I swivel my head round to take them in, my terror morphing into bemusement.
‘Ohhh,’ I say, finding my voice. ‘Soyou’rethe ones terrorizing Heathcross. What d’you call yourselves again? The Purple Pickpockets?’
‘The Green Bandits,’ snarls a boy wielding a hatchet.
I click my fingers. ‘That was it. Well, lovely meeting you all, but if you don’t mind letting us down now, we’d best be on our way.’
The girl brandishing the cutlass steps forward. She looks as sharp and angular as her blade, her dark hair cropped short, jaw set, mouth stretched in a thin line. She seems to be the eldest, and given the way the others are looking at her, I’d imagine she’s the leader too.
‘People don’t tend to stray this far into the Greenwood,’ she says. ‘Either you have a death wish, or you’ve got something to hide.’
Sheen’s voice is strained. ‘Look, we mean you no harm.’
The girl narrows her eyes. ‘What d’you think, Darrow?’
The boy with the axe scoffs. ‘Not a chance. I don’t like the look of them. Especially the mouthy one with the eyepatch.’
I tut self-righteously. ‘Now, that’s just discrimination.’
There’s a giggle from among the congregation, the sound as sweet and silvery as a windchime. A little girlof about five or six skips into view, her wispy hair tied in bunches.
‘I like him, Briar,’ she says to the older girl as she tugs on the hem of her tattered shirt. ‘He’s funny. Maybe you should let them go.’
‘Stay out of this, Posy,’ cautions Darrow.
Posy pouts. I wink at her and she giggles some more, waving her tiny slingshot.
Briar deliberates for a moment. The others clutch their weapons, waiting for her verdict. ‘All right,’ she says at last.
Beside me, Spinner lets out a sigh of relief.
‘But in return, you can give us some information. It’s been a while since we left the Greenwood, and I like to stay up to date with current affairs.’
I can hardly begin to imagine it, living here in the darkest depths of the Wildlands, entirely cut off from civilization. ‘Deal.’
Darrow rakes a grubby hand through his long, straw-coloured hair. ‘What if they’re –’
Briar cuts him off. ‘If they were, they’d have used their magic on us, wouldn’t they? In any case, they’re outnumbered.’
I exchange a furtive glance with Spinner, my brandmark tingling beneath my glove. Best we keep up the pretence and let them think we’re Fidra.
‘Fine,’ Darrow growls before slicing his axe through the air and severing the rope.
We land in a tangled, breathless heap, my face buried in Sheen’s stomach. I’m sure I’ll have bruises to add to my collection of burns, because it’s surprisingly rock-solid. Hequickly slides out from under me just as little Posy prances over and takes my hand.
‘My name’s Posy,’ she sing-songs. ‘What’s yours?’
‘I’m … Renly,’ I decide. ‘Pleasure to meet you, Posy. Tell me, why are you and your friends out here all alone? Where are your parents?’
She looks at me sadly with big blue eyes. ‘Dead.’
Oh.
So it would seem the Green Bandits are not a group of vicious cut-throat brigands. They’re just orphans running wild.
‘Where are we going?’ I ask as Posy begins to tow me through the trees, the others following in our wake.
‘You’ll see,’ she says.
