Nedric was numb as he walked back to Nigh. Nothing that anyone said to him was heard and again the group said little as they walked. There was a pall of despair over them that was at odds with the brightening summer day.

The trip seemed to take forever. All the aches and bruises that Nedric had forgotten when he was on the trip out were obvious and painful on the trek back. He accepted them as a punishment. Although there had been no chance of helping Elsebeth, he felt that if he had only done something, anything, differently then maybe she would be safe. At that moment he would have given anything to swap places with her.

Carrite walked beside him. For a while the woodsman said nothing. The look in Nedric’s eyes was enough to say that idle chatter was unwelcome. Still he was not a man to give up hope so easily and he felt that the younger man would not be so defeated if it were not for the travails of the previous days.

“When the rangers get here they will be able to track where she’s gone. I don’t think that there is anyone in Esteril who can hide from one of them and they’re tough enough to make those two gletchin wish they had never been born.”

A gletchin was a rather repulsive animal. It lived on trees and attached itself in such a way as to drain sap from its host. One gletchin would not cause too much damage but they tended to move in large family groups. Staying on a particular tree until it died. To a woodsman who worked with and respected the forest they were the lowest form of life. That they had an evil, repulsive odour and a dark, slimy body only added to their unpleasantness.

Nedric only grunted to acknowledge Carrite’s words but a small spark of hope had been offered and he clung to it. The reputation of the Esteril rangers was well deserved. A poor and relatively backward country like Esteril could not afford a large standing army. Only a few applicants were accepted each year and they were the best of the best. The training they received was in the tough world of the forest where one mistake could kill.

At least there was a prospect of hope. If the weather remained fair then the tracks the brother’s left would stay fresh for a while. In the forest it was impossible to hide your passage for long. The paths were dusty in the summer and leaving a path was worse. The undergrowth would not let anyone pass by without them leaving a mark. Nedric hoped that the rangers could follow at greater speed and Elsebeth would not stay captured for long.

They arrived back at the works and the group began to break apart. Nedric roused himself enough to thank each man for offering his help. Each man as the left muttered some sort of sympathetic comment but was unable to look Nedric in the eye. Nobody felt that they had achieved anything that morning.

Finally it was just Nedric and Carrite. The two walked over to the supervisor’s office, Alhern was inside. He looked concerned, thought about speaking and then stopped, as he looked at the faces of the other two. He took a breath and asked.

“What did you find?”

“Nothing, they had gone before we arrived.” Carrite answered.

Alhern let out a deep sigh. At least his worst fears had not been realised. Now he had to organise the place to see that nothing similar happened again. Not that he expected any more abductions but he had to be seen to be doing something. At least he didn’t have a death to show that he should have heeded his own earlier misgivings about Nigh.

* * *

The rangers arrived that evening. Nedric had used the daytime to rest and clean up. The earlier bruises were starting to purple and his side ached with each movement but he felt more alive knowing that something would be done shortly. He planned to lead the rangers to the cabin. He knew the way as well as any and he would be there if they had any questions. Alhern had raised no objections. It was clear that Nedric would be unwilling to work whilst he could be doing something to help.

As he met the men that were his hope for rescuing Elsebeth, he could not say that they looked the kind of people to inspire hope. Fear perhaps, but not hope. Both rangers were tall, muscular and dark haired. The easiest way to differentiate them was by the large, ugly scar that ran down the left cheek of one. Each had a selection of weapons attached to their outfits. One carried a large axe; the other had a bow hung across his back. The way each of them moved, unconsciously making room for their weapons, told Nedric that they were totally accustomed to their presence.

Nedric introduced himself to the two men. They gave their names in clipped tones that were more of a bark than speech. The man with the scar was Scabad, the other Daiga.

“Do you have anything that you need to store in a room?” Nedric asked. “We have plenty of rooms at the moment.”

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“We carry everything we need with us.” Daiga replied. “Now this matter is urgent, where do we go and who do we need to see?”

“I guess the only person you need to see is me and I can show you where to go. Are you ready to leave?”

Both men nodded their assent. Nedric was glad there was no delay; he hadn’t wanted to suggest they get moving straight away. It seemed a bad idea to upset these men but the urgency of their purpose here beat at him.

As he led them towards the cabin he told them what had happened over the last three days. He knew he was slowing them down by walking towards the cabin rather than running but he felt that he had to give them as much information as possible. They didn’t seem particularly interested as he spoke but if he paused they urged him to continue. When he had finished his tale, Daiga started to ask questions.

“These men, what do you know of their backgrounds?”

Nedric had to admit that he had only limited information. He guessed he could have found out more about them from the tavern for which they generally worked but he hadn’t thought about it at the time.

“What weapons did they carry, where did they wear them?”

At least he could help with this question. As well as the bow and large dagger, each man had worn a brace of daggers on a belt that crossed their chest.

“Cantherin mercenaries,” Daiga muttered. Scabad just nodded.

