Chapter Fifteen: Life Is Just a Game We Play and Epilogue

The next few days passed without incident. Charles and Richard amused themselves by regaling past robberies and stunts they had pulled and killings that had most pleased them. Both were anxious about the coming meeting but would not show it. Fear? Ha! That was for cowards! Anyway, they would have an advantage, they would be armed and no one who they had encountered on the roads had trying to outdo a gun.

The day dawned, cold and miserable, the clouds crying erratic but large drops of rain which glittered on the spider webs and in the grass like diamonds, a thick fog hiding any distance. The forest would be marshy and the roads hard.

Charles stood musing quietly by the window, his forehead creased with thought, Richard sat staring into space; he had not been himself for several days and Charles, however concerned, could do nothing. He turned from the window;

“It may a wise decision to disperse now, it will hard at the moment to travel but later it may be impossible to even leave.” Richard nodding and got to his feet, Charles and still got all his weapons, hiding them away whenever they got back. He gathered what he needed and joined Charles at the open door, the fog snaked in past him, damp and unpleasant. He whistled and slowly the black out line of a horse drew closer and finally became somewhat visible when he was within a few paces away. Charles slowly moved forward, watching his footing as best he could, his boots sinking into the mud, sticking and making it frustratingly hard to walk. Finally, after nearly loosing his boot five times during the short distance and becoming extremely wound up, he reached the patient horse. He got more annoyed while waiting for Richard to struggle over and all in all it took ten minutes to do something that would normally be achieved in a matter of seconds. After shoving his disguise and so forth into the saddle bag and handing Richard a pistol he indicated for the horse to move on.

Black Shuck moved very hesitantly, unhappy with the conditions of this journey, it was frightening and unnerving to walk through a place so familiar and not be able to recognise anything. It was lucky though that he knew the route to take, following his instincts but still being careful of the ground which after a spell of such bad weather became swampy and dangerous in certain parts. All were relieved when to horses hooves hit the gravel of the highway.

They made there way down the road meeting no one and they didn’t expect too with the thick heaviness of the fog which ran its cold icy fingers over you, pressing damp, icy chills into your clothes and body. All along the sides of them were the eerie shapes of the trees, scenery that looked so beautiful now seemed disturbing and macabre, even the rustle of the leaves sent the heart racing. After what seemed like hours and fighting through the billowing mists a faint outline of the town appeared, looming out of the darkness as a spectre would from an unseen door. Charles pulled lightly of the reins and Black Shuck halted, he jumped down and looked up at the sky to try and work out what time it was. From what he could see of the sky the sun was high which meant it was midday or just after, there was no point in going any further, they were near enough to get the job over and done with later on and going on into the town seemed stupid. There was a soft crackle behind him as Richard slid off and joined him. “I see no reason to continue on this early” Charles said glancing at him “all we can do is wait…however tedious that may be” Richard raised an eyebrow

“But for how long? It is cold and everywhere around us is wet so there is no place to rest.” Charles pondered over this for a while and then caught sight of a tall, easily climbable tree; Richard followed his gaze and immediately knew what he was thinking. “You can not be…”

“Do you have any other ideas?” Charles interrupted sharply

“Fine” Richard replied equally as sharp “but if I fall and break my neck I am holding you fully responsible!” Charles chuckled

“One wouldn’t mind…if you break your neck you are unlikely to be around to blame me!” Richard glowered at him knowing his attempt at arguing had gone completely wrong. Still, there was no way of convincing Charles otherwise so he may as well just go along with, he kicked at the gravel sending in spraying in most directions and sulkily followed Charles to the tree which he was already up. He studied the bark and branches carefully until he found a suitable foothold and with an exasperated sigh shimmied up. He sat down heavily on the large thick branch and shivered, they were keep dry up here but they caught the wind a lot worse, and pulled his coat tightly round himself. Charles looked at him, the sun had managed to slip through a small break in the mist illuminating Richards’ face for a moment, it was white with cold and Charles imagined his was probably the same. He slowly edged closer to him and pulled him into his arms, Richard snuggled next to him although feeling very childish and hoped the dusk would come quickly however much he liked it. He found himself fighting the awkward feeling that once again pounded inside him. He hated them he decided, they may lead to extreme pleasure but they weakened ones will, a will that had always been as strong as iron until they got hold and began to bend it. His thoughts began to drift again, from his family of so long ago up to the previous night, it was strange the effects that such cold has. He forced himself to relax as best he could on the hard branch and let himself sink into a state which bordered sleep and consciousness. He pulled himself back to bleak reality when he felt Charles shift into a better position. The air had changed and the light was beginning to fade, with the fog although somewhat fainter it was still thick and made it seem later than what it was. “Come on” Charles said “check your weapon in loaded and we will head into the village and discuss a basic plan there.” He moved to the edge of the branch and jumped down, Richard followed with his eyes closed hoping Charles wouldn’t notice as he didn’t want any sarcastic remarks about being afraid of heights. He checked his pistol; it was fully loaded minus one bullet which he had used the other day. ‘I doubt if I’ll use all three bullets’ he thought as he looked it over ‘and is I do run out I have my dagger with me.’ Even before he had met Charles he always carried his dagger with him; it was made him rosewood and sliver nickel, exceptionally sharp and deadly. Although Charles had at first took it from him Richard had noted where he had put it and taken it back and from then on kept it concealed in a pouch in his boot; the other weapons still remained a mystery.

