Assassin in the Greenwood

choice.'
    A soldier came running down the keep steps carrying a small banner displaying Branwood's coat of arms.
    'Even if the townspeople see that we can enter the forest and return, it will be a victory.'
    Branwood turned and shouted orders. The courtyard became a milling hive of activity as grooms edged horses out, men mounted and serjeants-at-arms ensured all equipment was ready. Wives holding children came to bid farewell. Corbett reckoned that their force was about thirty mounted men and the same number of archers. At last, Sir Peter shouted the order to move.
    Naylor blew a shrill blast on a horn, the gates swung open and they left the castle, taking the winding route down under the gatehouse, through Brewhouse Yard into Castle Street then up Friary Lane which led to the market place. Sir Peter rode in front, Corbett and Ranulf behind whilst Naylor went up and down the column to maintain good order. As they passed the townspeople some looked surly but most shouted good wishes and Corbett gathered that Branwood was, despite his office, fairly popular in the town.
    They entered the market place, past the houses and stalls of the Guild of Poulterers now preparing for a day's busy trade: feathers floated in a soft breeze and women and children plucked carcasses. These were handed over to the apprentices to be slit and gutted before being washed in huge vats of scalding water and hung over the stalls for sale; beggars and dogs fought for the giblets tossed into dirty puddles.
    Two children screamed with delight as they tried to ride a pig. A dog bit one of the children and was immediately chased, howling and yelling, into Branwood's column of archers where it received further punishment before escaping up an alleyway. A group of wild men, garbed in rags, their faces painted brown and green, performed a strange dance around the skull of a goat impaled on a rod. They ignored Branwood's order to clear the way and only retreated when Naylor advanced on them with drawn sword. The column crossed the cobbled market place into the streets leading down to St Peter's Gate where the crowds became more dense and the air stank with the odour of stale sweat as citizens moved from stall to stall, bartering noisily with the tinkers, apprentices and journeymen.
    For a while the column had to pull aside as a herd of cattle, lowing with fright, were driven up towards the slaughter houses. These were followed by a cleric who had been caught with a whore and was being led through the streets for public humiliation. Both the man and his paramour had been stripped just short of decency, tied back to back, and were now being paraded through the city by two grinning beadles. The soldiers joined in the laughter then turned to watch as a madman jumped on a haberdasher's stall. The fellow wore a pair of dirty, makeshift boots and a ragged gown and carried a large ash pole. His eyes, wild as an animal's, scrutinised the soldiers as he loudly declared that he was the Angel Gabriel sent by God to warn them of impending judgement. The soldiers did not believe him and the 'angel's' important message was drowned in cat-calls and jeers. Naylor, an iron helmet on his head, the broad nose-guard almost obscuring his face, screamed for silence and, going ahead with drawn sword, began to force a way through the crowd.
    At last they reached the city gates and the column debouched on to the white, dusty track which wound between the broad fields beyond the city wall. Ahead of them lay the fringe of Sherwood Forest, its dark greenness almost touching the lowering black clouds. Corbett glanced across at Ranulf and noticed how hollow-eyed his servant looked, his face pale with anxiety.
    'You slept well, Ranulf?'
    The manservant turned and spat.
    'A little trouble. I hate forests,' he muttered. 'The darkness, the noises. Give me Southwark's alleyways any day.'
    Corbett tried to reassure him but even as they entered the forest, began to share Ranulf's feelings. Sir Peter stopped in a small glade, sending forward scouts on either side of the trackway to search out any possible ambush. Then the whole column was ordered forward, swallowed up by the green darkness. They became acutely aware of the eerie silence. The sky disappeared. Corbett became conscious of every sound from the horses and men on the track and the darkness from the surrounding trees. The sweat broke out on the nape of his neck and he began to scrutinise the forest on either side, his imagination