A TALE OF SHERWOOD

Chapter 11

In Which Hilde Visits The Pilgrims Jerusalem

Eat, drink and be merry... For tomorrow we die. –Epicurus

Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink
For fellows whom it hurts to think.-A. E. Housman

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Hilde wasn't sure how long she slept in the doorway, but when she awoke not much had changed. It was still night, the rain was still drizzling resolutely down, and the street was, if possible, even muddier than before. There were even a few wisps of fog beginning to creep down the road and cling murkily to the edges of buildings, giving the town a shadowy almost ghostly look. The only real difference was that Duo was sitting in the doorway besides her. Hilde blinked at him. She felt a bit unnerved because he was just sitting there looking at her, like a stone statue of some sort; silent, dark and beautiful.

Hilde shifted a bit, to get her blood moving again. "Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked him.

There was a moment's silence, in which she thought maybe he had really been turned to stone, but then he answered. "I figured it was good for you to rest a little while. I was going to wake you up soon, but since your up now, we should go." Duo stood and offered Hilde his hand.

She took it, which was good because her legs were full of pins-and-needles and she almost fell over. Duo laughed at her and gave her his staff to hold onto until she could walk again. When Hilde's legs finally felt the way legs should, they set off- walking further down the street, towards Nottingham castle.

Duo led Hilde right up to the castle wall. She asked if they were just going to walk in the front gates, but Duo just shook his head at her and then turned to the left. They followed the wall until they were almost on the opposite side of the castle.

Then, Hilde knew what their destination was. It was the only building in the entire town that had bright lights shining in every window: the only building with laughter and music inside.

"Your plan is to go a tavern!?!" Hilde asked, fighting to stay calm.

"Not just a tavern, it's called 'The Pilgrims Jerusalem'. " Duo looked amused, which angered Hilde to no end. He was joking while they should be thinking about finding Much and leaving!

"Harry, you are just going to have to trust me on this one. I know what I am doing," and with that Duo opened to door to His Majesty's Tavern and walked inside. Hilde stood out on the street for a moment, staring at the door, and then mounted the steps and went inside herself. At least it would get her out of the rain.

As soon as the door closed behind her Hilde was assaulted by the strong smell of ale and sweat, the stifling heat caused by the bodies filling the room, and the cacophony of loud conversations, off-key singing, and shouts of "More ale!" Hilde automatically searched the room for Duo. He was already on the other side of the room, sitting on a bench with his back to the wall. Hilde took a deep breath of the sweaty air, and made her way towards him, through the rambunctious crowd. She slid onto the bench besides him, and looked at Duo. His eyes were searching the crowd, flicking from one face to the next.

"Who are you looking for?" Hilde asked, nervously. She hadn't been in a crowd of this size since becoming an outlaw, almost four months ago. Hilde was surprised to discover that she preferred the quiet solitude of Sherwood Forest.

Suddenly, Hilde felt the presence of another person standing quite close, on the other side of Duo. She had to stop herself from leaping up and stepping back. Instead, she raised her eyes and looked at the person- a woman, obviously a barmaid. She was almost as short as Hilde, but much rounder everywhere, with long hair cascading in pretty waves down her back. Hilde felt her hackles raising despite herself, the woman was staring at Duo with a look that made it quite clear what she was thinking.

"Can I get you anything, sweetheart?" She asked, as she sat down besides Duo and positively wrapped herself around him. Hilde's hands curled around the table edge. If this is his idea of finding Much, she thought, I'll kill him.

Apparently, however, Duo did have other plans. "No, thank you," he was saying. "We need to speak to the owner, Smith."

The woman was looking at him, surprised. "You need to talk to Smith?"

"Yes," said Duo firmly. Hilde wondered who this Smith person was; just the mention of him had changed the barmaid's manner completely.

The barmaid stood, and beckoned to Duo to follow her. "This way, handsome." They followed her, back through the crowd, behind the bar, and into a long, door lined hallway.

" 'The Pilgrims Jerusalem' also serves as an Inn," the woman explained when she saw Hilde's curious glances towards the doors. The woman opened a door at the end of the hallway. "You can wait in here," she said. "I'll go tell Mr. Smith that, ummm," she paused waiting for them to offer up their names.

"An old friend," said Duo, with a tight smile that made it clear to Hilde that they had never been friends.

"…That an old friend is here to see him, then." Said the woman, and she left, closing the door behind her. Hilde turned to inspect the room. It was an average guest room; bed, chair, washing basin, empty fireplace. Duo sat on the bed, so Hilde took the chair. She looked at him, and he looked at her.

"I did Smith a favor once," said Duo before she could ask the question. "He owes me a favor in return. Smith is going to get us into Nottingham castle."

"Oh," said Hilde. She felt bad for doubting Duo's intentions. "Thank you for helping me find Much- you didn't have to come, you know."

Duo looked at her strangely, "I couldn't have just let you run off to rescue him alone, Harry."

