The Greenwood Shadow (10 page)

Before Isaiah could reply, the bell in the village center rang out. People gathered around a black clad knight who wore the king's crest. He carried copies of parchment identical to the one on the tree.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" he called, for those who couldn't read. "His majesty, the King, sends a proclamation throughout the land! Many of you are familiar with the figure known as Robin Hood, the bandit, thief, and traitor to the crown. The king has long been silent, in hopes that this might be resolved peacefully, but he has suffered the indignity and personal humiliation long enough! Robin Hood is declared to be an outlaw! An official enemy to this great country!

"Any who know of his whereabouts will be rewarded for offering this information. The crown offers five hundred in gold if he is captured or killed! Be warned, this man is dangerous. He strikes men down with his bow while he stands safely at a distance. He does not hesitate to kill, regardless of innocence! If you value your country and respect your king, you will help us bring this outlaw to justice!"

The knight looked around, as if expecting some sort of applause. What he got instead was a jumble of confused whispers and scathing looks. Evey was almost as surprised. The people actually liked Robin Hood. He gave them hope, she supposed. That was an angle she never considered before.

The knight shifted uncomfortably under the pressure of the stares. Before continuing his announcement, he mounted his horse.

"He's a bold one, isn't he?" Isaiah commented dryly.

Evey huffed. "Personal humiliation indeed. I'll be a flying pig if the king's received hurt to anything but his coffers, and we all know those can easily spare a bit."

"Why does it bother you so much?" He raised an eyebrow playfully. "I thought you didn't believe in Robin Hood."

"It's not that," she said. "It's just that the king thinks he can do whatever he wants, doesn't he? He turns the good guy into an outlaw just because his precious purse is a little lighter. He deserves a good kick in the–"

Isaiah clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Not here! The castle knights are everywhere, and you're getting a little loud."

She turned on him with a glare that shot daggers.

"Look," he said. "As much as I might agree with you, I don't want to see you locked in the dungeons, or worse."

"Fine," she replied grudgingly. "I just wish–"

He cut her off. "Into the trees. Now."

He dragged her less than gently away from the town square, and past the tree line. All the while she struggled against his grip, but he was stronger than she was. Several minutes later, he released her arm. She glared at him again.

"What?" she shouted.

"Three months I've known you now, and I'm more than familiar with how easily your mouth can run away with you. I don't want to see you hurt." He pointed back toward the town square. "Plus, one of the knights was staring at your bow."

That simple statement completely deflated her. He was right. He usually was. She could have gotten herself into more than just a little trouble.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's what I lo... It's one thing I like about you." It was too obvious that he had changed his statement halfway through, and he covered this by adding hastily, "Just be careful though. What would I do if you got carted off to the gallows?"

Evey was speechless, which was a new sensation. She looked at Isaiah. Even with a brown mask on, his face was sincere and open. She felt nothing but guilt because of it. She had almost endangered him, and still he cared about her enough to steer her away from trouble.

She looked at the ground and softened her tone. "I really am sorry. Not about what I said, of course. But I'm sorry I don't think before I talk. Thanks for pulling me out of trouble."

"Any time," he said seriously. "But what do we do about this Robin Hood business?"

She tightened the grip on her bow. "What can we do? It's ridiculous anyway. The king is an overfed lout, who does nothing but count his money. If he really cared about his people like Robin Hood does, he wouldn't–"

An arrow whizzed past her head, thudding solidly into the tree in front of her. She turned to see a king's knight drawing closer to them. It was the same man who had made the speech in the square.

Isaiah cleared his throat. "Uh, I think someone heard you."

Evey rolled her eyes and let her head fall to the side in an unconcerned angle. "Oh dear. A knight. You think we can manage him?"

"Oh, I don't know. He looks awfully scary," Isaiah replied.

He drew his sword, and she nocked an arrow.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The knight spat on the ground, tossed away his crossbow, and drew his sword.

"Oh really?" Evey answered. "Does it look like I'm afraid of you?"

"Maybe you ought to be, little lady. Think you can pull that string back enough to send an arrow this far? The draw looks a little heavy."

Without hesitation, she drew and released. The arrow sailed through the air and planted itself in the knight's right thigh. He screamed and dropped his sword. In another moment she had drawn again. An arrow thudded into the saddle. The horse reared, knocking the knight to the ground.

She adopted a shocked expression. "Well, look at that. I guess I can."

The knight crawled toward his fallen sword, but Evey said, "I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

"I'll kill you myself, girl."

"Hey, now!" Isaiah stepped forward with his sword raised.

"Get out of the way," Evey said.

"But he just-"

"You're blocking my line of sight."

Isaiah took a hesitant step backward.

The injured knight tried to take advantage of the temporary distraction. He lunged for the sword, but Evey's arrow still reached it first and buried itself in the ground less than an inch from his hand. Immediately she had another arrow ready.

"I told you, leave it right where it is."

This time he seemed more convinced and pulled his hand away from the hilt. Evey began to back away slowly. Isaiah replaced his sword in its scabbard and followed her.

"Let's go," she said. "He can't follow with that leg."

"He can call for his men from here."

"Right." She looked around the area. "Well, they can't chase us if they can't find us. Split up and go silent. Zig zag your way back to the oak."

Isaiah pursed his lips. "Which one's the oak, again?"

"The one we camped at the first night we met." He nodded and turned to move off, but she stopped him. "Try not to wake the dead with your leaf crunching feet."

