by Shea, K. M.
Crafty released the soldier and fell back to all four legs. I hopped on him and gathered up the reins.
Little John thundered across the platform and threw himself on a tacked up chestnut behind Crafty.
Will Scarlet slowly worked his way across the platform, fighting soldiers with a sword he had taken off a fallen man.
“WILL!” I shouted. “NOW!”
“Yes Robin!” Will cheerfully shouted. A few seconds later he flew off the platform, landing on the remaining saddled horse.
“Go, go, GO!” I shouted, heeling Crafty. My black horse took off like a streak, leading the way through the streets.
Soldiers tried to follow us, but the horses that were liberated from stable were still galloping around, causing mass chaos as villagers fled and screamed.
We tore down the streets, our horses clattering across the cobblestone road.
“The gates are down, we’ll never get out!” Little John shouted.
“We’ll get out!” I promised before Crafty jumped a vegetable stand.
Within minutes we were galloping up to the main gate. “LOBB! RYAN!” I shouted as Crafty reared and wickedly neighed.
The air was filled with the clanging bells, and trumpeting horses and screaming villagers could still be heard from the castle square. But over all of this clatter I could still hear my blessed men.
“WE CAN’T FIND THE THING THAT WILL DROP THE BRIDGE!” Lobb shouted.
“SHUT UP! DO YOU WANT TO CALL SOLDIERS HERE?” Ryan yelled.
“WHAT’S THIS?” Lobb loudly asked.
“Wha—DON’T TOUCH THAT!” Ryan screamed.
“WHAT?” Lobb asked.
“DON’T TOUCH THAT!!” Ryan shouted.
“I CAN’T HEAR YOU! REPEAT IT PLEASE!” Lobb requested.
“I SAID… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,” Ryan shrieked.
The wooden drawbridge dropped like a sack of flour, shaking the ground when it landed.
“YOU IDIOT!” Ryan screamed as our horses neighed and shied away from the suddenly open gate.
“Well, the gates are open,” Little John helpfully pointed out.
“RYAN, LOBB! COME ON!” I shouted.
Two soldiers hurried out of the empty gate house, practically falling down the stairs. The taller one, Lobb, hurtled in my direction. I gave him a hand up, and he flopped onto Crafty’s back. After Ryan mounted up behind Tom we urged our horses forward again.
Our horses carefully picked their way across the drawbridge, some of the wooden boards had snapped in places, and it pitifully creaked as we crossed. When we reached the open road I gave Crafty his head. He snorted as we fled Nottingham Castle, leaving chaos in our wake.
Chapter 4
Sudden Confessions
We crossed the open plain between Nottingham Castle and Sherwood Forest with ease. I pulled Crafty into a walk and spun him around. No one was following us, but a bunch of soldiers were standing around the drawbridge with obvious dismay.
I couldn’t help it. The heroicness of the moment caught up with me.
I unstrapped my horn from my side and blew one long, smug note before directing Crafty back into the forest.
Behind me Lobb whooped and shouted. “That’s my Robin Hood, Sheriff! And he’s got yer goat!”
Eventually Tom joined in, hollering and singing no tune in particular. Ryan watched the two with a pinched expression and laughed only when Tom was nearly knocked out of the saddle by a wayward branch.
Operating out of habit, Crafty and I nearly led the group to our main camp in Sherwood before I finally snapped out of my fit of joy.
“Halt!” I shouted, pulling back on the reins. Crafty locked his legs and skid to a stop, the horses behind us scrambled to avoid smacking into Crafty.
The singing Lobb slipped right off Crafty’s back, and Will Scarlet barely avoided running him over.
“What, what is it?” Tom shouted.
“What’s wrong?” Little John added.
“Bloody hell Robyn, you could warn us next time,” Will Scarlet chided.
“Robin, what happened?” Ryan asked.
“Ow,” Lobb said from the ground. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when Crafty set a hoof down next to his head.
“I almost forgot,” I said, twisting in the saddle, ignoring Lobb’s whimpers. “I’m not coming back.”
“WHAT?”
“Not coming back??”
