The Beast from Another Time

  ABOUT THE BOOK

  Ranger’s Apprentice fans won’t want to miss this special short story from New York Times bestselling author John Flanagan.

  Princess-turned-apprentice Maddie is fast learning all the skills she’ll need to become a Ranger, under the guidance of her mentor, the legendary Will Treaty.

  When Will has to leave the cabin in the woods for a few weeks, he leaves the fief in Maddie’s hands, confident that she can keep an eye on things in Redmont.

  Then a farming husband and wife come knocking for help, complaining about a mysterious beast that is stealing their farm animals. They don’t think Maddie is up to the task, but she’s determined to prove them wrong.

  Maddie starts to investigate – and comes up with a plan that involves putting her own life on the line.

  This story follows in sequence after The Royal Ranger – the book that introduced the next generation of Ranger’s Apprentice to millions of readers worldwide. It is also available in print and ebook inside Brotherband Book Seven: The Caldera.

  Now this gripping story written specially by John Flanagan for his fans is available in ebook on its own for the first time. Catch up on Maddie’s time as an apprentice before you read her next full-length adventures as The Royal Ranger in The Red Fox Clan and Duel at Araluen!

  PRAISE FOR THE ROYAL RANGER:

  ‘Flanagan’s deft world-building and characterisation draw you in, and his ability to write realistic action scenes and create nail-biting suspense keep you hooked.’ Sun Herald

  ‘A rollicking good read’ Literacy Learning

  ‘Action, suspense and light humour, all woven into a marvellous medieval adventure, combined with warm characterisation and colourful, believeable settings … Recommended – for the series fans, highly recommended!’ Magpies

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  About the author

  Books by John Flanagan

  Ad for The Red Fox Clan

  Imprint

  Read more at Penguin Books Australia

  One

  Will took a shirt from the small hanging space in his bedroom and held it up to make sure it was clean.

  ‘Three shirts. That should be enough,’ he said, more to himself than to Maddie, who was leaning against the door jamb watching him. She raised an eyebrow – an expression she had picked up from him, which he in turn had picked up from Halt.

  ‘How long are you going for?’ she asked.

  Will thought for a second. ‘Two weeks. So three shirts will be enough. I’ll get two days of normal wear out of each one, then I can turn them inside out for another two days. That’ll just about do me.’

  Maddie frowned at him. His calculation was pretty slapdash, she thought. That made twelve days, not a full two weeks.

  ‘Besides,’ he added, stuffing the shirt roughly into the now bulging saddle bag on the bed, ‘I don’t have room for any more.’

  ‘You can’t do it like that!’ Maddie protested. She moved to the bed and took the saddle bag from his hands, hauling the bunched-up shirt out again. ‘It’ll be all crinkled and crumpled when you put it on.’

  Will shrugged. ‘So it’ll be crumpled. I’m a Ranger, not a court dandy.’

  ‘You’re getting as bad as Halt,’ she said, pulling the other two equally bunched-up shirts from the bag and laying them on the blanket.

  Will grinned at her, and his grim, bearded face was instantly transformed by the expression. ‘That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,’ he said.

  Maddie tossed her head in mock annoyance. With a few deft movements, she folded the shirts neatly into three flat shapes and slid them into the saddle bag, which was now distinctly un-bulged.

  ‘Now you have room for another one,’ she said. ‘And if memory serves me, you’ll find there’s a perfectly adequate laundry service at Castle Araluen. Just put them out to be washed each day.’

  ‘Seems like a waste of soap and water,’ Will said mildly.

  She frowned at him. ‘That’s an excuse you use too often,’ she said.

  He grinned once more. ‘As you implied, I had Halt to teach me all these good habits. Besides, what is it to you? You’re my apprentice. Not my servant.’

  She folded a fourth shirt and slid it into the saddle bag. ‘Sometimes I wonder,’ she said.

  Will dropped a hand fondly on her shoulder. ‘If you have any problems while I’m gone, ask Halt for help,’ he said.

