Chapter 17: The Battle for Nottingham (Part 1)


"Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Plans are placed into motion to save the Sheriff of Nottingham's daughter before it's too late.


Nottingham 1215

The rope bound red fox in the green tunic was backed against the wall by a large knight's sword. "So Robin Hood, I knew you couldn't resist the little trap I had prepared for you," a skinny lion dressed in regal red and white robes chuckled as he pushed the oversized crown back between his ears while he watched the fox's dilemma. "See Sir Hiss, the trap worked! My trap was baited and set! And now, revenge! Ahh...REVENGE!" he roared in a sinister manner.

The stallion clutching the large sword briefly glanced towards King John and his eyes widened slightly as he saw that the almost mangy looking lion was stoking a small thick rope in his paws as if it was alive. "How well King Richard's crown sits on your noble brow," the lion continued in a higher-pitched voice as if it was the rope which was talking to him.

"Doesn't it?" he replied in his normal voice. "Uh, King Richard?" Gripping the rope he began violently shaking it as he yelled. "I've told you never to mention my brother's name!"

"A...a mere slip of the forked tongue, Your Majesty," John said in that higher-pitched voice again, as if the rope was replying to his admonishment.

"His father would nay let him hath any toys as a cub and thus he doth made up an imagery friend," the fox named Robin Hood whispered to the knight. "Alas, that tis supposed to be a snake. Tis sad, be it not?"

The large black stallion named Sir Hoofler slightly nodded his mane as he glanced back toward his prisoner.

"So my dear Robin, where is dear Marian?" King John asked in his normal voice as he sat down on his throne and jubilantly smiled at the fox. "I so wanted her to witness her hero losing his head to my executioner's blade, but she was not in her cage."

There was a scraping sound of a whetstone along a broad ax blade and both the king and the fox looked over to watch the large brown-furred bear in a black tunic and hood as he sharpened his deadly tool.

"She shalt be here soon enough!" Robin finally answered as he turned his attention back to the lion on the gilded chair. There was a boom, followed by an explosion, which rocked the castle's walls. "Verily, I do believe that tis her and our friends now!"

In a panic King John leaped from the chair and ran to a window, his eyes widened in fear when he saw the sand-colored metal thing that was rolling over the field towards a hole in the stone wall which surrounded the city, behind it was several armed peasants and woodsmammals. He stared with disbelief when he saw that the dragon also behind the metal thing and riding atop of the creature's head was a vixen in chain mail. Clutching the rope to his chest, he stumbled backward. "No…" he muttered almost to himself. Then blinking, he screamed towards the knight, "Kill him! Kill Robin Hood!"

The black stallion shoved the smaller fox across the room and onto his knees before the executioner. With defiant eyes, Robin looked up at the lion. "Thy reign of terror doth come to an end fiend," the outlaw proclaimed even as the bear raised his ax over the fox's head.

"I sentence you to sudden, instant, and even immediate death! Off with his head!" King John snarled as he clutched his rope tighter. "Watch Sir Hiss, we are finally going to be rid of that pesky Robin Hood!"

So, my dear reader, you might be asking just how did our dashing hero get himself into such a bind?

It started hours before while Robin and his allies sat around a campfire in nearby Sherwood Forest. After announcing his audacious plan to have the wandering minstrel Alan-a-Dale con his way into the city through the front gates and then to sneak past all the king's guards so he could lower a robe that Robin and the valiant, but small, Skippy could use to scale the walls and save the Sheriff of Nottingham's young daughter from her cage. The dashing outlaw was pleased with himself as he and his lover Marian went to meet the so-called dragon named Sue.

"That has to be one of the stupidest plans he has come up with yet!" the black wolf growled as he watched the tod and vixen in the distance. "There will be guards all over the walls, why does he even think that is a good idea?"

"You know Rob," Little John sighed with concern. "He always says 'a faint heart never won fair lady'."

