Chapter Four
The outlaws made their way to Clifton Hall through the forest and stopped in the trees on the edge of the property.
"This is yours?" Robin asked Lou as they surveyed the house from the safety of the forrest.
"It should have been." If she sounded a little bitter, they didn't blame her for it. "The Sheriff has given it to his son, Sir Adam."
"Is he here now?" Robin asked.
"I don't know. In case you didn't notice, I've been locked in a dungeon for the past few weeks. I only know what little the Sheriff's guards told me."
"So how do we get the journals?" Guy asked.
"Leave that to me. Does anyone have a dagger I can borrow?"
Guy pulled one from his belt and handed it to her.
"What are you going to do."
"The staff are loyal to me and Sir Adam has never met me." Lou looked to Kate. "Will you help me?"
"Of course," Kate agreed.
Lou closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, then drew the dagger across the heal of her hand.
"Whoa!" Robin grabbed her hand. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Playing the victim." She ripped her hand out of his grip and held her hand against her dress. When she pulled it away a few moments later there was a large blood stain there. "Our cover story is that we were attacked by outlaws and are in need of assistance. Come on," she said to Kate and they took off towards the house, giving the appearance that Kate was helping her 'wounded' friend to walk.
III
When they returned half an hour later they had two other women with them and all four were carrying large, heavy bags. Lou also had a smaller bag, it's strap wrapped over her shoulder and across her body.
"Sir Adam isn't there," Lou explained, "so Alice and Sarah were kind enough to help me."
"Are you really Robin Hood?" the servant called Alice asked Guy.
"Do I look like a bleeding heart do gooder?!" he sounded insulted. "He's Robin." He pointed at the other man.
The women dropped their bags and Lou turned to the servants who had helped them.
"I'm sorry for what's happened," she said.
"It's not your fault, Miss Lou." Sarah assured her.
"You know if there was any way I could kick him out, I would."
"We know. And Master Adam isn't so bad. He's young and temperamental but not like his father. Not yet, anyways."
"What will you say if he notices that the journals are missing?" Robin asked, worried about them.
"He won't," Sarah sounded confident. "They were kept in a trunk in the library and the Master don't care for books."
"Here," Robin pulled out the purse he and Guy had taken from the toll collector and handed her some coins. "Share that with the other staff, but mind your Master doesn't notice."
"Thank you, Robin," Alice grinned.
"You'd best get back," Lou said, hugging each girl. "Take care."
"You too, Miss."
The girls headed back to the house and the outlaws strapped the bags onto the horse who only had one rider before heading back towards Sherwood Forest.
III
It was twilight when they finally arrived back at camp and the outlaws were hungry and tired. Thankfully Much and Meg had prepared most of the dinner ingredients the day before so all they had to do now was cook it. Much got the fire going as Meg added the ingredients they'd prepared to the pot. Much then added herbs and spices to the mix and pretty soon delicious scents began to waft around the camp.
Guy came up and joined them.
"I'm sorry," Much said to them both. "About tying you up, I mean. It's not that we don't like you, Meg, it's just-"
"You just don't trust me," Guy finished for him. "And by association, Meg."
"Yeah."
"Believe it or not, I understand," Guy said. Much looked incredulous. "You can do what you want to me, I don't much care, but if you ever do something like that to Meg again I won't be quite so understanding, got it?"
Much nodded.
"Have you changed your dressings?" Guy asked Meg.
Meg didn't want to say that she hadn't changed it for two days in case it got the outlaws in more trouble.
"Not today," she answered, which wasn't a total lie.
"You should. Do you mind if I take a look?" he asked.
She shook her head, she didn't mind. Guy erected the privacy screens around her bunk and waited while she disrobed.
"Okay," she called after a few minutes.
She kept her modesty by holding the dress in front of her. Guy knelt down and moved the dress aside slightly so he could see her wound.
"Nearly healed," he said. "The stitches can come out in another day or two."
"It's still sore," she said.
"I'm not surprised after trekking to York and back, but at least you didn't pull any stitches out."
He made to stand up but Meg grabbed his hand.
"I think I still owe you something," she said. Guy stayed where he was as Meg leaned forward and kissed him softly. Then she kissed him again, her lips more insistent this time. Guys arms wound themselves around her back and he splayed his fingers out over the flesh he found there. His tongue sought entrance to her mouth and was quickly granted it.
Reluctantly he pulled away after few minutes. Meg smiled enticingly but Guy shook his head.
"I should go," he said.
"I don't want you to."
Guy smiled. "Believe me, I don't want to either but if I stay, you might not be Maid Megan for much longer."
Meg grinned but nodded her acceptance. Guy stood up but Meg kept hold of his hand.
"Guy?" she sounded hesitant.
"What?"
"I know you worry about me but I'm not as weak as I look, you know."
"I know," he smiled warmly. "And you have no idea how glad I am for that, but don't expect me stop worrying any time soon."
"No matter what happens, Guy, I'm not going anywhere."
Guy smiled, pleased to hear it but unable to believe it all the same. He left her then, though Meg held his hand for as long as possible.
