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As the three saddle up, Jonny notices Mirian is still moving stiffly and tries to hide his amusement. Culpeper pretends not to notice when Mirian shows Jonny her middle finger. As she swings herself into the saddle, she very carefully places herself into the saddle, wincing. Not even trying to conceal his amusement, Jonny suggests, "Perhaps today we should let Mirian set the pace for the day. She looks like she needs recovery time." Mirian wheels bigor towards Jonny to smack him again, instantly regretting it. causing Jonny to fully laugh. "Jonny, when I am able, I am going to kick your ass; that is a promise!" Laughing all the harder, Jonny fires back, "Yeah, not if I kick you IN the ass first." Jonny turns towards the road to start their journey. Still amused, he looks back over his shoulder, thinking, 'I really shouldn't be teasing her, but by the way she is walking and moving, it is obvious what they did last night.'

Once all three are on the road, Jonny turns to the other two. "Seriously, Mirian, you look like you are having difficulties in the saddle this morning. You set the pace, and we will follow along." Culpeper brings Dilda alongside the other two, saying, "Mirian, dear, you do look a little rough this morning. You set the pace, and we will follow along. I think Jonny here is right." Mirian glares at the two men and turns up the road at a walk.

Jonny rides ahead a ways so that Mirian and Culpeper can enjoy each other's company without him overhearing. Culpeper brings Dilda alongside Bigor, smiling over at Mirian. Mirian doesn't know if she wants to smile or scowl at him. "Why didn't you tell me getting ass fucked would cause this the next day?!? Holy crap, my asshole hurts this morning. worse, I think Jonny knows what we did, and that is why he is so amused this morning." Culpeper doesn't know what to say, so he says nothing, which is probably his wisest decision at this time. He can't tell at the moment if she is really irritated or amused at this time. Either way, he tries to change the subject. "So...how long will it take us to get to Castle Ravenstone? I have never been there before. I am looking forward to the trip; hopefully we won't run into trouble before we get there." Mirian decides to let him off the hook for not telling her about the morning after a good-ass fucking. "If we were traveling at normal ranger speed, about four days. However, my ass won't be traveling at normal speed today, and frankly, Dilda couldn't keep the pace." She gives him a sideways, crooked smile. "So it will probably take a week or so to get there, assuming we don't run into problems."

The three continue at their slow pace for about an hour before Culpeper notices both rangers stiffen up and start looking around, causing him to look around also. While Culpeper doesn't notice anything, both rangers focus their attention on the left side of the road. occasionally flicking a look to the right. The two rangers now pull an arrow from their quivers, laying them on the strings but not drawing them. "This is Ranger Jonny from the Jaffa Guild Hall. Please show yourself; we know you are there." From the left side of the road come four men; from the right side of the road come three more. "Well, well, well, look what we have here. the bitch ranger who busted up our operation in Everport. We can collect that bounty on her." As the man is speaking, Jonny sees movement up in the trees; there is a man throwing a net down. As soon as the man started moving, Jonny urged his horse, corser forward. jonny's back, and the rump end of the corser is hit by the net, but they avoided getting tangled. As the net man releases the net, he is hit by mirians arrow, falls from the tree. She quickly shoots the two men trying to follow Jonny from the right side of the road. Jonny wheels corser around, shooting two more of the men. leaving one man standing. One man standing between two angry rangers is not a good place to be. Without hesitation he throws his hands up in an 'I surrender' motion. "I surrender, I surrender! Please don't kill me!" he pleads as he looks around at the rest of the bandits lying dead or wounded around the road.

Mirian and Jonny ride a short distance from the group of men, with arrows on strings but not drawn. Mirian and Jonny (Culpeper also) all look angrily at the man. Mirian, her anger showing in her posture and voice, demands, "You appear to be in charge of these men. Tell me what you had planned for me!" The man stands there looking between the two rangers, occasionally looking to the one wearing the healer's guild emblem. "Please, healer, help me; don't let them kill me like they did the others. It wasn't even a fair fight. They took out five men in five seconds." Culpeper moves up beside Mirian, gesturing towards her, and states angrily, "This is my woman; you were talking about collecting a bounty on her. Whose side do you think I am going to take? coward. Six of you tried to ambush us. As a healer, I don't advocate for violence. I won't today. When the rangers are done with you, I will attempt to aid the still living; that is all you are getting from me today." Mirian flashes him a quick smile upon hearing him call her 'my woman' before turning back to the bandit. "Hmmm, if I put an arrow through your calf, it will hurt you for the rest of your life. especially on cold days. I really don't want to use another arrow; this is all I got for now." The bandit and Mirian look at each other for a moment. He turns to look at Jonny, who says, "I don't mind using an arrow on you; I will just make another to replace it."

The bandit hesitates for three more breaths, then blurts out, "I was at Everport helping run the drug smuggling operation that you ruined. We were making good money, and you ruined it all! You couldn't just mind your own business." Mirian is almost shaking in rage as she replies, "Mind my own business? That kind of evilness in our kingdom is every ranger's business. We are the law. It is our job to stop people like you from doing evil!" Culpeper lays a gentle, calming hand on her leg. She looks at him, takes a calming breath, and continues, "I am going to only ask each question once before shooting you in the leg. Tell us who was running the whole operation, overall, who was making the decisions." The bandit looks even more scared now. "If I tell you that, they will track me down and kill me." "Well," replies Mirian, "I am going to kill now. They are going to kill you in the future. Which is better? Hmmm," she asks, starting to raise the bow. Looking between the two rangers, he replies, "Ok, ok, ok! I'll tell!" still looking hesitant, "It was Mika, son of the provost of Everport. He would hold meetings with all his lieutenants and captains at a warehouse at the docks every ten days. I was a lieutenant, getting ready to move up. I have a good pile of gold and silver coins saved up. If I am careful, they could last me the rest of my life." looking at each other, mirian and jonny are immediately concerned. Without more evidence than the word of a bandit, they can't go after the son of a provost in a city the size of Everport.

Culpeper, understanding the issue, asks the bandit, "You do, of course, have more proof, other than your word, which really isn't any good with the three of us. You see, you and the rangers here both want something. You, simply put, don't want to be shot. They want to arrest the head of the drug scheme. I want something also; I want my woman to not have to hurt you so that I don't have to heal you. So tell her what she wants to know, and then we can all separate. You see, my ranger friends and I are on our way to a friend's home for an evening of entertainment and would like to be on our way." The bandit looks to Culpeper. "More proof? I was a lieutenant and only knew some of the others. My main job was the transporting of the drug." Culpeper looks at him for a moment, then asks, "Do you know what the drug was made of?" The bandit shook his head. "Did you send it over the regularly used roads? or secret routes?" The bandit looks a little nervous about this question. "hmmm?" replies Culpeper. "You see that look? thats the look that we healers call, 'i am going to lie to you' look. think we might have hit on something here." The two rangers look at each other, then at Culpeper. Culpeper looks back at them chuckling. "Everyone lies to the healer; you learn that look quick. You should ask more questions about the secret routes."

Jonny moved corsor slightly closer to the bandit, stating, "Tell us what you know about the secret routes. Tell us everything, or we will track you down and hand you over to the baron's guard." Looking more scared than ever, the man hesitatingly tells about the secret trail leading from Everport to the middle cities and other places he hasn't been to. "You start on the road going north from Everport along the shoreline. about an hour down the road where the new forest starts. On this side of the road," he holds up his right hand, not knowing left from right, "there is a tree with a heart carved into it. fifty more strides for a tall man. On the other side of the road, there is an opening into the forest. It is kept covered and hidden from everyone else. About an hour's walk, the trail opens onto a good-sized horse path. There are a few places along the way that are opened up for camping over night if needed. There is a small post about halfway through that is permanently manned. There are usually 2-3 tradesmen and 10 warriors hired as guards. This is a part of the Everport thieves guilds. other guilds are allowed passage but for a fee. If you are coming from or going to the middle cities, you can stop and trade here. The other end of the trail works the same way. About an hour from the road leading to the middle cities, the horse trail turns into a deer trail. people using the trail are instructed to use caution when coming or going, so that others do not see them. Shortly after the outpost there is a horse trail leading north, but I have never gone onto it and don't know where it goes. ... Honest people, that is all I know.'

Mirian looks at him for a few breaths and decides he is telling the truth. Looking to Jonny, he nods, then Culpeper, who also nods. "Very well, bandit. Go sit over there," she points to a place a little ways away from the other bandits. She looks to Culpeper and gestures towards the other bandits, who are all lying perfectly still as if they might all be dead. Culpeper takes a moment to pray to his deity, Nomar, to help him through this. 'ragnok, please help me to help these men who would hurt Mirian, collect a bounty on her, possibly turning her over to more bad people who would wish her harm.' He climbs down from Dilda. walking to the first man, the one from the tree who threw the net at Jonny. He is lying very still on his side. Once Culpeper turns him onto his back, he can see that Mirian's shot went through his neck. 'Well, there's no point in checking this one.' He looks back to Mirian and Jonny, shakes his head, then moves to the next man. Upon reaching the man, he sees that the arrow has hit him in the shoulder. Culpeper tells him to sit up while he checks on the other men. The third man is also dead with an arrow through his heart. The fourth man is still alive when Culpeper reaches him. He has an arrow in the middle of his chest; Culpeper believes he will not make it much longer. The fifth and last man is lying face down. When Culpeper goes to turn him over, he comes up with a dagger. Almost at the same time Culpeper registers the dagger, two arrows appear, almost as if by magic, in the man's wrist, almost taking off the hand. The dagger goes flying towards the former bandit leader. Culpeper rolls away from the man; the man lets out a scream.

Culpeper gains his feet, moving back towards Mirian and Jonny, noticing where the dagger lands. The bandit leader sees Culpeper looking at him and the dagger. He raises his hands, slowly moving his foot towards the dagger and kicking it towards Culpeper. "I like my hands, healer." He hadn't noticed that Jonny was also looking in his direction. Jonny gives the former leader a look that clearly tells him he made a good decision.

