A TALE OF SHERWOOD
Chapter 9
In which we meet the merry men (and women) of Sherwood
If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it: every arrow that
flies feels the attraction of the Earth. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Outlaw camp was how Hilde had imagined it, but not how she had seen it in her head, at the same time, if that made any sense. Her first impression was that there was no camp. Everything was made of wood and expertly hidden. Hilde was awed by the time and effort it must have taken to create such a place.
Duo took her through he camp, showing her where things were and who was who. Hilde met Rafe, who was a kind, happy, Irish-man with a scar over his left eye. Hilde noticed that he appeared to never stop smiling- even when Duo made some rather cruel jokes towards him. Rafe just grinned and made some equally cruel jokes back. Apparently this was normal, because neither seemed to mean what they had said.
During the course of the conversation a woman sauntered over to them. She was of medium height, medium build, with nice brown eyes and long brown hair, which was, at the moment, in a long braid down her back. When Rafe and Duo stopped abusing each other Duo introduced the woman as Elle, the doctor of the camp, and one of the only women. Elle took great pride in showing Hilde her "hut", the only real building in Sherwood. Elle explained that dry goods, medical supplies, and occasionally people were kept in the small, musty building.
The entire time Elle was talking Duo was leaning on the door jam, making faces every time Elle wasn't looking and trying to catch Hilde's eye. Hilde tried to ignore him but had to fight off her laughter all the same. Elle finished her lecture and then, immediately, whirled on Duo- catching him in the middle of making a face at her. He froze and Hilde grinned at him.
"How is your shoulder?" questioned Elle- switching into "Doctor mode".
"His shoulder? What happened to his shoulder?" asked Hilde.
Duo and Elle both answered at the same time. Duo said, "Nothing. Nothing at all. Don't listen to her, she's crazy!" And Elle said "He got hit in the shoulder and didn't tell me for a week and a half. By the time I was notified it was green." Duo made another face at her.
"It's fine, really."
"That's what you said last time."
"This time I'm telling the truth." Elle poked Duo hard on the left shoulder. Duo clutched at it and winced, saying, "Hey! Watch it!"
"Haha! See? I told you it still wasn't done healing! Now let me look at it!"
"Noooooo. Get away from me!"
Rafe, who had apparently heard the uproar, came over.
"Whatsgoingon?" he asked. "Ohhhhh, I see. You'll want to come with me, then." He said to Hilde. She followed him a bit reluctantly. She really wanted to see Duo's wound. Maybe it would still be green, not to mention him without his shirt on... Hilde shook these thoughts out of her head as she was led to the campfire.
There was a tall red-haired woman sitting at the fire, stirring the soup pot.
"Mr. Maxwell says you can throw blades fairly well." She said instead of a "Hello" or an introduction.
"um..... well, I can, miss....?"
"Grace." Rafe told her.
Grace turned to look at Hilde. "There is no need for the miss. Grace will do just fine, Harry." Grace attempted to ladle herself a bowl of soup. All she managed to do was drop the ladle full of soup on her foot.
Hilde smiled.
"Your name is Grace?"
"I know, I know," replied the woman, "I am anything but graceful. My nursemaid always used to say," and here Grace imitated an older woman, "'Would you please try and act more like your name, you dolt. If you keep this up you will never get a husband, you chit. Even if you could walk without tripping I doubt you would manage to get one anyway, your feet are too big. Now SIT DOWN, you clumsy footed nincompoop.' Nice woman, my old nursemaid. She might have acted rough, but deep down inside I think she liked me... Very deep down." Grace added as an afterthought.
"You had a nursemaid?" Hilde asked, curious. Usually only noble or rich, spoiled children had nursemaids.
Rafe answered, "She did! Grace is a highborn lady!" Grace whacked Rafe on the arm.
"Would you stop telling the whole world that?" she hit him again, "I am not proud of my heritage!" There was a moment of silence.
"Soooo..... How did you end up here?" Hilde questioned cautiously.
