Robin quickly took in his situation. He needed to get out of here before his gang, along with Marian, arrived to save him.
Ten guards surrounded his cage, standing about eight feet from it...the cage suspended from the ceiling with a chain nearly sixteen feet long...the cage was heavy, with a ...Robin shifted his weight to gage how much force he would need to swing it fast and far enough to take out the guards. But how to spring the lock?
He forced himself to ignore his broken collarbone. The break was bad. Part of the bone had broken through his skin and was partially exposed, its edges ragged. A lesser man would have fainted. But Robin had people to save...himself, his gang, and the woman he loved.
The door to the sheriff's chamber opened and a small crowd of peasants trooped in, led by the sheriff.
"Go on," the sheriff ordered them. "They've come to gawk at you, Hood. Look at Robin Hood now! Not such a hero anymore, hmmm? Tell him what you really think of him!"
The peasants mumbled insults. Robin could see their hearts were not in it. Correctly suspecting the sheriff was paying them, he only wished he could do more so they wouldn't need to be bought.
There was one girl who wasn't saying anything...only staring at him with a bold, sad look. Hannah, the girl from the Trip! Right, then. Robin had a plan.
"Come on! Come on!" the sheriff shouted. "I've heard worse insults from a gaggle of nuns! If your tongues can't do any better than that, I will have to evaluate whether you need to keep them. I want Hood's pretty little feathers ruffled! Guards! Keep track of what is said."
Losing interest, the sheriff left his quarters.
"Sorry, Robin," muttered an old man.
"That's alright, Joe. Insult me more." Robin indicated the guards with his head.
The men refused to continue. One by one, they filed out the door.
Hannah alone remained. Swaying her hips, she walked right up to the iron cage.
"Insult me," Robin whispered.
"Scurvy knave!" she shouted. "You're not a man. You're stuffed with goose feathers!"
Robin liked her spirit. "Good," he whispered. "Hannah, you don't have to help me. It's a hanging offense. But I need you to step way back, along the wall."
Hannah quickly obeyed.
"Oi," shouted a guard, as Robin threw himself against the bars of his cage, sending it flying, "what are you doing?"
The cage swung wider and wider, and then hit each guard, one by one, knocking them unconscious to the ground.
"Just like bowling pins," Robin chuckled, grinning brightly as his cage slowed to a stop.
Hannah ran back to him. "You're wonderful!" she cooed.
"I am Robin Hood! But we haven't time. If you're willing to help me, that guard has the key."
Hannah ran to the fallen guard and yanked the key from his belt. Unlocking the cage, she watched Robin leap to the ground.
"Thank you," he said, pressing his hand to his broken bone. His face had lost color, but Hannah didn't notice. "There'll be more guards posted outside the door," Robin told her. "Are you willing to make a distraction?"
"Willing and able. I'll just pretend I dropped something and bend way over."
"Will that work?"
" 'Will that work?' " she mocked. "I got a reputation! You need to come see me, and find out!"
"Thank you," Robin said, politely.
"Kiss me. Payment for the risk I'm taking."
"Gladly."
There wasn't time, but Robin was grateful for her help.
The kiss wasn't all Hannah wanted it to be, but was thrilling all the same. Opening the door of the sheriff's room, she stepped into the passage and cried,"Ooooh! I dropped something!" The guards were distracted, and Robin dashed past them before they noticed.
Hannah stood up and ran after Robin, alerting the guards without meaning to.
"Oi!" a guard shouted. "Hood's escaping!"
Pandemonium erupted within the castle, spilling into the streets.
"After him! After him!" shrieked the sheriff.
"I told you to let me kill him!" Gisbourne shouted.
Robin ran as only he could, but he was growing faint. Hannah caught up, and guards were closing in.
Dashing through the door of the Trip, Robin took the stairs two at a time.
Hannah raced right behind him.
"Whoa!" said Allan a Dale from a table, enjoying a break from his duties. "I guess they both got an itch."
Upstairs, in one of the bedrooms, Robin instructed Hannah, "Pretend you're having fun."
Throwing back a blanket, he threw her on the bed, climbed in beside her, and pulled the blanket over them.
"I'm not pretending," Hannah cried. Kissing Robin with all she had and rubbing against him, she kneaded his bottom like bread dough, rocking her hips up and down.
A guard threw open the door, saw what he thought was going on, and slammed the door shut again.
Robin froze, listening for the guard's retreating footsteps down the stairs and out the Trip.
"Thank you," he said, climbing from the bed. "Sorry for making you do that."
"Let's do it for real," Hannah exclaimed, excitedly.
"There isn't time. I have to get out of here before my gang arrives. The sheriff will capture them, unless..."
"You don't look so good," Hannah realized.
All color had drained from Robin's face. He couldn't think, couldn't even see or hear things clearly. With the room seeming to spin around him, he dropped face down on the floor.