Ranger's Apprentice: Alex + The Burning Bridge (Discontinued)

Pordellath

The apprentices looked. For the life of them, they couldn't see what might be bothering the older Ranger.

"I don't see anything." The twins admitted. Gilan turned to them.

"Exactly!" he agreed. "Nothing! No smoke from the chimneys. No people in the streets. It looks as empty as the border post!"

He nudged Blaze with his knees and the bay horse broke into a canter on the stony road. The twins followed, with Horace's horse a little slower to respond. Alex allowed herself to slow down to let Will in front of her. Strung out in a line, they clattered into the village, finally drawing rein in the small market square.

There wasn't much to Pordellath. Just the short main street by which they'd entered, lined with houses and shops on either side, and widening into the small square at the end. It was dominated by the largest structure, which was, in Celtic fashion, the Riadhah's dwelling. The Riadhah was the hereditary village headman, a combined clan chief, mayor and sheriff. His authority was absolute and he ruled unchallenged over the villagers.

That is, when there were any villagers for him to rule. Today there was no Riadhah. There were no villagers. Only the faint, dying echoes of the horses' hooves on the cobbled surface of square.

"Hello!" Gilan shouted, and his voice echoed down the narrow main street, bouncing off the stone buildings, then reaching out to the surrounding hills.

"oh, oh, oh" it went, gradually trailing away into silence.

"Maybe you shouldn't do that." Will said. Gilan glanced at him, a trace of his normal good humor returning as he sensed the reason for Will's discomfort.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Well," Will said, glancing nervously around the deserted market square. "if somebody has taken away the people here, maybe we don't want them to know that we've arrived."

Gilan shrugged, then Alex spoke. "I think it's a little late for that," she said. "We came galloping in here like King's cavalry, and we've been traveling the road completely in the open. If anybody was looking out for us, they would have already seen us."

Will looked at Alex with a pained look. "I thought you would be scared." he said. 

Alex shrugged. "It is just like reliving the dream. Plus the dream was scarier, and who said I'm not scared?"

Will shrugged. 

Horace, meanwhile, had edged his horse up close to one of the houses and was leaning down from the saddle to peer in under the low windows, trying to see inside. Gilan noticed the movement.

"Let's take a look around," he said, and dismounted.

He glanced at the rapidly darkening sky. "It's getting late. We'll take a look around, then find a place to stay the night."

"Here?" Will said, his voice cracking with nerves. "In the village?"

Gilan nodded. "Unless you want to camp out in the hills," he suggested. "There's precious little shelter and it usually rains at night in these parts. Personally, I'd rather spend the night under a roof, even a deserted one."

"But..." Will began and then could find no rational way to continue.

"I'm sure you horse would rather spend the evening under cover than out in the rain, too." Gilan said, and that tipped the ball with Will. He nodded and swung down from the saddle.

"Into his own moat, you say?" said Sir Rodney.

He paused to think about the fact. Lady Pauline noticed that he didn't seem overly chocked by Halt's action. If anything, there was a look of grim satisfaction on his face. The Baron frowned at Rodney's tacit approval.