John Flanagan Quotes

The young gentleman is correct," he said.
Halt raised an eyebrow. "He may be correct, and he is undoubtedly young. But he's no gentleman."

~Halt and General Sapristi speaking of Will

No," Hal said. "The sea is moving constantly and you have to make little adjustments to keep it going smoothly. You can't take it for granted."
"Just like a friendship," she said smiling. And Hal nodded.
"Maybe that's why the word ends in ship," he said.

Remember, this thing is small. It's not like the wolfships. It'll ride over the waves, not crash through them. So we're safe as houses.
He wasn't sure about the last two statements, but they seemed logical to him.

Sometimes," Halt continued, "we tend to expect a little too much of Ranger horses. After all, they are only human.

Welcome to Shelter Bay,' he said to Stig. 'Is that what it's called?' Hal gave him a tired grin. 'It is now'.

Hunting party," Horace said
Both Halt and Will looked at him sarcastically.
"You think?" Will said. "Maybe they found the deer and brought him back to repair him.

Both Halt" title="John Flanagan Quotes: Hunting party," Horace said
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Halt glared at his friend as the whistling continued.
'I had hoped that your new sense of responsibly would put an end to that painful shrieking noise you make between your lips' he said.
Crowley smiled. It was a beautiful day and he was feeling at peace with the world. And that meant he was more than ready to tease Halt 'It's a jaunty song'
'What's jaunty about it?' Halt asked, grim faced. Crowley made an uncertain gesture as he sought for an answer to that question.
'I suppose it's the subject matter' he said eventually. 'It's a very cheerful song. Would you like me to sing it for you?'
'N-' Halt began but he was too late, as Crowley began to sing. He had a pleasant tenor voice, in fact, and his rendering of the song was quite good. But to Halt it was as attractive as a rusty barn door squeaking.
'A blacksmith from Palladio, he met a lovely lady-o'
'Whoa! Whoa!' Halt said 'He met a lovely lady-o?' Halt repeated sarcastically 'What in the name of all that's holy is a lady-o?'
'It's a lady' Crowley told him patiently.
'Then why not sing 'he met a lovely lady'?' Halt wanted to know.
Crowley frowned as if the answer was blatantly obvious.
"Because he's from Palladio, as the song says. It's a city on the continent, in the southern part of Toscana.'
'And people there have lady-o's, instead of ladies?' Asked Halt
'No. They have ladies, like everyone else. But 'lady' doesn't rhyme with Palladio, does it? I could hardl

The Slave master named Mahmel Was a nasty kind of thug, so Stiggy dropped a rock on him and squashed him like a bug.

Include me out," he

Surrounded by followers, he was alone.

Would you trust him with your life, Halt?" Gilan interrupted, and Halt looked up at him.
"Yes," he said quietly. Gilan patted his shoulder once more.
"Then trust him with his own," he said simply.

Horace sniffed the pleasant smell of wood smoke from the chimney. "Hope they're cooking something," he said. "I'm starved." "Who said that?" Will asked, feigning surprise and looking around in all directions. Then he pretended to relax. "Oh, it's only you, Horace. I didn't see you there in that cloak." Horace favored him with a long-suffering look. "Will, if it wasn't funny the first half-dozen times you said it, why do you think it would be funny now?" And

Finally, Wulf reacted to the constant staring and head-shaking. "What are you looking at?" he demanded of one young soldier - a youth barely out of his teens. The cavalry trooper pointed to Ulf, who was a few meters away. "That man," the trooper said. "You look just like him." Wulf scowled at his brother, then at the young Arridan. "No I don't," he retorted crisply. "He looks like me." Then he added darkly, if not logically, "And he'd better stop doing it if he knows what's good for him!" Thoroughly confused, the trooper continued

Self-doubt is a disease. And if it gets out of control, it becomes self-fulfilling.

Aye! Claiming to be able to keep Mountshannon safe. Funny how religious folks like that say their god will protect them - right up until someone hits them with a club." "Still,

You surely can't be trying to blame us for Erak's habit of charging ashore waving an axe and grabbing everything that isn't nailed down? No offence, Svengal."
Svengal shrugged. "None taken. It's a pretty accurate description of Erak on a raid, as a matter of fact.

It would be unthinkably bad luck to be betrayed by a rumbling stomach.

It's surprising how often history is decided by something as trival as bad shellfish.

