The Greenwood Shadow (34 page)

"Thank you, Gwin. Maybe we'll see you again." Isaiah winked. Evey smiled too.

"Yes, thank you, Gwin. You're a good girl. Take care of your mum for us, okay?" she said.

"Oh, I will, m'lady." She held up her right hand, like she was taking an oath.

Evey went back outside, and posted herself by the window with Isaiah. He had closed the curtain again. Gwin hummed a folk tune as she washed the few plates and pans that they had. A few minutes later they heard her mother enter the room, sounding very worn. She called for Gwin to come help her with the goat. Gwin jumped over merrily.

"Look, mum. I'm sure they're from Robin Hood," she said, obviously struggling to hide the fact that she had seen the outlaws herself.

"I'm sure they are," her mother replied in a shaky voice. After a few seconds, she broke and cried.

"What's wrong, mum?" Gwin asked.

"It's a miracle, just in time," the widow sobbed. "The goat didn't give any milk this morning. I was afraid we might have to go hungry again."

"But we won't now," Gwin said cheerfully.

"No, indeed. We certainly are very, very lucky."

The three outside the window snuck away. Evey was pleased with the way things had turned out, although she was shocked at having been seen. Gwin must be very light-footed. She turned to the king to determine his reaction.

She had expected to see something similar to Isaiah's. Shock, maybe, and a lot of sympathy. Instead, all she saw was confusion. She was disappointed, but she realized that it would be an entirely different process to convince this man, than it had been for the already sensitive and open Isaiah.

They decided to walk to the next few cottages, since they were all nearby. While they did, Evey tried to lighten the tense mood.

"You're good with children," she said to Isaiah.

He laughed. "Children are uncomplicated. It's the adults that I need help with."

"Looks like I need help with both," Evey replied.

"The expression on your face was pretty priceless. The first time you've ever been caught, and it was by an eight-year-old."

"I admit, I was completely unprepared for the situation."

They both laughed again, and continued through the trees to the next house. The king still brooded, but not in a threatening way. He seemed to be trying to digest the information, and reconcile it with what he already believed.

Evey picked out all of the people that needed the most help. Not only did she think that these would be more convincing to the king, but she hadn't been around in so long that they, more than anyone else, surely needed what little silver she could bring to them.

Even while skipping so many and giving so little, they still used up half of the silver on the first day. They saw seven different families in two villages, and camped for the night just outside a third. Evey was quite pleased with the day's work, and saw that Isaiah felt the same. The king was still unreadable, though. He hadn't spoken since meeting Gwin, and Evey was extremely curious to know how he had taken it all.

"Couldn't we stay at the Inn tonight?" he groaned. "I'm old and tired from tossing and turning on this hard ground. I'm sure to fall asleep in the saddle tomorrow."

"Are you really so selfish? Did you see NOTHING today?" Evey shouted.

The king looked utterly bewildered, and she stood up to rage more effectively.

"Don't you understand that for every coin we spend on ourselves, that's one more person who won't eat today? For every bit that we spend on your precious feather pillow, there's some child that might not last until tomorrow? How could you even think that way? You claim to love your people, and yet you sit here, after seeing so many destitute families, only thinking about yourself!"

She expected Isaiah to calm her after her outburst. That's what he was good at. But as she looked to him for some stability, she saw that he, too, was angry. Not in uncontrolled fury, as she was, but simmering in a way that seemed altogether more threatening. She had never seen him look like that before. It definitely made her slightly nervous.

With very controlled movements, he stood and walked a few paces from them, breathing in and out at a slow, rhythmic pace. After a minute, he seemed to be more in control of himself, and he walked back. His manner was more relaxed, but his eyes still shone with a fierce determination. The king had obviously noticed all of this, and he cowered a little as Isaiah approached.

"You have always been wealthy. As royalty, this is to be expected. It will be harder for you to see past the comfort that you have always had. You will never really understand what it is like to starve. You will never know what it is to walk barefoot through the snow. And because you don't know, you will never be able to treat your people as they need to be treated.

"So listen to those who do know. A truly wise man is not someone who knows everything. It is someone that recognizes what he does not know, and surrounds himself with those who do. I may not be the best person to tell you. David may not be either. We were privileged too. But if you will listen to anyone at all," his voice cracked with passion, "If you listen to anyone, let it be her."

He pointed to Evey.

"I've never been as bad off as Gwin and her mother," she replied.

"Not quite. But you understand things. I've never met anyone who can feel for another person like you can." He turned back to the king. "Listen to her."

Evey had never considered herself to be sympathetic or compassionate in any way. In fact, she had always felt that she was a rather abrasive sort. But she didn't argue about it. The important part was the king. Would he believe her?

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

She woke early the next morning after a restless night. Their plan had been to cover several more houses in the two nearby villages, but would it do any good? After their previous discussion, she had lost some of her faith in David's assessment of his father.

She had just started to distract herself by making some breakfast, when squeals and shouts drifted through the trees. She tensed, ready to fight at a moment's notice. A hand on her arm relaxed her. Isaiah was sitting up in his bedroll with a sleepy grin on his face. The odd way that his hair stuck up in the back made her laugh.

"It's only a couple of boys playing in the woods," he said.

Evey listened closer, and found that he was right. The sounds were not made by full grown men, and they sounded happy, rather than serious. As she continued with the breakfast fire, the boys came nearer. She could make out some of their conversation now.

