The Jewel Thief pt 4
Robin Hood BBC 2006 fic
-- Nottingham town--
Gisbourne walked slowly across town as his guards ran around checking each house around him. The Sheriff was outraged that they could not find the thief or the jewels that he had ordered each house checked by the guards from top to bottom. Guy stopped walking and eyed his surroundings taking in the details. Someone must know something.
He saw his right hand man Allan- a- Dale come at him shaking his head. "Come on Sir Guy." He started to say, "I'm not being funny but those jewels were stolen yesterday. They could be in the next county by now." He said.
Guy met his gaze steadily. "For all our sake, it better not be. The Black Knights sent an envoy of soldiers today for reasons unknown. The sheriff is not happy." He answered curtly.
"That's an understatement." Allan replied looking around the area himself. "It's always about him isn't it?" He said.
Guy's felt the corners of his lips twitch. If anything, the former outlaw was amusing. He watched as the Allan winced due to the glare of the sun as he watched the dire situation they were both in. If they didn't find those jewels, they might be the next ones to swing to their deaths.
It was then that Sir Guy saw something very peculiar. A small hooded person had just left from talking to a lady. The lady was looking at what was in her hands then broke into tears. The smile on her face told him that these were tears of joy. He eyed the hooded figure moving away and then back to the thankful woman. Then he saw it-- a sparkle of blue under the sun.
"Allan." He called out placing his hand on Allan's shoulder. "That lady has a blue gem. Get it before she leaves." He ordered.
His underling nodded. "Right." He said rushing to the woman.
"Guards!" He called out. The guards around him stopped what they were doing and surrounded him in an instant. "Apprehend that man." He ordered pointing at the direction of the hooded man walking away. The guards moved out immediately. He watched as the man noticed a the guards coming at him. The man started to run. Guy had expected this and he ran after the man himself.
The man threw baskets and items in the way as he dodged the guards' advance. He slid into an alley to exit into another street. But the guards were still on his tail. The man ran on until his hood caught something in the wooden post and revealed his identity.
"The Saracen. One of Hood's men!" A guard yelled out before he tripped on a barrel of spirits rolling out of a tavern nearby. In one quick instant, the fallen guard saw the Saracen grin.
Then he saw something that made him grin. A tall figure in black had appeared out of the alley right ahead of the Saracen. Djaq had tried to stop but slipped on the icy road instead. He watched their leader, Sir Guy of Gisbourne unsheathed his sword pointing it to the now still outlaw while his comrades surrounded Hood's man doing the same.
Allan pushed his way into the inner circle of guards and stood beside Gisbourne. "Here you go Guy. No harm done." He said passing on the gem to his boss. "Who have you got?" He asked looking down. It was then his heart raced in panic at the same time chills rolled down his spine at the sight of his former comrade's stern but pleading eyes. He faced Guy as soon as the shock wore off. "Guy, I'm not being funny but we've got the wrong person here. This isn't Leigh Thornton from Winchester. This is one of the Gang." He reasoned out.
Guy didn't even break his sight off the outlaw. "What is the difference? Hood's men are outlaws too." he answered him. Sir Guy held the jewel to catch the light. "Now tell me, where's the rest?" He demanded.
There was a noise behind them admist the silence. "We found another one watching Sir Guy!" A guard called out. Gisbourne did not look but Allan did. He grimaced at the sight. Three guards had caught Will from a nearby alley. They shoved him into the middle of the circle with Djaq. Allan watched helplessly as Djaq stood up from the ground with swords following his friends' necks.
Gisbourne smiled. "Tell me, do you feel lucky?" He asked. "Because, I certainly do."
--
Little John tore his eyes away from the scene. He took a deep breath gripping his staff tightly in frustration. He opened his eyes again readying himself to take another look at his captured friends when there was a flurry of black and white falling silently to the space right in front of him. He almost smiled at the sight of the girl back in boys clothing.
She took off her hood and loosened her scarf as she raised herself from her crouched position. "I was at an inn yesterday night and noticed that I was missing Mary's favorite gem. I was just heading to the forest to strangle our little Saracen... I'm sorry. That was inappropriate." She motioned at the shouting Gisbourne. "What has happened? Are you alright? Where's Messiers Robin and Much?" She asked in rapid fire succession.
Little John sighed. "Djaq was caught giving the gem away, I think. Will was spotted nearby. Robin and Much have drops at Klun." He quickly summarized. "We have to get them. Now." He said. He watched as the girl's eyes narrowed.
She placed her hands on her hips and shook her head. "We can take them, there is no doubt about that. But we can get far too many people involved by accident." She answered while looking down on the busy street. "No. I will go get myself caught with them. You go get Robin and Much." She decided.
"No, we both get Robin and Much." Little John answered defiantly.
"Someone has to be there just in case the Sheriff decide to hang them immediately." She reasoned. The girl took two long daggers from behind her and slipped them into her bag before giving it to a bewildered Little John. "I can not be caught with that bag. It has everything-- the plans, the jewels, Tristan and Uncle Mark's templar daggers, Raoul's box designs-- just everything." She explained with a decisive nod. The girl pulled her hood and scarf back on. She jumped on a few crates beside them to get back on the roof. "Don not worry, I will be fine." She said peering down for the last time before she disappeared.
The large man followed the thief's movements. He couldn't make out what exactly was in the bag when she was naming the items. But with the weight of the bag on his shoulders, he now realizes that he carried with him all she held dear.
--
Gisbourne played with the jewel in between his finger as he rode back to the castle with two prisoners already passed the gates in front of him.. He let a small smile play on his face. If he could get the two outlaws to confess where the rest of the jewels were or where the original thief was, maybe the Sheriff would let him keep this one. He could give it to Marian. She would most definitely be impressed with the glistening jewel.
Then a flash of black and white broke his reverie but was sure that whatever it was barely touched him. He was surprised to see the gem no longer in his possession. He looked up at the source of the flash. There, in a low set snow covered roof, sat the black and white thief holding the gem up for inspection.
"Merci my good man, I have been looking for this. This was stolen from my person yesterday by a Saracen in town. Have you seen the Saracen? I would very much like to torture him." The thief said in a cheerful tone.
"Yours? You stole that from the Sheriff of Nottingham. Consider yourself under arrest, Leigh Thornton." Gisbourne replied. Then he threw his curved dagger at the thief.
To his amazement, Leigh dodged out of the way and landed on the ground a few paces from him. "Well, that isn't nice. But as long as I watch the Saracen suffer, you can try to hit me as much as you want. Try being the keyword" He replied.
Gisbourne rolled his eyes. He saw Allan already sneaking up on the boy from behind with his sword on hand. The thief was still looking up on him expecting him to move. "You're not a very good thief are you?" He said once Allan grabbed the boy backwards with a sword blade against his throat.
"Apparently not." Leigh Thornton replied in the same good humoured fashion. "But really, as long as I get to watch the Saracen hang, I'll be fine." He said.
"Shut up, man." Allan said exasperated. "Just shut up."
--
