Doctor Who by Paul Magrs

Author:Paul Magrs [Magrs, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781405952316
Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
Published: 2022-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Even after the thunderstorm of the previous night, Sherwood Forest was a tinderbox. The tangled boughs of the trees were parched, divesting themselves of their gorgeously colourful leaves. The bracken and ferns below were dry as paper to the touch.

So, when Guy of Gisborne poured the strange-smelling oil around the caves and the wooden dwellings of the outlaws, he knew full well that he was about to create deadly mayhem. His heart leapt with joy as he crept undetected around their shambolic encampment.

With the last of the oil gone, he took out the flint Mother Maudlin had given him. Gisborne laughed under his breath.

Sparks flew. A flicker of flame took hold of a pile of straw he had made. The flames flared up and, when they touched the oil, they turned a strange shade of purple.

Magical flames! Some kind of witch fire! he thought as he backed away quickly. The noise was already fierce and, even if he had wanted to, he couldn’t have stopped it now.

Heavy purple smoke was rolling into the sky in great dark flurries. Cries went up as people first saw them and the outlaws began to realise they had fire raging in their camp. Shrieks of panic and dismay rang through the trees. Gisborne grinned, but his heart was thumping hard in his chest. He knew that it was time for him to beat a hasty retreat – he didn’t want to be caught up in this.

The flames were growing tall and bold now. They ate up the walls and twiggy roofs of the buildings quite indiscriminately. They were dark purple and deepest mauve. They looked like no fire that Sir Guy had ever seen before. They were a wicked, unfamiliar species of flame.

Now there were screams of horror as more of Robin’s folk realised what they were facing. They came running with pathetic pails of water, flinging them at the all-engulfing flames. The air was thick and hot with smoke. It wavered before their streaming eyes.

No one even noticed Gisborne slipping away into the woods.

Men, women, children – all ages and all types of people would face disaster and ruin. But they were all on the wrong side of the law, he reasoned. As he hurried away into the dimness of the forest, he contented himself with the belief that they all deserved this fiery end.

Sherwood Forest would be cleansed of its parasites.

But where were Robin and his fellow ringleaders? Gisborne knew they were out scouting somewhere in the woods. Surely, though, they would see the fire from afar, and come running to help? Surely they were just as doomed as the rest?

Gisborne laughed hysterically and hurried on his way, one step ahead of the noxious smoke, intent on spreading news of his triumph to the sheriff.

Robin and his friends hadn’t travelled very far from the secret tunnel before they realised that something was amiss.

‘That smell,’ said Marian with a gasp, stopping in her tracks.

Robin was as alert as a woodland creature, his keen nose in the air, his eyes widening.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.