Chapter 2:

'Will, can you hear me?' Will groaned, and rolled over to face the sky, squinting blearily up at Robin, who was looking half concerned, half amused as he helped Will to his feet. Rubbing the side of his head, (an egg sized lump was swelling there) Will looked around at the other outlaws, all of whom were rubbing their various bruises and looking severely humiliated.

'Sorry Robin', said Will, 'we didn't expect…'

'A woman to be able to fight back?' asked Robin, definitely smiling now 'Well now you know; never underestimate your opponent!'

Much sniffed grumpily, hurrying over to where the outlaws were gathering. 'Why didn't you help us?' he demanded. 'You were in those bushes all along, why didn't you do something?'

Robin shrugged, now grinning broadly 'I was ready to intervene if I thought you were in real danger! She didn't even get her sword out!'

The other outlaws looked shiftily at the floor, until Alan yelled indignantly 'That thieving little – she stole my money!' He scrambled to his feet, showing the others his empty money pouch. They all felt hastily to check their own pouches, and each gave a cry of indignation at finding them all empty.

Robin clapped a hand to his forehead 'Oh! That's what she was doing. She's good though, because she must have done it in a few seconds; she rode off almost at once'.

'Can we catch her?' scowled Roy, staring round at the deserted track.

'I don't know,' said Robin, 'but we can at least see where she's gone, and maybe find out why she was in such a hurry. Come on lads.'

Sir Guy of Gisbourne dismounted his black horse and led him into the stables of Locksley. Turning to leave, he saw, in a stall two away from his horse's, a dappled grey mare he had never seen before. Odd. Walking up to the manor, he encountered no guards or soldiers although he knew he had placed some on guard. Even more suspicious, he walked slowly into the hall and looked around.

'Hello.'

Guy span around, his fingers on his sword hilt, to see a petite redheaded young woman in a red dress standing to his left, a pleasant smile on her pretty face.

'Who are you? What are you doing here? Answer me!'

'My name is Eleanor, and I am here to speak with the Earl of Huntingdon and Lord of this Manor'

'You are speaking to him'

'Oh.' A faint frown appeared Eleanor's face as she surveyed this dark, leather-clad, dangerous looking man. This was nothing like she had imagined he would look like. 'What is your name?' she asked.

'Sir Guy of Gisbourne' came the reply. 'How did you get in here?'

'I just wanted to talk to you,' smiled Eleanor, 'but your guards wouldn't let me through. Actually they were being quite inappropriate, so I came in anyway.'

Guy scowled. He had left at least six soldiers to guard the manor. This girl must be good. 'What did you want to talk about?' he growled, still gripping the hilt of his sword.

'How long have you owned this estate?'

'About three years.' replied Guy, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. A look of surprise flashed across the girl's face before she asked 'and who did it belong to before that?'

'Robin of Locksley, who inherited it from his father. It was given to me when he ran off to war, but he trod on too many important toes when he came back. So now I'm back in charge and Locksley is sleeping rough.'

A faint smile flickered onto his brooding face, only to be extinguished as he realised how much he had told this complete stranger. Why? That was probably the most he had said in one go for a long time, and he didn't even know the girl. Damn.

Eleanor considered him for a moment, her mind reeling slightly at this blow.

'Where is he now?'

'He is living in the forest. I understand he has formed a small band of other outlaws and is ambushing nobles and wealthy travellers.' Gisbourne cursed inwardly. There it was again, answering this woman's questions without a second thought!

'Well, it looks as if I shall have to investigate further' said Eleanor, no longer smiling. Oops, she thought. Robin… an outlaw… that must have been those men in the woods! Oh well, they were probably all fine – Eleanor suspected she had hurt their pride more than anything else. She wondered which one had been Robin. The man with the piercing blue eyes had seemed to be in charge, but his attitude had most certainly not been that of a noble. Who then? The giant? No, he had been way too old. In fact none of them had looked anything like her idea of Robin. Maybe she was wrong then. It couldn't have been them.

'I believe you have a sheriff? Could you take me to him?'

Guy thought for a moment. There was no reason why he needed to agree to her request, but this girl intrigued him. He wanted to know more about her, to decide whether or not she was a threat. A little part of him also wanted an excuse to look at her a little longer.

'Get your horse.'