Time for a bath
The outlaws often got little presents when they brought money to the villages. Most times they were given things they needed but couldn't provide for themselves, or which couldn't be found in the forest. They favoured bread, ale, cheese and salt. Some people also gave blankets – whatever they could spare.
On this warm late April day a woman in Tuxford came towards Marion, handing her a closed clay pot with a wink.
"You'll surely need that after this long winter," she said.
Carefully Marion lifted the lid.
It was soap.
Marion was delighted.
"It's about time for a bath!" she announced.
Unbelievingly the men stared at her.
"We're to take a bath?" asked Scarlet. "Where?"
"Well, where do you think?" answered Marion, "In the river!"
Immediately the men started to protest. It was only April, the water would be much too cold and anyway…
Finally Marion got fed up with all the whimpering. She stopped, folding her arms.
"Oh yes, you will take a bath! I've lived in wintercamp with you for months now and Nasir has been the only one to wash himself regularly. You will take a bath; otherwise I'll undress you and push you into the river with my own hands!"
Robin, who would have agreed to anything Marion suggested even if it was a journey to the moon, finally gave in.
So all six men went down to the river, each one carrying an empty sack as a towel. Robin and John carried empty buckets. Much held the pot of soap gingerly, as if it was about to bite him.
Having arrived at the river the men took off their clothes – that's to say they left them lying on the ground as crumpled heaps. Then they waded, wailing and snorting, into the water. Robin saw them all in; even Much, who was a bit afraid of water. Then he waded in after them. When the water reached about the middle of his thighs he suddenly heard Marion's voice behind him. "And see to it that you wash thoroughly, you hear me!"
Instinctively he squatted down, narrowly avoiding crying out; the water was really cold!
He half-turned, protesting "Marion! None of us is wearing anything!"
"So what?" She started collecting the clothes left on the shore. When John asked what she was doing there she answered that it was about time to wash all of that stuff.
Immediately, angry protest arose.
"What shall we wear till our clothes are dry again?" Scarlet asked angrily. In his opinion this whole thing was nothing short of a criminal assault.
"We've got more than enough blankets and furs. Wrap yourself up in something. And furthermore, it's warm."
"But we're gonna catch our death," Tuck whimpered.
"Well, at least you'll die in clean clothes," Marion said, unapologetic, taking the bundle of clothes to be washed in a calmer spot.
Of course Marion was right. As soon as they got used to the cold water the men started playing like little children. They dived, trying to pull away each other's legs, they doused each other and they tried to duck each other. One time they even managed to duck Tuck who towered over the river like a rock.
Finally they waded back to the shore, soaped themselves – thoroughly, like Marion had told them – then splashed each other with buckets full of water from the river to wash away the soap.
Finally they rubbed themselves dry with the sacks and lay in the sun in the grass at the rivershore to really get dry.
When they started to get cold they wrapped the sacks around their waists and marched back to the camp where they wrapped themselves in blankets, furs and cloaks, crouching down by the fire to get warm again.
A short while later Marion came back, too, her skirt wet up to her knees, carrying a large bundle of soaking wet clothes. Always ready to help, Robin jumped up, taking the bundle from her. The other men got up, too. Together they hung the laundry on bushes and branches around the camp.
"This stuff's gonna take ages to dry," said Scarlet gloomily. Then he turned to Marion. "So now that we're all clean, when will you take a bath anyway?"
"In a while,Will," said Marion, "Why?"
"It's a pity," said Will sweetly, "I'd dearly 'ave liked to help you an' throw you in with my own 'ands!" "Don't you even try it," Marion gave back as sweetly (which fitted her much better than Will), "you'd regret it, believe me."
The outlaws grinned. They knew Marion was a force to be reckoned with.
Slowly darkness crept into the forest. The moon rose above Sherwood.
Marion got up. Now it was her turn to bathe. Equipped with a bucket, two sacks, a blanket and the precious pot of soap she went to the river.
Along with the increasing darkness Robin's worry grew. Finally he got up.
"She's been away for far too long now. I'll go look for her," he said.
None of the others felt any desire to leave the warm place by the fire. Scarlet put in words what the others thought "I'm not mad enough to go runnin' 'round the forest 'alf naked at night! Marion can take care for 'erself."
Even Much said "Gisburne won't come to the forest at night, will he?"
"Gisburne isn't always the most dangerous thing out there," answered Robin. He left.
Almost immediately he regretted it. Twigs and little stones stung the bare soles of his feet; on bigger stones and branches he painfully hurt his toes more than once. Then it occurred to him that he was totally unarmed. He didn't even have his dagger with him. It hung on his belt – next to his soaked trousers. He cursed.
Finally he got to the river, and there was Marion.
She stood in the waist-deep water, right in the silver track of the full moon. Robin stopped in the shadow of the trees, watching her. He knew he should go back to the camp or at least turn around, but he couldn't take his eyes off her silvered shape. She wasn't human anymore; she had become a fairy, a naiad.
It was so quiet that he could hear the ripple of the water and her sharp intake of breath as she dived into the cold water up to her neck. She swam a little way towards the moon, and then she dived.
When she swam back and slowly got out of the water it occurred to Robin how foolishly and improperly he was behaving; watching a woman bathe like he was some half-grown boy. Really! This whole task had been highly foolish from the start, just as Will had said. Running half-naked and unarmed through the forest… Going back to the camp wasn't an option for him now neither, having been away for too long now.
So he turned around, waiting. He listend as she soaped herself, washed (in spite of trying desperately not to listen and to keep the pictures out of his head).
At last he heard cloth rustling. He slowly counted to fifty, then he took a deep breath, turning around, walking towards her. She was just closing her belt.
"Robin! What are you doing here?" she asked.
"You've been away for too long," he answered, "I was worried."
"I dawdled a bit. It's such a wonderful night." She smiled.
They went back to the camp together. To himself Robin prayed imploringly that none of the others would mention how long he had been away. It would give him a hard time explaining.
Luckily for him none of his friends said anything about it. Robin and Marion sat down. Tuck handed them two mugs and a wineskin with red wine they had captured on a raid a few days before. Robin poured the wine. When Marion smilingly raised her mug to him Robin saw in her eyes: she knew. She knew he had been there beneath the trees, watching her.
How glad he was that, in the light of the fire, she couldn't see how much he blushed.