Chapter Three

For Robin and his group, escaping Sir Guy and his soldiers had only plunged them into greater danger. As the warriors clung together, feeling their way along the rough stone wall of the dark corridor, Robin had begun to wonder if it was a mistake not to follow Tom’s advice in the first place. The group paused when they heard footsteps behind them. "I guess retracing our steps out of here is out of the question," Tom whispered. Marion shivered and crossed her hands over her leather vest as Tuck peeked back into the darkness. Robin strained to see ahead, and it appeared the corridor stretched into nothing; there appeared no turns or other openings.

"We’ve got to press on," Robin said. "Going back will only face us with Sir Guy. Certainly, if we try, we can outsmart them and make it out of this creepy place alive."

Robin held the lit torch in front of him and beckoned the warriors on. The light from the torch threw strange shadows on the cold bricks of the corridor walls, and more than once Marion almost screamed from fright. She was usually scared of nothing, but now she was seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, like spirits were moving along the walls with them. Perhaps they were. Perhaps they were trying to help the mortals, or maybe they were meaning to trap them forever.

After what seemed like eternity, Robin and the others came to a dead end with a wooden door. He turned to the others and shrugged. With no way else to go, Robin put his fingers to his lips and slowly opened the door. It squeaked loudly, and back down the hall, Sir Guy and his soldiers were startled by the noise. With the exception of the cold breeze, it was very quiet.

"Ya know," said Jacobi, "I’ll bet tha’ Robin will never find his way out. Why don’ we go bock and get out of this place. Robin can stay ‘ere and rot! Not bad for a ‘ard day’s work.."

Sir Guy, sick of Jacobi and his suggestions, whipped around and gritted his teeth. He then grabbed Jacobi’s shoulders.

"Robin MUST be eliminated!" he hissed. "And if we need to have this discussion again, you can find your own way out. Is that clear?"

Jacobi nodded casually and pushed Sir Guy’s bony hands off his shoulders with one finger each.

"You realize that if we are lost, eliminating Robin will do no good. We won’t be alive to celebrate or to wreak our ‘avoc. Do ya see wot ‘ah mean?"

Sir Guy waved his touch around for emphasis. "I still want the satisfaction."

Within moments, Sir Guy and the soldiers reached the same wooden door that Robin and his group were at before.

"Perhaps this is a way out," Sir Guy muttered.

"Either way, if it isn’t, we have Robin trapped. There is no other way to go."

"Perhaps it’s a trap," said Jacobi.

"And perhaps you can shut your mouth for a minute," Sir Guy growled. He turned to his remaining soldiers.

"This is the only way they could have gone at this juncture," he said. "We must follow. Who gets to go first?"

Each soldier looked at each other apprehensively. For a group of fighters, they sure had their moments of fright. Nobody said a single thing. Finally Jacobi pushed his way to the front.

"You men are ‘opeless," he said. He shoved Sir Guy out of the way with his elbow and threw open the wooden door.

Jacobi wasted no time in entering the room. Sir Guy followed with his soldiers. What they found left each and every mouth gaping. Everyone was back in the same hall they were before.

The same two torches were missing from the wall. The same cobwebs were flowing in the cold air. With a shudder, the group of men observed the form of the soldier that met his unfortunate end with the spear from the ceiling.

"We’re back where we started!" Sir Guy exclaimed. He didn’t have to voice it, but everyone knew something very wrong was going on. How could an entire castle have only one corridor and one wooden door back to the beginning? Robin and the warriors must have found another way out, for they were nowhere to be found.

Sir Guy was at a loss for words. He led his men into the middle of the hall, contemplating where to go next. He had temporarily forgotten about Robin, worrying only about his own survival in the mysterious castle.

End of Chapter Three