An ordinary archer practices until he gets it right. A ranger practices until he never gets it wrong.

He shook his head. He didn't know. He couldn't tell when he had woken fully. He walked to the horses. They definitely seemed alarmed. But then, they would. After all, he had just leapt to his feet unexpectedly, waving his saxe knife around like a lunatic.

Bryn looked from Halt to Horace and back again. He saw no pity in either face.
"I don't want to," he said in a very small voice. Horace found it hard to reconcile this cringing figure with the sneering bully who had been making his life hell for the past few months. Halt appeared to consider Bryn's statement.
"We'll note your protest," he said cheerfully. "Now continue, please.

King Duncan looked up and swept his gaze slowly around the room. Cassandra, he saw, was defiant as ever. Arald's face was set and determined. Halt and Crowley's faces were inscrutable in the shadows of their cowls. The two younger men were both a little wide-eyed- obviously uncomfortable at the emotions that had been bared in the room. There was still a hint of admiration in Will's eyes, however, as he continued to stare at the Baron. Rodney was nodding in agreement with Arald's statements, while Gilan made a show of studying his nails.

They have terrified my poor wife and threatened my very person!"
Halt eyed the man impassivley until the outburst was finished.
Worse than that," he said quietly, "they've wasted my time.

Horace, who had been trying to find out the meaning of Kurokuma for some time now, was pleased to hear the translation.
"Black bear," he repeated. "It's undoubtedly because I'm so terrible in battle."
"I'd guess so," Will put in. "I've seen you in battle and you're definitely terrible.

Undoubtedly, Baron Arald thought with a deep sense of pride and satisfaction, this would go down as the weddiong of the year. Perhaps of the decade.
Already, it had the hallmarks of a roaring success . The Bores' Table was well attended with a group of eight people, currently vying to see who could be the most uninteresting, overbearing, and repetitive. Other guests glanced in their direction, giving silent thanks to the organizers who had seperated them from such dread-ful people.
There had been inevitable tearful flouncing and shrill recriminations when a girlfriend of one of the younger warriors from Sir Rodney's Battleschool had caught her boyfriend kissing another girl in a darkened corridor. It wouldn't be a wedding reception without that, Arald thought.

A minor fief had risen up against their
cruel and avaricious lord, with hundreds of people surrounding his Manor house, threatening to burn it to the ground. The panicked nobleman's message for help was answered by the arrival of a single Ranger. Aghast, the nobleman confronted the solitary cowled figure.
'They sent one Ranger?' he said incredulously. 'One man?'
'How many riots do you have?' the Ranger replied.

Then, driven by the same impulse, they kissed him
Aylss on the let cheek, Evanlyn on the right. And then they glared daggers at each other. -pg 372

haven't seen hide nor hair of her,

But if we're going to kill them all, we might as well make an occasion of it."
Toshak shrugged. "Do as you wish," he said. "Occasion or not, as long as they're all dead, I'm happy.

Anyone can make a mistake ... It's how they learn from it and recover from it that shows their true worth.

More delicious aromas rose. He sprinkled in a

Butterfly?" Will said. "Why Butterfly?"
"I believe it's a term of great respect," Selethen said gravely. He was very obviously not laughing. Too obviously, Will thought.
"It's all right for you," he said. "They called you 'Hawk.' Hawk is an excellent name. It's warlike and noble. But ... Butterfly?
Selethen nodded. "I agree that Hawk is an entirely suitable name. I assume it had to do with my courage and nobility of heart.
Halt coughed and the Arridi lord looked at him, eyebrows raised.
"I think it referred less to your heart and more to another part of your body," Halt said mildly. He tapped his finger meaningfully along the side of his nose. It was a gesture he'd always wanted an opportunity to use, and this one was to good to miss. Selethen sniffed and turned away, affecting not to notice.

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So I'm an ace?' Will grinned. 'I'm flattered Halt, flattered. I had no idea you regarded me so highly.'
Halt gave him a long-suffering look. 'I might have been more accurate to say a joker.'
Whatever you say.

I said you were Sir Horace of the Order of the Oakleaf," Halt told him, then added uncertainly, "At least, I think that's what I told him. I may have said you were of the Order of the Oak Pancake." Horace

You know, Gilan, sarcasm isn't the lowest form of wit. It's not even wit at all.