Nedric knew quite a bit about Cantherin. The country was east of Nothering and north of Esteril and shared borders with both. Famed for its fabrics, Rialto had taught him about the dyes that were only made there and the quality of the weaving. Marryn had told him about the variety of foods and the spices they used. Anything that relied on mixing different substances together was generally done better in Cantherin.

“So what are they doing in the middle of Esteril forest?” he asked.

“Probably keeping out of the way of someone they upset. We have a lot of problems come from Cantherin. They all think they can hide in Esteril until the heat has died down. Unfortunately they generally bring problems with them. We sort them out.”

This was the most talking that Daiga had managed. They way he had said the last few words had made Nedric shiver. He had the distinct impression that when a ranger sorted something out it was a permanent arrangement.

“So why would they take Elsebeth?”

“Because they had been hired to do so. A mercenary never does anything unless there is money involved. Are her parents wealthy?”

“Her father is a captain in the Setherland army, he’s spent almost his whole life in Esteril so I doubt he’s ever seen combat.”

“What about her mother?”

“A merchants daughter with no head for figures.”

“I’d guess that she wasn’t captured for her money. Have you any ideas?”

“Well when I was first captured I heard something but I was more than a little woozy at the time having just been hit over the head. One of the brothers was saying about getting the only female impressor.”

“I can think of several reasons why someone might want an impressor. The main question is why did they particularly want a woman? If we knew that we might be able to guess a lot more. How much further is this cabin?”

Nedric looked around. The talking had help distract him and they had travelled most of the way there without him really thinking about it.

“Two more intersections and then up a trail, say a mile and a half total.”

“Then let’s get some speed on, we want to get started before it gets too dark.”

The three broke into a run. Nedric knew that the two rangers were running at his pace and could easily outdistance him. Since the ground was marked with the passage of the large group of men that had accompanied him before, he wondered why they bothered with him at all. He put more effort into his running; he didn’t want to be left on his own at the moment.

They reached the cabin about a quarter of an hour later. Nedric was panting, his lungs burning, his shoulders heaving as he tried to get more air. The run up the trail had been a killer. It was steep in places and his legs felt like jelly. The two rangers were barely breathing hard. At that moment Nedric could quite happily have murdered them.

The rangers started to search the surrounds and quickly picked up the trail of the brothers. They didn’t immediately set off but instead went into the cabin. Nedric followed and found them searching everything. The building wasn’t particularly large with the one room partly partitioned to make a living and sleeping area.

“Your friend spent her time here on the bed and alone at that.” Daiga said. “That’s a good sign. They must be under orders to treat her well.”

Nedric had realised that Scabad rarely spoke, even when searching he was more inclined to point things out to his partner. As Nedric watched, the quiet ranger was looking under everything, when he reached one corner of the room he pulled out a dagger. There was something caught between two of the floorboards and Nedric watched him ease the object up and out.

When he retrieved it, he glanced at it and threw it across to Daiga. Nedric gave him a curious look and was rewarded with the object being passed to him. It was a copper coin. Nedric wondered about the significance until he examined it a little more closely. It wasn’t an Esteril copper, it wasn’t even from Cantherin, instead it was from Nothering.

“What do you think?” he asked Daiga.

“Could mean nothing, could mean that they’ve been to Nothering recently. There’s enough exchange of currency between different countries that it’s most likely unimportant.”

Daiga started speaking again before Nedric could ask any more questions.

“This is where we leave you lad. They’ve got almost two days start on us and you know you’re slowing us down. Still we know this forest a lot better than they do and we haven’t got a hostage to hinder us. With luck we will catch them up before they reach a border.”

“What happens if they reach a border?”

“Depends on which one it is. If it’s the one with Setherland we just keep going. Of course most of that border is river and they know we can follow them there so that’s their least likely route. That leaves them two choices, Cantherin and Nothering; the latter are none too keen on strangers so they’re more likely to head home. I’m just guessing, they could go anywhere and if we try to cut them off we are likely to lose them. Look after yourself lad and we shall see you in a few days.”

With that the two of them were off and Nedric could only stand and watch them leave. He realised that he was alone in the forest and that it would soon be dark but at least he had a good cabin in which to shelter. He wondered how Elsebeth was coping sleeping rough, under the stars. She was a fine girl but she had never struck him as one that had lived the outdoor life. He could only hope that the travails she was facing were not too great.

As he lay on the bed, in the cabin, he tried to work out the soonest that he might see her again. Even if the rangers travelled twice as fast as the brothers that was still two days until they caught them up. Elsebeth would only be able to go as fast returning as she had on the way out so that was a minimum of six days. One week minimum until he might see her again. He hoped it wasn’t more. The borders were all at least a week away through the forest; surely the rangers would catch up in that time. So that meant a maximum of about three weeks before he was certain to have news. He knew that the closer it got to three weeks the worse the news was likely to be.