“Throw whatever you can find on it,” John instructed. “Any gasoline out here, Marion?”
“No.” She looked around. “We don’t usually need it.”
“Okay. No gas. Let’s get those shovels over there and walk some fire into the trees.” John pointed to the shovels by the storage shed.
“Johnny, please—” Marion tried to appeal to him.
“What? You called me for help. I came. Just like those knights of old, right?” John grinned. “Maybe you should get out of here. You might get hurt.”
Marion didn’t move. I could see this wasn’t what she’d had in mind—though what she had in mind had been much worse for me and Robin. Apparently, she didn’t mind killing people as much as she disliked burning the forest.
“We have to confront them,” I said. “We have to stall for time while one of us runs for help. They don’t know Tony and Hank are here. If we go out and surrender, Robin, it would stop them from burning the forest.”
“I like being Robin Hood, Jessie. But I don’t want to die for it.”
“I hope we won’t have to.” I looked at Hank. “Are the nets set in the trees?”
He shrugged. “Sure. We always keep them set.”
“Okay. This is what I think we should do.”
*
Robin and I walked out from behind the treehouse with our arms in the air. The first shovel of hot embers was about to leave the safety of the fire pit.
“Well, well!” John grinned when he saw us. “I thought the idea of being roasted might bring you out.”
Three guns were immediately trained on us.
Marion looked relieved to see us. “Call them off now, Johnny. There’s no need to burn the trees, right?”
He put his arm around her and kissed the side of her head. “She’s such a softie.” He told his men to put their shovels down. “You’re right. We can shoot them with a lot less fuss. Give them those shovels, and let’s do some grave digging.”
“You mean dig our own graves?” I asked him. “You’ve got to be kidding. You’re going to shoot us anyway. Why would I do that?”
“Because we could shoot you in the foot and then make you dig,” one of John’s men said with a laugh. He handed me the shovel. “Dig.”
“Besides, this takes more time,” Robin quietly reminded me, picking up his own shovel. “We need time, remember?”
“I know, but this is so corny!”
“Shut up and dig,” John said.
Five of his men were standing together to the right of us. None of them were holding their guns. Robin nodded at them.
Tony was using the other asset he had besides working on computers—his long legs. He’d been a track star in high school. That had been a long time ago, but he also knew the back forest better than I did. He had my cell phone and could call for help as soon as he could find signal.
Hank was waiting to do his part. At Robin’s nod, he pulled the net that was under five of the men. They flew up into the trees, yelling and pulling at the net that held them. But there was no way out of the net until someone released them.
Robin looked at me. “Run!”
I didn’t wait for another invitation.
We ran toward the entrance to Sherwood Forest. It had never seemed so far away from the camp. John, and his other five thugs, came after us. I could still hear the men in the nets yelling.
“They didn’t take the time to let them down,” Robin said as he ran. “I hope Hank has time to get to the curve in the path.”
“Me too!”
I had really thought John and Marion would help the other men down first before they came after us. Marion knew how. Of course, John may have left her behind to accomplish that, and just come after us without her. Maybe that’s why they always showed large numbers of bad guys traveling together on TV.
“They aren’t shooting,” Robin huffed beside me.
“Maybe they don’t want to draw attention,” I replied.
“Almost there.”
We hit the curve in the path where the Merry Men snagged their largest group of visitors each day. The net was well-hidden under leaves and dried grass. I hoped Hank had time to make it here. We weren’t far from the entrance.
“Speed up!” Robin yelled.
“I’m ahead of you!” I reminded him.
“I was talking to myself.”
There was a whooshing sound behind us as the net went up. It was immediately followed by yelling and cursing as it took at least some of John’s men with it.
I wasn’t willing to wait and see how many were captured. I sprinted for the entrance, not looking back. My lungs felt like they were going to burst.