CHAPTER SEVEN

 

 

THINGS WOULD NEVER be the same again, Mary knew that.

How could they be after what she’d found out? After what she’d stumbled upon that late afternoon? April was seeing a friend after school that day, so Mary had decided to go and have a chat with Sophie. Maybe she could help, get Sophie’s take on what was happening between her and Mark. She’d never been one for interfering, in fact she liked to think she had a pretty good mother-in-law relationship with the girl, but she hated seeing them like this. Hated seeing Mark like this. Yes, he needed to get a handle on his jealousy, but at the same time Sophie needed to realise that some of her actions were a little... unwise. She was a friendly girl, nothing wrong with that—but some men saw that as a green light. Mary had witnessed this kind of thing for herself.

So, knowing Mark was away for a while, she’d knocked on their door and waited. No-one in. Mary checked the rest of the castle, but couldn’t find her anywhere. Next she looked in the grounds, curious as to where Sophie might be, more than anything. She even asked at the gate to see if the girl had left—they’d have logged her out, provided an armed escort to wherever she might be going. None of them left the castle without one of those in tow. Sophie hadn’t gone anywhere that they knew of.

She did a bit of asking around, in the hopes that someone had seen her at some point. If they hadn’t, then Mary needed to report it. People going missing at the castle always set alarm bells ringing because of what had happened to Mark a few years ago: kidnapped by Shadow and taken to Sherwood to be exchanged for Robert. And with the place on alert anyway...

Then she bumped into Ranger Abney, who was up and about again today, though still looking a bit peaky. Mary asked him how he was feeling. “Okay now, thanks. I guess it must have been something I ate.”

“I don’t suppose you’ve come across Sophie on your travels, have you?” asked Mary. “Only I can’t seem to find her anywhere.”

Abney smiled. “Oh, I saw her not long ago up near the stables. I assumed she’d been seeing Mark off.”

Mary uttered her thanks, not mentioning the fact that Mark had taken a horse and gone around midday. She headed off in the direction of the stables—it was at least a place to start looking. Sophie had probably decided to go for a walk or something around the grounds; it was a nice day after all, and they’d been cooped up inside the castle most of the winter. Any excuse to get out into the Spring sunshine after months of darkness and snow. At least there had been a sighting of her, which meant that she hadn’t been captured—thank God.

She reached the stables, not actually intending to go in herself, just to use it as a starting point, but then she’d heard the giggling from inside. It sounded girlish, childish even, and for a moment Mary wondered if April and her friend were playing where they shouldn’t be again. She’d been told on several occasions how dangerous it was in the stables, that a horse could kick out and seriously hurt someone, if they were spooked.

She imagined the voice of her late brother David in her head, although she hadn’t heard him for such a long time now. I really don’t like the looks of this, Moo-Moo.

Tentatively, Mary stepped inside.

There were only a couple of horses around at the moment, making the place look quite bare. It had been re-designed a few years ago to accommodate more animals, though even then they’d had to convert a house near to the castle to keep more as an overspill. Today, most of the horses from here had been taken. There was hay everywhere, extending into the shadows at the back... and that was where the giggling was coming from.

“April!” Mary called out, effecting her stern ‘mum’ voice—which actually also worked on Robert, she’d found. “April, if that’s you—”

The giggling stopped.

“Don’t make me come in there and fetch you!”

Mary heard a man’s voice then, followed by shuffling noises. She frowned, a different kind of alarm going off now, then marched through the hay to the back of the stables. It was hard to see at first, but as her eyes grew accustomed to the dimness, she caught sight of a familiar face. One she’d spent the past hour looking for.

“Sophie?” she said.

The girl was on her feet now, stepping forward fully out of the shadows. She was adjusting and smoothing out the yellow, knee-length dress she had on. Pulling it down to knee-length, where it had been hitched up.

No, I don’t like the looks of this one little bit, Moo-Moo.

“Sophie, what—” But even as she was saying it, Mary knew exactly what was going on. Her mind grasped for other explanations, but none came. So she just asked in an even tone: “Who’s back there with you? Booth?”

