Sherwood (8 page)

Harlow nodded, wanting to
roll her eyes in annoyance. Yes, she was tired, and that was
probably why she was so annoyed, but everything seemed to revolve
around her father: what he would think, what he would do, where he
would send her. If he had known where she was, she was certain he'd
send her away immediately, wanting her anywhere but here mingling
with these men.

“
Go!” Robin
shouted to the men.

Harlow sighed, walking
toward Enders, who'd already started in the opposite direction. She
jogged a bit to catch up with him.

“
Enders,” She
greeted him when she reached him.

“
McBride. You
ready for the impending battle of the flags?” Enders smirked in a
way that caused Harlow's' heart to sink.

Harlow raised an eyebrow at
him and gave a small smile. “Aye.”

The group of five had come
together, walking in silence for close to ten minutes, their feet
dragging through the forest floor.

Candor yawned and sighed
loudly, looking around the dark forest. “Why would Robin wake us so
early for this?” He looked to Elwin, who kept a slow, almost uneven
pace. “It's still dark out.”

Harlow tilted her head to
the side slightly to address him. “That's exactly why he woke us
this early. He wants us to be able to hide ourselves in the forest
when it's dark out.” She sighed, stepping over an old, rotting log
on the forest floor. “It's a strategic exercise. My father used to
tell me about it.”

Elwin and Rawley nodded
slightly, keeping quiet as they walked on. Candor didn't care for
the conversation, simply trying to keep himself awake as he trudged
on.

Harlow took the opportunity
to look over to Enders, who carried the flag sluggishly as he
dragged himself through the forest.

Harlow noted that he didn't
look bothered. In fact, he looked motivated, although clearly
exhausted. His eyes seemed to look completely different than what
his body was showing.

Her eyes scanned over his
behavior, catching the small limp that he walked with at the
moment.

Snap.

The breaking of a twig rang
out and echoed through the forest.

Harlow started to slow her
walking, as did the rest of the men. She perked her ears up, trying
to listen for any other movement, any other sound of
life.

Just as she was about to
start walking again, the sound of harsh whispers sounded from a far
off tree to her left.

She quickly turned her
attention to the whispers, scanning the tree tops and the forest
floor for clues.

“
We should
run.” Elwin suggested from behind her and Enders.

“
No.” She
snapped quickly, shaking her head, and holding up a hand. She kept
her eyes scanning the forest as she continued. “If we start
running, they'll know we're onto them. They could have men up
ahead, and by the sound of it, it looks like they're not quite in
formation yet. If we start panicking, we'd be setting ourselves up
for an ambush.”

Harlow turned around,
looking at Enders and then behind him to the trees beyond. “Enders,
how many people are in the trees behind me?”

Enders took his eyes off of
her and glared into the treetops as inconspicuously as possible.
“As far as I can tell, there's only one person.” He whispered to
her, looking around to his left and his right. “Looks like Harlan
to me.”

Harlow nodded. “Looks like
there's another one ahead of me.” She whispered to Enders and the
others.

Candor sighed, looking
ahead and staring through the treetops. “What are we doing then?
Standing here and doing nothing is setting ourselves up for
ambush!” He whispered harshly.

Harlow turned to him
calmly, giving him a slight and quiet glare. “Calm yourself,
Candor.”

“
If you had
any suggestions, then maybe I would be calm!” He whispered harshly
again, his eyebrows scrunching together.

Snap!
Another twig echoed from close
by.

Candor let out a loud,
angry huff.

Harlow spun around to
survey the forest, as all the others were doing as well.

Enders slowly moved the
flag behind his back and took precautionary steps backward. Harlow
could tell that his intentions were to press himself against a tree
in order to keep the flag safe and in his possession.

Harlow raised
her eyes to the tops of the trees, searching for movement. She was
about to look behind her, when she saw the smallest shifting of
branches on the treetop in front of her; the same treetop canopying
over Enders and the flag.

She opened her mouth
slightly. If the recruit jumped down now, he'd trap Enders, steal
the flag and make off with it. She had to hand it to the opposing
team, this was clever.

Harlow saw the man getting
ready to drop down for the tree. Before he could carry out his
ambush, Harlow raced forward, putting her hand on Enders' chest and
forcing him back, putting all of her weight into it and pressing
herself against him.

The man was a few seconds
to late. He dropped to the ground, his back to Harlow and
Enders.

Before Harlow could even
think about what she was doing, she picked up an old, sturdy log,
lunging it forward into the man's gut.

“
Oof!” The
man, who she now saw was a recruit named Andrew, doubled over,
holding his stomach in pain.

Before Andrew could react,
Harlow pulled the log back and swung it hard against the man's
cheek, sending splinters and small pieces of old oak flying
everywhere. Andrew fell to the ground, safe and fairly unharmed,
but groaning in pain.

Harlow raised her eyes to
Candor, Elwin, and Rawley. “Run!” She exclaimed as she grabbed
Enders arm and pulled him for a few seconds, deeper into the
forest.

The further they got from
that place, the more time seemed to slow down.

She scanned the treetops as
they ran, looking for signs of life, preparing herself for an
ambush.

She didn't expect it when
she saw the movement from one tree coming up on her right. She
gazed up at the shifting branches she saw, noticing Reggie
crouching on a low branch. He pulled the string back on his bow, an
arrow ready in his fingertips.

Harlow rushed forward,
laying a hand on Rawley's back, and propelling him forward to keep
him moving.

Harlow looked around for
something to save them. She didn't find anything. She rattled her
brain for anything useful.

