I Accuse

Glad you could join us for the next suspicious episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Let ’em hear me, Barry thought, bounding through the bushes. I need ta git ta da Prince before dat double dealin’ ol’ bat can carry out her diabolical plan — whatever it is.

He scarcely avoided colliding with the guard who stood ready to fight when he broke through the undergrowth, skidding to a stop on the trail.

“Barry!” Clifton greeted him, “You’re alive!”

“Where’s Prince Elliot? I hafta tell ’im somethin’.”

“Up front, but—“

“Dere’s no time. Where’s dat old ba— Lady Lucy?”

“She flew ahead to find a place to roost. She’ll find us tonight. What’s—”

“Come wit’ me.”

Two Knights faced the coming commotion with their weapons drawn.

When Barry came into view, Elliot actually laughed. “It looks like Lady Lucy was right about you, Knight Barry.”

“An’ it looks like I was right about her, too, yer… um, Princeliness .”

“What do you mean, Knight?”

“She’s in cahoots wit’ dat General.”

“That’s a serious accusation against someone who isn’t here to defend herself,” the Prince cautioned. “What proof do you have?”

“Just what I seen wit’ my own two eyes,” the Knight insisted. “She took dat Stinger ta da Arids an’ set ‘im free. He started gettin’ his buddies tagedder soon as he hit da ground.”

“Barry, I don’t doubt what you saw, but without Lady Lucy’s explanation, we can’t determine what it meant.” He stared into the distance for so long, one of the Knights dared to interrupt.

“Your Worthiness, if Knight Barry is right, you aren’t safe in the open. If I may, I’d advise we move quickly enough to reach the Freelands before sunset. We can keep you safer there, and whether Lady Lucy is innocent or guilty, they have the facilities to sort it out if she does indeed rejoin us.”

Tearing himself from his private vision, the Prince nodded. “It’s good advice. We won’t stop to rest till we reach the Freelands, and when Lady Lucy joins us, we will assume her innocence. No one is to discuss Knight Barry’s charges until I invite that discussion. Understood?”

Everyone agreed.

Barry bit his tongue all the way to the Freelands.

To be continued. . .

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