  Maddie nodded, but made a negative gesture with her hand. ‘I’ll be fine.’

  He smiled, knowing that she would be. She was nearly at the end of her second year now and she was becoming a skilful, capable Ranger. Maddie was a deadly shot with both sling and bow, and her knife throwing was well above average – not that he would tell her that.

  In addition, if any sort of trouble or danger did threaten, she had her horse, Bumper, and his dog, Sable, to help her take care of it.

  ‘Make sure you keep busy while I’m gone,’ he said. ‘I’ll be testing you on your tracking skills when I get back, and we need at least fifty new arrows each.’ He hefted his two saddle bags over his shoulder and led the way out to the small verandah at the front of the house where Tug stood, waiting patiently for his master. Will heaved the saddle bags over the horse’s rump, so that they hung down one on either side. Maddie had brought his bedroll and she boosted it up behind the saddle for him to tie in place. She winced slightly with the movement and he frowned.

  ‘Hip troubling you?’ he asked.

  ‘A little. Always does when we’ve got a change in the weather coming.’ She’d been wounded by a javelin on her first assignment with Will and still walked with a slight limp as a result. ‘It’ll rain tonight – you should try to find an inn rather than camping out.’

  Will looked at her with some concern. ‘Don’t suffer in silence,’ he said. ‘If it gets worse, we could let Arald’s healer have a look at it.’

  She waved the suggestion aside. ‘It’s not a big thing.’

  He held her gaze for a few seconds, making sure she wasn’t just cracking hardy. Satisfied, he nodded and turned to speak to Sable, who had risen from her spot in the sun at the end of the porch and padded quietly towards them, her tail swishing heavily and an expectant look in her eyes.

  ‘Not this time, Sable,’ he told her. ‘You stay here.’

  He pointed to the ground between them and the dog allowed her front paws to slide out in front of her as she sank to the ground on her belly. She rested her chin on her paws and lay watching him, eyes wide open and swivelling to match his movements.

  Will placed his foot in the stirrup and swung lightly up onto Tug’s back. The little horse moved a pace or two to settle his weight, then nickered a farewell to Sable and Maddie. Sable thumped her tail once on the floorboards of the porch.

  Maddie raised her hand to wave. ‘See you in two weeks.’

  Will nodded. ‘Take care,’ he said. He touched Tug’s flank with his heel and the little horse wheeled around and cantered out of the clearing towards the path through the trees that led to the high road.

  The following morning, Maddie was sitting on the porch steps in the sunlight, a pot of hot glue and a bundle of unfletched arrow shafts beside her. She slid the fletching jig over the end of a shaft and, dabbing glue onto the spine of a feather vane, put it in position along the guide of the jig, pressing it against the smooth cedar.

  She held it in place
for some thirty seconds until she was sure it was secure, then repeated the process with another vane. The jig was designed so that it held the feathers at even intervals around the shaft. When the glue had hardened a little more, she would bind the vanes to the shaft with thin waxed thread.

  She smiled to herself. The thought of Princess Madelyn, heir to the throne of Araluen, doing manual labour with hot, messy glue would have led her old tutors to throw their hands aloft in horror. But she enjoyed doing this work – she had a keen touch for the skill and dexterity it required. She went to apply glue to the third vane, spilled the hot liquid on her hand and swore a very unprincessly oath. She looked around for a convenient rag, saw none handy and wiped the hot glue from her fingers onto her jerkin.

  ‘I’m getting as bad as Will,’ she muttered.

  ‘Hello?’

  The voice was querulous and uncertain, with an implicit questioning note to it. She looked up to see an elderly couple emerging from the trees at the edge of the clearing.

  Sable, who had been dozing beside her, raised her head and rumbled a low growl.

  ‘Oh, now you tell me,’ she said. The dog thumped her tail once, then, seeing no apparent danger in the old couple, lowered her head back to the boards.

  Maddie set the half-finished arrow to one side and stood up, smiling a welcome. ‘Can I help you?’

  ‘We want to see the Ranger,’ the man replied, taking a step further into the clearing.