Before the conversation could continue, however, the door to the room swung open. The man in the doorway had brown hair, a long nose, and insipid clothing. The only remarkable thing about him was how much he resembled a rat; he kept his hands folded near his chest, like a mouse eating cheese, and his eyes were slightly watery, they darted around the room in a very rat-like fashion. When they came to rest on Duo the man made an abrupt about face and headed for the door again. Duo was up in a flash.

"No you don't, Smith," he said as he grabbed the man by the back of the shirt and threw him back into the room. Duo slammed the door and stood in front of it, blocking Smith from scurrying out again. Smith was wringing his hands in front of him, his shoulders slightly stooped, his eyes flitting from Duo to Hilde and then back to the door.

"Maxwell," he said in a voice that made it sound as if everything Smith said was an accusation. "It's been a long time, old friend."

"I am not your friend," Duo spat. Hilde was amazed; she had never seen Duo act like this to anyone. "I am here to call in that favor you owe me."

Smith looked terrified, "Duo… I don't have anything for you and your friend here," he glanced at Hilde. "I am just a poor tavern-keeper."

"Bull," said Duo. "You a thief and a crook, and I know it. You know it. Everyone knows it, but no ones does anything about it because you pay them off." Smith cowered, and started looking at anything but Duo or Hilde. "I don't want your money, Smith." Duo said.

Smith smiled, revealing crooked teeth. "What do you want then," he asked as if he dreaded the answer.

"I want into Nottingham." Duo's voice was steel. His face showed his contempt for Smith.

"You are in Nottingham," said Smith.

"The castle, we need to get into the castle," Hilde found herself saying. Smith jumped, as if he had forgotten she was there.

"I'm sorry," Smith whimpered "I don't know how to help you. Maybe you would prefer…" Smith trailed off as Duo stepped towards him. Smith fumbled with something in his pocket as Duo followed him and grabbed him by the font of his shirt- lifting Smith and slamming him into the wall. Hilde was besides him, grabbing Smith's wrist and pinning it to the wall as well. Clutched in his sweaty palm was a long knife.

Duo looked at it, and then at Hilde. His eyes said thank you before he turned back to Smith. "None of your games, we need to get into Nottingham Castle." Hilde removed the knife from Smiths hand.

"Ah…" said Smith, "Nottingham Castle. I can help you with that."

"Good," said Duo as he lowered Smith. Hilde kept her knife close to Smiths back as he led them out of the door of the guest room and through another door. Down a flight of stairs and into the basement of 'The Pilgrims Jerusalem'. The room was full of items in sacks, casks, and crates. Smith led them through the piles to the far wall of the basement, only it wasn't really a wall. It was a huge, barred gate.

"This tunnel," said Smith shakily, "Leads straight to Nottingham Castle. It comes out in the dungeons."

Duo looked at it warily. "How many people know about this tunnel?" he asked.

"I don't know. Hey!" Smith yelped as Hilde prodded him with his own knife. "I really don't know, it was here when I bought the Tavern."

Hilde looked at Duo. I don't like this, she said with a look.

I know, Duo sent back with another look, but it is the best we can do. To Smith, he said, "Unlock the gate." Smith complied. Hilde stepped back from Smith and grabbed a torch from the wall bracket besides her. Duo did the same, and they turned to walk down the tunnel.

It was dark and musty. It had the muted damp quality usually found in underground places. Duo and Hilde had not walked a hundred paces before they heard a great crash as Smith closed the gate behind them, and the protest of metal as he slammed the lock into place. They both spun to look at Smiths smirking smile.

"If you tell the Sheriff that we are here, Smith," Duo called "I will come back and kill you."

Smith laughed. "You can't kill me if you are dead!"

"Ah, Smith. Robin Hood doesn't like people who kill his friends!" Hilde called back. But Smith just kept laughing.

"Come on," Duo told her. "We should keep going."

Okay, that's it for this chapter, but isn't it long? At least, by my standards. I am so sorry about the half-a-year long delay, but I wrote myself into a corner- had no idea what was supposed to happen next. So I did research, real research on the Robin Hood story. In Nottingham there really is a Tavern connected to the castle, although it is not called "The Pilgrims Jerusalem" tavern. I don't know what it is called, but I named my Tavern 'The Pilgrims Jerusalem' because at the time that Robin Hood lived (in my story) King Richard was busy fighting the Crusades.

And then I finally write the thing out, get online to post it, and the website tells me that I cant update at all until Tuesday, and neither can anyone else. Damn it! Stupid , (I didn't mean that)!

Don't worry about Duo finding out that Hilde is a girl, that will happen as soon as I wrap up this whole Much thing. Please review, tell me what you think. How did I do with Smith? With Duo? Who do you like better- Much or Duo? While your at it, who is your favorite character in the entire story?

Thank you, please just stick with me. I am doing my best to write a good story- which takes time. I promise to update more quickly than last time, probably near Thanksgiving or Christmas since I have breaks then and will have the time to write.

Love you all- Langisell