In an instant, she could hear the man’s call, yelling in a foreign language before beginning his pursuit. She tuned out the replying voices as the pitter-patter of their feet rang through the streets. Following Max as he darted into a crack between buildings, Britt ran through the tight alley and out into the neighboring street. Max led her through a string of side alleys, angling their way to the edge of town.
In a blur of walls and cobblestone, Britt soon saw the forest. Clutching the bag of food tightly to her shoulder, she sprinted away from the streets and into the trees. She skidded to a halt as she saw Max suddenly turn back. Britt wanted to yell at him, but held her tongue, not wanting to give away their position in case the soldiers hadn’t been able to follow them.
Max sprinted to the sign marking Brookside’s entrance and pulled a piece of parchment from the board. Britt bounced on her toes as she watched him snatch the poster. She couldn’t see the men chasing them, but she could hear them coming. Their metal-plated armor clattered against the stone walls as they tried to squeeze through the alleys where Max had led them. Their shouts alerted others in the town as the sun rose over the horizon. Max sprinted back to Britt as fast as he could. With the sack of food in one hand and the parchment poster in the other, he joined her in fleeing Brookside. Gaining a bit of distance from town, Britt turned to glare at Max but saw in his broad grin that he was truly enjoying this.
Chapter 56
No Return
Glancing back, Britt peered through the early morning haze, seeing only the faint outline of Brookside. No pursuing soldiers yet, she told herself. Doubling her efforts on the trail, she surged forward, the bulk of the sack bounced against her back with every step. Max came into view out of the corner of her eye. She could see his slight smile left over from showing off at the edge of town. He still clutched the reward poster in one hand, but, upon seeing her, quickly stuffed it in his pocket.
Why did he do that? she wondered, trying to suppress her anger. Stopping to yell at him would only make things worse.
As they jogged away from town and the ensuing watchmen, the shouts of alarm gave way to sounds of nature. Expecting an attacker to lunge from the forest at any moment, Britt flinched each time squirrels chattered as they ran by. She cursed Max for the risk they’d taken in burglarizing the inn and causing her to be on edge. If she had taken control, as she should’ve, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Britt wasn’t promoted to Captain so she could let a crewman lead her into unnecessarily risky situations.
I let emotions get in the way, she thought, something she would be sure to rectify in future decisions.
The dawn’s pink and red bands were turning to a golden yellow hue when Britt first heard the unnatural sound. As the steady thudding grew louder, she slowed to a halt, Max stopping beside her. She eyed him as they listened to the sound, trying to recognize its origin, both what was making it and where it was coming from. All at once they realized that it was the unmistakable sound of marching soldiers headed toward them on the road.
Without a thought, Britt turned and sped off-trail into the forest. She heard the branches breaking behind her as Max leapt into the undergrowth. Running without any idea where she was going, Britt searched for a hiding place. With the uniform marching ringing through the forest, she felt the soldiers were almost on top of them. Amid the fluster, she suddenly heard Max’s voice almost next to her. Looking right, Britt found her companion kneeling beside a broad tree surrounded by thick shrubs.
Cutting in midstride, Britt rushed to Max’s hiding spot and dropped the bag of food supplies as she slid in next to him. Panting, she peered around the shrubs to see movement on the trail they’d just left. Britt watched carefully as men mounted on horseback rode into view, their armor appearing in sporadic bursts through gaps in the vegetation. Britt rolled, placing her back tight against the tree trunk and closed her eyes, cursing under her breath.
“Soldiers,” Max whispered, still panting heavily from their sprint. “Good thing you heard them. I would’ve kept running if you hadn’t slowed down.”
Opening her eyes, Britt glanced at him. Max rested against the tree leaning hard on his forearm. Britt caught his gaze and he smiled at her with his dreamy eyes. For an instant, she almost thanked him, then reminded herself of the foolish risk he’d taken. She steeled her face, glared at him and shook her head, “We should’ve been back to Sol’s by now.”
A drop of sweat fell from Max’s nose as he looked down, “I’m sorry, Britt, but we do need the food. Kirsten won’t get any stronger without it.”
Britt frowned, “I should’ve taken command after our mission was complete. There is food enough at Solomon’s.” Not allowing Max the chance to respond, she turned again toward the soldiers. Through gaps in the trees, she could just see the line of armed men stretching beyond her field of view.
