Chapter 9 - The Chaser Becomes the Chased

Cable desperately urged Ranger on, and the horse responded by virtually gliding over the grassy plain. Cable had never remembered moving this fast, and he reveled in the speed. He kept his head up and tried to maintain visual contact with his adversaries. But he constantly was reaching for a handkerchief to wipe his eyes, for at this speed, the wind made his eyes tear up and blurred his vision. Cable knew that he must catch them before they entered the woods. The southern woods was an area that had been unexplored by Cable and his brother, and the dense forest would no doubt make it difficult to maneuver and hard to follow anyone.

Each passing second brought Cable and Ranger closer to their adversaries. At the same time, the woods were looming closer. Cable feared that his brother’s attackers would soon plunge into them and disappear. But as they reached the edge of the woods, Cable saw one of them turn around and glance at him. Good--they had stopped! Maybe there was a chance to catch them! Maybe they had lost their way! But, to his horror, the man drew an arrow and let it fly. The man’s accuracy was deadly, as Cable saw the arrow flying right at him. Cable veered Ranger to the right. The arrow missed Cable, but it glanced off Ranger’s back. The gallant horse lost his footing and tumbled to the ground. Cable was thrown from Ranger’s back and landed with a thud.

Cable quickly got to his feet and rushed to his horse. He saw blood, but the wound was not great. He started to reach for some water to clean the wound, only to realize that he’d not taken care to pack any water. He patted Ranger on the neck. The great steed rose to his feet and shook his head and whinnied. Good old Ranger! He was as eager to resume the chase as Cable was.

But it was too late.

The two riders, with Andres as a captive, had disappeared into the vast woods. It was as though the woods had swallowed them alive. No sound could be heard. No evidence could be seen of where they had even entered the woods. They had vanished.

Ranger turned his head toward Cable, as if to ask what he should do. Cable felt a moment of despair. He gazed to his right, toward the setting sun. Though the sunset was beautiful, with the sun casting red hues on the thin puffy clouds that hung peacefully in the evening sky, the late hour did not bode well for Cable’s mission. Not much daylight remained. If he was to save Andres, it would have to happen within the next hour or so, before the land was engulfed in darkness.

Suddenly, something bright and shiny caught his eye. Cable looked back to his left. It seemed as though a light was shining on the ground. Cable fixed his eye upon the light. Without diverting his gaze, he mounted Ranger and urged him on. Moments later he saw the source of the “light”.

It was a coin, laying upon the ground, reflecting the light of the descending sun.

Cable brought Ranger to a halt. Though he felt the urgency of pursuing Andres’ captors, he could not take his eyes off the coin. He was drawn to it as a robin is drawn to a morning worm. He dismounted from Ranger and quietly approached the coin, as though afraid that he might somehow wake it up. Finally, stooping down, he picked up the coin and held it up to the sunlight.

It was strangely familiar. On the front of it was a likeness of his father, King Maximilian. Then he remembered--this was the same kind of coin that he and Andres had carried back when they had first come to the Kingdom of Aberdeen! He hadn’t seen one since their great adventure four years ago.

Cable tucked the coin into his pocket. It brought a strange sort of reassurance to him. It wasn’t a magical kind of reassurance, but it was kind of like the reassurance that comes from seeing a familiar face in a foreign land. Someone who was loyal to the king had been here! He didn’t know who it had been, nor how long ago this person had been here. But, for the time being, it was enough to know that he might have an ally lying somewhere in this foreboding woodland.

As he continued to stare at the coin, he noticed some hoofprints in the dirt. Cable walked closer to the edge of the woods. He heard a shout--it was Andres’ voice! He was still fighting, and he wasn’t too far away. Cable walked into the woods and pushed aside a thorny thicket. Just on the other side of the thicket he saw a trail. It wasn’t a well-groomed or heavily-traveled trail, but he could see that it had been recently traversed. Cable was convinced that Andres’ assailants had entered the woods right here. He ran back and leaped on Ranger’s back. Ranger, as though reading Cable’s mind, lunged forward, vaulted over the thicket, and resumed the chase.

The trail was fairly easy to follow at first. The woods were thick, so even a very slight path was quickly identified. Still, the path was being encroached upon by branches of oak and maple trees, and they all seemed to be perfectly positioned at Cable’s head. No sooner would he push one aside when another would thwack! him right in the eyes. Every so often, Cable and Ranger would halt and try to see if they could hear Andres. However, it seemed as though sound was just devoured by these eerie woods. No matter how hard he listened, he couldn’t seem to hear any sign that his brother was nearby. But he continued to see evidence that the riders had been nearby, as the trail was littered with the occasional broken branch or torn leaf.

Cable began to get discouraged. The woods were getting darker and darker as the sun continued its descent. It was getting increasingly difficult to follow the trail and to avoid the branches that targeted his head at every turn. Finally, he halted Ranger one more time. He listened. A voice pierced through the thick undergrowth of the forest. “Let me go, you lunkheads!” exclaimed the voice. Cable would recognize that voice anywhere, for that was a name that he’d been called many times. It was Andres! And he wasn’t far away! Cable spurred Ranger onward.

Ranger seemed to fly through the woods now. Cable could sense that he would soon be reunited with his brother. He had no idea what he would do when he actually got to his brother, but that was okay with Cable. He just kind of took life one step at a time.

The horse and rider came to a fork in the path, and Ranger came to a halt. The more worn path veered off to the right. Cable quickly discerned that the kidnappers must have gone off that way, and he urged Ranger to bear right. Ranger took one step, then halted. Cable tried to urge him onward, but the horse would not budge. “What’s wrong with you, boy?” Cable cried out. But it was no use. Ranger refused to move an inch.

Then Cable saw why.

Standing in the middle of the path were two hooded figures. They were not mounted, yet they seemed to just hover over the path. Cable could not see their faces through the hoods. Unmoving, they simply stared at Cable and his horse. One was apparently unarmed. The other had a sword that he slowly swung back and forth. The sound of the blade cutting the thick evening air was the only sound that Cable could hear for a few moments.

Ranger started to back up. Cable was suddenly filled with great fear. He didn’t reach for his bow, nor did he grasp his sword. He simply stared at the hooded figures that blocked his path. His hands started to shake. All thought of pursuing his brother fled from his mind. His only thought now was to get as far away from these ghastly figures as quickly as he could.

The figure with the sword took a step toward him. Cable’s palms were drenched in sweat, and he nearly lost his grip on the reins. He had to make a choice, and he had to do it quickly. Should he urge Ranger to leap over the creatures and continue on the path? No, that seemed hopeless; they would surely be impaled by the sword in the attempt. Should he turn around and flee back out of the woods? As the hooded figures approached, he realized that wouldn’t work either. The woods were so thick that Ranger barely had enough room to turn around.

That left only one option. Cable pulled Ranger’s reins to the left. The great steed sped off down the less-traveled trail in a desperate attempt to flee from their silent pursuers. The one who had been chasing had now become the chased.