With a sigh, the Sheriff of Nottingham sat back and stared at the drawing of Nottingham which he had scratched with a stick in the nearby ground. "We will go through the river gate," he finally said. "Robin's little attempted jailbreak will be the exact ruse we will need. Old Tigger and Nutsy are responsible for patrolling that area of the wall, they may be idiots, but they are loyal to me. Hopefully, if whoever is on duty this morning hasn't dozed off, he will let a small team of us inside."

And so as Robin Hood enthusiastically went off into the early morning mists towards the town of Nottingham with a much less enthusiastic fellow fox named Alan and a brave rabbit named Skippy, the black wolf and his paw full of selected warriors discreetly followed them from afar as the remainder of the camp prepared for war.

It was cold and the gaily dressed fox shivered as the town's gate came into view through the mist. Pulling his mandolin from off his shoulder, he began to sing.

"Every town
Has its ups and downs
Sometimes the ups
Outnumber the downs
But not in Nottingham..."

"Halt! Who goes there?" a voice cried from above him and the fox looked up at a rhino in chain mail was aiming a crossbow at him. Another was standing next to him with a long spear. His eyes narrowed when he saw the teen pup wrapped in her blanket was also looking down at him in despair from her iron cage.

"I'm just a wandering minstrel, looking for shelter and a place to entertain others for alms!" Alan called back. "Come and let me in before the dreaded dragon eats me!"

"I don't know?" the guard said to the other.

"I heard that good King John was inside and you know how he likes his music?" Alan quickly added as he strummed the strings to add emphasis to his words. "The king would be happy to have some soothing music during these trying times, who knows he might even reward you?"

"A reward?" the rhino mused before the called down. "Let him in!"

Once inside and after he was searched for weapons, Alan was pleased that the plan actually worked as he slipped into the dark shadows of the crowded town's buildings. The sly fox had been in Nottingham several times during his adventurous life and quickly he doubled around, seeking a way past the guards and back onto the wall. There was no possible route that he could find that was not guarded and with a sigh, he desperately looked around for any possible answer to his dilemma. "I need a distraction," he firmly said as he pondered his options and then he saw the small chapel sitting alone near the castle. Quickly he sprinted up the lane towards the small holy building and opened the door. It was a humble place constructed from wattle and straw, in the center was a simple altar and a stone sarcophagus.

Alan ran his paw over the stone image of a badger etched on the stone tomb. "I'm sorry Tuck, my old friend," he whispered. "But it seems that Robin needs your help one last time." With that he grabbed up one of the candles and set fire to a tapestry hanging on the wall, the flames moved fast. Fleeing down the street, he felt guilty as the fire began to consume the small chapel. The flames, however, created the distraction he needed when at first he could hear the cries of the guards along the wall and then those of the villagers who now stumbled outside.

Little did the brave fox know that despite his attempts at stealth, he was being watched by the black beady eyes of a rat that followed him through the growing chaos in the streets?

The minstrel finally found an unobserved way up onto the walls and with a grunt, he threw a thick rope down to the other fox who was hiding in the shadows. Robin Hood quickly shimmied his way up the wall and onto the ramparts, followed by Skippy. "There he is, Just like I told you!" a jubilant voice said from the shadows and a small rat in black rags stepped out into the flickering light, behind him was a tall powerful black stallion in armor and several wolves dressed in guard's uniforms.

"Sir Hoofler!" Robin called out the name with disgust. "John's own lackey." Before anyone could move, the fox quickly drew an arrow from his quiver and fired it from his bow at the knight but it glanced off the stallion's shield. Before the first arrow even stuck, the outlaw fired another and this one caught a guard in his chest. With a cry of pain, the dying wolf fell from the battlements onto the street below.

"Seize him!" Sir Hoofler ordered to the rushing guards. "ALIVE! King John wants him alive!"

Robin seemingly danced back and away from a guard's clumsy swing as the wolf tried to use the blunt end of his spear like it was a staff in an attempt to strike the small fox. Even as he did that, Robin let loose yet another arrow, catching yet another guard in his throat and with a gargling gasp that wolf fell back into the others. Then a large fist came down upon the fox from behind, sending the fox sprawling onto the stones. He looked up to see a huge rhino reaching down to grasp him in a tight hold.