“Get down,” Britt said, rolling back around to the safety of the tree and pulling at Max’s pant leg.
She was relieved when he listened to her, kneeling at her side. She felt she might’ve been a little harsh in her reprimand. Britt knew the soldiers hadn’t seen them because they weren’t veering off the trail. Her experience in overland strategy was limited, but she knew one rule that applied to both land and sea: If you can see your enemy, they can see you, too. Britt shifted, “This is maddening.”
“Which part? The almost getting caught by soldiers in town part or the almost running right into a traveling army during our escape?” Max asked sitting down next to her.
Britt groaned, elbowing him lightly, “All of it. I can’t believe you went back for that stupid poster.”
Max shrugged, “I had to show Bo. I couldn’t help myself.”
“What if they saw you?” Britt asked.
“They did see you and me around back at the inn. Didn’t think it would make a difference if they saw me again,” he said.
Britt inhaled sharply through her nose and clenched her jaw in frustration, “If they had caught you because of that poster, I would’ve left you there.”
“We were so far ahead of them,” Max said. “I had plenty of time.”
Britt was about to reply when she noticed the absence of marching. Seeing Max smiling childishly at her, she narrowed her eyes and rolled around the tree, staying low and looking toward the trail.
The forest’s morning glow had given way to daylight and she could clearly see through to the glinting armor as it stood out against the green surroundings. Britt couldn’t positively identify this army, but she could see that they had halted on the trail.
Could this be the rebel army Rune spoke of? Had they already marched on Brookside? she wondered.
Whispering, she asked Max, “Why have they stopped?”
Max replied calmly, “I don’t know.”
“Do you think that’s the Resistance?”
Britt was met with silence as Max mulled the possibility over. After several long moments, he responded, “They’re not wearing Merglan’s colors like those soldiers in Grandwood, but I don’t think the rebels Rune was talking about were an organized army. I imagined them more as regular folk who’d taken to the woods like a guerilla force. I wouldn’t expect them to be wearing plate armor and marching in formation.”
Britt wished he were wrong, but she sensed he was right. These were the soldiers who’d invaded Brookside, but why were they here and not in town? As she thought about it, a mounted soldier rode down the line, repeating a sentence over and over in a foreign language. It sounded like the same language she’d heard among the soldiers in Brookside.
Before she could ask Max what he thought was happening, Britt saw the soldiers begin to move again. It was hard to tell for sure, but she thought they were shuffling in place, not advancing to the left or right. Then all at once, the wall of soldiers started walking. At first Britt was relieved to see them start moving, thinking they were continuing toward town, but to her horror she heard branches snap and watched the brush begin to move. The line of soldiers stepped into the forest and Britt could see their faces through the patchy vegetation. Britt reached for Max and grabbed him by the shoulder; they were trapped.
Britt’s fingers dug into his skin. She looked to see his eyes bulging as he winced in pain. Releasing him, she swiveled around to search for an escape route. If they ran now, they would be seen. They were pinned in the island of brush surrounding the large tree.
Max gripped the deeply furrowed bark of the tree and started climbing. The width of the tree hid them from the soldiers and, to Britt’s surprise, he managed to make it to the lowest branch that hung well over their heads. He motioned for her to follow him and reached down for her to grip his hand. Britt hesitated, wondering if it were more soldiers hidden in the shrubs surrounding the tree’s base. She glanced at the sacks of food on the ground and imagined what would happen when the soldiers found them. The white bags would be a dead giveaway that they’d been there. All they’d have to do is glance up. Hoping what she was about to do was worth the risk, she sank into a crawl and moved out from the safety of the tree. Not chancing to look up, Britt gripped the white bags and dragged them the short distance to their hiding place. Then she stood behind the tree and hefted each food sack to Max.
Shaking his head, Britt saw Max’s mouth say without words, “Leave it.”
Britt shook her head pushed the bag at him again. Frustrated, he grabbed the sacks one at a time. As the soldiers approached, Britt scrambled up into the tree. Taking one of the sacks, Britt followed Max as they moved higher into the tree’s thickets of leaves. Moving as carefully as she dared, Britt came to rest on a branch fifteen feet up, placing the bag in her lap. If she had her way, she would climb even higher, but they had to stop moving because the soldiers below were nearly on them.
How did they know to look for us here? Britt wondered.