"Look at my hand! You almost cut it off," screams the man. "You ever make a move towards my man again, and I will put an arrow through your eye!" Mirian snarls back. While Mirian is dealing with this one, Jonny is keeping an eye on both the bandit leader and the one with the arrow in his shoulder. 'Ragnok, if this is the life of a ranger, I don't want it!' says Culpeper, speaking to his deity. Culpeper approaches the man with the arrow in his shoulder. He stops out of reach of the man. He points at Mirian. "I love that woman, and she loves me." Pointing at Jonny, he continues, "That is her very good friend and fellow ranger. They have known each other since they started at the ranger academy." He pauses, looking in obvious irritation at the man with the two arrows in his wrist. "Are you as stupid as he is? are going to try and harm me also when I try to help you?" The man looks at the two rangers with obvious fear in his eyes. He fiercely shakes his head back and forth, "No healer, not me. I wouldn't try to hurt a healer trying to help me." He still looks scared and goes on, looking straight at Mirian, "I promise, Ranger, I will not try to harm him. He is a healer; who harms a healer?" Culpeper turns, looking to the two rangers; he can see the look of anger and a different sort of look that he doesn't know how to interpret at the moment. He looks to Jonny, who says, "Mirian, you watch the man while Culpeper works on him, and I will keep an eye on the other two." Mirian moves bigor, closer to the man, dismounts, and slings her bow over her shoulder. She draws her sword, holding it loosely at her side. "The sword is more personal than the bow. You move in a way I don't like, and I will take it personally. DO....WE.....UNDERSTAND....…OTHER?!? " Growls Mirian. Not waiting for an answer, she turns towards Bigor, looking, then pointing towards the man with the arrows in his wrist. "WATCH!" Bigor moves to the far side of the man. Bigor sniffs him, stomps his front hoof at the man, and then flattens his ears to his head. The man is still in great pain and now has a look of fear about him as he looks back at Bigor.

All five of the living men look at each other. The three bandits look at her scared. Jonny and Culpeper look at her with some trepidation. Culpeper moves forward towards the man, the dagger in hand. "I am going to need to cut your top off so I can see the arrow and the wound. You are lucky that the rangers don't use barbed arrows." Culpeper pulls his shirt out and starts cutting from bottom to top with his newly acquired dagger. flapping the shirt halves to the side. With the arrow and wound now fully exposed, he can see what he is working with. Culpeper stands up, reaches behind Mirian, and pulls an arrow from her quiver. He lays the new arrow next to the arrow in the man's body. He is using it to measure how deep it is. Making his assessment, he stands. "I am going to need to cut him a bit to make the hole bigger. If it was a little deeper, I would suggest pushing it through, but not in this case." He hesitates for a moment before continuing. "I am going to need some help." He looks to the bandit leader. "get the saddlebags from my horse and bring them over here." He points at a spot on the opposite side of the wounded man from Mirian. The bandit leader looks to Mirian and Jonny before moving. Mirian looks to Jonny; she obviously wants to say no. Jonny looks at her for a few breaths before he says, "Culpeper, we will let him help you, but do not get between us and him. If we need to take action, we don't want you getting hurt." Turning to the bandit leader, he says, "Understand, bandit, that you will be allowed to help your man and our friend." Looking to Mirian and then back again, "Don't do something she is likely to take personally, understand?" Looking to Mirian, then back to Jonny, he replies, "No, Ranger, I most certainly won't do anything she will take personally."

The bandit leader removes culpepers saddle bags, placing them where he was instructed. he takes a step back, keeping his hands out to his sides where they can be seen. Culpeper gestures for the bandit leader to kneel down by the bag. "I am going to need you to hand me things from the bags, and you are going to need to hold your friend down when I tell you to." Looking at Mirian, he slowly kneels down. Culpeper turns back to the wounded man. "This is going to hurt. I am going to need you to stay as still as you can." Culpeper looks to the man to make sure he understands. The man nods to him; taking a couple of deep breaths, he nods again. Culpeper takes hold of the arrow, gently moving it in a circle to get a feel for how well it is lodged into him. The man winces but manages to stay still for the most part. "Well, it's in there good. I am going to have to enlarge the opening and then slowly work it out. I am going to need water poured over it to keep the blood clear so I can see what I am doing." Looking to the bandit leader, he continues, "I am going to need you to do both. Can you handle it? pour and hold at the same time?" the bandit leader looks to the other bandit, then back to culpeper, "yes, healer, i can do it." He looks nervous but steady. Culpeper instructs him, "Pull out the blue metal container in the saddlebag and place it on the ground next to him. As soon as the arrow is out, we are going to need it. Be ready to open it. It has a powder in it. Please try not to spill any; it is hard to come by." Looking to both bandits, he asks, "Ready?" They both gulp and nod.

Culpeper indicates the bandit leader should hold the man down. As soon as the bandit leader takes hold of the man, Culpeper leans forward with the dagger in hand, takes hold of the arrow, looks at the two men, pushes the arrow up, and then cuts down with the dagger, opening the wound more on the bottom side. "Ok, pour some water over it to clear out the blood." As the water is poured, Culpeper pushes the arrow right and cuts left. "More water. Keep the area clear so I can see what I am doing." The bandit leader keeps pouring water; Culpeper cuts in all directions until he has a bigger opening to work with. "Ok, that was the easy part. Now comes the hard part. I will be working the arrow out." Looking to the bandit leader, he says, "I need him as still as possible. Too much movement, and we can wind up hurting him more or permanently damaging his arm." positioning himself as best as he can to pull the arrow straight out so as to not tear anything more than he has to. Working slowly, working it out inch by inch, it is coming out.

The next thing everyone hears is Jonny growling at the third bandit, "I would think that you have had enough arrows in you. However, if you want another one, keep moving." At the sound of Jonny's voice, everyone looks up to see the third bandit trying to crawl away while his friend was being worked on. The bandit leader yells at the third bandit, "Be still, Rondale! do you not care your brother has been shot with an arrow and we are trying to remove it?" Rondale looks at everyone looking at him. "I have been shot too. No one seems to care about that!" The bandit leader looks shocked at Rondale's attitude. "Of course they are mad at you, you idiot; you tried to kill their friend. The rest of us just wanted to capture her for the bounty. Pray the healer is willing to try again to help you."

Without a word, Culpeper goes back to pulling the arrow out, while the bandit leader continues to pour water and hold the other bandit down. While more and more blood pours out, Culpeper is finally able to pull the arrow out. "Quickly, open the container and put a large pinch on my hand." The bandit leader does as he is told. Culpeper takes the powdered substance and wets it, turning it into a paste-like substance. "Be ready to hold him down. This is going to hurt like Hades for the first minute or so after I put it in his wound. ready?" he asks the bandit leader. The bandit leader looks to his friend, who nods. The bandit leader looks back to Culpeper and nods also. using his fingers to poke the paste into the hole in the man's shoulder. Just as Culpeper pulls his fingers away, the man lets out a scream of pain, startling everyone except Culpeper. Culpeper moves back, stands up, and looks to Mirian and Jonny, telling them, "That is pretty much all I can do in the field. If we were at my cottage, I could do a lot more." Jonny replies, "I think you did plenty. He can get what he needs at Jaffa and be happy we are not taking him into custody. They can call it a hunting accident if they want," pausing, he looks to the bandit leader. "Be gone from jaffa within two days of 10. That is when we will be returning. We don't want to see you. If we do, we will take you in, understand?" The bandit leader nods his understanding. "What about Rondale? Will the healer help him?" Jonny shakes his head. "I am not the one to ask. I am not the one he made a special effort to kill. I do believe your friend will have to ask for himself. me? I would say no, but that's me."

The bandit leader and Rondale look to the healer.Rondale, with the two arrows still sticking through his wrists, attempts to approach Culpeper. Mirian steps between Rondale and Culpeper, raising her sword, pointing it at Rondale, "You will need to get past me first, bandit. You need to believe that will not be easy." Rondale holds up his hand, showing the two arrows, pleading, "Please, Ranger, let the healer help me. I promise to behave." Mirian stands looking at the man, obviously not wanting to let it happen. Culpeper moves to stand next to Mirian, putting his hand on her arm. "Mirian, dear, please do not interfere with this. Under my guild's rules, I have to offer at least minimum assistance to anyone who is ill or injured. even those who try to kill me." He stops here, looking to Rondale with the anger obvious in his unhappiness with what he has to do. "Understand, bandit, I do not have to expose myself to dangers twice. I will be asking her, "pointing at Mirian, "to search you to make sure you have no more surprises." Mirian smiles at the man as Culpepper requests that she search him.

Mirian sheaths her sword, moving forward. "Put your arms up, move your feet apart." Looking scared, he complies. She starts with patting and frisking his shirt sleeves. She immediately finds a dagger up the sleeve of his injured hand. Knowing it won't get past the arrows in his wrist tells everyone it is there and moves on. Checking the other arm, she finds nothing. She checks his hair, finding it to be greasy and gross, but nothing in it. She scowls, wiping her hands on his shirt. She checks every inch of his chest and shirt. At his waistline, Mirian finds something at his waist. Pulling up his shirt, she sees a handle sticking up from his waistline. She pulls the handle up, finding that it is a cat-o'-nine'-tails. She looks at him and it with disgust and tosses it to the ground. She walks behind him while she has his shirt pulled up, not seeing anything else. She moves in front of him again. She runs her hands down his pant legs to the top of his boots. Pulling the pant leg up, she finds something else. She finds what looks like a mini quiver. Pulling it from his boot, she carefully looks it over. There are four darts in the mini quiver. She pulls one out and shakes it; she can barely hear the sound of liquid sloshing around. She carefully replaces it in the mini quiver, then tosses it to the side. "Those are likely poison darts; be careful around them." She moves to the other boot, and pulling up the pant leg, she finds a small leather case. Opening it, she finds thieves tools, lock picks, a mini saw, and two objects she can't identify. Shaking her head, she tosses these next to the cat'o'-nine and poison darts. She stands again, looking to Jonny and Culpeper, stating, "I ain't checking his nuts or his ass. If you want them checked, you do it." Picking up what she did find, she moves away from him. Culpeper and Jonny look at each other, shaking their heads. "Nope. not that curious about what he might have down there." Culpeper answers for them. Culpeper turns to Jonny in all seriousness, "Do me a favor. If his good hand comes below his head, shoot him again. not eager to find out if he does have something hidden down there." Feeling confident both rangers would shoot the man if he twitched in a way they didn't like, he moved forward.

Culpeper looks at both sides of Rondale's wrist and decides on a plan. "This is going to hurt. Normally, I would care. In your case, I do not. I am going to need to break off the arrows and then pull them back through. You will want to cover them with a clean cloth until they close up. You will also want to put that wrist and hand into a sling for a couple weeks at least. Don't move it any more than necessary. Do you have anything that will work as a sling?" The man shakes his head, looking at his hand with fear. Culpeper speaks next, "Culpeper, let me go look through their camp. It's just over there, around the corner. " The three bandits look truly surprised at Jonny's words. "How did—" the bandit leader stammers. Culpeper laughs, "I am a ranger and know these woods well. Besides, I can hear your horses. Mirian is going to stay here and keep an eye on the situation. I will be back shortly," Jonny signals Corser forward around the corner to their camp. While Jonny rides away, Culpeper moves back, closer to Mirian.