  His companion matched the movement. ‘Will Treaty, the Ranger,’ she added.

  Maddie stepped down off the porch and advanced a few paces towards them.

  ‘I’m afraid he’s not here,’ she said pleasantly. ‘Can I help you? I’m his apprentice.’

  ‘You’re a girl,’ the woman said, with a slightly accusatory tone to her voice.

  Maddie made sure the smile remained on her face. ‘I certainly am.’

  ‘So how can you be an apprentice Ranger?’ the woman continued.

  ‘The usual way. I applied for training and I was accepted. I’m the first girl to be accepted for Ranger training, as a matter of fact.’

  The old pair exchanged a suspicious glance. ‘Well, I never heard of that,’ said the man.

  Maddie continued smiling, although it was becoming an effort to maintain the expression. ‘And now you have,’ she said. ‘Can I help you? What did you want to see Will about?’

  The man pursed his lips uncertainly. ‘We wanted to see the Ranger,’ he repeated.

  Maddie finally let the smile disappear. ‘And as I said, he’s not here,’ she said brusquely. She put her hands on her hips. ‘So can I help you – in spite of the fact that I’m a girl? Or would you like to come back in two weeks?’

  ‘We’ve come all the way from the Spiny Mountains,’ the woman said.

  ‘Walked all the way, we did,’ the man elaborated. Maddie tilted her head to one side. The Spiny Mountains were a long way away, on the edge of Redmont Fief.

  ‘To see the Ranger. Not a girl,’ the woman added.

  Maddie treated them both to a scowl. ‘Well, it’d be a pity to walk all that way for nothing,’ she said. ‘So you can either tell me what your problem might be, or turn around, go home and come back in two weeks. Take it or leave it.’

  The couple exchanged a disgruntled look. Finally, the man shrugged.

  ‘Might as well tell you,’ he said. ‘Can’t do no harm.’

  ‘Probably won’t do no good, neither,’ the woman grumbled.

  Maddie took a deep breath, let it out in a sigh, and turned away, mounting the low step to the porch. ‘Then off you go.’ She tossed the words back over her shoulder. ‘I have work to do.’

  She stooped and gathered up the arrows, fletching equipment and gluepot and elbowed the door open. The man spoke just as she was about to step inside and close the door behind her.

  ‘There’s a monster. It’s taking our sheep.’

  Two

  She turned back. The elderly couple had moved a little closer and were standing a few metres from the porch, looking totally forlorn. The man had removed his hat and was twisting it anxiously in his hands.

  ‘How many have you lost?’ Maddie asked.

  ‘Two. Two ewes carried off and a lamb injured.’

  Maddie made a small moue of surprise. Two ewes was a serious loss for a small farm – and she assumed their Spiny Mountain property was a small one. She set her equipment down on a small table just inside the door and held it open, beckoning to the couple.

  ‘Perhaps you’d better come in,’ she said.

  The couple trooped in after her, peering curiously around the interior of the neat little cabin. They stood uncertainly just inside the door until she gestured to the kitchen table and four upright chairs around it. There were only two easy chairs in the cabin, arranged either side of the fireplace.

  ‘Sit down and tell me about it,’ she said. The pair sat, still looking ill at ease at being in a Ranger’s inner sanctum – although anything less confronting than the comfortable little cabin, Maddie couldn’t imagine. She offered them coffee, which they refused – somewhat suspiciously – and she realised they had probably never drunk coffee in their lives.

  ‘Maybe we should introduce ourselves,’ she said. ‘My name is Maddie.’

  The farmer bobbed his head, looking as if he was about to rise from his seat, then thinking better of it.

  ‘I’m Hector,’ he said. ‘Hec Farrows. And this is my wife, Gert.’

  Maddie smiled at Gert as the older woman nodded. ‘Now tell me about this monster that’s taken your sheep.’

  ‘Carried them off, it did,’ said Gert. ‘Must be a bear, maybe.’

