Sherwood (6 page)

Enders gave
her an incredulous look, not ready to give up on this argument.
“You're criticizing
my
manners!?” Enders exclaimed at her.
“At least my manners aren't totally boorish!” He couldn't contain
his frustration and started yelling irrationally. “At least I'm not
disrespectful enough to show off all of my accomplishments
everywhere I go!” Enders' lowered his face, flushed with blood,
although the flow seemed to lessen some. This was evidence to
Harlow that he'd be alright. “I'm sure your father would be
real
proud, don't ya think, Henry?”

Harlow winced, feeling and
hearing the malice in his voice. At first Harlow was frozen in
shock of what he'd said to her. But, as he turned to walk away that
shock turned into pain, which in turn retreated to anger. He was
gone before she was angry enough to do anything to him.

She shook her head, trying
not to be angry, trying not to be upset.

Nothing worked.

Of course, she always
talked about her father, because it was the only thing she had in
common with everyone else here.

She wasn't a soldier. She
wasn't anything these men were. She wasn't even a man.

Now that the fight was
over, Harlow picked up her own wooden sword in her right hand,
carrying Enders' in her left. She made the ten-minute walk to the
cabin that both Enders and Harlow stayed in along with eleven other
men.

When she entered, it was
empty. Not even Enders had resolved to go to the cabin.

It wasn't
hard to spot Enders' cot. It was the only one that was kept neat
and clean, well made and well folded. She shook her head and let
out a small knowing huff.

'And I called
him ill-mannered,'
She
thought, walking to the mattress that rested on the floor and
placing his wooden sword on the right side of it.

Afterward, she sighed and
walked to her own cot, collapsing on it. She let the cot cradle her
as she felt the throbbing of her sore limbs.

She was asleep before
anyone even came in.

*~*~*

The sun came up the next
morning, invading her eyes and waking her up. She groaned for a
moment, stretching her arm up before opening her eyes.

That's when she saw no
one.

The cabin was completely
empty and devoid of life. Except for her, of course.

She gaped at the emptiness,
immediately getting herself up and rushing to grab her wooden
weapons. She attached them to herself, rushing out of the cabin and
stumbling over everything in her way as she forced herself
forward.

Harlow made sure she had
her wooden stick, knowing Robin wouldn't let her forget it if she'd
left it behind. Robin had told the recruits when they first came to
the encampment that they would only be using the wooden weaponry he
gave them. He insisted that they needed everyone alive, and because
of some casualties and injuries during previous training sessions,
they'd switched to less threatening weapons. He stated that the
real, metal blades were supposed to be used only for real
combat.

Harlow barreled past
Aldridge's training group, keeping a strong, unwavering composure.
She tried to make it seem as if she knew what she was doing, as if
she wasn't late or oversleeping.

She approached the training
area that Robin had his group at. He was perched at the side as
usual, half watching them, half critiquing them.

Harlow took several paces
forward, looking over the group. She spotted a sweaty Enders
practicing swordplay with another man in one of the farther
circles.

He was here.

'
He didn't wake me.
No one woke me.'
Harlow felt
the hurt and frustration build within her.

She saw some of the men
smile at her mischievously. She couldn't decide if they'd done it
on purpose or had done it in order to play some sort of joke. She
settled for giving them a small, confident smile back.

The betrayal sank deep into
her heart.

Harlow was convinced that
what had happened yesterday would be mended. In the time she'd
spent here, blending in with them, she knew Enders the most. And he
was not one to hold a grudge.

He was
reasonable.

Or so she
thought.

“
McBride!”
She heard her name being called. She turned to her right, although
she knew the person who called her name before she saw
him.

“
Yes, Sir?”
She said, again faking her tone of voice.

“
You're
late.” He said, walking up to her and raised an eyebrow.

She furrowed her eyebrows
at him momentarily. She couldn't place it, but he suddenly looked
familiar, but before she could recall anything more, the moment had
left her.

“
Aye.” She
responded, regaining her composure.

Robin kept his eyebrow up.
“No excuse?”

Harlow kept her eyes even.
“None, Sir.”

Robin nodded, approvingly
and slightly impressed. “Alright.” He scanned the area and all of
the men who were fighting. Most had stopped fighting to watch;
Others simply pretended to keep fighting.

No one had ever been late
to training.

No one.

Every one was apparently
curious to see how this played out.

“
Is there
anyone unpaired here?” Robin asked to the crowd. Everyone murmured
and then looked around.

Harlow looked Enders' way.
His eyes were on her. She felt self-conscious, but forced her eyes
to stay on him for several seconds, wanting him to feel her
discomfort. She reached a hand up to make sure her hair was still
neatly tucked into her hat, assuring herself that no strands had
fallen loose.

He avoided her eyes after a
few seconds, his expression looking almost guilty. His betrayal
still stung her to her very core. He accused her of being
self-centered and ill-mannered. Now, he hadn't even woken her for
training.

At first she was angry, but
the anger dissipated into a distant pain in her chest.

He'd been her only friend
here. Her only ally.

She assumed that he'd
turned into her greatest rival.

Robin turned back to her
and started thinking aloud. “Well, Enders already has a partner.”
Enders didn't look phased by the mention of his name. Harlow held
her eyes on him for a moment longer, letting their eyes meet. He
averted his eyes immediately, upon seeing her gaze. “So, you'll be
practicing with me today.”