It is not far down the road that he finds their camp. "Really? Did they really believe that a couple of rangers from this area wouldn't know about this camping spot?" He speaks aloud to himself. He looks around the camp, noticing what a mess it is. 'I hope they didn't plan to leave the forest like this. Dismounting from corser, he gives the command, "GUARD!" to the corser. He starts looking around the camp for useful supplies. It looks like each of the men set up a little nook for themselves around a central fire. Going through each nook, he finds ten gold coins and 24 silver. a couple of stones; not sure what they are, he takes them. some necklaces, rings, bracelets, and other jewelry. He finds a fairly clean shirt that looks like it could do as a sling. more daggers, swords, and other weapons than he knows what to do with. He can't leave them with the bandits. more than enough food for the three surviving bandits, he takes some of the choicest meat cuts. He gathers everything up that he wants to take, wondering how he is going to carry it all. Inspiration hits! Looking around the camp, he counts six horses. He loads up everything onto one of the horses and then ties all the horses together, with their gear, onto a lead. Looking around the camp one more time, he mounts up, returning to Mirian, Culpeper, and the bandits.

Mirian hears the horses clattering down the road and looks up. Soon, everyone hears them, looking up. Jonny appears around the bend in the road, leading the six horses, one loaded up with travel bags and supplies. He rides up to Culpeper, tossing him a heavy wool shirt. "This is the best I could find for a sling." He leads the string of horses a little further down the road, away from the bandits. The bandits look on, looking suspicious about what is going on. Jonny turns corser so that he is facing the group. "I did a quick search of your camp. found some money." He jiggles a rather heavy-looking purse for the bandits to see. "I also found some stones and jewelry." He pats a bag hanging from Corser's saddle. "Enough weapons to equip a squad of soldiers," he points towards the horse that he is using as a packhorse, "and some good choice cuts of meat," again pointing at the packhorse. The three bandits look extremely unhappy but have enough sense not to say so.

"While the healer, Culpeper, does what he can for Rondale, I am going to lead these horses a ways down the road, then set them free." He asks Mirian to detach the packhorse from the rest. As soon as she does, he leads the rest away. He leads them at a trot about 15 minutes down the road. Figuring he has gone far enough to make it hard, if not impossible, for the bandits to find their horses again, he stops. He dismounts, giving the guard command to corser, points them away from Mirian, culpeper and the bandits, slaps one on the rump, yelling, "YEE HAH," and slaps another on the rump. The five horses all take off at a full run in the direction of Jaffa. He watches them go for a minute, making sure they don't turn around. Mounting up again, he returns to the group.

Culpeper has the last bandit in a sling and is giving him directions on how to care for his wrist. "Do you understand what I have told you? Keep it clean; try not to use it for a couple weeks, then start slowly." The bandit sees Jonny returning and replies to Culpeper, "Yes, healer, I understand." Jonny stops close to Mirian, looking at the bandits and then Mirian and Culpeper. Speaking to Mirian and Culpeper, he asks, "Are we done here? Do we have any more business with these bandits?" Mirian and Culpeper look at each other, shake their heads, and look back to Jonny. "Good," says Jonny. Turning to the bandits, "You are lucky today. We don't have time to deal with you, so we are letting you go. I don't believe I found everything in your camp, so you are likely to be back in business in a couple of days. We will be returning through here in two 10-day times. do not be here," looking to Mirian and Culpeper, "are we ready? We have lost a couple hours time thanks to them," he gestures towards the bandits. Culpeper and Mirian are mounting up while Jonny talks. "Culpeper, I would like you to lead the packhorse. We have a few hours of sunlight still. Let's try to take advantage of it. I will take point position again. ready?"

Leaving the bandits behind, the three companions start their journey again. Jonny rode out ahead again, leaving the other two to ride together. Once they are out of earshot of the bandits, Mirian turns to Culpeper, asking, "Did you really mean what you said back there? Please tell me you did." Culpeper looks back at her smiling, "Of course I did. I do love you." Mirian reaches out to take his hand. The two ride side by side, in silence, enjoying each other's company. As they ride, there are other people on the road. Nobody presents a threat. Jonny warns the people about the bandit location, telling them he doesn't know if they are still there or not.

About an hour before the sun goes down, Jonny stops to let the other two catch up. "The sun will be going down in about an hour." Looking to Mirian, he continues, "We have two good campsites within that time and one not so good but out of sight and easy to defend. I believe you know the three sites I am referring to?" Mirian nods to Jonny, turning to Culpeper, she elaborates, "At the two good sites, we will be as comfortable as we can be. We can set a fire and cook the meat Jonny took from the bandits. We would look like anyone else traveling the road. The biggest problem is that if there are more bandits in the area, we will be sitting out in the open. We will need to hide the packhorse, or it will attract attention." The two rangers look to the healer to decide. Culpeper decides that one of the open campsites would do for the night. He doesn't want to hide from those that would harm his woman but face them head-on. "I think we can use one of the open sites." He pauses a moment before saying, "We have plenty of extra weapons. I want the two of you to teach me how to use one, a sword, I think. I will be damned if I will stand to the side while bandits and bounty hunters come after my woman." Mirian takes a breath in to say something; Jonny holds a hand up, causing her to pause. "I have been expecting this since I brought these captured weapons back." He pauses and looks at Mirian. "I agree, Mirian; if he is going to be traveling with us, he should at least know the basics." The two men look to Mirian for her reaction. She looks back and forth between the two men, then focuses on Culpeper. "I see your point. Very well, we will pick out a sword for you, then begin your training tonight."

They ride a short distance further when Jonny points out the first campsite. "I like this one better; there are no bends in the road close to us here," gesturing towards the back of the clearing. "Also, there are no real trails leading in or out of the area. It will be harder for bandits to sneak up on us here." Jonny looks to Mirian for her thoughts. "Out of the two, this one is more defensible. I think this would be good for the night." The two rangers look to Culpeper. "If you two rangers believe this to be the better place, who am I to argue?" He replies with a hint of humor. The three humans and four horses ride into the clearing. As they are dismounting, Mirian comments to Jonny, "You have the food and utensils; you get to cook." Handing Jonny her canteen, she says to him, "You know my canteen, ever full. Use it for everything; save the water you and Culpeper are carrying. While you are doing that, Culpeper and I will take care of the horses and set up the camp.

Jonny removes what he needs from corser,then moves over to a previously dug fire pit. The previous travelers have left behind a good stack of wood and kindling. placing some of the kindling and wood into the fire pit. Soon there is a fire burning in the pit, and he pulls out his cooking utensils and food. Soon he is preparing tonight's dinner. Mirian takes Corser by the reins, leading him and Bigor to the side of the camp area. Culpeper, Dilda, and the pack horse right behind her. Mirian turns to Culpeper, asking him to take the packhorse to the back of the camp. He gives her a quizzical look but complies. "When you get back there, remove everything from the horse. Put everything but the weapons into the tree line out of sight but easy to retrieve. Start looking through the weapons; see if one or two appeal to you. i will likely still be working on the horses, including dilda, when you get done. Bring the packhorse back over here."

Shortly, Culpeper is leading the packhorse back over to where Mirian is. He notes that when he was leading the packhorse away, Mirian was removing Jonny's horse, Corser's, equipment, and now he is completely re-equipped. He asks about it. "When two or more rangers travel together, at least one of their horses will always be ready for action. It is always better to be prepared and not need it than to need it and be unprepared. It's a ranger thing," she smiles at him as she finishes working on Bigor. "Give me the packhorse, and you take care of Dilda." He hands over the packhorse, and they work at the two horses side by side, chatting as old friends and lovers. Culpeper notices that even though her attention is primarily on him, she is still aware of their surroundings. 'She is ever alert when on the mission. I feel sorry for the fool who tries to get past her'. As they are finishing the horses, Jonny calls out that the food is almost ready.

Mirian and Culpeper set the horses to crop the grass and foliage towards the back of the camp. Joining Jonny by the fire, he serves up a portion of a chicken and some vegetables. While eating, they have a serious discussion about tomorrow's travel plans. "Between Mirian," Jonny gives her a mischievous grin, "getting off to a slow start and the bandits, we didn't get as far as we wanted to today. If we start early and ride hard, we should be to the cut off trail by noon." Turning to Mirian, he asks, "In all seriousness, Mirian, will you be back to normal in the morning?" Mirian scowls playfully at Culpeper; Culpeper looks to the sky with great innocence. "I will be fine in the morning. I am fine now!" she replies. As they finish the meal, Culpeper reminds them that they are starting his weapon training tonight.

Jonny volunteers to clean up the camp while Mirian and Culpeper look over the weapons Culpeper picked. Mirian sees the three weapons that Culpeper laid on the ground not far from where she saw him lay the rest of the treasure they acquired from the bandits. She picks one up and examines it with a frown. "I am sorry, Culpeper. But I have never seen a sword like this before; let's put it aside for now." She takes another look at the foreign sword. It is about half the length of a long sword; where the tip would be, it hooks around in a wide curve. It could be used as a hook to pull on your opponent. The next one she picks up is a horseman's mace. slightly longer than a regular mace, it can still be used one handed Mirian thinks this might be the best weapon for Culpeper. It is effective and doesn't need a lot of finesse.

She doesn't even bother to pick up the third weapon, a short sword. Still holding the horseman's mace, she says, "I think this is the best out of the three you chose." She hefts the mace. "It has good impact weight and strength; it has reach so you don't have to let your enemy get too close. You can use it one-handed on horseback or one- or two-handed on foot. I think this is the best weapon for you. It's a 'bash and whack' weapon." She hands the mace over to Culpeper; as he takes hold of it, she tightens her grip, asking, "Are you sure Ragnok will allow you to train as a warrior? You are quite gifted and blessed as a healer. I would hate to see you lose that." Culpeper puts a hand over hers that is holding the mace. "Ragnok has warrior priests and priestesses that operate under her. I am hopeful that she will accept that I do this for you, not for me. Now...teach me." They look at each other for a moment, then she steps back.

"I will first be teaching you to handle it one-handed, since you will be handling it one-handed both on horseback and on foot. At another time, we will teach you two-handed." She reaches over, taking hold of the mace's handle, and she takes hold of the strap dangling from it there, telling him to place it around his wrist. She then moves her hand halfway up the shaft of the weapon. Taking hold of his right hand, she slides it to just above the butt ridge. "Now, swing it around, play with it, and get the feeling of it. Tonight, that is all we are going to have you do. Play with it, get the feeling of it." Culpeper nods his understanding, steps back from her, and hefts it a couple times.

She moves over to the fire to join Jonny. Sitting down, the two rangers watch the healer, both wondering if this is a good idea. They both watch him, getting a feel for what he is lacking and what they will have to teach him. After a while, Mirian suggests Jonny go get some sleep. "He is going to want to work with that until he is exhausted, later really, but I will chase him to bed when needed." Jonny looks at the healer with concern, gets up, calls Corser to him, crosses the road, and disappears into the trees. Culpeper watches him go and asks,

"Where is he going?" Mirian looks from Culpeper over to where Jonny disappeared, then back to Culpeper. "There is another very small opening over there. big enough for a person and a horse. He will set a corser to watch and then get himself some sleep." She then gives Culpeper and his mace a look, telling him, "Back to work; you are going to need some time before you are good with that weapon." Culpeper goes back to work, swinging the mace around, getting a feel for it. trying moves from time to time, deciding he isn't ready to get fancy yet.

