"Garth showed me how to hide our steps when last we hunted...right before..." he shrugged.

"I am proud of you." She whispered, but we really must go, and quickly."

Moving through the woods in the night was not an easy thing. If Gwyndolyn had not grown up here, she would not have been able to keep her way without a trail. But a forest changes as it grows and she tripped almost as much as she moved forward. Their progress was slow, and instead of a hideaway, they climbed a tree to nap in its upper branches as morning neared.

Gwyndolyn was exhausted, but too frightened to sleep. Her mind raced. How best to keep Rob safe? How best to make it to Brecken Moors Hall? Lord Brecken would grant them safe haven. It was his duty as Baron.

...but first they had to get there.

Twice this day she was reminded of the things her brother, Garth, taught her as a child following him about. Something else he said when they were hunting: The wood is alive. If you listen it will tell you when someone is near. If you are silent, the wood will accept you and the animals will move about and the birds will chirp. But if you tromp around, they will be silent.

That must be what had awakened her.

The wood had gone quiet. It was not until the crickets started up again that she realized it and knew it was safe to leave the hideaway. She did not want to repeat last night, for she was aching and bruised and afraid of more serious injury the further they went.

Listen, she reminded herself as she woke Robin while the first bits of the morning light filtered through the wood.

"Come." She whispered. "If we move quietly, we can hear the animals and they will tell us when we need to hide. We can travel in the light and maybe find some berry bush or nuts along the way."

With a nod, Robin grabbed her hand and followed behind. He never complained, though she set a tiring pace. She wanted to get as far from their farm as she could. Suddenly the forest went quiet and she stilled, listening. She heard not sound, but remembered they must be nearing the trail where the road from the pass wound through the wood.

Frowning that she had nearly stumbled upon it, she looked about and pointed. Quickly they climbed a tree to settle in until dark. They would cross the road in the darkness and get safely on the other side somewhere before they would hide again to wait until morning to continue their journey. It was a long and round-about way to get to the castle, but it was the safest, for them.

---

As they made their camp, Erec and his three lieutenants shared a fire. It was no surprise that Drew gossiped to John and Thomas. Nor was it a surprise that they had more than one laugh at Erec's expense. Erec took it all in good nature, as he ignored them, turning his thoughts to Gwyndolyn.

He knew her to be stronger than she looked. Which was actually quite remarkable, since she was so small. The top of her head only came the under pit of his arm. She was also very brave, and observant. She was very smart. He liked her way of speaking so freely with him on all manner of subjects. He would not have marked her as the shy blushing type, until Drew entered.

"What do you laugh at, milord?" Drew teased, "As if I need to ask."

"I laugh at a private thought, you knave."

"Fair enough" Drew chuckled "John and Thomas have gone to make rounds."

"Good. Good."

"And they will put on the skirts and dance for us."

"Good. Good."

Drew laughed and Erec brought himself to the present, reluctantly leaving the warmth of the farmer's hearth behind.

"Very well, you have caught me out. You have had your laugh at my expense." Erec sighed at his friend and wondered when Drew would tire of pointing out Erec's distraction. "Now tell me, what is the feeling of the camp?"

"I made my rounds listening from the shadows. There is a lot of idle boasting going on. I am not sure what is truth or exaggeration. But none of the tales are of battle, featuring instead their prowess in tourney, joust, melee and bedchamber."

"Not exactly assuring." His thoughts went back to the farmer's hearth a moment before he shook his head clear her sweet smile from his mind. "We know they sat these many weeks past basking in the comfort of the castle. If prior they served in another comfortable posting, they could be many months away from battle."

"Aye, Milord. We have had years of peace, save at the border. It is possible some of them have never seen actual battle. I do not understand. If their last Lord provided such an easy, comfortable life, why leave?"

"I can think of a few reasons, Drew. Reputation and Gold being at the top of the list. Serving among the Royal Guard is bound to increase both by equally good measures."

"From their boasts, I would say you supposed correctly about their prior Lords. It seems they are accustomed to a life of leisure, marked by the occasional competition.

"Do you think them too soft? We need soldiers—fighting men, unafraid to kill—or we shall be wiped out."

"I do not doubt their abilities, though they are untested in battle. Although, some of the boasts...I worry that some of the men may be without a moral compass, that perhaps they are kindred spirits to our prisoners."

"Well, if they speak the truth, then these are not soft men and they shall fight well."

"And if they speak false, they are pompous fools...but they will fight. They must fight well or die." Drew fell silent a moment before going on. "Milord...I still hold the fear that we shall be under the blade before we are home safe in our own beds."

"We will be cautious, Drew. As you have said, if we go into—"

"Milord!" John called as he and Thomas ran toward them.

"They have gone, Milord!" Thomas huffed as they arrived.

"Who has gone?" Erec demanded, rising to his feet, immediately thinking he meant their three prisoners.

"There was a skirmish," John began, "between some of the knights, shortly after we made camp. It started rather near the prisoners—"

Noticing Erec's reaction, Thomas hurried to interject: "The knights that Sir Cameron appointed stood their ground. The prisoners did not escape. But... three of the men from End'aven have gone...deserted."

"Does anyone know when they left? Did they take anything?" Drew asked.

"Nay, Sir." John answered. "I was not able to find anyone who knew more. Only that they three were missed when some of the men went to collect monies owed them from an earlier wager."

"Were the missing men involved with the fighting?" Erec asked.

"Nay, milord. The men who were fighting are detained. Sir Cameron staked them out and put two guards on them while they sober up. It seems they recently obtained a rather copious amount of liquor..."

