Robyn was in-between a sword and a wall.
“Tell me; are those pirates friends of yours?”
Pirates? Then she remembered. Sovay had thought that dressing up like a pirate would be a good disguise. “I don’t know any pirates,” she replied calmly. “However, as you can see, I am not Jacob, and Jacob is not me.”
James Chaplen laughed coldly. “I never thought he was, my dear boy.
“So you still haven’t a clue who I am.”
It wasn’t a question, and Chaplen heard the smirk in her voice. He pushed harder with the sword. Gasping, Robyn arched her back as she felt the tip prick the skin between her shoulder blades. A drop of blood slowly made its merry way down her back.
Jacob glanced between the two. “Since you can see I’m not the Shadow Fox, can I leave?”
Agent Chaplen was obviously thrown off by this question. “Um, yes.”
“Thank you.”
Robyn frowned at him, then sighed.“You will tell Benjamin Rivers what happened to me, will you not?”
Jacob turned and grinned at her. “He’ll find out when he see you hung on the morrow.”
Her mouth dropped open in surprise. She had not expected that in the slightest. Agent Chaplen laughed. “ See how ungrateful he is, my little fox?”
Jacob turned and—whistling—strode out the jail house door.
“Long!” Chaplen yelled. He glanced at the young lad on the unfriendly end of his sword. By the dim light, he could see his opponent was wearing the blonde wig, again. He chuckled very quietly, guessing the boy had also covered his face with stage make-up to alter his appearance. He was a master of disguise.
Long suddenly appeared, holding a length of rope in one hand, and a pistol in the other. He shrugged slightly. “I didn’t know which one you would need, sir.”
The Shadow Fox chuckled. The chuckle turned into a gasp when Chaplen cut it short by cruelly twisting the boy’s left arm behind his back. The boy stood on his tiptoes, trying to escape the painful position. The agent sheathed his sword and pulled the boy’s other arm behind his back. Long quickly took over and Chaplen bound his wrists, pulling the rope tight so that it bit into the Shadow Fox’s skin.
He grinned and hissed, “Checkmate.”
The boy winced.
Thoughtfully, the agent eyed the boy’s hands for a few seconds. He knew that one can learn a lot by examining hands. This particular pair had small cuts and scars, but there was something off about them.
Long cleared his throat, breaking into Chaplen’s thoughts. The agent reached around the Shadow Fox’s waist and unbuckled his sword belt. Looking the boy up and down for other weapons, he noticed a knife in his right boot. Chaplen removed it. Smiling, the agent grabbed a handful of the Redcoat uniform and pushed the Shadow Fox out into the night. A squadron of soldiers quickly fell in step around them.
“Well, I’m flattered. I didn’t know I needed a whole squadron of men to march me here and there.”
“Cocky to the finish.” He gripped the boy’s shoulder tighter. “Don’t you get it, boy? I’ve won!”
“Have you? Have you really? Then tell me, agent, what is my name?”
The man stopped, surprising the soldiers, and grabbed the Shadow Fox’s chin, forcing him to look the agent in the eye. “Why don’t you tell me? I’ve won fair and square.”
He grinned. “My name is Daniel Dale.”
At first, Chaplen wondered if the boy was serious, but then he remembered that was the name the he had given him when the agent had first seen this disguise. He doubted the lad was telling the truth. The agent wanted the dunk his head in a barrel of water and wash all the makeup off his face, but he wondered if that would even help. After all, he was not even certain if he had seen the boy without a disguise. Surely he had. The Shadow Fox had to have some connection with the Rivers. Chaplen just needed to find it.
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Yikes! Has Robyn's scheming finally got her captured and defeated? Is this the end?! It seems like I'm always asking that. Hmmmm....
Yes, I know it's Thursday. Monday ate me for breakfast, Tuesday ate me with tea, and Wednesday dunked me in chocolate and had me for desert.
Anyway, I have two tests tomorrow, so I'll be off! You all how a lovely day.
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