Long after it is full dark, Culpeper finally staggers over to the fire, dropping to his knees in exhaustion. He looks to Mirian, panting a question, "How did I look? Will you and Jonny be able to start actually training me soon? I want to be ready." She looks at him with a funny look. "I was watching you work out. You do know that there is nothing sexier than a hot, sweaty man working out, right?" she giggles in a girlish way. Culpeper smiles back, "Glad I could give you something to watch. Seriously, how did I look?" She moves a little closer to him, whispers in his ear, "What makes you think I'm not serious?" He moves to give her a kiss. "You're not going to answer me?" He breathes into her neck. She sighs as he kisses her neck. She replies, "No one looks good the first time they pick up a weapon. You will get there." He pulls back, looking at her. "Thank you for being honest with me. I am taking this weapons training very seriously. I want to be ready to watch your back when needed." She doesn't know how to respond to this. Ever since she started the ranger academy, men have pulled away and left her when they found out she is a ranger. not Culpeper. sure he worries about me, but he has never pulled away, and now he wants to be trained to watch my back. This man is a keeper. "Why don't you arrange our blankets towards the back of the clearing while I post Bigor to guard and let Jonny know he has the watch?" Culpeper agrees, moving towards the saddlebags, getting the saddlebag and blankets. Culpeper removes his shirt and boots, lays one of the blankets on the ground, lays out two more to cover with, the fourth he lays out the long ways to use as a pillow for the two of them.

As she approaches Culpeper, she kicks off her boots and takes off her shirt. Culpeper raises his head, looking across the fire, obviously worried about Jonny seeing her. "Relax, my man. I had you place our sleep area over here so Jonny couldn't see us through the fire." With a look of pure happiness and joy, she lies down beside him. "Now lie down; you worked hard, you deserve some relaxation." Culpeper starts to pull the blanket over them when Mirian pushes his arm and blanket back. She purrs into his ear, "I said some relaxation, not sleep." They settled into the blankets, Mirian's legs stretched out and brushing against Culpeper's as they talked and laughed. Mirian could feel the heat of his body and the current that seemed to pass between them. The time for talking has come to an end;

Once they have both caught their breaths, she reaches down towards the foot of their makeshift bed, grabbing her canteen. She takes a drink, then offers Culpeper a drink. Once they have both drunk, the two lovers lay down, his arms wrapped around her as she snuggles into him. they are soon sound asleep.

Jonny wakes them about an hour before sunrise by stoking up the fire, announcing, "We should be moving out in about an hour. We will want to make up for lost time from yesterday." He breaks out the last of the bear meat, some potatoes, onions, and some peppers, chopping them all up. "You two get your horses ready to travel and load up the packhorse. lie I said last night that if we ride hard, we will make the hidden trail by noon. Upon thinking about it again, maybe we shouldn't push the horses too hard. We are not on a deadline here. We do want to get Mirian out of the area quickly, but exhausting the horses is not a good idea."

Before Jonny can continue, she makes a 'turn around' gesture to him. Jonny just now notices Mirian is holding her blanket way up over her breasts, blushes a little, turns around. Mirian and Culpeper both quickly jump up, putting their clothes on. Once they are fully dressed and blankets rolled up for travel, Mirian calls Bigor over to the side of the camp where Dilda and the packhorse have been tied for the night. Once Dilda and Bigor are ready to travel, the couple lead the packhorse to the back of the camp, where the booty and supplies are waiting to be reloaded onto the horse.

The horses are fed some grain and given a small amount of water each. When they are done eating, they each clean their kits, with Jonny cleaning his kettle and packing it away. Culpeper has his new mace in hand when he approaches Dilda. Looking at the mace, then at Dilda, he is unsure what to do. Jonny seeing this mounts up corser, moving him closer to them. Jonny holds out his hand to Culpeper, saying, "Let me show you." Culpeper hands Jonny the mace by the haft end. He takes the mace strap and wraps it, once, around the saddle bow as an anchor. "Wrap the strap around the saddle bow only once, or you won't be able to loosen it when you need it. Practice loosening it while we ride today." Jonny hands the mace back to Cupeper. Culpeper wraps the mace strap around the saddle bow, then mounts up Dilda. He looks down at the weapon and attempts to free it from the saddle. He almost drops it. "Not off to a good start," he mumbles to himself, seeing that they are both watching him. They both smile at him, with Mirian saying, "It actually wasn't a bad start. You only almost dropped it. That is a good start." Jonny turns corser to the road just as the sun breaks over the treetop. He moves a short distance ahead, as he did yesterday. close enough for the three of them to support each other but far enough away for the two young lovers to talk privately. They travel by the two-hour rule. Ride the horses at an easy ground-eating lope for two hours, then rest for fifteen minutes, then walk for fifteen minutes. At their first stop, the rangers note that Dilda and the packhorse are breathing a little heavier than the two ranger horses. nothing to be concerned with.

The three friends sit on the ground, taking a break from the riding. the two rangers telling Culpeper about the hidden trail that they will be traveling starting tomorrow. Jonny stands announcing, "We walk the horses for another fifteen minutes so that they don't start to stiffen up, but it's still a rest for them." as they get ready to walk Jonny shows Culpeper how to attach the mace to his belt. They walk three abreast on the road. Jonny and Mirian take the outside positions with their horses in tow. Culpeper has Dilda and the packhorse in tow behind him. They are spread all across the road. The three companions travel on foot much longer than they need to, as they are enjoying each other's company.

Soon, a family of travelers comes upon the three friends and exchanges information about the Wayland Forest Road. The family recognizes the ranger and healer emblems and informs them of a group of ruffians about an hour's walk down the road. They are making people pay a toll to travel on the road. The three friends look at each other and assure the family that the ruffians will be dealt with. After all, the Wayland Forest Road is a free road! After getting all the information about the ruffians that they can, they mount their horses. Wishing the travelers well, Mirian and Jonny take off at a full gallop to find the ruffians. Culpeper having to handle the packhorse is a little slower off the start.

A short while later they come upon the ruffians right where the family said they would be. There are ten of them in all. The two rangers stayed mounted on their ranger horses as they approached the ruffian camp. They announced their presence, "Royal Rangers!" Drop to your knees and put your hands up!" Some of the men saw the rangers, recognized their emblems, and complied immediately. Three ruffians tried to rush the rangers and got shot with arrows for their efforts. All three of the ruffians fell to the road, dead. Once the rest saw how quickly the rangers dispatched their friends, they surrendered.

About this time, Culpeper comes up behind them with the packhorse. Jonny turns slightly towards Culpeper while keeping an eye on the ruffians. "Well, Culpeper, how much more do you believe that horse can carry?" he asks, gesturing towards the packhorse. "This horse is strong; I believe he can handle a bit more. Why?" Jonny looks at the ruffians before replying, "We are going to relieve these gentlemen of some of their ill-gotten bounty." Jonny points towards the three dead men. "Those three will mind being searched the least; you might want to start with them." Culpeper moves towards the dead men, making sure not to put himself between the rangers and the ruffians. He rolls each of the men over onto their backs, then searches them. He gathers all the valuables he finds on the dead men, placing them on the ground not far from Jonny and Corser. Jonny growls to the rest of the men, "One at a time, come forward. You will be searched. After you have been searched, remove your footwear, including your socks."

Jonny gestures the first man forward. By the time Culpeper is done searching the men, there is quite a pile of valuables. With all the ruffians gathered on the side of the road, he demands, "Where is your camp?" The seven men look back at him with various looks of defiance, all looking scared. "Alright, here is the deal: the first one who tells us where your camp is gets their boots back." They all look to the pile of boots, then back to Jonny. One man steps forward. "I will tell you, Ranger." Through the cursing and muttering, Jonny learns where their camp is. He turns to Culpeper, asking, "Do you want to stay here and help watch this group of beauties or come with me and raid their camp? I am sure they have more good stuff there." Culpeper looks to Mirian to see what she wants. She looks back at him with a look that clearly says it's up to him. She says, "I can keep an eye on these guys. Go with Jonny. It will be a learning chance for you. Take the packhorse with you."

Culpeper mounts Dilda while still holding his mace. He shows the men the mace, the threat very clear. The two men arrive at the camp. It is better concealed than the bandits had been. This one is a ways off the road with a fair amount of trees to hide it from the road. The two men dismount from their horses. Jonny turns to Culpeper, "Just look around the camp for a moment. Take it in. Anything of real value isn't going to be lying around in plain sight or easy to find." He pauses while Culpeper looks around the camp. Remembering Mirian telling him to hide their bounty in the tree lines last night, he walks along the perimeter of the camp, looking into the trees and bushes. Soon he drops down to his knees, pushing the branches of a bush out of his way, and pulls out a medium-sized bag. As he is about to open it, Jonny calls out, "Stop!" He comes over and kneels next to Culpeper. "Did you check the openings for traps?" Jonny knows by the look on his face that the thought never occurred to him. Jonny speaks gently to Culpeper, "These are not nice people we are dealing with here. They will happily slit the throats of the other ruffians as they would yours. They may work as a team, but only as long as it benefits them. They don't trust each other any more than we trust them. Culpeper, friend, friend of my friend. We are dealing with bad people; expect the worst from them. and you still might not be prepared." Jonny makes a 'give me the bag' gesture. He gently puts it down, gets up, looks around, and finds what he is looking for. He walks away from Culpeper to the other side of the camp. He reaches down to a very leafy bush and pulls a branch off. As he walks back over, he notices Culpeper has stood and taken a step back from the bag. Jonny smiles and nods with approval. Jonny approaches the bag with the leafy bush branch. He draws his sword, keeping the branch in front of him, and he pokes at the bag opening. Sure enough, there was a small pop, and a powder shot into the air. The powder that went in Jonny's direction is caught up on the bush as Jonny swings it around, dispersing the powder."You see? These people don't even trust their own. I don't know what the powder was, but I don't imagine it was good." Culpeper looks at the bag, then Jonny, shaking his head. "Jonny, you rangers live a scary life. I am glad that there are people like you around to watch Mirian's back." Looking back to the bag again, he asks, "Do you believe it is safe to handle now?" Using the point of his sword, Jonny prods the bag open. sees some powder around the opening, he replies, "I wouldn't; find a stick to empty the bag with." Culpeper soon finds a stick, moves the bag several feet from where they found it, and turns it upside down. Out come coins, stones, jewelry, and an object they cannot identify. Leaving the pile of loot, the two men search the rest of the camp.They find quite a haul.more coins, jewelry, and stones. more weapons, horses. Oddly, they even found a few rolls of fine cloth. Jonny holds up a container of what looks like powder to Culpeper. "Coffee!" declares Jonny. "Looks like enough to make 3 or 4 pots." They load everything onto the packhorse, who is starting to look loaded down.