Arm there," she said. "Other arm, idiot. Now hand there ... okay, ready? We're going to start with your left foot. On three. One. Two ... What the devil is he doing here?

What a brotherband!" he declared. "A thief, a touchy first mate, a shortsighted bear, a joker, two twins who can't tell each other apart, a bookworm and a skirl who doesn't know the right shape for a ship's sail." He beamed at all of them, then added, "I can't think of better qualities in a wolfship's crew.

Sometimes, life threw up problems that even the wisest, most trusted mentor couldn't solve for you. It was part of the pain of growing up.
And having to stand by and watch was part of being a mentor.

Damn! I hate farewells!

Will was worth at least a few tears from a grizzled old wreck like himself, he thought, and made no move to wipe them away.

He could bear the dying, but not the disappointment.

Remember no one expects you to be Halt. He's a legend, after all. Haven't you heard? He's eight feet tall and kills bears with his bare hands ...

People rarely notice what they don't expect to see.

Best way then is to be waiting for them to bring Halt and the others out of that prison," he said, almost to himself.
"There's only one reason I can think of that they might do that," Umar said. "That's if they are going to execute them."
Will lookd at him for several seconds before speaking. "Well, that's a big comfort.

The dog, he thought, was wiser and more kindly natured than he was.

You're a very amusing fellow," he told Halt. "I'd like to brain you with my ax one of these days."
Erak to Halt.

Will saw the first Senshi officer release and instantly knew where the arrow was aimed. 'They've spotted Shigeru!' He was about to turn and shove Shigeru to the ground, but as he did so, his eye caught a flicker of movement and he spun back.
When asked later about what he did next, he could never explain how he managed it. Nor could he ever repeat the feat. He acted totally from instinct, an unbelievable piece of coordination between hand and eye.
The Senshi arrow flashed downward, heading directly for Shigeru. Will flicked his bow at it, caught it and deflected it from its course. The arrowhead screeched on the hard, rocky ground and the arrow skittered away. Even Halt took a second to be impressed.
'My god!' he said. 'How did you do that?

Failure is just a few seconds away from success.

It was ten against ten. So, as Svengal later recounted, it was no contest. He had the enemy outnumbered three to one.

Now I know that if you wait until you think you are ready, you'll wait your whole life

Minds were running along similar lines. Will adjusted

Halt waited a minute or two but there was no sound except for the jingling of harness and the creaking of leather from their saddles. Finally, the former Ranger could bear it no longer.
What?"
The question seemed to explode out of him, with a greater degree of violence than he had intended. Taken by surprise, Horace's bay shied in fright and danced several paces away.
Horace turned an aggrieved look on his mentor as he calmed the horse and brought it back under control.
What?" he asked Halt, and the smaller man made a gesture of exasperation.
That's what I want to know," he said irritably. "What?"
Horace peered at him. The look was too obviously the sort of look that you give someone who seems to have taken leave of his senses. It did little to improve Halt's rapidly growing temper.
What?" said Horace, now totally puzzled.
Don't keep parroting at me!" Halt fumed. "Stop repeating what I say! I asked you 'what,' so don't ask me 'what' back, understand?"
Horace considered the question for a second or two, then, in his deliberate way, he replied: "No."
Halt took a deep breath, his eyebrows contracted into a deep V, and beneath them his eyes with anger but before he could speak, Horace forestalled him.
What 'what' are you asking me?" he said. Then, thinking how to make the question clearer, he added, "Or to put it another way, why are you asking 'what'?"
Controlling himself with enormous restraint, and making no secret of

WILL PUSHED HIS EMPTY PLATE AWAY AND LEANED BACK IN HIS chair, feeling that delightfully uncomfortable sensation that comes when you eat just a little too much of something really delicious. Lady Pauline smiled fondly at the young man. "Would you like extras, Will? There's plenty left." He patted his stomach, surprised to find that it seemed to actually feel tighter than normal, as if it were straining at his clothes from the inside. "Thank you, no, Pauline," he said. "I've already had seconds." "You've already had fourths," Halt commented. Will frowned at him, then turned back to Pauline, smiling at her. At least she didn't make disparaging comments the way her husband did.

