Robyn quickly made a head count of the soldiers. Eight, not counting Chaplen. The odds were nearly in her favor. The Shadow Fox smiled.
Chaplen noticed. He did not like that smile. “You can smirk all you want, but you will not escape.”
There was a sharp clang, a groan, then an, “Oh! My!”
Sovay brought the pommel of her sword down on a second soldier. “Do not just stand there, idiot! Keep swinging that pan!”
Alice hit a second soldier over the head with her pan. As she did so, she could not help musing that attacking people with pans was much easier in breeches than in a skirt.
Jack and Jacob quickly reclaimed their weapons and set to work. Midnight trotted into the fray, Ben and Robyn’s swords on her back. She nickered a greeting to her rider. Robyn waved, and jabbed the nearest Redcoat with her small knife.
Suddenly, Chaplen was in front of her, sword drawn. Facing him with such a small knife did not look like fun in Robyn’s opinion and Midnight was out of her reach.
Sovay whistled. Robyn spun around in time to catch her sword. Sovay bowed. Smiling, Robyn turned and buckled on her sword belt. She drew her sword.
Chaplen nodded to the fray around him. Sovay spun like a dancer, sword whirling; Jack and Jacob stabbed and thrust; Ben faced off against Captain Long; Patriot and Midnight worked as a team, harassing the general redcoat populace with kicks and bites; and Alice bashed people over the head with her pan.
“I take it this was part of your plan?”
Robyn bowed with a flourish. “Naturally we allowed for you discovering the first part of my plan.”
“So, some how you had yourself arrested, drugged the jailer, switched the guards, picked the locks, and escaped, allowing for the probable chance of me to be waiting for you outside.”
The Shadow Fox grinned. “Precisely.”
Chaplen recognized the tone as the same one he had used earlier when speaking to Ben. This boy was starting to get on his nerves. “Your friends may escape, but you will not!”
He struck like a serpent. Robyn just brought her sword up in time. They spun in their deadly dance, parrying, blocking, striking, stabbing.
The others made short work of the remaining conscious soldiers. Once they were all drooling in the snow, the group made ready to leave.
Sovay motioned to Midnight. “Ben, get on Midnight and ride out the gate. Go to General Washington’s camp. You can stay there until the Redcoats leave.”
Ben firmly shook his head. “No. He refused to leave me, so I will not leave him.” He nodded to the rest of them. “You all scatter. Go back to your homes.”
“But—“ Sovay began.
“I am second in command here. Do as I say.”
No one even bothered to argue the point. They swiftly dispersed, scattering in their separate directions.
Ben turned back to the swordfight. Robyn was a truly amazing swordsman, but they needed to go home. Once there was a lull in the fight, he acted. He pounced on his sister, grabbed her around the waist and took off.
“Hey! Put me down you idiot!”
Paying no heed to her complaints, he set his sister on Midnight. Quickly mounting the horse, he clicked his tongue. Once sure her humans were safely on her back, Midnight sprang into a gallop, leaving Agent Chaplen far behind.
~~~~~
Ben and Robyn slid off of Midnight. The Rivers’ barn glowed with soft lantern light. It was warm and cozy.
Robyn embraced her brother, trying her hardest not to cry. “I was so worried about you.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “Now you know how I feel daily.”
“Oh, Ben, if they hand hung you—“ She stopped, forcing down the sob. She would not cry.
Ben suddenly released that his shirt was getting wet. He sighed. “Robyn, they did not. You saved me.”
She wiped her eyes with a dirty sleeve. “Right. Now you need to go—“
“Now, I am not going anywhere.”
“You have to—“
“No, I do not. You would not leave me, now would you?”
Robyn shook her head.
“I will not leave either. I will stay here with you.”
“If they find you—“
“They will not.”
“Where will you hide?”
Ben bent near his sister’s ear. “You know that closet adjoining my room in the house that is locked, and the key is said to be lost?”
“Aye.”
“I will stay there, but you will have to bring me food and water.”
“I will.”
“Now, let us get inside before Agent Chaplen returns.”
Agent Chaplen pressed himself up against the shadows as the pair exited. Thoughtfully, he watched them leave. He had not heard the entire conversation—where Ben was planning to hide, for instance—but he had heard the affection. The brotherhood between those two was intense. Chaplen could not think of anyone Ben cared for more—except Robyn, perhaps. The man sighed. They might leave on the morrow. It seemed as if he had lost the game.
-----
YOU ALL JUST LOST THE GAME! Mwahahahahahahahaaaa!
Ahem. New chapter is on time! Oh, yes. I put it on my to-do list, heh heh.
What is this nonsense? Is Agent Chaplen just giving up? He doesn't seem like the quitting type, does he?
Find out next week!!
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