Dragon Eyes

Chapter 5.

Arrested.

Lynwood spent most of the afternoon reading. Remembering he was supposed to cook supper, he finally put the book down and went into the garden. Lynwood was still very upset at Sofia and even considered burning her portion of the food to get back at her, but then that would take extra work and Father would get angry, so he put the idea out of his head.

Once outside Lynwood noticed the chickens had gotten lose from their pen and were in the garden. Grumbling at how today everything seemed to be against him, he grabbed the tools and went to mend the broken chicken coop. There was a slight drizzle outside and by the time he finished fixing the pen and chased the chickens back into it Lynwood was pretty damp. Going back into the house, Lynwood put together a simple supper and then sat down to wait for the rest of the family to return home.

A hand on his shoulder woke him up suddenly. Shaking his head Lynwood glanced up and found himself looking into the eyes of Father.

“Looks like you drifted off to sleep,” Lyndon chuckled.

“Did I?” Lynwood rubbed his eyes.

“You sure did, I called your name and you didn’t lift you head. Where is Sofia?”

“She went out picking black berries.”

“And she isn’t back yet?” Lyndon’s voice became tense.

“Nope, she said something about being back late for dinner.”

“You just let her go out into the woods, on her own? Lynwood, what if something happened to her, what if she got lost or attacked by some wild animal?”

“She’ll be fine father; after all, she isn’t a baby!” The sarcasm was so strong in Lynwood’s voice that it made Lyndon narrowed his eyes.

“Did the two of you have another argument?”

Lynwood shrugged and looked down.

“Oh, Lynwood, when are the two of you going to learn to get along?” Lyndon moaned.

“Look Father, it wasn’t my fault. She’s the one who started it, going on and on about how I read too much and how I am irresponsible and immature. What was I supposed to do, smile and nod?”

“Well one thing you really shouldn’t have done is let her go off deep into the woods alone. When did she leave?”

“Right after lunch.”

“Right after lun...right after LUNCH! Lynwood, do you realize how long she has been gone? Nearly seven hours, SEVEN HOURS! Did it even cross you mind she might be in some sort of trouble?”

“No, I didn’t even realize so much time had passed. I spent most of the day reading and then got up to cook supper.”

“Lynwood, I leave you here in the faith that you will look after your younger sister. I trust you will take care of her, not argue and then pay no attention when she disappears for many hours. Instead of taking responsibility, you spend most of your days reading books and daydreaming. Look at me, young man, you are thirteen years old, when are you going to finally grow up? So far you are being nothing more than an immature disappointment to me.”

Lynwood felt his face grow hot from anger. Knocking his chair over, Lynwood raced from the table ran up the stairs to his room, slamming to door behind him. He threw himself on the bed, angry and humiliated.

“Lynwood, come down, we’re going to go look for Sofia.” His father called from downstairs.

“Well go and look for her,” Lynwood retorted. “I probably won’t be of much help to you anyways.” It was perhaps the first time he had ever so openly contradicted his father.

“Young man, you get down here this instant!”

“Shan’t!” Lynwood replied. “Since I am so young and immature, there is no reason for me to go. I will be more of a hinder than a help to you.”

“Now you listen to me, Lynwood, come down here or I will make you.” He could hear his father coming up the stairs.

“Then make me.” Lynwood challenged and crossed his arms in front of his chest. The door opened and Lyndon walked in.

“What is up with your behavior, young man?” He angrily asked.

“I’ll tell you what it’s about,” Lynwood burst out. “This is about me being sick and tired of having to sit here with Sofia day in and day out. I never get to do anything fun, and you, you never care about it. You don’t care anything for me; everything is always about Sofia.”

“Stop being selfish, Lynwood. You are quite grown up and Sofia is still small. She needs to be looked after, and since her mother is gone and I cannot stay here, I count on you to look after her.”

“Well, I am tired of looking after her. It’s a job that never gets any credit, not from her and not from you. I am always the bad guy, and since I am such a bad guy then I shall just stay up here in my room and Sofia can get lost for all I care.”

Lyndon raised his hand and hit the boy across the face. Lynwood’s left ear and cheek turned a deep red, but his eyes burned with anger. It was the first time in his life that his father, usually so easy going, had ever hit him.

