1.+Reading+Log

=1. Reading Log=

//By John Flanagan//
Will and Evanlyn are prisoners of the Skandians and they have been taken out to sea on the Skandian ship. There was a storm, and Will was “flopping around like a fish” on the deck. The waves were about 15m high, way bigger than the ship and breaking over the top of it. Will and Evanlyn felt sea sick, nervous, scared and afraid. They thought they would be swept overboard but they were tied to the mast with rope which stopped them. Will had his whole system clogged with seawater.
 * 1, 2 August 2011 – Prologue, Ch 1 – 5**

When they sailed away from the storm and stopped on an island Will felt like he was still in it because if you have been on a ship for a few days and then get off it sometimes feels like the land is moving like the sea. One of the pirates tried to steal a pork chop and got a kick up the bum from the pirate captain. That was hilarious. He was thieving but he got caught. Halt is a Ranger who is Will’s boss. He wants to find Will but his boss Crowley won’t let him because he is one of their best Rangers. They are trying to find Foldar, who is Morgarath’s lieutenant. He is impossible to find because everyone keeps pretending they are him, but they are really in disguise. I don’t know why people keep acting like Foldar.

Halt says really silly things about the King and he gets banished for a year. I think he did that so he could go look for Will. Halt is accused of treason, and normally you get banished for life or you get killed. I think the King only banished him for a year because Halt was his friend. It was unexpected because the other people at court had never heard of it before, being banished for a year. I think they were happy about it because he was their best Ranger. Being banished until you die is being “banished for life”. Halt promised Will he would set out and find him no matter what, except the King and Crowley wouldn’t let him. By being banished for a year he had enough time to go out and look for Will. If I were Halt I would ask someone for a ship, or make a raft (although you wouldn’t last too long on a raft), and go after Will.

Halt sets off to rescue Will and Horace follows him. Sir Rodney has said he can go with Halt because Horace is a good swordsman and can help Halt. Will and Evanlyn try to escape in a skiff but they didn’t know there was a bung in it that was missing. They got halfway out the harbour and their boat filled with water. When they got back to land Erak their captor was so annoyed. Will was furious that their “plan was foiled by a damn cork”. Some other Skandians had arrived on the island and said the Skandian king had sworn a vallasvow against King Duncan. The Araluens killed king Ragnak’s son and took a vallasvow which means he swore to kill all of King Duncan’s family. But Evanlyn is King Duncan’s daughter, that’s why Will said don’t tell them about you because then they will just kill you.
 * 3 – 5 August Ch 6 – 13**

Horace and Halt keep coming across stupid Gallican knights who try to block highways and stuff to rob people of their money. Horace always beats them, which is kinda funny. He gets their horses and armour to sell. Horace gets bruised and they go to a town to rest and sell the horses, arms and armour. Except for their horses of course because they need them.
 * 8 – 10 August Ch 14 – 18**

Slagor and the other Skandians keep fighting and then Slagor tries to bully Evanlyn. Erak tells him to “watch it” because the boy will kill you, and then I will have to kill him, and lose money. Slagor doesn’t believe him, so Erak puts a upsidedown bucket on the table and paints eyes on it, and tells Will to throw the knife he is hiding. Will hits the bucket right between the eyes. Erak says Slagor is lucky that Will didn’t hit the wrong wooden head. Erak decides it is time to leave and they head for Skandia. They get to King Ragnak’s hall and Erak gives the two slaves away.

I liked the joke about Slagor and the wrong wooden head, that was kind of hilarious. I think when they get to Skandia they will escape and go back to Araluen. I don't think Horace and Halt will find them because they are a long way away, out at sea.