And miraculously, one thing
came to her mind: a memory. She never knew the memory of her father
talking about how he used to dodge arrows with accurate precision
would come in handy someday. She smiled slightly at the
reminiscence before breaking back to reality. Her father told her
to weave in between trees, if possible. She narrowed her eyes
ahead. That was exactly what she was going to do.

She looked up at Enders,
who was leading every one, flag in hand, racing toward an invisible
finish line.

She broke away from the
line, racing adjacent to Rawley, avoiding arrows from all around
her. There were at least four archers in the trees, aiming all at
them.

She pumped her legs harder,
jumping over renegade logs, and forcing herself forward.

It felt like slow motion
when she passed Candor and Elwin, catching up to the front with
Enders after a few seconds.

“
Enders!” She
yelled to him, running as fast as she could. “Cut right!” She felt
like the words couldn't come out fast enough.

Enders nodded quickly,
taking a moment to look back at Harlow, before following her eye's
line of sight to Reggie.

Harlow quickly changed
course, looking up at Reggie, who now had to change the direction
of arrows.

Harlow forced her legs
faster, leading the group. She glanced backward to make sure
everyone followed. She saw everybody behind her, looking exhausted
and tired. A flurry of arrows rained down behind them as she bobbed
and weaved between the trees.

She quickly cut left; less
arrows were flying through the air than before, implanting
themselves into the dirt behind the group of five.

Enders reestablished his
grip on the flag and kept up his pace, running just behind
Harlow.

One thing was for certain:
That was not only one archer. Reggie's whole team had probably
taken to the trees immediately.

Harlow's lungs felt like
they'd explode. Her legs started burn, and her heart felt like it
would beat right out of her chest. She noticed Enders struggling to
keep his breath and starting to slow down.

Eventually, the sound of
arrows flying through the air faded and disappeared
completely.

Harlow was relieved to slow
down her pace to a light jog; the team followed in suit, jogging to
a stop.

They stood around in a
circular formation for a few minutes, trying to catch their breaths
in silence.

“
We need a
plan.” Enders broke the silence, panting loudly, forcing air into
his lungs. He placed his right hand on his right knee, propping
himself up, but giving himself enough time to catch his breath,
while his left hand held the flag.

Harlow placed her hands on
her hips, heaving in breaths and exhaling hard. “Aye.” She said,
simply.

Harlow noticed Rawley
looking around the forestry. “We could bury the flag.” He
suggested, his breathing far less struggled than the others. His
black hair swayed slightly, brushing against his eyebrows, while he
spoke.

Harlow raised an eyebrow in
curiosity, then nodded approvingly. She looked at Enders, who was
looking at the floor, trying to catch his breath.

“
I like that
idea. We wouldn't have to worry about it as long as we keep it
hidden.” Elwin chimed in, also trying to catch his
breath.

Candor nodded in approval
of the idea, although keeping his input to a minimum as he focused
on breathing

Harlow nodded. “Okay. We'll
bury the flag.” She looked around the forest floor, spotting a huge
oak tree with large roots that protruded the soil. She looked to
Enders, pointing out the roots. “There,” Harlow said, taking a few
steps. “The roots will keep it hidden.”

Enders nodded, looking to
the tree. “Sure.” He stood up straight, holding the flag in his
grip. “Cover me while I hide it.” He commanded.

Harlow followed Enders as
he went to the roots and tried to make the flag
invisible.

“
Hurry.”
Harlow said after a few seconds.

Enders sighed and rolled
his eyes. “You try hiding a huge flag in a small system of roots.”
He whispered harshly.

A second later he stood up,
examining his handiwork as the other three men all leaned against
trees, their eyes closed in exhaustion.

“
How are we
supposed to find everyone else?” Rawley asked, looking around the
foliage, after Harlow and Enders returned.

Elwin shrugged. “We could
sit in the trees and wait.”

Enders shook his head in
response. “Everyone else has probably already taken to the trees.
We need to draw them out.”

Candor sighed. “How do we
do that?” He asked, looking around, raising one hand to wipe some
of his hair out of his face.

A far off snapping twig
echoed throughout the forest.

Everyone turned their heads
to the noise.

Harlow bit her lip. “We'll
split up.”

“
What?”
Rawley asked, scrunching his eyebrows together and looking at her
incredulously. “That's a terrible idea. What if they come after
us?”

Harlow looked at him and
nodded, taking in breaths. “Not unless we have a plan. Enders said
we need to draw them out. We can't do that if we're all in the
trees.” Harlow stopped speaking for a moment and looked around the
treetops. “I think this is the best place to stage an ambush of
some sort.”

Enders raised an eyebrow at
her. “Ambush?”

Harlow let her eyes linger
on him, her heart beating even faster with the sight. His hair was
damp and hung over his eyes, bringing out their brown
color.

She tried to bury the
tingling feeling of butterflies, albeit unsuccessfully, telling
herself it was the morning sunlight that was starting to emerge
over the horizon that made him look so handsome.

It was a blatant lie to
herself, but she refused to contest it.

“
Uh,” She
whispered, her focus momentarily disrupted and her voice wavering.
She shook her head. “Yes.”

Another faint snap echoed
in the distance.

“
We don't
have time to delegate this, men.” Harlow said, turning her eyes to
Rawley and Elwin. “You two are some of the best archers in the
camp. It would be best if you took to the trees.”

The two men considered it,
and nodded agreeably.

She turned to Candor, whose
medium build could be intimidating sometimes. “Candor, you're a
great runner, but you're a better climber. Enders and I are the
fastest runners, we'll invade the other teams' territories and lure
them out. After we've got them out, you can go in, take care of
anybody in your way, and steal their flags.”