  ‘It’s not a bear,’ her husband said doggedly. ‘It’s some kind of cat.’

  Maddie frowned. ‘It’d take a big cat to carry off a full-grown sheep.’

  ‘Oh, this one is big enough,’ Hector averred.

  Maddie looked keenly at him. ‘You’ve seen it then?’ she asked.

  He hesitated. ‘Just a quick look when it tried to take the lamb. I scared it off.’

  Maddie rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She had a sudden sense of déjà vu. When she was first apprenticed to Will, she had helped a couple whose chickens were being killed. But that had turned out to be a marten, not something big enough to carry off a full-grown sheep.

  ‘Did you see it?’ she asked the woman, who shook her head.

  ‘Didn’t see it. But it’ll be a bear sure enough.’

  ‘Wasn’t no bear,’ Hector insisted angrily. Maddie had the feeling that they’d had this conversation several times already on their way to Castle Redmont. ‘I’ve seen bears. This wasn’t one,’ Hector continued. ‘Didn’t walk upright. Wasn’t as heavy in the body as a bear. It moved like a cat.’

  Gert sniffed disdainfully.

  ‘How big was it?’ Maddie asked.

  Hector looked thoughtful, then answered. ‘Big,’ he said. ‘Not as big as a bear, but almost. Bigger than a wolf.’

  Maddie screwed up her lips. That didn’t help much.

  ‘Did you see its tracks?’ she asked, and they both shook their heads.

  ‘Don’t know nothing about tracks,’ Hec said.

  ‘Did it leave any marks on the lamb?’ Maddie asked. She assumed that since the sheep had been carried off, the pair wouldn’t know anything about their injuries.

  ‘Claw marks down its right flank,’ Hector told her. He held up four fingers, spread apart. ‘Like that.’

  ‘Like a bear,’ Gert said. Hec glared at her.

  ‘Could it have been a wolf?’ Maddie asked. It seemed the most likely answer, although it would need to be a very big wolf if it had carried off two fully grown ewes.

  Hec shook his head. ‘Weren’t no wolf. As I said, it was a big cat. Bigger than any I’ve ever seen.’

  Maddie sat back. ‘So what do you want me to do about it?’ she asked. They looked at her, assessing her.

  ‘We want the Ranger,’ said Gert.

 
‘We want him to kill it,’ her husband continued. ‘We can’t afford to keep losing sheep like that. Only got five left.’

  ‘Can you afford to wait another two weeks?’ Maddie asked, knowing the answer.

  Hec looked at his wife and they both answered at once. ‘No.’

  ‘Then you might have to be satisfied with me,’ she said. ‘Why don’t you go back home and I’ll ask around about big cats in the Spiny Mountains. Then I’ll ride out and see what I can do for you.’

  Hector cleared his throat, reluctant to agree but seeing no alternative.

  ‘Well, all right. But I’m not sure what you can do,’ he said.

  ‘Being a girl and all,’ Gert added.

  Maddie gave them a thin smile. ‘I might surprise you,’ she said.

  ‘They say there used to be big cats in the Spiny Mountains,’ George said, ‘hundreds of years ago.’

  He reached up onto a high shelf in the library, ran his fingers across several old volumes and then brought down a battered, leather-bound book. He set it on his table and began to leaf through the pages.

  ‘How big would they have been?’ Maddie asked.

  He pouted thoughtfully. ‘Certainly big enough to take a sheep.’ He smiled up at her. ‘Not as big as the desert lions Will said he ran into in Arrida, but quite big.’

  George had trained as a scribe when Will was apprenticed to the Ranger Halt. Over the years he had served as an attorney, an advocate and a linguist, and in the last five years he had gravitated to the position of head librarian and historian at Castle Redmont. It was a job well suited to his studious nature.

  ‘Aah … here we are,’ he said, finding the page he was looking for and spreading it out for her to see. It showed a sketch of a large cat-like creature, with long fangs bared in a snarl, and sharp claws in all four feet.

  She read the name under the sketch. ‘It’s called a cuga or cougar.’