Sherwood (3 page)

“
From the
stories I've heard, the man was a true soldier. Only second to
Robin Hood himself.” Enders beamed at his own knowledge on
Sherwood's past.

Harlow nodded, a
smile still exposing itself on her lips. “You know of the stories?
They're his pride. He used to repeat them endlessly for me when I
was a child.” Harlow said, looking forward, the lake glistening in
the sun's light.

Enders nodded,
smiling. “I was always interesting Sherwood's history and the
outlaws. I've read countless works about them.” He said before
turning his own eyes to the side and examining the training area.
“The tales always hailed your father as a great man.”

“
Do you come
from a military family?” Harlow asked, a smile on her lips as she
tried to make casual conversation.

Enders was silent
for a moment, trying to figure what to say. He turned his eyes on
Harlow. “You could say that.”

Harlow raised an
eyebrow at him in curiousity as he turned his eyes forward. She was
about to ask what he meant when a loud, booming voice came over all
the men and echoed throughout the trees.

“
Attention!”
Harlow recognized the man as Aldridge Chadwick. “Get in line
formation men!”

Harlow felt the
air tense a bit around her. She saw Enders face grow serious and
slightly strained. She couldn't tell if he was anxious, angry, or
exhausted. It wasn't too much of a stretch to say he was all
three.

Aldridge surveyed
the people in front of him, as he stood up on a fallen, oak log. He
nodded, looking them over. “You guys are a relatively small group.
Get to know each other. You'll be training together for the next
eight weeks.” He looked toward his left, seeing something beyond
the cabins; something Harlow couldn't see because of her
placement.

“
We'll start by
splitting off into groups at the weaponry range. Follow me!” He
announced, hopping off the log and taking a few steps to his right.
“Let's go!” He boomed again, his voice taking on a slightly more
gentle tone.

The crowd of men
started to move. Sure, there actually wasn't many of them, but
Harlow hadn't been surrounded by this many people before, let alone
men.

She immediately
turned to Enders, who had relaxed a bit before walking along with
everybody else.

“
Enders?” Harlow
whispered, trying to get his attention as he walked in front of
her. She sped up her pace a tad, making her way to his
side.

“
Hm?” Enders
raised an eyebrow to her, glancing in her direction, asking her
what she wanted.

“
You said you
read a lot about Sherwood History, right?” She asked, her eyebrow
raised as she followed the crowd in suit, glancing every so often
at Aldridge as she did so. She was out of his earshot anyway, but
she wanted to be sure he couldn't hear the two talking.

“
Aye. Why?”
Enders glanced at her, eyebrows furrowed.

“
What's the
story behind Aldridge Chadwick? He says he fought with my Father,
but I can't remember reading that.” Harlow was still trying her
best to keep her voice steady and low. “He seems
educated.”

Enders looked
between bobing heads to Aldridge's back. “He
is
educated.”
Enders said, looking at Harlow, a small chuckle on the verge of
escaping his lips. “He was born into a rich family. His father was
an important financial advisor for the previous king, so Aldridge
knew all about the King's corrupted ways. When King Wesley came
into power, he escaped from his own Father and the king and came to
Sherwood.” Enders had kept his eyes straight, but took this
opprotunity to glance at Harlow. “He gave Robin all the information
he had on the King, which gave the Militant's of Sherwood the time
to construct, reinforce, and generously offer the people of
Sherwood a place of refuge. Without him, this place would be in
shambles. He doesn't like to be mentioned in the stories. He enjoys
his privacy.”

Harlow eyed the
back of Aldridge's head. “He seems so young.”

Enders shrugged.
“Probably a decade and a half before our time.”

Harlow turned her
eyes on Enders. “So what does he do now?”

Enders looked
back at her, an eyebrow arched quizzically. “You ask a lot of
questions.”

Harlow shrugged
this time. “I'm a curious person.”

Enders nodded,
turning his eyes forward, and drawing in a refreshing breath. “He
fights here. He's really in charge of strategy training.” Enders
paused, pushing a hand through his brunnette hair, letting it spike
up slightly at the movement. He didn't care enough to make it neat
again. That's when Harlow noticed an incredible amount of stress in
his hazel eyes; It was almost suffocating how much his eyes echoed
with stress.

Enders sighed
again, his eyes lighting up a little like he was suprised he'd
forgotten something. “Oh, and when you're father left, Aldridge
took the position of second-in-command. He answers only to Robin
Hood.”

Harlow looked
ahead at the mass exodus of people following the man in the lead.
“Why are you so interested in Robin and the outlaws?” Harlow
blurted out accidentally. She prayed she didn't offend him with the
seemingly rude comment.

Harlow's heart
sped up as she reviewed his information in her mind. It wasn't that
she thought he was weird, or even that she judged him. What
bothered her really was the possibility of Enders figuring her out
and exposing her as a false soldier. She would be sent home
immediately and indefinitely. That much was certain. She felt her
palms grow slightly sweaty as she thought more into it.

Although, Enders
seemed caught up in his own problems and situations at the moment.
It may not even be a thought in his mind that she'd be lying to
him.

Enders shrugged.
“I always had a knack for adventurous things.”

Harlow breathed
out a sigh of relief when she saw that he wasn't offended. “So,
what will you do when you meet Robin Hood then?” She asked Enders,
as they walked alongside each other.

He sighed,
looking down for a moment before looking at her. “Ya know, I've
thought about that for five years, but never had I thought it would
be like this.”

Harlow tilted her
head at him, furrowing her eyebrows in the process. “What do you
mean?”

The crowd stopped
moving at that instant. Harlow almost didn't notice as she stopped
a hair before colliding right into the person in front of
her.

