"Tell me, Doctor, Where are we going this time? Is it the 50's or '2099'?'
From Song by Huey Lewis and the News
Chapter One
I was conscious of the ground beneath me. It was bumpy, smelled of dirt and I could feel leaves, some soft, some dry. They were the same colors as my hair, gold, brown, red and I could not tell where my hair ended and the leaves began. Kneeling beside me were two men.
The younger one was smiling . Sandy colored hair and a partially grown in beard gave him a boyish appearance. The other man was sterner; handsome and dark in that "Heathcliff"' sort of way. He had long, almost black unruly hair. As I looked into his eyes, I saw impatience, but something more. I thought to myself 'what sorrows lay beneath those icy blue eyes?' They both wore leather armor but 'Dark's' was black and ornate as the kind a noble would have worn. 'Sandy Hair's' was brown with intricate stitching that must have taken months to make. I couldn't guess what century this was, 13th, 14th? 'Dark' spoke first, but not to me.
"What manner of creature canst this be?" The boyish one pursed his lips and shook his head.
"Me thinks it be a woman." he said, "but she be attired strangely."
The dark man said."Leave us go. Time is passing."
"Sandy Hair' said, "Thou wouldst abandon her to the wild or to the sheriff? Nay, pray let us take her back to camp."
At this point I decided it was time to join the conversation.
"Where am I?"
"Dost thou not know?" 'Dark' asked with impatience. "Thou must be addle-brained!"
Speaking as they did, I replied.
"Aye, I hath fallen from my horse. My head be quite rattled." It didn't seem appropriate for me to tell them I had traveled in time.
I am a Time Traveler from the year 2020. My name is Aylaina MacLeod. The discovery of traveling in time was made by my father, Ian McLeod, a quantum physicist. My brothers and I all had degrees in computer science and physics and we had been working on time travel for several years when we made the discovery of transporting a person or thing from one point to another within the same time. We knew if we could do that then we could bend time and travel forward or backward. In the past, time had always been considered to run in a straight line, beginning at one point and ending at another but we had discovered that time was always in flux, continuous. Like a circle it was always running, forward and backward, hence the phrase Space-Time continuum. Many such discoveries were made as a result of forward thinking 20th century Science Fiction authors such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark and Robert A. Heinlein.
It would appear that I had traveled backward in time.
'Sandy Hair' answered my question. "Thou be in Sherwood Forest. Dost thee be of mind now?"
Sitting up and rubbing my head for affect I replied, "I dost have mind of traveling here, aye." How was I going to pull this one off? Think fast Aylaina, but before I could say anything else 'Dark' urged, "Leave us be going. Take the creature if thee must!" and started walking away.
'Sandy Hair' helped me up.
"I am called Robin Hood." He exclaimed proudly. Ah, the end of the 12th century.
"Then he must be Little John." said I, pointing to 'Dark'.
"Nay!" the other barked. "I am Guy of Gisborne."
This was going to be interesting considering that I had an ancestor who knew both of these men in her youth. If I told them my name they would claim to know me as I was named after that very ancestor. I decided I would go with it and see what would happen.
"Well met, gentleman for I am your friend from long ago, Aylaina MacLeod!" Both of them turned to gaze at me. The sun was shining brightly through the trees that were turning colors as autumn was approaching. They shaded their eyes so they could check me out.
"Aylaina? Is that really you?" Robin asked as he was taking my hands.
"Aye." I said. "It is me" He turned to Guy, "Do you not remember Aylaina, Guy?"
"Of course I do." he said in a low throaty voice as he walked over to me. He lifted my chin to get a better look at me. His eyes burned into mine . He turned my face this way and that and took a handful of my hair. "It is you." He said softly , touching my cheek.
What had happened between these two, I wondered? All I knew from the family history was that they all knew each other. Perhaps there was more information than I aware of. I would have to check my Mepad later as I had all my fathers' history downloaded to it. I didn't know what to do next so I just said,
"Hello Guy."
One side of his mouth turned up as a smile, I think, but it suited him.
"Come.' He said. "We must get back to our camp."
Reaching for my backpack I followed after them. As we walked along Robin asked,
"Did your father not marry you to a man in Scotland? Something about joining the clans together to unite Scotland."
I assented because this was true. It was common practice in those days for people of noble birth to make a good match for gain of money, land or power. In this case my 'cousin's' father wanted to do just as Robin had said. His name was Ian and my father was named after him. Aylaina's husband had been killed in the clan wars right about this time in history. 'I' was a widow.
"Why are you dressed so oddly?" Robin inquired. " I thought your manner of attire was similar to ours." I had on a leather jacket and a long floral print blouse, belted at the waist, black leggings and mid-calf black leather boots. It gave me the appearance of a cute little pixie, in my humble opinion.
