The emergency dispatch from the nearest fief arrived within half an hour of the Genovesan's attack. They marched in up the main road through Wensley village, boasting glittering suits of armor and shiny leather protective clothing. They all carried bows or swords, and they were accompanied by none other than Gilan, who had been in the neighboring fief. Halt and Alyss stood waiting just outside Wensley, waiting with the small, scraggly group of soldiers they pulled from the surrounding village. Gilan stepped up, wordlessly embraced Halt, and hugged Alyss. "So, care to tell me what's going on here? I don't see Will out here with you... or Pauline, the Baron, Lady Sandra, Sir Rodney... Where are they?"

Halt pointed solemnly towards the castle, which stood eerily silent and still in the cool breeze. No soldiers moved along the ramparts, no villagers and servants came in and out, no nobles came riding in from their afternoon ride. Everything was still and silent as everyone waited with baited breath for the perfect time to strike the castle and take it back... without harming any of the remaining Araluens still trapped or captured inside.

"Oh..." Gilan said in a hushed tone. "Will and Pauline and... they're all still in there?"

Halt nodded. "They didn't have enough warning to get out in time."

Gilan pursed his lips. "Has Will or anyone still in there contacted you in any way since the castle was taken? Or do you think they've all been captured?"       

"No, and I couldn't say for sure, they could have not even gotten my message..." Halt trailed off thoughtfully. Gilan looked questioningly at Alyss.

"When Halt saw the riders coming, he sent me to tell a soldier to go tell Will. We don't know for sure if the soldier even made it there alive. They came so suddenly and took the castle so quickly we don't know anything for certain yet," Alyss said.

Gilan's eyebrows lowered into a frown. "Knowing Will, he probably avoided capture. What was he doing right before you left?"

Halt replied, "That's what I was thinking. Last I saw him, he was doing the last of the reports with the Baron. Then he was going to get Pauline and they were going to ride on Tug over to Jenny's diner. When I left he was just finishing up in the main office, and Pauline was on the floor above finishing up a report with George. "

"Now we have to predict what happened in there and what Will would have done so that we can make a plan, right? Isn't that the sort of thing you Rangers do?" Alyss said.
Halt and Gilan gave her puzzled looks. "We don't do that specifically, it's all just common sense and knowing Will. So you can help us," Halt said.

Gilan nodded in agreement. "So we know he was in the office. He probably finished up a few moments later. Then -"

"He would have gone to get Pauline," Alyss interrupted Gilan.

"Yes. But which floor would they have been on when the portcullises started closing? I know from experience that when the emergency portcullises close, they are very loud and create loud booming echoes throughout the whole castle. It would have been impossible to miss and Will would have recognized the sound." Halt stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"I don't think we can figure this out without more information..." Alyss said anxiously.

Just then a loud commotion happened outside the tent among the large camp of soldiers. Gilan peeked outside the tent and Halt, who had been looking at a floor plan of Redmont, looked up from the maps. Then Gilan suddenly stepped aside as a man stumbled into the tent. It was a soldier from Redmont Castle. He was dripping wet, sweaty, and exhausted, his uniform was disheveled and torn, and a large gash on his arm oozed blood. All in all he was an exhausted wreck, and Alyss wondered why he didn't go to the medical tent. But before anyone could say anything, the poor soldier cried out, "Ranger Halt! Lady Alyss! I have - a - a message - "

"From who?" Halt said urgently, crossing the tent quickly with a chair and pushing the soldier into the chair.

"Ranger W-will." Halt breathed a sigh of relief and Alyss gasped and hugged Gilan.

Halt smiled faintly at Gilan and Alyss, saying, "Ironic timing." Then he leaned in encouragingly.
"What did Ranger Will say to tell me?"

The soldier took a few deep breathes, and then rattled out, "He wants you to know that Lady Pauline, the Baron, Lady Sandra, a few more nobles, and a lot of soldiers are still inside the castle, as well as himself. He and Lady Pauline are still free and sneaking around the castle. He will try to protect the jewels and get everyone out, especially those who know where the jewels are so that the thieves can't get to them. He will try to escape with Pauline but if he doesn't appear in four hours, it means he was captured. "

Halt fired questions at him. "Where was Will when he told you this?"

"I - in the second floor hallway, the diplomatic floor."

"Who was he with?"

"Lady P-pauline."

"What was he doing?"

"He - well - I was running up the stairs and then I turned down the hallways and saw he was standing outside a smaller office that Lady Pauline was in, talking to a young Courier, I think. Then the portcullises started shutting and that's when I ran past him. He grabbed me and ordered me to deliver this message. Then he explained everything to Lady Pauline. They both took off running down the hallway a few moments later, at least I think. By then, I was already running down the hall. From there I fought past some enemy soldiers and jumped into the moat. from there I saw across it and ran out to your camp, and here I am. I think Ranger Will and Lady Pauline probably found hiding place to avoid the sweep."

The soldier looked so tired after this long explanation that Alyss got up to take him to the nearby well to get a cup of water while asking him more questions.

Halt immediately launched into a rapid fire conversation with Gilan. "So Will must have gone to meet Pauline, but then they heard the booming - "

" - And gone to hide. He knew they would sweep the castle so he took Pauline with him and hid."

"So now they must be going to find out where everyone is."

"And how do you know that?" Gilan smiled a little at Halt.

"I know Will. That's what he's doing. He wouldn't just sit around hiding, he's too curious, and too smart not to," Halt said fondly.

Gilan grinned widely. "I just think it's interesting that you can predict his every move."

Halt smiled now too. "Let's hope Pauline can take care of him. "

"I think that's a long shot. She'll probably abandon him and leave him helpless while she goes off and saves the day," Gilan laughed.

"That could very well happen," Halt said seriously, all trace of humor gone.

Gilan quickly changed the subject, not entirely certain how to respond to Halt's previous comment. "So Will said four hours. He said to give him four hours until we make a move. "
"That's not a lot of time, but it's definitely enough for the Genovesans to get their hands on the jewels one way or another," Halt said.

"We just have to trust that he has the situation under control. Hopefully he manages to send another messenger sometime soon to give us an update. Or maybe a better way would be to gather information, grab Pauline, and get out. Then we can get a full report from him."

"True. But right now he's trapped."

"Rangers are rarely trapped. We just make the choice not to leave and finish the work we started, even when opportunities to escape come up."

Gilan chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Four hours. Then we go in, job finished or not. "

"Four hours," Halt agreed. They both exited the tent, turned and gazed thoughtfully at the eerily still castle, wondering where Will was.

**************

Well, that's it for Halt for a while. Besides, I know you all want to hear about Will more. We'll see what happens to him next chapter. Sorry it took me so long to update! Hope to update more often and give you all something to read... Thanks for reading, please vote and comment! ;)