Though he knew he probably wouldn't be welcome, he went to join the others where they sat around the fire. The conversation died off as he approached.
"Is Meg all right?" Robin asked.
"She's fine, just a little sore."
Little John stood up. Guy expected him to walk away in disgust but to his surprise, John moved down the log to make room for Guy to sit down.
Thinking it was probably best not to draw too much attention to the act, Robin turned the conversation to Lou.
"So, you know all about us now, how about you tell us how an orphan inherits an estate."
"Grubs up!" Much called and began handing plates out. "No fresh bread I'm afraid so stew will have to do you today."
Meg rejoined them and when everyone was settled and had food, Robin looked to Lou. "I think you have the floor." He told her.
"Okay, I suppose it's only fair you know my story." Lou smiled. "I was taken from the orphanage to work for Sir James when I was seven. He was a fair master, I only shared my room with one other person, I was well fed and overall it was better than at the orphanage. A few months after I got there though, Lady Clifton died in childbirth. The baby was early and sickly, she only lived a week.
"Sir James was devastated, almost inconsolable. The staff were as caring as they could be but they were aware of their positions and they kept their distance. All I could think was that when Billy used to cry at the orphanage he liked to be hugged, so one day when I found him crying in his library, I hugged him. From then on he made me his personal assistant and kept me close. I think because I was young and innocent he didn't have to worry so much about appearances around me, he was free to be himself. Looking back, I think he liked having someone to love and care about again.
"His eyes had begun to fail him so he taught me how to read and write and every evening I'd read to him after dinner. Slowly we just became closer. When I was eleven he decided there was nothing left for him in England and he wanted to explore the world. He took me with him and we travelled for the next few years. We just moved from place to place until two years ago when he fell ill. We returned home and I nursed him until he died."
"And he left you his estate?" Robin asked.
"I wasn't expecting it, he only told me that he'd made provisions for me and I didn't find out what he meant until after he'd died. He also left money to the other servants, but none of them saw a penny either."
"And what about the man you killed?" Robin asked.
"The Sheriff tried to tell me that only blood relatives could inherit from nobility but thanks to the reading I'd done I was educated, more so than most men even and I knew he was lying. So he sent one of his men to kill me. The Sheriff knew that I had no will or relatives, so my land would default back to him on my death. I buried a throwing star between the assassins eyes."
"What's a throwing star?" Much asked.
Lou had finished her food so she put her plate down and retrieved the bag she's had slung over her shoulders earlier.
"Here," she handed a few small, silver disks around the circle.
"They look like snowflakes," Allan said.
"Ouch!" Much sucked his thumb where the star had cut it.
"Vicious," Guy said with a hint of admiration in his voice. "How do they work?"
Lou hadn't sat back down so she took another star and threw it into one of the support beams. The star embedded itself deep into the wood.
Robin whistled.
"Impressive," John said.
"Only if you've got good aim," she cautioned.
"What else have you got in there?" Kate asked, gesturing to Lou's bag.
Lou pulled out what looked to be two pieces of metal.
"What do they do?" Much asked, warily.
"It's a knife," she explained, opening it to reveal the blade. "It's called a Balisong or sometimes a butterfly knife." She handed it to Much. "Be careful when you open it, the blade is sharp."
Next she pulled out two weapons, each appeared to be two overlapping crescent shaped blades and she held one in each hand.
"These are dear horn knives, they're used in close combat," she showed them a few moves. "They're pretty lethal because you have a blade pointing in every direction." She handed them to Tuck and then pulled out a length of chain with weights on the end. "This is a kusari-fundo." She stepped away from the group so she could demonstrate how to wield it. She then spun the chain a few times and threw it so it wrapped around the same support beam she had thrown the star into.
"The great thing about this is it can be used to grab weapons like swords from a distance, or strike at someone who's hiding behind a shield."
"Cool," Allan looked impressed.
She returned to the bag and pulled out a metal bar with two hooks on one end.
"A dragon beard hook," she explained. "You attach a rope to this end, tie the other end of the rope to your wrist, then you can use it to hook an opponent and unbalance or pull him towards you, or you can even use it to scale a wall."
"Well this is all very interesting," Much said. "But I don't exactly see these turning the war in our favour."
"What were you thinking of?" Lou asked.
"I dunno, that black powder the sheriff had or something."
"Oh that's easy if you have the ingredients," she said. "It's a mixture if sulphur, charcoal, and saltpetre. Or there's Greek fire, a mixture of quicklime, saltpetre, oil and sulphur. Greek fire is easier to turn into grenades which can be thrown or catapulted over distances."
"And you know how to make these?" Robin asked.
"Well I can't remember the exact amounts but it's all in the journals." She picked one up and handed it to him.
Robin opened the book and frowned. He turned a few pages then looked at her.
"What the hell is this?"
"Mostly Chineese," she explained. "Some Mandarin, some books are in Greek and a few other languages. James liked to learn the languages of the places we stayed."
"How are we supposed to make heads or tails of this?" Robin did not look happy.
