Sherwood (9 page)

Candor smiled wickedly.
“So, you want me to knock the others unconscious?”

Harlow shrugged. “If that's
what needs to be done, then yes.”

Snap!
The echo of the snapping branch rang
out closer this time.

“
We're good
with this plan?” Enders asked everyone.

All the men nodded, Rawley
and Elwin rushing off to two opposing trees.

“
Let's go,
then.” Harlow said, running off into the deeper forest, Candor and
Enders running on each side of her.

*~*~*

Enders and Harlow walked
carefully in silence as they watched Candor from afar. The three
had decided to split into two groups, so that when the other team
found Harlow and Enders, they wouldn't catch Candor as well. Harlow
had to admit she enjoyed having this small element of surprise on
her team.

The two walked in silence,
careful not to step on any loud twigs and branches.

Enders cleared his throat
quietly, garnering Harlow's attention. She glanced at him, letting
him know that she was listening, before she went back to surveying
the area and keeping a good eye on Candor.

“
Thank you
for saving our flag back there.” He said, a slight awkward tone in
his voice, although he was trying his hardest to sound
casual.

Harlow nodded, trying not
to smile. She thought the tone of his voice was endearing and
sweet. “You're welcome.”

Enders nodded, keeping
silent for a few moments longer.

Harlow kept her eyes on
Candor, as the three of them kept forward at a slow
pace.

Harlow stopped in her
place. She kept her eyes on Candor, who'd stopped and looked to the
treetops.

She tried to perk up her
ears to hear what he must be hearing.

Then, she saw Candor turn
to make eye contact and pointed to the treetops at his
right.

“
He's hearing
something.” Enders said, brushing against Harlow's skin on his way
past her. “Let's go.”

Harlow froze momentarily by
the skin contact, feeling chills on her fingertips and her heart
thumping wildly. She broke out of it quickly and starting making
her way to Candor.

“
What's going
on?” She whispered to Candor.

Candor looked to his right,
holding up his hand. “Listen.”

At first, Harlow heard
nothing, but as a few seconds passed, she heard a faint sound of
laughter.

“
One of the
teams are just over here.” Candor pointed to his right.

Harlow nodded. “We'll go in
and lure them away. When you see us running south, go in and do
whatever needs to be done.” She said, starting to walk away. She
paused and turned back to Candor. “Within reason, that
is.”

Candor nodded.
“Understood.”

Harlow started off in the
direction of the laughter, Enders walking beside her. “You ready
for this?” She asked him.

Enders nodded,
determination written in his hazel eyes. “You bet.”

*~*~*

“
Enders! Go left!” Harlow shouted as they raced
Northward. Arrows whizzed by them from left and right.

Enders looked to her and
nodded as he broke away and bolted toward their designated flag
spot, where their archers waited.

“
Henry!”
Enders shouted, catching Harlow's attention. “This way!”

Harlow made a sharp left
and began running adjacent to Enders.

The men chasing them had
either stopped shooting or run out of arrows.

Harlow and Enders had their
territory in sight; the two raced toward the huge oak tree with so
much force that when they heard the arrows from Rawley and Elwin
start to fire, they kept going, feeling the sting and burn in their
legs. They stood just past their archers and watched as the four
men ran into a rainstorm of arrows.

The two of them ducked
behind trees, and listened to the chaos ensue, although it didn't
last long.

The four men had gotten
sick and beaten, losing their flag before they really even had a
chance.

Rawley whistled when it was
safe for Harlow and Enders to come out, and upon hearing that
whistle, they came out, sore and weak.

“
That looked
painful.” Elwin commented to Harlow.

Harlow nodded to him as she
caught her breath.

Enders chuckled a bit.
“Aye.”

The sound of stomping,
running feet came to their ears, before coming a slow down before
entering their vision.

Candor walked next to the
tree, tired and out of breath.

“
What
happened?” Harlow asked, leaning against the tree.

Candor took several deep
breaths, before placing one hand on his hip and reaching the other
into his pants' waistband and pulling out a white cloth. He smiled
victoriously as he held it up.

Harlow lifted an eyebrow.
“What happened to it?”

Enders chuckled. “Did you
do that or did they do that?”

Candor examined it in his
hands to make sure it was in one piece. “They had it on this high
branch on one of the oak trees. I climbed all the way to the top
and had to push someone off in order to get to it.”

Harlow widened her eyes at
him, looking at Enders who shared the same expression. They looked
at each other before turning their attention back to
Candor.

“
Is he okay?”
Enders asked, his eyebrows arched attractively.

Candor looked at him
puzzled. “Oh, the man I pushed off the tree?” He nodded. “Aye, he's
fine. I checked him. He wasn't bleeding or anything. He said it
hurt his backside, though.”

Harlow nodded, chuckling
slightly. “Was it necessary to push him?”

Candor looked at her
puzzled again. “Of course! He was holding the flag hostage. I had
to get to it.”

Harlow nodded. “Alright,
then.” She looked at the root before her. “Bury it then and we'll
get the next one. We already have two,” She said, rubbing her
forehead and making sure her hat was on correctly. “So, we only
have three left.”

Enders sighed. “You make
this sound easy.”

Harlow sighed as well. “I
wish it were.”

