It saddened Will when he woke to find that his father had left without saying goodbye. Will had hoped to maybe have him around for a few more weeks. Realistically, though, he knew that his father had given himself over to the wolf. He'd embraced a killer within him that had wanted to stay buried underneath the family and farm and the loss of those two things, the family in particular, had forced his father to face what he really was.
It would be seven hundred years before they put a label on it.
Psychopath.
Will silently praised his father for hanging to the bit of humanity he'd held onto for so long. He also silently praised him on stirring up emotions in the local population. The environment led many people to search for a better way of handling their lives. This made it all the more easier to recruit into his school.
It was time for Will to implement another part of his plan. This portion of the plan would work in Will's favor in three very different but very important ways.
First was the stealth that Will knew he would learn by breaking into noble households and stealing any coinage he could get his hands on. He feared his first time out but trusted that as long as he kept a low profile, he'd be able to get into some of the more guarded houses in a few months without so much as exciting suspicions about the rash of theft that would befall the nobles. He counted on one thing to help this out. He suspected that the nobles wouldn't want to announce that they'd been robbed blindly out of fear that it would invite further attempts.
Another effect of this part of the plan was that Will could properly fund his school. What better way to pay for a quiet uprising than with funds taken from the enemy? That's exactly how Will saw the nobles. He would never admit it outwardly but his disdain for the blue bloods had been a key driving force for the school. He didn't want to preach revolution to his students so much as the importance of being responsible for your life and the decisions you make, even if that meant taking control of your life by force.
The last effect that Will wanted to bring about was a bit more personal. He planned on redistributing some of the looted money to the families that his father's wrath had affected. Will didn't want to inherit his father's sins and so it was best to make amends for them before it was too late.
Will packed light. He had made a kit that consisted of a few daggers, rope, dark clothes and a big purse for the loot he planned on hauling.
He gave his lessons that day as usual, while pulling the string of a bow taught. He'd taken in a few new students and he assigned elder students to them as mentors. It was important to Will that the students learn how to disseminate the information he shared with them. He even told them to do so in their daily lives. Not overtly but subversively, his students often altered whole conversations by dropping bits of information here and there. It really was more of an art form in Will's eyes and he had made several of his students very capable of altering people's opinions on topics very diverse in importance.
When the lessons were over, Will excused himself from the group. He didn't bother telling John or Tuck where he was headed because he knew they would admonish such actions as foolish and dangerous. John offered to accompany him and Will.
"I was wanted to concentrate on my survival skills," Will lied. "If you go with me, I won't be able to get the full effect."
John reasoned that Will knew what he was doing and let it go.
Will mounted a steed and headed out, being sure to not head in the direction of Nottingham. He rode hard to make up the time the ruse had cost him and came upon Nottingham just as the sun cast its last shadow of the day. This was the first time Will had acted alone. He prided himself on the exercise.
Will found a house near the edge of Nottingham proper and decided to focus his attempt on it. A few of the windows were still lit so Will left and found a place to tie his horse and change into the dark clothing. He pulled the dark hood over his head and it covered his face except for a hole cut for his eyes. Being dressed this way empowered Will.
Shortly Will found himself back near the house. This time only one light flickered inside and Will thought of how welcoming it looked. He encircled the house looking for the best entry and discovered that there was a decorative brick pattern in the wall that climbed to a second story window. It beckoned him. Will climbed it quietly and found that the finger and footholds were perfect for his feet. The Fox crept up the wall easily and found the window ajar. He paused and listened for noises inside the room before peeking in.
On a bed just beneath him lay a young boy. Will would have to get over the bed without touching it or making a noise. He looked around the room and his eyes fell upon the open door on the far side of the room. He listened for noises in the hall and heard nothing. Will climbed up so that his body stood in the frame of the window. His fingers gripped the frame tightly and he could feel the lip of ornate wood. He reached up and felt the lip of the frame above him. Then his eyes focused on the top of the walls of the room. There was a wood trim encircling it. The Fox faced the outside and gripped the frame of the window on the inside. He pulled himself up and then spread his feet against the jam of the frame to brace himself.
He reached up toward the trim but it was just out of reach. He bent his knees and then jumped up. His fingers clawed the trim and found a hold. Will looked down at the bed and the boy slept undisturbed.
Shortly, Will found himself on the wardrobe. He carefully climbed down and moved slowly down the hall finding the master bedroom and it's two occupants, fast asleep. He looked at the room and wondered where they kept their money. It wasn't long before he figured out that while most of the furniture all looked like it came from one maker, the wardrobe in this room looked different.
Will grabbed a candle from the nightstand and rubbed the end of it on the hinges of the wardrobe then opened it. The wax prevented any creaking the hinges may have made. Will pushed aside the clothes that were folded on the shelves and found a compartment in the back. The door slid aside easily. Will saw the gold gleam in the light but realized that if he filled his purse with it, the jingling would certainly wake the room's occupants.
