The Nightwatchman (English)(From Ashes Vol.2)

Chapter 59 - My Light in the Darkness

Marian tried to reassure and encourage the mothers of the missing children, but she didn't know what to say to relieve their sorrow and their fear.
All the men and even some of the women were participating in the search, but there were no results, and now they were beginning to fear that the children wouldn't be found alive. Someone had been able to warn Robin Hood, but not even the outlaws had been lucky.
Marian remembered the desperation she had experienced many months earlier when she believed that Guy had been killed. Whenever Allan came home without being able to find the remains of Gisborne, Marian had the impression to go crazy, and the pain for his death was renewed.
She didn't dare to think what those women were feeling, the terror that they were experiencing not knowing what had happened to their children.
Suddenly Locksley's kitchen seemed too small and overwhelming, the air suffocating, and Marian took advantage of the arrival of another group of women from the village to go outdoors.
She leaned with her back on the outside wall of the house, and she closed her eyes with a sigh. She didn't like to remember that sad time, and she looked around, hoping to see Guy somewhere.
Whenever she came to rethink of his alleged death, she always felt the need to have him close, to see and touch him, to make sure that he was really there, that he was really alive.
Even now that she was angry at him for his betrayal, she wanted at least to see him, even if just from a distance, and without him knowing about it.
But where was he?
All the able men were looking for the missing children, while Guy hadn't been seen since the night before. The last time Marian had seen him was when he had taken that girl's hand and brought her to a tavern room.
Marian saw Allan walking toward the stables and she stopped him.
"Where's Guy?"
Allan shook his head to say that he didn't know, and this time he wasn't lying.
When he had gone to Nottingham to find out if the children had been arrested, he had also gone to Knighton, but Gisborne was no longer there.
Allan had been worried because he knew that Guy was waiting for his return to get news of Marian, then one of the workers told him that he saw him going away with Archer, and Allan didn't know if he ought to feel more worried or relieved.
Allan was distrustful of Archer and he didn't like seeing Gisborne spending too much time with him, but at the same time perhaps their stupid challenges avoided that Guy would worry too much about what had happened with Marian, and distracted him from doing something stupid.
Allan was wondering if he should go looking for him or not, when Marian's exclamation made him look at her. The girl seemed to be indignant and worried at the same time.
"What is he doing with Guy's horse?!"
The girl pointed at the man who was galloping toward Locksley, and Allan was startled in recognizing Archer.
Why was he there on his own, riding Gisborne's horse? Maybe one of their challenges had gone wrong and now Guy was hurt, or worse?
Archer headed for them, stopping the horse with a pull at the reins. The black stallion reared and pawed, clearly not happy at being ridden by a stranger.
"Allan and Lady Marian, right?" Archer asked, without wasting time for greetings.
Marian nodded affirmatively and she was about to ask what he wanted, but Archer began to talk before the girl could open her mouth.
"Well, Gisborne told me to talk to you."
Marian looked at him, indignant.
"Guy was with you?!"
Allan felt some relief in hearing those words because they meant that at least Guy was alive and able to speak.
Archer looked around, noticing the confusion surrounding them.
"You're looking for someone, right?"
"Exactly, and Guy should be here to help instead of wasting time with you!" Marian exclaimed, furious, ignoring Allan's worried looks.
"Three children have disappeared," Archer said, unperturbed by the girl's anger. "And if you care to retrieve them, you'd better gather some men and follow me. Make sure that you also bring strong ropes and call a physician or a healer, one of them is hurt."
The girl stared at him, astonished, wondering if he was lying, then Allan expressed the same question she wanted to ask.
"But what does Giz have to do with this? Where is he? And why do you have his horse?"
"He told me to take the horse to prove that I'm not lying. The kids fell into the tunnel of an abandoned mine, and Gisborne stayed with them. Indeed, if you don't want to recover just the corpses of all of them from the bottom of that pit, I suggest you to hurry."