"Hang on," Guy smirked, "Didn't you say your Master's eyesight was failing?"
"Ten out of ten for observation," Lou grinned.
"You wrote these?" Robin asked.
"I did."
"It's no wonder you didn't seem worried about the sheriff finding them," Meg grinned at her.
"Well boys," Robin grinned. "It looks like the tide just turned in our favour."
III
Over the next two weeks the gang began assembling the ingredients necessary to make black powder and Greek fire.
Tuck and Allan travelled to London for the harder to find ingredients while Kate and her mother made small, thin clay pots that would house the flammable mixtures and become grenades.
Everyone practised their fighting skills daily, with each member of the gang helping the others to improve. Robin helped with archery, obviously, while Guy improved their sword skills.
Lou taught everyone a few fighting moves with the weapons she owned and they melted down some of the coins they had to make more throwing stars. Much and John couldn't master the stars at all but to everyone's surprise, Kate proved to be very proficient.
Much to Guy's chagrin, as soon as her stitches were removed, Meg insisted on joining in. Guy hated seeing her getting hurt but at the same time he knew she had to learn to defend herself. As much as he might want her to sit in an ivory tower and leave the work to the rest of them, he knew that wasn't her style and that she needed to be as skilled as possible but to everyone's surprise, he refused to teach her. No one was quite sure why because he seemed so over protective but most daren't ask him.
During the second week of her training, Much was teaching her hand to hand combat when Guy returned to camp. He took one look at them, glared then walked away. Robin followed him into the forest.
"You all right?"
"I'm fine," Guy snapped.
"You know, if you don't like her training with us, you could teach her."
"No, I can't."
"Of course you can. Not that I enjoy inflating your ego, Gisborne, but your skills surpass most of our group."
"I can't teach her," Guy insisted.
"Why not?"
"Because I'd go easy!" he snapped. "She needs to learn how to protect herself in life threatening situations and I'd..." His anger suddenly evaporated and he looked helpless. "I can't hurt her, Robin, even if it is for her own good."
"I know what you mean," Robin agreed. He found an exposed boulder and sat down. A few moments later, Guy sat down beside him.
"How do you do it?" Guy asked. "How do you watch the women you care about put themselves in danger?"
"I do it because I don't have a choice," he said simply. "Could you ever refuse Marion?"
Guy smiled at the image but it faded when he remembered her bravery in defending the King from him.
"And as for Kate," Robin could see where Guy's thoughts were heading and tried to steer them away. "I think I'd rather face that lion you had a few months ago."
Guy managed a weak smile.
"Does it at least get easier?" he asked.
"No," Robin answered honestly. "I'm probably not the best person to talk to this about though. Women have been watching their men go off to war for centuries, they probably know better ways to handle it than we do."
"Maybe," Guy agreed.
"If it helps, she's good," Robin assured Guy. "She's picking things up lightening quick."
"But how good can she really get in two weeks?" he asked.
"We're not going to throw her into the middle of the action on her own," Robin assured him. "We're a team and just like you risked your life to save Kate in York, we will all look out for Meg."
"I don't know what I'm so worried about anyway," Guy admitted. "Even if we do both get through this unscathed, my numbers up."
"How do you mean?" Robin asked.
"I tried to kill the King. Twice."
Somehow as Guy had integrated with the gang, Robin had managed to push that thought to the back of his mind.
"She talked about marriage the other night." Guy let out a long sigh. "She'll be a widow before she's twenty."
"She knows what you did though. You told her right?"
"I did. And for some reason she still wants to marry me." He laughed. "She's has this streak of optimism in her that's almost infections. I do want to believe there's a way out of this but in my heart of hearts I know that the best case scenario is being hanged as a traitor."
"I'm sorry," Robin said. Normally he would call himself an optimist but on this he was with Guy. King Richard would call for Guy's head because anything less would be seen as a sign of weakness.
"You know, I almost wish you were the cold hearted bastard you used to be," Robin said. "In many ways that would make things a whole lot easier."
"You know sometimes, I do too," Guy flashed a wry smiled.
"Come on, let's go and rob someone, that always makes you feel better," Robin teased.
Guy nodded and they headed towards the road to wait for unsuspecting passers by.
"If you wanted, I could marry you and Meg now," Robin suggested as they waited in the bushes. "Give you a few weeks together as man and wife." Suddenly the memory of marrying Marion came to mind and Robin pushed the memory aside.
"No," Guy shook his head. "As appealing as that idea is, with Meg it has to be right. I know she's taken to life in the forest well but she wasn't meant to be an outlaw and she wouldn't be one now if it wasn't for me."
"Hey, she chose to help you, you didn't ask her to."
"Maybe, but I've already made too many mistakes in my life. When it comes to Meg I intend to do things right or not at all."
Robin couldn't help but form a grudging respect for Guy. At heart they were more similar than Robin might like to admit and if he'd had to lead Guys life, he wasn't so sure he could have done things differently.
It felt strange to think that Guy of Gisborne was now someone he would now call a friend.