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The Children of the New Forest新森林的孩子们
1.Escape!
One day in November 1647,
Jacob Armitage hurried through the New Forest to the house of Arnwood.
‘You must leave this house immediately,’ he said to Edward Beverley.
‘Come with me to pack your things. You must come to my home and stay there.’
‘But why, Jacob?’ Edward asked the old man. ‘Why?’
‘The King has escaped from his prison at Hampton Court,’ Jacob explained.
‘He's riding south through the forest, and Cromwell's soldiers are searching for him.
‘And I've just heard a group of soldiers in the forest— they were talking about Arnwood.
‘They know that your father was the King's friend, and they're planning to burn Arnwood tonight, because they think the King is hiding here.’
‘Burn Arnwood! They can't do that! It's my house, and I'm staying here!’ Edward said angrily.
He was fourteen years old, the oldest of the four Beverley children.
The Beverley children lived alone at Arnwood, with an old woman who did the cooking and all the work of the house.
Their father, Colonel Beverley, was killed while fighting for King Charles I at Naseby in 1645.
Before he left home, he asked Jacob, a poor forester who lived near Arnwood, to look after his family.
Jacob knew the family well and was happy to do this.
And when the children's mother died a few months later, Jacob came every day to visit the children and to help them.
‘My dear boy,’ Jacob said, ‘remember your sisters and brother.
‘The soldiers will shoot them, or burn them in the house. No, no, you must all come with me.’
In the end, Edward agreed.
He and his brother Humphrey, who was twelve, packed their things.
Then they put them on Jacob's horse. White Billy, who was waiting outside.
Jacob told Alice, who was eleven, and Edith, who was eight, that they were going to visit his home in the forest.
He did not tell them about the soldiers.
‘Edward, here is my key,’ said Jacob quietly. ‘Lock the door of the house, and take my gun from the wall.
‘Don't leave your brother and sisters. I'll help the cook to pack her things, and then I'll follow you.’
The four children left the big house and went into the forest with White Billy.
It was five o’clcok in the afternoon, and already dark.
Jacob helped the cook, who hurried away to her family in Lymington,
and then he hid in the trees near the house, and waited.
After a while he heard horses, and the Parliamentary soldiers arrived.
Soon they were in the gardens and all round the house.
A few minutes later Jacob saw black smoke going up into the sky;
then he saw flames at the windows. Arnwood was burning!
‘It is done,’ thought Jacob, and he hurried away into the forest.
In half an hour he arrived at his cottage.
He looked back and saw the flames of Arnwood shooting higher and higher above the trees.
When he knocked on his door, Edward opened it and came out with Smoker, Jacob's big dog.
‘My sisters are asleep in bed,’ Edward told Jacob.
Then Edward saw the flames of Arnwood and the angry red light between the trees, and he was silent.
‘I told you,’ Jacob said. ‘The soldiers didn't look for you in the house before they burnt it.’
‘Arnwood is my house!’ said Edward angrily. ‘And when I'm a man. I'll fight Cromwell's soldiers for this!’
‘Perhaps you will,’ Jacob said quietly. ‘But let's go inside now. It's a cold night.’
Edward slowly followed Jacob into the cottage.
He hated Cromwell and the Parliamentary soldiers.
First they killed his father, and now they burnt his house.
He lay down on the bed, but he did not sleep.
Jacob lived alone because his wife was dead, and he had no children.
His cottage had one large room for living and cooking, and three small bedrooms behind.
Outside there were a few chickens and pigs in one field and some old fruit trees in another field.
The next morning Jacob began to teach the children how to cook and to clean the cottage.
It was all new work to them, because rich children like the Beverleys never cooked or worked in the house.
‘You must stay inside today,’ Jacob told them, ‘because the soldiers are still searching the forest.
‘Let's get some dinner ready. We can all help. Edward, will you go and get some water from the river?’
The children enjoyed cooking their first meal.
They washed some potatoes and cut some meat and vegetables into pieces.
Then they put them with some water in a pot on the fire.
Little Edith put plates and knives on the table.
While the dinner was cooking, Edward stood outside the cottage, watching out for soldiers, and the other three made the cottage tidy.
But just before dinner was ready, Edward ran back inside.
‘I can see soldiers, and they're riding this way!’
Jacob was silent for a minute. ‘My dear children, those soldiers will search the cottage,
‘and I don't want them to see your rich clothes. You must go to bed and pretend to be ill.
‘Edward, you can put on one of my old shirts.’
The younger children got into bed and hid their rich clothes.
Edward put on Jacob's old shirt and sat next to the bed with a cup of water for his sisters.
Quickly, Jacob put away the plates and knives.
Soon there was a knock on the door. ‘Come in,’ said Jacob.
‘Who are you, my firend?’ asked one of the soldiers.
‘A poor forester, sir,’ replied Jacob, ‘in great trouble. My grandchildren are all in bed, very ill.’
‘We must search your cottage for the King.’
‘Very well— but please don't frighten the children.’
The men began to search the cottage.
Edith screamed when she saw them, but Edward told her not to be afraid.
‘There's nothing here,’ one of the soldiers said. ‘Let's go. I'm tired and hungry.’
‘There's something here that smells good,’ said another soldier. ‘What is it?’ he asked, looking into the pot.
‘My dinner for a week,’ explained Jacob. ‘I can't light a fire every day, so I cook once a week.’
‘Well, it looks good, so we'll try some,’ the soldiers said.
And they put the pot on the table, sat down, and ate everything.
Then they thanked Jacob and rode away.
Jacob called the children and told them to get up. ‘ The soldiers have gone,’ he said.
‘And our dinners have gone too,’ said Humphrey, looking at the dirty plates and the empty pot.
‘Bad men ate our dinner,’ said Edith.
‘We can cook another,’ said Jacob. ‘We're all hungry, but if everyone helps, the dinner will soon be ready.’
After dinner, Jacob told the children that their lives must change.
‘The King's enemies think that you are dead, burned in Arnwood.
‘But you are still in danger, and so you must stay here with me and pretend to be my grandchildren.
‘You are children of the New Forest now.’