Hiding from Royalty Part 11

     “Come on,” Hannah whispered as she motioned with her hand, “I know how to escape, follow me.”  Leading the horse through the woods, Hannah stealthily made her way to the escape route.  Quietly the two girls followed, silently wondering where they were going.  The three small figures of the girls and the bulky figure of the horse creep through the twilight lit woods.  Finally, Hannah halted and turned around to face Maria and Isabella.

    “Oh, I’m so relieved to see you!” Isabella cried softly. “Wait a second, why are you here and not dad?”  Her face wore an expression of confusion as she tried to figure out what could have happened to her dad.  Did King John send knights to burn down her house?  Had her family fallen ill to some horrible disease and Hannah had barely escaped?

    The two sisters embraced as a cool night breeze blew through their hair.  “I’m so happy I found you.  Dad came to rescue you; I assumed he was captured as well.  You mean you haven’t seen him?” Hannah asked as her worry for her father increased by the second.

     “He was here?!?  Hannah, what if he’s dead!  What if we never see him again?” Panic rose into Isabella’s voice.  She tried to keep her tone quiet, but her mind was racing with loud thoughts.

     Maria set a hand on Isabella’s shoulder, “Don’t worry if your dad came here to rescue you and he did get captured, he is still alive.  King John is too greedy to kill him; he takes all the prisoners he can.”

     Both Hannah and Isabella let out sighs of relief.  “So how are we gonna get dad?” Hannah asked

      “I think we should just focus on getting out of here right now, we don’t even know where he is!” Isabella said.

      Maria spoke up, “Actually, I think I know where he is.  A couple days ago I overheard a conversation between a guard and one of the head maids.  They were talking about a girl named Isabella and how her dad had been captured, and what a shame it was that another family had been broken up.   Then the guard said that he was in the north wing of the dungeon, in cell number 34.”

     “Wait, a guard actually said ‘it’s a shame another family got broken up’?” Isabella asked

     “They’re not all evil; some of them have families too.  Most of them probably just do the job for the money.” Responded Maria as the moonlight shone on her face and outlined her dark skin with shadows.

     “Well…That’s great, I guess, let’s go get dad.” Hannah said. 

     “What do you think we’re gonna do?!  How are we supposed to get him?  I want to find dad too, but do you think we can just waltz in there, break him out of prison, and do the jig past the guards then merrily skip home?!”  Isabella inquired in bewilderment. 

      “I don’t know, but we can’t just leave him! Retorted Hannah, “Listen, It’ll be morning soon, so how ‘bout we get past the fence then get some sleep and talk about it in the morning?” 

   “OK.” Marie and Hannah said simultaneously, they were both eager to be past the confining fence of the castle. 

     “How do we escape anyway?” asked Maria as she stroked Buttercup’s soft hair.

     Hannah smiled, “Everybody thinks that the fence goes all the way around the castle, but it doesn’t.  It ends a little bit ahead when the ground gets a bit swampy.  So all we have to do is ride the horse straight through the swamp because the ground is higher there, and on either side it gets really deep”

     The three girls and the horse walked a bit father till the ground got soft and a swamp began to form.  Then the girls mounted the horse with Hannah in front and began to ride through it.  It took about 30 minuets to get past the swamp and the girls rode another 10 minuets to make sure they were far enough away from the castle until they stopped.  The horse was exhausted from carrying three girls through the thick water; her heavy breath formed small clouds in the cold night air.  As the three dismounted; dew from the tall grass rubbed against them and felt cold on their legs.  The forest was so dense by now that no moonlight escaped the labyrinth of trees to touch the ground.  The girls felt their way to a thick tree and collapsed on the soft mossy ground in exhaustion.

     “Hannah” Isabella asked, “Maybe we shouldn’t go get Dad, maybe we should go back and get help, besides, it’s not fair to Maria.  She shouldn’t have to risk her life to save someone should doesn’t even know.  And anyway what are the chances that we can even help him?”

     Before Hannah could reply, Maria answered. “No.  You need to go rescue your father.  Or at least try.  I would if…  I would try as hard as I could to rescue my dad if he was still alive.” She swallowed and breathed deep. “I grew up in the northern part of France; I had 2 little sisters, and 1 older brother.  Papa owned a bakery which I helped out at on Saturdays.  We were all such a happy family, then it all changed one day.  King John’s men came riding through our village, and burnt it down.  They thought that no one survived; until they looked through the town and found a small eight-year-old girl crying for her parents in the wreckage.  I was the only survivor.  One of the knights, who spoke French picked me up and sat me on his horse.  He planned to take me home with him, but King John was too greedy to let one potential slave slip through his fingers.  He ordered that the knight give the girl to him, when the knight refused…they killed him.  I was brought back here, and taught to speak English.  I never had anyone to love me sense then…”  In the darkness nobody saw the tear roll down Maria’s cheek.

     “We love you.” Said Hannah after a long silence and right before everyone fell asleep she added, “Tomorrow night, we will get our father back!”

Will the girls be able to break their father out of prison?  Will the soldiers find them in the woods?  Is their father still in cell 34?  Stay tuned to find out!!

To Be Continued…

P.S. Hope you liked it!  Also I just wanted to say "Welcome Emma!!!" =D

<3 Laura