Sherwood Read online

  She straightened herself out while Robin was focused on the pain, and kicked him square in the gut, making him stumble back and fall down.

  The men stopped laughing. They stopped talking.

  They stopped everything.

  Harlow knew better than to walk over and see if he was okay. He was as strategic as she was, and she knew he would take her down easily.

  Robin lifted himself up onto his elbows, eying Harlow from the ground. He coughed twice as he took in ragged breaths. “McBride,” He took in an exhausted breath, “that was one of the best matches I've had in years.”

  Harlow took in a deep breath, a small smile playing on her lips. “Thank you, Sir.”

  *~*~*

  Training had been intense.

  After swordplay with Robin, one of the men had gotten sick, so one of the recruits, Reggie, was left without someone to train with.

  Harlow gladly took the sick recruits place.

  Reggie was a big man. He was bold, but cunning from what Harlow could tell. She remembered seeing him climb a tree like it was a ladder. He may have been wide, but his capabilities were endless.

  Harlow reached out her hand and gripped his when he offered. “Henry McBride. Nice to meet you, Reggie.”

  Reggie nodded at her. She felt his reluctance about this match. “Reggie Chaldean. Same, of course.”

  Reggie smiled at Harlow before he reluctantly looked at his weapon. “I know it's been a pretty tough day. What if, for now, we go a little easy on each other?” He offered.

  Harlow inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. She tried to cover it, but it was evident in the way her body relaxed from the suggestion. “I'd like that. Thank you, Reggie.” She said, in her best masculine tone once again.

  Reggie simply nodded, holding up his sword. “Let's fight.” He exaggerated with a chuckle.

  The two didn't fight long, only enough to pass the time and relax from the trying day.

  Reggie confided in her, telling her that he'd lost four matches today. He was having an off week, he explained, it was hard being away from home.

  Harlow completely sympathized, telling him she felt the exact same way. Even though it wasn't exactly manly in their book, she wanted Reggie to know everyone felt the same way he did.

  She was on her way back to the cabin around sun down. The sun had fallen just past the horizon, when she meandered through a shortcut, following a dirt path.

  She noticed the pier on her left, but she had to do a double-take to realize who it was that sat uncomfortably on it.

  She sighed, thinking of what she should do.

  Deciding that the right thing to do was end the crazy argument, she walked lazily to the pier, her footsteps shaking the old, wooden planks as she did so, the pier moaning and creaking under her toes.

  She sat down hesitantly next to him, as he stared out at the water.

  Harlow didn't know what to say so she stayed silent.

  Eventually, she couldn't handle the silence anymore.

  “Listen, Enders--”

  “Henry, I--”

  The two spoke simultaneously. Harlow chuckled a bit, looking up at Enders who smiled at her.

  That smile.

  That smile. She loved that smile. It was a smile encompassing defeat, concern, and anxiety.

  Harlow felt her heart pump again, but she did not like it. Not one bit.

  “You go ahead.” Harlow said to him, with a hand gesture.

  Enders nodded. He sighed and looked down at the water that almost licked the bottom of his shoes. “I shouldn't have yelled. I overreacted.” He looked at Harlow. “I'm sorry.”

  Harlow smiled. “It's okay. I'm sorry, too. I know it's hard to be here, away from your parents.”

  Enders chuckled. “Tell me about it.” He shook his head. “My mother is not to ecstatic right now. I'm all she has left.”

  Harlow furrowed her eyebrows. “Oh, Enders I'm sorry. I didn't know your father...passed.”

  Enders nodded. “Yeah. He didn't really pass.” Enders chuckled sadly. “He left us.”

  Harlow parted her lips as she stared at him. She wanted so badly to say something to him, to comfort him, but nothing came to mind.

  “I know what you're thinking. I'm fine.” Enders kept his gaze on the water and the horizon beyond the trees. “It's been done with.”

