One more set of eyes had been watching the camp from close by that morning, had been watching most of the night.
They'd seen the Servitors make their way through the forest, taking their positions outside where Robert and the boy were spending the night. Had seen the boy get up to go to the toilet, spot something and then rush back to Robert's tent to warn him.
Had watched the fight with interest. More than interest: Excitement. A tingling that had spread through the body until the last cultist had been defeated. It had almost been as good as being in the middle of it all, back in York.
From behind the oak, Adele let out the breath she'd been holding. And smiled. She'd enjoyed this little episode, but she knew there were tastier treats to come. And she'd be right there in the middle of those, definitely. There with the man she was after.
Right there with The Hooded Man.
CHAPTER TWELVE
He'd been hearing the rumblings of discontentment for some time.
Dale had debated about saying something to someone, but was faced with a dilemma. He was 'one of the guys', a member of the Sherwood Rangers who fought on the streets with his friends. Buddies that he'd made since coming to the castle last year. But he was also very close to Jack and Robert. If it wasn't for them, he might still be wandering around this country looking for a place to fit in. A former lead singer and guitarist in a band, whose life had fallen to bits after the virus struck, and who'd drifted from town to town, city to city, with a guitar in one hand and his other hand folded into a fist.
He often thought back to those days before everyone got sick: to the gigs he'd played with the other guys — Abbott on bass, Lockley on drums and Paige on keyboards. Only she hadn't just been one of the guys, had she?
Paige and he had formed 'One Simple Truth' together while they were studying music in college. They'd been good mates throughout the course, and it just seemed like a sensible progression, especially as they'd just started going out. Paige had a real natural beauty, and she'd come along at a time when he'd just started to notice the opposite sex. She could be a bit serious sometimes, though, which is why, initially, he left a lot of the song-writing to her. It wasn't that he couldn't do it, Dale could make up stuff on the spot if he had to, it was just that she seemed to come up with the most soulful tunes.
When they advertised on the bulletin board for more band members they'd had all kinds of responses — some genuine, some just time-wasters. But they'd really gelled with the long-haired Lockley and bearded Abbott, especially in the improvised jamming session the first time they all got together. Jesus, how he missed them! The first few live shows at local pubs had been the pits, however, and Dale had almost called it a day at one point. Paige persuaded him to go on, and to his surprise they started to develop a fan base — particularly amongst the college and uni crowd.
Then came bigger and better gigs, and soon the money they were getting paid made attending classes seem moot. They were making it anyway, practising what their tutors only preached. It wasn't long before a talent scout with an eye for the next big thing spotted them. They were signed to a small indie label, but that automatically meant bigger gigs, and supporting turns for artists much higher up the ladder. Local stations played a couple of their releases and they even found themselves being aired on BBC Radio.
By this time One Simple Truth — and specifically Dale — had attracted another following entirely. Girls would hang out at the stage doors after gigs just to try and get an autograph. Or a kiss. Paige said nothing because she knew, at the end of the day, he was still hers. But during the course of their journey, Dale discovered his own simple truth: he found it impossible to be tied down to just the one girl. He loved the adoration his — granted — limited amount of fame brought him. And, girl by girl, tour by tour, he gave in to temptation.
Paige had confronted him, of course, and he hadn't even bothered to deny it. "What can I say? I have a weakness," he'd told her. When she'd threatened to walk from the band, he'd tried to talk her out of it, telling her she'd be slitting her own throat as well. "You're going to hold this against me, when we could be as big as Oasis or U2?"
The decision was taken out of her hands, because that's when the virus had struck. Dale watched his fellow band members die from that terrible disease, while he remained healthy.
Paige had been the first to fall ill, collapsing after a gig one night. She'd been rushed to hospital for tests — back before anyone fully realised what they were dealing with. "Tell me," Paige had said to him from her bed as they'd waited for her parents to get there from miles away. "Tell me you still love me."
He clasped her hand, but said nothing.
"Please," she whispered.
Dale had been about to lie to her when suddenly she'd had a seizure, coughing up blood onto the bed sheets. The doctors and nurses rushed in, flitting around. There was nothing they could do. They whisked Dale outside, but he'd already seen the worst — and when they came and told him half an hour later that she was dead, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
He got drunk that night, asking himself what the hell was wrong with him. Why couldn't he have felt for Paige what she felt for him? Why couldn't he have committed to her when she was the one who'd been instrumental in getting them where they were?
His answer was to spend the night with some blonde girl he picked up in a hotel bar, someone who'd recognised him and he'd taken full advantage of the fact. He left early and hadn't seen her again. For all he knew she'd come down with the virus too, not long afterwards. Dale hadn't really paid it much mind.
He'd always been able to handle himself, a consequence of getting called a sissy for being interested in music growing up. The amount of fights he'd been in to show them, no, he wasn't actually a sissy at all and would happily rearrange their faces if that's what they really wanted… It had served him well after everything went to rack and ruin, and he'd had to defend himself from all kinds of dangers. He'd even stood up to gangs when he came across them, though sometimes came off the worst and crawled away to lick his wounds.
When he'd heard about what they were doing at Nottingham Castle, something seemed to click. It was a chance to be a part of a 'group' again, something that was being talked about and, yes, celebrated throughout the area. A major part of him knew he could do some good here, but how much of him wanted to join so he could be applauded again? So that he'd be sought after, not for his music this time, but because he could save the damsels in distress? If he could work his way up through the ranks, perhaps he would actually be a star once more?
Which brought him back to his dichotomy. Would keeping quiet about this hamper his relationship with Jack and Robert? Should he tell them about what he'd heard?
Not that Robert was here at the moment. He'd gone off with Mark, that little git who'd given him a bloody nose a couple of days ago. Dale realised that Mark would always be Robert's favourite — he'd heard the tales from the others about how the kid had been taken to the castle and tortured, then nearly hanged by the former sheriff. He was like a son to Robert, Dale got that. He also got that he himself was kind of a replacement for someone called Granger who'd been part of the final battle. Jack and Tate often remarked how much Dale reminded them of the guy, who'd given his life so that they could take the Castle. It was more than a bit annoying at times.
From his usual perch on the steps, Dale spotted Sophie walking through the grounds with Mary. Sophie. Now she was a prize worth possessing, a girl he thought he might be able to love. If Dale could actually figure out what love was. She'd shown more than an interest in him, that much was certain — but when push came to shove she'd always shoved him away. "Dale, don't," she'd said when he'd tried to kiss her the last time.