The Mother Supreme of the Sisters of Mercy silently entered the small church and was surprised to find it already inhabited by the newest member of the convent; the young novice Sister Beth Cooper.
The young girl was clearly praying, and crying too. Although The Mother Supreme couldn't hear all the words she caught one clearly; the name 'Tom'.
There'd been something strange about the young girl, now kneeling in front of the altar, when she'd first arrived together with Lady Marian and asked for permission to join the convent.
Slowly the young girl rose and turned around, seeing The Mother Supreme she curtsied and was about to leave the church when The Mother Supreme called her back.
"Who's Tom?" she asked, looking at the young girl with all sorts of pity. It was clear that this man, Tom, held a very special place in the girl's heart.
"He was my fiancé. He was killed, by the Sheriff. He, Tom, was an outlaw but he was a very good man. Perhaps not always honest. But good. Really, it's the Sheriff who is bad… he takes the money from the poor…"
The young girl looked at her feet, as if she did not dare to look at The Mother Supreme while stating such things. But The Mother Supreme herself had been suspecting for a while that things weren't well in Nottingham, old Edward had been a good and honest man, but when he resigned and that guy, Vaysey, had taken over things just didn't seem right anymore.
Carefully The Mother Supreme took the young girl by her arm and led her to one of the benches where she made the girl sit down and sat down besides her.
"Tell me everything."
And she did; right from when she'd first met Tom when she was only seven years old, how, over the years, their friendship had turned into love, how they'd gotten engaged, how he and his older brother changed when their parents died, how first Tom and later his brother had left Rochdale, how she'd decided to go after only to find Tom's brother in Sherwood, telling her that Tom was dead; hanged by the Sheriff, she told everything.
"I could've gone back I guess… find a good, honest man… but it wouldn't be the same… maybe… maybe God had a reason… for letting this happen… I mean… I can't help the poor the way they do in Sherwood. But… we can help the poor too, can't we?"
A smile spread across the young girl's face and a sudden thought hit The Mother Supreme; this was the first time she'd ever seen Sister Beth Cooper smile. Slowly she reached out and took the young girl's hand, smiling back at her she said:
"Yes! We can! And we will!"