Selethen was names Hawk. Alyss had been given the title of Tsuru, or Crane. . .Evanlynn was Kitsune, the Nihon-Jan word for Fox . . .Halt strangly enough had been known only as Halto-san. . . But Will had been taken aback in his confrotation with Arisaka to discover that his name - Chocho - meant "butterfly". It seemed a highly unwarlike name to him- not at all glamorous.And he was puzzled to know why they had selected it. His friends,of course, were delighted in helping him guess the reason.
"I assume its because you're such a snazzy dresser," Evanlynn said. "You Rangers are like a riot of color after all."
Will glared at her and was mortified to hear Alyss snigger at the princess's sally. He'd thought Alyss, at least, might stick up for him.
"I think it might be more to do with the way he raced around the the training ground, darting here and there to correct the way a man might be holding his sheidl then dashing off to show someone how to put theri body weight into their javelin cast," said Horace, a little more sympathetically. Then he ruined the effect by adding thoughtlessly, "I must say, your cloak did flutter around like a butterfly's wings."
"It was neither of those things," Halt said finally, and they all turned to look at him. "I asked Shigeru," he explained. "He said that they had all noticed how Will's mind and imagination darts from one idea to another at such high speed," . .
Will looked mollified. "Isuppose it's not too bad it you put

Once, she came face-to-face with a heavyset man wearing a hooded short cloak. They came level with each other under one of the infrequent lanterns and she could make out only the lower half of his face. The upper half was shaded by the hood. She had an impression of a dark, full beard. In the shadow of his hood, his eyes were unblinking, staring at her.

Crowley shook his head. "I sometimes wonder if it was a good idea having Halt train apprentices. He seems to teach them no respect for authority."
"Oh, he teaches us to respect authority," Gilan said innocently. "He just teaches us to ignore it when necessary.

I said, names aren't important," he repeated. There was a silence between them for some seconds, then the Ranger said: "Do you know what is important?"
Will shook his head.
"Supper is important!

Think of a positive outcome, and
you will achieve it. Allow doubt to enter your mind, and the doubt will become self-fulfilling.

Erak belched quietly and leaned to one side so he could scratch his backside. He was sure that Slagor's crew had brought fleas with them into the hut. It was the one discomfort they had not had to bear so far. Cold, damp, smoke and smell. But now they could add fleas. He wished, not for the first time, that Slagor's wolfship had gone down in the gales on the Stormwhite Sea.

Shut up, Axl!" he whispered fiercly. "If you want to break your neck, do it quietly or I'll break it for you.

Bear with me on this, Evanlyn. I know you're anxious about Horace."
WIll was a little puzzled by Halt's words. "No more anxious than the rest of us, surely," he said.
Halt turned away and raised his eyebrows as his gaze met Selethen's. Sometimes, he thought, his former apprentice could be remarkably slow on the uptake. He saw the Arridi's slow nod of understanding.

~Halt & Will about Evanlyn and Horace

Do you think you could persuade that horse of yours to stay with the other horses for a minute or two?" he said with a mock severity. "Otherwise he'll wind up believing he's one of us."
He's been driving Halt crazy since we found your tracks," Horace put in. "He must have picked up your scent and known it was you we were following, although Halt didn't realize it."
At that, Halt raised an eyebrow. "Halt didn't realize it?" he repeated. "And I suppose you did?"
Horace shrugged. "I'm just a warrior," he replied. "I'm not supposed to be the thinker. I leave that to you Rangers.

It was not polite for a Temujai general to allow his emotions to show.

You're right, Halt,' she said, and he nodded acklowledgement of her backing down.
'Nice to hear someone else saying that for a change,' Will said cheerfully. 'Seems like I've said those words an awful lot in my time.'
Halt turned a bleak gaze on him. 'And you've always been right.

Svengal lay groaning on the turf. His thighs were sheer agony. His buttocks ached. His calf muscles were on fire. Now, afterhe had tumbled off the small pony he was riding and thudded heavily to the turf on the point of his shoulder, the shoulder would hurt too. He concentrated on trying to find one part of his body that wasn't a giant source of pain and failed miserably. He opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the face of the elderly pony that he had been riding peered down at him.
Now what made you do a strange thing like that? The creature seemed to be asking.

Let's face it, she can't have simply disappeared ... can she?"
Horace shrugged. "That's what I keep telling myself," he said morosley. "But somehow it looks as if she has.

Erak. The one they call the Oberjarl," the Arridi answered him.
Impulsively, Axl took a pace forward, raising his ax threateningly.
You'll have to go through the rest of us to take him!" he shouted defiantly.
Well done, Axl," he said. "You've just told them I'm here.

