Finally the time has come. I silently slip my bedroll into my satchel and rise from my place in the corner. I slowly move past Will’s bedding, trying not to wake him, as he is an extremely light sleeper. It’s empty. Will isn’t asleep, but I think nothing of it because he normally wakes in the night and goes for a walk to clear his thoughts. He’s been doing it since his father died a few months ago.
Will was the eldest son of a farmer, Joseph, and had a brother called Mark. Mark was three years younger than Will and they both meant the world to Joe. Joe was a simple man, not simple in the mind; just what you saw with Joe was what you got. He was kind too, always had a spare bed or a place to hide if it was needed. Joe’s generosity is what got him killed.
In the middle of winter families light fires in their houses to keep warm, otherwise the snow falling outside freezes the building and everyone in it. One night the David, Nottingham’s blacksmith and his wife Ruth had a fire burning in their house and they were sitting by it with their children James, who was three, and their six year old daughter Rose. Nobody really knows what happened next, but it’s believed by the villagers that an ember landed in the hay for the animals, who had been brought in to prevent them from freezing to death, and started a blaze. David and Ruth died in the fire, but Rose and James somehow escape the fire. Joe had been stacking logs outside the house when he heard the children screaming, he ran towards their house, only to find the whole building alight. Neighbors were already putting the fire out but it seemed Joe was the only one who saw the terrified children. He took them back to his home and made sure they were ok and had space to sleep for the night. By morning the sheriff of Nottingham had declared the children were o blame for the death of their parents and they had deliberately burnt the house to the ground. Before anybody really knew what was happening soldiers had searched the whole town for the children and declared Joe was a traitor for harboring fugitives of the crown.
Joe refused to give the children up. He knew that as soon as he let them go, they would either be murder on the street right then and there, or taken back to the castle where both Rose and three year old James would be tortured and then murdered. Both ways they would be killed unjustly and Joe couldn’t bear to let that happen. Being the man he was Joe stood no chance against the sheriff’s men, knowing this Mark ad Will, being twelve and 15 respectively, tried to protect their father but to no avail. Mark was slaughtered in the process and James and Rose were killed in the street. Joe was taken to the castle’s dungeons and executed three days later.
Will got away without the soldiers noticing, but after a few days they started to search for him. Rob had taken him in by this point but Will was a mess, he didn’t eat, he barely spoke, he spent his days carving in a tree and if he actually got any sleep at night it was filled with nightmares of the day he lost everything he ever had.
I slip past Will’s bedding and then go to step over Little John, but he’s not there either. I shrug it off because he’s probably asleep on watch duty outside. I give Robin’s bedding a wide berth because he can just tell when someone is near him. I go to move past Much sleeping near the opening of the camp but he’s not there either, Much almost values sleep more than food. Almost. I really start to worry now, where the hell are they?
Even though I’m worried, I figure they probably slept out overnight in the forest somewhere, still on their hunting trip. Trying to look at it as a positive I figure this gives me the best opportunity to disappear. Where should I go though? I could go to London, but Guy will go back there after he finishes with whatever he’s doing here… I could go to Scotland, but I probably wouldn’t last very long up there, I wasn’t welcomed very warmly last time… Kent. I could go to Kent! Nobody in Kent knows me and it’s far enough away from London that Guy wont find me either!
After making my decision, I leave the once place I ever truly called home. I only now realize how empty leaving this place makes me, but I have no choice. I slip past the tree hiding my home; my old home, and start to run. Before I run more than five meters from the clearing I stop. Slowly I turn and look over my shoulder at the place I’m leaving behind. All of my good memories are here, all of the good people in my life live here, and everything good about my life was here. I’ve never had trouble leaving a place before; everything I’m feeling is strange and unfamiliar. I don’t like it. The sinking feeling in my stomach, the pull to just run back and curl up in a ball, all of it is new to me. After breathing in I turn around and take a step, but I can’t look up. Tears are pouring from my eyes and I know that if I look up they’ll stream down my face and I wont leave. I start to pick up my pace and run. Running away.
BANG
I fall down and land on my wrist, I hear a sharp crack but I don’t notice the pain. Well, I do, just not the pain in my wrist. I notice the pain in the sad, green eyes staring down at me. Will.
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“What are you doing JJ?” Will is speaking in barely a whisper, but I know what he’s saying before it comes from his mouth.
“I-I-I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me…”
“Why would we get hurt because of you JJ?”
“I’m sorry… I cant tell you…”
“JJ, I’ve known you since London, you know you can tell me anything. We don’t keep secrets between us, remember?” Rob’s hand feels like a pound bag of flour on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry…” Tears streaming down my face I crumple into a ball on the fall and sob.
“oh JJ, sweet innocent JJ… Tell us what’s wrong so we can help you fix the problem…” Little John wraps his arms around me and pulls me onto his lap, I bury my face in his neck and my body continues to shake with sobs. Sobs because I never told them, sobs because I thought I could actually leave my family and sobs for the many lives that would now follow Joseline’s…
