Arthur Hood: the Heir of Robin and King

Chapter Twenty

The horn blared again. This time, it sounded closer.

'The Children of the Forest,' several children below growled with hatred before a war cry echoed all around.

'YEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEY!'

Then on a branch halfway up a tree behind Arthur appeared a girl with rosy cheeks and wearing a necklace of twigs and flowers.

'You dare to cross the Babbling Brook to set up traps, no doubt to capture us,' she boomed down to the forest floor.

'These are not our traps.' the boy with the bowler hat yelled back. 'We heard a cry for help and found these three. We were just about to rescue them.'

The girl eyed Arthur, Little Johnny and Merlynna with curiosity, just realizing their presence, before saying, 'Please don't insult me with such lies. Wild Children rescuing others? Don't make me laugh.'

The boy with the bowler hat grinned madly and snarled, 'One day, one day, Robin's Wood will be ours and the Children of the Forest will be no more. Mark my words.'

Arthur, Little Johnny and Merlyna glanced at each other and mouthed together, 'Robin's Wood?'

As in Robin Hood, Arthur wondered.

'Not if we have anything to say about it,' the rosy-cheeked girl replied. At this, more and more children appeared on branches all around, soon outnumbering the painted-faced children. 'Now be gone with you. Go back to your side of the forest and never return. If you do, there will be war.'

Arthur could tell the boy with the bowler hat didn't want to back down as the tips of his ears flushed. He also clenched a fist before calling out, 'Wild Children, back across the Babbling Brook.'

And as the painted-faced children leapt away, vanishing into the undergrowth, the Children of the Forest whooped and hollered in victory, drowning out Arthur's cry.

'Wait!' he shouted, straining to free himself from his net. 'I want my things.'

But Pridwen and the sword were not coming back. The boy with the bowler hat had taken them.

Soon the triumphant roars stopped and all eyes descended on the ensnared three. And it was the rosy-cheeked girl who made the first move. She jumped and swung from branch to branch until she leapt into the air and landed on top of Arthur's net.

Impressed, Little Johnny shot out, 'Whoa. Quite the skills you have there.'

The rosy-cheeked girl looked over at him and replied, 'Thank you. Nice coat.'

Little Johnny puffed out his gnarly hooded fleece with pride. 'Thank you, too.'

'So, are the three of you lost?'

'I guess you could say that,' Arthur replied, staring up.

'I thought as much. That's why the forest brought you to it,' the rosy-cheeked girl replied. 'Now, would you like to get out of your traps?'

'That would be nice,' replied Merlynna. 'By the way, any chance of you seeing a cat flying around.'

'A cat flying?' The rosy-cheeked girl looked shocked.

'Yes, his name's Fury and he's mine.'

'I'm very sorry to say, I haven't. We haven't.'

One by one, Arthur, Little Johnny and Merlynna were then lowered back to the forest floor, where they were released from their snares.

'Thank you,' Arthur said to the rosy-cheeked girl as more children drew closer.

'You are quite welcome,' she replied. 'My name's Esme.'