Hood by Jenny Elder Moke

Author:Jenny Elder Moke [Moke, Jenny Elder]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2020-06-09T00:00:00+00:00

The air inside the keep hung heavy with smoke and the confusion of screaming servants. Isabelle choked back a cough and ducked low, keeping her gaze narrowed on Adam’s back as he pressed through the archways leading into the heart of the keep. They reached a tight spiral staircase that was thankfully built out in stone, the smoky air speeding them along.

“What about Patrick and Helena?” she asked.

“They’ll be fine,” Adam said.

“Probably,” added Little.

“Probably?” she cried. But then they were racing up the steps and she had no more breath to ask. With horror it occurred to her that she might have set fire to the room where they were keeping Robin, and he might have had no way to escape.

She tumbled into Adam as they reached a sudden landing. Axes lined the wall in front of them, no doubt for the castle’s defense, but here they were useless against the fire. The stairs continued up, most likely to the top of the keep, where the soldiers still battled the fire. An archway led off to the left, the air here clearer of smoke for the moment, but the floors and walls were built entirely of timber. They wouldn’t be safe for long.

“Any idea where the sheriff is holding Robin?” Adam asked John.

“Hell if I know,” the big man said.

“This way!” came a voice down the hall, Patrick and Helena appearing a moment later, weapons still drawn.

“I am so glad to see you alive,” Isabelle said as they met in the middle of the hallway. “Both of you.”

“Save the celebration until we’re alive and out of here,” Helena said. “The sheriff’s quarters are this way.”

“Should we not be worried about the fire?” Isabelle asked as they passed what looked like living quarters, an ornate four-poster bed taking up the center of the room. She wondered if King John slept in that bed when he visited.

“It’s mostly burning the outer wall of the keep for now,” said Patrick, trotting along in front. “But we won’t have long until it finds its way in here. Where did the fire come from, anyhow?”

“The sister here, in a moment of brilliance,” said Adam.

“And to think I almost missed it freeing the prisoners,” Little added with a grin.

“What a shame that would have been,” Helena said dryly.

“Here,” Patrick said, stopping before a door. “Sheriff’s quarters.”

John nodded grimly and wielded his sword, the rest following suit. Isabelle had left the bow behind on the wall, a thoughtless action for which she chided herself now. She hung back behind Adam, balling her hands into fists and readying herself for whatever she was to face. John leaned forward, pressing one ear to the slim crack between the doors before he nodded again. He threw his shoulder against it, the wood cracking and giving way.

They stormed in, weapons brandished high and war cries rising from their throats. The room, however, was empty save for a long table at which a compact man sat, his rich clothes glittering in the soft light of a nearby fire.

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