“But Robyn, you have to!”
I ignored Tom, Ryan, and Lobb and kept my gaze fixed on Little John and Will, who had moved their horses back behind Crafty.
Will Scarlet uncomfortably shifted, but Little John nodded at the other three Merry Men. “Tom, Ryan, Lobb. Head back to camp. We’ll see you there in a bit.”
“We don’t take orders from you,” Ryan snarled.
Tom turned in his saddle to shake his head at Ryan in a warning before pulling his horse along side Little John’s. “If you don’t bring her back, we’ll feed you to the wolves,” he warned in a quiet voice before brightening. “Right then! Come along Lobb, let’s get moving!” he said before heeling his horse.
“Wait up,” Lobb complained, picking himself off the ground before lamely trotting after the riding pair. “I haven’t a horse! You’ll have to slow down!” Lobb crossly called after them.
“Why should we, you silly gawp fish?” Tom laughed.
“I am not silly! It was I who opened up the gates!” Lobb protested, crashing through the woods after them.
“No, you destroyed the gate,” Ryan corrected.
The trio eventually fell out of my hearing range, leaving me with Little John and Scarlet.
“Robyn… you have to come back. You have to lead us,” Little John said after several moments of forest-y silence.
Crafty arched his neck and chewed his bit. I was silent.
“We need you Robyn. We can’t get by without you,” Will Scarlet evenly said.
“But you said—,” I started.
“Forget what we said!” Will Scarlet exploded.
Little John rubbed his forehead with a giant hand before reaching down to stroke his horse’s neck. “We were being fools, Robyn. I was being a fool. A wretched fool. The contest was unfair and I knew it. I just wanted—,” he broke off for a second. “I just. I, I was stupid Robyn. Please forgive us. Forgive me,” Little John said.
I wheeled Crafty around so I could properly face them. “Whether you were being foolish or not isn’t the question. You legitimately beat me and said you wanted to lead the Merry Men. Who am I to stop you?” I asked, gesturing with my free hand. (I didn’t dare release Crafty’s reins; there was no telling what the demon horse would do.)
“Robyn, you don’t understand! It wasn’t that I didn’t want you as a leader anymore,” Little John said.
“It is the same for me. I would never see you replaced,” Will Scarlet echoed.
“Then explain to me, Little John, and Will Scarlet, why you demanded that Little John should be our leader? Make me understand what you really meant by that. Please, enlighten me,” I hissed. Crafty, sensing my foul mood, pinned his ears and snarled at the duo.
Scarlet and Little John avoided my gaze and stared down at their hands.
I blinked back tears. So in the end they couldn’t even explain themselves. If they couldn’t do that much then surely they still didn’t want me as their leader. The two men I had trusted the most betrayed me. And it hurt deeply.
“That’s what I thought,” I said, trying to keep my tears in and the hurt from lacing my voice. I clucked to Crafty, who rocked forward into a walk. We snaked between the mounted Little John and Will Scarlet, moving past them.
We were almost out of sight when Little John called out. “Robyn! Wait!”
“Robyn!” Scarlet shouted.
The two barreled up to me on their horses.
“It was us,” Little John said in a rushed, jumble of words when they caught up. “I started it. I thought you would like me more since I was your r
ight hand man. I was here first. If you were to love either of us it should be me,” Little John said, scowling at Will.
Scarlet interrupted him as they swiveled their horses in front of mine, making us stop. “Much and Will Stutely told us they would never see you married until the Merry Men were pardoned and disbanded and you were no longer the outlawed leader. We couldn’t very well get you pardoned, but it occurred to Little John that he could unseat you, which might be close enough.”
“So I challenged you to an unfair contest. I figured in the morning we could talk it over and you would choose one of us and… and,” Little John trailed off. “I didn’t think things through very well,” he admitted.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” I said, rapidly blinking. “All of this was because Much and Will Stutely said they won’t let me be married?”
Little John and Will Scarlet swapped glances before turning to me and speaking in one voice.
“Robyn, we love you.”
“Really love you,” Scarlet stressed.
