Captive - Chapter 21
The Locksley church bell rang again and more of the mercenaries stumbled out of the tents on either side of Annie. They angrily swore at being awakened by the deafening clangs.
Annie was petrified that they would take out their frustrations on her. The more she twisted and tried to escape, however, the tighter the ropes binding her wrists and ankles became.
“What the devil are they ringing the bell for?” Mongolis yelled, pointing across the square at two stable lads.
Through the tent flaps, Annie saw a few of the large men grabbing the boys and wrestling them over to Ellingham.
“We were just doing as we were told,” the younger one protested, “Mr Thornton said to raise the alarm.”
“That old bailiff at Locksley Manor sent you out here?” Ellingham asked, holding a dagger against his brother’s neck.
“Yes!” the older one exclaimed. “Don’t hurt him. Robin’s gang has broken into the Sheriff’s Manor. They’re stealing his money to give it to the poor.”
“Oh no, they’re not!” Ellingham yelled in a fit of temper. “Mongolis, you take ten men that way. O’Neil, you take ten that way! We’ll corner them out near the barn.”
A large party rushed off, leaving only a few men behind. Annie still trembled with fear, knowing that it would only take one of them to overpower her. Fresh tears slid down her cheeks as she imagined never getting to see Seth grow up.
Suddenly, she heard someone creep up behind her. Before she could call out, a hand clamped over her mouth.
“It’s me, Annie. It’s Guy,” he whispered, “I’ve come to take you back to the Castle.”
He shifted and she craned her neck to see his face. There was a kindness in his eyes that she had sometimes glimpsed. But then she thought about the hateful way that he had looked at her at the Inn just the day before.
Perhaps he did want the ‘bit on the side’ that the mercenaries had joked about all afternoon. Perhaps he had desires he wished to sate, while waiting to marry Lady Marian.
Guy saw the mistrust marring her features and said in a low voice, “I believed a lie about you. It’s no excuse for the awful way that I treated you and Seth...but, well... I’m sorry and I won’t hurt you again. You can trust me, Annie. You must do as I say, or we’ll both be dead before you can blink.”
He waited for her to nod before removing his hand. He quickly cut the rope binding her hands and feet. He then pulled on a foreign looking helmet.
“Once we leave this tent, you mustn’t make a noise. I want you to run towards the river. Hide in the undergrowth if you hear anyone approaching. Even if they say that it’s me or someone you know. I left a horse tied to a tree just past the northern mine entrance. Okay?”
She rubbed her wrists and tried to get the feeling back in her feet. Annie nodded and he held out his hand. For a split second, she thought about wriggling under the tent flap and running in the opposite direction. This was the man who had broken her heart and disowned their son.
Thinking of how he had already sent a man to check on her and that his fiancé was caring for Seth, however, gave her the faith in him she needed. Annie wrapped her small fingers around Guy’s gloved hand.
They made it past several tents crowding the meadow before a man yelled at Guy in a language that Annie could not understand.
“Arrêt ! Arrêt !”
Annie’s heart leapt into her throat as the stout man brandished his sword at Guy.
“Ellingham veut lui prendre pour les écuries,” Guy yelled and then added, “Il pense Hood tente de sauver ses.”
“Allez sur votre chemin,” the mercenary said, motioning towards the stables.
Guy could tell that Annie’s nerves were completely frazzled. He scooped her up and ran towards where the man had pointed. At the last second, he veered off into the trees. He hoped that their dark clothes would make it harder for them to spot. Annie clung to him, not even wanting to breathe too loudly. The trees’ gnarled branches all seemed like soldiers hands trying to snatch her.
Guy knew he didn’t have much time. He should already have set her down and then gone to help Allan and the others. But Guy could feel her tears against his neck and he could not in all good conscience fade into the night without seeing her to the horse. He sprinted across a clearing and then ducked into the undergrowth.
He carefully placed Annie down beside him and held a finger to his lips. He pointed across the meadow at the mine’s entrance and she saw the horse tethered there.
Annie reached up and touched his cheek. She forced a smile and then waved her hand as if to dismiss him. Guy nodded and then sprinted off back towards the rendezvous point.
Annie struggled to mount the horse and awkwardly perched on its saddle. She flicked the reins and the dapple grey mare began to plod along.
As Annie spurred it on towards Nottingham, however, she almost cried out in panic. A large fire and thick smoke were obscuring the southern horizon from which she had just come.
