The Greenwood Shadow (20 page)

Right on cue, she leapt from the low bough and landed gracefully only three feet from Will's boots. Will jumped and cursed fluently. John had his hammer half-drawn before he realized who it was that stood there.

"Blast it, girl. Nearly scared me outta my skin," he blustered.

Isaiah looked sternly at both men. "I rest my case."

No further argument came from either.

"Alright. Enough of that," Evey said, as she sat back in her place. "If you'll recall, I was locked in an underground dungeon for two weeks. I haven't the foggiest idea what went on while I was down there. And also, I'm starving."

Isaiah had the decency to look ashamed, and hastily pulled out bread and cheese. Evey didn't wait for him to slice it. She grabbed the bread and bit straight in as Isaiah spoke.

"Well, my escape was pretty easy. No one up top heard the fighting in the dungeon, so when I climbed the stairs, everyone was just going about their business. I picked up a random basket and just walked through the courtyard like I was supposed to be there."

"Just like that?" Evey asked.

"Yeah. No one knew the difference. Then, once I got out past the walls, I found a place to hide in the trees. At first I wanted to just go running about asking for... asking for help."

Obviously he had meant to say "asking for Robin Hood." He caught himself only just in time.

"I was of out of my head for most of that day," he continued. "I was worried, and frantic, and I didn't really know what I was doing. But on the evening of the second day, everything suddenly clicked for me. I understood the situation and knew what I had to do. I traveled to the village where Will and John live. I had seen them around, and I knew they were solid, trustworthy fellows.

"We started to make some kind of plan, but then we heard about the execution. I nearly ran in right then, ready to fight the whole guard. These two kept me out of the way until my head cooled off a little. After that, we talked to my contact in the castle, who warned us about the extra guards and gave us the layout of the place. When the time came, we executed the plan."

"Some plan," Evey noted. "Stand on a wall and offer to die. Don't you realize how much could have gone wrong? I'm still trying to figure out how it actually worked."

"That's exactly why it didn't go wrong. Because it was very simple. The more complicated and timed out a plan is, the more is likely to go wrong when the time comes."

Evey couldn't deny the logic.

"What about you?" Will asked. "How did you even come to be an archer like that?"

"There's not much to tell, really." She tore off a chunk of bread. "When I was younger, my family owed taxes that we didn't have. They would have killed everyone, or at least put them in prison. I didn't know very much about politics, then. I just knew right and wrong. Have and don't have. We didn't have the money, and it was wrong that they asked so much from us. So I fixed the situation. I cut off the tax wagon in the woods, grabbed a few bags of silver, and brought it back.

"We used some of it to pay our tax, and I spread some around to people who were in trouble, just like we were. You know the rest. For seven years, no one has cared about me, or what I do. And now, suddenly, they're up in arms, and ready to hang a teenage girl for it. I can't explain it. It just sort of... happened."

"Seven? What were you, six years old?" Will scoffed.

"Nine, actually. And I shoot even better now, than I did then." She touched the bow. "Or maybe you need another demonstration."

He waved his hands. "No. I believe you."

John cleared his throat. "Just like you, there ain't much to it. I'm a blacksmith by trade. Just living a normal, peaceful life with my wife and six children. Things got harder and harder. Eventually, we just couldn't pay no more. Six months ago the knights came, and I didn't have no money. They took my son..."

His voice cracked. He had to gather himself for a moment.

"They took him out front and beat him. I tried to stop them, but there was too many. One knight thought it'd be clever to poke my son with his pike, but the boy was so weak from the beating, he... he..." Another pause. "He took almost three days to die."

Evey suddenly felt selfish and guilty. She had never lost a son. She didn't have six children to feed. Or five, now. She didn't have to spend hours in front of a hot forge, pounding metal into shape, just to be able to care for those children. Compared to John's, her problems seemed incredibly simple.

She very awkwardly put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't shrug it off, but he did give her a stern look that seemed to say, "You had better be worth it, girl."

She wanted to tell him that she was worth it, but she wasn't sure if that were true. Who was she, anyway? Just a girl with a bow?

To avoid having to respond, she looked to Will for his part of the story. He shrugged.

"Beaten and left for dead. Only just recovered. That's the long and the short of it." He looked from Evey to Isaiah. "So, what now? I mean, if we're really all there is to this famous band of Robin Hood, then what are we going to do? We can't exactly storm the castle."

"I say we recruit." John put in. "There ain't a man I know that wouldn't be proud to join Robin Hood, even if he ain't seven foot,"

"I'm afraid we can't do that either, John," Isaiah replied. "As Marion pointed out to me once, if there really were a gigantic band of outlaws living together in the forest at a huge self-sufficient camp, how long would it take Sir Guy and his minions to find out where it was and call the entire royal guard out?"

Evey nodded. "And for that matter, how long would it take to get infiltrated by someone working for the king? How would we distinguish the spy from anyone else?"

"Exactly," Isaiah agreed. "The smaller and simpler the better. After all, no matter how many men we recruited, we would never have the numbers or the means to fight Sir Guy's armed knights in pitched battle. We might as well stay out of sight."

"Well then, with all of the others who would gladly join you, why did you choose the two of us?" Will asked.

Isaiah ran a hand through his already-tousled hair. "To be completely honest, you were the first people I could think of in the village. But even after I started thinking clearly again, I knew you two would be right for the job. You both have skills that we can use, and honor as well. I know I can trust you. And you both have reason to be dissatisfied with the king."

