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Authors: Vivian Vande Velde
Tags: Ages 9 and up
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stretch of maybe ten yards, unoccupied land between the bandits' rather shabby fortress and the outer wall. The wall was stone, but it had a wooden door with a crossbeam lowered into a slot for a lock. I'd taken about two steps in that direction when another guard came strolling around the corner, unenthusiastically checking the perimeter. He was obviously as surprised to see me as I was to see him, but I had the crossbow.
I killed him before he had a chance to make an outcry.
For once Robin refrained from looting the body. Instead he ran ahead and pulled on the rope that eased the beam out of its slot.
We inched the door open and peeked outside. There was a clear area between us and the forest, and no obvious guards. But there were an awful lot of trees. An
awful
lot of shadows.
"We're sitting ducks here," Robin said. "Our best bet's to go fast."
He was right. If the trees could hide guards, they could hide us too. It was just a matter of hoping there weren't any guards, and of getting from the doorway to the forest. At a run, it should take us about five seconds. I nodded and told him, "On the count of three."
"Onetwothree," Robin said, taking all of about a quarter second to say it and to fling open the door and to start without me. I sprinted across the packed dirt toward the edge of the forest, counting off the five seconds I had estimated till safety.
One
...no sign of movement;...
two
...no shouts to stop, no clang of metal weapons, only my pounding heart;...
three
...I scanned the shadows ahead of us, aware at the same time that there might be guards behind us;...
four...
surely if there was someone there, he would have reacted by now;...
five...
the trees loomed, menacing or friendly, I couldn't be sure;
...six...
OK, so I'm a lousy estimator of distance;...
seven.
The branches whipped my arms as I pushed through them.
I took several steps more, but there was too much underbrush for mad dashing.
"Whew!" Robin leaned against my shoulder for a moment, his face sweaty but exultant.
Just off to his right, a hand pushed away a branch. Just as that registered in my race-numbed brain, a voice said, "Nice work, boys."
11. REAPPEARING ACT
Human-shaped shadows separated themselves from forest-shaped shadows. Two of them grappled with Robin, to keep his sword sheathed. Somebody seized my wrist also, even though I hadn't moved.
"Easy, easy." Our wizard, Cornelius, stepped closer to Robin, making sure we could see his face. "Don't you know your friends when you see them?"
"
When
I see them," Robin said. He pulled free from Marian, who was one of the people holding him. The other was Thea Greenleaf, and she continued to grip his arm for a couple more seconds, as though to make sure he knew that she wasn't letting go till she was good and ready to let go.
The stocky shadow by me, Feordin, had released me already. The others, Mom and Nocona, weren't there.
"What's your problem?" Cornelius demanded of us. "We came here to rescue you."
Robin glared at him. "You. You're our problem. Harek and I don't need rescuing. We're perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves,
and
"—he cut off any possible rebuttal—"
and
you might be a second-rate wizard, but you're a complete failure as a hacker."
Cornelius sputtered in angry amazement that anyone could say such a thing.
"Stop it," Thea demanded in an urgent whisper—a reminder that we might not be alone in the woods. "Just stop it."
Cornelius and Robin stood glaring at each other, both breathing hard. I stepped into the breach. "We ran into a problem—a serious problem."
"Yeah?" Feordin asked, not willing to commit himself yet. For all he knew—for all any of them knew—we'd had a rough encounter and were taking out our frustrations on them.
"We got away from the guards no problem. But we found a hole in the program."
"What do you mean—
hole?
" Cornelius asked.
Feordin elbowed him aside. "Let me handle this. What do you mean—hole?"
"We went exploring in the
I killed him before he had a chance to make an outcry.
For once Robin refrained from looting the body. Instead he ran ahead and pulled on the rope that eased the beam out of its slot.
We inched the door open and peeked outside. There was a clear area between us and the forest, and no obvious guards. But there were an awful lot of trees. An
awful
lot of shadows.
"We're sitting ducks here," Robin said. "Our best bet's to go fast."
He was right. If the trees could hide guards, they could hide us too. It was just a matter of hoping there weren't any guards, and of getting from the doorway to the forest. At a run, it should take us about five seconds. I nodded and told him, "On the count of three."
"Onetwothree," Robin said, taking all of about a quarter second to say it and to fling open the door and to start without me. I sprinted across the packed dirt toward the edge of the forest, counting off the five seconds I had estimated till safety.
One
...no sign of movement;...
two
...no shouts to stop, no clang of metal weapons, only my pounding heart;...
three
...I scanned the shadows ahead of us, aware at the same time that there might be guards behind us;...
four...
surely if there was someone there, he would have reacted by now;...
five...
the trees loomed, menacing or friendly, I couldn't be sure;
...six...
OK, so I'm a lousy estimator of distance;...
seven.
The branches whipped my arms as I pushed through them.
I took several steps more, but there was too much underbrush for mad dashing.
"Whew!" Robin leaned against my shoulder for a moment, his face sweaty but exultant.
Just off to his right, a hand pushed away a branch. Just as that registered in my race-numbed brain, a voice said, "Nice work, boys."
11. REAPPEARING ACT
Human-shaped shadows separated themselves from forest-shaped shadows. Two of them grappled with Robin, to keep his sword sheathed. Somebody seized my wrist also, even though I hadn't moved.
"Easy, easy." Our wizard, Cornelius, stepped closer to Robin, making sure we could see his face. "Don't you know your friends when you see them?"
"
When
I see them," Robin said. He pulled free from Marian, who was one of the people holding him. The other was Thea Greenleaf, and she continued to grip his arm for a couple more seconds, as though to make sure he knew that she wasn't letting go till she was good and ready to let go.
The stocky shadow by me, Feordin, had released me already. The others, Mom and Nocona, weren't there.
"What's your problem?" Cornelius demanded of us. "We came here to rescue you."
Robin glared at him. "You. You're our problem. Harek and I don't need rescuing. We're perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves,
and
"—he cut off any possible rebuttal—"
and
you might be a second-rate wizard, but you're a complete failure as a hacker."
Cornelius sputtered in angry amazement that anyone could say such a thing.
"Stop it," Thea demanded in an urgent whisper—a reminder that we might not be alone in the woods. "Just stop it."
Cornelius and Robin stood glaring at each other, both breathing hard. I stepped into the breach. "We ran into a problem—a serious problem."
"Yeah?" Feordin asked, not willing to commit himself yet. For all he knew—for all any of them knew—we'd had a rough encounter and were taking out our frustrations on them.
"We got away from the guards no problem. But we found a hole in the program."
"What do you mean—
hole?
" Cornelius asked.
Feordin elbowed him aside. "Let me handle this. What do you mean—hole?"
"We went exploring in the
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