anyone thinking of entering the teaching profession. No matter how well you do in college
and no matter how well you do on you teacer certification exams, and no matter how well
you do in student teaching...you will never be prepared for your first year. Argh!
Anyway, here's chapter 6. Hope
you enjoy it. Constructive criticism of either persuation
would be greatly appreciated. Since I wrote this
over a long persiod of time, I'm afraid
it might be a bit sijointed. You'd let me know
if it was confusing, right?
Chapter 6
Over the years, Piper grew from
a thin, willful wild child into a strong, confident woman.
By the age of seventeen, she had won the trust of the
entire company of Sheriff's guards.
Even Bear seemed to grudgingly accept her ability. She had proved herself as an accomplished
archer, rider, and sword fighter. She still had
difficulty in hand to hand combat, but she was
learning. She was improving. She could hold
her own in a fight.
She patrolled with the guards
now as well. Twice a week she would march into town
with them, wearing a uniform and carrying a sword. The people of the town, who once
tormented the wiry little girl with the fiery disposition,
no longer questioned her conspicuous
presence. They no longer mocked the young woman
wearing unseemly male clothing. She
had proved herself to them one day when she was fifteen.
On that day, she stopped a petty
thief from leaving town with a chicken, stolen from a
local merchant; not a Herculean event,
but impressive for an unarmed girl of fifteen.
A lot of the town's acceptance
of her had to do with Much. Older now too, with short
sandy blond hair, a quiet disposition, and a hint of
his old humor hidden deep within calm
green eyes, he was a respected, if humble citizen. He knew everyone, and everyone listened
to him. If someone had a problem, they would go
to him for advice. He let started talk with
the most influential members of town, telling them that
Piper would make an excellent, if
unconventional guard. He never mentioned his theory
that someday, she would make an
excellent wife as well.
As Piper and Much grew, so did
their relationship, from a strong friendship into something
a little deeper. Neither was certain that they
wanted to call it love, but from certain angles, it
could certainly appear as such.
As had become her habit, Piper
walked to the stables after her training with Bear. She
wasn't marching with the guards today, so she was going
for a ride. "Horses need exercise
too." She would insist.
She took her horse out past the
gates of Mark Manor. They moved along at a relaxed
canter down the road towards Nottingham. Only,
they weren't going to Nottingham. At
a fork in the road, she turned right, the path that would
lead to Sherwood Forest. It was
then that she decided to pick up the pace, encouraging
her horse into a gallop. She loved
riding when there was no one else around. She felt so free. Suddenly, there were no
expectations; no battles to win; nothing to prove.
As she rode, she closed her eyes
briefly, reveling in the sensation of the wind on her
face. She sighed in complete ease. When she reached the edge of the forest, she slowed
her horse down. No sense in barreling through the
underbrush and injuring the poor animal.
Piper ambled for fifteen minutes
through the dense outskirts of the forest, until she came
to a small clearing. There, she set her horse to
graze. She wandered around the clearing
slowly, enjoying the quiet and the fresh air. She
didn't hear as a figure approached stealthily
from behind. Suddenly, she was thrown forward by
a heavy weight. She found herself
pinned to the ground, musical laughter floating to her
from behind.
"Much!" She growled, squirming
for freedom. She finally managed to aim a well placed
elbow into his chest, throwing him off. She clambered
to her ffaster than Much, but before
she could walk away, he grabbed her ankle, tumbling her
back to the ground.
They went on like this for nearly
ten minutes. After all the years they had known each
other, their fighting abilities were still equally matched,
which meant that these wrestling
matches could go on forever sometimes. Neither
one was willing to give up the fight.
This time, however, Piper managed to pin Much down until
he pleaded for mercy.
"I give up!" He laughed. Piper smiled with self satisfaction. "Good." She helped
him up, and they spent the rest of the afternoon talking
and laughing about pranks past
that they played on adults in the village.
