AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Irony, ma’am?”
“My family was supposed to go looking for you up in Barnsdale. To help my mother. That was many moons ago, and we never made it. And now you’re here.”
Another smile. “Aye. Perhaps to find your mother, south?”
“If you are, you won’t find her in Wilford. At least I didn’t.” My voice was clipped, frustrated.
“Ah. Well, perhaps I can help you instead.”
I glanced up from the creek.
He reached into the heavy coat he wore, amidst clanking and rustling. He came out with a small bottle, reached into it, and dragged a finger through some goop. I could smell the sticky substance from here. It was sharply unpleasant, making my nose wrinkle.
“Let me see your arm,” he said, motioning for me.
Hesitantly, I reached across the stream. His rough hands fell on my pale skin and he lathered my wound in the greenish paste. I hissed from a sudden burn.
“There,” he said once finished, “that should stave off infection.”
I pouted. That easily? “Thank you, Wulfric.”
The burn subsided into a warm, numb sensation across my arm. It truly felt magical. If this man could speak with wolves and command them to do his bidding, perhaps he was magical.
I felt safer after speaking with him for a time. “Sir, do you happen to know of a place called the witch’s cabin? It’s an ancient ruin with a tree growing in—”
His smile cut me off. He pointed over my shoulder. “You went too far east. Head west less than a mile, cut south along the trail—taking the leftmost path in the fork—and you’ll run into it tucked against the hillside.”
My blood pumped. I balled my hand into a fist and punched my palm. “Excellent. Thank you, sir. Are you certain?”
“Traveler, I’ve called those ruins home on and off for years. It’s my usual dwelling when I come this far south through Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Alas, I felt its energy waning on the wind this time when I traveled, so I avoided the area. It’s inhabited by dark spirits.”
I bit my lip nervously. “Those would be my people.”
“Then you’d best go find them. These three wolves might not harm you, but as night drags on, I can’t guarantee another pack won’t find you.”
I gasped.
Wulfric laughed. “It won’t be your skinny hide they’re after. It will be your beautiful mare’s.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “Even worse. I can’t let her die after saving me like she did.”
His head tilted and he closed his eyes. His smile returned. “You have greatness inside you. I can sense it. Follow your heart, and no matter if you stray from your path, know that there is always a route back to the ones who will keep you true to yourself. Hold to your convictions and you may become great. Good luck, Robin of Loxley.”
With that, he stood on creaking knees and shuffled back toward the trees, with the wolves hopping over the creek to follow in his wake.
It only occurred to me a few minutes after Wulfric was gone that I had never given him my name.
I tied Mercy—what I named the mare—in a small valley of trees, then pulled my hood over my head and crouched. I knew where I was now. The trees were recognizable. Just beyond the grove ahead, I could make out a sliver of the witch’s ruins through the branches.
I was arriving from a different direction than I had originally come with the Merry Men. My heart pounded at the thought of seeing them again.
Returned, as Little John had hoped.
But something was wrong. It was eerily quiet.
I stuck to the shadows—easy at night. The pain in my arm was practically gone. That strange naturalist had done wonders. I imagined he could do the same thing for my mother, if given the opportunity.
The time I spent in the woods as a youth had given me confidence to skulk through them. I didn’t crunch so much as a dry leaf or twig underfoot. My feet slid outward so I didn’t pad along and give myself away.
