Michael Spradlin: Orphan of Destiny

“You hoped for the best?” I asked, incredulous.

“Yes,” he replied, suddenly interested in the maintenance of his bow.

I stared at both of them.

“What?” they both asked.

“That was your plan? Every time I come up with an idea, you two do nothing but belittle it. But when I’m lying near death, you put me in a boat and ‘point it west’ and ‘hope for the best’?” The very thought of it made my wound throb again. “My goodness! What if the wind and current carried you past England? What if you were pushed back to France? Do you even know how to sail ?”

“Of course-we sailed all the time in Sherwood Forest,” Robard answered sarcastically. “What are you worried about? We got here, didn’t we? Sailing isn’t as hard as it seems, as long as there’s wind. Without the wind, there’s all the rowing, and that’s some work, I’ll tell you. Luckily, though, being an archer is ideally suited for rowing, as we tend to be strong in the arms. So I was able to compensate for Maryam. . I mean when Maryam tired. . ” Too late, Robard, my friend.

“Robard,” Maryam said quietly. “I don’t think we really want to talk about this now, do we?”

“Um. No. I guess not,” he replied sheepishly.

“Anyhow, it worked, didn’t it? Here we are, safe in England,” Robard said.

“Ohh,” I said. I had to lie back against the rock and close my eyes. Weakness washed over me, and I covered my face with my hands. “And the two of you have the gall to complain. . I’m the one without plans. .,” I muttered. “Where in England?” I asked, sitting up again.

“What did he say?” Robard asked.

“Nothing,” Maryam said. “Tristan, tell me how you feel. Can you stand? Do you think you can walk, or ride if we can find horses? Robard says we really should be on the move. Sir Hugh will no doubt find our trail soon enough, if he hasn’t already.”

“Do we know where we are?” I asked. “Which direction we need to go?”

“West,” Maryam said.

“North,” Robard said at the same time.

“You have no idea where we are, do you?” I asked.

“Yes. We most certainly do. We are in England. And for a long time we had the cliffs of Dover in view. Then, well. . we may have drifted a bit,” he said.

“A bit?”

“Quite a bit, perhaps-a lot, actually. The wind really catches the sail, and if you don’t get the rudder turned correctly, you end up going. . Never mind. We’re safely home, Tristan. In England.” Robard gave me his best smile.

Maryam brought us back to reality. “Regardless of where we are, we need to get moving. Tristan, can you stand? Walk?” she asked. I had been sitting by the fire, my head in my hands, wondering how far we would have to travel to reach Rosslyn. I couldn’t really blame them, though. We were still alive.

“I’m not sure. Let me try,” I said. Standing was going to be painful, but there was no way around it. Maryam was right. It was time for us to be under way.

I put one leg under me while Robard knelt, holding my other arm. Together we stood and the pain was only slightly less than excruciating. The world spun and I feared I might pass out. “Easy,” Robard said. “Steady.”

After a moment, the pain lessened and I could stand unaided. Taking a few tentative steps back and forth, I could manage a sort of shuffling walk. But at this rate, it would take me years to reach Scotland.

“Careful,” Maryam said. “Getting shot by an arrow hurts .” She stared at Robard pointedly, but he refused to meet her gaze.

“Yes, it does, I’m told. But not as much as being stabbed by a Hashshashin dagger,” Robard shot back.

“We’re going to need horses,” I said, interrupting.

“You know, riding a horse. .” Maryam let the words trail off.

“I know. It’s going to hurt even worse. But the pain will pass. We’ll never make it on foot, and I’ll only slow us up,” I said.

Robard and Maryam nodded in agreement. I decided it was a good idea to sit back down before I passed out.

“So how do we do that?” I asked. “Find horses.”

Neither of them spoke, staring at the fire, thinking.

“Do we have any idea where we are exactly? Where in England specifically?”

Robard shook his head. “I said sailing is not as hard as it looks. Navigating is an entirely different matter. We’ll just need to find the nearest town or village to find out where we are. Then we’ll see about horses. You still have money?”

I nodded. I also had Sir Thomas’ ring, but trading it for horses would leave a clear clue for Sir Hugh if he followed us here.

“Good. I’m not opposed to stealing, since this is something of an emergency, but it would be better for us if we had just one group chasing us at a time,” he remarked.

“I say we rest here tonight and leave refreshed in the morning,” Maryam suggested.

“Good idea,” I said wearily. Exhaustion and pain were enveloping me again. My hip still burned and my eyes grew heavy.

Robard stood, kicking at a few of the logs on the fire with his boot. The flames died down and he banked the coals so only a slow warm glow flowed over me. He strung his bow.

“What are you doing?” Maryam asked.

“I’m going to scout around a bit,” he said. “Keep an eye on things. You won’t see me until tomorrow morning, so don’t be alarmed. But I’ll always be nearby. If there’s trouble, give one of those Al Hashshashin war cries of yours. They’re loud enough to wake the dead. I’ll hear it and be back before you know it. Tristan, rest easy. Try not to injure yourself any further, if you don’t mind.”

Then as if he were a ghost, Robard disappeared into the night.

My eyes opened as dawn broke. Maryam slept on the other side of the fire with Angel curled next to her. It was too early to rise, I thought, and there was no sign of Robard. It wouldn’t hurt for me to rest awhile longer.

When I opened my eyes again-surely just seconds later-Robard was standing by the fire, leaning on his bow, staring at me with a giant grin on his face.

“Good morning,” he said. He surprised me and I lurched awake, straining my side. I lay back quickly with a groan.

“Don’t do that!” I exclaimed.

“What?” he asked.

“Sneak up on us!”

“Who is sneaking up?” Robard made a show of raising his bow and twisting his neck around as if an attack were coming.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” I said. I braced against the boulder and lifted myself to my feet. “Did you see anything or learn where we are while you were parading about?”

“Parading? I most definitely was not! Perhaps scouting, but I don’t know about parading,” he said in an irritatingly cheerful tone as he knelt to warm his hands by the still-glowing coals.

“Please, Robard, I don’t feel well, and your cheerfulness is making me irritable,” I pleaded. My head ached and my side still burned.

Robard paid no attention. “I found a village not far from here and spoke to a smith. Told him I was on my way home from the Crusades and had gotten turned around. Friendly fellow. We’re about two, maybe three days’ walk south of Dover. You, however, are probably four or five days’ walk,” he said, pointing at my wounded hip. “So Maryam and I will meet you there.” His grin told me he was joking, but I was stiff, in pain and not in the mood for comedy.

“Robard, please. . stop. .,” I said, my voice tinged with exasperation.

Robard laughed in response. “Ha! We couldn’t have planned it better if we’d tried. Well, of course we could have hit Dover directly, I suppose, but still a remarkable feat of sailing, if I do say so myself. And if we can find horses, it’ll take us even less time to get there.”