Chapter 20
The next morning, I was barely awake when I heard shouts and cries arise from the other side of camp. I rubbed my eyes and propped myself up, wondering what all the commotion was about. There was the clang of metal on metal, and the unmistakable twang of Father’s powerful longbow.
“I’m here!” I screamed, scrambling to my feet and trying to drag Baron out of the tent by our chain.
Baron stood, pulling on the chain so I was held back. “Laurel, stop!”
I ignored him and tried fruitlessly to heave him along, then screamed again. Father would hear me and rescue me. Baron reeled me in by the chain and restrained me, one hand over my mouth and the other around my middle. “Laurel, listen to me!”
I flung my head backward and cracked the back of my skull against his chin, then shoved my way out of his slackened grip.
My cloak tore as I tumbled to the ground, and I flung it off.
I didn’t care about the cold. I wanted to be free.
I grabbed a pot near the fire pit and brandished it threateningly at Baron, who stood massaging his chin.
“My father’s here for me and I’m leaving,” I told him firmly.
Baron held up his hands in surrender. “Just wait.”
“No! I’ve waited here for weeks. I’m not waiting any longer. I’m leaving now.”
“Laurel,” Baron said slowly. “If you jump around and scream like that, you’ll get hurt.
There are plenty of men here who would love to gut you in front of your father, the sheriff foremost amongst them.
So don’t call attention to yourself. If your father really is here, the sheriff is going to trade you for him and you can go free. ”
“I’m not going to let my father trade himself for me.”
“It’s going to be okay. I’ll walk over there with you. We’ll figure it out and get you home.”
Home. I refused to drop the heavy metal pot and used it to prod Baron in the back. “Walk in front of me then. And keep your hands in the air.”
“Really? A pot?”
“Hey, you took all my other weapons away and you always put the axe higher than I can reach, so this is what I’ve got. Now move it.”
Baron walked in front of me and led me toward the ruckus in the center of camp.
We turned around a tent, and a scene of utter chaos met my eyes.
Father and all his best men were there and fighting hard.
Little John pounded the heads of two guards together, Father shot arrows left and right, and the rest of the band clashed sword against sword with the sheriff’s men.
“Father!” I screamed, and ran, passing Baron. He must have moved with me since I was not abruptly yanked back.
I was so focused on crossing to him, to safety, that I failed to notice a hairy arm reach over to grab me. The sheriff held me in a headlock so tight that it cut off my air supply. “Stop!” he roared above the melee.
Everyone froze. Father aimed an arrow at the sheriff’s face but didn’t fire.
I hoisted the pot to strike, but the sheriff was faster.
His hand closed on my wrist and twisted so hard that I nearly chipped a tooth from clenching my jaw against the pain.
The pot fell from my fingers and clanged on the ground, rolling to a stop halfway between Father and me.
My lungs burned for air as the sheriff’s arm tightened around my throat.
Sound narrowed to a high, urgent ringing in my ears and my vision narrowed as darkness crowded the edges of my sight.
Instinct pushed my hands up to try and pry the pressure off my neck, but he used my distraction against me.
Within seconds, he had released the headlock only to seize my wrists and wrench them together behind my back.
Pain flared along my shoulders as my arms were forced up and back.
I ground my teeth against the pain yet again, my pulse pounding in my temples.
Still using me as a human shield, the sheriff pulled out his dagger and held it against my neck, just above my chain and collar. “Release that arrow, Robin, and your daughter dies with me.”
Father didn’t put his bow down, but his grip relaxed slightly.
“Let’s everyone calm down and discuss negotiations,” Baron said in his level voice.
No one moved.
“Put down your weapons now or I’ll slit this girl’s throat!” the sheriff screamed, then pressed the knife harder to show how serious his threat was.
Father and his band dropped their weapons. Don’t! I thought, trying to convey my message wordlessly to Father. It is a trap! A trick!
Baron gestured for the sheriff’s men to lower their weapons as well.
Swords clanged to the ground. Only the sheriff remained armed, knife blade pressed firmly against my neck.
I tried to stomp on his foot, but he moved away and dug the sharp knife into my flesh.
I scrunched my eyes tight and refused to let out so much as a squeak.
“Here’s the deal,” the sheriff said. “This brat for you and your men. Take it or leave it.”
