fort Krowe once a week. Rather than have the staff pestered by every woman on site, it was the responsibility of sergeants to collect and distribute mail to their patrols. It was Chip’s next task after leaving Captain LeCoup—no wiser than before. The captain was not withholding information about the new recruit; there was simply none to be had.

  “You’re early; you’ll have to hang on!” the clerk shouted as Chip entered the mail office.

  “You mean you’re not ready yet?” Chip’s tone was teasing.

  “That was the general implication.”

  “You’ll have to start taking shorter lunch breaks.”

  “I haven’t had a lunch break today.”

  “You mean your morning tea break overran so much, there wasn’t time to fit one in?”

  In reply, the clerk merely glared at her tormentor, but there was no real animosity on either side. The mock arguments were part of a traditional baiting game between divisional staff and those on active service in the squadrons.

  Most of the office was taken up with desks and cabinets, but in a corner were a few stools. Chip selected one and sat down. After a few minutes, the door opened again, and Sergeant Aisha O’Neil of A Patrol entered, with Kimberly Ramon close behind. They were, respectively, the oldest and youngest sergeants in the 23rd. Ash O’Neil had been a sergeant when Chip joined the squadron. It was known that she had repeatedly turned down promotion to lieutenant, claiming that she preferred to stick with what she was good at. And there was no one who would deny that Ash was an exceptionally good sergeant.

  Kim Ramon of B Patrol was also well respected. Reaching the rank of sergeant at twenty-four was fast work, and there was little doubt she would go much farther. She had been tipped as captain since her first month in the Rangers. Chip felt no resentment at knowing she would be overtaken on the promotion ladder, especially because Kim was her best friend.

  “You can tell who hasn’t got enough work to do,” Kim teased, seeing Chip already there waiting.

  “I’m merely maintaining good morale by making sure my patrol get their mail promptly,” Chip answered in kind. Then she raised her voice. “Or at least they would if the staff didn’t fart about so much.”

  “Sod off!” The answer was shouted back.

  “What has happened to witty repartee?” Chip shook her head sadly.

  “You weren’t expecting wit from divisional staff, were you?” Kim spoke in mock innocence.

  The three sergeants grinned at the harassed clerk and then settled down to wait. Ash rested her back against the wall and said, “I hear we’ve got a new girl in the squadron. I take it she’s in your patrol.”

  “Yes. Turned up about an hour ago,” Chip confirmed.

  “You frowned when you said that.”

  “Mmm.” Chip hesitated—not because she had doubts about the discretion of her fellow sergeants, who would soon learn everything via the grapevine anyway, but because she was uncertain what to make of the information she had to give.

  “There’s a problem with her?” Kim prompted.

  “Well, she’s not a new recruit. She’s a transfer,” Chip began. “Her name’s Katryn Nagata. She must be twenty-five or so, and she’s got the rank of private.”

  There were a few seconds of silence while the other two added things up. “What did she do?” Ash asked eventually.

  “We don’t know, which is really winding up LeCoup. I’ve come here straight from talking to her. Apparently, the transfer papers have got no information on them at all.”

  “Isn’t there a record of the court-martial?”

  “There must be—somewhere, but it hasn’t got here yet. She’s been transferred from the 12th, which is in Western Division…I think.”

  “Eastern,” Ash corrected.

  “Whatever.” Chip shrugged. “The legal documents are probably still doing the rounds in Landfall.”

  “It’s not a good situation,” Kim said, shaking her head.
<
br />   “No, not really. I’ve been trying to think of all the things you can get busted for.” Chip pursed her lips. “I suppose blasphemy wouldn’t bother me too much.”

  “It’s not being busted to private that’s worrying.” Ash gave her opinion. “It’s having to be transferred. Upsetting the authorities can be a matter of bad luck. Upsetting your comrades points to something nasty.”

  “How did she seem to you?” Kim asked.

  “I didn’t talk to her much.”

  “First impressions?”

  “Well…” Chip caught her lower lip in her teeth, working to hide her grin. “I don’t know how to tell you this, Kim, but she may well take your place as pretty girl of the squadron.”

  Kim laughed. “She’s welcome to it. The bonus pay for the post is abysmal.”

  Chip tilted her head sideways. “She may be trouble, but at least she’ll be ornamental.”

  Ash joined in the joking. “Don’t knock it. When you’ve been a sergeant as long as me, you’ll know the value of an ascetically pleasing patrol. Remember, for one reason or another, you have to spend an awful lot of time looking at them.”

  “Okay, the mail is ready!” the clerk shouted over, interrupting the discussion.

  The three sergeants picked up the appropriate piles of letters and wandered back to the barracks. “So what are you going to do about your new Ranger?” Kim asked when they were outside.

  “What can I do? She’s been assigned to the 23rd. Anyway, maybe she’s learned her lesson. It’s not fair to assume we need to do anything.”

  “I meant about finding out why she was court-martialed. You don’t want to leave it to rumor.”