At the next stop, Seth voluntarily rode inside the carriage. The 'master minstrel' had barely spoken to his apprentice the entire trip. Which had been two days. He didn't seem to care much what Seth was up to, at least as long as he, himself, could talk with and entertain the guards (he'd been a little upset the night Walnut and James stole the spotlight).
In any case, now Seth was brimming with excitement as he fidgeted in the carriage. Finally everyone returned and he burst out, "Guess what? Will, the carriage driver—"
"We know. We heard everything through the wall," Char said, extinguishing his delight. "What do you think of it?" Beth shrugged. She thought it didn't really matter, but knew the others would. So, as usual, she kept her thoughts to herself.
Seth answered. "I'm sure you've heard the tales of the Barnesdale outlaws. So you know they're rarely up to any good. I bet this is no exception."
"So? What can we do, locked in a carriage with no weapons?" wondered Char.
"We have two knives and a fork," Seth said defensively. Char rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, we don't even know if he has a plan," Beth began.
"Uh, you might want to take that back," James said. Outside the stopped carriage, Will was whacking the guards efficiently over the head with a large rock. Now all six, plus the minstrel, were strewn unconscious at the edge of the road. A number of men in yellow came from behind the carriage. They swept aside some undergrowth to reveal several deep holes. All seven of those on the ground were shoved in. The four in the carriage were clustered around the glassless window. Seth was nearly falling out. James petted Walnut absently, leaning around Seth to view the scene. Beth and Char waited patiently for a little while, then Char shoved the boys aside and she and Beth saw the Men in Yellow try to slip unnoticed into the forest. Their suits weren't helping them.
The carriage jolted and began to bump along the narrow forest road again.
"We still don't know their plan," Beth mumbled.
When they were next allowed out of their rolling prison, it was one at a time. Three days had passed since they'd left Selby. The estimated travel time had been five days. Somehow Beth doubted this would be realistic now. Then she thought of another thing.
"What is it?" Char asked, seeing the worry on Beth's face.
"Just a thought." The two exchanged looks. Char knew the problem instantly. She sent a glance back. Beth stared at Char.
"Any chance you two could use words?" James asked.
"No," said Char.
"If I don't get to Barnanbas in two days, he'll find some way to blame it on my father and wage a war. I don't know if father will surrender or not, but either way, it won't turn out well," Beth responded.
"Oh," Seth said.
"But how would it have been different if you'd escaped?" James wondered.
"It wouldn't have, but Seth contaminated everyone with his stupid escape plot so we couldn't think straight," Char told him, glaring at Seth. Seth wisely scooted to the side of the carriage farthest for Char.
A few hours of arguing, playing with Walnut, and being bored later, the carriage jerked to a stop. The men in yellow (who'd been following on horseback) blindfolded the four kids. Walnut slipped into Char's pocket. They tripped and stumbled as the guards led them to what they assumed would be Barnabas's hide-out. The slapping branches and snagging thorns (that caused more than one curse from Char) grew more common as they walked.
"Took long enough," Seth grumbled once they'd stopped. Their blindfolds were removed. A good look at their surroundings would have revealed lots of trees, brambles, and numerous holes, some uncovered and some partially strewn with branches and so forth. Of course, they were not allowed a good look, as they were immediately pushed into a hole, dug by the massive roots of an oak and tunneling down at a slant.
"Wow—rather spacious down here," James said. His mind changed when Beth, Char, Seth and Walnut were sharing the black-as-pitch burrow.
"Oh, move OVER!"
"YOU are TAKING MY AIR!"
"MOVE!"
"You're in my space!"
"Mrow!"
While Char, Seth, Walnut, and even mild-tempered James engaged in this exchange, Beth stood, being jostled and feeling alarmed. Once everyone had settled sufficiently, Char heard her lady sigh.
"Ha! This time you can't see each other, so you'll have to speak aloud!" Seth crowed. Char glared in Seth's general direction, but nevertheless questioned Beth in words.
"Did you see something?" she asked, correctly interpreting the sigh.
"Yes. Just for a second. But someone bearing a startling resemblance to Barnabas was standing by one of the trees."
"What does he look like again?" Seth asked. "I've only seen him once."
Not trusting Char to answer civilly, Beth replied, "He's big, hairy, fat, disgusting, and stubborn as a donkey." Seth was now even more alarmed than Beth.
"What now?" Char asked irritably when Seth muttered an 'uh-oh'. James continued to stroke Walnut, trying to calm the kitten.
"That happens to be the description a certain ballad I know gives of Bernard, the unscrupulous Robin Hood wannabe. He's not so concerned with honor and the poor, as Robin Hood is, though."
"Sure. Scoot over, Beth," Char said doubtfully.
"I don't know," mused James. "It's possible that Bernard the Bandit and Barnabas the Bad Baron of Barnesdale are one and the same." Beth shrugged again, accidentally nudging Char, who lost her balance and tumbled into James, who dropped the kitten, who yowled and leapt onto Seth, who had a good scare and shrieked, which scared poor Walnut even more, which made Walnut head straight for a dirt wall, which happened to collapse when all four of the humans also fell on it. Fortunately none fell on Walnut.
The collapsed wall revealed more darkness, but had it been visible, it would have looked like an underground cave, with roots hanging from the ceiling and sticking out of the walls. It had a smaller tunnel branching up from one of the walls to the surface. However, it was blocked off, so even if they'd been able to see, they wouldn't have been able to get out. Instead, they looked at where their faces ought to be. With one accord, they charged into the next wall of dirt they met, coming upon an open upwards-sloping tunnel. They crawled up it, straight into the middle of the outlaws of Barnesdale.