I tried to shake my head at Father, but the knife was pressed too hard. The deal wasn’t worth it. One person was not worth ten, no matter who the person was. I wasn’t worth that heavy of a price. Surrender could not be an option.
“We turn ourselves over, and she goes free?”
“Yes,” said the sheriff. “This tramp has caused enough mischief around here that we’ll be glad to see the back of her.”
Father exchanged glances with the members of his band. They nodded at him, all ready and willing to sacrifice themselves for my freedom. I looked at them all. Father, Little John, Will Scarlet, Will Stutely, Jerome, Dale, Much the Miller’s Son, Lincoln, James, and Alan.
No! They couldn’t trade themselves for me, they couldn’t! “Don’t!” I cried out, and the knife cut even deeper into the thin flesh at my throat. I felt hot liquid drip down to stain my tunic as blood began to seep from the wound.
“You’re hurting her,” Baron muttered in an undertone to the sheriff. He tried to tug the sheriff’s knife away from my throat, but the sheriff pulled me away from Baron and as he did so, the knife penetrated even further.
“You know how much this girl likes knives, Baron. I thought she’d be pleased!
” the sheriff sneered. Baron frowned and tried again to wrest the knife from his commanding officer, but the sheriff shrugged him off.
The blood began to stream steadily from my wound and I bit my lip, refusing to utter a sound.
I knew Father would fold immediately if I did.
“She’ll lose a lot more than a few drops of blood if you wait any longer. Give me your answer!” the sheriff shouted at Father.
“What assurance do I have that you will keep your word?” Father called back.
“I swear it!”
My eyes pleaded with Father to not accept. Keep fighting! I wanted to scream but had no more breath to spare. The sheriff twitched the knife and the stabbing pain that followed made me involuntarily gasp as I felt the knife begin to saw into the muscles on my neck.
Father heard. He looked at me once and held up his hands. “Deal.”
Guards rushed in to bind Father and his men. The sheriff released me, and I tumbled to the ground. Baron hastened to help me up, but I wrenched my arm out of his grip and lurched toward Father.
“You shouldn’t have. You didn’t need to… I would’ve found a way,” I said. I could feel heat building behind my eyes. I would not, would not cry in front of Father or any of the sheriff’s men that surrounded us.
“Now you have a way.” Father smiled at me.
“Besides,” he added, his voice rising to rally his dejected men, “We’ve gotten ourselves out of worse situations than this, haven’t we, boys?
This’ll be fun!” The men gave a cheer in an attempt to buoy up my spirits—and their own. “We’ll see you again soon, I’m sure.”
The sheriff pulled me back from Father and watched until the men were all bound in a line. “Take these men to Prince John to await trial. Tell him that Blackwell sends a mighty gift,” he commanded. “Triple guard at all times. And as for you,” he said to Baron, “get that girl back to your tent.”
Baron looked so utterly bewildered that I was convinced his confusion was genuine. “The tent? But I thought…”
Father let off a string of profanities as he struggled against his bonds. “Blackwell, you filthy liar! You said you’d free my daughter! Let her go or I’ll hunt you until my dying day!”
The sheriff laughed openly. “One more threat from you and that day will be today. How many times have we played this game, Robin Hood? You think I would let you escape the first chance you got? Or have her go running after you and cause even more trouble than she already has here? No. No, your daughter will remain here as our guest. And if any one of you puts so much as one toe out of line, I will hear about it, and she will die. A slow, painful death too, I might add.” He placed a grimy hand on my head, and stroked my hair in a long, sickening caress that made goosebumps erupt all over my skin. Father blanched.
I stamped backward, hard, with the heel of my boot.
The sharp edge caught the sheriff between his foot arch and ankle, and I ground my foot in savagely.
When he doubled over to clasp his injured foot, I pivoted to administer a vicious uppercut to his chin.
He was jerked upright once more and sent reeling backwards.
“Atta girl!” Little John called encouragingly from his position in the line of captured Merry Men.
The sheriff staggered back several paces, eyes blazing and hatred etched into every line of his face. “Take them away!” he called to the guards that held my father and his men.
I watched Father being dragged away. Once they were gone, the sheriff turned back to look at me. “If I didn’t need you as leverage over your blasted father, I’d skin you alive this very moment for what you just did,” he hissed ominously. “And I’d relish every second of hearing you scream.”