“Not the way the rest of the Merry Men love you,” Little John added.
“We really love you,” Will Scarlet repeated.
“So chose one of us.”
I couldn’t tell which one of them said that in such a pleading voice, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
I stared at them, completely dumbfounded. My mind was blanking. Their sudden, simultaneous confessions were the last things I ever expected to hear in my entire life. Besides the infamously flirtatious Dan the Musician, I had never been paid any particular attention by men as handsome, comely, and powerful as John and Will. (And Will was a lord’s son. A LORD’S son.)
I was so stupefied my hands went slack. Crafty judged his moment of liberation was near, and threw me without apology. I went flying off his back when he crow hopped, cracking into a small tree.
As I groaned, blinking stars out of my eyes while trying to regain my knocked out breath, Crafty laughed under his horsey breath and started meandering through Sherwood, heading back for camp.
“Robyn!” Scarlet cried as he and Little John slid off their horses and rushed to my side.
“I’m fine,” I groaned, already disengaging myself from the tree. “I’m fine,” I repeated, standing up on shaky legs.
When I finally reoriented myself I realized both of the men were clasping my elbows. Naturally shied by the awkward situation, I shook them off before abruptly plunging through the woods, heading for camp.
“I must return to camp,” I muttered, scrambling over a log. Maybe if I ignored them they would go away.
Unfortunately, Little John and Will Scarlet trailed after me, leading their horses by the reins.
“Robyn?” Little John hesitantly called.
I stopped and turned around to stare at the pair.
They shifted and looked a little uncomfortable.
“We—,” Scarlet started.
I abruptly slapped my hands over my ears. “La-la-la-la-la! I can’t hear you!” I declared, spinning back around as my face turned the most brilliant shade of red. “La-la-la!” I shouted while skirting around a bush, following the unseen trails of the Merry Men.
Little John gave me the fright of a lifetime when he suddenly grasped my left wrist and pulled my hand off my ear. “Reacting like a bashful child isn’t going to make this situation disappear, Robyn,” he said.
I removed my right hand from my ear only so I could properly elbow Little John in the gut, making the unsuspecting man bend over in a gasp.
I squirmed away from him and started tearing through the underbrush. “Marian! You’re never around when I need you!” I shouted, careening through the underbrush. Marian would know what to do in these circumstances.
I hurriedly cleared the last natural wall of trees that hedged in our camp, knocking a scout clean off his feet.
“Sorry,” I said, looking down at the fallen Merry Men.
“Robyn?” a familiar voice asked.
My eyes shot up and I spotted Much and Will Stutely halfway across the camp.
My face scrunched up and I tore towards them. “Much! Will!” I wailed, throwing myself at them.
Much caught me and had to be steadied by Will Stutely to keep from falling over.
“Robyn, you’re back!” Will Stutely crowed, joyful as ever.
“What’s wrong?” Much asked, running a soothing hand up and down my back.
At that moment Little John and Will Scarlet entered our camp, still towing their stolen horses behind them.
I tightened the hold my fists had on Much’s shirt, which did not go unnoticed by my original Merry Man as he stared across the camp.
“You didn’t,” he called to Scarlet and Little John, his voice dripping with disgust.
The duo of Robyn Lovers swapped guilty glances.
“By Mary the beloved mother, what on earth possessed you to tell her?” Much growled.
“You knew?” I squeaked into Much’s shirt.
“You two are proper fools!” Will Stutely chimed in.
“Well at least it brought her back,” Will Scarlet pointed out.
Much scowled and slowly spun around, twirling me with him. “Come on Robyn. You must want something to eat.”
I knew an opening for a total retreat when I saw one. “Actually,” I quietly ventured. “I probably need to sleep,” I said, pulling away from Much, baiting my male nursemaid.
“It’s barely noon,” Will Stutely blinked.
“It is,” I agreed. “But I stayed up the whole night with Marian while we mapped out the plan to rescue Little John and Scarlet.”
The camp was utterly silent for several moments.
“What?” Much asked, his voice iron hard.
“Pardon?” I innocently blinked. (There were times when I could use Much and Will Stutely’s mother hen characteristics to my advantage.)