"Well," started Grace, "It basically all started when my father decided that I was too much trouble to keep, and that he needed to marry me off. Before that life had been bearable- I escaped needlepoint at least once a week and practiced with my brothers- archery or fencing or something, in secret of course. They taught me all kinds of things. I miss them. 'specialy Will. Anyway- Da decided to marry me off. There was a whole string of men who wanted to marry me. That surprised me, to be sure. I am so- well, ungainly..." Rafe chuckled and Grace kicked him in the shin before continuing. "Where was I? Oh, yes. Anyway, I didn't think anyone in their right mind would try to marry me- but they did. Probably because my Da was willing to pay a large dowry just to be rid of me.
"In the end, he chose the oldest, foulest, most boring old man I have ever met. He kept talking about our 'children'," Here Grace shivered. "I fought but in the end they did force me to marry him. I think they slipped something into my food. When I came too the wedding was already over and I was sitting in my marriage bed. I waited for, oh lets say half an hour, before my husband arrived. I cracked a chamber pot over his head and escaped. This lot," she waved a hand over the camp, "found me wandering about the woods- still in my wedding dress. I had no idea what to do or where to go. Escaping had been my entire plan. But they took me in as a member of the band, and now I'm here!" Grace finished.
"Was that a full chamber pot?" Hilde asked. Grace's only response was to grin wickedly.
Talk turned to knives. Apparently Grace was a fellow knife hurler herself. Soon Hilde and Grace were comparing their blades and skills.
Duo, however, interrupted the friendly competition and dragged a whining Hilde away.
"I was going to win! Duo!"
"You'll have plenty of time to beat her. Don't worry. Next time your not doing anything important Grace will swoop down on you again. She has been waiting for someone to challenge for ages. This is Robin Hood."
He was blonde, white blonde, with high cheekbones and wide shoulder. Robin Hood, Hilde thought, is nothing like I imagined. She turned to look at Duo.
"Are you sure?" she whispered.
Robin Hood howled with laughter, his brown eyes crinkling.
"Oh, I am so sorry," said Hilde, panic-stricken. "I didn't mean for you to hear! It's just that your so..."
"Short." Duo supplied.
"No, its just that- well, you are. Short, I mean." And he was. Hilde had never considered herself a tall person by any means, but she had a good two inches on Robin Hood.
"That's alright, I am used to it. Although, once it would be nice to have someone say 'you're really Robin Hood, I never expected you to be so ruggedly handsome!'" Hilde gaped. Robin Hood was joking with her.
"Well, I am Hil-"Hilde caught herself, "Harry!"
"Right, and I am Robin." Hilde stood for a moment, unsure of what to do or say.
"Nice shot," said Duo to Robin, nodding his head at a slender ash a hundred feet away with a white-feathered arrow protruding from the trunk. For the first time, Hilde noticed that Robin held a bow.
"Thank you, but I was aiming at the oak to the left." Robin grinned at her.
"What?" she asked. "You're supposed to be the best shot in all of Nottingham shire."
"I'm not. Duo's better, so is Little John on a good day, even Elle. It's just that I..."
"What he means to say,"A said Duo, "Is that he is very good at not firing an arrow. At standing in the middle of the road, menacing six different people with one arrow. Robin can make it so that each person feels that, if that arrow leaves the string, he will be the first one impaled."
"Oh," Hilde breathed, thinking that this was surely a useful skill for an outlaw.
"The real problem with bows and arrows," said Robin to her, "Is that after you fire you are left standing there without any defense. You have to wait until the perfect time to let your arrow go."
Duo tugged at her arm, "Let's go get some food, I am famished."
Hilde followed him.
He looked down at her, "Not everything is like the bards tell it, eh?"
AN: Alright, I know it has been ages, eons, millennium since I last updated. I apologies. I am so sorry. But I am updating now, which is good, right? I've decided, I am going to make a deal with you guys. I will update again, as soon as I get 10 new reviews. That's it. It's easy. Go, hit the review button, and then force a friend to do the same. I think, since I am promising, cross my heart hope to die, I really will update as soon as I get 10. Oh, yes, I was wondering about Beta-readers. If anyone wants one I want to be one and if anyone wants to be one I need one. Email me at thedragonkazu1@aol.com - but please put the header as something I recognize, because I get what can only be described as a shit-load of Spam and I am the queen of the delete button. I would hate to delete you.