Sophie look puzzled then, almost outraged that Mary could think such a thing. “This isn’t how it looks,” the girl replied.

“How it... I asked you a question,” Mary snarled. Then the man joined them, stepping into the half-light himself, and her mouth fell open. Mary almost couldn’t get the name out: “Chillcott!” Bloody Chillcott and that sour bloody face.

He said nothing, looking everywhere but at Mary.

“I wish April had bitten you somewhere else now,” she said.

Told you, said David in her head.

“It... it isn’t—” Sophie began, but was cut off by Mary raising her finger. Nevertheless, she persisted. “We... we weren’t doing anything. Nothing happened. It was just a bit of fun. A game.”

“You,” Mary said, aiming that finger at Chillcott like it was one of her Peacekeeper pistols, part of her wishing it was. “Out of my sight.”

Chillcott nodded, skirting round Mary and giving her a wide berth. Sophie made to leave as well, but Mary barred her way. “A game?”

“No, I mean—”

“A roll in the hay, Sophie? Classy. You’re a walking bloody cliché.”

You tell her, Moo-Moo!

“Look, you don’t know how it’s been. With Mark the way he is, the way he...” There were tears in Sophie’s eyes now. “He doesn’t trust me.”

Mary couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Trust you? I can’t imagine why!”

“This... it’s the first time we... Nothing happened, I swear. It’s just, well, Mark’s never around, and... I needed someone to talk to and...”

And if you believe that, you’ll believe anything.

Mary couldn’t help herself. Suddenly she’d delivered a hard slap to Sophie’s face, rocking the girl’s head sideways and leaving white imprints on the skin.

Nice one, sis!

“I can’t believe we let you into this family. Can’t believe we loved you, took care of you. You don’t deserve Mark.”

Mary turned her back on the girl. She felt a hand on her arm, attempting to pull her back. “P-Please,” Sophie burbled through the tears, “please don’t tell Mark. Please, I can’t be on my own again.” Mary didn’t know whether she meant single—which would inevitably happen when Mark found out—or cut off from the people here at the castle, back where she started out, aged fifteen, when Mark had found her; but then, Mary didn’t really care anymore. Sophie’s first thought was for herself, rather than what this would do to her devoted husband—and that said a lot about how she’d changed. Or maybe she’d had this in her all along, but none of them had seen it?

“Let go of me,” Mary said and the hand was promptly removed. It didn’t stop Sophie from following Mary out of the stables, though, blubbering all the way. What did stop her, stopped them both, was the sight of a hooded Mark on horseback arriving home. He trotted his brown and white steed up towards them, then dismounted.

He didn’t ask what was going on, didn’t want to know why his wife was crying, why she was following his mother out of the stables in such a state. He just pulled down his hood to reveal eyes that had also shed tears.

Then he walked up to them, looked over at Sophie and said: “Pack your things and get out.”

She stared at him, then at Mary, bewildered. Nobody had told him anything; how could he possibly know? Mary had that answer: “You knew he’d gone out, but you didn’t know where, did you? He’s been to Sherwood, Sophie. He’s been at Sherwood.”

Mary didn’t have to explain any more than that. The girl knew, though probably didn’t fully understand—who of them did, including Robert?—the power of that place. The visions, the knowledge it provided.

Mark had been asking for the Forest’s guidance since his father had allowed him to go on trips with him there, and it still gave it. He’d seen something there, at any rate, and hadn’t needed her to tell him about Sophie.

“Mark, no. Let’s talk about this. I—”

“I said: go!” Mark bellowed, loud enough to draw looks from Rangers up near the castle itself.

Sophie opened her mouth once, twice, then closed it again. “Fine,” she said, turning and striding off to do as he’d asked. To remove all traces of herself from the room they shared.

Mary gaped at her son. She wanted to say she was sorry, that everything would be okay. But she knew that it wouldn’t be. And she heard her brother’s voice again, one last time:

Nothing will ever be the same again now, Moo-Moo, he told her. It was only what she knew already.

So, she did the one thing she could do. She opened her arms and let Mark collapse into them, feeling each wracking sob with him.

Trying, but failing, to lessen the hurt and pain he was feeling.