Cupeper asks Jonny, "What are we going to do with all this stuff? "I don't need anything more than what I have already taken," he says, patting the mace hanging from his belt. Jonny smiles, saying, "I don't believe Mirian needs anything, and I certainly don't. When we rangers collect loot, we are allowed to take it into a town or city and sell it. Part of it goes to the local Ragnok church, part to the guild, and we keep the rest. We can save it or buy whatever we need or want. In the ranger guild, we don't get paid like in other guilds. It is meant to encourage the shutting down of this kind of behavior. We get to take out the bad guys, take their stuff, and get paid for it." With a laughing smirk, he asks, "What could be better?" Culpeper just looks at Jonny for a moment, shaking his head. "You don't get paid by the Ranger Guild? You get all your money from bad guys? Do rangers ever go bad? Sorry, no offense, but that seems like a good way to get highly trained bandits and highwaymen." Jonny holds his hands up to stop Culpepper's slew of questions and, with amusement, answers, "No, the guild really does not pay us. Yes, we really get most of our money from the bad guys." With an attitude change to completely serious, he goes on, "As for a ranger going rogue, it rarely happens. As a part of our apprenticeship, we are taught if we go rogue, we will be hunted down and killed. The kingdom will not tolerate a rogue lawman. We are the lawmen of the land; we carry a lot of power and responsibility for the kingdom. The kingdom can't have someone with the ranger broach misusing that badge of office."

Jonny suggests that they burn the bag with the powder so that no one else has to worry about it. once the bag is ashes. They gear up the bandit horses, adding a little loot to each horse that they themselves are not going to take. Culpeper asks why they are doing this. "Because," replies Jonny with a laugh of amusement, "we are going to take these horses and give them to anyone walking the road. Help the citizens and piss off the bandits. Take their boots and give away their horses. Yep, that ought to do it." Both men are laughing now as they mount up and move to rejoin Mirian.

As they approach Mirian and the bandits Mirian dismounts from Bigor, giving her back a big stretch, and says, "Gotta go talk to a bush," and walks into the trees.Jonny asks Culpeper to add the loot from here to the loot acquired from the bandit camp, causing some of the bags to bulge. Jonny turns to the bandits. "We will be leaving shortly; this is what's happening with you." He pauses to give them a wicked grin. "We are taking all the loot from you that we can carry. We are taking your horses and giving them away to people on the road. We will make sure to give them to people who are heading away from you. We have also loaded most of your field rations onto them. Lastly, we will be taking your boots and socks. While no one will likely want them, we will be offering them with the horses." Continuing to grin at them, he concludes, "If you have any concerns or complaints with this, you will need to take it up with one of the ranger guild halls found in one of the major cities. Do you gentlemen have any questions?" The seven men make many unkind and inappropriate comments but have no questions. Mirian has remounted Bigor, and the three friends are off once again. Culpeper with a train of twelve horses behind him.

It is about three hours before they come across the first travelers on foot. A man, a woman, and two young children, a boy and a girl, move to the side of the road to get out of the way. Mirian and Jonny ride forward to the group, signaling for Culpeper to hang back. "Greeting travelers," greets Miriam. "I am Ranger Mirian, and this is Ranger Jonny." She bends down to wave at the children. "This might be your lucky day. We," she gestures to herself, Jonny, and Culpeper, "just busted up a group of thugs charging a toll for people traveling the road. The Wayland Forest Road is a free road, once again." At the look from the mother and father, Mirian pauses. "We are most pleased to hear that, Ranger. We had three copper pieces to our names...and they took them. We are glad to hear no one else is going to be robbed by them. They also took most of our rations. We are going to be struggling to make it to the next village." "Well," begins Mirian, "this is your lucky day then." She gestures towards the money bag hanging from Corser's saddle and makes a "give me" gesture. Jonny pulls out a silver piece, handing it to Mirian. Extending the coin to the father, "I am sure he has three coppers in there; he probably doesn't feel like digging them out." Jonny makes an exaggerated serious look, saying. "Nope, don't feel like it." Mirian rolls her eyes toward the family in hopes that they will see the rangers are amused. Mirian reaches the coin out towards the father. The father reaches up to take the coin and Miriam's hand. "Thank you, Ranger Mirian, thank you. We, I, don't know what to say. Thank you. It is going to take us three days to get to the next village, Mondale. Ultimately, we are trying to get to the port to try and find work."

The father looks from the coin to the string of horses. Hesitantly he asks, "Would you be willing to sell us a horse for this coin?" Mirian looks down to the father with a huge grin, "We took these horses from the bandits to give to people walking the road. I think you need three horses. One for you, one for the lady, and I think the children can share a horse. What do you think?" The man starts to protest, "Ranger, we can't afford..." Mirian cuts him off with a dismissive gesture of her hand. "Who said anything about affording or buying these horses? I said we are giving these horses away. Better you have them than the bandits. Ride them to your destination; if you don't need them anymore, sell them off or keep them. They are yours to do with as you please." She turns to Culpeper and asks if he would please detach three horses for these folk. With a wave and a smile, he dismounts Dilda. He detaches the first three horses and brings them to the family. All four of them look from Culpeper to the rangers with awe and shock. "Are you sure you want nothing for these horses? the horses, and their gear, are way beyond anything we could pay for." Culpeper looks towards the rangers and replies, "The rangers captured them; the rangers can give them away." Turning to look seriously at the parents for a moment, "There are items in the saddlebags; I don't know what all. Please check them before mounting the children." He hands the man the reins for the three horses.

Jonny looks at the footwear they have on and says, "We also took their boots. They look like they might be in better shape than what you are wearing." He looks at the children, saying, "I don't think we acquired anything that will fit the children." Jonny dismounts, walking with Culpeper to the back of the group of horses. They remove the bag of boots and socks, returning to the family. They turn the bag up, emptying the boots and socks onto the ground. Most of the boots look worn but in good shape; Mirian tells the family to take anything they can wear. The mother and father both sit on the ground and try on some boots until they both find a pair that fits. They both pick up a pair of socks, wrinkling their noses at them. Mirian gives a soft chuckle. "I know, they smell bad, but they can be washed. They will be almost as good as new." The three friends look at the family for a moment, seeing that they are close to being overwhelmed. "Do you know how to care for the horses and gear?" asks Mirian. "Oh yes, in my younger days I worked in my village headman's stables. I can take care of them and their gear." Mirian speaks to both the family and her friends. "We need to get going. We will be stopping for the night at a roadside camp about an hour down the road. If you would like to join us for the night, you may. It might be safer for you." The father looks to the rest of his family, looks to the rangers, and replies, "We will be their ranger. Thank you so much for what you have given us. It is going to make a world of difference."

The rangers and the healer mount up. Culpeper takes hold of the lead for the horses; now down to 9 horses, they move out. As they move away from the family, they look over their shoulders, watching the father pick up the daughter, place her on one of the horses, and place her hands and feet. seeing the look of sheer joy on the man's face. He assists his son in mounting up right behind his sister. They see him start to help his wife up, then are around the turn in the road and cannot see anymore. The three speed up to a trot, not wanting to go too fast with a row of 9 horses behind them.As Mirian had said, the roadside camp was about an hour's ride. There are about 2 hours before it starts getting dark. The three dismount to set up the camp. The two men notice Mirian keeps looking down the road, the way they came from. Culpeper looks to Jonny, then to Mirian, then down the road. Jonny nods, whispers into his ear, "She really is one of the good guys. Suggest to her that she should go bring the family to our camp. She and Bigor will be gone before you can blink." Culpeper nods in agreement, saying out loud to Mirian. "Mirian, dear, why don't you and Bigor go get that family and bring them here?" Mirian steps to Culpeper, gives him a hug and kiss, then mounts Bigor. They are at a full gallop before they are out of sight. "Wow," laughs Jonny, "she must really love you. If it had been just her and me, she would have been gone before I was done talking." Culpeper looks down the road, then looks to Jonny. "She is always thinking of others." Culpeper looks around the campsite and says to Jonny, "Why don't you go do some hunting before they get back and scare all the game within a hundred miles away?" Both men agree as Jonny grabs his bow and heads towards the forest line. Both men go about their assignments while waiting for Mirian and the family to get to the campsite.

Mirian comes around a corner, and there they are. trotting on their new horses towards her. The family pulls up the horses upon seeing her race around the bend in the road. "Ho, Ranger Mirian. Where's the fire?" the father asks playfully. He is obviously still in a good mood from the gift of horses and boots. "No fire; my friends asked me to come back and escort you to our camp. We felt it might be safer for you for the night. That is, if you would like to join us?" The mother and father look to each other, smiling. "Ranger, we would be honored. can't think of a safer place than a ranger camp for the night." Mirian smiles at the whole family. "We should get going then. It will be dark in an hour, and it might take us that long to get there." She turns Bigor around, getting ready to prod him forward. "Excuse me, Ranger?" The boy calls out. Mirian turns to look at the boy, who appears to be about 12 years old. "Could you lead our horse? How exciting that would be! to be led by a ranger?!?" Mirian chuckles at his sense of adventure. "If it is ok with your parents, I will give a lesson on riding while on the way to our camp." The boy turns to his parents with an almost pleading look and voice, "Please, Mother, please, Father? May the ranger give me a riding lesson?" The dad looks amused, knowing this is something the boy will remember the rest of his life. Mom, on the other hand, looks doubtful and turns to her husband. "Roger, we shouldn't let him get too attached to the horse. We already agreed that we are likely to sell them when we get to the port." "I know Molly," replies Roger, "but this is a ranger offering. He will probably never get an offer like that again in his life. Let him have this." Molly, Mother looks around at everyone; everyone, including the daughter, looks back with pleading eyes. With a sigh and a drooping of shoulders, she agrees.

Roger moves beside the children's horse and holds his hands out to his daughter, Jessie. "Why don't you ride with me and let the ranger and Mickey have the horse to themselves for now?" Jessie allows herself to be moved to her father's horse. "Please, Father, I want to be able to see what Ranger Mirian teaches Mickey. Can we stay close?" Mirian looks around at the smiling family. "The first rule I am going to teach is... call me Mirian; that is my name. Not Ranger, not Ranger Mirian, just Mirian. My friends' names are Jonny and Culpepper. Jonny is the other ranger, and Culpeper is the healer. They will prefer to be called by their name also." Turning to Mickey, she asks, "Ready?" "Yes, Rang...er...yes, Mirian, I am ready." Mirian takes a moment to study his posture and hands. "Ok, make sure that your feet are placed all the way into the stirrups." She watches while he looks down to his feet, placing them into the stirrups. looking at Mirian's feet and stirrups to see if he had it right. He did. "Next, take the reins into your left hand, like so." She holds the reins for him to see. "See how I let the extra reins go down my left leg?" He nods, doing the same. "You let them go down your leg like that so that they do not get in your way if you need to do something, but they are still easy to reach." Mickey looks back and forth between himself and Mirian to make sure his feet are correct. They are. then checks how he is holding the reins. They are correct. He looks up to her with an air of 'next.' "Ok, we are almost ready to go; a couple more things. Mickey is excited to go, and it shows. "When you want to turn the horse, you move the reins like this. Move them smoothly, unless you need a sudden movement. The horse will turn as quickly and smoothly as you do. or as sharply and quickly as you do. The horse will follow your lead. I will ride a short ways ahead to show you."