When the shadows in the forest
began to grow long, Piper sighed and turned back to
her horse. "I have to go." she grumbled. Much reached for her hand and held it lightly.
"Stay for just a minute longer." She squeezed his
hand and then pulled away. "Have
to." She called over her shoulder. "They'll
be missing the horse."
**********
Piper returned to t he Manor
as the lights were being lit in the windows. She took
the horse to the stables, where she unsaddled, brushed
and watered it. By the time she
was done, her stomach was protesting loudly from neglect.
She stumbled into the kitchen
where Milly was cleaning. The older woman glared at
Piper. "Are yeh ever plannin' on arrivin' on time
for diner?" Piper's lateness had been
a topic for ongoing debate. Milly's routine berating
had lost it's effect on Piper years ago.
She ignored the comment and started rummaging through
the kitchen for anything edible.
She was rewarded with some bread and luke warm stew.
As she ate, Milly worked around
her, collecting dishes to be washed and preparing
the food for the next day. They ignored each other;
a mutual agreement; while each went
about their own business. Just before Piper finished
eating, Milly mentioned, casually "Oh,
I almost forgot; the Master wishes to speak to yeh. He didn't say why. He hasn't been
looking pleased these last few days." Piper looked
up, sharply. "Yeh'd better go."
Milly softened her voice, trying to reassure the young
woman in front of her. Piper threw
the last bite of bread into the near-empty bowl and ran
out of the kitchen.
Since their first meeting years
ago, Philip had called Piper to his chambers to speak with
her many times. He liked to keep track of her progress
in training. It was in one of those
meetings that she was assigned to her her probationary
guard duty. Normally a meeting
ike this would cause her no anxiety, but recently the
Sheriff had become withdrawn and
more unpleasant than ever. It was common to hear
him yelling through the halls at whomever
he met. He had sent Sarah into tears at least three
times in the past week alone.
There was, of course, speculation. Everyone had their own theory as to why Philip had
turned colder than ever. Most suspected that it
had something to do with the Lionheart.
King Richard had been taken prisoner in the Holy Land
right before the Lord of the Manor's
sudden change of disposition. Piper agreed with
that widely accepted theory, but she also
believed that there was something else.
"Philip, you're insane! You're absolutely mad!" Piper recognized the voice of Robert
Locksley once again as she neared the Sheriff's chamber. It sounded like they were having
another argument. Piper felt like listening would
be an intrusion, but her curious nature kept
her in the hallway, listening.
"You know nothing about it." The Sheriff spat back. "I'm doing this for Richard."
Locksley laughed at that. "Do you really believe that the money will be used to rescue
Richard? John has wanted the throne since Richard
left. Now Richard is captive and John
has a convenient excuse to bleed the people dry of any
wealth they might have!"
"They have sent a ransom! What do you propose we do? Ignore it? Let them kill
the king? John is in temporary custody of the throne
and he has asked that the taxes be
raised to pay for Richard's ransom. I am going
to do what needs to be done."
"Then you have made an enemy
of the Saxon people. They know what John wants
and they won't betray the king like that. They
won't pay the taxes."
There was silence. No wonder
the Sheriff was so angry. They had probably been
arguing over this since the king had been captured. Piper crept closer to the door, for
the Sheriff's voice had become cold and very quiet. "Make no mistake, Robert. I am
the law. Any man breaking that law will be held
accountable for it. The punishment
will be very severe."
"Really?" Locksley's voice matched Philip's for it's quiet calm.
Piper backed away from the door
as footsteps approached. Robert Locksley threw
open the door and swept out, much as he had years ago. He stopped when he saw her
against the wall. Their eyes locked and Piper saw something that
she'd never seen before;
pure, blind hatred. Locksley was no longer Phillip's
friend.
Piper didn't enter the room immediately. It was very quiet inside and she wanted to
leave her guardian some time to calm down after his previous
meeting. After what seemed
like hours to her, Piper cautiously pushed open the door. Inside, she saw the Sheriff sitting
at his large desk. His head rested in his hand
and his long dark hair had fallen in front of
his face. He looked fragile and tired. It
was odd seeing him like that.