“Now listen to me, you get off this bed and help me look for your sister!”

“I said I am not!” Lynwood shot out. “And you know what, you can’t make me! Sure drag me, drag me all you want, beat me black and blue, I am not going anywhere!”

“Very well, young man,” Lyndon coldly stated. “Stay here if you wish, but know that this conversation is not over.”

With that Lyndon turned and marched out of the room. Lynwood angrily rubbed his sore cheek. Once his father was gone he got up and paced the room. Back and forth, back and forth. Perhaps he should just run away, go off into the mountains for a long, long time. Maybe then his father would miss him and appreciate him. Let’s see how they would get along without the selfish, immature Lynwood to do all the dirty work. Yes, that is what he would do; he would leave, now, while his father was gone.

Grabbing his pack, Lynwood rolled up a woolen blanket and placed it inside. An extra pair of pants and two shirts followed. He would need a flint to make a fire if he planned to live in the woods a couple of days, and of course he would take his hunting knife. He counted the arrows in his quiver and checke his bowstring to make sure it was still good. He had just packed his three favorite books when he heard a loud crash downstairs.

Walking to the door of his room he put his ear to it and was startled by another crash; something very large was being knocked over. Lynwood stiffened when he heard angry voices downstairs. His hand slipped to his knife and silently he opened the door and tip-toed down the stairs. Peeking out from behind the corner, he saw two men restraining his father while another man stood gloating over him. The crash had been the front door, which had been broken down, and then the table and chairs after them. There were three other men hunting around the room, all were dressed in uniform.

“There is no use denying it,” the man in front of Father was saying. “We know about everything! Tell us where the letter is, we know you have it.”

Father remained silent as he looked defiantly into the eyes of the captain. Lynwood knew that that the captain was wasting time, if Father didn’t want to tell him something, no one would ever get it out of him. But what was the letter that the man wanted? What sort of letter could Father have that this man, this soldier, this captain, would want?

“We have him you know; we have your blacksmith friend and fellow plotter. If you won’t tell us where it is, we will torture him, we will burn your houses; we will kill your families. Tell us where the letter is!”

Father didn’t say one word. The man reached out and struck him on the face. Father staggered and blood appeared, but he still remained silent. Lynwood covered his mouth to stop the cry that nearly came from his lips. He knew that if he wanted to help Father he would need to keep very quiet.

As silently as he could, Lynwood slipped back upstairs, fastened his cloak, and attached his quiver to his belt. He then grabbed his bag and bow hanging them over his shoulder. There was one problem, how was he to get out of the house? The thought of climbing out of the window crossed his mind. He was on the second floor, but it was worth a try.

“We found it sir!” A voice downstairs called.

Something inside told Lynwood to go back down. Peaking out, he saw another soldier standing in front of the captain, holding some sort of letter in his hand.

“I told you we would find it.” The captain laughed cruelly in Father’s face. “You can’t hide anything from us, it’s over...” He was cut short by Lynwood, who had rushed out of his hiding place and running as fast as he could, snatched the letter out of the soldier’s hand. He succeeded in this because the soldier had been completely off guard.

“Hey you, who are you? Who is this? Get him, catch him!” The captain shouted.

“Run, Lynwood, run as fast as you can,” Lyndon yelled. “Find Sofia and get as far away from here as possible. You have to take the letter to the nephew of the king! Do you understand? The nephew of the king! Get to the capital city of Arrol! But find Sofia first!”

“Silence you!” The captain commanded, giving Lyndon a rough kick.

Lynwood, despite not wanting to leave his father, knew he couldn’t be of help to him, so pushing and shoving he managed to get away from the soldiers, who were all trying to grab him. Racing out the front door he ran for dear life into the woods as fast as his legs could carry him.

“Catch him!” He could hear the captain yelling at the top of his lungs. “Get him! Bring him back! Don’t let him get away. Retrieve that letter at all costs! Find him! Do you hear me? Find him!”

Lynwood ran all the faster, not even stopping to look back. Zig-zagging here and there, diving under branches and over logs. He tried to keep his mind clear even though he was so confused. Father had just been arrested, but Lynwood didn’t know for what. Where on earth was Sofia?