by Ben Walsh
Chapter Eleven
It had felt like the night had lasted forever for the two boys, chasing after their new guide. They had been mainly following her footsteps, as she raced away at a pace even Stan had struggled to keep up with, let alone Marvin.
By the time they finally reached the point where the wood began to thin and the path to Oadford emerged, the sun had risen and was its highest point. Stan’s stomach grumbled in complaint – it was fast approaching lunch time, and he hadn’t eaten since the fish the night before. He pushed the thoughts to one side, and ambled over to the rock against which Roxie was leaning while she waited for them, leaving Marvin to catch his breath.
“What’s the plan?” Stan asked, breathing heavily, trying to hide it but failing.
Roxie smiled, replying, “Well, the two of you can’t just stroll straight through the city gates, you’ll never be allowed inside! But somehow we need to get you to my father, he’s the only one who’ll know what to do.”
A short while later, a plan had been agreed upon. For the rest of the day, the trio set about preparing the items and practising the skills they would need to execute their plan. At one point, Roxie had slipped off into the trees. She was gone for in excess of an hour, and Stan was beginning to worry that she might have abandoned them, when she strolled back into their clearing, a rabbit slung over her shoulder and a wide grin spread across her face.
They left Marvin to boil the rabbit with some wild mushrooms they found, to make it into a soup. While he prepared the food, Roxie dragged Stan to one side, and before he knew what was happening, Roxie kicked his leg out from underneath him and shoved him to the dusty floor.
“WHAT WAS THAT FOR?” Stan spluttered, coughing violently as he did so.
Roxie drew a thin sword from her belt, and pointed it towards Stan. She brushed the blade against his cheek. The steel felt surprisingly cold against Stan’s cheek.
“Why?” Stan asked, fear spreading across his face. He glanced over to Marvin, to see if his friend had noticed the attack, but he was humming away jollily as he tended to his soup, his back to Stan.
Stan looked back up at Roxie, and noticed her laughing, with further infuriated him. He opened his mouth to further question the girl who he thought had saved him, but before he could speak, Roxie pulled away the sword and offered out a hand.
Cautiously, Stan accepted the help, and rose to his feet, dusting himself down as he did so.
“One-nil”, she snickered, winking as she did so.
For the next hour or so, the sound of steel chinking and clanging filled the air, as the two practiced. The two danced and jived around the small clearing. By the time they had finished, any track of the score had been long since forgotten, but Stan knew that he had not been the winner. His lip was bleeding, and his breathing lumbered, as he hobbled over to the small fire to eat.
After they had eaten they sat quietly, each keeping themselves to themselves as they watched the sun set over the lake. Stan thought of his brother, and father, and how he may never see either of them again. He reflected with a hint of sadness on the warmth his father had shown him before he left, wondering whether things may have turned out differently for him and Edgar if he had shown that warmth from the moment Stan’s Mother had died.
Eventually, night fell, and the three of them ran through the plan one last time, before Roxie headed down a spiralling path which descended towards the town. Stan counted to two hundred and then followed her down, shaking hands with Marvin before he left, his friend taking a different path altogether. After several minutes of furious walking, desperately trying to keep quiet but not lose ground on Roxie, Stan emerged at the bottom, and squeezed behind a large tree, out of sight of the guard’s post, which as expected held two guards. He could see Roxie approaching them, staggering slightly.
Stan could hear hushed voice conversing, one of which he knew to be Roxie’s.
“It’s Roxanne, I don’t feel too good. Could one of you help me back to my house please?”
“We can’t leave our post Ma’am, sorry.”
Suddenly, Roxie collapsed, and the two guards sprinted over to her in a panic. Stan smiled to himself, and thought, ‘that girl can act!’ The guards had a short argument about what to do, and Stan watched nervously – the entire plan hinged on this moment. Eventually, one of the guards trudged through the gates and into the town for help, while the other tended to Roxie, trying to wake her up. Stan breathed a sigh of relief.