And now, what you have all been waiting for- the THANKYOU"S
Psychokitty- I updated! Two chapters at once! I am so proud of myself! Thankyou!
Lynn Yuy- really? You really think he is evil?! Yes, mission accomplished. I really wanted to villain-ify him, and you think it worked. Hurrah!
Luxie of the Acropolis- okay, okay, no need to get violent. Lol btw, that's a cool name you've got. Well, I guess anything of the Acropolis would be nifty,,,, I am annoyed I didn't think of it.
Dreamwinder- hey, you've got a cool name too. Why does everyone else have cooler names than I do?
Icy Discordia- Much has got to be one of my absolute favorite characters, I love him, glad you like him too. It's nice someone likes a person I semi- created. (actually, he's in like every Robin Hood tale out there, like Little John and Tuck)
wingedstallion22- You like my proverbs! That's so cool. I am a proverb packrat. I collect quotes and proverbs and all of that. I've got, like, 32 pages of quotes, I think, last time I checked. I love them. If you want some really funny ones, try coolquotescollection.com That site is the King of all quote sites. Oh, yes, and thankyou so much for your very long review!
Rai Kasshu- They've met Robin Hood! How do you like him? The minute I sat down to write that scene I knew that he had to be even shorter than I am, hahahaha. Poor, poor Robin.
Fifi88- thankyou!!!!!!!!!! It's nice knowing that someone else shares my plight. I guess misery loves company, eh?
Mama Sama- what can I say, but 'Thankyou!!!'? its so nice having someone who reviews every single, little chapter, and never says anything mean about it. (although, criticism is welcome!) Thanks for always, always, always being there!
To anyone I forgot- SO SO SO SORRY, AND A HUGE THANKYOU!
Thanks to everyone, Have a nice march, Happy st. Patricks day!!!!
Chapter 9
In which we meet the merry men (and women) of Sherwood
If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it: every arrow that
flies feels the attraction of the Earth. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Outlaw camp was how Hilde had imagined it, but not how she had seen it in her head, at the same time, if that made any sense. Her first impression was that there was no camp. Everything was made of wood and expertly hidden. Hilde was awed by the time and effort it must have taken to create such a place.
Duo took her through he camp, showing her where things were and who was who. Hilde met Rafe, who was a kind, happy, Irish-man with a scar over his left eye. Hilde noticed that he appeared to never stop smiling- even when Duo made some rather cruel jokes towards him. Rafe just grinned and made some equally cruel jokes back. Apparently this was normal, because neither seemed to mean what they had said.
During the course of the conversation a woman sauntered over to them. She was of medium height, medium build, with nice brown eyes and long brown hair, which was, at the moment, in a long braid down her back. When Rafe and Duo stopped abusing each other Duo introduced the woman as Elle, the doctor of the camp, and one of the only women. Elle took great pride in showing Hilde her "hut", the only real building in Sherwood. Elle explained that dry goods, medical supplies, and occasionally people were kept in the small, musty building.
The entire time Elle was talking Duo was leaning on the door jam, making faces every time Elle wasn't looking and trying to catch Hilde's eye. Hilde tried to ignore him but had to fight off her laughter all the same. Elle finished her lecture and then, immediately, whirled on Duo- catching him in the middle of making a face at her. He froze and Hilde grinned at him.
"How is your shoulder?" questioned Elle- switching into "Doctor mode".
"His shoulder? What happened to his shoulder?" asked Hilde.
Duo and Elle both answered at the same time. Duo said, "Nothing. Nothing at all. Don't listen to her, she's crazy!" And Elle said "He got hit in the shoulder and didn't tell me for a week and a half. By the time I was notified it was green." Duo made another face at her.
"It's fine, really."
"That's what you said last time."
"This time I'm telling the truth." Elle poked Duo hard on the left shoulder. Duo clutched at it and winced, saying, "Hey! Watch it!"
