Page 7 of Hooked

I looked up to see the children streaming toward me with their swords at the ready (though the little girl’s was dragging on the ground).

“Miss Cecily, you are in danger,” one boy called as he leapt over a row of flowers. He was the young man from Bridgefield whose name I didn’t know.

A smile curved my lips. “Oh, really?” I asked, more than a little skeptical.

“Yes,” Ansel answered, joining us. “There is an evil sorceress lurking. We are to take you to safety. Come!” He gestured toward the open yard while looking to his left and right, a good little protector, always on guard.

“Oh dear!” I dropped my basket and reached out to Johnny, who was the oldest. “I am so very frightened. Do help me to escape,” I entreated in my best damsel-in-distress voice.

He grabbed my hand and we dashed out of the garden, surrounded by the other children, who were being surprisingly vigilant about keeping an eye out for any further dangers.

Falstone stood waiting for us, a grin on his face, a hand on the hilt of the wooden sword that was tucked into his belt. He clapped as we approached. “Well done, trainees. Now,” he said, looking around at each of them individually, building suspense for what he would say next. “What would you do if I were the villain?!” He suddenly crouched into an offensive stance, pulling his wooden sword from his belt.

The children immediately raised their own weapons to fend him off and my own heart seemed to beat double time, not because of his villainous act, but because I’d never seen him act thus before.

He took a menacing step forward. “I’m here to capture the fair maiden and force her to scrub all the floors in my mansion, which has one hundred rooms!”

I let out a dramatic gasp and put the back of my hand to my head. “Scrubbing floors! In over one hundred rooms. It is a fate worse than death.”

A smile cracked through Falston’s evil glare. “Quickly, children! How will you protect her?” He started circling to one side, playing the menacing villain.

“Gretchen, Ansel!” Johnny called out. “Take the maiden to safety in the garden. Oliver, Tyson, you act as my flanks so he can’t get around us.”

Gretchen ran over and grabbed my hand with her tiny one, towing me away as Ansel followed us by walking backward, never giving his back to the enemy or lowering his sword.

“Let’s move,” Johnny said, and they each shifted to their positions, moving somewhat in unison as they closed in on the villainous threat.

“You’ll not take my prize. I am determined to have my floors sparkle and shine!" Falstone raised his sword, swinging it toward Johnny in slow motion. Johnny was able to meet Falstone’s sword with his own.

While Falstone engaged in an epic battle with his three opponents, he kept instructing. “Now, Gretchen and Ansel, you must pay attention to your surroundings. Look around so that you know all of the escapes you might be able to use. Perhaps you can even find something that the maiden can use to defend herself. A stick or a rock.”

Ansel quickly put a long twig (thin and brittle enough that it would do nothing at all against an attacker) into my hands.

“You’ve fallen, Oliver,” Falstone said as he held Oliver’s sword arm with one hand and sliced across his chest with the other.

He quickly dispatched Johnny and Tyson as well. “Aha!” He said in triumph. “Now there are only two defenders. “Are you ready to give up now, Ansel?” Falstone goaded with a grin as he entered the garden.

“Umm…” Ansel hesitated with a nervous giggle.

“Are you going to choose to save yourself, or will you protect the fair maiden to the end?”

Ansel looked unsure, and I couldn’t blame him. Johnny lay with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Oliver kept crying, “I’m bleeding! I’m going to die!” and Tyson was moaning dramatically.

It was Gretchen who surprised us all, jumping in front of me and holding up her sword with both hands. “You can’t take her because you’re a bad man!”

Falstone’s sword tip dropped to the ground at his side and he threw his head back, laughing. “Very good, Miss Gretchen!” he complimented. “That is exactly the right answer.” He crouched down on his haunches. “If you are going to be a protector, you have to fight to the very end to protect them. But”—his face became serious—“that won’t be until you all are much older and have a lot more training. Understand?”

Gretchen nodded. Ansel looked up at me, his nose wrinkled. “Sorry I didn’t want to protect you all the way.”

I chuckled. “That’s quite all right. You’re a little young for such responsibilities now.”

He sighed. “I guess so.”

“All right,” Falstone said, standing up again. “Let’s gather with the others.”

Gretchen and Ansel ran off to join the three wounded soldiers, who were now climbing to their feet.

Falstone turned to me with a grin and bowed. “Thank you, my lady, for playing along.”