Will got creative. He tossed some of the clothes from the wardrobe inside the large purse then gently placed the gold on top of the clothes. He then added another layer of clothes. When he picked up the sack, he was happy with how quiet it was. Will wasted no time getting back to the other room and he slung the satchel out the window. It made a low thud as it hit the soft earth two stories down.
The Fox returned to the hallway and then took a run toward the bed. He leapt at the last possible moment and soared over the bed flipping his body just like Layne had shown him and spinning so that his feet went out the window first and he was face down. He fingers caught the window frame and stopped his fall. Will took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. He needed to be sure he could do such feats under duress and now he was sure. The climb down was easy and Will returned to the horse where he filled the saddlebags with his loot.
The excitement of the night and the success of the exercise gave Will a sense of joy. He looked around for another house that might be just as easy to enter.
Four houses down, Will spotted a similar brick work that lead to another enticing window. He smiled. Tonight the Fox walks away with enough loot to support the group for months.
He scaled the wall and again listened for any noise that might come from inside. All was quiet. He peeked in and was happy that the occupied bed wasn't directly beneath the window. The Fox entered the room slowly. On the bed lay a girl quietly dreaming. Will made his way down the hall and found the master bedroom. This time, the gold sat in a chest at the foot of the bed.
Will wondered if it was locked and tried to open it. No such luck. He looked at the bed and noticed that only one person lay in it. The other side had the blanket disturbed but vacant. Inside, Will panicked. His thoughts raced. He looked at the bed and it was obvious that the lady of the house was sleeping which meant it was her husband that was up and about.
But where?
Will tried to pick up the chest but it was attached to the floor. He looked around the room for a key to open the lock but no such luck and now he was worried that the lord would return.
As Will made his way down the hall, he thought he'd have to learn to get past locks. Then there was a noise.
It came from downstairs. The sound alarmed him not because it was a guy but because it sounded like a muffled girl.
There was another noise and Will had a shiver go up his spine. He could hear a girl sobbing. The Fox forgot about the chest. Suddenly, it sought another quarry. Will crept down the steps, being sure to let his feet only touch the outer most edges of the steps to lessen the noise.
The muffled sobs reached out for Will. Past the kitchen was the servants quarters and from inside Will could hear that the lord was having his way with the help and it was against her will. Will pulled two of his daggers. He stealthily entered the room and as the man raised up and threatened to hit the girl again, Will stabbed a dagger into each lung. The man tried to yell but his lungs wouldn't fill with air.
The servant girl didn't know what was going on. She couldn't see Will. All she could see was her attacker with a look of pain on his face and no noise coming from his lips.
The Fox the took both daggers and stabbed them into the man's armpits and used them to pull him away from her. He then pinned the man to the floor as he bled out. Will looked at her and then away because she was naked.
"Get dressed," Will whispered. The girl dressed quietly, still sobbing.
"He said if I told anyone..." She cried.
"It's okay," Will consoled her.
The man had a key tied around his neck. Will yanked it off. He told her to go wait outside under the window he came in and let her out the door, barring it behind her.
Will found the room where the man conducted his business and composed a note to the lady of the house. It read:
To the lady of the house,
I made entry into your home to steal from you the gold in the chest at the foot of your bed. You slept alone and I discovered that much like I aimed to steal gold from your family, the lord of the house was stealing the purity of your servant. I relieved him of his life. In doing so, I fear I've hindered your further income. I'm sorry for this. Perhaps you knew of his sins, in which case leaving you the gold makes me a fool but you don't live alone and I doubt your daughter knew of his sins. It would be best if you told authorities that you were robbed and your husband was killed in the struggle. Burn this note and make it look like more of a disturbance than it does. Make it look like an army stormed it. He died rather painlessly. I've left the key to the chest for you.
P.S. Don't tell your daughter what a monster your husband was. It is best she believes he was a good man who died while trying to do the right thing.
Will placed the note and key in the bed beside the woman then made his way to the window of the girls room. He felt bad for her having to lose her father but knew that it would only have done her more harm if he'd turned his tastes toward her.
The Fox descended the wall and met the girl. They hurried to the waiting horse.
"What can I call you?" Will asked the girl.
She quietly responded, "Gwen." Her eyes peered at him.
"You don't have to be so quiet, now," Will reassured her.
"What's your name?" she asked. She looked to Will like she was in her early twenties.
Will pulled his hood back. She was surprised by his youth. "I'm Will Scarlet," he proclaimed as he helped her up onto the horse.
He mounted and they headed to sanctuary.
She stared at him. "You're but a boy," she said over the horse's loud gallop.
"No," Will said, "I'm a fox pretending to be a boy."
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