Thief

Chapter Six

Hey guys!  Here's the sixth Chapter of Thief!  If you want to read ahead, the whole book is available on Amazon and iBooks!  Love to hear what y'all think!  Enjoy!

Robin and a group of handpicked men entered the village as travelers and traders. Allan, Little John and two other fellows in all. Robin had brought back news of the Princess Roberta's latest confinement having been in the village where the rumors of palace life were thick since there was nothing better to talk about. Allan quickly told everything that had happened to him during his run-in with the soldiers and he wasn't surprised to hear that she'd been grounded again, though he was glad to hear that was the only punishment. All in all, there wasn't much harm done since Allan hadn't been captured and Roberta wasn't being overly punished and the matter was dropped.

All the men carried burlap sacks filled with grass and brush to look like parcels to trade or sell. As they pushed farther toward the castle and the houses turned from hovels to cottages, to merchants' homes to nobles' mansions, they didn't fit in anymore with their grungy clothing and odd bundles so they took to the back gardens and alleys between the more upscale dwellings. After they'd made their way through several luxurious gardens, Robin stopped in the garden of a house beside the castle wall. The Prince's favorites now dwelt nearest to the castle. This was the sheriff's house.

"Are we all here? Good, let's get in and out as quickly as we can. Find the miser's gold and go," Robin said, glancing around at his men. They all nodded and quickly hurried over to the door. They easily picked the locks and slipped inside. The men split up and disappeared and Robin went upstairs. He made his way down to a door at the end of the hallway, thinking to start there and search the rooms back to the stairs. He guessed this was the sheriff's bedroom from the messy desk and open wardrobe. Every few seconds Robin paused to listen. The mansion was quiet and seemed to be deserted. His men made no noise, but he listened intently all the same. Life as he knew it would come to an end if he was ever caught without another step to his plan or at least a backup plan.

"Even my camp is decorated better than this," he thought as he looked around the room. There was a huge, canopy bed, a wardrobe and a desk, but nothing else. He hurried over to the desk and began to rifle through the papers. He quickly came up with a promising letter. It had the royal seal of Prince John. This could be very valuable in the making of his plans. He quickly broke the seal and began to scan the long, spidery handwriting. At the bottom was Prince John's elegant signature.

"So that's how he intends to do it," Robin muttered. "In my own territory. I think not," he added. Then he heard a thump down the stairs and almost leaped out the window until he heard Little John's familiar voice fussing at one of the other men.

"What are you doing? We don't want him to know we've been here!" Little John cried. Robin hurried down a hall and then down a spiraling staircase until he made it to the lower story of the mansion.

"Little John? Where are you?" he called quietly. He walked around a corner and found himself in the entry way just in front of the large double doors that separated him from the street. He heard another thump and a muffled exclamation from further back in the mansion.

"Little John," he hissed, but before an answer could be made, he heard a click from the door and someone fumbling with the lock! Robin could hear the familiar grating voice of the sheriff grumbling as he unlocked the door. Robin's stomach tightened and he almost called out to Little John, but there wasn't time to warn them. He dashed back up the stairs and stopped just out of sight and listened. He heard the door open and close and a jangling sound followed by another click and knew he wasn't going to get out that way. Then he heard the footsteps dying away towards where he'd heard Little John and his men. Robin took a deep breath.