Britt turned to Max.
“I’m not one to turn down a challenge,” he said shortly. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get going.”
Together the five ran quietly through the woods toward the farm. Nearing the point where they’d have to begin their descent down the forested hillside behind the house, Britt slowed her pace and then stopped, waving at them to gather round.
“Since we don’t have a good way to communicate, we have a few things to consider,” Britt said. “If we stay together as a group, we’ll all know what happens once we’re down there searching for Rankstine’s spy, but we’ll be a larger target and surely make more noise. If we split up, we’ll be able to cover more ground quickly and quietly, but we’ll need to rendezvous back here to discuss what we’ve found. What sounds best to you?” she asked.
“I vote we split up,” Max said, then looked to the others.
“Yeah, that makes the most sense to me,” Thomas agreed.
Bo nodded in agreement.
“I guess we’re splitting up,” Kirsten said.
“Okay. Max, you and I will sweep the road and the entrance to the farm, which will cover the southern perimeter. Kirsten and Bo, you two take the east side of the property bordering the woods. Thomas, you take the northern side. It’s less likely there’ll be anyone lurking that way because the most-used access points to the farm are accessible from the south and east, but keep your head on a swivel. We’ll meet back here in one hour,” she looked to each in the group and everyone nodded.
Without another word, Britt and Max split off down the slope toward the roadside. Thomas wished his sister and Bo good luck and then ran alongside the slope before descending toward the north side of the farm.
“After you,” Bo said, extending his arm out in front of them.
“Very kind of you. Really,” Kirsten said sarcastically as she walked past him.
Bo chuckled and followed closely behind. They slowed when Kirsten recognized they were nearing the forest’s edge. Stopping behind a large tree, she said, “If someone’s watching the house, they’ll definitely be hiding along the edge of the forest.”
“I agree,” Bo said.
“Let’s get a little closer and then begin to search the edge, skirting around to the right, then back this way again. If we don’t see anything along the edge, then we’ll take a closer look.”
“Let’s do it,” Bo agreed, following Kirsten as they crept closer to the end of tree cover and toward the meadow.
They searched through the trees working north along the eastern slope behind the property. Not seeing anyone or anything unusual at the far end of the woods behind the house, they reversed direction. Kirsten and Bo back-tracked their way across the hill. Keeping their eyes peeled for anything strange, they stalked slowly through the trees. The afternoon sun had dropped lower and the shadows among the trees had grown longer. Kirsten kept thinking she saw something moving, but upon closer examination found it wasn’t anything of note.
Bo suddenly dropped down, crouching behind a tree. He started to wave to Kirsten, but she’d reacted nearly simultaneously and was already backed up against a tree. Bo put his fingers to his eyes and then pointed in the direction they’d been heading. Kirsten nodded holding up one finger to indicate she’d only seen one person.
Bo nodded and mouthed, “Only one,” holding up one finger as well.
Kirsten slowly peeked around the tree toward Rankstine’s guard. In the long afternoon shadows of the forest, she watched as the man stepped in and out of the strips of light, illuminated from time to time. He was looking downhill toward the quiet farm. He crept to the edge of the forest; just as Kirsten would’ve suspected someone would do if they were spying on their house.
Comfortable that the guard was far enough away to allow them to move without being heard, Kirsten stepped out from behind the tree. Quickly and carefully she strode over to Bo.
“It looks like he’s found his hiding place,” Kirsten said as she knelt beside him.
Bo nodded, “What do you want to do?”
“You think we should take him out now?” Kirsten asked.
Bo shrugged, “If we leave to meet back with the others and he moves to a different location, we’ll have missed our chance.”
Kirsten looked around for something to use as a weapon. Finding a large stick at the base of a tree she said, “We’d better take care of it while we’ve got our eyes on him.” She bent down and picked up the club-like stick, gripping it firmly in her hand.
“One sec,” Bo said while searching for a stout stick of his own. Finding one below a neighboring tree, he picked it up and nodded, “Okay, now I’m ready.”
Together they prowled through the forest, creeping toward the spy. Kirsten tried to stay hidden in the trees’ long shadows, in case the man turned around while they were still too far away to catch him. Making sure to avoid anything that might snap under her weight, she drew ever closer to the unsuspecting man.
Coming within striking distance, she raised the club high above her head. She glanced to Bo at her side, his stick at the ready just in case Kirsten’s blow didn’t knock the man unconscious. Gripping the club tightly, she let out a ‘humph’ noise as she brought her weapon down toward the spy’s head. Hearing the noise, the man turned, but he was too slow to avoid the blow. Kirsten thumped him hard on the top of the head and he toppled over, unconscious.
Kirsten looked back to Bo, her mouth open at what she’d done. “It worked,” she said surprised.
“Yeah, it did,” Bo said smiling. “Come on, let’s tie him up with something.”
“Crap,” Kirsten said. “I didn’t think about what we were going to do once he was out. I don’t have any rope.”
“Me either,” Bo said. “Let’s search his pockets. He might have something on him.”
“Good idea,” Kirsten said. She bent down and prodded the man’s shoulder, making sure he wasn’t going to suddenly move, then removed his sword from its sheath. “We could use his belt?” Kirsten suggested, pointing to it after she’d removed the sword.
“Perfect,” Bo said and helped her remove the man’s belt.
They quickly searched the rest of his pockets for anything else that might be useful in tying him up. Kirsten found a small balled up piece of cord about five feet long. Showing it to Bo she said, “I bet he was planning to use this on us.”
Bo cringed. They used the sword to cut the cord into several pieces. Rolling him over onto his stomach, they tied his hands and feet, then strung them together so that if he woke up, he wouldn’t be able to move.
“That ought to do it,” Bo said taking a step back to admire their work.
“Just one more thing,” Kirsten said, removing the man’s handkerchief from his pocket and stuffing it securely into this mouth yet being careful to make sure he could breathe. “Now he won’t shout if he wakes up,” she said.
Bo smiled. They left the man propped up against a tree and made their way back up the hill toward the designated meeting place. They were the first to arrive. Still shaking with adrenaline from the capture, Bo asked, “Do you think it was okay to leave that guy all tied up like that?”
