Champagne & Lemonade

by John A. D. Hickling

  “Don’t thank me, son; it was Annabelle who went back for you and stabbed Knox with the same thing he got you with.”

  Robert laughed, even though it hurt his head to do so, and Tuck and Annabelle joined in. He shook Tuck’s hand again, knuckle touched Annabelle and said, “Thanks again, both of you.”

  “It was our pleasure, Rob, especially after what you have done for all of us. You have done wonders for the people,” replied Tuck as Robert gave Annabelle a cuddle.

  “Wonders? You mean I have failed them,” moaned Robert.

  “Enough of that talk, my lad, you have given us hope in the midst of this madness — and that is a miracle in itself.” Robert smiled as Tuck patted him.

  Robert sat with Annabelle for the next few minutes, trying to regain some strength. Annabelle, who had now calmed down from her ordeal, was playing Candy Crush on Robert’s phone. Robert lovingly patted her on her head, then stood up. “What is the word, Father? Have you had any news from the lads?”

  Robert watched Tuck take out his phone and scroll through it. “Yes, lad, a lot made it to the camp, but there were some fatalities and a lot have been captured. Mutch is missing, but Don, Bill, Adam and Screech are on the way here.” Robert felt a mixture of sadness and relief.

  It didn’t take long for Don, Adam, Bill and Screech to arrive at the church and they were pleased to see Robert was alive; and the feeling was mutual. They were dirty and tired from the fighting as well as shocked and choked up over all the friends that had been killed or taken. They still couldn’t believe something like this was happening in the twenty-first century. Don lifted a smiling Annabelle up in the air; she too looked thrilled to see them all.

  “Our little heroine, hey?” smiled Don.

  The men all smiled at her. Robert patted Bill and said, “What’s the word, mate?”

  “There are soldiers everywhere in the city, but we managed to get people to the camp without being followed. So, for now, the camp is secure and unfound.”

  Adam coughed then said, “We think they have Mutchy, Rob.”

  Robert rubbed his chin. “Yeah I heard, do we know where they’ve taken him? Or if he is even alive?”

  Bill stepped forward and said, “He was alive when he was captured by soldiers; we presume they have taken him to Wollaton Park, but we’re not sure on that.”

  Adam, who had been checking his iPhone to see if there was any word about where Mutch and the others had been taken to, then spoke. “You do realise, that if he is alive they will torture him to get to us and bring us down. What we going to do about it?”

  Don put Annabelle down and said, “Sheriff and his men are looking for you, Bob. It’ll only be a matter of time before they come here; we have to go to the camp.”

  Robert nodded. “We must get out of the city and then we have to locate Mutchy and the others and get them out somehow. What about Marion? Any news on her?” asked Robert.

  “She’s still held in the castle. I know where,” said Screech.

  “We have a couple of men waiting in the abandoned McDonalds building ready to take Tuck and Annabelle back, Rob,” said Bill.

  “What about transport back?” asked Robert.

  Bill replied, “Yeah we have a couple of the jeeps we borrowed hidden in the old Evening Post building, close to the castle.”

  “Right, Don, would you be kind enough to get Annabelle and Father Tuck to the men who can then take them to the camp? When that’s done, come back and meet us at the castle; we are going for Marion.”

  Don smiled and said, “See you in a mo then; are you ready, Father? Annabelle?” They said their goodbyes for now and Don and his party left.

  Robert had a drink of water to wash down some more paracetamols to soothe his aching head. He felt like he could just drop to sleep any moment and his body felt like it had been hit by a bus, but he knew he had to find the strength for his friends and Marion. Ten minutes later, after the others had gotten away OK and Robert had gotten himself together a bit more, he and the others left for their mission.

  *

  At the castle Robert and his men had already snapped some soldiers’ necks and managed to climb the walls. Screech explained to Robert that Marion was in a room on the east side of the castle; her window was the one next to a drainpipe. Robert patted him. “Thanks, Screech; I want you to wait at the bottom of the hill, at the back of the castle, to keep an eye out for soldiers or any danger.” Screech nodded and left. Rob, Adam and Bill climbed up the wall at the side of Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, checking for more soldiers’ whereabouts before making their way into the castle.

  Two soldiers patrolled the dining room; Bill and Adam grabbed them, cutting their throats. Robert checked his watch and was a little worried; Don should have re-joined them by now. But they couldn’t really wait any longer for him so Robert, Bill and Adam went to look for Marion. There were only a few minutes into the search when they were stopped by two soldiers pointing guns at them. “Hands up,” one shouted. Adam and Bill slowly raised their hands and Robert had just started to do the same, wondering how they would get out of this predicament, when the soldiers’ heads were suddenly banged together. They fell to the floor with a smirking Don behind them, Robert went over and high-fived him. “Talk about good timing, Don, mate.”

  “Bob, Sheriff has just got back,” Don said as he knuckle touched Bill and Adam.

  “Right, we must find her and get out of here,” replied Robert.

  Robert and his men were sneaking through the museum part of the castle, where there were numerous displays showing various points in Nottingham’s timeline. There were glass cases full of military uniforms and weapons through the ages as well as different displays on life in Nottingham; going as far back as Roman times.

