Be My Valentines.
Chapter 2 – Alice, Luke and John.
The snow was still falling thick and fast, a wall of white, blocking everything there was to see beyond 10 metres away, the outlaws had never seen anything like it.
"He's out there, he'll freeze," Much worried out loud, flitting nervously around the camp.
"He'll be fine," Allan attempted to reassure Much, although shifting from one foot to the other in a nervous fashion himself.
"Has anyone thought," Djaq began cautiously, "He might not…well…might not want to live?"
"What?" Much looked shocked.
"Well he hasn't been in the best of moods since Marian died, and that was in December, two months ago, he hasn't even started to get over her," Djaq explained.
"We need to find him!" Much jumped up madly racing into the blizzard before falling flat on his face.
Much returned, shivering and snow covered, to the camp while the others tried to contain their laughter.
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Robin walked through the cold forest, ignoring the numb feeling that was creeping up his fingers and toes, and battling on. He didn't know what he was looking for, or why he'd left in such a hurry, he just knew he needed some fresh air.
He felt weak, emotionally drained, physically exhausted and most of all unwilling to go on. The cold bit at his pale face as he stomped into the white wilderness, broken only by the trees that, every so often, appeared out of thin air.
His eyes closed and he walked blindly forwards, his knees gave in and he fell to the ground, face first, relishing the cold, numbing feeling that overcame him, helping him to forget the pain.
The snow fell over Robin's lifeless body, until he was no more than a small lump in the otherwise flat snow.
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Eve awoke to find her joints aching and numb, she brushed the now off her, wincing as she attempted to continue her journey. The cold pierced her face and she closed her eyes tightly against the sharp now flakes being blown into her face.
"Much!" she called longingly, "Mu…"
Suddenly she tripped over something underneath the snow, falling straight onto the now moving object.
"Wha…?" the man groaned, as Eve brushed the snow off him.
"Robin," she smiled, hugging him quickly before helping him up.
"Eve?" Robin asked weakly, "You look terrible!"
"So do you," Eve allowed herself to laugh before it evolved into a coughing fit.
"Let's, let's go back to camp," Robin ignored her last comment and put his arm around her waist, guiding her back the way he had come.
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Back at the camp Much had a blanket around him, was shivering and still worrying about Robin.
"What if, what if he's…?"
But Much was interrupted by John's shout, "Alice, John? Is that you?"
"John!"
Alice ran happily forwards, embracing her former husband and entering their camp quickly, Luke and John close behind.
John and Luke gave each other a quick nod before John gave his son a big hug, jumping at how cold his little boy felt before grabbing some blankets for their guests and introducing everyone.
"Everyone, this is Alice, Luke and John, Alice, Luke, John this is Much, Allan, Will and Djaq," John pointed them each out in turn before the grin fell from his face, "Why are you here?"
"It's valentines day tomorrow," Alice explained, "We thought you'd want to see your son."
"Thank you," John smiled, starring into Alice's eyes in wonder, forgetting all his troubles for a few moments.