Briar Woods (Re-working)

Chapter 32: Betrayed

"Father, please tell me what happened. I know Sir Gregory plotted to have you and Freddy killed. How did you survive?" I asked with a quiver in my voice.

Clasping his hands behind his back, my father looked off in the distance as if remembering all that had transpired. With a frown he turned to me. "I'm not sure when I started to suspect Sir Gregory had malicious intentions. He always tended to be a secretive man and overtime I grew increasingly suspicious of him. Unfortunately, I had not realized to what measures he would stoop before it was nearly too late."

He explained. "There were rumors that a white fox was spotted near the woods. Naturally, Fred wanted to find and catch the animal. You know him and his adventurous spirit. He was quite convincing and soon a small hunting party was assembled."

"We hunted the fox near the glade for some time, before there was any signs of trouble. As we neared the border of Briar Woods, without warning we were ambushed and our attackers on horseback quickly separated us from our men. After engaging our assailants for a time, I lost sight of Fredrick. Alas, I had no time to react, three of the attackers charged me. Hoping to draw them away from the others, I rode straight for the woods. The attackers followed on my heels and the next thing I was aware of was my horse going down."

"He had been struck by an arrow from a crossbow and with his full weight landed on top of me, injuring my leg. As you can see, the blasted limb has not been right since. Not able to move, I was sure I was about to meet my demise. That was when one of the men took off the hood that covered his face."

"Was it Sir Gregory?" I managed to ask. I felt sick and horrified hearing what transpired and was not sure I could stomach the rest of the tale, but I knew I must hear it all.

"Yes, it was him." My father spoke through clenched teeth. "The traitor stood over me, ready to slit my throat." Pausing, my father sat down in the chair next to him and rubbed his face.

"He would have succeeded too if it had not been for the wolves." He continued eerily.

"What wolves father?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, they came out of nowhere. A pack of wolves came rushing through the trees. Gregory got away somehow. The other two men were not so lucky. The wolves tore into those men. I have seen my share of death and carnage; that however is an image Ill never forget."

"Did the wolves attack you too?" I asked horrified. "Is that how you got your scar?" I pointed at his face.

"No, the scar was from before. One of my attackers sliced me with his blade." He hesitated and then continued. "That is what I don't understand. The wolves looked right at me but they did nothing. Then they were gone as quickly as they had come."

"After freeing myself from under my dead horse, I tried to find where the others were and what had become of them. I could barely walk and I'm sure I had a cracked rib. I feared Sir Gregory would return to finish what he started, but he never did. He must have believed the wolves would finish me and he certainly wouldn't have wanted to risk being torn to shreds."

"What about Freddy?" I asked quietly.

My father looked at me for a moment, a shadow crossing his face. "I looked everywhere, and I never could find him. I have no proof, but I am certain Gregory took him captive. He is too smart to have killed him without proof of my death. And when he returned to examine the remains the wolves had left behind, he would have feared I escaped."

"How do you know he came back?" I questioned.

"When I returned to the spot myself, a few days later, there were no signs of an attack; no remains to be found. As I said he is very smart and would have made certain nothing remained that would incriminate him. When we never returned, he had to know everyone would come looking for us."