Sherwood (20 page)

Again, Robin shook his head
and pointed to an area close to where the other man had pointed.
“The king trains his soldiers for the sole purpose of an attack
here. They have specific drills for that very
situation.”

The man nodded, somewhat
disgruntled and stepped away.

Harlow contemplated for a
moment before she stepped forward and pointed to the south end of
the castle. “Attack through the southern infirmary. It's
practically abandoned since they built the new one on this west
side.” She sighed and looked over the map. “Send a distraction this
way,” she said moving her finger up gently, “that would ensure that
all the kings' units would move away from the southern end. King
Wesley is smart, so he'll expect a distraction, but he wont expect
an attack anywhere except the opposite end.” Harlow took a step
backward and crossed her arms again, still looking down at the
map.

Harlow shrugged as she
thought it over, stepping back toward the door post where she
slouched against it again. “Enders is probably being kept in the
middle of the castle, on the most bottom floor, anyway. We'll have
to fight a lot of men no matter where we go. We have to make sure
we don't get boxed in is the main problem.”

Robin looked up at Harlow,
his eyes looking her over. “You're definitely your father's son,
that's for certain.” He mumbled, almost disgruntled, as he looked
at the map in a new way, his mouth hanging slightly ajar at the new
perspective to see the map.

Harlow, for once, didn't
feel the need to chuckle or laugh at the fact that he'd called her
a man. Instead, she bore her eyes into the map on the table as
Robin hunched himself over the table.

She took a look at Robin
himself and understood the similarities between the two now. They
both had the same brown hair, although Enders was much more brown
and sleek. Robin's had become gray with age, although his brown
locks still remained throughout the gray clouds. She noticed his
hazel eyes and the way he looked so concentrated. Maybe they were
more similar than anyone had ever realized.

Robin looked over the map
as he raised a hand, pointing toward Harlow. “I like that plan,” He
said, his eyes slightly widening. “That will work!” He exclaimed,
looking hopeful for the first time that evening.

Harlow widened her eyes
slightly, grateful for his excitement over the plan. “Great! When
do we put this into action?” She pushed herself off the post and
stood alert.

Robin sighed. “We wont have
the resources for a few weeks.”

Harlow's relief immediately
died. “Weeks?”

Robin barely paid any mind
to her. “Aye. We've lost a lot of the resources we need to fight
anybody, never mind the royal calvary.”

Harlow felt her heart pause
with disgust. “Your son is captured and you're going to wait weeks
to advance rescue efforts?” She'd raised her voice slightly toward
the end of her sentence.

She took one step forward,
immediately feeling two large hands on her shoulders. “Henry,”
Little John's voice came, his hands pulling her back.

“
No!” Harlow
raised her voice. “You can't do that!”

Robin looked slightly taken
aback by the sudden flare of anger. “Henry, we don't have the
resources, we--”

“
He's your son! Your
son
!” Harlow tried to
take another step forward, but quickly felt the massive arm of
Little John grab her shoulder and pull her back again. “How can you
let
your son
sit in a massive castle where he
could potentially be slaughtered!?”

“
Henry, we
can't--” Robin began, but couldn't finish his words.

“
You've
ruined so many lives!” Harlow cried out, Little John pulling her
arm back when she tried to move forward. She viciously shook him
off, taking a small step forward. “You acted like a hero! You swept
in and treated everyone kindly when King Wesley increased taxes and
attacked the poor! You made people believe in you! You became all
things to all men!” Harlow tried again to step forward, but was
quickly pulled back by her midsection and temporarily lifted off
the ground. She let out an angry growl as Little John put her back
on the floor. “You filled the world with hope and in return
destroyed their lives!”

“
Henry!”
Robin shouted, holding his hands out defensively.

“
You could go
and rescue him. You could send out the efforts you have, but you
refuse to use whatever you've got.” Harlow accused, her voice now
at an acceptable pitch. “You've ruined the most lives, not by the
sword, but by your words.”

Robin stared at her
slightly dumbfounded, as Little John released her, hoping she'd get
a grip on herself.

Harlow, unable to stand
being in the same room as Robin Hood any longer, shrugged Little
John off of her. She shook of her shirt once, giving one last angry
look at Robin Hood before opening the door of the cabin and
slamming it shut behind her.

At first she was just going
to go back to her cabin and think about what to do, but as she
stepped down the wooden steps of Robin's abode, her thoughts
started to go the speed of light. She felt her eyes change,
inhabiting determination.

Harlow felt the rush of the
wind push around her ears as she marched through the seemingly
thousands of men on the training fields.

She felt her pulse in her
ears as she walked to the edge of the field, kicked over a renegade
crate, and stepped onto the large box overlooking the men. “Listen
up!” She shouted as loud as she could, which even surprised
her.

Only the men in the few
front rows immediately stopped talking, but as a few seconds
passed, every man's attention laid still on her.

“
Rescue efforts have not and will not be announced. The
leader amongst us has ultimately decided that rescue is not the
best option right now. Are we to sit and wait until Enders has his
head separated from him?!” Harlow shouted out,
“
Hm!?
” Several of the
men looked at each other, some in shock at a lack of strategy,
others shocked because they couldn't believe the mutiny happening
before their eyes.

Silence only dominated for
a second.

“
King Wesley
takes kindly to stranded and injured civilians, predominantly
women. That being established, I plan to make my way into the
castle under the pretense of a civilian. Anybody is welcome to join
me. Regardless of any raised opposition, I will be leaving and
attempting to rescue Enders,” Harlow saw Robin's cabin door open
and Robin walk out, curious as to the commotion going on outside,
“seeing as his very own father refuses to save him.”

