Ranger's Apprentice 3 & 4 by John Flanagan

Author:John Flanagan [Flanagan, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781742745633
Publisher: Random House Australia
Published: 2008-09-18T07:00:00+00:00

Will came awake with a jerk. He had been sitting on the edge of the porch in the sun and he realised that he must have nodded off. Ruefully, he thought about how much of his time he spent sleeping these days. Evanlyn said it was only to be expected, as he was regaining his strength. He supposed she was right.

There was also the fact that there was so little to do around the hut where they had spent their time since escaping from the Skandian stronghold. He had cleared away and washed their breakfast dishes, then made the beds and straightened the few pieces of furniture in the cabin. That had taken barely half an hour so he had groomed the pony in the lean-to behind the cabin until its coat shone. The pony looked at him, and at itself, with mild surprise. He guessed nobody had ever spent so much care on its appearance in the past.

After that, Will had wandered aimlessly around the cabin and the small clearing, inspecting those patches where the damp brown grass was beginning to show through the snow cover. He had idly considered making some more snares, then discarded the idea. They had more than they needed already. Feeling bored and useless, he had sat down on the porch to wait for Evanlyn’s return. At some stage, he must have nodded off, affected by the warmth of the sun.

That warmth was long gone now, he realised. The sun had travelled fully across the clearing and now the pines were throwing long shadows across the cabin. It must be mid-afternoon, he estimated.

A frown creased his forehead. Evanlyn had left well before noon to check the snares. Even allowing for the fact that they had moved the trap line further and further away from the cabin, she should have had time to reach the line, check the snares and return by now. She must have been gone for at least three hours – possibly more.

Unless she had already returned and, seeing him sleeping, had decided not to wake him. He stood now, his stiff joints protesting, and checked inside the cabin. There was no sign that she had returned. The game bag and her thick woollen cloak were missing. Will’s frown deepened and he began to pace the small clearing, wondering what he should do. He wished he knew exactly how long she had been gone and silently berated himself for falling asleep. Deep down in the pit of his stomach, he could feel a vague uneasiness stirring as he wondered what could have become of his companion. He reviewed the possibilities.

She could have lost her way, and be wandering through the thickly growing, snow-covered pines, trying to find her way back to the cabin. Possible, but unlikely. He had blazed the paths leading to their trap line with discreet marks and Evanlyn knew where to look for them.

Perhaps she had been injured. She could have fallen, or twisted an ankle. The paths were rough and steep in places and that was a definite possibility.

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