Ranger's Apprentice 12: The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan

Author:John Flanagan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yearling

CONTAINING HIS ANNOYANCE as best he could, Gatt led them to the spot where he’d found Liam’s body. It was on a narrow but well-defined track, fringed on either side by scattered, low bushes. The ground was soft and easy underfoot, but not so much that it might cause a horse to stumble or lose his footing. Will swung down and studied the ground.

‘Had any rain lately?’ he asked.

Gatt shook his head. ‘Not since I found the body. But the ground is usually soft in these parts, except in high summer, when it tends to dry out.’

‘Not high summer now,’ Will said to himself, moving along the trail. It ran in a straight line here. There seemed to be no reason why Liam should have fallen from his horse.

‘Where exactly did you find the body?’ he asked.

Gatt walked his horse forward several metres. ‘Here. On the side of the trail. Just past those two trees.’

There were two sizeable trees, standing out from the general vegetation of bushes and shrubs in the area. They were about five metres apart, standing one on either side of the track. Will glanced at them. There were no low, overhanging branches that might sweep an incautious rider from his saddle.

‘Figure he fell off his horse and broke his neck,’ Gatt said.

Will pursed his lips. ‘Unlikely,’ he said. All Rangers were excellent riders.

Gatt shrugged at the uncompromising reply. ‘Maybe his horse stumbled . . .’ he essayed.

Tug, standing a little apart, shook his mane violently. Ranger horses don’t stumble.

‘Or maybe he’d been drinking,’ Gatt added.

Will turned a cold gaze on him. ‘Liam didn’t drink,’ he said and Gatt shrugged.

‘If you say. It was just a suggestion.’

Will didn’t answer. He was pacing back along the trail from where Liam’s body had been found, checking the horse’s tracks. With no rain in recent days and with the soft condition of the ground, they were still clear to see. Maddie had dismounted and was kneeling beside one of the trees, studying its trunk low to the ground.

Will turned to Gatt abruptly. ‘Thanks for your time, Farmer Gatt. We’ll trouble you no longer. You can get back to your work.’

Gatt looked surprised, and his bad mood lifted a little. He’d expected the Ranger to keep him here for hours, asking pointless questions. Now he found himself free to go about his business. But perversely, his curiosity was piqued. He’d noticed the way Will had been studying the tracks.

‘So have you found something?’ he asked. ‘Any clue as to what happened?’

Will shook his head. ‘Probably as you said. His horse stumbled and he fell. Just an accident.’

‘Oh . . . well then . . .’ Gatt still hesitated. He didn’t want to be left out if there was something significant to be known.

Will nodded to him. ‘We won’t bother you further,’ he said.

‘Right. I’ll be off then,’ Gatt said. He turned his horse away and set it into a lumbering trot, heading back to his farm. As he rode away, he turned in his saddle several times to look at them.

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