Chapter 1: Father Hood
Robin pulled his hood up. "All right, lads!" he said, "let's see what havoc we can wreak among the nobles today, eh?"
The 'lads,' Much, Little John, Alan a Dale, Will Scarlet, and Djaq, all nodded. Today was market day in Nottingham Square, and everyone – nobles included – would be out with fat purses waiting to buy whatever caught their fancy.
They snuck in through the gates, the guards too busy watching the females that they forgot to watch who entered and who left.
"That was easy," whispered Alan to Will as they paired off to the left. "Women can come in handy sometimes."
Will gave Alan a glare from the depths of his black hood, and Alan shut up.
A moment later, Alan straightened and hit Will on the arm.
"Ow!"
"Look who's here!" said Alan, grinning widely. "The sheriff 'imself, come to inspect the wares."
"We'd better tell Robin," said Will, turning.
Alan grabbed his arm, and Will looked at him. "What are you doing?"
Alan licked his lips and bounced a little, as he always did when struck with a mischievous idea.
"What?" asked Will again, this time suspiciously.
Alan looked excitedly at Will. "What if we stole the Sheriff's purse?"
Will straightened, looking at Alan as if not sure whether or not he was telling the truth. "Alan-"
"We could do it!" said Alan, glancing at the sheriff, then back at Will.
"I don't think so," said Will, shaking his head.
"Aw," said Alan, letting go of Will's arm and turning dejectedly. "I always figured you for a brave guy. Guess I was wrong."
The two figures ducked through the crowd, keeping low and behind barrels and carts.
"If this goes badly, I'm going to blame you for it," Will hissed quietly to Alan
"It won't!" the other assured him, rising just high enough to see the sheriff, who was throwing one apple after another out of a cart in search of the perfect one.
"Now?" asked Alan.
"Listen, you're the one who came up with this plan," said Will, still watching the sheriff, "you call the shots."
"All right," said Alan. He licked his lips, then straightened. "Come on!"
They darted through the crowd. Alan, whom the sheriff had never seen up close before, bumped into the sheriff. "Oh, dear me, I'm terribly sorry!" he said, pretending to wipe the sheriff's black fur-lined coat off.
"GET THIS MAN AWAY FROM ME!" the sheriff shouted.
Alan looked urgently at Will, who had just cut the sheriff's purse strings with the sheriff's own knife. He held up the sack, then tucked it under his cloak and slipped away.
"Oh, well, I guess I'll be going," said Alan, then turned and ran wildly.
"Peasant pigs," muttered the sheriff, then picked up an apple – the last one from the cart. "Perfect." He crunched into it and sauntered off to peruse the other stores.
It only took a moment for the Sheriff to realize his purse was missing. "GUAAAAAARDS!" he screamed, "MY MONEY! MY PURSE! FIND IT!! AND I WANT THE MAN WHO STOLE IT HUNG TODAY!!!"
Will and Alan rounded a corner and bumped into Little John and Robin Hood. "What have you been doing?" asked Robin, lifting an eyebrow
Will glanced guiltily at Alan, who was looking, wide-eyed and innocent, at Robin. "Nothing!" said Alan. "We've just been wreaking havoc, just like you said!"
"I didn't say steal the Sheriff's purse!"
"That was Alan's idea," muttered Will.
"Let me see it," said Robin with a sigh.
Will produced it and handed it over to Robin, who poured the contents into his hands. "Not bad, though," he said after a moment. Then he looked up. "All right. But thanks to you, we have to get out of Nottingham early because the entire castle guard is out searching for us!"
"Yeh, but we got a good haul!" said Alan with a chuckle. Little John glared at him and then they all took off running.
"Will, you go find Djaq! I've got to find Much," said Robin. "Little John, Alan, get back to the forest!"
They nodded and fled across the crowded street until they were no longer visible.
Will searched through the street vendors, looking for the young woman named Djaq.
"Djaq!" he hissed, looking into an alley.
He turned around and found himself face to face with her. "What have you done?" she demanded, "half of Nottingham is after us!"
"We got the sheriff's purse," said Will, grabbing her hand. "Come on!"
They fled through the streets, hoods up. They reached the gates, which were – closing?
"Why are they closing?" whispered Djaq urgently. "It is market day! The gates do not close!"
"They're looking for Robin," said Will. "We've got to hurry!" They flew up to the gates, each taking out one of the guards.
"They will sleep for a long time," grinned Djaq as she ducked through the closing gates. Will waited and slipped through the rapidly closing gates after Djaq, but was just in time to hear Djaq scream "Will! Will, watch out!"
A wagon came roaring down the road, trying to push its way through the gates. Will managed to jump out of the way just in time, but something else caught his eyes, which widened as they saw a small bundle in the way of the wagon – a moving bundle, and the wagon that was not slowing down.
Will ran forward, straining to keep up with the pace of the wagon. He threw himself across the road and shoved the baby out of the way, but not before the wheel of the speeding wagon rolled over his arm.
Djaq stood outside the gates, her eyes wide and her dark face almost pale with shock and fright. Will was inside the city, and the gates were closed! She turned and ran as fast as she could into the forest. She had to tell Robin.
Grinding his teeth, Will rolled over and sat up. He moved over to the bundle that was laying about a yard away.
Moving away the cloths that bound it, he saw a small face.
The bundle was a baby.