30
We looked in wonder at what Angel had done. She sat on her haunches, watching us expectantly. She had managed to follow us all the way to Calais and sneak her way into the castle. Robard’s bow and wallet, Maryam’s daggers and my satchel and short sword were all there. The only thing missing was Sir Thomas’ battle sword, which I could only assume was too heavy for her to move.
Taking her in my arms, I nuzzled her cheek while she licked my face. At that moment I truly missed the brothers of St. Alban’s, for I would have loved to tell them about my guardian angel who took the shape of a small golden dog. I wished then I had a spit full of meat for her to eat.
“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it,” Robard said as he shrugged into his wallet and strung his bow.
Maryam reached down to pick up her daggers and wiped the handles on her tunic. “Indeed,” she said, smiling. “Allah shines his grace on our little friend.” I put Angel back on the ground and reached inside the satchel, nearly fainting with relief to find the Grail still in place.
“We need to get out of here,” Robard said, his voice full of tension. We peered out of the stable door, viewing the activity in the courtyard. Across the way, near the entrance to the keep, two squads of King’s Guards were forming up, torches were being lit all around the compound, and soon they’d search the grounds inch by inch. All of them were heavily armed, and I could see Sir Hugh in the shadows in an animated discussion with the Captain, waving his arms about, no doubt promising horrors beyond imagination if we were not found.
Robard led us quietly out of the stable, and keeping to the castle wall, the four of us trotted silently along it, making our way toward the main gate. When we were close enough to see it, we learned to our distress that it was still closed and guarded by four men.
“Of all the rotten luck!” Robard muttered. “There better be another way out. I couldn’t shoot them all before one of them sounded the alarm.”
We had to move quickly or we would be trapped. Sir Hugh was banking on the fact that we were still inside the castle, and we wouldn’t be able to dodge them forever.
In the corner of the castle wall, between the stables and the gate, was a stone stairway leading to the battlements above. “If we can make it up there without being seen, we might be able to scale down the wall,” I said.
“Are you crazy?” Robard snorted. “It’s a good twenty feet to the ground. If we fall, we’ll be lucky not to bust both legs. And what about her?” he said, gesturing to Angel.
It was immediately clear I hadn’t thought this all the way through.
“Wait! In the stables, there was a long coil of rope. We can use it to climb down! I’ll be right back,” Maryam said. She sprinted back along the wall in the direction we had come.
“Maryam! No!” Robard whispered. He went after her, but I put my arm out to stop him.
“Hold,” I said. “Let’s wait until we see what happens. Maryam is stealthy. She might be able. .” I let my words trail off. I could feel the tension in Robard’s arm and realized then how much he’d come to care for her. I knew how Maryam felt about him. It was evident every time she looked at him. But I’d not realized it about Robard until now.
In silence, we watched as she slid quickly along in the shadows of the wall and in seconds had slipped through the door of the stables. With rising panic, we watched four of the King’s Guards crossing the courtyard toward the stables. Robard started after her again, and it took all my strength to pull him back into the shadows.
“Robard, stop!” I whispered. “Wait to see what happens first. It does no good for all of us to be recaptured.” They were certain to find her, and knowing Maryam, she would most likely fight to the death.
Our worst fears were confirmed when a loud commotion rose inside the stable. We heard shouts, and then came a ululating scream and the clang of steel. Robard pulled an arrow from his wallet and nocked it. The doors to the stable burst open, and three of the guards came out carrying a twisting and thrashing Maryam. The fourth guard never appeared.
Robard raised his bow and took aim, but I pushed his arm aside. He whirled on me, and for a moment I thought he might shoot me instead. He was coiled and angry, and I held up my hands.
“Robard, wait. Don’t shoot. You might hit her. We’ll get her back, I promise. But we have to have a plan.”
“I hit what I aim for, Templar!” he snarled, but he released the tension in his bow. Maryam was half dragged, half carried to the center of the bailey where the Captain waited with Sir Hugh. When the guards reached them, they put Maryam on her feet. We were too far away to hear what was said, but without warning Sir Hugh backhanded Maryam across the face and she slumped in the arms of the guards.
Robard cursed and raised his bow again, but realized his folly and lowered it. Angel growled and slunk away in the shadows.
“Think of something, Tristan! Quickly! They’ll kill her,” he said. My thoughts were frozen in my head, and I was scared and didn’t know what to do next.
Maryam still stood slumped in the arms of the two guards, her head bobbing on her chest. The Captain shouted orders, and a wagon with a wooden windlass on its back rolled forward. It was probably used for loading and unloading supplies. One guard threw a rope over the crossbeam, and two others rolled a barrel beneath it. A noose was fastened from the end of the rope, and the two guards raised Maryam up on the barrel and placed the noose around her neck.
Sir Hugh cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, “Squire! Now is the time to surrender!”
They were going to hang Maryam.
31
Maryam came awake with a jolt and looked about frantically, then settled herself. She shouted at Sir Hugh, but the guards rocked the barrel back and forth and she nearly fell off it. If she did, it would instantly break her neck. She struggled to regain her balance. Then the barrel righted and she stood still on top of it. Robard cursed them for tormenting her. “They’re all dead,” he muttered under his breath.
“Do you hear me, squire?” Sir Hugh shouted. “Come forward now or your friend dies!”
Sweat poured down my face as I leaned back against the cool stone wall.
“You need to give it to him,” Robard said.
“Yes, I know, Robard. But if I give it to him now, he’ll kill her anyway. We need leverage. Something we can trade.”
“What? We have nothing. Do you understand? Maryam is going to die,” he pleaded. It was unsettling to hear Robard talk like this. He was begging me for her life.
Then an idea came to me.
“Robard? Can you shoot the rope?”
“What? Shoot the rope? Of course not! I mean, I’m sure I could if I could get closer, but why?”
“You have to be sure. Can you shoot it? If you were to work your way up behind the wagon over there, you’d be less than thirty yards away. Could you make the shot from such a distance?”
“That’s it? That’s your plan? For me to get closer and shoot the rope? They’ll just kill her with a sword anyway.”
“Yes. No. I mean, it’s only part of the plan. Can you do it?” Robard removed his wallet and ran his hand through the feathers of his arrows. He removed one a bit longer than the others, with a broader arrowhead. He held it up, sighting along it as if inspecting it for defects. He nocked it in his bow and said, “Yes, I can make the shot. You’ll have to give me three or four seconds to stand, draw and sight. But I’ll do it.”
“Good. Then wait for my signal,” I said. Most of the guards had clustered in the courtyard, delaying their search of the grounds to see what happened next.