Will Stutely gently took my arm and carted me off to my hut while Much spun on his heels to glare at Will Scarlet and Little John. “Come along Robyn. It’s probably best if you go to bed,” Will said in a sing song voice, smiling at the excited Merry Men who were clambering around, grinning at me.
“Okay,” I agreed, pausing when I got to my hut. “It’s good to be home,” I said before opening the door. My room was still neat and tidy. I flopped on my bed and fell asleep within a minute.
I slept the whole day through and didn’t wake up until just before dawn the following morning. When I stumbled out of my hut, in something of a daze, Marian was sitting on a log, rubbing morning dew off a piece of grass.
“Finally, here are you are. Really, I expected you to be unfit to sleep with your mind racing about those daring declarations Little John and Will Scarlet made,” she said, standing up before brushing off her full skirts.
I groaned. “Don’t remind me,” I pleaded as I staggered pass her. “I already feel as though I were run down by the Sherriff’s men. I don’t need reality to set in any sooner than possible. What are you doing here? You never rise this early. Not to mention your parents surely must be keeping you under lock and key after yesterday’s adventure.”
“As you mentioned, I never get up this early. My parents didn’t bother to post guards underneath my window at this hour. It would be positively ridiculous. No, the only thing that could drag me out of my warm, comfortable, feather bed, Robyn dear, is you,” Marian answered, following me to one of the campfires.
“Me? What about me?” I groggily asked as I plopped down and added a few logs to the fire after peering into a pot of oatmeal one of my men was preparing.
A scant number of Merry Men were already up, tending to the fires and getting breakfast ready. The rest of the brood wouldn’t turn out until the sun’s rays started to peek above the horizon.
“Last night I received a message from Much, claiming that Scarlet and Little John have bewitched you and you were so frightened, just like a helpless woodland creature,” Marian said, rolling her eyes as I took a wooden spoon from a passin
g Merry Man and thumped it into the pot of oatmeal. “Naturally I judged the letter to be written in a hysterical matter, which is easy to nudge Much into, but if my guess is right Little John and Will Scarlet have finally told you they’re in love with you,” Marian said as she settled down at next to me. I nearly lost the spoon in the oatmeal at her blunt report.
“Um, well, erm,” I sputtered.
“So they did,” Marian concluded.
I leaned the spoon against the lip of the pot and turned to my best friend. “What am I going to do Marian?”
“It all depends on you Robyn. Do you love either of them?” she prodded.
I stood and started pacing, my eyebrows furrowing. “Of course I love both of them. They’re my right hand men Marian. I trust them just as much as I just Much, and Will Stutely, and you!”
“Could you love either one of them as something more?” Marian calmly inquired, ignoring my pacing.
It struck me as being rather odd that Marian, out of all people, was investigating my feelings of love.
“I don’t know, maybe. I mean, they’re both so—but, not right now!” I declared, suddenly halting. One of the very quiet Merry Men who was trying to get breakfast ready nearly rammed into me. He froze and did a very decent impression of a rock before slowly edging off, clearly not wanting to be included in this type of discussion.
I didn’t blame him.
“Robyn. Maid Marian,” he muttered before hurrying off to another fire.
“What do you mean by not now?” Marian asked, ignoring the interruption.
I settled back on my heels and scrunched my nose. “Now is hardly the time to be falling in love, even if I did fancy either one of them. I’m leading dozens of men in the art of robbery. I’ve made countless men into cunning outlaws. I’m trying to keep them from getting caught by the idiot Sheriff, not to mention the actual brains behind his operation, George, and, to top it all off, Prince John! Best yet, I have to somehow gather enough money to set King Richard free. No, this is not the time to be thinking of love.”
“So it’s just a temporary? One day you might consider them?” Marian asked.
I shuddered, dreading the day I would have to face my men like that again. It was embarrassing, and it made my entire world heave. To think that they would like someone like me—I cut the thought off. “Yes,” I replied. “The day Robin Hood and his Merry Men are no longer necessary I will think about their… confessions.”