Guy crawled to the window of the warehouse of Clun's tavern to look out: the street was empty and no one had noticed the wagon tied there.

He leaned forward a little to let the sack he had filled with food fall on the the wagon, then he began to fill another one, this time choosing any object that could have some value. He had already been there with Robin some time before, when they had freed the villagers imprisoned by the sheriff and sentenced to be sent to the mines, but now the Nightwatchman had to act alone in a much more dangerous situation. Clun had been occupied by those mysterious soldiers and Guy had no doubt that if they should see him, they wouldn't hesitate to kill.

He dropped the second bag onto the wagon, then he climbed over the window sill and clung to it with his hands, letting himself dangle in the void before letting go. The impact with the ground caused him a twinge of pain in his injured leg, but Guy didn't stop to catch his breath. He took the horse by the bridle and moved the wagon, taking it to the edges of the village and hiding it in the bushes.

He ran back to the houses of the village, this time with the intent of taking away the most precious objects left behind by the inhabitants, before the soldiers could take possession of them.

Guy could do nothing to return the houses to those who had lost them, but at least he could try to recover some of the things they had been forced to leave behind.

He entered a house through the window, taking care not to wake the drunken soldiers who slept in the hall and he began to explore the rooms, putting coins, jewels and silverware into the sack.

Gisborne went from one house to another, returning from time to time to the wagon to empty the bag, without allowing himself a moment of rest. The wound ached after such a prolonged effort, but it did not hinder him in his movements, so Guy simply ignored it and endured the pain.

When he saw that the sky was beginning to brighten, he decided it was time to fill his bag for the last time and then move away from Clun. He took the sack, adjusted his mask and returned to the village.

Marian held her breath at the sound of approaching footsteps and she wondered with concern whether it was a patrol of the soldiers who had occupied the village.

The girl tied the piece of cloth she had made into a mask to her face, and she prepared to defend herself, holding in her hand the curved dagger that once she used to keep hidden in her hair when it was longer.

She listened for a moment and she realized that anyone who was wandering around the houses had to be alone. Perhaps, she thought, she had some hope.

If that man should approach further, he would surely see her: Marian didn't have time to find a hiding place and she had just tried to hide in the shadow cast by the wall of a house. Perhaps she could catch him by surprise and neutralize him before he could give the alarm.

She swallowed nervously: the thought of having to be forced to kill a man made her sick, but if she couldn't stun him with a single blow, she would have to do it.

When she had snuck out of Locksley to reach Clun as the Nightwatchman, she had not imagined that the situation could be so dangerous. Her intention had been to see the situation with her own eyes and perhaps recover something from the village houses, but she had not imagined to find so many soldiers.

Fortunately, the men seemed to have ransacked the tavern's wine supplies and most of them slept soundly in the houses they had occupied.

Marian tightened her grip on the knife: by now the steps were getting closer and closer, she would have to act quickly.

Guy instinctively felt the hiss of the blade heading for his throat: he grabbed the arm that held the knife and tugged it, slamming it hard against the outer wall of the house to force the attacker to drop the blade, then he hit the assailant violently with a backhand, throwing him to the ground.

Guy unsheathed his own dagger and jumped forward, crushing his opponent with his weight, but he stopped a moment before hitting him and mentally cursed in recognizing Marian, also dressed as the Nightwatchman.

What was she doing there? He had personally taken her to Locksley just to make sure she arrived home, but he should have expected such an initiative from her.

The girl, seeing him hesitate, tried to hit him with a kick, but Guy just blocked her legs with his own.

Marian tried to wriggle away unsuccessfully, and Guy wondered what he should do. They couldn't stay there, lying in the middle of the road, or they would surely be discovered, but if he let her go, Marian would try to attack him again.

A shout down the road took away any doubt: Guy stood up abruptly and with one hand he picked up the bag he had dropped, while with the other one he grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her to her feet, then he began to run, dragging her with him.

Marian stumbled, risking a fall, then she recovered and struggled to keep up with the fake Nightwatchman.

