Hey again. I'm sorry for being so slow, but I've had a lot of things building up and it's been hard finding time to write this. You may have seen last chapter that I was celebrating a lot of good results. Well, there were those tests, and I've also had a very big assignment to do, which took up a lot of my time, so I didn't have any free time to write this. But I'm back now and the better news is that it's the holidays, so I'll be writing a lot more and updating as well.

Anyway, enjoy and please review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Robin Hood. Will that satisfy you? The only thing in here that I own is Charlotte.

"I may have neglected to mention to you that the Sheriff has changed the punishment for stealing to hanging," he said smugly, before riding away.

Charlotte felt numb. They couldn't kill her best friend. Then she remembered that she was no longer dealing with the old Sheriff. She had stopped him and that meant he had to get his revenge somehow. But she had never considered that he would stoop this low.

She had to save Will and Luke. The problem lay in the fact that the Sheriff wouldn't listen to her. Suddenly an idea struck her. The Sheriff may not listen to her, but he might listen to Robin. If Robin approached the Sheriff in the right way, he could persuade him to pardon them…

It was a dream. The part of her that knew what the Sheriff was like understood that, but she didn't want to listen to it. She had a hope, and she was going to cling onto it with every fibre of her being.

Suddenly, she found herself thinking about what would happen if it didn't work. She'd have to watch her best friend die because of her. They stole, an indignant part of her screamed. It's still my fault, she thought.

She saw Robin ride into Locksley with Much. He saw her and dismounted. "What's wrong?" he asked gently and Charlotte realised how she must look, pale, scared and stunned. She was saved from having to answer by Dan Scarlett, Will and Luke's father. "Young Benedict got frightened. He told Gisbourne who took the flour," he replied, his voice cracking slightly. "The punishment for stealing is not severe," Much said, puzzled.

"It is now," someone said, and Charlotte realised that she was speaking. "Gisbourne just said. They're to be… they're to be…" She couldn't finish the sentence. "They're going to be hung," Dan finished. "They're to be killed? For stealing?" Much asked indignantly. "That's not right!" Robin put an arm around Charlotte and as they started to walk back to Locksley Manor, Charlotte felt a cold pit of dread settle in her stomach.

Somehow she managed to get through the rest of the evening and as she lay in bed, tossing and turning, she couldn't get the image of the gallows out of her head. She sat up and felt for her needle and thread. Embroidery might be boring, but it was better than letting her mind wander. She felt sick just thinking of the gallows.

Will had always been there for her, and Luke was a friend as well. Will had listened to her complain about Gisbourne, he had taken her mind off the mind-numbing boredom, he had made a small star out of wood and given it to her when they were children. She picked it up from the table beside her bed and fingered it, smiling as she remembered the girl she had been, who had wondered whether her brother would come home or whether she'd ever be free of Gisbourne.

After Lily had died, Luke had started to spend time with them and Charlotte had started to teach him archery. He'd been an eager student, always wanting to get the arrow right on the target and complaining when he didn't, which was quite a lot of the time. Once Charlotte had taught him the correct stance and told him to never use too many fingers on the bowstring and to remember to relax his grip on the bow so that the arrow didn't have an uncontrollable shot, he began to improve immensely. "You're a good shot," she said with a smile. "And with more practice, you'll be even better."

She fell asleep with the little piece of wood clasped tightly in her hand and woke to a wonderful smell coming from downstairs. As she washed and dressed in a dress that ended midway down her calves and leggings, she wondered how Will and Luke were coping. Putting her hair up into its usual heavy knot at the back of her head, she went downstairs, feeling anxious for her friends.

Robin sat at the table in the dining room. Much was with him, eating as though at any minute his plate would be taken away from him. Charlotte sank down, watching him. "Much, slow down. You will make yourself sick," she told him as a serving girl placed her own breakfast of porridge in front of her. Charlotte gave her a silver coin and the serving girl curtsied as she accepted it and left.

"Do you do that to all the servants?" Robin asked with interest. "Yes," Charlotte answered, reaching for the honey. She added it to her porridge and stirred. "Do you have a problem with it?" she asked as he passed her the milk. "No," Robin replied, as she ate. "These people need the money, Robin. They barely have enough to pay their taxes," she replied, looking at him steadily.

"Are you coming to the Council of Nobles?" Robin asked, changing the subject after a few minutes of silence. "I may as well," Charlotte replied, finishing her porridge. Standing up, she went to saddle her horse, trying to keep her mind from thinking of the gallows. Let Robin be able to save them, she thought. They're the only true friends I have in Locksley. What am I going to do if he can't?

Review, my friends. They motivate me to write the next chapter.

Luv Sarah ;-)