As the three men circled the knight, the driver stood with his arms crossed over his chest and watched.
Drimpal struck first and the knight blocked him, twisting his sword so that the brigand had to follow it around or drop it to the ground.
The other two lunged and soon the knight was fighting all three, lunging and blocking and turning all the time, keeping his feet moving like a dancer, leaping to the left, right, backwards, and forwards.
Bree couldn’t watch any longer. She glanced at the driver who had taken a few steps closer to the fight and she whispered to the girl. “It’s now or never. You ready?”
The girl looked at the fight and nodded.
Bree stuck her hands through the wires to either side of the lock and pushing the pick in the keyhole, held her breath and worked on the locking mechanism. She tried to keep focus, but her gaze kept wandering to the fight. The knight looked like he was tiring, and the brigands closed in on him, all three cutting and striking at him. The knight kept them at bay, but he was breathing heavily. Bree doubted he could keepgoing, and sooner or later one of them were going to get through his defenses.
The pick slipped out of the keyhole. Bree let out a hiss. Her pulse throbbed in her temples and her hands sweated, making it hard to keep her focus and hold the pick at the correct angle. She dug it back in the hole and concentrated as much as she could with the clashing of metal renting the air beside her.
It popped open and Bree could have screamed in delight, but instead held her hand over her mouth and grinned.
She carefully took the lock and threw it into the grass. Nudging the gate open a little at a time, her heart flipped every time it creaked, and although to Bree’s ears, it sounded like thunder, none of the men appeared to notice.
She jumped to the ground. The girl stood staring at her and all Bree could see was her red cloak. That thing would be an easy target. She wondered if she should make the girl take it off but then thought how cold it would get and with only her cloak between them, Bree would end up freezing.
“Quickly,” she hissed at the girl.
As they ran into the forest, Bree glanced back at the fight. The knight would soon be killed or captured. She hesitated and the girl tugged her hand to keep going.
Bree looked down at her frightened eyes then back at the knight. She felt bad and wished she could help, but without any weapons, they would just end up back in the cage. She had the girl to think of, and she wasn’t going to let those miscreants get their hands on her again. Hoping the knight’s sword skills were as elevated as his ego, she tightened her hold on the girl’s hand and ran as fast as she could into the dark forest.
HORLAND WAS SURPRISEDthe thieves fought so well, but he was still knight trained and there were only three of them. The small man lunged and Horland slashed his sword down on his wrist. He cried out but Horland had no time to see how bad an injury he had inflicted, as Drimpal sliced at him sideways. He jumped out of the sword’s path and twisting as he landed, he brought his sword down on the large one’s orange head so hard the man stumbled forward and fell at Horland’s feet.
Horland leapt back—he didn’t want to give the oaf a chance to grab his ankles.
Drimpal surged forwards and struck. Horland blocked but his face was but a hand’s breadth away from his opponent’s. The scruff smirked and before Horland could push him and his sword away to get a better distance to strike, a searing pain tore through his upper sword arm. His grip loosened on the hilt and Drimpal laughed. He stepped back and came at Horland again. Horland gripped his sword with both hands and slashed and cut at the man, forcing him to backstep into the fire. He fell over the pot and he and the pot crashed to the ground. He cried out as the hot liquid splashed over his face.
Horland bent over rasping for breath and once he’d taken in enough air, only then did he hear a sobbing sound behind him. Kicking the scruff’s sword out of reaching distance, he turned. The old, gray-haired man was kneeling beside the small scruff. He had a blanket wrapped around the man’s hand. He looked up at Horland. “You cut his hand off.”
Horland sighed and knelt beside the big red-haired man who was still lying facedown in the grass. He checked his pulse in his neck and upon finding one, stood back up and perused the scene.
“Get them to a physician post haste or you will lose your friends.”
He glanced at the cage. It was empty. He stomped up to the old man. “Where are the woman and girl?”
The scruff gawked at the cage. “I know not.” He checked his pocket and pulled out a key on a chain. “It is witchcraft. I have the key.”
Horland realized then what the woman was trying to tell him about the toothpick. Clever as well as beautiful.
Horland spied a bucket of water and picked it up. He poked his finger into the wetness to make sure it was cold and threw it over the large man.
Once he came around, Horland helped the able man put the other scruffs into the cage, and once he was sure the blanket over the small man’s hand would stop him from bleeding out, he spoke with the authority of a knight of the realm.
“Leave this kingdom. If I see you here again, I will have each one of you beheaded.”
“Yes, Sir Knight,” the able man said and leapt onto the front of the wagon, cracking the reins before he sat down.
Horland held his injured arm, turned, and scanned the area for the woman and girl. His arm hurt, but he didn’t think it was a serious wound; he would know better after he examined the cut. He expected the women were hiding in the forest not far away, but when they didn’t appear once the scruffs left, he surmised they knew where they were going. Mayhap their home wasn’t far. He just hoped their path didn’t lead them deeper into the forest.
Chapter 5
Bree kept hold of the girl’s hand and ran as fast as the girl was able. They had to constantly avoid the trees and bigger shrubs but at least the earth beneath their boots was reasonably even and, as far as she could tell, they covered a lot of ground.
After she didn’t know how long, a massive fallen tree blocked their path. “You okay to climb over that thing?”