Erak gives the slaves to Borsa. He sends Evanlyn to the kitchen and Will to the yard. Life in the yard is hard and unkind. Will tries to stand up for himself and makes an enemy. He is tricked into eating Warmweed, which is a drug. It makes him addicted and he forgets everything that he has learned, even his name. After two weeks Jarl Erak sees him and sees he has been given Warmweed. Will is acting different now and Jarl Erak is mad that he is like that. He decides to help Will and Evanlyn to escape. He is acting nice now, because he kind of likes Will and Evanlyn. He likes Will, he likes that he is a Ranger and is very sneaky. He has a lot of respect for Will.
 * 15 August Ch 19 - 22**

A knight finds Horace and Halt in the inn and tries to challenge Horace. Halt shoots an arrow through his glove as he tries to slap Horace. Halt and the new knight realise they are now enemies, and the knight leaves. I think he will try to kill Horace and Halt, maybe in their sleep. Or he could pay someone to poison them. I think he will pick them off one at a time when they are not paying attention.

Jarl Erak helps Will and Evanlyn escape. Evanlyn sneaks out at night and gets Will from the yard. She has to bribe the watchman to get him out. When he wants more money she stabs him with the dagger. I think that was funny. I thought she wouldn't be good at escaping because she is a princess, but she did. Erak told her to take Will and find the pony he had tied up for her in the forest. She walked all night in the snow with Will on the horse. She was tired and exhausted but she knew she had to go on if she didn't want to be caught in the morning. In the meantime Erak went to the harbour and half filled a rowboat with water, and took one of the oars out so only one would be there, so it would look like someone had an accident. Then he cut the rope, setting it adrift. If anyone found it they would think Will and Evanlyn drowned trying to escape.
 * 18 August Ch 23 - 26**

Horace and Halt leave the inn to go to Skandia. On the way, they are challenged by a ragged-looking knight. But it is really Deparnieux in disguise! Its a trap but Horace and Halt don't know that. When Deparniuex challenges Horace, Horace gets trapped because a net gets thrown over him. And they were very surprised about that. Halt tries to shoot him with an arrow but there are two dozen men suddenly around him also with arrows ready to shoot. If Halt shot an arrow at someone they would all do the same to him. They are taken captive and go to Montsombre, Deparnieux's castle. On the way they see poles with cages hanging from them, with dead people in them. But Halt and Horace noticed that not all of them were dead. There was one person alive in one of the cages, and there was a faint cry as they passed. It was a man from the inn that was laughing at Deparnieux when Halt shot the glove out of his hand. Horace doesn't feel very safe right now, I think he feels like he might end up in one of the cages very soon.

Will and Evanlyn spend the night sleeping in a hollow under a tree with the horse. The horse smelt bad! In the morning they kept going in the show until they found the little hut buried under the snow. Erak told them where to find it. Will is still just sitting there, doing nothing all the time. He can't even remember his name. Evanlyn checks out the hut and it smells. She lights a fire and cooks some dinner with the food in the cupboard. She finds a little stable at the back for the horse. I don't know how they will get through the winter. They need food, water, wood. There is some there, but not enough.
 * 24 August Ch 26 - 30**

Horace and Halt are still trapped in the castle. Horace is getting really impatient and wants to kill Deparnieux now. Halt tells him to just be patient until Deparnieux calms down, and then they will strike him when he is not looking. I think maybe in his sleep. Halt keeps himself busy by carving out a new bow. Horace keeps looking out the window, but he sees birds flying below him and feels that he is way too high up.

Evanlyn makes a slingshot to go hunting. She catches two bunnies. Its pretty funny for a princess to be able to throw a slingshot. She ran out warmweed for Will, and was worried about how he would handle it. But he actually got cured. When she ran out his memory started to come back to him. She kept putting stuff in front of him to remind him of his old life, that also helped.
 * 29 August Ch 31 - 37**

Halt challenges Deparnieux to a battle. When Halt fired arrows from the ground Deparnieux put up his shield to protect his eyes. Halt was tricking him, because suddenly he shot Deparnieux through the shoulder when he was holding the shield in front of his eyes. When Deparnieux watched Halt practicing all the time Halt kept shooting at the eye slits of a practice helmet so Deparnieux thought that was what he was going to do in the battle. But Halt tricked him because he shot the shoulder below the shield. Then he snuck up and struck him with a knife and killed him.

The book ends with Horace and Halt setting off again to find Will. And Halt says "I think someone might have lit a fire in the castle chamber" as they were riding away. It was Halt, but no-one knew about it. He did it to burn down the castle so no-one would be mean to the people again. THE END