Chapter 4"Donnie tae horses!" Douglas grabbed his brother's forearm.
"What?" Donald hissed back, putting a finger to his lips to remind his sibling to be quiet.
"Glen an' Skye, we need to take em"
Donald frowned. Their horses were large Clydesdales, and would give them a lot of ground. Plus they cared for their equine companions dearly. But horses of their size would never fit comfortably through the forest, and were easily traceable.
"Dougie we ... we have tae leave them"
In the moonlight, Douglas' eyes grew wide.
"L-leave them? B-but one o' tae reason's ah'm runnin' is so ah dinnae have tae give Skye up ..."
Donald bit his lip. He didn't like the idea of leaving Glen behind any more than Douglas wanted to leave Skye. Donald and Douglas had been given the two foals when their mother's prize mare had given birth to twins. Maggie had seen it as fate and given each of her own twins their share.
"C-can we at least say goodbye to them?" Douglas' voice was unusually high, shaky slightly. Donald felt a bit like that himself.
"We have to cover as much ground as possible before they wake up, it'll be harder tae walk"
"Please" Douglas insisted, tugging Donald's forearms in the direction of the stable. The prince sighed, then nodded and followed his brother to their steeds. The twin Clydesdale's nickered in greeting, but were quickly shushed by the princes, who spent a short while stroking their sturdy muzzles and saying goodbye. Douglas held onto Skye's muzzle a while longer, and wouldn't move until Donald reminded him why they were fleeing again, and that Finlay would look after the horses. Then, farewells over, the two princes looked at each other, nodded, and left the stable. One of the horses neighed loudly as they retreated, and Donald and Douglas broke into a run towards the glen.
*****
"Great idea tae flee in a storm"
"Wee whist man, how was ah supposed tae know?"
"It wouldnae have hurt tae bring a few more supplies"
"It wouldnae hurt if ye shut yer gob"
The two brothers had been walking for what felt like hours. Their calves were caked with thick mud, and both had a share of scratches on their shoulders from overhanging branches. The lining of Douglas's sash was fraying slightly from where it caught in the brambles as they pushed into the forest. Above them loomed large pine trees, whose knobbly trunks' leered down like faces as distant lightning illuminated them. Rain thundered down on all sides, creating pools of combined mud and pine needles. Every so often one of the princes would step onto a pine cone, and curse. Both prayed they wouldn't encounter any wild animals – especially not hungry ones.
"We're gonna need tae rest soon Donnie" Douglas yelled over the wind and rain, brushing needles from his hair "We cannae keep goin' in this weather, and the rain marks our tracks"
He pointed to where a line of footprints had sunk into the mud.
"We need tae get out tae forest Dougie, then we can rest"
"Do ye even know how big tae forest is? We might still have days ahead o' us!"
Donald paused, leaning against a large boulder. His brother spoke sense, they had no idea how large the forest was, and both were tired and soaked. He turned back around, just as lighting striked the pine tree Douglas stood under.
"OUT TAE WAY!" Was all Douglas heard as he felt his brother's body slam against his and send him sprawling backwards into a particularly large muddy puddle, soaking him to the skin with oozing sludge.
"Donnie what in the – DONALD!" Douglas sat up, ignoring the feeling of slimy mire that coated him.
His brother was trapped under the pine tree that had fallen, the trunk pressed firmly on top of Donald's chest. The prince grunted in pain, attempting to shift the log, but his strength was being sapped out of him by the crushing mass on his ribs.
"Donald ah'll get ye out!" Douglas slammed himself against the log. It shifted a little, but he could not lift it. Donald groaned louder with pain, his breathing more shallow, and his eyes welling with tears.
"D-Dougie ... g-go on man!"
"Ah'm no leavin' ye Donnie!" The prince shoved the log again, but it still wouldn't give way. "Ah fer fook sake, HELP"
"Donnie are ye mad? There's no one h-here! And if ye s-shout they'll find us!" Donald's breathing was frighteningly thin, and he kept coughing.
"Ah'd rather go back than lose ye man! HELP! SOMEONE! O'ER HERE!"
"Douglas fer Scotland's sake man no-one c-"
Both princes suddenly quietened down. They could hear voices approaching. Quiet, but definitely human.
"Now ye've done it" Donald slammed his palm into his face. "Ye had yer chance man"
"Over here!"
"Where?"
"Other way! No, OTHER other way"
"Nae that's not the clans man, they're not even Scottish" Douglas frowned, puzzled. But he was right. The two voices were not like their own, or any they'd heard before. They had a peculiar habit of rising in unpredictable places. Still, Douglas saw his chance to free his brother and called to them again.
Two figures came running from behind some trees, and the princes caught sight of two blonde men, a little shorter than the princes. They didn't have time or vision to study their features in detail just yet, and the log still needed to be moved.
"There's a bloke stuck under a log Ben"
"I can see that Bill!"
"Cor there's another one here Ben!"
