Chapter 8: Thomas's secret

The following morning Will opened the door to the camp, revealing a cloudless blue sky. After a quick breakfast the two left, heading east towards Nettlestone in order to begin their investigations.

The forest smelt fresh, as if the heavy downpour had washed away the lingering traces of dirt and filth, leaving sparkling green leaves and cleansed brown bark in its wake. Every time a breeze blew through the canopy thousands of shimmering water droplets cascaded from the leaves, and by the time the two outlaws emerged from the cover of the trees they were soaked through.

As the village came into sight Will's pace slowed until eventually he faltered, almost tripping over his own feet, and came to a stop. Cassie realised a couple of paces later and paused as well, looking over her shoulder at the carpenter, whose face was alive with emotion. His eyes were a blur; sad, happy, wistful and apprehensive all at once.

"Will?" She spoke his name softly, realising that telling him to stop being such a slowpoke would not be the best approach.

Will didn't seem to hear her, his eyes still fixed on the cluster of buildings ahead. Cassie shifted her weight from one foot to the other, unsure of what to do next. Cautiously she raised a hand and waved it in front of his face.

The man before her blinked suddenly, jerking his head back as if to avoid the fingers that flickered in front of his eyes. As her hand came into focus he flicked his gaze to Cassie. "Let's go," he said, but his actions did not match his words and he remained frozen, as if rooted to the ground.

"Will?" Cassie repeated softly. "What is it?"

"Nettlestone," he replied, gesturing with one hand as if she wasn't aware of the village a hundred yards away. "It's where Djaq and I…" His voice trailed off, eyes returning to the village, following a plume of smoke as it emerged from a chimney and drifted upwards.

Cassie gave an internal groan, cursing herself for being so insensitive. She had been told of the events of that fateful night, the admissions of Djaq and Will made in dim barn amongst the hay and the cobwebs.

"Where do we start?" Will said suddenly, forcing himself to begin walking again.

Cassie stared at him, then decided to follow his lead and fell into step with him as she shrugged. "I don't really have a plan."

"Great," Will replied. "This should be fun."

As they approached the village a small group of children that had been playing by the stream caught sight of them and came running.

"You haven't been to see us for ages!" one girl told Will, wagging her finger at him accusingly.

"I've been away," he told her, dropping to one knee so he was at her eye level.

"Where did you go?" she asked with wide eyes, amazed at the prospect of journeying further than the boundaries of the village.

"Across the sea," he replied, smiling as her eyes widened even further.

Cassie squatted down beside Will. "Are you all alright?" she asked. "Since the fire?" Six dusty faces nodded back solemnly at her. "I was wondering, that morning, did you notice anyone missing from the village?"

"I don't know, we were playing," the girl told her. The others nodded their agreement, apart from one small boy, who bit his lower lip. The girl looked at him. "You weren't, Thomas. What were you doing?"

"I was in the forest," he whispered.

Cassie and Will exchanged looks as the girl, impatient of the serious talk, grabbed Will's hand. "Come and play with us!" she urged, tugging at him. "We're playing outlaws!"

Will stood up and let the crowd of children drag him towards the stream, arguing over which outlaw each of them would play. Only Thomas stayed, scuffing at the ground with one foot.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Thomas?" Cassie asked quietly. "Did you see someone in the forest?" He nodded, still staring down at the ground. "Was it the Sheriff? Or one of his men?"

She and Will had spent the previous evening discussing the fire, exhausting all possibilities. They had come to the conclusion that the most likely, and perhaps most sinister, explanation would be that it was a plot by the Sheriff to dispose of the village.

Thomas shook his head and Cassie breathed a sigh of relief. "He didn't mean to burn down the village," he whispered. "I know he didn't."

"He?" Cassie repeated sharply, then saw the fearful look in the small boy's eyes and softened her tone. "Who was it, Thomas?"

"He didn't mean to hurt anyone!" Thomas cried. "It was an accident, it must have been an accident, he's my friend."

Cassie reached out and took his small hands in her own. "Who is your friend?"

"Tristan," Thomas whispered, the name escaping from his lips as if it were a forbidden word that he had summoned the energy to utter. "He lives in the forest, but he's nice to me, he shows me how to catch rabbits!"

"Why does he live in the forest?" Cassie asked. "Is he an outlaw like me?"

Thomas shook his head. "No, he didn't do anything wrong. His family, they all died, and it was the village's fault! They didn't protect them. So he left, and he lives in the forest. It's a secret though, you can't tell anyone. He's hiding."

"And he's your friend?"

"Yes. I found him a few months ago, and I go to play with him now. He's my best friend," Thomas declared.

"What happened two days ago?" Cassie asked quietly. "Did you see him?"

Thomas nodded, biting his lower lip nervously. "I went to play with him and I saw him, he was making a fire. I said his name and he ran away." His lip trembled. "He ran away from me!"

Cassie reached out wordlessly and drew the boy into a hug. "Thank you for telling me. You did the right thing."

Thomas looked at her with frightened eyes. "You aren't going to tell anyone are you? It's a secret," he demanded.

"I'm just going to talk to him," Cassie assured him as she stood up. She knew she couldn't promise to keep his secret; if her suspicions were correct, this Tristan had intended for the village to go up in flames. She offered Thomas a hand. "Let's go and play," she suggested, leading him over to where Will had been cast as a villain and was play fighting with a stick in lieu of a sword.

As Thomas declared "I want to play Robin!" and caused an outcry in the group of children, Cassie turned to Will.

"I know who started the fire," she told him. "We need to find him. Now."

Author's Note: I really don't have anything to say today. My brain has actually been fried by revision. I hope that everyone who had exams this week has done okay, and isn't too stressed!

Thank you as ever for the lovely reviews :)