  It was as they passed a display of old coins and pots that Sheriff and his soldiers opened fire on them, smashing a couple of the glass cases; spilling thousands of years of history all over. Robert ran through to a bit of the museum that had uniforms and weapons from Roman and medieval times. He had no bullets left just the Samurai sword on his back. His men were engaged in fighting with the Black Death soldiers.

  Robert was hiding behind one of the display cases, waiting to pounce on Sheriff, who had walked in with his pistol in hand.

  “Where are you, Hood? I only want to talk to you,” said Sheriff, grinning.

  Robert ran between some of the display cases of uniforms and weapons. Sherriff shot about six bullets, smashing some of the glass cabinets, spilling some old swords, helmets and other weapons to the ground. A mannequin, sporting Roman attire, hit Robert, knocking him to the ground.

  Sheriff walked up to Robert, who was facing Sheriff with his bottom and hands on the floor, and Robert started slowly shuffling backwards. “Well, well, scum; trapped like the rat that you are,” said a smirking Sheriff. He shot Robert, nicking the top of his shoulder.

  “Aaahh — I thought Prince wanted me alive?” Robert said, squirming as he looked to the right of him at some old clothing and weapons.

  “If you come across a cockroach you don’t keep it as a pet — you crush it.” Sheriff smirked as he took aim at Robert’s head. Click, click — he had ran out of bullets. “No,” yelled Sheriff. He picked up a sword that was amongst the debris on the floor. Robert took a deep breath, jumped up and rolled to the items on his right. Sheriff ran at Robert, who had a bow and arrow in hand, it was a very old one from medieval times. He let the arrow fly, hitting Sheriff and taking him off his feet and into a glass cabinet.

  At that moment, Don, Bill and Adam ran in. “Rob, come on, more soldiers are coming,” Bill shouted. Robert ran after them as they set off to find Marion; trying to follow Screech’s directions. With all the chaos and gunfire surrounding them it felt near impossible to navigate the castle and get to Marion. Then, as they ran up a staircase, they heard Marion shouting. Adam and Bill threw a grenade at some soldiers to keep them at bay while Don and Robert followed Marion’s voice and arrived at a locked door.<
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  “Marion, it’s me — Robert, are you okay?”

  “Robert? Thank God you’re all right; yes I am fine.”

  “I’m gonna shoot the lock on the door, stand back, jump on the bed,” Robert said as he took aim at the lock.

  “Okay, I am clear,” Marion yelled. Robert then shot off the lock to Marion’s door and rushed into Marion’s room. He was overjoyed at seeing her again; she was as beautiful as when he had last set eyes upon her.

  “Hello again. It’s funny, but every time we meet you’re always in some kind of trouble,” Robert chirped, wearing the biggest of smiles.

  Marion rushed to him. “I know, it’s just a knack I seem to have; I bet you’re getting fed up of it.” Marion smiled back at him as they embraced

  “Well someone has to save you, might as well be me.” Robert smiled. They were about to kiss and Robert felt a mixture of emotions. He was incredibly attracted to her but the relief at finding her alive and well seemed to heighten the situation and just made him want the kiss even more. He went to instigate the move and reached out for her.

  “I hate to be the party pooper, but don’t you think we ought to get a shift on?” said Adam.

  “Yes, let’s go, Bob,” yelled Don.

  Robert tried to hide his disappointment but he knew that his friends were right. He grabbed Marion by the hand and they all made their way out to the castle grounds.

  They had managed to dispose of most of the soldiers by this point, but they knew others from Wollaton Park would soon arrive. They climbed down the wall into the courtyard with Adam slightly twisting his ankle after landing on a disposed Coca Cola can. They went to Screech who was waiting with their getaway transport: one of the jeeps they had taken from Crabbe. Don took the wheel and the others jumped in. It took two attempts to start it before it finally chugged into life, throwing out a cloud of thick black smoke.

  “Let’s go, Don, pal,” yelled Bill as a few soldiers came running down, firing, with a couple of the shots hitting the back of the jeep, making them all duck for cover. Robert and Adam clicked their rifles, jumped up and fired back. Bill threw a grenade, sending a couple of the oncoming soldiers flying through the air, Don smashed the jeep into gear and they sped off.

  Don’s foot was almost pushing the pedal through the floorboards as they drove past the river and made their way out of Nottingham. Robert was sat in the back with his arms around Marion, who had her head on his shoulder. Like the rest of the company they were silent as they took in the recent events. Robert looked out of the window at the wounded, but not beaten, Nottingham. He thought about how he was going to defeat Prince and put an end to this madness. But his first priority was the captured people and his true, good friend Mutch; he knew he would have to rescue them soon.

  He looked out of the window again and Nottingham was behind them; he just hoped that the camp they had set up would be safe and remain undetected as there would be a lot more people that would come and need his protection. He pondered how he would rescue Mutch and the others, then how he would eventually defeat Prince, which had become his destiny.

  His thoughts were broken as he looked down at Marion, who smiled then closed her eyes. Robert rubbed his hand gently across her forehead then looked up and looked out of the window to see a sign that read: To Sherwood Forest.

  Copyright

  Published by Clink Street Publishing 2016

  Copyright © John AD Hickling 2016

  www.johnchewyhickling.com

  The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  ISBN: 978–1–910782–14–9

  Ebook: 978–1–910782–15–6