I think you're wonderful too, Hal! Stephan said, in a workmanlike approximation of Ophelia's breathless, admiring tones. The crew laughed even harder.
Lydia snorted through her nose.

A good leader is someone who knows what he's bad at, and hires someone who's good at it to take care of it for him.

So I sent Halt to straighten matters out. Thought it might be a good idea to give him something to keep him busy."
So what's Digby got to complain about?" Rodney asked. It was obvious from his tone that he felt no sympathy for the recalcitrant commander of Barga Hold.
The Baron gestured for Lady Pauline to explain.
Apparently," she said,"Halt threw him into the moat.

My horse went lame about ten days back and I turned him loose.

People will think what they want to, he said quietly. Never take too much notice of it.

settle on one direction

You really miss him don't you?"
The Ranger nodded. "More than I realized," he said. Alyss urged her horse close beside his and learned over to kiss him on the cheek.
That's for Will when you see him." A ghost of a smile touched Halt's face.
You'll understand if I don't pass it on in person?" he said. Alyss smiled and leaned over and kissed him again.
And that's for you, you jaded, bad-tempered old Ranger."
A little surprised by her own impulsivness, she urged her horse ahead of him. Halt touched his cheek and looked at the slim blonde figure.
If I were twenty years younger ... he began.
The he sighed and had to be honest with himself. Make that thirty years, he thought.

It's called a sea anchor,' [Evanlyn] explained. 'It'll stop us drifting too far.'
Alyss was impressed. 'And you said you were pig-ignorant when it came to boats.'
'I don't remember saying that,' Evanlyn replied with a frown.
Alyss shrugged. 'Oh? Well, it must have been me.

There are always risks in battle. It's a dangerous business. The trick is to take the right ones.' [said Halt].
'How do you know which are the right ones?' Shigeru asked.
Halt glanced at his two younger companions. They grinned and answered in chorus, 'You wait and see if you win.

Halt! How are you? What have you been doing? Where's Abelard? How's Crowley? What's this all about?"
"I'm glad to see you rate my horse more important than our Corps Commandant," Halt said, one eyebrow rising in the expression that Will knew so well. Early in their relationship, he had thought it was an expression of displeasure. He had learned years ago that it was, for Halt, the equivalent of a smile.

Very well," he said now. "Fighting positions, please, ladies..."
"That's debatable," Halt said in an undertone to Will as they stood watchingn. A number of the off-duty crew had gathered to watch as well. There was a certain enjoyment to be had in watching two extremely attractive girls trying to split each other's skulls open with wooden swords.
"The 'fighting' part or the 'ladies' part?" Will replied with a grin. Halt looked at him and shook his head. "Definitely the 'ladies,'" he said. "There's no debate about the fighting.'"

~Halt & Will about Evanlyn and Alyss

Who's Ikbar?" Ulf said. His brother turned away to hide a smirk. Gilan glanced at Hal curiously, saw he wasn't planning to answer, so spoke in his place. "He was an Arridan demigod, I believe." "Oh, don't," Hal said quietly. But it was too late. "And what did he do?" "Well, Ulf, I'm not sure that he did too much of anything," Gilan said. "Just paraded round being a demigod.

It was safe to assume that the rider would be carrying a weapon of some kind. After all, there was no point in wearing half armor and going weaponless.

He smiled as Will handled the flask gingerly. 'there's a glass bottle inside,but it's padded with straw and protected by the leather covering. It's quite safe. Just be careful how you handle it.

Who are you, gaijin? What do you know about honor?'
'I'm called Chocho,' Will said ...
'Chocho?' Arisaka shouted, goaded beyond control. 'Butterfly? Then die, Butterfly!

He looked up as the party emerged and nickered a soft hello to his master, who was dressed in an unfamiliar green cloak and had dirt plastered on his face. Halt glanced at him, brow furrowed, and silently mouthed the words 'shut up'. Abelardshook his mane, which was as close as a horse could come to shruging, and turned away.
'My horse recognized me,' Halt said accusingly out of the side of his mouth to Horace.
Horace glanced at the small shagging horse, standing beside his own massive battlehorse.
'Mine didn't,' he replied. 'So that's a fifty-fifty result.'
'I think I'd like odds better than that,' Halt replied.
Horace suppressed a grin. 'Don't worry. He can probably smell you.'
'I can smell myself,' Halt replied acerbically. 'I smell of tea and soot.'
Horace thought it was wiser not to reply to that.

