The next morning they woke to more rainy conditions. "Have an apple," offered Stephanie. "It's too rainy to find dry wood, too rainy to start a fire, and too rainy to forage for anything else. But that's what journey rations are for."

"True," commented Daniel. "So do we want to go anywhere in this weather?"

"Well," Stephanie dusted off her hands and peered at the sky. "It doesn't look like it's going to get any worse, and the thunder and lightning has stopped. It's just this infernal steady rain now."

"Okay," remarked Daniel noncommittally.

"We could easily stay here and wait out the rain, but every time I sit down, I start thinking of my friends, so I think we ought to trek onwards, rain or no."

"Fine with me," said Daniel, getting to his feet.

Stephanie glanced at him sideways. "Not much of one for opinions, are you?" she queried.

"I don't give an opinion where it's not wanted, needed or useful."

"Hmph," grumbled Stephanie. She marched into the soft rain. Daniel shook his head and followed.

After a soggy day of trekking through the woods, they came across a small hut. "Thank goodness," muttered Stephanie. She strode up to the door and knocked hard.

"Go away now or risk the wrath of the Witch!"

Daniel took a step back.

Stephanie sighed. "Give it up, Carson. We're wet and cold."

The door opened to reveal a girl about Stephanie's age, draped in a gypsy- like outfit. "Oh! Stephanie. Come on it." She glanced at Daniel and leaned over to Stephanie. "Who's he?"

"A friend."

"Oh." Carson looked at Stephanie for a moment.

"What?!" She asked.

"Nothing, nothing," Carson replied. "So. First thing is to get you in some dry clothes. There is a trunk in the loft that you can use to find something."

"All right. Come on, Daniel. I'll pick something and then find somewhere else to change." Stephanie scurried up the stairs. Just as Daniel got to the top of the staircase, she slammed the trunk and pushed past Daniel, a wide grin on her face and a bundle of cloth already in her arms.

A puzzled look on his face, Daniel lifted the lid of the trunk and began to dig through the clothing.

Half an hour later, Stephanie and Carson were sitting by the fire, sipping tea and laughing uproariously when they realized they hadn't seen Daniel in quite some time.

Stephanie chuckled quietly as Carson called "Daniel! What's the matter?"

"I think it may be a good idea if I just went ahead and went to bed for the night," came the muffled reply.

"No," called Carson, genuinely puzzled. "I am fixing a most wonderful meal, and you must have some."

"No, I don't think so."

"Come down here right now."

"No."

"Am I going to have to send Rowan up there to get you?"

"No."

"Well, then."

"Give me five minutes."

Ten minutes later, Stephanie was turning red from suppressed laughter, and Daniel still hadn't emerged.

"Daniel!" Carson yelled. "Come down here this instant!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"I'll send Rowan up there!"

"Fine then!"

"Rowan!"

Stephanie obediently crawled up the steps. Seconds later, she burst out laughing.

The only things that had been in the trunk were shawls, scarves, skirts and blouses. Daniel was completely at a loss as to what to wear.

"Carson!" Stephanie called, still laughing. "Do you have a needle, thread and pins around here somewhere?"

'Yeah, I think."

"Should I just look for them?"

"No, there's a box around there somewhere."

All the while, Daniel had been standing, still dripping wet, in the middle of a massive pile of the contents of the trunk.

"Come help me find the sewing box," Stephanie implored.

Daniel gave her a doleful look.

Stephanie laughed, and searched by herself.

Once she found the aforementioned box, she modified a skirt into pantaloons, sewed two shawls into a tunic and made one blouse quite a bit less girly.

Stephanie stepped back to admire her handiwork. "Hmm. Not bad. Not bad at all. What do you think of it?" She asked Daniel.

He looked down at himself, arms held out gingerly to his sides. "It's better than anything else, let's say," he replied carefully.

Stephanie snorted. "It must be time to eat by now. I'm famished." She scurried down the stairs.

Daniel followed more carefully. As his food came off the last step, Carson burst out laughing.

"It's not that bad," Daniel grumbled. "It's all your stuff anyway."

"You still look very silly," gasped Carson.

"Well, I think it's time for dinner," said Stephanie briskly, barely managing to hide yet another grin.

After eating Carson's self-proclaimed "Witch's Brew," a concoction of meats, vegetables, fruits, berries, nuts and herbs, the three stayed up for hours, simply talking and laughing.

The next morning, Rowan woke up in the loft where the trunk of women's clothing was located. "Carson? Daniel?" She called. When a brief search of the premises turned up nothing, she picked up a bowl of the leftover brew and nervously began to eat.

Ten minutes later, she was tapping her foot on the floor.

Twenty minutes later, she started tapping her fingers, too.

Half an hour and she got up and began pacing.

Forty-five minutes later found her on the verge of shouldering her bow and quiver and marching out to find Daniel and Carson when they walked through the door, smiling, chatting and getting along famously.

"Good morning," said Rowan tightly.

"Good morning!" Caroled Carson. "How was your breakfast?"

"Fine."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I just spent a wonderful forty-five minutes not knowing where two of my friends were, when seventy-five percent of them have been captured by Robin! I am enjoying life to the fullest here!"

"Didn't you get my note?" asked Carson, puzzled.

"What note?"

"The note right.here.drat." Carson motioned to a blank piece of parchment sitting on the table. "I meant to write a note."

"So what were you up to anyway?" Asked Rowan.

"Just.talking," Carson said.

Rowan glanced at Daniel, who shrugged his shoulders. "Just talking," he repeated.

Rowan looked at the pair a moment more, then turned away.

"You never did say last night," Carson started. "Why did you come here, of all places?"

Rowan sighed. "I couldn't think of anyone else who knew anything about swords."

"But I don't," protested Carson.

"But your brother does."

"And your point is?"

"I need you to help me get to him so I can ask his help."

Carson stared at Rowan in disbelief. "You're insane."

At this point Daniel piped up. "Why is that insane?"

"Because my brother is a captain in the Sheriff's guard," Caron spat, still looking at Rowan.

".And?" Daniel asked.

Both girls turned to look at him. "You don't know who the Sheriff is?" Rowan asked incredulously.

"No.should I?" Daniel retorted.

"The Sheriff of Nottingham," deadpanned Carson. "The only foe that can actually force Rowan here to work with Robin."

"Oh."

Rowan turned back to Carson. "So, are you going to help me or not?" she snapped, hands on hips.

"Of course I'm going to help you. Everyone would kill me if I let you pull a stunt like last time," Carson stated.

Daniel simply watched as the two girls argued back and forth, wondering all the while what in the world was going on.

"So when can you get us in?" asked Stephanie.

Caron glared at her. "I'm supposed to go visit him this afternoon. Why don't I take him a note and get him to come out here and meet you?"

"That would be just fine."

"Good. There's no way I'm letting you get near the town anyway. Not after last time."

Stephanie stuck her tongue out at Carson, then smiled brightly. "I'll use the parchment you left here to write my note. You go get ready to leave, as you'll no doubt have to go soon."

"Yeah, no doubt," muttered Carson, more than a little miffed wit the way things had turned out.

Stephanie sat down with pen and parchment and scratched out a note to Carson's brother. Before Daniel could read it, she sealed it with a few drops of wax and slipped it into Carson's basket.