One boy, who sounded like he was the youngest, complained at always being made the bad guy. His older brother told him that it had to be that way. The baby brother always had to be the bad guy. It was the law. The younger brother seemed to be out of an argument. He didn't want to break the law, of course.

In the midst of this argument, the king woke and drowsily looked around.

"What's all the racket?" he mumbled.

"Just some boys playing," Isaiah called, now from a few yards away. "Come and see."

Why was Isaiah was so interested in having them watch the game? She had no idea, but she prodded the king until he stood and joined them. As quietly as they could manage with the king tromping along, they crossed the fifty yards to a sort of clearing. Five boys ran about, four of them with homemade toy bows.

The smallest boy chased the others with a stick that was meant to be a sword. There was a girl as well, who seemed to be just younger than the boy that led the bowmen. As the youngest chased them around, the girl called out things like "save me, save me!" and "oh, do be careful!"

Evey gathered that she was the damsel in distress.

After a few minutes of the chase, the leader barked out an order, and his three bowmen followers formed a semi-circle around him, halting the pursuer's progress. He used the distraction to sweep in and carry off the damsel. As soon as she was rescued, he returned to face the youngest boy, drawing a stick sword himself.

"Aw, can't I be Robin just one time?" the small one complained.

"The king is jealous of the mighty Robin Hood!" his brother announced, and his archers laughed.

"Fine, then. I'll be your stupid ole king. But don't hit me so hard this time."

Robin raised his stick sword to duel, and the king started to run in circles, screaming "help me, help me!" The archers laughed again, and the two started to fight. It wasn't long before Robin had run the king through, and left him gasping for breath on the forest floor. He and his men had a sort of victory dance, and then they returned to the damsel in the corner.

"Fair Marion!" called Robin, striking a most melodramatic pose. "Will you marry me?"

"Of course, Robin," she replied shyly, holding out her hand.

Robin took the hand and walked her to the center of the clearing, where one of the archers had traded his bow for an imaginary book. He performed a three second ceremony, and then pronounced them married. Robin leaned in and kissed his new bride right on the mouth. She squealed and pushed him away, wiping her mouth vigorously.

"You said it was only pretend!" she spluttered in disgust.

The boy blushed, and the other three laughed at him. The king, who had been lying dead all the while, sat up to join in. The newly-married Marion looked at him with an unforgiving stare for a few seconds, but it gradually faded into a bemused smile.

Evey could barely contain her amusement. She and Isaiah walked back to their campsite with the real king trailing behind them. As soon as they were far enough away, they both burst out laughing. Evey had to wipe tears from her eyes and Isaiah had fallen sideways, unable to hold himself up.

"That was the best thing I've ever seen," she gasped.

"Imagine, little fellows like that wanting to be us. Who'd have ever guessed?"

"Very flattering," she agreed.

"Not for me," the king added solemnly. "No one wanted to be me."

"Well..." Evey started, but she couldn't think of anything good to say about it.

"No, I'm beginning to understand. Children don't lie about things like that."

She looked at Isaiah, and he shrugged back. Not knowing what else to add, they got on with the day. After breakfast, they visited three more cottages before deciding to head to the next village. Evey noted with approval that the king paid closer attention to everything.

Around noon, they crossed through the center of the little town in order to use the road on the far side of it. They led their horses and walked slowly, to avoid attention. Luck was against them, though. Just past the square, two large men stepped in their way.

With a gasp, Evey recognized one of them as the same man who had beaten the blacksmith's wife in front of her. Her anger surged, but she couldn't let it show. She and Isaiah pulled their hoods closer, and tried to continue on as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

"Oh, no you don't," shouted the first brute. "You're new here, so maybe you don't know. But everyone pays a tax."

"A tax for what?" Evey asked boldly.

"Existing. Who cares for what? Point is, you owe us, little lady," the second said with a lewd grin. Isaiah stepped in front of her defensively.

"I'm going to have to ask you two to step aside and allow us to pass." The king said in his authoritative, almost pompous voice. The men just laughed at him.

"Who we got here, then? Thinks he's somethin', don't he?"

"He's a friar." Evey replied, saying the first words that came to mind.

"Friar, eh?"

"That's right. Friar Tuckett. You wouldn't molest a man of the cloth, would you?" she asked in a tone that dared them to defy her.

"I don't care nothin' for the cloth," the first man answered, and he shoved the king to the ground so hard that he slid for several feet.

"I say," said the bewildered king.

"How dare you!" Evey shouted angrily, drawing several eyes from around the square. No one dared to step in, though. They just watched. Isaiah tried to pull her back, but she was too far gone.

"You have NO right! You two brainless brutes need to step down, or you'll regret it! Don't think you won't!"

"King says we do as we like, and you're what we like," the second man chuckled. "Let's see your pretty little face, eh?"

He grabbed Evey by the front of her cloak, and lifted her easily into the air. She beat his forearms and kicked at his chest furiously. To the giant of a man, it was just a minor annoyance. In frustration, she bit down hard on his hand, which did make a difference. He bellowed and tossed her even farther than the king.

She landed with a hard thump. The air had been knocked from her lungs, but she refused to let that stop her.

It took forty seconds to get back on her feet, and another ten to undo the knots that tied her bow to the horse. By the time she had an arrow knocked, Isaiah had disarmed the first soldier, and stood ready to face the other. He was breathing heavily and his right hand trembled, but his left, which held the sword, was absolutely steady.

His voice was low and even. "Touch them again, and it WILL be the last thing you ever do."