He rose, offering his hand to Evanlyn to assist her. Even though she was lithe and athletic as a cat, she took it, enjoying the contact. She saw Horace's slight frown as she did so and smiled to herself. A girl can never have too many admirers, she thought. Will seemed unperturbed by the fact that she retained hold of Selethen's hand a little longer than politeness dictated. But then, Ranger's were trained to look imperturbable. He was probably seething with jealousy, she thought.

Always move forward if you have the option.

Then he had run, unarmed and bleeding, trusting to the maze like confusion of the ruins to evade the monster behind him.

Now, if you two will excuse us, we'll get back to the relatively simple buisness of planning a war, he said.
-Baron Arald

Horace, fit, and athletic and light on his feet, gave their guards the fewest opportunities to beat him, although on one occasion an angry Tualaghi, furious that Horace misunderstood an order to kneel, slashed his dagger across the young man's face, opening a thin, shallow cut on his right cheek. The wound was superficial but as Evanlyn treated it that evening, Horace shamelessly pretended that it was more painful than it really was. He enjoyed the touch of her ministering hands. Halt and Gilan, bruised and weary, watched as she cleaned the wound and gently pated it dry. Horace did a wonderful job of pretending to bear great pain with stoic bravery. Halt shook his head in disgust.
"What faker," he said to Gilan. The younger Ranger nodded.
"Yes. He's really making a meal of it isn't he?" He paused, then added more ruefully, "Wish I'd thought of it first.

Horace, when you get older, try to avoid being saddled with an apprentice. Not only are they a damned nuisance, but apparently they constantly feel the need to get the better of their masters. They're bad enough when they're learning. But when they graduate, they become unbearable. [The Kings of Clonmel Pg.268]

Would you have done that in his place? Would you have left him and gone on?"
"Of course I would!" Halt replied immediately. But something in his voice rang false and Horse looked at him, raising one eyebrow. He'd waited a long time for an opportunity to use that expression of disbelief on Halt.
After a pause, the Ranger's anger subsided.
"All right. Perhaps I wouldn't," he admitted. Then he glared at Horace. "And stop raising that eyebrow on me. You can't even do it properly. Your other eyebrow moves with it!

You're an Apprentice! You're not ready to think!
Gilan and Halt.
The Ruins of Gorlan.

Sit down, Will. There's a good fellow," he said.
"Yes, sir," replied Will, and Halt's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"He's never called me sir," he said.
"Probably trying to get on my good side," Crowley replied.
Halt nodded savagely. "Probably.

Doesn't matter which is which," he said cheerfully. "They're both idiots.

But I wasn't happy ... when I heard you two had assaulted Castle Macindaw with just thirty men,' [said Halt].
'Thirty-three,' mumbled Horace ...
The Ranger gave him a withering look. 'Oh, pardon me ... three more men does make a lot of difference.

The man is a nincompoop and a fool. Even worse, he took me for a fool as well.

Hal: " ... Then we'll leave in a huff, taking you with us."
"I've always wanted to travel in a huff," Ingvar mused. "It sounds very comfortable. I imagine they're well padded."
"Lined with feathers, in fact," Gilan put in.

But then, in his lifetime, Halt had often ignored what was technically legal. Technicalities didn't appeal to him. All too often, they simply got in the way of doing the right thing.

Ingvar was on his back, moaning quietly. The pillow under his head, his jacket and the blanket across him, and the mattress under him were all totally sodden as perspiration poured out of his body in a flood. Jesper looked at them wildly. "He's going to die, isn't he?" It was Edvin who slapped him on the back, almost sending him sprawling across the sweat-soaked figure on the mattress. "No, you idiot!" he said happily. "He's going to live. The fever's broken!

It is possible, of course...to want to do two different things at the same time. Then it just becomes a choice of knowing which one you want most.

I'd say," the Ranger answered after a few seconds' deliberation, "that he'll be heading south now that he has the chance. Back into Araluen."
"How do you know that?" Horace asked. He was always impressed at the two Rangers' ability to read a situation and come up with the correct answer to a problem. Sometimes, he thought, they almost seemed to have divine guidance.
"I'm guessing," Halt told him.