A man sat in a chair, legs kicked up on the railing. Joedan recognized the man. He was one of the brothers from Amelia's kidnapping. Joedan's face hardened. Griff held his shoulder back. "Hold on," Griff spoke quietly.
Joedan did not see his family anywhere. What if he did something to them? Joedan was trying his best to hide his fears, but he was worried. The man stood from the porch.
"Been expecting you. It's nice to finally meet face to face." the man said.
"The name's Ralph, I believe you may have met my brother as well." Ralph said. Gaze hardening. Pure murder was in Ralph's gaze as he looked in Joedan's direction.
"Nothing to say?" Ralph asked.
"Would you like to know where my brother is?" Ralph's face grew more stern, deadly serious.
"Where's my family?" Joedan asked.
"What if I told you I did the same thing to them that you did to my brother." Ralph's hands clenched.
Griff nudged Joedan, "take it his brother is the other one you dealt with?" Joedan nodded. Griff hardened his gaze.
"My name is Commander Griff. I am under the authority of the duke. We have come here to apprehend you." dropping his voice even further, "It's in your best interest to come with us willingly." There was no emotion in Griff's tone.
"No, I don't think I'll be doing that," Ralph laughed, smiling wide. Then Ralph took two fingers and whistled. Griff looked around as Joedan did the same. Out from the edges, men stepped forward.
"Bandits" Griff huffed. They were surrounded.
"Now, here's what's gonna happen," Ralph said as he stepped down the stairs from the house.
Pointing at Joedan, he said, "You and me, we've got a score to settle. You're gonna get down from that horse and I'm gonna return the favor for what you did to my brother."
Joedan looked back at Ralph, descending from his horse. He shared a look with Griff. Griff also lowered himself from his mount. Tensions were thick. The smell of pending battle in the air.
"Bare hands." Ralph spoke next.
Joedan reached for his sword and set it down. Approaching Ralph, Joedan got into his stance. Ralph doing the same, bending his knees.
In a flash, Ralph darted forward. Bringing around a haymaker, he connected with the side of Joedan's head. Joedan was shook from the hit and stumbled. Ralph capitalized on the stumble, pressing the advantage, another jab.
Joedan put his hands up to try and catch the hits, but Ralph was a wounded animal. All sense gone, Ralph snarled and lunged for Joedan. Grabbing Joedan around the middle, he locked a knee behind Joedan and knocked him to the ground.
Griff remained standing beside. Jaw locked. Fire in his eyes. Eyes still swiveling on the men surrounding them. Hand on his sword ready to wield it if and when the need came.
Joedan landed a hit and rolled Ralph. Joedan dropped an elbow. Ralph's head knocked back. Ralph on the defensive now. Ralph swiveled his hips to toss Joedan off and stood back to his feet.
The two fighters circling each other again. Joedan's eye was swollen, limping from one of the hits Ralph had landed. Ralph's nose was bleeding, he wiped the back of his hand across it, looking at the blood.
Joedan went on the offensive. Favoring his uninjured leg, he charged Ralph. Getting under his guard, Joedan swung hard trying to take Ralph out of the fight. Ralph blocked the hit.
Joedan shifted wrapping his arm under Ralph's arm, taking Ralph's back, he locked his other arm around Ralph's neck. Joedan fumed, squeezing his arms as Ralph started to fling his arms around trying to jerk Joedan's arm away.
Just as Ralph started to lose his fight with consciousness, a whistle blew. One of the men circling them stepped forward.
Locking eyes with Griff, "If he falls, so do you," the man said bluntly, drawing his sword and pointing it at Griff. As he pulled his sword, the other men did the same pointing their swords towards Joedan and Griff.
*****
"There's Blanchard." Amelia said as they approached.
"Quickly, I know where the farm is," she said, as she charged ahead, not slowing down once she entered the town, her two guards flanking her left and right. A crowd gathered in front of the farm house. Amelia drew up her horse bringing it to a stop. The guards doing the same beside her.
"That doesn't look good," Caleb said.
"Look, there's Joedan." Amelia said, pointing to the two in the middle of the group.
"There's at least ten of those bandits surrounding them," Trevor spoke next. "If we charge in there it may push the tension over the edge. We need a plan."
As they were speaking, they watched as the men drew their swords.
"It might be too late for that," Caleb said to the group.
"Just give it a minute," Trevor said. Looking around, Trevor inspected the territory, looking for an advantage against the large group.
Huddled together, Trevor leaned in, "Okay, here's how this will work. One of us will split off. I think we can clip down a few of their numbers with some arrows."
"The other two, once the arrow is released, charge in. That's Commander Griff there, he will know what to do once everything breaks loose."
The group nodded. Amelia straightened her shoulders, trying to calm her nerves. This was real now. She was about to go into battle against another human being. She needed to settle her resolve.
Breathing deep, she sharpened her gaze, nodding to the two guards beside her.
"Caleb, you're the better shot. Go set up in the wood line, we'll wait for you to get into position. Once you fire, we go."
"Heard," Caleb said and lowered from his mount.
Grabbing his bow from the back of his horse, Caleb headed for the wood line. Spotting a tree in the right position for a good angle, he threw the bow around his shoulders. Taking a few running steps, he sprinted up the tree reaching for the branch. Raising himself up, he crouched down.
Taking his bow from around his shoulders. He notched an arrow.
Calming his breaths, he pulled back on his bow, drawing the feather to his cheek, he readied his aim and the arrow was released.