Chapter 9 - Broken and Bloodied

His farm was on fire!

Thomas couldn't believe his eyes. Nor could Will. Both looked on in horror as they came closer to the farm. The heat was overwhelming.

As they came to the edge of the farm, they could see that the cottage was burnt down to embers. The stones that made up the walls had collapsed. Thomas and his son stepped down from the wagon. He broke into a run toward the front of the mass that used to be his home but he knew it was too little too late. Will screamed and cried behind him.

Thomas looked at the rubble. There seemed to be extra stuff in front of the front wall. A barricade. Whoever torched it had barricaded the front to trap his family inside.

His family...

Thomas dropped to his knees. His family was gone. His mother and wife. His unborn child. Gone. All gone along with his extended family and he wasn't here for them. Tears wet his cheeks. Will came over and hugged him and pulled him back from the heat of the fire.

They went back to the wagon. Everything they owned was now here. Thomas set Will on the wagon and took a moment to think. As he did, he could see that the farm was cluttered with dead. Soldiers mainly. It looked as if the farmers overran the men that were stationed here.

He looked around. There weren't as many soldiers as there were when he left. He got into the wagon and headed north and was met with more burning farms. He kept thinking to himself that this wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't what the soldiers were sent here to do.

Thomas didn't know where to turn. His life was gone, all but Will. A thought kept going through his head, "Why did they have to pick my farm?"

Thomas turned the wagon around and headed back toward the middle of Loxley.

"What are we gonna do, papa?" Will asked, his voice wavered and tears still ran down his cheeks.

"We'll stable the horses," he said, "they've been worked hard. We'll find a place to stay until morning and then we'll go back up to see aunt Matilda."

As they passed back by their burning farm, rain began to fall. There was a scurrying sound in the brush next to the road and Thomas stopped the wagon. He pulled his bow and notched an arrow then aimed it at the noise.

"Come out, slowly," he said.

There was a brief pause and then Captain Teague stepped into the road.

"I advise you to point that elsewhere," Captain Teague demanded.

Thomas thought about taking out his eye with the blunt tip. His armor guarded the most vital portions of his body so a blunt tip wouldn't do much harm. He relaxed the bow. He didn't know how he felt about killing the coward.

"I'll need a ride to the castle, you're son can hop into the bed of the wagon," Captain Teague said as he started to climb up into the seat.

"No," Thomas said calmly as he punched him square in the jaw. He climbed down off the wagon and continued his assault. "Why didn't you protect my family?" He asked as he kicked the captain in the side. He bent down and got in his face. "You bring your war here and you do nothing to save the innocent. You're a coward." He punched the captain in the face repeatedly.

Will pleaded with his father, "papa, no! They'll take you from me too!"

Thomas final punch knocked the captain out cold. He dragged him back into the brush and climbed up into the wagon. He began devising a plan. He saw the big picture now. Much like he saw a moment's weakness and exploited it, he saw the kingdom for its weaknesses and knew what had to be done. A message had to be sent.

For too long his family was oppressed and taken advantage of. First the heavy taxes, then the occupation of his cottage and finally the destruction of everything he loved.

Will could see the fire still but it no longer burned in the fields as brightly as it burned in his father. Will could see that they had released something that was always there. A force that tried so vainly to bury itself and live a life that wasn't its nature. The wolf had been released and it wanted blood.

Thomas deviated from the road that led to the inner village and instead headed into Sherwood. He traveled for an hour before stopping and giving the horses and Will a break. They came to a small ravine that winded through the woods.

There they bedded down for the night, Thomas sleeping under the wagon and Will in it. He hadn't said anything to Will the entire time. Will knew it was because he was planning. He knew that given the right amount of time, his father could devise a way out of any situation.

That night, both dreamt. Thomas of the wolf. They had found the bears den and the bears would come and go without fear. Thomas and the wolf would wait for each one to be alone and unassuming, then strike with a vicious that seemed to echo throughout the woods. Thomas and the wolf reveled in the chaos that ensued the other bears. They didn't move quite so proudly.

Will's dream was of the fox. He and the fox hid amongst a pile of books. They watched from afar as a wolf destroyed a bear den. The red wolf would bring them scraps of meat to eat and books but the wolf constantly returned to the bears' den, driving them into a sort of anarchy.



