Broken Arrow

fate, even that dolt Bohuslav was out of the picture. Which meant, if Tanek was to take control of this operation, he would only have to deal with the twins.

Only.

He remembered how adept they were. How skilled with those swords. One at a time, maybe. But when they worked as a pair, they were lethal.

Actually, everyone being in the same place, at the same time, might work to his advantage. If they were killed, he could blame the renegades — after killing them as well, plus any witnesses among The Tsar's men. Wouldn't be easy, but he'd pulled trickier things off.

Then he and Adele would have a little chat about how to move forwards. He could see her mind ticking over about what would happen once The Tsar was no longer in command. Ultimately Tanek thought she'd make a fine leader. Eventually. He'd already seen shades of his old master in her, especially the cruelty she'd displayed when torturing that scum, Jack. But she needed guidance. De Falaise had asked him to look after her, and he would. She'd take the reins only when he deemed she was ready.

She caught his eye as he was thinking this and smiled. Adele had come along as well because: 'None of them know the truth about me. I can be another hostage.' Along with a virtually unconscious Mary and the nurse, who'd managed to stabilise Hood's woman and splint her leg. The Tsar had at least told him he was right to keep her alive, because in spite of the fact Hood was dead — and Tanek still wasn't entirely convinced about that — the others would still surrender if their leader's woman was threatened.

Tanek had also been told that Gwen had been captured, and he'd ordered someone to go fetch her because she had a link to the holy man. Worryingly, they'd only found the body of ex-prisoner Jace in the room where she was being held. The grounds had quickly been searched, but there was no sign of her. Tanek wasn't surprised, not after the way she'd behaved on the day of the hangings. It really wasn't that much of an issue — just another loose end to tie up at a later point, like finishing off Jack — but it irked Tanek all the same. She had been De Falaise's woman, so it was a matter of principle.

'How long until we are there?' Tanek heard The Tsar shout to the driver.

'We are almost at Sherwood, sire,' came the reply.

The Tsar nodded, satisfied. 'You see? Russian efficiency. We have made excellent time.'

'We should have waited until the morning,' Tanek replied. Night had fallen and now there was this mist. If the trees didn't provide cover enough, then both of those would. Except the plan was not to go into the forest — which would be suicide even at the best of times — but to force them to come out.

'And allow them to move on? We suspect they are here, right now. Why give them the opportunity to slip through our fingers again?' That last one was another dig at Tanek, even though he'd been busy dealing with Jack at the time of their escape.

'They won't leave Sherwood yet. It is where Hood will come when-'

'Hood? Hood again. Tanek, the man is dead. Will you not get that through your thick skull!'

One more crack like that and I will reach over and crush your windpipe, thought Tanek.

'Then we should have waited because of Hood's men. They will almost certainly try to regain the castle.'

The Tsar waved a hand. 'And do what? Shoot their little bows and arrows at my men?'

'It's what they did to Bohuslav's troops,' Tanek retorted. It didn't do to underestimate Hood or his men, as they'd found out to their cost in the past. Tanek had a grudging admiration for the man, which he knew De Falaise would understand. It wouldn't stop him obliterating all of his followers, or indeed The Hooded Man himself if he still existed. Tanek had made a promise to avenge the man he had followed, not because of his lures of power, but because he had a vision. A vision which might yet be a reality.

Before The Tsar had a chance to say anything more, the driver informed them that they were pulling into the visitor centre's car park. It was empty, which Tanek knew didn't prove a thing. Any transportation the fugitives might have used would have been moved by now; that's if they'd even entered the forest from here in the first place. Sherwood was a big area, but Adele seemed to think this would be the best spot having followed Hood before.

'Turn the spotlights on,' ordered The Tsar. The vehicles formed a rough semi-circle and trained their beams on the area just ahead of them, breaking through the mist. 'This is where we will get their attention, yes?'

Armed men were already filling up the lit area, standing guard by the vehicles, and a rap on their AFV told them they were ready for Adele. Tanek opened up the hatch and climbed out, dragging Adele with him; the crossbow he was carrying pointing at her temple. They had to make this look realistic.

From another AFV came the small nurse and Mary. The latter was being carried by two soldiers, still pretty much out of it. The left leg of her jeans was ripped, the broken limb beneath kept straight between two pieces of wood. Her face was a mess, right eye swelled and black from bruising, but the nurse had managed to clean her up somewhat. There were plasters covering the wounds on her cheek and forehead, the edges of stitches poking out from beneath. She lolled between the two men as they dragged her along. Then they dumped her on the ground in the middle of the spotlights. When the nurse shouted something at them, she got a backhanded slap for her trouble.

'I am addressing the deserters who fled like cowards from Nottingham Castle,' came The Tsar's address through the loud-speaker attached to his vehicle. 'We are holding three of your friends in the entrance to Sherwood and will kill them one by one unless you surrender yourselves to us. You have one quarter hour to comply and then the first is dead.'

Anyone on this side of the forest should have heard that, it had certainly been loud enough. Depending on where they were it should also give them enough time to reach the car park, unless they were deep into the trees. If they couldn't get there in time? Well, too bad. They'd execute the nurse.

Tanek scanned the edge of the mist for any movement. There was nothing. So they waited.

When they'd been there almost ten minutes, The Tsar repeated his demands. Tanek looked at his watch. They were running out of time.

'We need to get Mary back inside!' said the nurse. 'She's freezing out here.'

'No one is going anywhere,' Tanek told her, turning the crossbow on the woman.

His reward was a glower, but she stayed put.

Come on, Tanek said to himself. Where are you? Make your move.

Then someone stepped out of the mist. A figure wearing a hood, carrying a bow. On the ground, he saw Mary stir.

Tanek grinned to himself, not just because he could picture The Tsar's face in the AFV — and imagine him having to swallow his words — but also because he would now get the opportunity to kill Hood himself.

The Tsar's voice came over the speaker. 'So, you are still alive after all? Then I will have your head for what you did this morning!'

Shots rang out, and before Tanek could tell them that The Hooded Man was his prize, bullets from one of the soldiers guarding Mary and the nurse peppered Hood's torso. He sank heavily to the ground. If he hadn't been dead before, then he certainly was now. Tanek swore under his breath and, turning, shot the offending guard with his crossbow. 'He was mine!'

As he was turning back to the scene, though, Tanek's mouth fell open. Hood had climbed to his feet, bow and arrow poised. Adele stared in amazement too. What was he, indestructible? A ghost? He certainly looked the part with that mist swirling around him.

They'd hardly had time to recover from this when another figure stepped out of the fog on their right. This one also wearing a hood and carrying the same weapons.

Seconds later, there was another on their left. It was almost as if the man had cloned himself.

Tanek frowned. One of these had to be the real Hood — he'd just kill them all! With his bare hands if necessary.

Before he could do anything, arrows were fired into the circle from somewhere beyond the trio. They took out the spotlights on the lead vehicle, then the others.

'Shoot!' Tanek ordered. But, glancing around, he saw that a good number of the soldiers were already on the