"I can see that too Bill!"
The princes blinked, baffled by the strangers chatter. Donald gave another shuddering cough.
"Oof it's a bit tight" One of the newcomers stuck his hands under the upper end of the log, and the other joined "But I think we can lift it far enough for the dude to scramble out. 3 2 1 HEAVE" Both of the blonde men shoved at the log.
"Oi, muddy" One of the voices addressed Douglas "You called for help, you can supply it too"
Perplexed, Douglas gave his own strength to the cause, and Donald shoved with all his might from underneath. The log gave way and Donald scrambled out from underneath, inhaling deeply and coughing. There was a heavy indent of the log texture indented in his skin, and he was bleeding slightly, but not severely. Douglas was more worried about internal damage.
"Arm and a leg Ben?"
"Just an arm Bill, this bloke's heavy"
"Must be all the muscle"
"Concentrate you goon"
Douglas couldn't help but laugh at the peculiar sight He was glad he brother was free now. And the lightening had stopped, although the heavy rain continued. He followed the two blonde strangers to a large pine tree – the largest he'd ever seen really. There was an opening at the base of the trunk, large enough for any of them to squeeze through, and Douglas found that it was hollow inside, at least part of the way up the trunk. It was a slight squeeze, but all four fit in. The two strangers gently lay Donald to rest on a pile of soft ferns, and then one of them lit a small fire from tinders in the centre of the space. The four men gathered around it for warmth. The man who hadn't lit the fire began to rustle through some leaves in one corner of the tree. He produced a small bowl of spring water and a bandage and began to carefully wash and cover Donald's wounds.
In the light of the fire, the princes had time to observe their rescuers properly. They couldn't have been much younger than the princes, although they were on the short size for their age. There were practically identical apart from style choice, identical twins much like the princes. One of the men, the one that had tended to Donald – Bill perhaps, parted his hair on the right side of his face, so it was left to the princes. The other that had lit the fire, Ben, parted his on the left, which to Donald and Douglas looked like the right. Bill was wearing a light grey top that cut short at his elbows and a sleeveless leather waist coat over it, tied over his chest with thick string. Ben wore a full sleeve grey top, with a brown woven scarf that drooped over his left shoulder but left the right exposed. Both were slightly more tanned than the Scots, and they had dark chocolate eyes that twinkled mischievously in the embers, giving them an impish look.
"Ma brother an' ah owe ye one" Douglas eventually said to break the silence.
"You were certainly in a spot of bother" Bill chuckled. "Lucky we were there"
"Why are ye here? Ah mean ... you're obviously not from around these parts" Donald asked, wincing in pain as he tried to sit up.
"We're running from Birmingham"
"Runnin?"
"Slight bit of trouble you see. We're the bees on the run, there's a £250 reward on our heads. Hey!-"
Ben had elbowed his brother sharply in the ribs.
"Oh sure, now they'll turn us in!"
"We won't" The princes said in unison. Apart from owing the bees one, they felt a thrill in this development.
"Hm. Well it's not like we did anything that bad. Just ..."
"Borrowed a few things"
"And didn't give them back" Ben smirked, and then quickly changed the subject. "Well that's the long and short of it, what on earth are you two doing out here? You certainly don't look like the criminal kind" he added, eyeing up the prince's attire and jewellery.
"We're r-"
"Simple travellers lookin' fer a life down south!"
"Awfully fancy attire for a couple of travellers" Ben frowned.
"How many Scottish travellers have ye met laddie?"
Ben sucked in his breath.
"Touché"
"Well, it's been a long night already" Donald yawned "We can clean up in the mornin' once the rain has settled"
"There's a clean stream near here" Bill informed them, gathering dry moss from the inside of the tree and handing it to Douglas. "That'll be more comfortable than the pine needles"
Douglas nodded thankfully and curled up in one corner to sleep. Donald rested against the bark to support his back and chest, and he too began to doze. The two Brummies watched and waited till their hosts were asleep, and then they began to whisper over the dying embers.
"What do you think Bill? Can we trust them?"
"Why shouldn't we?"
"What if they're government spies? They'll trick us and take us back to England and it'll be the noose for the both of us!"
"They're Scottish for a start – besides look at that one" Bill nodded towards the injured Donald "That was hardly a trick"
"Hmph. I still think we should keep an eye – both eyes on them"
"Oh yes, but a bit of company won't hurt. Especially not handsome company like these two"
In the amber light, Ben saw his brother's cheeks flush pink, and he elbowed him sharply again.
"Ouch! What, they are very attractive, especially that shirtless Donald one~"
"He's a stranger Bill, don't you go getting ideas"
"Oh but Ben I could be his knight in shining armour~"
"Or a scruffy waist coat" Ben snorted. "Get real Bill. We need to keep our heads down"
"I'd like to keep my head down on that one's shoulder alright" Bill teased.
But Ben did not elbow him this time, because he was already fast asleep.