"From one of the missing men." Erec finished, not at all please with the direction this was going.

"We are but a day's ride from the farm." Thomas noted nervously.

"There is nothing to be done, save pray." Drew reached out to place a hand on Erec's shoulder before continuing. "We cannot move the men through the night, and by the time the daylight comes and we return to the farm, whatever they were going to do will be done and they will be gone from the place. We do not know when these three left ranks. They might have stayed behind for all that we know."

"You are right...damn you to hell." Erec cursed under his breath as he turned and went alone to his tent.

"Do you suppose there is a chance the farmer will live?" John asked.

"I suppose," Drew answered somberly, "that there will be nothing left of the farmer or his family and that the farm will be ashes when next we see it."

"And his lordship is blaming himself." Thomas stated, it was not really a question.

"No, Thomas." Drew answered, turning to look back at the tent, "His lordship will blame those three men, but he will mourn for the lass. I know that we have teased him mightily about it, but the fact that he has bourne it with such good humor persuades me that he has formed an attachment."

"An attachment?" Thomas was incredulous, "We were there but three days! He scarce saw the lass, except at the last."

"Sometimes, one look or one word is all that it takes..." Drew frowned as he looked back at Erec's tent, still lacking the glow of any light from within.

Thomas fell silent as he also cast a sad look at the tent before turning a questioning gaze on Drew.

"I spoke truly." Drew answered the unspoken question. "There is nothing to be done. We will move out on the morrow and we will march to Brecken Moors Hall, then on to Far North. We will do what we were sent by his majesty to do. On our way back we may learn for certain what we only now suspect."

After a pause, Drew added sadly, "Once we have returned to give the king our report, I think our captain might seek his revenge."

"You think he would desert the king?"

"Nay you fool. But he is a wealthy man. King Hugh the greater left him Bocland and treasure enough to live a long easy life... And our friend has hidden away all of the spoils he has kept over these many years. He can well afford to hire his own soldiers of fortune to find those three men and bring them to his lordship for justice."

Thomas swallowed hard, looked at the tent once more and with a nod, left to seek the tent that he would share with Thomas and Drew when they were not on watch.

"Are you coming also?" John asked before he turned to follow Thomas.

"Nay. I will stay and take first watch. Relieve me for the second."

"Aye." John nodded and turned, leaving Drew to watch over Erec. Knights were selected daily to watch over the safety of the camp during the night. But they three watched for attack from within.

---

Gwyndolyn awoke with a start and felt herself falling. With a quick motion, she grabbed a branch to right herself with one hand while curling her other arm around Robin, who still slept snuggled against her side. After assuring herself that Robin was alright and she was not going to fall, she paused to listen and look around.

It was night, but it was not quiet. Someone was moving around nearby.

"Robin." She whispered ear his ear as she gently placed a hand over his mouth to stifle any sound he might make. "Rob."

He stiffened against her and she knew he was awake. Leaning down near his ear, she whispered, "Someone is near."

Robin nodded and they sat still as the dead listening carefully to everything around them.

"I say we go back to the house. They may be well hidden, but wherever they are when they get hungry enough, they will go back home. It is a woman and a small child. They could not come this far."

"Oh, do be silent Oliver!" Sir Jackson growled. "If she did get this far, she will never come out of her hiding place with you making so much noise."

"Jackson, this is a complete waste of time. I say—"

"No, Oliver. It is not a complete waste of time." Jackson growled again. "By herself, she is not worth the time it is taking to fetch her. But she is not the prize we are after, is she? She is a key Oliver. And any fool may tell you that while there are many ways to open a treasure chest and obtain the prize...the easiest way is to use the key."

"Well why did you not say so in the first place? And why did he not send everyone out to search? We can beat the bushes and flush them out of hiding like the grouse hiding in the moor grass."

"Oliver." Jackson growled impatiently and with a long-suffering sigh, went on speaking as if to a little child. "If you have to choose between having one of ten shares in a treasure, or having one of one hundred shares in the same treasure, which would you choose?"

"One of ten shares, of course."

"Exactly so. And if you were with 100 men but only ten of you knew where a secret treasure was buried, when would you go look for it?"

"After the others were asleep."

Gwyndolyn held her breath. They were very close and she prayed the fading light would keep them from seeing any tracks she and Robin might have left.

"And why is that?"

"So, the others could not follow and discover the treasure."

"And what would happen if they were to follow and discover the treasure?"

There was silence for much longer than Gwyndolyn expected. Her heart thundered, fearing that they may have discovered tracks.

"He is very clever, is he not?" Oliver asked with a note of wonder in his voice.

Gwyndolyn resisted the urge to groan. Oliver must be the dullest tool in the shed. He would be easy enough to elude, but Jackson...and this third man, the one Oliver called clever...

They started to move away and Gwyndolyn wondered if the third man, the clever one, was the third man from a few nights ago. She heard his voice as he ordered Jackson and Oliver about, but they never used his name. No bother. If she ever heard that voice again, she would know it...

Robin poked her in the ribs and she looked sharply at him.

"They have gone?" he whispered.

She listened and could not hear anything. She was angry at herself for letting her mind wander. She should have been paying better attention. But there was nothing for it.

"We will wait for a little while longer and then we will cross the road. We will travel away from the road and look for a safe place to hide until morning." She whispered in his ear.

Robin nodded and she gave him a squeeze. She was so proud of him. He must be hungry and thirsty, but he was being so brave. Not once had he complained once, nor had he cried at having to leave everything behind. Someday she would see him happy again.

...but first she had to get him safely to Brecken Moors Hall.