Will and Halt were in silence as they sat on their horses riding back towards Redmont. What they had seen was horrible and not something they wanted to talk about. They had travelled to Celtica to investigate rumours that had been travelling round Araluen about a group of bandits. The bandits had been attacking villages taking everything the village had and then disappearing again only to pop up again a month or so later and do it all again to another unsuspecting village. The bandits had been travelling through Celtica and had got very close to the border leading into Araluen. Crowley had decided to send two rangers out to investigate and to find out about the bandits so they knew all they could in case they decided to come into Araluen. Will sat on Tug deep in thought about what he had seen.

They had walked into the village and Will had suddenly gone very cold. Everywhere he looked there were corpses on the floor where the bandits had slaughtered people without a second thought. There had been a deathly silence about the place and neither Will nor Halt spoke until they had got well away from the village.

As they rode back it started to rain. The rain hammered down on the ground and on Will, Halt and their horses. Will pulled his hood further over his head to stop the rain getting onto his face. The weather seemed to be reflecting his and Halts mood about what they had seen. Will smiled as Tug rode under the cover of the trees shielding them from the rain and cold breeze. By the time they got to the other side of the forest it was dark. The rain had stopped and the moon shone in the sky. There was a blue glow around the moon lighting up the night. They went back into the forest about ten metres and went off the path. They looked around for a small clearing that they could camp in for the night and went to sleep. The next morning Will and Halt woke early.
"Will go find some firewood, Im dying for a mug of coffee" Halt said.
"Sure" Will replied. He stood up from where he had been leaning against a tree and got his bow and arrows. Will walked around for about ten minutes searching for wood that would be good for a fire. He had a big bundle of twigs and branches for the fire when he thought he heard a grunt from somewhere in the forest behind him. He bent down on the ground pretending to pick up some more wood of the floor. He was pretty sure that it was just an animal but acted as if he wasn't interested so as not to attract attention if it was a person behind him. He slowly put the firewood he had collected down on the ground and swung round to face the direction the noise had come from, as he did this he pulled an arrow out of its quiver and strung it. Will lowered his bow when he saw who he was aiming at. Stood in front of him was a boy. He looked to be about fourteen and had brown hair and blue eyes. The boy was holding a girl behind his back hiding her from Will. She looked a lot younger than the boy. Will thought she was probably six or seven. She had long blonde hair that was resting on her shoulders and her green eyes were squashed into her brother's body. Will assumed that was who he was to her anyway. "Im not going to hurt you" Will said looking at the boy only to see he was looking from the knives at his side to the bow in his hand. Will realised that the kid wasn't going to trust him so he took the two knives out of their sheaths and put them on the ground. This made the girl press her face further into the boy. He then slowly put down his bow so he didn't seem a threat. "Look I want to help. Why are you out here alone?"
"Our village was attacked" said the boy in quite voice that Will could hardly hear. Will put two and two together and realised what had happened to these kids.
"Are you from the village on the border of Celtica?" Will asked already knowing the answer. The boy nodded his head. Will looked at the boy and saw that there was a slight tear in his eye but the boy wasn't going to let his sadness show in front of his sister. He needed to be strong for her sake. He needed to find somewhere safe for his sister. "Come with me" Will said as he bent over and picked up his bow and his knives. He walked over to the pile of wood on the floor and picked it up. He started to walk then turned back to the two children. The boy held his sisters hand and cautiously followed Will. Will carried on walking following the slight marks he had made on his way to collect wood. The marks Will had made were so discreet that you wouldn't have noticed them unless you were a ranger or a very good tracker at least. "Finally, I was going mad waiting for you. I couldn't make any coffee until you were back" Halt said.
"Going mad?" Will asked a big smile on his face. He had never been able to hide his facial expressions like his older mentor could. Halt glared back at him. "Any way there was a reason to why I took longer." Will moved out the way and showed Halt the reason to his lateness.
"Who are they?" asked Halt a little more than shocked at what his old apprentice had 'found'. Standing next to Will were two children. Will looked at Halt and was surprised to see there was an expression on his face. Never in his five years of training as a ranger of the years following him getting the silver oak leaf had Will ever seen an expression on Halts face. He always had the same grim look that he could hide anything and everything behind. Will cleared his throat as he saw that Halt was looking at him waiting for an explanation. "Well I was out collecting firewood and I heard something behind me or someone actually, so I turned round and found these two" said Will. Halt looked from Will to the children next to him. "What are their names?"
"Im Mark and this is my sister Molly" said Mark in a quiet voice. Halt turned back to Will.
"Get a fire going I think we all need food" Halt said looking at Will. Will did what Halt told him to and made a fire he also cooked the food and made to cups of coffee and two cups of water. Will and Halt left Mark and Molly by the warmth of the fire whist they gathered up their belongings and tied them onto Tug and Abelard. "What are you exactly planning on doing with them when we get back to Redmont?" Halt questioned Will when they were tightening the saddles on their horses. Since Will had bought back Mark and Molly, Halt had wondered what the boy was exactly planning on doing with the two children.
"I was planning on going to Baron Arald and asking if they could stay at the ward."
"And what if the Baron says no. What will you do then?" asked Halt looking at Will expectantly. Will thought about the question for a while and then came to a decision.
"Well I was kind of hoping he would say yes. That's what you did with me after all." Will sighed "I didn't really think it through, I saw them and knew straight away that I wasn't going to leave them on their own especially with those bandits still around." Halt looked at Will and smiled inside but made sure the smile didn't show on the outside. That was why he had chosen Will to be his apprentice all those years ago, because Will was brave, curious, very resourceful and he was kind. It was everything a ranger needed to be. Halt turned round to the camp. There was nothing left except for the fire. He called over to Mark and Molly who came over to them. Will whispered in Tugs ear then let Mark climb onto him. Tug being a ranger horse let Mark sit on him even though he didn't like it. Tug shook his mane. Why can't we have the girl she's lighter. "Because you're stronger than Abelard" Will whispered into Tugs ear making sure Mark didn't hear. Halt eyed Will and then lifted Molly onto Abelard. He climbed onto Abelard's back and they all started for Redmont.