“How are we going to do it?” Britt asked. “We need to come up with a solid plan to get Thomas back and thwart Rankstine’s ambitions for creating a stronghold in Grandwood.”
“Maybe we can sneak back into the church?” Bo suggested
“If we try to sneak into town, Rankstine will know where we are. He’s got the orb and he’s searching for us, remember?” Max said.
“That’s just it,” Kirsten said enthusiastically.
“What’s just it? That Rankstine will know our every move as soon as we get within the city’s limits?” Max asked.
“Yes.”
They all looked confused.
“If we could get a horse and cart, we could go back to town with the guard. One of us could use his clothing as a disguise. While it’s night maybe one of us can pass for him long enough to get inside the church. The rest of us will be tied up in the back of the cart, but the only one of us who will be properly bound and gagged will be the guard. With Rankstine’s orb, it will look like the guard is hauling us in as prisoners.”
“That might just work,” Britt said. “Who looks the most like the guard, height and body type?” she asked eyeing at Max, Bo and Kirsten.
“Max is too thin,” Kirsten said. Max scowled at her and she said, “What? Your frame isn’t as bad as his. Get over it.”
Max was slightly taken aback by her demeanor.
“I’m too short,” she continued.
“That leaves us with you,” Britt said facing Bo. Despite his younger age, Bo had a bulkier frame than his older brother.
“What do I need to do?” he asked.
“Let’s start by getting you dressed,” Britt said as she grabbed his arm and led him out the front door. Max and Kirsten followed.
The guard’s clothes were slightly baggy on Bo, but once he rolled up the pant legs and shirtsleeves, he looked the part. The cloak the man had worn was adorned with a deep hood that Bo pulled over his head. Even in the light of the lantern, his shadowed face was unrecognizable.
“Great,” Bo said, placing his hands on his hips and striking a pose. “What’s our plan from here?”
“We’ll need a horse and cart,” Britt said. “Then we will pretend to be bound and gagged while you bring us into the church. The other guards will probably help you unload us and take us into the holding area where Rankstine will no doubt want to question us. As soon as the opportunity arises, we’ll turn on the guards, take their weapons and deal with Rankstine.”
“Perfect. What could go wrong?” Max said sarcastically.
“Where are we going to get the horse and cart?” Bo asked.
“There’s a cart just down the road,” Britt said. “I saw it when we were looking for spies earlier.”
“What about a horse?” Bo asked again.
“I bet he’s got one tied up not far from here,” Kirsten said thumbing toward their stripped prisoner.
After clothing the spy in Bo’s clothes, they carried the man by the armpits and feet down the road to the cart Britt had seen. The cart had been flipped onto its side during the attack several months earlier and had settled into the brush near the side of the road.
They set the guard down in the middle of the dirt road and, with concerted effort, they hoisted the cart over onto its wooden wheels. Swinging the guard by his bound extremities, they chucked him up into the air above the flatbed of the cart. His body hung in the air for an instant before coming down hard onto the wood surface. He groaned through the gag tied around his head.
It didn’t take long for them to find the guard’s horse tied to a tree just off the road. Lashing the cart to the horse’s saddle, Britt, Max and Kirsten joined the guard in the back of the cart. They tied their limbs loosely so they’d appear to be bound but could remove them with ease. Bo tied rags to their necks so they could give the appearance of being gagged as well. Climbing into the driver’s seat, Bo steered them down the road toward Grandwood.
They were halfway to town when Bo wrangled the horse into a stop. Looking around concerned, Kirsten asked, “What’s wrong? Why have we stopped?”
“I thought I saw something run across the road,” Bo said squinting into the night.
“What did it look like?” Britt asked. “Was it an animal?”
Bo shook his head and spoke to them over his shoulder, not letting his eyes leave the road in front of him, “It looked like a person, but it was small and moved so fast, I’m not sure. Maybe it was an animal?” he said trying to reassure himself. “I think it was hunched over like a bear or something.”
“There are plenty of black bears around here,” Kirsten said. “I thought one was a person once, out of the corner of my eye, but when I saw it clearly, I knew it was a bear.”
“Yeah, maybe it was a bear,” Bo said not sounding entirely convinced as he urged the horse on.
Almost as quickly as they’d crossed through the town’s steadily rising walls, several guards met them on horseback. Stopping Bo and his cart, they dismounted, walking to his side.
“What happened to you? When we left, we couldn’t find you, so we thought you were taken prisoner,” one of the guards said.
Grunting as he turned in his seat to face the passengers in the back of the cart, Bo lowered his voice to match the guard’s tone, “I had an opportunity to catch them all at once,” he said pointing to the four people bound and gagged in the back of the cart.
The guards peered at the prisoners he was transporting. “You’re just trying to secure your place as the Baron of Brookside, aren’t you?” the guard on Bo’s left said, shaking his head. “Always trying to one-up us.” They turned and mounted their horses once more. “Come on, Rankstine’s got some questions for you,” the guard on the right said, pulling his horse around and leading them into the streets.
The spy they’d captured wriggled in the back of the cart, attempting to alert the other guards with muffled shouts, but they didn’t pay any attention. Kirsten joined him in his pleas for help and the other guards turned their backs, scoffing in disgust. Kirsten looked up at the tops of the buildings as they passed by, tracking their progress toward the church.
Once at the church, Rankstine’s men dismounted. Bo acted as if he knew precisely what to do. He hopped down off the cart and waved the guards over. Bo dragged the bound guard out first, pulling the hood of his own jacket down over the bound guard’s head so they wouldn’t recognize their comrade. One of the guards walked up to help Bo while the others pounded on the side door of the large stone building. Two more men cloaked in Merglan’s colors emerged from behind the door. One accompanied the other to help haul the prisoners inside while the other held the door open.
Bo kept his hood up so they couldn’t look at him too closely as he worked with Rankstine’s guard. Kirsten, Max and Britt wriggled and resisted and tried to protest through their gags the way Bo’s actual prisoner had. After struggling through the side door with the prisoners, one of the men led them through the narrow hallway and out into the main worship area.
