Modern Ranger

Chapter 10

Triangular sails? Will thought. Then he remembered why it was so familiar. Gundar Hardstriker's wolfship Wolfwill had the same rigging design. Gundar had told them that a young Skandian had come up with design. Hal.

Will noticed that Bree didn't bat an eye at the strange ship. She put one foot on the wooden planks of the Heron. "May I?" she asked Hal. He nodded dumbly, and Bree stepped on board.

Bree could have walked around the ship with her eyes closed. She had gone over the ship diagram in the Brotherband books so many times that walking upon it was like second nature. Yet the feel of it was more vivid than what she ever could have dreamt.

Will and Hal exchanged confused looks. Everyone but Halt looked confused. How did Bree know her way around the ship? She hadn't even seen it before.

Halt, sensing the confusion, raised his eyebrow at Will. Books, remember? Halt's expression seemed to say.

"Oh," muttered Will softly.

At the sound of Will's voice, everyone was shaken out of their daze. The group began piling onto the Heron.

Then they set off on their journey.

******

Halt told Hal to call a meeting.

The sea was calm for the time being and the till was on auto, so it was an appropriate time.

The crew sat down below decks, and all looked expectantly to Hal. Hal nodded to Halt.

Halt clasped his fingers together on the top of the table. "As we are going on a perilous mission together, I decided that everyone must understand each other."

Halt looked around the room, his gaze landing on every pair if eyes in the room.

"Bree, would you care to explain?"

Bree had been expecting it to happen. Halt had been bound to ask her to explain any time now.

Bree hid her emotions and spoke, her words like water over stones.

"I wasn't trained as a Ranger here. Not in this time period," she began steadily, "I come from the future. I lived in an orphanage, with only two book series' to be my guide for training. They were called The Ranger's Apprentice and the Brotherband Chronicles."

By this time, mouths were gaping.

"Where I come from, you guys are...uh... considered fictional. But those words on the pages seemed so real to me. The idea of what Ranger's do appealed to me. So I taught myself how to be one- after school I would train until I got it perfect," Bree breathed out shakily.

She lifted her head up, forcing her emotions to be controlled.

Bree swallowed and continued, "I don't know why I trained exactly. But I'm glad I did."

Shock was written on everyone's faces.

Well apart from Halt, of course.

"So...yeah. That's me," Bree finished quietly.

Bree's eyes met Halt's. He gave her a small nod of approval.

Thorn, of course, broke the silence.

"I am CONSIDERED FICTIONAL?" he roared.