Harlow narrowed her eyes at
Robin, catching his irritated and frustrated eyes.

One man in the front row
chuckled before he spoke. “So, you're going to pretend injury so
you can sneak into the castle and rescue Enders from the inside?”
The man's chuckle turned into a laugh. “The king takes in mostly
women. He'll never take in an outlaw who staggers into the path of
his horses.” He looked to the man on his left, who wore a sad
smile. “Sheesh, what a boy McBride raised. He thinks he's a
woman.”

Harlow felt rage grow in
her heart. “That's because I'm not Harrison McBride's son.” She
seethed, the words coming out of her mouth before she had a chance
to think about it. Her anger was getting the best of her and if she
didn't get a grip on it soon, she would do something
irrational.

But, it was too
late.

There was a sudden
quietness before some people started to murmur. She raised her
hands to her head quickly and tugged off her hat.

Her hair cascaded around
her shoulders in what felt like slow motion.

Some men gasped, most
simply let their jaws go slack and hang down upon her presence. She
ran one hand through her hair and looked over the men.

“
I'm Harrison McBride's
daughter
.”

Chapter
Nineteen

The men in the training field area had a calmness
around them that only lasted for a few seconds before murmurs and
whispered talking broke out. Everyone stared at the woman before
them.

She ran one hand through
her hair again, letting her arms hang down at her sides with her
hat in hand. Her eyes narrowed at Robin Hood, who stood an entire
field away. She could see his mouth hanging wide open, his eyes
large and surprised. How could he have let a woman into his
recruitment?

Little John looked worried,
although proud for some reason that she'd decided to take things
into her own hands.

“
You're a
woman?” The man from the front row asked.

“
Aye,” Harlow
said, looking at him with irritation. She raised an angry eyebrow
at him. “Seems to me that Harrison McBride raised one damn good
daughter.”

The man looked dumbfounded,
although Harlow refused to let her eyes rest on him. She moved her
eyes around the crowd, spotting several people she'd been close
with during her recruitment.

Reggie, for one, looked
shocked and a little hurt. Harlow could only guess that his hurt
was induced by Harlow's refusal to tell him the truth.

Candor and Elwin, on the
other hand looked upon her in shock with a hint of delight. She
couldn't tell if they thought it was an intense moment or
not.

“
That's why
my plan will work,” She said, anger still in her voice, “Whether or
not anyone is with me.” She stepped down off the crate and started
walking away.

Before she could get to her
cabin, Little John approached her and took her arm. “Come with
me.”

Harlow raised an eyebrow,
stopping in her tracks, her hat hanging gently from her hand.
“Why?”

He contemplated lying to
her, and Harlow could tell from his reaction that he didn't want to
tell her the truth. “Robin would like a word with you.”

Harlow nodded. She felt a
sick smile creep onto her face. “Tell him I'm busy with a rescue
effort.”

Little John tilted his
head, his eyes looking tired and strained. “Harlow,” He said her
name as a warning. It was strange to hear her own name, but she
brushed off the feeling, holding tightly onto the anger she had
inside of her.

Harlow sighed, her lips
cutting into a tight line. “Fine.”

Little John let go of her
arm, knowing that she'd be walking alongside him. He kept a
protective watch out for the men in their path, thinking that they
might do something irrational.

When they reached the
cabin, Little John opened the door and waited for Harlow to go
in.

Harlow raised an eyebrow.
“Stop doing that.”

Little John was taken
slightly aback. “Doing what?”

“
Treating me
like a woman,” Harlow huffed, stepping inside after realizing how
ridiculous the request was.

Robin stood inside the
cabin, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowing. Upon seeing her, he
shook his head, trying to find words to say.

Harlow waited silently for
him to start his lecture.

Robin stuttered, trying to
find something to say. He was angry, and he was trying to hold
himself together. “Why?”

Harlow chuckled. “Ya' know,
that's exactly what Enders asked me.” She was determined to get
under his skin and she knew that Enders was just the way to do
that.

“
Enders
knew?” Robin asked, his eyebrows raising in alarm.

“
Aye,” Harlow said, leaning against the wall, arms crossed,
one leg in front of the other. Harlow raised an eyebrow at him
after a second. “Did you really think he gave himself up
for
you
? He never liked
you.”

The intense anger in
Robin's eyes almost made her shiver.

“
How long had
he known?”

Harlow looked to the ground
for a moment, her smile dropping and her demeanor dropping it's
hard exterior for the time being. “He'd found out when we were
ambushed during the raid you demanded we do, although you were
aware of our opposition to the idea.”

Robin's irritation grew. He
shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “We're sending you to Barnsdale
in the morrow.”

Harlow laughed. “Aye?
Barnsdale is in ruins by now.”

Robin turned
to her, fire in his eyes. “Barnsdale is doing fine, and
that's
where you'll be going.”

Harlow shook her head.
“I'll leave, but I'm not going to Barnsdale.”

Robin rolled his eyes.
“Little John,” He said addressing him. “For the love of God, get
her a dress and wake her up by dawn. Have her horse ready,
please.”

Harlow shook her head in
frustration. “Arrange whatever you like. I assure you it will not
be working.”

Robin scowled. “Take her to
one of the vacant cabins and have her rest all afternoon. Stand
guard at the door and let no one in that cabin.” He said, turning
around and staring at one of the maps on the table before
him.