Outside the camp, one could hear the sawing of wood. Will's brow furrowed in concentration as he planned the next stage of construction. He was building a table for a family in Nettlestone who had had their table repossessed as a failure to pay taxes. That table had been one of the few items of furniture that family had owned and it made Will angry that such a vital item could be revoked without so much as a guilty conscience from any of the Sheriff's people.
The saw slipped out of the crevasse of wood and hit the ground on the other side of the bench. Will let out a frustrated sigh and walked around the bench to pick it up. Carpentry was normally so calming for him, why should today be any different. Perhaps it did not help that Much was clambering about the kitchen or that Robin had been brooding on a rock nearby and grunting rather loudly.
Will let out a chuckle. Could he really expect to find peace near the camp? He tried to think of the last time the camp had been quiet for more than five minutes. It was a strain, even their sleep was noisy with Little John's snoring and Much's murmuring. You would think a gang of outlaws would have learnt to be quiet but for this group, it just didn't seem possible. Will couldn't complain; he enjoyed the noise as it made the camp homey but today it wasn't helping.
A small voice lifted above the clatter of Much's kitchen. It was in an alien language and it was so intriguing it made Will stop what he was doing. The voice was singing what sounded like a love ballad but Will couldn't be sure, as he didn't understand the words. His heart skipped a beat when he realised it was in Arabic. Djaq. Djaq was singing, she was the owner of that beautiful voice that had stopped Much cooking and Robin brooding. Will smiled as he started to feel more at peace and stopped worrying about the Sheriff.
Djaq emerged from the camp as the song drew to a close. She smiled at Will and nodded to Robin as they clapped her. The noise that was Little John moving about the camp erupted, closely followed by pots falling about. An argument wasn't far behind and Robin sighed as he entered the camp to calm his friends down. Will started sawing again and Djaq sat next to the bench as Robin shouted over the top of the others.
"That is the table for the family at Nettlestone?" she asked.
"Yeah. I thought I should get started as soon as I could," Will replied, "So they have something to eat off before the tax collector's next visit."
Immediately, Will felt his body tense. He stopped sawing and ran his fingers through his hair. He loathed the Sheriff. How could a person be so heartless? Before his mind could rattle off the long list of the reasons why he hated the Sheriff Djaq started to sing again. A flood of calm washed over Will and he looked over to her. She seemed so perfect to Will that he felt more content in her presence then he could ever remember feeling.
Again, the song finished and Djaq disappeared into the camp. Will almost felt sad to see her go even if it was only twenty metres. His mood lifted again when he saw her return with her box of herbs and a mortar and pestle. The two smiled at each other longer then friends ever do and Djaq began to sing again, this time an English song. Will proved the harmony for it and Djaq smiled when she heard his voice. It was beautiful.
Once the argument was finally resolved, Much strolled out of the camp and froze. Robin came up behind him and pulled his face into his cheeky grin. Much looked over to his master and over to Little John who shrugged.
"Robin, what are they doing?" Much asked.
"What does it look like?" Robin whispered. "They are singing."
"Well I can see that, but why are they doing that? And why are we whispering?" Much asked, very confused by what was before him.
"Stop asking questions once in a while, life is simpler," Robin said as he brought Much back into the camp and closed the door.