"Only the Barons use this river, so they won't be on the lookout. And they'll never hear us through these rapids. We'll be safe following it into their territory," Tuck explained to me.

I believed him. Even if any Barons using the river would be expecting us, they wouldn't be able to see us through the thick, tall rivergrass. So I guess I should have been grateful for the grass, but all I was was annoyed at the way it kept whipping against me, blown violently by the wind.

"What if we see a boat?" I managed to ask.

Tuck shrugged. "Duck low and hope they don't see us? Maybe throw a knife and try to take it down if it's small and comes close enough?"

"I thought you were supposed to be my Captain," I said, amused.

"Duck down low. Hope they don't see us," Tuck corrected himself, smiling. "Throw a knife if they get too close."

"They'll never survive these rapids with a hole in their boat. Ow!" A thick blade of grass had whipped me across the face. "But I guess that's the whole point." I shrugged and tried to rub the sting from my cheek.

After about ten more minutes of being whipped by the grass in silence, we saw it. Actually, Tuck saw it first, and told me to duck down under the grass.

"A boat?" I whispered, and felt a flutter of nerves.

Tuck nodded. I scanned the river but couldn't make out anything. Was Tuck imagining things? He couldn't be playing a trick on me, could he? No, I decided, though I hadn't bothered to read into his voice. He wasn't the type to play tricks, not of this sort at least.

It finally came into view after a minute of hiding. I'd been looking for a large military carrier. The boat was a small, two-man rowboat, almost a canoe. It was only because I heard the shouts of the men aboard that I noticed the little vessel was there at all.

Why are they shouting? I wondered. Sure, the river was only used by Barons, but it was in Col territory. Why take chances? Were they shouting instructions to a larger boat coming up behind them? I instinctively moved closer to try to hear what they were saying, and get a better look.

"Brytani!" Tuck hissed.

"They can't see us," I argued defensively.

"The grass."

"The wind is blowing."

"We're moving against it."

I stopped, flustered. Why had I acted so boldly, as if this were still training? I frowned. They didn't teach us to do things the wrong way at Mission Training. So why were my instincts wrong now? I listened to them shout some more, and realized what it was. I wasn't wrong. They were shouting. Whatever reason for, they weren't paying enough attention to the riverbank for our secrecy to be in danger. They were too involved in the task. That's what I had subconsciously realized and responded to. I turned to continue arguing with my "Captain."

He wasn't there, though.

For half a second, I panicked. Then I controlled myself. I ducked back down. He couldn't have gone far. How had he moved so stealthily I hadn't even noticed? I was sure no one at Mission Training could do that. I looked down at the ground and traced my fingers along the pattern of displaced dirt. And now I too began slowly moving away.

I was shocked at the great relief I experienced upon seeing his back and black hair. I probably would have been angry, too (I don't have the calmest temper), but I was instantly overwhelmed by curiosity.

Tuck had removed the thick rope from his pack and tied it securely around a river boulder. It wasn't a particularly large boulder, but it was the largest nearby. He then turned and looked up at me.

"I'll need yours, too," he said simply. I wondered if he even realized I hadn't been right behind him the whole time.

"What are you doing?" I asked forcefully, though I meekly surrendered the rope.

"They're going down," he explained, as he tied the ends of our ropes together in loopy knots. They looked like they'd come apart instantly, but I wasn't fooled by their loose appearance. Tuck pulled the ropes apart, and the knots tightened. The harder they were pulled, the tighter the knots would become.

I peered through the grass at the small boat, moving closer to us every second. "But they're Barons," I protested, looking back at my partner.

"And we're Cols," he responded, not missing a beat. "Take your shirt off."

"What?"

Tuck was removing his own outer shirt. "So they won't see our colors," he explained.

Feeling foolish for instantly obeying someone of equal rank when I didn't know what was going on, I took off my shirt. Underneath I was wearing only the same blue tank top as he was.

"Why are we saving them?" I asked.

"Just for fun," Tuck replied, and winked at me. I scowled like a child, but followed him out to the edge of the river.

"Why don't you ever give me any straight answers?" I asked him accusingly.

He looked at me. "Didn't we already have this conversation?"

I sighed in exasperation and turned back to watch the water. Then Spike rolled over my feet and around me in a circle and grinned up at me with her huge, stupid smile. I laughed without thinking. Then I glanced up at the boat. They didn't seem to have noticed. I turned guiltily back to Tuck, but instead of the cold, stern face I'd feared I saw only the boyish grin. I breathed a small sigh of relief.

The boat was very close now. It was obvious that they wouldn't make it much farther. The two passengers were struggling to fight the fierce current as the tiny boat sank. Tuck stepped clear of the reeds, holding the end of the tope.

"HEY!" he called out to the two Barons, and waved. "Do you � "

"HELP!!!" was the immediate response.

"Guess they want some help," Tuck said to me. Then he was all business; no sign of the lighthearted boy he'd just been. "When the first Baron gets out here, get all the weapons off him. Threaten him if you have to. And if he tries to run away, call Spike."

I nodded. Time to meet the Barons face to face for the first time.

Now came the hard part. Even with a knot tied in the end, the rope was too light to throw far enough, despite both of our trying twice. "Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way," Tuck decided with a shrug, and was tying the rope around his waist the next instant.

"But that water must be like ice!" I protested, but he dove in anyway and began stroking toward the boat, now just past us.