"Haha! See? I told you it still wasn't done healing! Now let me look at it!"
"Noooooo. Get away from me!"
Rafe, who had apparently heard the uproar, came over.
"Whatsgoingon?" he asked. "Ohhhhh, I see. You'll want to come with me, then." He said to Hilde. She followed him a bit reluctantly. She really wanted to see Duo's wound. Maybe it would still be green, not to mention him without his shirt on... Hilde shook these thoughts out of her head as she was led to the campfire.
There was a tall red-haired woman sitting at the fire, stirring the soup pot.
"Mr. Maxwell says you can throw blades fairly well." She said instead of a "Hello" or an introduction.
"um..... well, I can, miss....?"
"Grace." Rafe told her.
Grace turned to look at Hilde. "There is no need for the miss. Grace will do just fine, Harry." Grace attempted to ladle herself a bowl of soup. All she managed to do was drop the ladle full of soup on her foot.
Hilde smiled.
"Your name is Grace?"
"I know, I know," replied the woman, "I am anything but graceful. My nursemaid always used to say," and here Grace imitated an older woman, "'Would you please try and act more like your name, you dolt. If you keep this up you will never get a husband, you chit. Even if you could walk without tripping I doubt you would manage to get one anyway, your feet are too big. Now SIT DOWN, you clumsy footed nincompoop.' Nice woman, my old nursemaid. She might have acted rough, but deep down inside I think she liked me... Very deep down." Grace added as an afterthought.
"You had a nursemaid?" Hilde asked, curious. Usually only noble or rich, spoiled children had nursemaids.
Rafe answered, "She did! Grace is a highborn lady!" Grace whacked Rafe on the arm.
"Would you stop telling the whole world that?" she hit him again, "I am not proud of my heritage!" There was a moment of silence.
"Soooo..... How did you end up here?" Hilde questioned cautiously.
"Well," started Grace, "It basically all started when my father decided that I was too much trouble to keep, and that he needed to marry me off. Before that life had been bearable- I escaped needlepoint at least once a week and practiced with my brothers- archery or fencing or something, in secret of course. They taught me all kinds of things. I miss them. 'specialy Will. Anyway- Da decided to marry me off. There was a whole string of men who wanted to marry me. That surprised me, to be sure. I am so- well, ungainly..." Rafe chuckled and Grace kicked him in the shin before continuing. "Where was I? Oh, yes. Anyway, I didn't think anyone in their right mind would try to marry me- but they did. Probably because my Da was willing to pay a large dowry just to be rid of me.
"In the end, he chose the oldest, foulest, most boring old man I have ever met. He kept talking about our 'children'," Here Grace shivered. "I fought but in the end they did force me to marry him. I think they slipped something into my food. When I came too the wedding was already over and I was sitting in my marriage bed. I waited for, oh lets say half an hour, before my husband arrived. I cracked a chamber pot over his head and escaped. This lot," she waved a hand over the camp, "found me wandering about the woods- still in my wedding dress. I had no idea what to do or where to go. Escaping had been my entire plan. But they took me in as a member of the band, and now I'm here!" Grace finished.
"Was that a full chamber pot?" Hilde asked. Grace's only response was to grin wickedly.
Talk turned to knives. Apparently Grace was a fellow knife hurler herself. Soon Hilde and Grace were comparing their blades and skills.
Duo, however, interrupted the friendly competition and dragged a whining Hilde away.
"I was going to win! Duo!"
"You'll have plenty of time to beat her. Don't worry. Next time your not doing anything important Grace will swoop down on you again. She has been waiting for someone to challenge for ages. This is Robin Hood."
He was blonde, white blonde, with high cheekbones and wide shoulder. Robin Hood, Hilde thought, is nothing like I imagined. She turned to look at Duo.
"Are you sure?" she whispered.
Robin Hood howled with laughter, his brown eyes crinkling.
"Oh, I am so sorry," said Hilde, panic-stricken. "I didn't mean for you to hear! It's just that your so..."