  Harlow nodded. Silence settled on the two. She tried to think of things to say, but nothing popped up for a while. It was only after ten minutes of a semi-comfortable silence that one idea flew into her head. She mentally wrestled herself with the idea, whether she should tell or not. Finally, she admitted defeat and broke the silence in the least awkward way possible.

  “Do you know the tale about Little John and the Cook?”

  Enders nodded, looking at her. “Aye. It's one of the best.”

  Harlow smiled a bit. “There's a bit of that story missing.”

  Enders snapped his head to her and widened his eyes. “What do you mean?”

  Harlow looked out on the lake. “I mean that,” She paused throwing a renegade rock that laid on the pier. “The cook, he actually fell in love with this woman. She was a very important, high class, high status woman.”

  Enders let his mouth open a bit as he listened, turning his eyes back to the lake as the sun setting itself over the trees on the horizon.

  Harlow hushed her voice a bit in sadness. “That woman died for the love they shared. Punished by the Sheriff and the King.”

  Enders' bodily frame dropped an inch in sadness.

  Harlow dropped her voice even lower. “That woman was my mother.”

  Enders' eyes snapped back to her again, holding her gaze for several seconds.

  “And you wouldn't know it if you looked at him, but my father makes a mean beef stew.” Harlow joked, chuckling a bit, afraid to look at Enders.

  Enders stared at her in shock, not knowing what to say.

  “I know what you're thinking. I'm fine.” She repeated his words from earlier. “It's been done with.”

  Silence fell on the two for several moments, his eyes lingering on her for a few extra moments before falling back onto the water in front of him.

  “We do what we must to make the pain of losing someone go away. So, if we must make a few jokes, or a pun or two, then so be it. At least that way the pain is numbed.” Harlow said, looking one more time at Enders, before raising a hand to her hat and making sure it was on securely, no strands of hair poking out. She pushed herself up and stood next to him for a moment.

  “I'd like to friends again, if you're interested.” She offered, seriously, although the remnant of a joke lingered.

  Enders chuckled. “Aye. I think that's a fantastic idea.”

  Harlow nodded, her heart thumping with anticipation for tomorrow's training. “I'll see you tomorrow on the field.”

  Enders smiled. “Aye.”

  Chapter Seven

  Days and weeks seemed to pass without acknowledgment.

  Harlow's heart would thump like crazy for Enders, but she fought to control it.

  She was shocked that no one had found out about her secret yet. It had been five months since she'd started living among thieves. She had to admit, she missed home, but it wasn't as bad she'd thought.

  They practiced swordplay more frequently than archery, but Robin noticed this pattern and started to send everybody to the archery range instead.

  For a month, they had intense archery training.

  For another month after, all they did was throw knives and daggers.

  Three people were hit by renegade knives that month. Luckily, though, they hadn't lost their lives, but obtained only a few scratches and scars.

  Harlow hadn't really appreciated the change, but when she bathed, she noticed that her stomach muscles had profited.

  She wasn't well versed in archery. She considered it one of her weaknesses, although she could keep herself alive in a forest for a few hours, if the need arose.

  She hadn't e
ver really thought about it too much, but she was better at hand-to-hand combat and melee skills than she was with archery.

  Will Scarlet had taught them how to throw knives, which she'd excelled at and enjoyed every time.

  When it came to archery, she didn't find it fun, and only practiced the art when absolutely necessary.

  Every now and then, however, she couldn't help but wonder what other hidden talents and capabilities she had hidden in her.

  Often, she would wonder how long this would last. How long would this stalemate of a war last? How long would it be before Harlow's father rode in on a horse, demanding his daughter be returned? How long would it be before her hat came flying off, letting loose the intense curls of hair that sat on her head? How could she cover that up? These men didn't have long hair and if her hat somehow came off of her head, she would be sent back home before she'd done anything significant.

  *~*~*

  Robin stood, hands planted on his hips in a masculine undertone, surveying the groggy recruits. The sun hadn't even shown it's face yet.

