The Rebels of Cordovia (15 page)

The soldier smiled back, tipped his hat with his
fingers, and then climbed upon his horse and rode away.

Daniel smiled with relief. “You handled that
very nicely. Now he knows who you are and he won’t stop us when we
leave. I think he needed to know who you were.”

“I thought so, too,” said Polly.

As they walked into the house, Charles greeted
them. “I saw the soldier stop you outside. They’ve been here
everyday. I’m glad you’re here. Let’s get this done with so she’s
safe. I have a feeling they’re going to do a more thorough search
next time.”

He led them to his bedroom, pushed the fake wall
aside, and everyone walked in. It was a comfortable and cozy room.
Hanna was lying on a bed reading by candlelight. A tray of leftover
food was sitting on a small table. When she saw them, she jumped to
her feet with a smile of relief.

“Can I leave? This little room is getting
smaller and smaller by the minute.”

Robin hugged her and then introduced Polly, and
then told her what they were going to do. Hanna understood and
agreed. The men left the room so they could exchange clothes.

“What if they find out that Polly didn’t leave
after all?” asked Hanna.

“Don’t worry,” said Robin. “Charles is going to
take her home in the morning when the soldiers change guard. He’s
got their routine down pretty good.”

While Polly put her dress on, Robin helped Hanna
into hers. Then they headed out the door to meet everyone in the
study.

Charles and Daniel were deep in conversation
when they arrived. Robin saw Charles nodding and then he laughed.
She heard her name mentioned and she wondered what they were
talking about. When Daniel noticed the women standing at the
doorway, they stopped talking and he smiled.

“Ready to go?” asked Daniel.

He walked over to the women and helped Hanna
with her coat and slipped the hood over her head. Then he led them
out the door. After helping each one in the carriage, he whipped
the reins and the horses took off. The soldiers didn’t stop them
but waved as they rode by. It couldn’t have run more smoothly.

After they arrived at Robin’s home, he helped
them out of the carriage as he said, “I’m sure she’ll be safe here.
Everything should be all right. While you’re protecting her, I’ll
get the posters printed and then I’ll have all two hundred and
fifty of my men go from town to town putting them up on trees,
posts, and in windows of merchants. They’ll also spread the word
about the meeting by mouth. I’m putting an ad in the newspaper
about it, too.”

As he led them to the door, Robin asked, “How
about Edmund’s Legionnaires?”

Daniel nodded. “I’ll make sure the title has an
announcement that includes them. It’ll say something like:
Attention! All Concerned Townsfolk and Edmund’s Legionnaires!” He
smiled. “That should get their attention. What do you think?”

“It sounds great.”

Before she closed the door, Daniel touched her
arm and said, “Got a moment?” When she nodded, he continued, “Stay
home. Don’t go out. Keep your bow and quiver with you at all times,
just in case someone recognized you in Georgetown. I’ll tell your
rebels to stand guard outside your home both night and day. We need
to protect Hanna, don’t we?” He squeezed her arm affectionately and
smiled. “Besides, I don’t want any harm to come to you,
either.”

The fondness for her could be seen in his eyes
and that alone made her heart leap within her. She smiled and
reluctantly shut the door.

All week long, each of her rebels took turns
standing guard outside. Merek stopped by in the mornings and took
his turn, watching for anything suspicious.

She was grateful both her parents were at the
Bakery so they wouldn’t be involved, in case something did go
wrong. Hanna had a tough time sitting around doing nothing, so she
volunteered to do the cooking every day. She even cleaned the house
so thoroughly that Robin wondered if there was a speck of dust
anywhere in the house. Her mother was overjoyed by it.

Robin always helped Hanna with the cooking, such
as chopping vegetables or whatever was needed as they talked. She
was learning something new about King Edmund every day. Robin
didn’t realize what kind of person he was deep down inside. Hanna
helped her to appreciate him more and more as she told story after
story about him.

One morning, Robin awoke with a deep foreboding.
Not understanding why, she quickly washed up and got dressed. As
she walked into the kitchen where Hanna was cooking breakfast, a
feeling of depression seemed to overwhelm her.

