The Way Back

Chapter Twenty-Three

The Bishop's troops had swamped Nottingham that morning, with great fuss and fanfare, but since then the town had fallen quiet. It stayed that way as the sun peaked, and the same eerie quiet persisted into the afternoon. Meg was bored. She itched to know what was happening, but remained on the ground leaning against the same tree trunk. Guy had been adamant; with the town full of soldiers and teetering on the brink of battle, the streets were no place for a solitary, unarmed woman.

But the longer the inactivity continued, the more families around her slowly drifted back into Nottingham. Folk had come in from the villages too, full of questions, prepared to linger here at a safe distance. Matilda had been one of them. Meg might not have had any answers – in fact, she had a few questions of her own - but the reunion had warmed her heart. Matilda was delighted to see her back.

"Come and see me as soon as you can," she urged. "I can always use some help."

She'd been glad of the company, but after a while Matilda had left, declaring she couldn't waste all day sitting round waiting for men to decide what they were doing. Meg was feeling exactly the same when – finally - the outlaws appeared, loping across the fields.

Archer was with them; Guy wasn't. She ran to meet them.

"What's happened?"

"He's alright," said Allan. "He won't have a comfy night's sleep, but they won't hurt him."

"You let them take him," she accused Robin.

"No choice, Meg." He picked up her hands, clasped both his around them. "Listen, it wasn't the time to object. I'll argue for his neck; I won't argue to keep him out of the dungeons for a night."

"Take me to him, please."

"I can't. I'm sorry."

"Of course you can – if Richard has the castle, you can come and go as you please."

"Look, it's not that simple."

"Of course it is."

Archer stepped up, easing Robin aside; he took a gentle hold of her arms.

"Listen Meg," he soothed, "you saw him yesterday, after he heard about Isabella. You know what he's like. If you turn up he goes off his head with worry."

"He doesn't want me there again, does he?"

"No. That's what Robin was reluctant to tell you."

Meg pushed away.

"Alright then, what are we waiting for? Let's get back to camp."

He looked at her suspiciously, but everyone else seemed to take this at face value. They entered the forest, and splintered into twos and threes as they walked. Meg manoeuvred until she was walking near Allan.

"I want to go to back," she said quietly. "Will you come with me?'

"Oh no." Allan shook his head. "If I go against what Robin says I'll get in all sorts of strife. Besides, what's the point? You can't do anything."

"I just want to see him, is that so hard to understand? After all, tomorrow he might...." Meg swallowed the rest of what she'd been about to say, afraid tears would come.

"Men," she muttered instead, stalking off.

She hadn't given up. Lagged a little, so that at last, when she took a few steps back and then turned to slip away, she thought she'd managed to leave undetected. Until a few minutes later, when Archer fell into step beside her.

"I knew you'd try this," he said.

"Leave, please, unless you're planning to come with me? No, I thought not. I have to go to him, why can't any of you see that?"