The current was pulling Tuck off course, no matter how he tried to stay on. The river was quite wide, and the boat was nearly at the opposite shore. The two ropes tied together could probably have stretched all the way across, in a straight line. They weren't stretching in a straight line, however, since Tuck was swimming on an angle. Watching the whole scene, I could see that he wasn't going to make it. Not unless he'd reserved a burst of strength to pull against the current. Although I still didn't understand why Tuck wanted to rescue these Barons in the first place, I was dismayed.

Then, just as they were passing Tuck, who'd swum out to the limit of the rope, the Barons did something unexpected. They jumped. They must have been incredibly tired from trying to keep their boat afloat and away from the rocks of the shore to which they'd been so close, and they'd have to swim through that raging current with no help for a few meters to reach their struggling rescuer's hands, but they did it anyway. An out of place ounce of respect rose in me for these two Barons. One of them made it. And he managed to grab his partner before he drifted on downstream. The second man would never have made it without the first. Once I could see them all clutching the rope, I began pulling with all my strength. We were still fighting the current, but between my pulling and their swimming, we managed to get the two Barons ashore. Spike rolled around in joyous circles, grinning her endless grin. I jealously wondered if the puffan were ever anything but ecstatic.

No time to be jealous of the dumb ball. Tuck had given me instructions, and even though he wasn't really my Captain I knew I had to follow them. He'd said to disarm the Barons so I had to do so.

"Drop your weapons," I ordered them, but I couldn't keep a gentle hint from my voice. I could see the outlines of knives inside the pants plastered against one of their hips.

The panting, shaking man just looked up at me.

"You heard me," I took a step forward and spoke less gently, hand on my own knife. "Drop your weapons. All of them."

The two men exchanged a bewildered glance as they realized that the people who'd saved their lives weren't their friends at all, but the enemies of all they knew. But with no choice, the two tired men each removed two knives from their belts. They weren't carrying packs, but one had a quiver strapped to his back. It contained no arrows, but he dropped it anyway. I looked to Tuck to take over. This whole mess was his crazy plan. Tuck, as breathless as the two Barons were, nodded to me, assuring me I'd done well. He turned his gaze back to the Barons.

"Take off your boots," he ordered them in the same casual manner in which he'd told me to remove my shirt earlier. A look of dread passed over each of their faces, but these were Barons. I certainly wasn't going to give in to their entreaties. And Tuck's face had regained its cold, hard composure. There would be no sympathy from him, either.

Moaning quietly, the two men removed their boots and lay them on the ground next to their soaked feet.

"Socks too." Tuck's face was stony, but his voice cheerful. The men took off their dripping socks and stuffed them inside their boots.

Tuck made a gesture with his hand. I almost smiled. The two men affected not to comprehend.

Tuck continued giving them his icy stare. "Would you please pick up your boots and socks and throw them into the river." It was a statement, an order actually.

Heaving great sighs, the two men did as Tuck said. Each closed their eyes as their boots splashed into the rushing water, and all hope vanished.

"You're free to go now," Tuck said in the same cheerful voice, his face unchanging.

One Baron made a rude comment.

"We just saved your lives," Tuck pointed out.

"I'd rather have drowned," the man muttered bitterly.

Tuck shrugged, his face still stone cold. "No one's stopping you. You want your boots that badly, go on and get them."

The man probably would have attacked Tuck if he'd had the strength, but since he didn't, he just picked himself up and began marching north, against the flow of the water. I looked at Tuck, alarmed.

"No," I whispered. We couldn't let them get back. There was a chance, albeit a small one, that they could make it back to their own territory even without boots.

Tuck glanced at me. "No," he agreed out loud.

The Baron stopped. "What do you mean, 'no?' You said we were free to go."

"Free to go...that way," Tuck amended, pointing in the direction in which the river flowed.

"AAARRGHHH!!" The man couldn't take it anymore. He charged at Tuck. But my teammate still had his weapons. He drew his knife almost too quickly for my eyes to follow. He dodged aside just in time, and the Baron was now soaked, shoeless, and bleeding.

The man screamed in frustration. Suddenly I knew he would never give up. He would defeat Tuck or die. I looked instead at the other Baron, the one who wasn't crazy with rage. I communicated with him. More like "influenced" him, actually. Captain Gill always said that I had that effect on people sometimes, and this time I did.

"Let's go," he spoke loudly to his companion. "Come on." And he got up, leaving their pile of four knives and a quiver and trudged wearily off toward sure imprisonment.

The first Baron turned back toward Tuck. "You sick little bastard," he whispered fiercely, but most of the fight had left him after his partner so easily admitted defeat. And what fight he still had was dripping out his left arm.

Tuck squared his shoulders and stepped toward him. He looked slightly foolish, I had to admit, standing up to a man over half a head taller than himself. "Yeah," Tuck agreed, not whispering but speaking casually, "I am a pretty sick little bastard." Then he ducked before the Baron could punch his head off.

Unfortunately for Tuck, the man hadn't lost the use of his left arm, even temporarily, and it caught him in the stomach before he knew what had happened. Tuck doubled over and fell to the ground. "Oowww..." he breathed.

"Satisfied?" I asked, trying to influence the angry man. I don't know if it worked or not, but he turned and walked away, toward Col territory, with his calmer companion.

When they were out of sight in the tall grass, I looked down at Tuck still lying on the ground in pain. I knelt down next to him and smiled sweetly, innocently, and with no sympathy at all. Next time he should ask my opinion of a plan before he went ahead and did it. Served him right.

But Tuck just grinned that boyish grin of his, and though he was still breathing heavily said, "You were wrong...The water...wasn't all that cold."