He smiled and nodded again. Then she sprinted in the opposite direction. As she made her way through the woods, she heard the distant sound of horses thundering through the trees. She laughed silently. No knight would ever find her here. The Greenwood belonged to her.

Just as she had expected, she reached the oak tree before Isaiah. To pass the time, she set about making camp. She strung her hammock, built a fire, and unrolled blankets for Isaiah. She even strayed from the area just far enough to spot a pheasant, which she promptly dropped with a single arrow.

Once she had plucked, cleaned, and spitted the pheasant, still with no sign of Isaiah, the worry set in. At first she figured he had gotten lost. That was silly, though. He still had a lot to learn about the forest, but he had come to this hideout several times without help. So where was he?

Maybe the knights had found him. Evey stood there holding the pheasant. Start it cooking, or go after her friend? If he had been captured, she had to leave right away. The longer she waited, the lower the chances of finding him. But how could she know? Maybe he was just slow. But maybe he wasn't.

She tied the pheasant to a stick, and tossed a rope across an overhanging a branch. Finding Isaiah was more important than dinner. If he wasn't captured, at least she'd know. And if he came back while she was gone and worried about her instead, it would serve him right.

Before she could do anything else, something moved behind her. She tensed and slowly lowered the pheasant to the sticks over the fire instead, trying not to show any sign that she was aware of another presence. She made a show of getting the placement just right as she waited for the hunter to come closer. Her bow was on the ground and useless, so she had to wait for knife range.

Completely on instinct, she whirled around, grabbed the collar of the cloak, and spun her attacker to the ground with the knife at his throat. His head was only inches from the ground and his feet were uselessly splayed behind her.

"EASY! It's only me!" Isaiah lifted his empty hands in surrender. Evey's worry turned to relief and then anger. She dropped him hard to the ground.

"Don't DO that," she blustered. Secretly, relief flooded through her chest.

"OW! What? Don't try to practice what you taught me? You obviously knew I was there, so it's not like I surprised you."

She stared hard at him. "Don't take so long in getting here that I'm about to run off to save you. Again."

Isaiah's mouth curved into an 'o' of understanding.

"Sorry," he said genuinely. "But did you really have to drop me on my head?"

"Yes."

She went back to the pheasant over the fire.

"Remind me to never be your enemy," he groaned as he stood.

"Hey, Isaiah? Don't ever be my enemy."

"That's the best advice I've heard all week," he muttered, still rubbing his head. Then he smiled. "Did you see the look on that knight's face? He was furious."

She dropped the angry facade. "I'll say."

"I'm pretty sure they heard what you said about the king, though."

"Good. Someone needed to hear it." She sat back against a tree and obstinately folded her arms.

Isaiah sat next to her and rubbed his head again.

"It might be true and all, but try not to do it if there are knights around, okay?"

"That's exactly what lets him do whatever he wants! People are scared because they'll get knocked around by the tough guys with swords. I have half a mind to march straight up to him and tell him what I think."

"Well don't." Isaiah put a hand on her arm and gripped tightly. "You'd just get executed, and then where would we be? Something like that is too big for a couple of kids like us."

"I know," she grumbled. "But who else is going to do it?"

"Robin Hood." His eyes looked so confident in his words. "Someday things will be put right. He's smart and charismatic and well known. He'll stand up and get the people to listen. Someday it'll be better."

"Someday isn't good enough," she shot back, partially to deflect talk of the outlaw.

"No." He sighed. "It isn't, but it's all we've got right now. Besides, you said it yourself: no one listens to a short little orphan girl."

Evey stabbed her knife into the hard ground so furiously that it sunk almost to the handle. How could one man have so much control over others? How could he sit there and abuse his power, just so he could live the high life in a huge castle? And why'd she have to be so utterly powerless to change it? Robin Hood would never save them.

Isaiah looked sympathetic, but unhelpful. He was right, after all. If she went around running her mouth about the king, she would quickly meet her end in a hangman's noose. She wasn't afraid to go down fighting, of course, but it would do no one any good. She picked her knife up and stabbed it down again, this time burying the entire blade.

"You were really good," she said quietly.

"What?"

"In the woods," she explained. "With sneaking up on me and all. You might even be able to catch me some day."

"I doubt it," he replied. "But thanks. Just don't throw me to the ground next time."

"No guarantees."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Evey had no idea their little escapade would cause such a large-scale commotion. Armed men roamed through the wood in all directions. She was glad to be safe in her role as lady Evelyne. Hopefully the transition from Isaiah the woodsman to Sir Isaiah would be enough to throw off his pursuit as well. He'd probably be fine, though. From what she gathered, he lived a lot farther away than she did.

A patrol of knights outside her window prepared to head out into the forest for yet another attempt at finding the escaped rogues. Emeric walked past the open door to her room and noticed the scene.

"What on earth has been going on these past few days?"

"You don't know anything about it?" she asked as innocently as she could.

"Okay, tell me what you heard. I really have no idea."

She gestured vaguely at the window. "It's something to do with this Robin Hood fellow. They're going around accusing everyone of knowing where he is. The other day they chased some kids halfway through the forest before they lost them, and they're still looking." She hastily added, "so I heard."

"Chasing children?" Emeric's tone was highly skeptical.

"Well, young men." He didn't have to know that one had been a girl. "Who didn't do anything wrong, I might add."