Dizzily Robin looked around and realized that Alan had disappeared down the rope, where the minstrel had dogged a shower of arrows as he fled into the woods. Skippy had leapt towards the large knight with his small knife drawn, only to bounce off the stallion's shield and then with a stunning display of aerial twisting, the rabbit had landed on the thatched roof of a nearby building and fled into the darkness. "I'll get help!" the rabbit called out as he disappeared into the early morning mist. The rat, however, had jumped from the wall and was racing after the brave forester, the spy was followed by another larger guard, but the wolf was too heavy and he crashed through the reeds into the building below.

Upon the wall, Robin found himself pushed down on the cold rough stones as he was bound in rope. "Come on fox, King John awaits your company." Sir Hoofler laughed as he dragged Robin towards the stairs. In the distance, the fox could see the burning chapel as the gather the townsmammals who were trying desperately to put off the flames using buckets of water.

From one building onto another, Skippy jumped. Behind him, he heard heaving breathing and turned just in time to dodge the rat's knife. Grabbing the smaller rodent by his tunic, the white-furred rabbit threw him aside as he drew his own knife. The rat charged yet again and their blades met with a rasping clang. By the faint glow of the burning chapel, Skippy suddenly recognized his assailant. "I remember you from when I was a child, you are Sim of Wakefield!" he called out in surprise. "You were once a member of Robin's merry band, why did you turn on him?"

"For the money," the rat bitterly laughed. "Robin Hood never gave us any of the money we stole and instead he gave it to the poor. When Richard returned and Hood went off to war with the king, he left me broke."

"Traitor!" Skippy cursed as he grabbed the rat by his neck and despite the rodent's attempts to bite him, the small, but hardy forester choked him. Sim trashed about as the rabbit squeezed even harder until finally there was an audible gurgling noise and the spy went limp. "Now I've got to free the Sheriff's daughter and then get Robin some help," the rabbit huffed out.

The news that the legendary Robin Hood had been captured spread down the ranks of the guards along the wall and all eyes were on the tall black stallion as he led the bound fox towards the castle, Skippy took advantage of that as he crept slowly along the battlement to where the young wolf hung in her cage. Holding his digit over his lips to quiet Margaret, the rabbit carefully balanced himself as he walked out onto the wooden beam from which the cage was hung. Tying a rope to the hook, he shoved his knife between his buck teeth before he swung down to where he could reach the lock. It took him too many precious moments while he hung there upside down and picked at the old iron lock with the tip of his knife. Slowly he opened the cage and dropped inside.

"Who are you?" Margaret whispered in fear as she clutched the blanket around her.

"Your father and Robin Hood sent me to free you," Skippy answered. He dropped the end of the rope towards the ground, but it wasn't long enough. "You blanket…I need your blanket to tie to the end of the rope. Then I want you to climb down to the ground and then run away towards the river."

"The dragon is out there!" the she-wolf softly whined. "It will eat me!"

"Well, it turns out the dragon is a friend of Maid Marian's"

"Is that how she disappeared? I saw her praying as she held that angel's feather and then she was just gone, she vanished in the mist."

"She's with the dragon," the small rabbit replied as he urged the wolf to climb down the rope. "Just go!"

"What about you?" Margaret asked as she looked up at her rescuer.

"I've got to save Robin Hood," he grimly answered as he began to climb the other direction.


The song which Alan sings is from the Disney Movie, along with much of King John dialogue, including the words he has with Sir Hiss. The song Not in Nottingham was both written and performed by the legendary Roger Miller, who also voice acted the part of Alan-a-Dale in the movie.

Okay, King John has issues in this story, a lot worse than the ones he had in the Disney movie, such as sucking his thumb and calling for his mommy. Sir Hiss was a snake in the movie but in my warped version of Zootopia, reptiles did not evolve like the mammals, so I turned him into the king's imaginary friend.

Henry Gilbert's story Robin Hood names a member of the Merry Men as a pinder or poundmaster named Sim of Wakefield.