Sovay stared opened mouthed at her cousin. “You’re the Shadow Fox!”
Robyn clamped a hand over her mouth. “Ssssssh! Quiet! Do you want all of Boston to hear!? What the blazes are you doing out of bed?”
“I went to see if I could listen in on anything the officers were saying,” Sovay plainly replied. “However, the two I was listening to talked about their lady friends and turned in for the night.” She looked peeved for about two seconds and then she grinned. “Look at you, hiding right under Agent Chaplen’s nose! You are brilliant, Robyn.”
“Yes, well, this piece of brilliance right here just walked into a trap and barely escaped with her life.” The Shadow Fox grumbled as she tugged off the black tunic. She folded it and tossed it into the cavity with the cloak and sword. Yawning, Robyn kicked off her boots and laid the board back into its place. She crawled into bed.
“What did you do to your hair?” Sovay asked, tugging slightly on it.
“Saved my horse from a burning barn and it caught fire. Had to cut it off,” her cousin moaned from beneath the covers.
“That would explain the mobcap. So, tell me all about it!”
“Tomorrow,” came the muffled reply.
Sovay slid under the covers, far too excited to sleep. “Alright, but first thing in the morning.”
Robyn didn’t even moan a reply—she was already asleep.
~~~~~
Ben barged into the room. “He’s arrested Jacob!”
Sovay threw a pillow at him, and Robyn dove farther under the covers.
“Robyn, did you hear me?!”
His sister lifted her head. “Mmm?”
“Agent Chaplen arrested Jacob Sumpter on the charge that he is the Shadow Fox.”
The real Shadow Fox was out of bed in a matter of seconds. She tugged the black tunic over her head and swung the cloak around her shoulders. Still in the midst of strapping on her sword, she stomped down the stairs. She just had time to yank the hood over her face before she reached the bottom.
Ben and Sovay stared after her. “Um, what is she doing?”
He frowned slightly. “That is a good question.” He paused, then it hit him. “It’s day time!”
He ran down the stairs after her.
Sovay stood at the top and looked down. “Well, I’ll be right here.”
Robyn threw open the doors to her father’s study, which was now occupied by Agent Chaplen.
The man in question looked up from what he was writing. He gave her a disinterested look and turned his eyes back on the letter he was writing.
“Can I help you my boy?”
The Shadow Fox slammed her hands down on the desk. Calmly, Chaplen picked up the books that had fallen over and steadied the inkwell.
“Yes,” she growled. “You can release Jacob Sumpter from prison.”
He made no response.
“You know perfectly well that he is not the Shadow Fox.”
He didn’t look up. “Do I?”
Robyn spun around, seething. Balling her hands into fists, she turned back to him. “I wouldn’t be here asking for my own release if I wasn’t in prison!”
A slight smile crossed his face. “This really angers you, doesn’t it?”
The Shadow Fox turned her head so he wouldn’t see the anger on her face.
“Of course,” he said, with just the slightest hint of a sneer in his voice, “If you really want him back, I would be more than happy to take you as a substitute.”
The Shadow Fox turned to him. He had moved from behind the desk and was now lounging against the front of it. Smiling, he pushed himself off desk and circled around behind her. She tensed, but did not turn.
“Or you can hide and let him hang in your place like the coward you are.”
Chaplen circled back around the face him. His eyes flicked to the boy’s right hand. It was gripping the sword hilt so tightly his knuckles were turning white.
Agent Chaplen smiled. He was winning.
Just then, Ben came running in. Taking stock of the situation in seconds, he wrapped his arms around the Shadow Fox’s shoulders and hissed something in his ears. Then, hands on the boy’s shoulders, Benjamin Rivers spun his around and marched him out the door, leaving Agent Chaplen slightly peeved that he hadn’t even bothered to acknowledge him.
~~~~~
Once in the barn, Ben thwacked her on the back of her head. “You idiot!”
“I agree.” Sovay was sitting fully dressed on a hay bale.
Neither Robyn nor Ben knew how she had gotten there, and both were too angry to care.
Ben turned and glared at his sister. “If I had known you were going to charge down stairs, hackles raised, I wouldn’t have told you!”
Robyn gritted her teeth.
Ben grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. “He could have killed you! He could have discovered your identity!”
The Shadow Fox hung her head, knowing he was right.
Seeing she understood, Ben lowered his voice. “I understand why you were angry, but I don’t want to lose you.”
She nodded solemnly, and he released her.
“Well,” said Sovay,” now that we have that settled, let’s figure out how we’re going to rescue this Jacob Sumpter.”
“’We’re?’ I don’t think so.”
“Only me. You girls are going to stay here.”
“Oh, are you going to try to stop me?”
“As the man of the house—“
“Cousins, I want in on this, too!”
“Sovay, you’re staying here.”
“And so are you, Benjamin Rivers.”
“He’s my friend—“
“I’m the one who got him into this!”
“No, I am!”
Both girls grew quiet. Ben rubbed his arm slightly. He looked guiltily at his sister. “I got lonely while you were gone, and Jacob came to visit. We started talking. He asked lots of questions about the patriot point of view.” He looked away. “He’s on our side, now, and Agent Chaplen over heard us one time. His father—a stout loyalist, you know—talked to Chaplen about his concerns. It’s possible that he’s attempting to shake Jacob out of the rebel camp while setting a trap for you.”
Robyn nodded. “It’s highly possible that he could have a double motive.”
“Alright, thus far we’ve figured out that he’s in jail because of you two, but we have not figured out how we are going to rescue him.” Sovay held up a hand to stop them from speaking. “We’re all going. That means Ben, the Shadow Fox, and myself—who doesn’t have a nom de guerre, yet.” She frowned at them. “And that’s settled.”
No one argued.
-----
Oh my word. I LOVE Sovay. She is hilarious. She must have a bat-pole or something, because she always pops up in different clothes. She's great. She also has Time-Lord pockets or a Marry Poppins bag. Just wait. She pulls stuff out of nowhere.
This chapter was interesting to write. You see the more reckless side of Robyn, and you see Agent Chaplen winning. There was a lot of tension going on.
Anyway. See ya'll next week! Same bat-time, same bat-site!
~C.P.
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