He hadn't heard the door open
up, so Piper announced her presence. "Sir?" She
spoke gently. Philip raised his head at the sound. "You asked to see me, sir?"
Recognition passed over his face and once again he bore
the calm facade he was known for.
"Piper. Yes, come in." She pushed the door the rest of the way open, and walked
into the chamber, coming to rest before the Sheriff at
his desk.
"Piper, it's time that we discuss
some very important matters. You're about seventeen
now?" She nodded. He thought for a moment,
then began talking to himself. "It's past
marrying age, but I'm certain something can be arranged."
What?> Her heart started
racing. What have I done wrong? Why am I not a
guard? He wants to marry me off! I'll be
a wife and I'll have to cook and clean and
bear children. Children? Never! I'll
have to run away! Why is he punishing me?>
"Sir." She began. "I know I can be a better guard. I'll take care of all the horses.
I'll clean the weapons. Please sir, give me just
one more chance. I've gotten better at
hand to hand combat and I'm better than almost everyone
at archery. Sir, please."
To her own credit, her voice remained calm. Very
little of the fear, anger or desperation
that she was feeling was apparent in her voice.
Philip raised his eyebrows, a
gesture t hat Piper came to understand meant that he
was listening carefully to what she said. "You
still want to be a guard that badly?"
"Yes sir."
"And you have no desire to marry?"
At this she paused. She
thought of Much. If she had to marry someone, he would
be her first choice. She didn't think the Sheriff
would approve. She paused, but only
for a second. "Yes sir."
The Sheriff rose from his desk
and began pacing the room. He seemed to think
that it was time for a change of topic. "Did you
hear what Lord Locksley and I were
discussing?"
The question threw Piper. She didn't know what the correct answer was. Should
she answer truthfully, or would that displease the Sheriff?
"Yes, I did sir, some of it." She was never very good at lying. The truth was always
the safer option.
The Sheriff nodded, satisfied,
then asked "Do you think I am wrong in raising the
taxes to pay King Richard's ransom?"
Piper thought carefully before
she answered. She didn't know what the Sheriff was
getting at, but whatever it was, her answer to this question
might have a direct impact
on her future. "I think you are right in trying
to help the King. I also think that paying
the ransom is the best chance we have of seeing him safely
returned. But..." She
trailed off. She wasn't sure she should continue.
"Continue." The Sheriff
said evenly. Piper felt sick. "Well sir, I've hear people talk.
What they're saying...well...I really know nothing about
it and shouldn't say, but...I don't
trust Prince John. I don't believe he means to
help his brother."
"And if I asked you to imprison a man for failure to pay Prince John's tax?"
"I would sir."
There was a long pause in which
Piper thought that her heart would break out of her
ribcage. The Sheriff said nothing. He just
watched her. Then finally, he moved back
behind his desk. He pulled out a thick book and
began to write. As he wrote, he spoke.
"You may some day be in that position. My decisions
may not always agree with you,
but you must know this. What I do, I do for Richard
and for the good of the nation. I
will never betray the true King, no matter what it may
seem." He regarded her thoughtfully
as he closed the book again. "Perhaps one day soon
I will explain that further. But for
now, I think you will be satisfied with my decision to
induct you into my guards." He
waved his hand in the air, distractedly. "There. You're inducted. I expect you at the
training field tomorrow morning, at the same time you
were there before you were a guard."
Piper wasn't certain what just
happened, but something deep inside of her reminded
her to react. "Thank you sir. You won't be
disappointed."
"That remains to be seen." A brief flash of a smile passed over the Sheriff's face
before it faded away again.
Piper thanked him several more
times as she backed out the door. Upon the Sheriff's
request, she closed the door behind her. As soon
as she was out of his sight, she jumped
in the air and silently mouthed an entire array of exaltations.
She was a guard!