  Harlow raised an eyebrow, following his line of sight as he paced back and forth. She knew he'd never done this before, training a group of men to be heroes of some sort.

  She let out a silent chuckle. Robin Hood wasn't training them to be thieves. No, he was training them to protect the fugitives from the law of the king, which really wasn't that bad a thing in her opinion; although, she couldn't help but wonder what turned a hardened thief into some kind of fighting force.

  It seemed to Harlow that Robin Hood had just transformed overnight. It was obvious from the tales that Robin really wasn't interested in a war between good and evil. He didn't really care when King Edward II was in reign, and even received a bit of a full pardon from him. But, now that King Wesley was in power, he seemed grief-stricken.

  Harlow wondered what had changed. Why was this battle between supposed good and evil being undertaken by Robin Hood, of all men?

  “Alright, men,” Robin started, looking around the group. Several torches lit the forest around the congregation. Harlow spotted Aldridge at the edge of the group, holding a torch as he rubbed his tired eyes.

  Harlow wasn't as tired as everyone else; she'd slept early and hadn't trained as hard the previous day. Still, she wiped her eyes of sleep as she stood in the midst of the large group of men.

  Robin turned to the dark forest beyond. “We're going to have a bit of an assessment this morning.” He said, motioning to the dark woods beyond. “I suppose you could think of it as a game.” He turned back to the group of men. “The first team to capture the opposing groups' flags and makes it back to their starting point, wins.”

  The recruits looked around at each other. “What is the point of this game?” One slightly frustrated, and sleep-deprived man, called out from the depths of the group.

  Robin raised an eyebrow. “Do I need a reason to wake up my recruits and give them instructions?” He asked, booming the words as a warning. He sighed, looking over their faces, knowing their irritation. “But, if you must know,” He looked to the woods. “It's a strategic exercise, to make sure you know what you're doing in the midst of danger.”

  “Isn't it a little dangerous to use arrows like this? We could kill each other this way.” A recruit name Arelyn spoke up first.

  Robin rolled his eyes nonchalantly. “We're not using real arrows. We'll be giving you these.” He head up an arrow with no arrow head. “We call them faux-arrows.”

  Harlow nodded loosely, looking around the group as she thought about how the faux-arrows were just sticks with feathers on the ends.

  Her eyes landed on Enders as she got lost in her thoughts.

  He was tired, she could tell, but, she already knew he was exhausted from yesterday's training. She'd spent time practicing with him for a few hours before she left him to Reggie, who wouldn't relent on practice until he won at least once. That could have taken hours.

  She noticed, in the dark lighting, a small bruise on his cheek, no doubt from yesterday. She tried to remember him without some kind of blemish or mark on his face.

  She couldn't think of a single time.

  Ever since they'd started training, he'd always taken a hit somewhere, leaving a mark to remember it by.

  That wasn't the only thing that she noticed about him. She could tell he was stronger. He'd gained muscle and lost some weight. He was fit, but she found herself worried that he'd become malnourished.

  Harlow tried to fight her heart beat as she stared at him, willing herself to suppress the growing butterflies in her stomach. It was hard to ignore him, and she found herself engulfed by his very presence, only to fall back to reality as Robin rattled off the names of who would be on whose teams.

  “...Henry, Enders, Candor, Elwin, and Rawley,” She raised an eyebrow, taking her eyes off Enders and directing them to Robin, who smiled at her.

  “I want to see some intense battles out there, men!” Robin yelled as the men started to gather into their teams. He narrowed his eyes to Harlow who stood, looking to him for instruction. “McBride! I want to see you utilize the other strategies your father has taught you!”

  Harlow nodded, wanting to roll her eyes in annoyance. Yes, she was tired, and that was probably why she was so annoyed, but everything seemed to revolve around her father: what he would think, what he would do, where he would send her. If he had known where she was, she was certain he'd send her away immediately, wanting her anywhere but here mingling with these men.