"That reminds me of something," Evey interrupted. "I'm not sure our enemies are working for the king. I think we have a problem here that goes beyond a poor ruler."

"Why?" John asked.

Will's eyes widened. "Yes, I think I see what you mean. The king hadn't even heard of Robin Hood until today. Every man, woman, and child in the country has heard of him. How could the king have been oblivious?"

"He's been oblivious for years now. This ain't much different," John retorted.

"I almost agree," Evey said. "But there's something about it that's too twisted. The wanted posters, the bounty on his head, but the king doesn't know who he is? They try to execute me and the king didn't even know why? And you saw the way Sir Guy tried to take charge with Robin. It's all wrong."

John's tone was dry. "You mean, more wrong than squeezing the life outta the common people?"

"Sadly, yes."

Isaiah nodded his head. "I think you're right. I didn't realize what it meant at the time, but it was odd. Maybe I should talk to our man inside the castle and see what he can dig up for us."

Evey turned to him. "Who is this secret contact anyway?"

"I don't actually know his name." He rested his chin on his fist. "He works so closely with the king that anonymity is his only defense. I think he must be a personal servant. He was the one under the platform with the cloak. He came to me while I was scouting a few days ago."

"How do we know we can trust him? Especially if he came to us?" Evey argued.

"He got you out, didn't he?"

"That doesn't mean he can be trusted," Evey and Will said at once.

Isaiah shrugged vaguely. "You're probably right, but we don't have much of a choice right now. I'll keep an eye on him, though."

Will stood up and cleared his throat. Then he walked forward to the fire and dramatically stopped with his back to the others for a few seconds, before turning around and beginning the speech that he was obviously about to give.

"It seems to me that we have no order here. We've haphazardly gone around the circle talking about everything from childhood memories to nameless servants in the royal castle. But we've avoided the most important topic of all.

"Fact: The leadership of our land is enforcing exorbitant taxes on us, its people.

Fact: Many of the knights of the land are running amok, doing whatever they please, often resulting in the injury and death of innocent people.

Fact: Something appears to be amiss with the king himself. We aren't sure where the real power lies anymore.

Fact: If nothing is done to change these things, they will continue as they are, or they will get worse, both being unacceptable options.

Query: Do we go to war, or don't we? Do we put everything we have, even our lives if necessary, into protecting the people from these injustices, or don't we? I, for one, say we do."

"Well, yes, but war? Isn't that going a bit far?" Isaiah asked him.

"Is it?" Will looked hard at him. "No. Because, you see, we can't be in this half way, like we are right now. We've got to be all in, or all out. And if we're in, we will be at war. Obviously not a war as we normally think of it, but it will still be war. Until we accept that, we will still be only partially committed."

"It sounds so... big," John muttered.

"It IS big!" Will replied. "And that is our problem. While we don't realize the scale of this, as you say, 'hornet's nest' we've stirred, we can never win. We can never truly make a difference. We can never make the changes we need to make. So, are we in ALL the way, or not at all?"

Evey had to think for a few seconds, but she found that everything he said was completely true. It was going to be a war, and if they weren't ready to fight it, then they might as well pack up and go home. She felt as though, for the first time in her life, she was really on her way to making a difference.

She stood up. "I'm in."

"So am I," Isaiah immediately responded.

"Well, of course I'm in," John added.

"And I," Will finished.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

The day after her close call, Evey went home. After everything in the dungeon, she had to tell Emeric where she'd been. She thought of a dozen stories she could tell him instead, but it was time to come clean. She just had to grit her teeth and do it.

Besides, she owed Hobbes a basket of apples.

On horseback, she made good time and got home late on the second evening. After the sight of the royal castle, her own humble home seemed even more run down than before. She loved it all the more for that.

The sound of her cantering horse stirred the entire castle. Which, of course, meant four servants and Emeric. They all came out to see who the after dark newcomer was.

"Who goes there?" Emeric called.

He stepped out in just his night clothes, and held a torch high.

"It's me." Evey dismounted. "Have someone take care of this fellow, please. He's had a hard ride."

The servants gave each other curious looks, but said nothing. Emeric was not so silent.

"Evelyne? Evelyne! Where have you been? You had me worried sick. Come inside this minute and tell me everything."

Evey walked straight past him. "I know, and I'm sorry. But first I'm having a bath, and the king's royal guard won't stop me."

As soon as Emeric caught sight of her in the torchlight, he agreed without saying a word, and sent one of the maids inside to heat the water. Evey marched straight to the wash room and spent a very long time scrubbing away every bit of dungeon grime. Some of it didn't seem to come off, at first. Then she realized those were the bruises. She had to look like a nightmare.

The soft night clothes were like gossamer, and the cheap bed was heaven after two weeks in a dungeon. She made a vow to never take her bed for granted again.

"Evelyne?" Emeric knocked at her door and poked his head in. "I know you're probably exhausted, but I really must know what is going on."

She wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and reveled in the comfort before turning around.

"Holy Mother, Mary!" Emeric dashed to her. "What happened?"

"You're not going to believe me."

Emeric took a deep breath. "Somehow I don't doubt that. Now please, start from the beginning."

She did. Right from the beginning. She told him every single event she could possibly remember, and that included her first tax raid. She gave him every detail, up to Bill's Robin Hood story. There she paused, as she tried to decide exactly how to tell the next part.

"Well, I do believe you," he said, "but I really don't know what to say. I've always wondered how we got so lucky all those years. Now that I know, I can't decide whether or not I like it."