*~*~*

Harlow and Enders raced
toward their territory, weaving in between trees as they ran. They
heard Candor behind them, breathing heavily and running as fast as
he could muster in his exhausted state. He had one of the last
flags in his hand and he was not going to give it up. Harlow looked
back to survey the damage that was being done behind
her.

She noticed four men running in what
looked like a line after Candor. Sure enough, it was their flag
that Candor held in his hands.

Enders looked exhausted and Harlow had
come to notice his limp getting ever more prominent as he ran
toward their spot. She knew they were almost there and that the
second they raced into the area, Elwin and Rawley would be firing
of a set of arrows that wouldn't let up unless they would
surrender.

Harlow started to count down the
seconds. In about ten second, they would be safely behind their own
borders and the archers would take care of their
opposition.

She forced her legs to move harder
than they'd ever moved before.

'
Five seconds,'
she thought as she
whizzed by the trees.

Two more seconds and they'd be one
more flag to winning the competition!

Harlow and Enders broke through the
trees and raced to the other side, listening as arrows flew
everywhere behind them, beating down on the men chasing
them.

"That was harsh!" Candor exclaimed,
exhaling and heaving in breaths. He leaned his body weight on a
great oak and held the captured flag to his chest.

Harlow chuckled, looking at him as she
leaned up against a tree next to Candor's."It's a rush though,
isn't it?"

Candor chuckled, saying nothing
more.

Harlow turned her attention to Enders
as they hid away from the screams and shouts of the other men. "Are
you alright?"

Enders' breathing was heavy and
labored. He simply nodded, looking out into the forest.

A whistle rang out, signaling to the
three runners, that the coast was clear. Rawley had come up with
the idea, which Harlow admitted was brilliant.

Harlow sighed, closing her eyes gently
before opening them again, exhaustion starting to take over her
body.

Enders raised an eyebrow at
her, a small smile on his lips.

Harlow
shrugged, the two having a mental conversation, as if he was asking
if she was alright.
She
smiled, still tired as she did so. She found herself having trouble
getting up from the tree she leaned against.

Noticing this, Enders
chuckled, walking to her and holding his hand out to help
her.

Gratefully, she took his
hand in her own pulling herself up and letting out a quiet “Thank
you,” before trying her best to keep her wild heart beat under
control.

Enders followed Harlow
toward the clearing. She quietly sighed, lifting one hand to her
forehead, making sure all of her hair was tucked neatly inside her
hat, before walking into the area where the archers were
stationed.

“
Ready, men?”
Enders asked, looking at the two archers. His tone was oddly
serious and drained. He seemed so completely worn out.

Harlow raised an eyebrow at
him. “Are you?” She was subtly asking if he was alright, if he
needed a break.

“
Why wouldn't
I be?” Enders asked, an eyebrow again raised in her direction, a
persistent smile on his lips.

Enders took the lead,
taking large steps, and making Harlow fight with her heart to keep
it from beating out of control.

*~*~*

The sound of feet pounding
on the dirt floor, legs burning with every jump, hop, and skip over
foliage that littered itself on the soil beneath, seemed to echo
loudly throughout the trees.

This was one of those
moments that Harlow couldn't explain.

How exactly had they failed
so miserably this time?

The opposite team was
gaining on them with every step.

Harlow was getting tired
and weak, just as Candor and Enders were. She could tell by the way
they dragged themselves through the forest that they were
exhausted.

Candor looked back as he
ran, gripping the flag to his chest tightly.

Harlow was sure they'd make
it back to their base before the other team caught them. Keeping
this in her mind, she pushed forward, watching Candor and the
flag.

The trees seemed to become
a blur as she rushed past all the foliage in the forest. Her mind
was on one thing and one thing only: make it to the archers with
the flag.

It wasn't much farther, she
noticed, passing a green piece of cloth that hung tied to a tree.
It was a marker Enders had put up to lead us to the
archers.

Her relief was short lived,
though.

A menacing figure stood in
the path before them, staring with his bow raised high, ready to
fire.

Harlow faltered slightly,
feeling one man's fingertips graze her arm. She immediately yelped,
picking up the pace and breaking right, away from Enders and
Candor, who broke left.

The other team didn't stop
chasing her, one of it's members following her while the rest
chased after Enders and Candor.

Harlow glanced back, seeing
a somewhat taller, slim man chasing after her. Her eyes stared for
a second, while her feet tripped over themselves every other step,
but she wasn't finished yet. She was getting careless because of
her exhaustion, but she was hell-bent on not giving up.

That's when she saw it: a
large oak with several low branches sticking out in different
directions. It was about five seconds away, and she knew what she
needed to do.

The tree came closer and
closer until finally she was able to grip it and swing herself
around the side. The man came around the side of the tree, his eyes
expecting to see her running down the path. Immediately after
seeing nobody in front of him, he turned around searching the area
with his eyes.

Harlow took no time to
breathe, running around the side of the great oak, jumping on his
back and trying to keep herself on.

She knew she probably
wasn't going to make it back to Rawley and Elwin. This would be the
end of the game for her, she'd be hit with the arrow and have the
bruise to prove it. She kept fighting, hoping to buy Enders and
Candor better chances with the men chasing after them.

Harlow kicked at the man's
legs, trying to get him to fall, but lost her balance. Her arms
wrapped around his neck, holding on for dear life as the man shook
her ferociously.