When dawn came, Thomas and Will were awakened by someone moving about the woods. Will notched an arrow and aimed at the source. Thomas grabbed the knife and positioned himself by a large tree, with his back to it.

John, Layne and Smith stepped out near the ravine and Thomas grabbed him by the collar and thrust him into the tree. "They killed my family," Thomas shouted through clenched teeth at John and Layne tried to pull him off. The blunt tip of an arrow bounced off of Layne's skull. The force was just hard enough that he dropped like a sack of oats. "I know you led them," Thomas accused, "I know they looked up to you."

John couldn't breathe. Smith objected, "It was Cornelius." Thomas looked toward Smith, giving John the opportunity he had wanted. He grabbed Thomas' arm and lifted him by the collar with his other arm. He thrust and Thomas landed in the shallow water. John grabbed a fallen branch and Thomas threw the knife, the tip of which John caught in the branch. Thomas stood up and ran at him, he had thought that John was slow but the ability to catch a blade with a branch proved otherwise. Smith tried to intervene but a blunt arrow bounced off of his skull as well and he fell backward onto Layne.

As Thomas lunged, John tried to grab his collar. Thomas had counted on this and as John's grip tightened around the material, Thomas dropped. His hooded cowl came off in John's hands and Thomas repositioned behind him, gripped him by the waste and lifted the heavy man. He turned his body and fell, cracking John's head into the tree.



Hours had passed and John woke to find Thomas standing over him with his hand out, offering it to help him up. "Smith and Layne explained about Cornelius," he said. He offered no apology only his hand.

John gripped his and and got up. He looked around. The men were all eating rabbit that Will had hunted.

"I'm sorry," John offered. "After they burned down all the farms they set us free, thinking that we would be too afraid of being implicated to go to the king with our information. That's where we were headed."

Thomas shook his head. "No," he said calmly. "Cornelius is mine. So's every man that aided in allowing the soldiers to be placed on my farm."

John didn't understand. Why spare him? Why not kill him like he planned on killing everyone else? Thomas could read the question on his face. "Simply put," Thomas said, "you're a good man who only wanted something better for his people. You'll have to live the rest of your life knowing that my family died as a direct result. You never asked for the nobles to put people on my farm nor did you have a hand in the razing of my life."

John asked, "Where are you going to go to?"

"Will and I know of a hidden place," Thomas said, "you should come, too. You'll be sought after by everyone. I'm leaving Will there and I'm going Nottingham castle to see Matilda. I have to let her know what happened and see if she can help me."

"Help you what?" John asked.

"Kill'em all," Thomas said flatly.



Later that evening, a group of men found Captain Teague. He'd crawled up to the side of the road but couldn't go further due to broken ribs. They carried him back to the castle after searching the burnt out remains of the farm.

Once at the castle, Guy came to see him.

"What happened?" Guy asked.

"Those cursed farmers," the captain started, "they started torching the empty tents and overwhelmed my men. They barricaded the Redgrave family in and set fire to it."

Guy looked at the captain down his nose, "What did you do the whole time?"

"What could I have done? They outnumbered me."

"You could have stood your ground!" Guy accused.

The captain looked at him coldly, "There was no ground to stand on, besides, they were just farmers killing farmers. Wait a month and they'll be replaced."

Guy knew it was no use. The captain wouldn't have risked his life for serfs. "Who did this to you?" Guy asked.

The captain thought for a moment then answered, "It was a group of men led by that Thomas Redgrave. He did this to me."

Guy could see that it was an apparent lie but he didn't call him on it. What did it matter if it was one man or a hundred.

"Where did he go?" Guy asked.

"How should I know?" the captain answered, "Where do pathetic people come from and that's probably where they all go to."

Guy left the infirmary and reported the news to Sheriff de Lacy.

"Put a reward out for this... Thomas Redgrave." the sheriff ordered.

"Why?" Guy asked. Guy had figured that the attack on the captain was in retaliation of losing his farm.

Sheriff de Lacy looked at Guy, "Because he's obviously the ring leader of all these farmers. Because I said so. Because he made one of your men look like a fool. Pick one! Pick them all! Just do as you're told!"

Guy excused himself and sent a group of men to look for Thomas. He plans on leading the search himself.

As he mounted, his page brought him a bearskin cloak and draped it over his shoulders.

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