Shortly afterwards, he crept through the undergrowth, around the guard so that he was directly behind him. Stan knew that speed was crucial here, but equally so was silence. One false move and it was over.
Carefully placing his feet between fallen branches to avoid stepping on one, Stan silently tiptoed towards the guard. By the time he was close enough to make out the pimples on the guard’s neck, Stan felt as if his heart. He brought his elbow up and drove it downwards into the neck of the guard, who slumped to the ground with a soft thudding noise.
Stan heard Roxie giggle as she sprung up. “That was rubbish, I heard you coming from miles away, he must have been REALLY deaf!”
Stan glared at her, replying “Just shut up and help me move him, quickly!”
Roxie chuckled at him but did as he demanded, picking up the legs of the guard while Stan took the arms. Quickly, they half carried and half dragged the guard to the trees, and quickly undressed him. Stan’s hands shook at the thought of being caught, and he fumbled the trousers, not able to unzip them. Roxie barged him out of the way, calmly sliding them down.
She looked at Stan calmly, taking his hand in hers. “This is going to work Stan, it’s a good plan. You quickly change because they’ll be here in a minute. And remember to tie him up in case he wakes up!!” she added, pointing to the guard.
With that, she sped back to the guard post, slumping back to the floor. Seconds later, Stan realised why, as he heard voices coming towards them. He could make out that of the Mayor, and said a silent prayer, for if anyone would recognise him it would be him. He changed out of his clothes as quickly as he could, and started to pull on the guard’s. Thankfully, the guard was a short man, so his clothes were not too much bigger than Stan’s. However, he had far more layers, and as Stan struggled with the trousers, he realised the congregation had arrived. They were made up of 5 guards, including the one who had left, a doctor, and the Mayor.
“Where’s the guard I left with her? He’s just gone!” The guard angrily grunted.
“You mean to say my daughter has been left out here alone, unprotected?!” the Mayor bellowed.
Stan took a deep breath and hurriedly pulled up the guard’s trousers, put on the helmet, pulling it down as far as he could to cover his face, and stepped out into the opening. “Sorry guys, was just taking a leek, was bursting.” Stan tried to put on as deep a voice as possible and sound embarrassed, but turned red at how unconvincing it had sounded. The guard who had fetched the mayor glared at Stan, looking both angry and slightly confused.
He knows something isn’t right, Stan thought, staring at the ground, wishing he could burn a hole into it into which he could disappear. Mercifully, at that exact moment, an enormous BOOM echoed through the air. The guards all panicked, looking at each other in shock, before one exclaimed fearfully, “We’re being attacked! To your stations, now!”
The guards darted away, leaving just the Mayor, doctor, Stan and Roxie. Another booming noise, like that of a pirate ship’s cannon, echoed through the air, and the mayor jabbed a finger towards Stan, shouting something inaudible at him, above the sounds of screams from the town. Stan understood what he meant quickly enough though, and wrapped one of Roxie’s arms around his shoulders. The doctor took the other, and the Mayor led them towards his house. As they passed through the streets, the loud banging noises continued, each bringing another scream from a house somewhere. Stan shuddered, the noises bringing back thoughts of the events of just days previously.
As they dragged Ro
xie through the streets, Stan tried to catch a glimpse of the doctor. His presence had not been anticipated, and could prove to be problematic, as Stan had hoped to speak to the Mayor alone. The doctor was a small, elderly man in an oversized coat, with a balding head, occupied only by a thin island of grey hair. He wore wiry glass, and Stan could sense that he was struggling beneath the weight of Roxie, which reassured him slightly. If it comes to trouble, I could take him.