Mirian urges Bigor forward. turns him around to face Mickey. She has bigor walk forward, holding the reins up so Mickey can see. "Ok, we are walking towards you. I want Bigor to turn gently to the left. Watch carefully." She gently pulls the reins to the left; Bigor turns towards the left. She makes a show of showing Mickey when she pulls the reins to the right; now Bigor moves to the right. Mirian moves Bigor up the road again, far enough to maneuver and far enough to not hit anyone while moving around. "Alright Mickey, I want you to watch this next move carefully because you are not ready to try it, but new riders like to try it. Don't do it, got it?" Mickey assures her that he understands and won't try it. Mirian suddenly jerks Bigor's reins to the left, causing him to turn in quick, tight circles. She suddenly jerks Bigor's reins in the opposite direction, causing him to spin in the other direction. "If you try that move, you are likely to fall off and get trampled. understand?" Mickey looks at her, eyes wide. "I can see getting thrown. I won't be trying that." Mirian approves of what he says, then goes into the next lesson. "Alright, last lesson before we head out. This is as important as "Don't twirl your horse." She pauses to make sure she has his attention. "Simply put, how hard you kick your horse is how quickly or suddenly your horse will go. I suggest you go very gently to start with." She turns Bigor away from the family, barely twitching her heels on Bigor's flanks. Bigor moves forward in a slow, casual walk. She goes a little ways down the road and turns him around. She points down towards her feet, kicking Bigor's flanks with a little more force. Bigor now trots towards the family. "Did you see the difference between the two kicks I gave Bigor? one barely touching his sides, one enough to get him to go a little faster? I think for now, you should stay with walking and trotting." She now looks towards the sky, saying, "It's going to be dark by the time we get to camp. Let me and Bigor set the pace so we can get there as quickly and safely as possible." The whole family looks eager to move now.

As they ride to the camp, Mirian keeps Bigor right next to Mickey. giving him tips on how to ride. like moving your body with the rhythm of the horse so that you are working with the horse instead of against it. Relaxing your body so as to not tire out as quickly... She also notices that when he thinks she's not looking, he checks out her bouncing breasts...Don't pull the reins toward your body too much, or the horse will believe you want to slow down or stop.

They also talk about their backgrounds. People are always curious about ranger training. Mirian has a speech worked out for it. Mickey tells how his family worked as hired farmers until there was an accident that killed the farmer. His eldest son sold the farm, as he has no interest in farming. He likes woodworking. He opened a small shop in the local village. Dad heard that they are looking for farmers on the other side of Everport, so we are heading there. Mirian notices that the more they chat, the less attention he is paying to his riding and the more natural he is becoming. Roger, the dad, notices his improvement also. He also notices his son sneaking looks at the ranger Mirian. 'Why not? She is a good-looking woman, and he is becoming a young man. Just hope he doesn't get caught or do something stupid, like young men will do.' Roger discreetly waves his hand to get Molly's attention. He takes an exaggerated look at his son, then at the lady ranger, raising his eyebrows. Molly looks to Mickey just in time to see him take a sideways peek at her, obviously not looking at her face. Mom and Dad look at each other with amusement. Because Jessie is right here, they don't say anything but go back to paying attention to their riding.

Before anyone realizes it, they are at the camp and almost trot past it. Culpeper and Jonny rise from the fire to greet them. "We were beginning to think you got lost," starts Culpeper. As the group dismounts, Roger replies in a playful tone. "We would have gotten here sooner, but Mirian thought it was a good idea to give Mickey riding lessons." He gestures toward Mickey as a way of introduction. Mirian looks around the camp, checking the setup. She notes that the horses are off to the side; all except Corser are tied to a lead where they can crop the grass and drink from a bucket. There is a trail leading out from the back of the campsite. Being familiar with the camp, she knows it only goes about 75 feet. enough to provide privacy if needed. Next she notices that hers and Culpeper's sleeping area is on the other side of the trail opening. 'No playtime for us tonight,' she thinks. A little further over, she sees an area cleared big enough for the family. Mirian tells Mickey, "One of the responsibilities of having a horse is their care." Turning to the other family members, she suggests, "Why don't you set up over there? It looks like they cleared an area for you." She gestures to both Culpeper and Jonny, then over to the cleared area. Turning back to Mickey, she continues, "You and I are going to take care of the horses so they are ready to travel again in the morning." She starts leading Bigor and one of the other horses over to the other group of horses. Looking over her shoulder, she sees him right behind her, jerking his head suddenly. Mirian smiles to herself, 'I must have a nice ass; even youngsters check it out.' Pretending she didn't notice him looking at her ass, she instructs Mickey in the evening care of horses.

While Mirian is instructing Mickey in the care of horses, his family has put their belongings in the place cleared for them. They don't own much, so there isn't much there: blankets enough to cover everyone and a couple of backpacks with their meager belongings of a couple of changes of clothes and not much more. Roger pulls the meager field rations that they have, and they join Culpeper and Jonny at the fire. They sit down as a family, and Roger starts handing out the rations to his family.Culpeper looks to Jonny, then looks at the family. "Why don't you put that away and save it for when you need it?" Walking over to the little girl, Jessie, he holds out his hands for her to come to him. She looks to her mother, who nods her head. She allows Jonny to pick her up into his arms, twirls her around, and gets a laugh and squeal of happiness. "For tonight you are the guests of both the ranger and healers guild." He points towards the fire and his collapsible pot. The family can see a stew of what looks like meat and vegetables. There is another smell coming from the pot they do not know. All three are now making sniffing gestures towards the pot. Roger catches himself, replying, "Rang...I mean Jonny. We can't.You have given us equipped horses, boots, socks, and the stuff in the saddlebags on the horses. Now you are offering us food. We can never pay all this back." Jonny and Culpeper look at each other and then back to Roger. "We are not asking you for anything. It is the way of our two guilds. If you have enough to share, share. It is that simple for us." Roger looks to the two men, his family. takes another sniff of the food, "I still don't know. It's a lot to take in." Jonny takes a breath in to say something when Culpeper holds his hand up. "You want to repay us? Fine, here is what you do. This camp, thanks to the horses, is going to look a mess. You clean the camp and burn the horse manure. Make it look like 15 horses didn't camp here overnight." Gesturing to Jonny and Mirian, he continues, "We would prefer people not know where we are camping so that they can't follow our trail. We get up early and leave. You clear the camp and go about your business. we split even." Culpeper holds out his hand to Roger. Roger turns to Molly; Molly nods her agreement. "I'll help Daddy; I'm sure Mickey will too!" Roger looks back to Molly. "Molly, dear, why don't you put away these rations and get our kits so we can eat some of this fine-smelling stew?"

As Milly returns, Mirian and Mickey approach the group, stopping a little ways away from the group by the fire. They are in discussion. Catching a word here and there, everyone knows they are talking about horse care. While everyone else serves up food, they continue to talk. Listening to their voices, Culpeper can tell Mickey talks with enthusiasm, and Mirian with amusement. Eventually Roger calls his son over to the fire to eat; it is getting late. "Mickey! Get over and eat. Give Mirian a break; you have been hogging her attention since we got here!" Mickey looks up in surprise, like he forgot where he is. "Yes, Father," he replies, turning to Mirian. "Thank you, Miran! I have learned more than I could imagine today. Dad told me about his younger days with horses, but I could never imagine this." He turns, walks over to the fire by his father, and takes a bowl of the stew from him.

Mirian walks over by Culpeper, who is dishing her a bowl of the stew. As she eats, she leans into him; he puts his arm around her. Once everyone has eaten, they take the pot off the fire, setting it to the side. There is still enough for everyone to have some in the morning. They all sit around the fire chatting for awhile. Molly soon takes the children to their area, making up their sleeping area. Molly and the children crawl into the blankets and are soon asleep. Roger asks about watch duty for the night. Culpeper looks up, admiring the sky, while the two rangers look at each other. "Roger, there are two rangers here. We will split the night between us. Please don't argue; it is our way. We keep the watch. Roger looks first at Culpeper, who is pointedly looking at the sky, not getting into this discussion. He then looks back and forth between the two rangers; seeing they mean it, he concedes the watch to them. He actually laughs, saying, "This will probably be the best night's sleep I am going to get on this trip." He gets up and joins his family.

Jonny looks at Mirian, saying, "I will take first watch." Getting up, he says, "I will leave Corser with the other horses. no point trying to hide him." As he walks away, looking at Mirian, "I will wake you when it's your turn to stand watch." He walks off into the darkness. Mirian and Culpeper sit together at the fireside for a little while longer, then go to their blankets. Taking off their boots and belts, they sleep with everything else on.

Just as Jony is getting ready to return to the camp, he sees Molly and Jessie get up. They walk over to where Mirian and Culeper are sleeping. As they approach, Mirian sits up, looking at them. "Mirian," starts Molly, looking apologetic, "Jessie has to... would you mind coming with us? We are scared to go into the trees by ourselves." About this time, Culpeper rolls over, asking, "What's going on?" With amusement, Mirian tells him, "We girls need to go visit a bush. Go back to sleep; you are not invited." Mirian slips on her boots as Culpeper rolls over, going back to sleep. The three ladies go a short ways up the trail in the back of the camp. Take care of their business. Molly looks at Mirian, saying, "Thank you for walking with us, Mirian. The forest isn't so scary with you here." Mirian smiles at Jessie. "You are very welcome, young lady. The forest really isn't any more scary in the dark than it is during the day." Mirian holds her hand out for Jessie and leads her back to their sleeping area. Mirian squats down, makes an "shhh" motion, placing her finger over her lips, and then gives her a big hug. As Mirian heads back to Culpeper, Jonny steps past the fire, telling her, "It was time for you to take the watch when they came over to you." As he turns away, he says with amusement, "Didn't believe you needed help with a bush visit." Mirian has the watch for the rest of the night; there are no incidents during the rest of the night.

Mirian wakes the camp by stoking up the campfire. "Rise and shine," she calls out. "It is the beginning of a new day. Rangers, healers, and farmers alike all have somewhere to be and need to be on their way." Mirian uncovers last night's stew and sets it on the edge of the fire for it to reheat. The farmer family, not owning much, quickly packs, joining Mirian at the fire to have some of the stew before they start cleaning the campsite. Shortly, Jonny and Culpeper join everyone at the fire. As everyone is eating, Mickey plies Mirian and Jonny with more questions about the care of horses. Culpeper starts shifting about, looking down the road, hinting they should be leaving soon. Mirian looks to her two companions. "Let me and Mickey go saddle up the horses." Looking to Culpeper, she asks, "Would you like us to get Dilda ready for you?" Culpeper looks to Mickey for a moment, with amusement. "Go ahead, get him ready for me." Culpeper has also noticed Mickey sneaking looks at Mirian and watches them walk away. 'At least one of us will get some enjoyment out of the horse care.' Culpeper looks back in time to notice Roger shift his gaze away from him. 'Uh oh, Dad noticed that I noticed Mickey checking her out. As long as all he does is look, I don't mind. He is turning into a man, and she is a good-looking woman; who can blame him?' He gives Roger a nod and a smile, hopefully telling him there is no problem here.

