Cassandra considered the idea. “It would work,” she said. “But where would you find the men?”
Maddie shrugged. “I thought maybe I could mobilize the army,” she said. The castle only maintained a small regular garrison. The army was made up of men-at-arms, knights and foot soldiers from the surrounding farms and villages, who could be called up in the event of war or other danger.
Cassandra shook her head. “It’d take too long to gather them,” she said. “And Dimon would quickly get wind of what you were doing.” She stood up and began pacing the room, her brow furrowed in concentration.
“We can hold out here indefinitely,” she said. “But what we need to do is find a way to break your father and Gilan out of this hill fort. Then, if they march south and hit Dimon from behind, we can break out of here at the same time and attack him from both sides. You say there’s a tunnel into the gatehouse?” she asked, and Maddie nodded. “Then you could lower the drawbridge and let Horace’s and Gilan’s men in.”
She turned, pacing again, her mind working overtime.
“But if you’re going to have to launch a surprise attack on the force holding Horace and Gilan, you’ll need men. Good fighting men. The kind who will put the fear of the devil into those Red Fox scum . . .”
Her voice trailed off as she racked her brains for an idea. Then, her brow cleared, and she looked at her daughter with a wide smile on her face.
“And I think I know just the men you need,” she said.
TO BE CONTINUED
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JOHN FLANAGAN grew up in Sydney, Australia, hoping to be a writer, and after a successful career in advertising and television, he began writing a series of short stories for his son, Michael, in order to encourage him to read. Those stories would eventually become The Ruins of Gorlan, Book 1 of the Ranger's Apprentice epic. Now with his companion series, Brotherband, the novels of John Flanagan have sold millions of copies and made readers of kids the world over. Mr. Flanagan lives in the suburb of Mosman, Australia, with his wife. In addition to their son, they have two grown daughters and four grandsons.
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The Red Fox Clan Page 30