Stan realised in horror the violent thought he had just endured, and instantly hated himself. The doctor had been there throughout his Mother’s short illness, and had barely left her bedside for the entirety of the few days she had suffered. Thankfully, before he could hate himself any more, the small group reached the Mayor’s house, or what remained of it after the attack. Roxie was quickly placed on a bed set up inside the front room, where the doctor began to examine her. The Mayor anxiously paced up and down the room, muttering to himself. After a while, he noticed Stan, still stood awkwardly in the corner. “You can leave now, thank you,” he glanced away, before adding, “by the way, your trousers are unzipped.” He then sat in a large chair and poured himself a drink from a twisted, glass bottle.
Stan cleared his throat, before confidently pronouncing, “I’m afraid I can’t do that Mayor,” removing his helmet as he did so. With this, the Mayor’s face dropped in horror, as the colour drained from his face. He gasped for words, stuttering and trying to find a response.
Before he could do so, Stan continued. “I have an idea, a plan, one that can not only help to rebuild our town, but one that can make it more wonderful than it ever was!”
With this, the Mayor’s face suddenly turned red again, and he stood up, pointing his stubby finger Stan’s way. “Don’t you dare refer to this as your town ever again boy, you wait there while I call the guards,” he coldly replied.
“Daddy please just listen to him!”
Stan, the Mayor and the Doctor all turned round in shock, having completely forgotten about Roxanne for a moment. She had sprung up from her bed and was prowling towards her father.
“I know what his plan is and I know that it can save our home,” Roxie started, taking her father’s hand as she did so, “He might have been part of the reason that it was ruined but he should be allowed the opportunity to make up for it! Without help we have no chance.”
The Mayor brushed her aside, replying, “enough of this. I have no interest in what this traitor has to say. And I am very disappointed in you for siding with a criminal Roxanne, you can consider yourself in very deep trouble,” glaring furiously at his daughter.
Stan was panicking, as he saw his hopes of saving his town and being allowed to come home slipping away. “Mr Mayor, please. I remember you as a kind man, one who would do anything to help his people. The night my Mother died and my father disappeared off to the pub, you let us stay here, said it was our home for as long as we needed it. You were kind to us then, and I know that you are that same person still.”
As he spoke, the Mayor shuffled uncomfortably, and Stan knew he had touched a nerve.
“I am not asking you to forgive me and Marvin, I understand you cannot do that,” Stan continued. “I am just asking you to hear me out, and to consider what it is that I have to say.”
As the Mayor pondered his next move, silence descended upon the room, and Stan noticed that the banging noises had stopped. Eventually, the Mayor returned to his seat, and took a large gulp of his drink. He looked up at Stan, and sighed. “You do not deserve a thing, boy. You have betrayed your entire town and endangered us all. You have broken the terms of your banishment, an act punishable by death,” he stated, before pausing to think again. “However you are just a child, and my word you have suffered enough lately. You have five minutes to impress me, and then you must leave for good.”
Stan’s face lit up at this news, but his face quickly changed when he saw the Mayor scowl at his reaction. Before the Mayor could change his mind, he began to rattle off his tale of goblins and the forest, and how Roxanne had rescued him. At this point the Mayor had looked over to his daughter in horror, aghast with shock, but Roxie simply nodded at Stan, to continue. He spoke of the Emerald and its power, and the fact that if they failed to get there first, the whole kingdom would be plunged into war.
When Stan finally finished, he swallowed deeply, and waited for the Mayor to reply. As he had earlier, he took what felt like an eternity to make his decision. Eventually, the Mayor cleared his throat, and moistened it with the remnants of his glass, ready to give his verdict. However, before he could do so, there was a banging on the door. All four of them spun around in a heartbeat, and the Mayor beckoned the visitors to come inside. The door slowly creaked open, but the guests were hidden from Stan’s view until last by the large, oak door.
“It wasn’t an attack Sir, it was just some local lad letting off fireworks, here, it was this scoundrel what did it,” a guard grunted, before shoving a large boy with a bloodied lip into the centre of the room.
Stan’s heart dropped when he saw that it was his best friend.