Harlow watched
Aldridge as he stepped up onto another fallen, oak log and surveyed
the area. This time he looked to his right, waiting patiently. He
had his eyes trained on something.

No, not
something.

Someone.

“
Come on, Rob.”
Aldridge said, tapping his toe on the oak, impatiently. Harlow made
a mental note that he was a busy man, and not to bother him unless
under emergency situations.

Harlow watched as
someone came barreling out from behind a cabin at the left. The man
was smiling, although he looked like he was running late, picking
up his pace while pulling a quiver of arrows onto his back. He was
tall, but not taller than Aldridge. His hair was brown with hints
of grey streaking through it. His green and brown attire, and the
sword hung on his hip, made him look young and adventurous. He was
generally handsome, although he had an older look to him; Overall,
this man reminded Harlow of her own Father.

“
I'm here,
Chadwick.” The man said, a playful, almost carefree, smile invading
his lips.

“
About time.”
Aldridge said in response, shaking his head and stepping off the
log. He walked to the left side and watched the man as he attempted
to fix himself up in finality.

The man looked up
at everybody, and smiled slightly while letting out a breath of
air. “Alright, men!” He said moving to the middle of their
vision.

Harlow raised an
eyebrow at him. He seemed awfully happy for someone in the middle
of a war.

'
Maybe he's lost his
mind'
she thought to herself,
taking an opprotunity to look at the other men around. No one
really looked all that concerned about him. She recoiled her
thought. Maybe it was too harsh of a judgement.
'
Or...maybe he's just trying to
keep it,'
she nodded silently to
herself, feeling that the latter thought was far more
accurate.

Barely a second
passed before she turned her eyes on Enders, who looked up at the
man, his jaw hung slack, his mouth agape, and his eyes open
wide.

He looked
bewildered, shocked, and suprised all at the same time.

In that moment,
two things happened at once.

First, she looked
back up at the man. Then back to Enders. She mentally shrugged,
throwing the issue on the backburning. Whatever he was so shocked
about, she could ask him later.

Second, she had
realized that her heart thumped against her chest at a faster than
normal. She was nervous, maybe? She was aware that Enders was
handsome, but was she really getting all girly here? She shrugged
it off, taking several deep, quiet breaths as the man on the oak
log started to talk.

“
Men,” He said
adressing them, “We are not fighting in a war. We are fighting in a
revolution!” The man smiled as some clapped and others hooted.
Harlow did nothing but stare with an eyebrow raised. It wasn't as
if she was too good for all the noise. Instead, she'd taken to make
mental observations of how the men acted. She made several notes to
behave accordingly next time.

In the midst of
the two second cheer, she noticed an absense of sound on her left
side. Turning her head, she saw Enders, still staring agape at the
man on the log. “Enders?” Harlow asked, nudging him a bit. “You
okay, man?” She asked trying to sound masculine and
friendly.

He shook a little
with the movement, composing himself, closing his mouth, and
turning to her. “Yeah. I'm fine.” He said, nodding a bit, trying to
cover up his stares.

“
I am Robin of
Locksley.” The man said, putting his arms to his sides and lowering
his torso slightly, a playful grin on his lips as he did
so.

Harlow found
herself wondering if he was always so carefree. She instictively
raised a hand to her hat, which sat snuggly on her head. She ran
her hand around the lining of the hat, reassuring that no hair had
escaped it's grip on the strands.

Harlow knew that
being impressive was important, not only for her father's
reputation, but also for her own dignity.

She turned her
attention to Enders, who'd kept up his composure a bit since she'd
last noticed. Harlow nudged his arm again, this time smiling. “The
hero of the tales.” She said nodding toward the man on the
make-shift stage.

Enders smiled
slightly, nodding and turning back to Robin.

Robin took a
moment to survey the men in front of him. “Alright. Seperate into
three groups!” He ordered them, pointing to three areas for them to
gather. He emphasized the equality of the groups being crucial, and
watched as a frenzy of men scurried for their places among groups.
“Aldridge has group A, I'll take group B, and William...” He
searched around the vicinity for William. He turned to Aldridge.
“Is William here?”

Aldridge raised
an eyebrow. “He came back last night from the trading party raid.”
He nodded toward a cabin at the edge of their gathering. “I imagine
he's resting for training and overslept. I believe his rest is
overdue.” Aldridge said, giving Robin a push in the direction of
not waking the man.

“
Right.” Robin
said, smiling as he looked at the crowd again. “We'll let him be
then.” Robin concluded, nodding happily at the decision.

“
Group C, then?”
Aldridge raised an eyebrow at Robin, who beamed almost proudly at
the recruits in front of him.

“
Hm?” Robin
asked, looking at him. “Oh! Yes, Group C will come with
me.”

Aldridge
suppressed a smile before he sighed. “Right, well, Let's go then.”
He beckonned his group to follow him, as Robin did the same to
his.

The crowd started
to move. It was her group after all and she had intended to follow
in suit, until she had opened her mouth to speak and noticed that
Enders was on the move. He had moved from where he stood and made a
driven effort to jump groups.

Her legs moved
her before her brain did. All she knew is she wanted to be in a
group where she knew somebody, and Enders was the only person she
knew.

'
It's not because he's
attractive,'
she tried to
rationalize.

She met him at
the very edge of the group, where he had dodged his way rather
inconspicuously. Harlow walked along with the group following
Enders' lead. Harlow sped up to his side and looked ahead, acting
as everyone else was.

“
So,” She
started, looking ahead, before examining her bow in her hands. “I
was fairly certain that about a minute ago we were in Group
A.”