Run....

Morning

Andrew's P.O.V.

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As I packed a bag for Angeline, I think of the beating I will be getting from My Lord Sheriff. I had lied to her when I told her he would not notice anything is missing. He knows exactly how much money he brings with him and makes me count it every night and if my calculations don't add up..

I shudder and look up from what I'm doing and see Angeline standing in front of my tent looking at me with concern. I plaster a smile on my face and happily chirp a good morning to her. I stand, walk towards her and hand her the bag as she says,

"Good morning Andrew, how did you sleep?" 

"Very well thank you." I replied. Another lie, I did not sleep at all last night. Just as I thought this I heard hoof beats. We look at each other in shock for a moment then I usher Angeline back into my tent towards the back of it. I lift up the bottom of the tent and say to her,

"You can leave through here, hopefully he won't see you. Farewell My Lady, sorry you could not stay for breakfast but as you can see there's not much choice in the matter. I wish you luck for all of your journey and I hope we will meet again." I then did something so out of character it shocked even me. I bent down, kissed her cheek and practically ran from my tent. I did not look back to see if she had left, I just hope she has the good sense to get out of here before her presence is discovered by the Sheriff. 

I greeted the Sheriff at the edge of the clearing rather reluctantly. As usual he greeted me back by shouting and screaming for this and that. I wonder how long it will take him to notice the food and some money is gone. 

"Why haven't you prepared anything for my breakfast? You knew I was coming back this morning so why haven't you done it?" He practically screamed in my face. 

"Uh, well the thing is..." I stutter.

"What is it? Spit it out you lazy dog!" He shouted.

I looked down at the floor, maybe it would be better to just get it out of the way.

"I packed a bag of food and gave it to the girl, I also gave her some money to keep her going for a couple of days." I took a deep breath in and waited for the explosion of pain I knew was coming. I heard the Sheriff shift and unsheathe his whip. He whipped at the back of my legs so I'd fall to my knees and all Hell broke loose on my back. Once he got to the eleventh strike I couldn't hold it in any longer and I screamed. When he'd had enough of whipping me, he dropped his whip and started beating my back with his fists and boots. The pain was too much but before I could pass out I heard a gasp from my tent. I turned over and kicked the Sheriff as hard as I could with both feet and shouted towards the tent,

"RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" before My Lord Sheriff jumped me again and I passed out. 

I woke up I guess a few moments later because the Sheriff was dragging me up and yelling at me to get to work brushing down his horse. 

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Angeline's P.O.V.

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"RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" I heard him scream. I gasped again, turned and ran. I kept on running for what seemed like hours. It seems like that's all I've done since I ran from home. I trip over and just stay there where I landed. I feel wet on my face and realise that I must have cried when I heard the Sheriff...

I can't think about it, it's too horrible. Why did he lie to me about the Sheriff not noticing I took his food and money? And the way he just stood there and told him the truth like that, like he knew he was going to get a beating and there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening. 

The sun is high in the sky, almost right above me by the time I have the sense to look through the bag Andrew gave me for something to eat. It's no use making myself weak with starvation when I have a long journey ahead of me. I took out the piece of cloth that was laid on top of the food inside the bag and laid it on the ground. I started to unload the food. A whole loaf of bread and some left over from last night, quite a bit of cheese, a medium piece of cloth full of dried meat, two water skins already full of water, and quite a bit of fruit, and another little bag which I discovered is a coin purse with quite a lot of money in it. Oh Andrew, you should not have risked that beating, not for me. I told him I had things that I could sell. 

I ripped off a piece of bread and took a bite of cheese but that and some water was all I could stomach. I vaguely remembered the sun on my back as I was running, so I packed up all my food, stood up, turned to my right and headed off walking north. I did not really want to lie to Andrew when I told him which way I was headed although I do hope that he will not let it slip to the Sheriff which direction I am going in. 

I tried as hard as I could to keep going in a straight line but it was very difficult as the density and size of the trees around me were really large. A whole half a day later, I come to a very small clearing which would be a perfect place for me to stay for the night. It doesn't sound like there is any water close by but I'll find some in the morning, I still have one whole water skin and I only drank half of the other. I suppose Andrew did not have time to pack me some blankets and a pillow so it looks like I will be roughing it for a few nights until I find some civilisation where I can stay at an inn. I lay down on my side with my left arm under my head and my right hand on my thigh on top of my dagger and tried my hardest to fall asleep. However it was around the witching hour when I actually fell asleep.