It takes twice as long as usual to get the horses ready to travel, but eventually Mirian and Mickey bring the horses to the fireside. "Healer Culpeper, I followed Ranger Mirian's directions on getting Dilda ready exactly. I hope you find his readiness acceptable." Mickey Hands Dilda's reigns to Culpeper with the formality of a ceremony. all of the adults have a hard time not showing amusement, once culpeper has himself under control replies, "farmer mickey, since you followed ranger mirians directions exactly, i am sure dilda's readiness is more than acceptable." He walks around Dilda, giving him an exaggerated inspection. Once he is in front of Dilda again, he reaches into his coin purse and pulls out a copper piece. "This is for your excellent work with my mount." Mickey holds the copper piece up, looking between it, Culpeper, and Dilda. "Oh no, sir, I can't take this. It was my pleasure! I got to learn about horses and rangers, and I just can't. I didn't do it for pay, sir. I did it because I wanted to." Culpeper smiles down at the youngster. "I understand that you didn't do it for pay. It doesn't change the fact that you did an excellent job, and I want to give this to you as a thank you." Mickey still isn't convinced and looks to his father. Roger asks him, "Do you feel like you did a good job on the healer's horse?" "Oh yes, Father," Mickey replies, "Mirian gave me very clear directions, and I followed them." Roger looks to Culpeper, who nods encouragement to him. Roger turns to Mickey. "I think it's ok to take the coin. He wants you to have it." Mickey gives a big grin to both his father and Culpeper. "Thank you! I have never had a coin of my own before."

Mirian looks around at everyone, smiling. "We need to get going. "It is truly a pleasure to have met you," she says, looking at the farmer family. Looking to Mickey, "It was a special pleasure to meet you. In a couple years, you will be old enough to take on an apprenticeship. You might want to think about being a horseman. After what I have seen in one day, I think you would be good at it."

Mirian turns to Molly, "You keep being strong." Pointing around at the farmer family, "They need you." Mirian leans in and gives Molly a hug. Next she turns to Jessie, scoops her up, and twirls her around, "And you! You remember, the forest really isn't any more scary at night than it is during the day, ok?" giggling, but serious,"I will try, Mirian." Mirian puts her down, turning lastly to Roger. "Roger, I want to wish you and your family well. I wish there was more that we could do for you." Roger reaches out, taking Mirian's hands into his. "Mirian, you and your friends have done more for us already than we could have ever prayed for. May your deities smile upon you." The three friends and the farmer family look at each other, then Jonny jumps up on the courser. "We need to be going." Mirian and Culpeper also mount up. as they turn their horses towards the road. "Friends," calls out Roger, "I promise you before we leave this camp, it will look like a family of farmers with three horses stayed at this camp." The three wave over the shoulders as they start down the road.

Once the three friends are down the road enough, they are sure they cannot be overheard. Culpeper, laughing, turns to Mirian, loud enough for Jonny to hear, "That boy so wanted you; I am surprised he didn't shoot a load in his pants!" Culpeper and Jonny laugh so hard, Mirian doesn't respond for a moment. "Yes, I caught him looking at my ass a few times." The boys laugh so hard she can't continue. "He was looking at more than your ass!" they say together. She pretends like she doesn't hear them and finishes, "Despite where he was looking, he behaved like a perfect gentleman, unlike you two!" The boys continue to laugh while Mirian urges Bigor forward so that she is on point.

Mirian continues to ride point while the boys ride together chatting. Culpeper having the nine horses in tow. From time to time they would come across someone walking the road and give them a horse, then move on. Mirian looks back to the boys from time to time, seeing them riding together, chatting, and laughing. She is happy to see her oldest friend and her boyfriend getting along so well.

After riding for several hours, Culpeper notices the two rangers focus their attention more than normal. He turns to Jonny, who holds up a silencing hand, halting corser. culpeper also halts, looking around. Mirian rides back to where the boys are. As she approaches, she notes that they still have three horses to give away and the pack horse. Mirian looks to her two companions, then asks, "What do we want to do from here? We are about a 30-minute ride away from the entrance to the hidden trail." Looking at the three extra horses and the packhorse, states, "We really shouldn't take all these extra horses into the hidden trail. Mondale Village is about an hour and a half ride from here. I believe we should take them there and sell them, including the packhorse. We can likely hire a messenger to take a report back to Jaffa letting them know we got this far and what has happened. We can probably ride back close to the entrance and camp overnight, starting onto the hidden trail at dawn." She looks to the two men for their reaction. The two men look at each other, Culpeper answering, "I don't even know this hidden trail and don't believe it's a good idea to take them." He gestures toward the horses. "especially the packhorse.It's rattling along like a tinker's wagon." Mirian and Culpeper look to Jonny for his opinion."I agree. It really is hard to hear what is going on around us with that packhorse. We can speed up to a lope if we want. get there and back quicker." The three look at each other, nod, and move out again. Mirian moving out front to be on point.

As they approach Mondale, they slow down to a trot, then down to a walk. As they enter the village proper, they come to a stop, looking around. They spot a small inn and head for it. Looking to Culpeper, Mirian explains, "We are going to the inn to find out if there is a horseman in this village we can sell the horses to. We can also find out about a messenger. The innkeeper will likely be aware of any local issues and gossip." Culpeper nods his understanding, looking around the village. He notices that the village has pretty much come to a stop in this area. He points this out to Mirian. "That's normal; you get a couple rangers riding into a village, and people believe there is some sort of problem and want to see." Arriving at the inn, they dismount. Seeing a woman and her teen son walking by, Mirian stops them, asking, "Pardon me, ma'am. Are you and your son busy at the moment?" The mother looks at her a little nervous, while the boy answers excitedly. "Not really, Ranger. Is there something I can help you with?" Mirian looks to the mother, then the boy. Gesturing towards the packhorse, "I will give you a couple of coins if you take the packhorse to your blacksmith and tell him we want to sell all the weapons for whatever he can afford." The boy looks to his mother. "I can do that while you go to the bakers to get our bread." The mother looks to the rangers and the healer, then back to her son. "Be quick and smart about it. These rangers and healers are not going to wait all day on you." Culpeper makes a 'follow me' gesture to the boy. He separates the packhorse from the rest, handing the boy the reins. Culpeper tells the boy, "Make sure you tell the blacksmith you are selling these weapons for not just one ranger but two." The boy nods his understanding, leading the packhorse away. His mother calls after him, "Don't you touch any of those weapons yourself, or you will be in big trouble!" The boy is hustling around the corner. Mirian then turns to the mother, "We want to sell these four horses. Is there a horseman in Mondale these days? There wasn't the last time I was here." The woman pauses, thinking. "No, there is no horseman in the village these days. The only thing I can suggest is to see if the messengers are looking to buy horses." She points down the road towards the messenger shop. Mirian thanks her, turns, and walks into the inn with her two friends.

The three friends order a meal and mead. As they are eating, they chat with the innkeeper. They find out quickly that things have been peaceful and quiet around these parts for a few weeks now. They listen to the village gossip. whose son is seeing whose daughter. They are not really interested in this but want to stay friendly with the innkeeper. About an hour later the boy and his mother appear at the door of the inn, beckoning Mirian to come out. The boy has tied the packhorse with the other horses. The boy holds out a bag of what appears to be coins. The boy looks very serious. "Here you are, Ranger. The blacksmith said this is everything he has. He kept a few coins to buy food with, but the rest is here." Mirian takes the bag from him, looking very serious herself. She hefts the bag a couple of times, feeling the weight. She is impressed that a village blacksmith has that much coinage. The boy gestures toward the horse, saying, "He returned the bows and arrows, saying he has no need for them, as they are made out of wood for the most part. Mirian looks from the bows to the mother to the boy. Speaking to the mother, "We have no need for the bows and do not want to take them with us. May we give them to the boy?" The boy turns excitedly to his mother, "Please, Mother! I can learn to use it to hunt for us." The mother looks uncertain for a moment, then agrees. Mirian goes to the horse, getting the bows and arrows. She brings them back, giving them to the boy. "Now, my young friend, I have one more favor to ask of you. Do you think you are up to it?" The boy nods excitedly. "Yes, Ranger, what else do you need?" She gestures to the four horses, telling him, "We don't want these horses either. Can you take them to the messenger shop and ask them if they would like to buy them?" The boy looks to his mother, who shakes her head with amusement. "Go ahead, but be quick. Your brother is probably wondering what's taking us so long." The boy quickly collects the horses and heads to the messenger's shop.

Mirian turns to the mother, asking her, "Would you like to join us at the inn? get something to drink while waiting for him to return?" The woman looks hesitant before replying; the innkeeper is fussy about people who don't buy anything coming into the inn. I don't have coins to buy anything." Mirian looks sadly at the woman for a moment, then says. "Well, don't you worry about that. I will buy you a cup of tea. as for the innkeeper not wanting you in the inn. I will inform him you are my guest. Do you see him having a problem with that?" She asks with a wicked grin, knowing the average villager would never say no to a ranger over something as simple as this. The woman looks back at Mirian with her own amusement. "I can't wait to see the look on that old sourpuss's face when I walk in as your guest. You are right; he won't dare say anything." Mirian turns, holds out her arm, and asks, "By the way, what are yours and your son's names? We asked for help but forgot to ask your names.""That is very kind of you to ask, Ranger. My name is Abigail, and my son is Aldo." With that, the ladies stroll into the inn arm in arm.