"M-My husband was killed," I stammered, "so my father moved us to a far away land where their customs are...different." I was really tap dancing on this one.
"So," Guy said. "Conor MacLaren is dead. Where are your children?" How did he know Aylaina's husbands' name? He must have been guessing about 'children' because Aylaina had only one, a boy about 18 or 20 at this point in time. Oh boy, this wasn't going to be easy. What had I gotten myself into?
"My son is still fighting in the clan wars." I replied. That's what he would have been doing when his father was killed. His name was Elliot.
"Then why have you returned?"
Trying to keep up with Guy, I replied, "Well I heard all about Robin's exploits and wanted to be a part of something noble. Would you welcome another hand?" I asked Robin. Before he could answer, Guy stopped walking and grabbed my arm.
"You must know all about me, too Aylaina." He retorted. His face darkened and It frightened me. I tried not to let it show but he said, "I see you do!" He let go my arm and continued walking.
"But you must have changed," I said, trying to recover, "or you two would not be together." I had some idea of what Guy was talking about, but it seemed there was more to it than the old legends say. That was another thing I had to look up. Since my ancestors were to have known Robin Hood as a child I was very interested in all the legends that were told about him and the Merry Men. I had downloaded all the info I could about them into my Mepad.
Before anything else could be said Robin stopped and I nearly bumped into him.
"We're here." he said.
"Where?' I asked. "I don't see anything."
"And that is a good thing." Robin said with a smile and a wink
Reaching up, Robin took hold of a loose vine hanging from the tree .He wound the vine around his hand several times before giving it a great pull. Gazing in amazement, I had to step back as a mixture of thicket and bracken began to rise. At that point I realized it was a camouflaged door that led into the camp beyond.
We went inside and Robin and Guy walked to the back of the 'hide out' as I peered around. The place was a make-shift home. On both sides there were bunks made from tree branches, and a cooking pit. There were storage spaces and above a camouflaged roof almost like the ones the military used but entirely made out of leaves. Impressive!
I became aware of the conversation the men were having. They were speaking in low tones but I could only just make out some of it.
"She could be working for Isabella." Guy was saying. Robin was saying something about him being so suspicious.
"Isabella betrayed me!" Guy spat. I moved a little closer so I could hear better.
"You saw her, Guy. She didn't even know where she was when we found her. I doubt that she's one of Isabella's spies." Robin was saying. "Besides, weren't the two of you" he paused, "close back then?"
"Yes." Guy replied, " but Aylaina loved Isabella like a little sister." He whispered but I was able to hear him.
Who is this 'Isabella'? I wondered.
"And she loved your mother, too." replied Robin. Before anything more could be said I spoke up.
"So tell me how you came to be comrads in arms?" I queried. I sat down on a log and motioned them to sit.
"We have a brother in common." Robin explained as they sat down on either side of me.
"My mother and his father." Guy said.
Both men looked uncomfortable. Well this was common where I come from but for these men it was shameful.
"Where is he now?" I asked.
Guy spoke with anger in his voice. "He betrayed us after we rescued him from hanging.
"Archer chose not to join us in our fight." Robin said sadly.
"So where is the rest of your gang?" I enquired.
"They should be returning shortly. They went into the villages to bring food to the people." Robin stood up and turned to me.
"I should try to find you something more suitable to wear."
I thought what I was wearing was suitable enough. My outfit made it easy for me to get around in this terrain. My boots were low heeled and comfortable and my jacket had buttons rather than a zipper but Robin didn't want a lot of questions from the others who tended to be superstitious so I agreed. He sized me up and figured I was about as tall as someone called Kate but with a little more, shall we say meat on my bones. It was more like muscle. I had been in the military and still trained most days.
"I will go into Locksley." Robin was saying. "I'm sure I can find something already made that you can wear."
"Sure." I said and walked around the place.
Guy was still sitting on the log so I sat next to him.
"Where is Marian?" but I quickly realized I said the wrong thing. Guy's face darkened again and he stood up.
He pulled me up from the log roughly and with his face inches from mine, said, "If you know of Robin's exploits than why do you not know what happened to Marian! Hm? Did you not know that I killed her?" He pushed me away.
Gathering my wits, I said gently, for I could see it pained him, "I didn't know." I touched his shoulder. He could see that I was earnest.
"I have committed many crimes since I last saw you, Aylaina. You should not associate yourself with me."
Impossible!" I said. "I was your friend then and I am your friend now." I thought it a good idea to stay on Guy's good side and knowing a little of my 'cousin's' personality it seemed the right thing to do.
"Then be prepared to be counted amongst the hated for the others will not take kindly to your position." he replied.
"I care not for what others think of me." This was true, I don't. "And I can take care of myself."
There was that half smile again. I took this to mean that Guy approved.
"You still have your slingshot?" He asked
"Of course," I replied, among other things.