  “Go!” Robin shouted to the men.

  Harlow sighed, walking toward Enders, who'd already started in the opposite direction. She jogged a bit to catch up with him.

  “Enders,” She greeted him when she reached him.

  “McBride. You ready for the impending battle of the flags?” Enders smirked in a way that caused Harlow's' heart to sink.

  Harlow raised an eyebrow at him and gave a small smile. “Aye.”

  The group of five had come together, walking in silence for close to ten minutes, their feet dragging through the forest floor.

  Candor yawned and sighed loudly, looking around the dark forest. “Why would Robin wake us so early for this?” He looked to Elwin, who kept a slow, almost uneven pace. “It's still dark out.”

  Harlow tilted her head to the side slightly to address him. “That's exactly why he woke us this early. He wants us to be able to hide ourselves in the forest when it's dark out.” She sighed, stepping over an old, rotting log on the forest floor. “It's a strategic exercise. My father used to tell me about it.”

  Elwin and Rawley nodded slightly, keeping quiet as they walked on. Candor didn't care for the conversation, simply trying to keep himself awake as he trudged on.

  Harlow took the opportunity to look over to Enders, who carried the flag sluggishly as he dragged himself through the forest.

  Harlow noted that he didn't look bothered. In fact, he looked motivated, although clearly exhausted. His eyes seemed to look completely different than what his body was showing.

  Her eyes scanned over his behavior, catching the small limp that he walked with at the moment.

  Snap.

  The breaking of a twig rang out and echoed through the forest.

  Harlow started to slow her walking, as did the rest of the men. She perked her ears up, trying to listen for any other movement, any other sound of life.

  Just as she was about to start walking again, the sound of harsh whispers sounded from a far off tree to her left.

  She quickly turned her attention to the whispers, scanning the tree tops and the forest floor for clues.

  “We should run.” Elwin suggested from behind her and Enders.

  “No.” She snapped quickly, shaking her head, and holding up a hand. She kept her eyes scanning the forest as she continued. “If we start running, they'll know we're onto them. They could have men up ahead, and by the sound of it, it looks like they're not quite in formation yet. If we start panicking, we'd be settin
g ourselves up for an ambush.”

  Harlow turned around, looking at Enders and then behind him to the trees beyond. “Enders, how many people are in the trees behind me?”

  Enders took his eyes off of her and glared into the treetops as inconspicuously as possible. “As far as I can tell, there's only one person.” He whispered to her, looking around to his left and his right. “Looks like Harlan to me.”

  Harlow nodded. “Looks like there's another one ahead of me.” She whispered to Enders and the others.

  Candor sighed, looking ahead and staring through the treetops. “What are we doing then? Standing here and doing nothing is setting ourselves up for ambush!” He whispered harshly.

  Harlow turned to him calmly, giving him a slight and quiet glare. “Calm yourself, Candor.”

  “If you had any suggestions, then maybe I would be calm!” He whispered harshly again, his eyebrows scrunching together.

  Snap! Another twig echoed from close by.

  Candor let out a loud, angry huff.

  Harlow spun around to survey the forest, as all the others were doing as well.

  Enders slowly moved the flag behind his back and took precautionary steps backward. Harlow could tell that his intentions were to press himself against a tree in order to keep the flag safe and in his possession.

  Harlow raised her eyes to the tops of the trees, searching for movement. She was about to look behind her, when she saw the smallest shifting of branches on the treetop in front of her; the same treetop canopying over Enders and the flag.

  She opened her mouth slightly. If the recruit jumped down now, he'd trap Enders, steal the flag and make off with it. She had to hand it to the opposing team, this was clever.

  Harlow saw the man getting ready to drop down for the tree. Before he could carry out his ambush, Harlow raced forward, putting her hand on Enders' chest and forcing him back, putting all of her weight into it and pressing herself against him.

  The man was a few seconds to late. He dropped to the ground, his back to Harlow and Enders.