She didn't want to follow him, but she had no choice: the grip that the man had on her wrist was firm and she knew she wouldn't be able to free herself in any way. In any case she didn't have many hopes of running away on her own: a group of soldiers was chasing them and if the impostor hadn't pulled her by the arm, she wouldn't have been able to escape the capture.

She gasped, trying to catch her breath and she closed her eyes for a moment to chase away the dark spots that danced before her eyes. She couldn't breathe well and soon her legs would give way.

At that moment she moved them only thanks to an effort of will, but she couldn't keep running much longer, not at the pace dictated by the long legs of the false Nightwatchman.

I'll fall, I'll drag him with me and we'll both die...

As if he could read that thought in her mind, the man lifted her in his arms without stopping running, taking her on his shoulders in the same way he would carry a bag of flour.

Shortly afterwards, the impostor threw her on the floor of the wagon with the sack of stolen goods and climbed on the vehicle, grabbing the reins and snapping them to start the horse at a gallop.

Marian remained on her back for a few seconds, breathing hard, then she pulled herself up and she grabbed the side of the wagon to look around: the soldiers were behind on the road, but they were mounting the horses and they would soon reach them.

Marian glanced at the fake Nightwatchman: the man urged the horse, shaking a whip to make him gallop faster, but he never hit the animal, relying only on the sound of the whip in the air to make him accelerate.

She wondered what would happen now: to come to Clun had been very stupid of her and if she were captured she would endanger all of her loved ones, but once again she had been carried away by emotion and she had acted without thinking.

By now I should have learned the lesson...

"What do we do? They are getting closer..." She asked, without worrying too much that the other could recognize her. After all, the man had already heard her voice on other occasions and he had done nothing to expose her.

But he had never uttered a syllable when their paths had crossed and Marian found herself wondering what kind of voice he could have.

She blushed as she remembered the time when she had kissed him, driven by her jealousy of Guy, and she hated herself for that inappropriate thought. She loved Guy, the stranger shouldn't have the power to stir her that way, yet her heart didn't hammer like that just for the run and she couldn't deny it.

Maybe people are right to call me a slut...

The false Nightwatchman beckoned her to take the reins and the girl obeyed, occasionally glancing at him to see what his intentions were.

The man was standing on the platform of the wagon and was holding the bow, nocking an arrow and pointing it towards the pursuers.

He let it fly and with a fluid movement he pulled the bow again and then again, without hesitation.

For a moment Marian was certain that Robin was hiding under that costume, she had never known anyone else able to use the bow like that, then she remembered that it was the Nightwatchman who saved Robin Hood from being hanged and the girl returned to wonder who that man could be.

She turned back in time to see that the arrows shot by the impostor had hit their targets, making the soldiers who were chasing them fall from their horses. She saw the men getting up from the ground, but, by now, they would no longer be able to reach them.

Marian burst into a laugh of joy.

"Good job!" She said impulsively, before remembering that this man was an usurper who had stolen her secret identity.

The man bowed slightly as if to thank her and a moment later he jumped out of the wagon, disappearing into the bushes.

Marian shook her head in disbelief: the fake Nightwatchman had left her the wagon loaded with all the objects and the food he had taken away from Clun.

She looked at the many sacks that cluttered the vehicle and she guessed that the man must have risked a lot to get so much stuff. Possible that he trusted her so much to entrust it to her?

The girl gave up understanding him, and she headed the wagon towards Sherwood Forest: she had to hurry back to Locksley before they noticed her absence, but the outlaws would distribute the food and the items to those who needed them most.

Guy crawled out of the thorny bush where he had landed when he had jumped from the running wagon and he told himself that this had been a rather scenic exit, but a very, very stupid one.

He rolled on his back with a sigh of weariness and he stood still for a while to regain his strength.

He was exhausted and the wound in his leg throbbed painfully, but he was pleased with himself: he had completed that mission alone and he had even managed to save Marian, pulling both of them out of trouble.

He recalled the compliment the girl had exclaimed, not sure whether he was happy or not of it: to hear that she was proud of him was a good feeling, but he wanted Marian to be proud of Guy of Gisborne and not of the Nightwatchman.

With a sigh he forced himself to get up from the ground: he was exhausted, but to get back to Knighton the way was long and he had just left wagon and horse to Marian.