Why was Guy running back towards danger? Was he so intent on getting revenge against Ellingham that he hadn’t noticed? She took a deep breath and thought about everything he had said in the tent. He clearly had a plan and he had told her to go straight to the Castle. Reluctantly, she kicked the horse’s flanks and they headed for Nottingham.
“Fetch water! Set up a line of men with buckets from the stream! Save the camp!” Ellingham yelled at the large group of mercenaries they had brought with them.
They quickly thundered past the barn and then the leader turned to his trusted off-siders.
“Mongolis,” he hissed and tilted his head to the left. “O’Neil,’ he grunted and nodded to the right.”
The three men held their swords aloft. Ellingham approached the barn doors and twisted the handle. They had been bolted from the inside.
“We can smoke you out, Hood!” he yelled triumphantly, knowing that the outlaws were cornered.
Guy scaled the ladder at the back just in time to hear Allan’s attempt at humour.
“Looks like your gear will be burnt to a crisp before we will be!”
Guy scrambled down from the loft and glared at the lieutenant.
“Sorry,” Allan whispered and smirked, “I just never seem to get the chance to do the comebacks.”
The sound of an axe hitting the door made them all jump. Guy motioned to the other men to take up their positions.
“We had a better idea, Hood!” Ellingham called out. “I’m going to cut you into little pieces and toss you on the fire!”
It did not take the three large men long to chop their way through the door and ram its shattered planks to one side.
“Now!” Guy yelled.
The mercenaries were knocked down by the blast from the incendiaries that Jack and Morecambe had rigged up. Smythe charged out and locked swords with O’Neil.
Allan used his shield to block blows from Mongolis and Morecambe ran the mercenary through with his dagger. Ellingham, meanwhile, staggered to his feet and rushed at Guy.
“Pretending to be an outlaw? Pretending to be a French crusader? Pretending to be a noble Sheriff?” he spat, aiming at Guy’s chest.
“Pretending you’re not about to meet your Maker?” he yelled, clashing swords with the mercenary.
Guy escaped every thrust, parry, cut and bind except the last one. He lost his footing for a split second, worried about the others, and Ellingham’s sword pinned him to the wall. The pain in Guy’s right shoulder was excruciating. He could no longer even hold his sword and it clattered to the hard floor.
Ellingham laughed sadistically and Guy shrieked as he pulled the blade out again. Guy fell, slumping against the wall, trying to get leverage with his feet to back away from the fatal blow he knew was coming.
Suddenly, Allan slammed into Ellingham, knocking the mercenary’s sword out of his hand. Ellingham ducked a parry and dove for his weapon.
As Guy lay there, cold and bleeding, Marian’s tear-stained face swam before his eyes. He could taste his own blood dribbling out of his mouth. He had to move now. He couldn’t give up. The others were circling around O’Neil, who was more adept at swordfights than they’d assumed. It was down to Guy to help Allan and he had to live like he had promised Marian he would.
Ellingham picked up his sword and kicked out at Allan. The younger man tripped on the icy ground, but kept a hold of his weapon. He blocked Ellingham’s thrust and tried to back him into the corner.
Allan thought he had succeeded until the grin lit up his assailant’s face as the lieutenant’s head whacked into the low beam. Ellingham hollow laugh filled the barn as he lunged at Allan, almost running him through with his sword.
Allan scurried backwards, his vision blurring and found himself cornered.
“I’ve got you now, ‘Hood’,” Ellingham announced, advancing on Allan.
“Oh no, you haven’t!”
Just as Ellingham turned around to see Robin striding towards him, Morecambe ran O’Neil through with his blade. Guy didn’t see any of that. All he could see was that now was his chance to save Allan. He wrenched his arm out of the socket when he threw his sword straight at Ellingham. Guy’s cry of agony pierced the night air, as did the old mercenary’s scream.
The sword jabbed into his chest, knocking him to the ground. His fingers groped for his own weapon. Vengefully, he was determined to kill Allan even if they sliced off his arm a second later. Robin sprinted forwards and stepped on his right hand. He drove his sword into the mercenary’s chest. Ellingham groaned and convulsed, and then breathed his last.
“Allan?” Robin asked, throwing his sword aside and rushing over to the corner.
“I’m okay; I’m okay, help Guy.” Allan grunted, holding his head in his hands.
Robin walked over and knelt beside his rival. The last thing Guy saw before he lost consciousness was Robin wrapping a shirt around his aching, torn shoulder.