When she heard horses’ hooves and voices
outside, she ran to the window to see if it was Merek. He was due
any minute to check up on them and stand guard. She gasped as she
saw a dozen soldiers dismount their horses right in front of her
home. Merek was nowhere in sight.

Robin ran to Hanna and whispered, “We’ve got to
go right now. There are soldiers outside.”

Hanna’s eyes widened as she left their hot
breakfast on the table and followed Robin. Silently closing the
back door behind them, they ran through the backyard and down the
hollow. When they got to the river at the bottom, they stepped into
it and followed it downstream, crouching among the cattails as they
went to keep hidden. In many spots the water came up to their
waists, but they didn’t dare climb out for fear of being seen.

Each step they took seemed laborious and every
now and then the skirts of their dresses would get caught in some
brambles growing next to the bank. Once Robin’s sleeve got caught
on a wild rose bush growing on the edge of the bank and she had to
pull it away. As she did so, it ripped her dress.

When they came to a turn in the river just
behind a hill, Robin stopped and peered through the cattails. She
could hear the voices of the soldiers and see them in the distance
as they searched. They must have figured out that she and Hanna had
been home because of the hot food left behind.

With haste, she led the way around the hill,
following the river as they went. Daniel had mentioned that it
would be best to follow the river in case they had to get away. He
said to follow it for about five miles until they reached a giant
oak tree with wide limbs and plenty of shrubbery for cover. They
would be safe there. That area was hidden from view and hard to
reach by foot.

As they continued downstream, she kept alert,
listening for voices and watching for danger. After a couple hours,
Robin finally saw the huge oak tree and all the shrubs that Daniel
had described. She breathed a sigh of relief.

“We’re here. Let’s get out. I’m so water
logged.”

As they climbed out of the river, Robin soon
realized they needed to dry their clothes out. Everything was
drenched, making it hard to move about and she was shivering. Robin
slipped off her gown, stockings, and two petticoats. Then she laid
them across some bushes to dry.

Robin looked down at her deep rosy colored
corset, which gave her the lovely shape and support she needed.
Under it was her white linen chemise. It was wet, but no matter.
She needed to keep somewhat of her modesty while drying off.

Robin collapsed upon the grass as Hanna slipped
off her clothes, as well. As she lay still, she felt the sun
beating down on her and it felt so good. It began warming her up.
Hanna lay down beside her and laughed as she looked at her own
beige colored corset.

Then Hanna smiled and said, “I really love your
corset. Where did you get it? I have such plain looking ones.”

Robin giggled. “My mother got it for my
birthday.”

“It’s so beautiful.” Then she laughed and said,
“Sometimes they make them more beautiful than the dresses we wear.
Too bad we have to hide them.”

With that, both women burst into laughter as
they lay on their backs, looking up to the sky.

They watched the clouds float by for several
minutes when they heard a deep voice say, “Hello, ladies!”

Robin gasped as she quickly turned around and
saw Daniel standing behind them.

He was chuckling and shaking his head. “Well, I
didn’t expect to find you ladies in your unmentionables.”

Feeling horrified and embarrassed at being seen
in her chemise and corset, her eyes widened at his statement. She
was still modestly dressed in a way, but it was the fact that she
was wearing… as he put it… “Unmentionables.”

She got to her feet, stuck her chin in the air
as if she were fully dressed, and said, “We have no clothes to
wear.” She pointed to the clothes on the shrubs. “We can’t possibly
put those back on. They’re soaked through. Besides that, mine is
torn at the shoulder and down the arm.”

Daniel shook his head as he looked at the
clothes. “We can’t leave them in plain sight. We’ll have to hide
them. We don’t want to leave any evidence you were here.”

He took off his leather waistcoat and handed it
to Hanna. “Here! Put this on.” He shrugged when he looked at Robin.
“Sorry. I only have one.”