As expected, the innkeeper did not look amused. "Ranger, why have you brought this woman into my establishment? She can't pay for anything." Mirian looks at the innkeeper with displeasure, replying. "We," gesturing towards Culpeper and Jonny, "have hired her son to do a couple of tasks for us. I invited her in to have a cup of tea with us while she waits. Is that going to be a problem for you, innkeeper?" She replies with an air that suggests he should not have a problem with it. "No ranger, of course not," his demeanor making it clear that he does. "Good. Abigail, have a seat next to that good-looking guy over there," she gestures towards Jonny. Moving to sit next to Culpeper, she says, "This one is already spoken for." Looking to Abigail and the innkeeper, she asks, "Abigail, what kind of tea would you like? Go wild, get something really good. ever wanted to try something new?" Abigail thinks to herself, 'Normally, I would get the simplest tea I could; I don't want to take advantage of the rangers' generosity. But I really believe she is having more fun giving the innkeeper a hard time than I am. "I have always wanted to try mint. "I hear it is the very best." Mirian smiles up to the innkeeper. "One mint tea for my friend, please." Looking back to Abigail, she asks, "Want a snack?" aldo might be a while." Abigail looks at the innkeeper, seeing his irritation growing. "A snack would be nice, Mirian. What did you have in mind?" Mirian can see the innkeeper turning colors now. Jonny kicks her under the table, telling her to quit irritating the innkeeper. Looking to Jonny, then Abigail, she says to the innkeeper, "I think a couple of nice mini meat and cheese pies would be nice." Stopping, she looks to Abigail again. "You said the brother was waiting on you. Anyone else?" no replies, Abigail, "It is just the three of us. My husband died of an illness a couple of years ago." Mirian tells her how sorry she is to hear that and turns back to the innkeeper. "I think she would like a full-sized meat pie with cheese and all the fixings that she can take home. Do you think you would be able to do that?" The innkeeper looks more unhappy than before; Jonny has an 'ah shit' look about him. Culpeper is doing his best not to look amused. "Of course, Ranger. happy to accommodate you."

He turns, walking back to the kitchen area. As soon as he is through the door, Mirian and Abigail wrap their arms around each other, laughing. Culpeper and Jonny look on with mixed looks of amusement and 'Ah shit, what did you do that for?' Mirian says loud enough only for the people at the table to hear, "I grew up not rich in an orphanage. Had people like this innkeeper looking down their nose at me, acting like they thought they were some kind of lord. When I see it now, I can't help myself; I have to put them in their place. Abigail, don't worry about the cost of all this. Watching that asshole trying not to explode made it well worth it for me." Abigail looks at Mirian and the two men. "Thank you so much. meeting a couple of rangers and a healer, a few coins, a bow and arrow, and a meal. When I woke up this morning, this was certainly not what I expected." The three friends look at Abigail, with Culpeper replying, "You and your son are doing us a service. By taking care of these two chores, you are giving us a chance to relax before the next step of our journey. so it is our pleasure." The four sit chatting amongst themselves; Abigail is especially curious about Mirian. "But a girl ranger—that is very rare..." Abigail plies Mirian with questions, and she answers them for her.

Eventually Aldo returns, but he still has one horse with him. Mirian and Abigail go outside to find out what happened. "I went to the messengers like you asked me to, Ranger, but they only wanted to buy three. said they didn't need a fourth at the moment." He hangs his head, looking sad, like he did something wrong. "Well...you know what? Since you couldn't get rid of this horse, you will just have to keep it. Where we are going, it will be in the way and nothing but a problem. now that we have settled all of our needs. Shall we go back inside the inn?" The boy stutters and stammers a moment before he finally gets out, "I can keep the horse?!? You just don't want it?!? How can you not want a perfectly good horse?" Aldo looks like he wants to sputter some more out, but Mirian holds up her hands. Pointing to three companions' horses, she replies, "I have a perfectly good horse right there. So do my two friends. Where we are traveling, an extra horse would be a problem. It is much better that we give him to someone we believe will take care of him and put him to good use, unlike the bad guys we took him from, who used him to do bad things. You won't use him to do bad things, will you?" she asks. "oh no, ranger! i would never." replies Aldo. Mirian goes on, "I guess him to be around two years old. If you take good care of him, he will be around for another four to eight years...now, let's get back inside."

Before Aldo can start up again, Mirian walks back inside the inn. As Mirian, Abigail, and Aldo approach the table, they find the innkeeper approaching the table at the same time. "Everything is almost ready to go. Who will be paying for this?" asks the innkeeper, scowling at Abigail and Aldo. Mirian steps forward with the cheeriest, bullshit smile she can make for the innkeeper. "I am," she says. "How much do I owe you for all this?" The innkeeper looks up like he is trying to add it all up. "Let me see, three ales, three bowls of stew, and three pieces of hard bread. one cup of mint tea and one meat and cheese pie, with all the fixings to go." He looks the two rangers and the healer over, then declares to Mirian, "That is going to cost one silver for it all." Mirian takes the coin bag from her waist, opens it up, and fishes around inside, pulling out two silver pieces. "Here you go, good sir. One silver for the food and drink. One silver for your troubles. I and my friends need to get going. How long until their meat and cheese pie is ready to go?" The innkeeper looks towards the kitchen. "Let me find out for you." Clutching the two coins, he hurries to the kitchen. he pops the kitchen door open, "it will be ready shortly. How will the lady and her son be carrying this food home? For a small fee we can loan her a woven basket." Mirian stands looking at the innkeeper. "I would consider it a kindness if you would loan her the basket for a few days. You have made a fair profit today; don't get too greedy." The look she gives him makes it clear that he is over the line. The innkeeper looks at the lady ranger and the rest of the group and knows that they know he asked too much for the food and that she gave too large a gratuity. 'Yeah, I should let this one go.' Out loud he says, "Of course, Ranger. At your request, I would be happy to loan her a basket to carry her food home. The food gets packed into the basket, and everyone heads outside.

Once outside and the door is closed, Mirian and Abigail fall against each other laughing. "Oh, Ranger Mirian! You are a bad girl." She continues laughing, "You had so much fun with that. I am going to be laughing for days; thank you for that and all that you have done today." She turns, giving Mirian a full-on hug. Mirian returns the hug with feeling. "We poor girls got to stick together. Seriously though, it was our pleasure to help you as you helped us. We made a couple of new friends and got a much-needed rest before moving on. We all came out ahead today." The two women break their embrace. Mirian looks to Aldo. "You take good care of that horse. You can ride it into town to get supplies and more. It can make your family's life a whole lot easier. treat him well." She holds out her hand to shake. He takes it with a firm grip, thanking her again. As they are mounting up, Mirian gives Aldo one more suggestion regarding the arrows. "For the first while, you are going to be a lousy shot while teaching yourself. There are two quivers of 24 arrows in those quivers. dedicate 6 to learning with. When you think you are ready to try hunting, stick to small game at first. rabbit, squirrel. You get the idea. only take two arrows on the hunt so you are not tempted to try for more." The boy, Aldo, looks up at Mirian. "Thank you, Mirian; those sound like good suggestions." Jonny clears his throat. "Sorry, Mirian, but we really have to go. We probably won't make our destination before full dark as it is now." Mirian winks at Aldo, whips Bigor's head around, and kicks him into a full gallop. "Catch me if you can, boys!" and she is off. Culpeper laughs at Jonny, "Go! Catch her; just remember I don't know where we are going." Jonny turns corser and gallops after her. Not feeling the need to look foolish galloping out of the town, he turns and lopes Dilda out of the village after the other two.

It takes Culpeper about an hour and a half at a lope to catch up to the other. When he gets to their camp, he finds the other two already there. having already eaten and having the camp set up for the night. As he dismounts, Jonny offers to take care of Dilda. He Culpeper needs to eat and get ready for weapons practice. Culpeper agrees, handing over the dildo and taking a bowl from Mirian. He wolves down his food. He sees Mirian on the other side of the camp. standing there with her sword in hand like she is waiting on him. He pulls his mace from his belt; as quietly as he can, he sneaks up behind Mirian. He has the mace extended out in front of him as if to attack her.He is about ten steps away from her when he suddenly jumps back and down in a roundhouse fashion and sweeps his legs out from under him.

She stands over him, saying with a smile, hoping to take some of the sting out of it. "Sorry love, you are not ready to try and sneak up on a ranger. I would suggest until you become a better fighter, don't try to sneak up on them. call out, most people will turn around, and you won't have to worry too much about unexpected moves." She reaches out a hand and helps pull him up. Culpeper looks at her and shakes his head for the hundredth time. "I used to think I was 'manly enough' to take care of myself. With the training you and Jonny are giving me...I am nothing more than a babe in the woods." He looks at her with a look she doesn't know how to read. "Mirian, I don't know if I will ever be ready to guard your back. I am glad you have your guild and friends like Jonny." Mirian steps up to him, giving him a gentle, caring kiss. "Culpeper, the mere fact that you want to be ready means the world to me. We will get you there. You, me, and yes, Jonny. He is an excellent teacher." Culpeper looks at her for a moment, saying softly. Looking towards Jonny, he says, "That man loves you. Oh, he is not in love with you, but he loves you. He sees you as a sister. If getting me trained to fight is going to protect you and help you stay safe, he is all in, I have no doubt." Mirian is looking towards Jonny. She has known, deep down, what Culpeper said about Jonny loving her as a sister for a long time, even though they have never talked about it.

Culpeper gets through her guard a couple times and looks pleased with his progress. Jonny watches their practice, looking away when he sees Mirian deliberately let Culpeper through her guard. He understands why she did it but doesn't agree with that training method. The couple practices weapons until they are both exhausted. As they wind down, Jonny announces he is taking first watch and disappears into the trees. Mirian takes hold of one of Culpeper's hands, stands up on her tippy toes, kisses him, and whispers, "I want you to fuck me to sleep," as she runs her other hand over his crotch. "I could never fuck you. Have sex? Yes. preferably, make love with you? Absolutely.but never fuck; that is something you do with a woman that you have no feelings for." He leans down, kissing her, then leads her to their blankets.

Mirian gets her canteen and rinses her mouth real good. Culpeper sits up to take a drink, asking, "Do you think Jonny heard us? I was trying to keep it down, but you drew it out of me." She looks at him in mock surprise. "You? I was sounding like an alley cat in heat! Yeah, he heard us. Like most guys, though, he won't care. If anything, we were a distraction for any bad guys in the area," she laughs. They chatter some more while putting their clothes back on and getting situated in the blankets.

Jonny wakes her for her turn at watch. As he wakes her, he holds up a finger for quiet and beckons her a ways away from the campfire so that Culpeper can sleep. "Look, Mirian, I am happy you found a man you like; under different circumstances I wouldn't care about the two of you fucking like bunnies. But we are getting ready to enter the hidden trail. You and Culpeper can't be making all that noise during the night." Mirian can feel herself getting redder and redder as Jonny talks. "Jonny," she mumbles. "I don't know what to say...I will talk to Culpeper in the morning and let him know there will be no playtime on the hidden trail." They stand there for a moment, Jonny looking at Mirian, and Mirian looking at the ground. Jonny reaches down and lifts her chin so she has to look at him. "I really am happy for you, Mirian. Just slow down a little bit, or I am going to start calling you Bunny, got it?" He finishes with a smile to let her know he really isn't mad, just being cautious.

The next morning Mirian walks Culpeper far enough away from Jonny so they can talk privately."Well, my dear, it turns out Jonny could hear us...he politely suggested we be a little quieter. Also, while we were on the hidden trail, he suggested that we refrain from playtime." Culpeper looks like he wants to giggle like a youngster who has been caught. Seeing she is being serious about this, he refrains from doing so. They walk back to the camp looking like a couple of naughty youngsters knowing they had been caught. Jonny looks at his two friends with amusement while they break their fast. They check their horses; satisfied, they move out to the hidden trail.