"Short." Duo supplied.
"No, its just that- well, you are. Short, I mean." And he was. Hilde had never considered herself a tall person by any means, but she had a good two inches on Robin Hood.
"That's alright, I am used to it. Although, once it would be nice to have someone say 'you're really Robin Hood, I never expected you to be so ruggedly handsome!'" Hilde gaped. Robin Hood was joking with her.
"Well, I am Hil-"Hilde caught herself, "Harry!"
"Right, and I am Robin." Hilde stood for a moment, unsure of what to do or say.
"Nice shot," said Duo to Robin, nodding his head at a slender ash a hundred feet away with a white-feathered arrow protruding from the trunk. For the first time, Hilde noticed that Robin held a bow.
"Thank you, but I was aiming at the oak to the left." Robin grinned at her.
"What?" she asked. "You're supposed to be the best shot in all of Nottingham shire."
"I'm not. Duo's better, so is Little John on a good day, even Elle. It's just that I..."
"What he means to say,"A said Duo, "Is that he is very good at not firing an arrow. At standing in the middle of the road, menacing six different people with one arrow. Robin can make it so that each person feels that, if that arrow leaves the string, he will be the first one impaled."
"Oh," Hilde breathed, thinking that this was surely a useful skill for an outlaw.
"The real problem with bows and arrows," said Robin to her, "Is that after you fire you are left standing there without any defense. You have to wait until the perfect time to let your arrow go."
Duo tugged at her arm, "Let's go get some food, I am famished."
Hilde followed him.
He looked down at her, "Not everything is like the bards tell it, eh?"
AN: Alright, I know it has been ages, eons, millennium since I last updated. I apologies. I am so sorry. But I am updating now, which is good, right? I've decided, I am going to make a deal with you guys. I will update again, as soon as I get 10 new reviews. That's it. It's easy. Go, hit the review button, and then force a friend to do the same. I think, since I am promising, cross my heart hope to die, I really will update as soon as I get 10. Oh, yes, I was wondering about Beta-readers. If anyone wants one I want to be one and if anyone wants to be one I need one. Email me at thedragonkazu1@aol.com - but please put the header as something I recognize, because I get what can only be described as a shit-load of Spam and I am the queen of the delete button. I would hate to delete you.
And now, what you have all been waiting for- the THANKYOU"S
Psychokitty- I updated! Two chapters at once! I am so proud of myself! Thankyou!
Lynn Yuy- really? You really think he is evil?! Yes, mission accomplished. I really wanted to villain-ify him, and you think it worked. Hurrah!
Luxie of the Acropolis- okay, okay, no need to get violent. Lol btw, that's a cool name you've got. Well, I guess anything of the Acropolis would be nifty,,,, I am annoyed I didn't think of it.
Dreamwinder- hey, you've got a cool name too. Why does everyone else have cooler names than I do?
Icy Discordia- Much has got to be one of my absolute favorite characters, I love him, glad you like him too. It's nice someone likes a person I semi- created. (actually, he's in like every Robin Hood tale out there, like Little John and Tuck)
wingedstallion22- You like my proverbs! That's so cool. I am a proverb packrat. I collect quotes and proverbs and all of that. I've got, like, 32 pages of quotes, I think, last time I checked. I love them. If you want some really funny ones, try coolquotescollection.com That site is the King of all quote sites. Oh, yes, and thankyou so much for your very long review!
Rai Kasshu- They've met Robin Hood! How do you like him? The minute I sat down to write that scene I knew that he had to be even shorter than I am, hahahaha. Poor, poor Robin.
Fifi88- thankyou!!!!!!!!!! It's nice knowing that someone else shares my plight. I guess misery loves company, eh?
Mama Sama- what can I say, but 'Thankyou!!!'? its so nice having someone who reviews every single, little chapter, and never says anything mean about it. (although, criticism is welcome!) Thanks for always, always, always being there!
To anyone I forgot- SO SO SO SORRY, AND A HUGE THANKYOU!
Thanks to everyone, Have a nice march, Happy st. Patricks day!!!!