The warm light from the lanterns at the inn seemed welcoming as they glowed dimly through the fog and were the only source of light which was visible. Charles carefully wandered to the middle of the village square and stopped, checking around him for any movement, even when all seemed clear he remained there, still and listening for any dangers that one could not see with the eye. There was a feeling of foreboding inside of him and he could not shake it off; he turned back to Richard, about to confide in him…only to find himself looking down the barrel of his gun. “What are you…”

“Shut up!” Richard said furiously “I am done now with playing your game and I’m returning to my own that I planned when we met!” There was a flash of sliver and Charles’ gun was knocked out of his hand; Richard hooked the dagger back into his belt rather than bending to put it in his boot. Charles’ eyes narrowed

“What are you talking about?”

“You remember the night we met, I wanted to kill you, get rid of you and keep the entire forest and highway to myself, I failed and you caught me so I decided to go along with you, do what you wanted and then I would have total control” he smirked “how the tables do turn.” Charles thought he would explode with anger, all along he had thought his was the dominant leader but in reality Richard had always had him where we wanted and had been the wiser of the two, it was his looks and his eyes...they ensnared him. “So very easy you see” Richard bragged “if you had heard the tales of me you would have known, those you survived gave a decent enough picture but then they passed on with the pain of the wounds. I got away with all this because of the innocence I can portray, the purity” a pause “although I have not got that now…thanks to you.”

“You were as…” Charles stopped himself; Richard had never been particularly willing

“You are so stupid…you fell into everything” he laughed cruelly “just like Thomas Cope did…he invaded my ground so I set him up well and truly…like I did you with that wonderful murder.”

“What!” Charles lunged for him but Richard quickly moved away and tripped him

“Don’t try that, you are unarmed and it seems a very unintelligent thing to do.” As Charles breathed hard to calm himself a thought came into his mind

“If you set me up then why did you return?” Richard froze and Charles smiled at his frantic expression

“I…it was…” Richard words made no sense, his sentences were mixtures of various excuses and in the end he gave in “because I loved you!” His eyes blazed like fire, so enraged he had had to admit to this.

“And you still do…” Richard looked away “your eyes gave you away…you fell into your own trap Northford” Charles pulled himself to his feet and dusted himself off; his clothes were soggy and stained his dust and mud but all that could wait, he grabbed Richard under the chin and yanked his head to face him. “Let us do what we came to do; it is for the safety of us both” He reached down and reclaimed his gun; Richard remained motionless and didn’t stop him. Charles let go strode past him with a superior air “we shall talk later.” Richard knew for the moment he was beaten and had no other option; angrily he followed Charles to the tavern.

“And that my friends is what I propose we do.” William stood in the middle of the wooden floor with a band of around ten people sat listening to him over pints of ale. They grunted or nodded in reply, not eager to do the work but the sound of a reward made it a little different. “None of us may know whereabouts his hideout is but one has a fairly good idea from where we were this morning and thanks to my companion” he gestured toward the man he had been with in the woods “we have a nice description and he will be able to give us some help.” He words achieved a few claps but the earlier customers were never too enthusiastic until the alcohol was in their blood.

The tavern was an old building with wooden beams against the walls, which were decorated with a few drab, dusty paintings, and on the ceiling. Spiders’ webs hung from the corners and if one listened carefully you could hear the faint scurry of rats below the floorboards. The drinks were served by a rather hefty woman with a figure that was almost like a bell with her large hips and smaller upper body although she had a chest that would probably suffocate a man if one were hugged by her. The bar itself was watched by an elderly gentleman in his late fifties who always wore the same brown pants every night. “Gives me luck with the ladies, ya see” he would croak with a wink and the reply was always the same “those without a nose!” That would send everyone into laughter and merriment which would last the rest of the night. Their customers sat round small wooden tables, which would sit four or at most five, cracked with age and misuse like their matching stools, many with uneven legs so a gent would most likely opt to sit on an old crate with at times proved more comfortable. Whatever the bad points there was always a good atmosphere and it had become to local haunt of many a man wishing to get away from his troubles for while and talk and drink with others.