Harlow's eyes immediately
moved to Robin, who was grinning madly. Again, she couldn't shake a
feeling that Robin looked familiar to her, but she brushed it off,
trying to fight the complete apprehension rising in her
chest.

Robin was on the move,
walking toward the back of the field where one, lone, free circle
sat, totally unoccupied.

Harlow tried to fight her
racing heart as she walked to the back circle, after
Robin.

He pulled up his wooden
sword and took the defensive immediately.

Harlow knew what he was
doing. She understood his strategy.

She stepped into the circle
and took one look at him. She shook her head. “No.”

Robin furrowed his eyebrows
at her. “What?” He looked slightly taken aback.

“
You took
defensive. You're trying to see how good I am, then you'll use what
you can against me.” Harlow told him, trying to stand tall and
firm. “You're looking for the inevitable human
weakness.”

Robin lifted his chin,
staring down his nose at her. He only stayed that was for a moment
before breaking into a grin. “You're good.” He said, taking the
offensive stance instead.

Harlow shrugged. “It was my
Father's teaching.” She shot a glance at Enders, who stared at the
two. He didn't seem so much frustrated as he did anxious, as if he
was worried.

Harlow turned away from
Enders and looked at Robin.

“
Ready?”
Robin asked, twirling the sword in his hand.

Harlow sighed. “Aye.” She
kept her sword at her side. She had an idea, a strategy of her
own.

Robin raised an eyebrow
when she didn't move for the defensive. He sighed.
“Alright.”

Harlow let the sword hang
at her side. She wasn't going on the defensive. She was going to be
offensive. She was going to force him into defensive without his
knowledge.

Robin charged and lifted
the sword to strike.

Harlow ducked and rolled
out of the circle, looking expectantly at him.

Robin knew at that point
that Harlow hadn't intended on keeping this fight in the confines
of the wooden boundary. He gave a small nod and charged
again.

This time Harlow ducked
slightly, missing the wooden sword by a few inches and swinging her
own stick toward Robin's leg.

Robin let out a small yell
and rubbed the leg she'd hit.

The men from training
slowly stopped fight and watched as the two went here and there,
causing a scene.

Harlow kept her eyes on
Robin, trying not to get distracted. She heard people talking about
her. She heard her boy name being called out this way and
that.

Robin immediately swung
low, trying to catch Harlow's legs and get her on the
ground.

Instead, Harlow saw it
coming and jumped over the sword, nicking it with her shoe
slightly.

She got on her feet and
spun to her left, letting the sword swing in front of her at
stomach level. She let it connect hard with Robin's stomach, making
him double over, one hand clutching his stomach.

Robin charged fast, getting
over the pain quickly. Harlow raised her sword up to deflect the
blow, which it did.

When Robin retreated
slightly, Harlow made a small back step and charged toward Robin,
her sword held at her side instead of up. He deflected her blow as
well.

They went back and forth
for what felt like an hour, making each others arms sore and
strained. They were moving all over the place. They'd scrambled
into the cabin area, passed the lake, and almost busted into the
kitchen area. When they'd approached the lake the second time,
Robin tried to push Harlow in, but to her dismay, she was able to
deflect him and kick him back.

Robin had found that
McBride's leg strength had surpassed her arm strength, although, he
hadn't been too shocked by it. After passing the lake, he stopped
making it accessible for her to kick him.

Neither were winning, but
neither were losing either.

No one had ever dared to
fight Robin this way. Everyone thought he was some kind of
invincible man, someone who would always win no matter what. No
body counted on him actually being human, but he wasn't too shocked
that it was a McBride that was willing to take up the
challenge.

The fight seemed to go on
forever. The men started to murmur about the fighting ending in a
draw.

What they didn't know was
that Harlow wouldn't let that happen.

Harlow heard a murmur of
her fathers name. She looked up momentarily, into the direction of
the murmur, her eyes colliding with Enders'. It caught of her off
guard.

She let her eyes linger on
him for too long. She knew she shouldn't have let it distract her,
but she was captivated by the blue eyes that portrayed some form of
anxiety. It puzzled her and made her angry at the same time. She
felt her heart start to race, and while she wished she could blame
it on her anger towards him, she knew that wasn't the
cause.

Without any warning,
Robin's sword made a harsh collision into her stomach, making her
cry out in pain.

It sounded way to feminine
for her liking. She thought for sure, she was done. She thought for
sure that everyone would know. But instead, laughs burst
out.

This was the best time if
any.

The laughing threw her off
guard only momentarily, but it made Robin arrogant.

Harlow feigned pain for a
second before she got a better grip on her sword and jabbed him in
the side.

She straightened herself
out while Robin was focused on the pain, and kicked him square in
the gut, making him stumble back and fall down.

The men stopped laughing.
They stopped talking.

They stopped
everything.

Harlow knew better than to
walk over and see if he was okay. He was as strategic as she was,
and she knew he would take her down easily.

Robin lifted himself up
onto his elbows, eying Harlow from the ground. He coughed twice as
he took in ragged breaths. “McBride,” He took in an exhausted
breath, “that was one of the best matches I've had in
years.”

Harlow took in a deep
breath, a small smile playing on her lips. “Thank you,
Sir.”

*~*~*

Training had been
intense.