Then he quickly grabbed the dresses, dug a
shallow hole, and stuck them inside. Then he placed a large rock
over it. After he was done, he put his fingers to his mouth and
gave a high-pitched whistle. A couple of horses walked over the
ridge toward him.

“Ladies, I think we need to get moving. I
brought two horses. One for you ladies and one is mine.” He smiled
teasingly at Robin and said, “Unless you want to ride with me.”

As he chuckled, her eyes widened as she shook
her head adamantly and said, “Not in my… my…”

“Unmentionables?” He smiled. “I didn’t think
so.”

Daniel helped the ladies upon their horse and
then he climbed on his. As they rode along, he asked what had
happened.

Robin explained and then suddenly she gasped.
“My parents!”

He held his hand up and said, “Don’t worry. I
took care of it. Merek was headed for your house this morning when
he saw the soldiers. He immediately rode into town and told me. We
were hanging up posters in some of the merchants’ stores when he
rode up. I told him to take your parents to our camp in the forest.
They need to stay there until this whole thing is over.”

She sighed a breath of relief. “Where are we
headed?”

“I have an old shack a ways off that I use for
emergencies like this.” He turned to look at her as he spoke. “We
can hold up there until it’s safe to come out. I don’t dare take
you to our camp because it’s too far. We need to keep low for a
while.”

Feeling self conscious, Robin looked down at
herself and groaned. How she wished she were sitting behind Hanna
instead of in the front!

Daniel seemed to perceive her discomfort and
smiled. “Don’t worry, Marie. Everything is just fine. I’m just
pretending that you have clothes on. It’s not bothering me one
bit.” He cleared his throat. “Well, that’s not exactly true. Let’s
say that it’s not bothering me too much.” When he saw her frown, he
chuckled and added, “All right. I’ll try not to look at you any
more but it’s real hard to do.”

Robin creased her brow and said, “You were
raised as a gentleman. So you shouldn’t be looking at us at
all.”

Daniel held back a chuckle and glanced at her
once again. “I’m a rebel, too, Marie. And the rebel inside of me is
coming out. But I’ll try not to embarrass you. I’m really sorry
about this. I should have thought about bringing extra clothes.
After I get you both settled down, I’ll run out and get some.”

She smiled. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

Without turning toward her, he patted the side
of his horse and said, “I brought your bow and quiver along just in
case we might need them.”

“You did? How did you get them?”

“I went by your house after the soldiers had
left to get some things for your parents and noticed them. Don’t
you remember that I said to keep your bow with you at all
times?”

Robin nodded. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. The
soldiers were upon us before we realized it. We barely had time to
get out.”

As they rode through the woods, Hanna explained
what kind of life she had been living during the past few years as
she hid from Rupert. She said that she knew this day would come and
dreaded being found.

When they came upon a small shack in the woods,
Daniel pointed toward it and said, “We don’t get any visitors here.
It’s too far out. That’s why I picked this spot for fast
getaways.”

He climbed down from his horse and tied it to a
post in front of the house. Then he held his hands out to Hanna and
helped her down from the horse. She thanked him and then he held
his hands out to Robin.

She shook her head. “I can get down myself.
Thanks, anyway.”

Daniel was amused over her independence and
nodded. He knew it was because she was feeling self-conscious.

He led the way into the shack and motioned to
the room. “It’s not very clean but we can change all that since
we’ll be here for a while.” He looked at Hanna and said, “Get
yourself settled and I’ll run into town and get you women some
clothes. There’s a spring nearby and a well outside for water. I’ll
get some food while I’m in town.” He turned to leave and then
hesitated. “Oh! About the clothes. Do you have any
preferences?”

Robin turned away from him with embarrassment.
She folded her arms across her waist and said, “Anything! Just
anything, please!”

“A blue one for me,” said Hanna. “And only one
petticoat is fine.”

Daniel nodded. “A blue one for Hanna and just
anything for Robin.” He grinned. “Got it.”

After he shut the door behind him, Robin sighed.
She had never felt more humiliated in her whole life.

Realizing she needed to take her mind off her
problems, she looked around and said, “Let’s get this place cleaned
up before he gets back.”