William looked round at them all; he knew he had their support but it was convincing them to listen and form a working plan, he sat down on one of the rickety stools and decided to try from the same level. “Please heed my words” he pleaded “if we work together we can overcome all boundaries and make the county better for all!”

“Listen to the man…” a deep voice growled from one of the darker corners and a stout middle aged man with a scar etched above his eye faced them “I lost a son to this devil and it would be an honour to bring him down or see him hang.” He rose from the chair and walked over to the centre of the room “unless we do something we will lose even more men and riches to him.” The words of a fellow drunkard seemed to have a better effect than those of an irregular patron who tended to avoid the tavern and earned more money. The others began to mutter in agreement and ideas were shouted over, many of which were useless but all must be heard. William bowed his head toward the scar faced man “I thank you” he said politely

“Don’t” was the terse reply and he returned over to his dark spot and immersed himself back into his own word and beer. William went over to Joshua, the man he guided that morning, who had been sat quietly though all this. “Well we have their support now!” He smiled, Joshua nodded

“Sadly we will have to share the money too”

“With a crowd of people they may offer us all more” William said hopefully “I believe it has been done before” and once again their eyes sparkled, not with the idea of catching a wanted criminal but with the thought of the rewards it came with. Suddenly with an incredible crash the tavern door flew open, its’ hinges almost snapping from the force, the room fell completely silent as the masked figure of The Shadow entered. He let Richard past who went over or rather stomped over to the bar to guard what would have been the only escape. Like sheep the entire pub moved together and halted by the small fireplace as if the flames would somehow offer protection against a fully armed and experienced highwayman. Charles glared and William and Joshua. “You did not think I was not going to leave you to capture did you?”

“H…how did you know about this?” Joshua stammered; Charles smirked

“Your guides lovely wife told me all I needed” he thought for a moment “of course she wouldn’t have done if it hadn’t been for your weak excuse for a child.” William grew red and was about to step forward but Charles raised his gun and held him back. “Stand back or I’ll shoot you so you die a long and painful death rather than the quicker one I had in mind” he inched carefully toward him and aimed the pistol at his head with only the words “you will follow” snarled at Joshua. His finger pulled the trigger and let it click but not fire and enjoyed the expression of complete fear it sent over their faces which was a mistake as he forgot to pay attention to where he was walking. He slipped. The gun fired. Twice. William fell to the ground with a cry of agony as the bullet entered his leg and through the bone. And the other?

Richard leant on the bar sulking and fuming at himself, he straightened only to watch Charles destroy the two men…and then he felt it. A searing pain hit him squarely in the chest, almost like a burning needle. He clung onto the bar to try and support himself but he could not and collapsed to the floor. Charles ran over to him and gently lifted his head; blood began to seep from the corner of his mouth, his face contorted with pain. “Why?”

“Richard…please…I did not mean it, I swear to you that I did not! I tripped! This should never have happened! God forgive me…” his voice trailed off and he looked again into his eyes, dimmer now but they contained something he hadn’t seen before. His emotions. They radiated from the blue depths and to look in those eyes now Charles could see inside his heart, inside his very soul. Richard raised a hand and touched Charles’ cheek in a sign of forgiveness; Charles held it there, his eyes beginning to fill with tears. As they gazed at each other his expression relaxed and life seemed to return and for a fleeting moment Charles thought, with the right care, he may live. But the eyes clouded and became glassy, his limbs went rigid as if his blood was being frozen and had turned to ice inside of him. And in the soft glow of the candle light, sending a warm glow over the two figures, his arm dropped gently to his side and he died.

Charles remained in shock until he realized where he was and as quickly as he had entered he dashed out of the door and away into the darkness outside; no one tried to stop him, they were all too confused and stunned as to what had happened. And in the silence that followed they heard the sound of a horse sprinting away.

Epilogue

They townsfolk buried Richard at the edge of the forest he once haunted, he had no living relatives and no one wanted to spend any money on a proper funeral so his was laid to rest in a small grave with a wooden post to mark it. Even that was objected to.

Charles however seemed to disappear. Williams’ organised party hunted out the highwayman’s den but found no one there. The entire cabin was in disarray, nothing was still in one piece, it was like a hurricane had hit. As they returned they past Richards’ grave and saw a small bunch of wild flowers looped through a golden ring with a quickly scrawled note. ‘Richard Northford: Too dearly loved (and hated) to be forgotten’ it read, almost like the epitaph that was never made.

All had their own ideas to where Charles had gone. Some said that in grief he had committed suicide; others say he had merely gone to live a peaceful life elsewhere. But those questions will be left unanswered like many others; why did his note say ‘hated’ in brackets? Why was it there? And maybe the most important one which may answer those others in some way is: Did Charles really trip on the floorboards and shoot by accident? Or did he bring forth an unknown acting talent like Richards’ and make this ‘mistake’ on purpose so he hit the target he really intended?