This has to be my quickest update ever!

I wrote it in the space of two hours yesterday and it's a decent length (in my opinion anyway =P ).

Well, I must say this story is drawing close to its end, with maybe a few more chapters to go and then it's all done. I'm getting excited because it'll be the first multi-chap I've ever finished XD

Enjoy!

Dusk was setting over the forest and Matilda and her daughter were preparing for what they believed was going to be a quiet evening. Matilda was bent over the pot that hung above the fire containing the watery stew that would form their meagre meal. Meanwhile Rosa sat at the table, deft fingers at work mending a torn blanket that would definitely be needed with winter quickly approaching.

The window shutters rattled in the wind and Rosa set her sewing aside and rose to secure them as best she could, knowing that if the wind got too strong the shutters with their weakened hinges would blow open anyway. She gave a soft sigh, a hand going to rest on the slight swell of her stomach, if only her husband was here; then they wouldn't have to worry about the house falling down around them as they slept. He would have had every creaking door and loose shutter mended by now. But with him gone, she and her mother had to live off whatever money they could make from people who were as bad, if not worse, off than they were. Rosa could only pray that he would come back so her baby could have a father.

Rosa frowned slightly as she reached the shutter; the howling of the wind was not the only noise she could here. There was something else out there.

"Mother," she called softly, peering through the shutters into the rapidly growing shadows of forest. Matilda rose from her place by the fire to join her daughter by the window.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Can you hear something?" Rosa whispered. She had no reason to whisper, the house was in a clearing and the fire made it a glowing beacon for bandits and thieves, if they were indeed what she could hear and the whole thing wasn't just a figment of her imagination.

Matilda didn't answer straight away; instead she stared out into the night, as though she could see much more clearly than her young daughter. Her brow was knit with concentration, "It sounds like a horse?" she wondered aloud.

Rosa made to reply, but stopped short as indeed a horse came into sight, racing towards the house at break neck speed. Both women moved away from the window, Matilda snatching up a knife and moving to the house's only door, motioning for Rosa to move closer to the fire. Rosa obeyed, taking the poker that hung on the wall and gently resting its tip in the glowing flames.

Usually Rosa was a pacifist, but she was not so foolish as to believe that in times like these she could truly get away with being one. She knew that the most important thing a woman could do was learn to defend herself.

They heard the horse stopped a few metres from the house and then a voice called out, "Matilda!"

The old woman relaxed slightly at the familiar voice but did not put down the knife as she opened the door and stepped outside. A moment later she motioned for Rosa to join her.

Rosa barely suppressed a gasp at the sight. Robin sat astride the horse, struggling to hold the younger man in front of him in place as the horse pranced nervously. As Robin shifted in the saddle Rosa could see why, the young man in front of him, she now recognised as Will Scarlett, was pale, held in the saddle by ropes, the bandages wound tight around his middle, just visible where the folds of the blanket had fallen away, were beginning to adopt a red hue. And the smell of blood was making the horse more nervous by the minute.

Matilda was already by the horse, trying to keep Will in the saddle as best she could while Robin dismounted. Rosa stepped forward to steady the horse taking its reins in her hands and Robin and her mother now eased Will off its back. Once he was free of the saddle, Robin lifted him and carried him into the house, Matilda following close behind, leaving Rosa to tether the horse.

Speaking softly to calm the poor animal, Rosa tied it securely; making sure it was within reach of fresh water, thinking to herself that Will must be very light for Robin to be able to carry him so easily. And if that were true and the wound was as bad as it appeared…Rosa felt her gut twist. She rechecked the tether with a final tug and hurried inside. She did not loosen the girth though; she suspected that Robin would not be staying long.

Robin had set Will down on the bed and Matilda was already at work, pulling away the blanket that had been wrapped around him. Her experienced hands found his pulse, and then began to remove the bandages, calling instructions to Rosa as she worked.

Robin watched on grimly, saying nothing. Matilda looked up at him, wiping her hands on a clean cloth while she waited for the water to boil, the stew that had hung over the fire just minutes ago now all but forgotten.

"Where are the rest of your outlaws?" she asked, watching carefully for his reaction.

"All of them have been captured except for me, him," he motioned at Will, "and Djaq," Robin answered.

Matilda frowned, "I hope you haven't bought any trouble this way," she warned.

Robin shook his head, "Don't worry, I took one of the hidden paths. The guards won't find it, and they'd never guess that I'm here. They think Will is dead."

The water was boiling and Matilda turned back to her work, "Well let's just hope they don't think right."

At the outlaw's camp the women had been busy, Luke having gone back to Nottingham shortly after Marian's arrival so he could get there before the gates shut for the night. Together the women had worked tirelessly to erase all signs that anyone had been there and made sure that all tracks leading to and from the camp were no longer visible. Now they crouched high in one of the trees overlooking the camp, waiting for the guards to show themselves.

They were armed and ready to fight but that was not why they had remained at the camp. They needed to learn everything they could before they could go ahead with any plan to rescue the others.

Of course Robin had already formulated a plan, but anything extra they could garner just by eavesdropping on the guards could prove to be very useful.

The guards made no secret of their approach crashing through the undergrowth with all the subtlety of a rabid bear, swearing and cursing all the way. The three women exchanged smirks, hiding all traces of inhabitancy weren't the only thing they had been doing. They had gone out of their way to make sure that the guards would have an unpleasant time. Booby trapping the path with small pit falls and wayward branches that were natural enough in appearance to avoid suspicion.

Finally the guards broke through the scrub into the small clearing around the cave. Marian gave an inward sigh, these guards obviously weren't the best ones for the job, with all the noise they had made in their approach they would have scared off anyone still hanging around the camp, before even having a chance to catch them. And now they burst into the clearing all higgledy-piggledy, making no attempts to first scout the area, or observe the deserted camp.

As they drew further into the camp Marian could hear them talking.

"Don't you think this was a bad idea, Percival?" one of the guards asked. The way he moved, shifting his weight from one foot to the other betrayed his nervousness.

The one called Percival turned to the first man, "Hey, I'm only following Gisbourne's orders," he shrugged, "he said to go to the outlaw's camp and check that none of them had come back. And here we are at the outlaw's camp and none of them have come back. Job done."

The other man was not so easily persuaded, "But don't you think we should have crept up on them, you know, ambushed them? What if they heard us, and are in the forest this very minute just waiting to stick us with arrows?"

"Don't be stupid," Percival said dismissively, "Next you'll be telling me that ghosts haunt the dungeons."

"But-" the nervous man made to speak but Percival cut him off.

"Enough talk; let's just get this done so we can head back." The nervous man gave up and went about his business, but the nervous manner in which he held himself never left.

Marian allowed herself a small smile, brushing a hand over her bow. Maybe Percival should listen to the nervous man; at least he had some respect and a justifiable fear of the outlaws. She was tempted to 'stick' Percival with an arrow just to prove the other man right. But she held back, there was no sense in betraying their presence. As skilled as the women were, and taking into account they would have had the element of surprise, attacking the guards would still be a foolish move. The guards outnumbered them by a vast amount, and a foolish act now could spell disaster for the entire gang.

After a few more minutes the guards seemed satisfied that the camp was truly deserted and they rallied to depart. As the last of their crashing faded off into the distance they clambered down from the trees and wordlessly set out along a seldom used trail that would take them to Matilda's house.

It was going to be a long night.

Thanks to Ace (Djaq-in-a-box) for her lovely review!