Guy was caressing Marion's cheek when the banging on his chamber door woke him from his dreams. He looked to the window and it was still night outside. The banging came again.
"This better be worth disturbing me," he muttered as he made his way to the door. When he opened it, he saw one of his men standing there, his skin a pale white.
"I'm sorry, m'lord, it's..." the soldier started, "it's..."
"It's what?" Guy asked.
"Tybalt's dead," the soldier responded.
"Tybalt is at the cabin for a hunt," Guy reassured.
"Sir... his hea..."
Guy didn't like how the messenger let the last sentence trail off. He followed the soldier to the courtyard. He kept thinking about how Tybalt was excited to spend a week at the hunting cabin. What could have befallen him? What could have happened to him in the day he's been gone?
At the courtyard, a crowd had gathered. Guy pushed his way to the center where he found Tybalt's friend, Tristan. Men were working to remove something from Tristan's grip.
"Move!" Guy commanded. When the men moved it was apparent what Tristan was holding. The ropes wound around his wrists and into the mouth of Tybalt's head then out of the neck. Guy didn't recoil. He'd seen such horrors on the battlefield before. He had the ropes cut.
"Who did this?" Guy asked Tristan. The arrow was still lodged through Tybalt's eye socket.
"The Hooded Demon," Tristan muttered. "He's cursed us all."
Guy didn't understand how Tybalt's death and the massacre at Loxley were related. Not until Tristan continued.
"The demon has sworn to bring death to the halls of castle Nottingham."
Guy thought about Thomas. He thought about how reserved he had acted in light of having his farm overrun with strangers.
Guy took the head to the sheriff. The disturbance was not welcome.
De Lacy looked down at the head. "Why have you bothered me with this?"
"Because it's a threat to you," Guy answered.
"In my position, threats are expected. Welcomed as well. It means people are paying attention to you."
"Few have the means or ability that this man has," Guy reasoned.
"You know this, how?" de Lacy asked.
"His patience. His ability to kill without remorse. His ability with a bow. I suspected that he was sloppy with the bow when witnesses said that his arrow missed Cornelius but I think he purposely nicked his throat so that he'd bleed out slower. That's not an easy shot."
De Lacy paced. "Who is this man?"
"I suspect Thomas Redgrave."
"The farmer?!" de Lacy said. He couldn't believe his ears.
Guy knew this was going to happen. He knew de Lacy would pass it off if he suspected Redgrave.
"I'm taking men and going out to the cabin," Guy declared. He wasn't waiting for orders.
De Lacy gave him a sideways look. "You really think he's that much of a threat?"
"I think that sending Tristan back alive to deliver Tybalt's head is a gutsy move that shouldn't be taken lightly."
After Guy left the sheriff's chambers, he headed to the stables. On his way, he passed off the head to be buried properly. He gathered seven other men and explained to them what they were to do.
"My squire has been murdered. He was at the hunting cabin in Sherwood. We are going to find out of there is any sign of who murdered him. I have my suspicions."
None of the men responded. They understood the drill and rallied behind Guy no matter what he chose to do.
As Guy rallied his men, Will's sanctuary was alive as John and his men worked to make furniture for Will's classroom in the cavern underneath the main tree of sanctuary. Benches were made from split logs.
Will was busy helping Tanner with his first lesson on democracy. Tanner had a hard time imagining a world where every man was responsible for himself and a share of society. The notion of it was alien to him but Will was patient and thorough in his lesson.
Tuck was above, preparing a meal, when Thomas strolled up with a wagon of goods. He'd cleaned himself up but his clothes were stained with blood. At first Tuck thought he was injured.
"Are you alright?" Tuck asked as he went out to meet Thomas.
"I'm fine. Help me with these supplies. You could make better use of them than I could." Thomas had not only ransacked the hunter's wagon but he'd pilfered the cabin as well. Anything that wasn't nailed down was taken. Several chairs were among the items. As well were two stuffed mattresses that dragged behind the wagon. One was tattered and torn. Thomas had used them to smudge his tracks.
Tuck and Thomas unloaded the wagon. It took them nearly half an hour and Thomas began looking exhausted.
"Why don't you come in and rest?" Tuck offered. "Will is down giving a lesson."
"Will's teaching, already?" Thomas asked. "I shouldn't be surprised. He's special."
"Yes. Will has shown time and again that he sees the world a bit differently." Tuck had been impressed with Will's comprehension of advanced materials. So much so, that it often frightened him to think about it.
"I don't want Will to see me like this," Thomas pointed at himself. Tuck had wondered up until that point if Thomas knew he looked like a busy butcher.
Thomas made some rations quickly then returned to the forest taking only a single horse. Tuck knew it was pointless to try and reason with him. Pointless and possibly dangerous.
Thomas knew that it was likely that Guy would send a group out to the cabin to investigate but he was too tired from all the savagery and heavy lifting to have a proper confrontation.
Instead, Thomas went in the opposite direction and made camp under a large oak.
When Guy and his men reached the cabin, it was apparent that something was wrong. The door was covered in a veneer of blood. It was close to dusk and Guy had to secure the cabin so they could stay for the night. The men circled the cabin but it was obvious that it was empty. Clint, their tracker, had noticed several wolf tracks leading in and out of the cabin.
"It looks like a pack of wolves... I'd say ten or so, made their way in and helped themselves to the bodies," Clint posited.
Guy entered the cabin. Only blood was left behind. "There has to be a trace of the Hooded Demon."
"The men in the barracks call him Robin Red Hood," Clint said.
"The men know about him?" Guy asked.
"They know that something killed those men in Loxley and that something sure had it's way with this cabin," Clint answered.
Four of the men gathered in the main room over the trap door. It creaked suddenly before collapsing. One man, who was nervous and had his sword at the ready, accidentally stabbed another during the fall. The wound was instantly fatal.
Guy approached the edged of the hole. "He did this," he said.
Clint and Guy helped the three survivors up out of the hole. They pulled the dead man out and Clint began looking through the debris. The wolf tracks were down there too. He followed them to a spot in the wall that had been cut and doctored.
Guy realized what had happened. "He knew they were coming," he said.
"How?" Clint asked.
"I don't know but this was a trap," Guy declared. "A giant trap waiting for Tybalt and his friends."
It then dawned on him that Thomas could be watching in the woods. He pulled his men into the cabin. The men took turns guarding the windows and entryways into the cabin. They kept watch all night.
Guy hardly slept a wink.
No comments:
Post a Comment