"Ugh… no more barbequed chocolate pizzas!" Jaq moaned, crawling out of the tent. She crawled out on her hands and knees before noticing the state of the ground. Even in hot weather the ground wasn't that dry after a storm like the one the night before. She looked up and her eyes widened in disbelief. "Iris… I don't think we're in Kansas anymore…"

"We're from Massachusetts, dummy."

"Figure of speech!"

"Stolen from The Wizard of Oz."

"Minor detail!"

"Okay, fine, what's wrong?"

"Was there a river about three feet from our tent when we pitched it last night?"

"Of course not… why?"

"Because either we missed it, or that was the worst storm our town has ever seen."

Iris crawled out behind Jaq, staring in shock as her yes took in the site of the wide, wild river. "Okay, so the storm swept our tent to a part of the forest near a river…"

"Yeah, a part where the trees are even bigger than normal and not the right type for our area of the world…"

"So we were swept to a different part of the state."

"And we'll get home… how?"

"Pack up and keep walking until we run into someone at a gas station or house or something."

"Iris, this forest could be huge. We only packed enough food for the weekend. What if we don't run into anyone in that time?"

"We'll have to ration our food and try to keep going until we do. And why are you suddenly so panicky?"

"I don't know; it's just instinct."

"Well it to knock it off." Jaq nodded and the girls packed up their things, making sure that they grabbed everything. They both also pulled on clothes that were better equipped for hiking. Iris wore pants that were wide enough to look like a long skirt, and a cream-colored top. She pulled her hair into another low braid, and pulled on her pair of pale-brown hiking boots. Jaq wrapped a dark brown bandana around her head and pulled on dark brown pants and a deep green shirt. Her thick hiking boots were a few shades darker than Iris'. Then the girls set off to look for someone to help them figure out where they were. It didn't take them long.

Not long after they crossed the stream they met up with three people. Two were men, one large, and the other tall. The larger man was close to seven feet tall and had broad shoulders. His brown hair and beard were scraggly and unkempt. The tall man, shorter than the first by at least nine inches, was lean and muscular, with his blond hair pulled back from his face by a scarlet ribbon. The third person, a young girl, had dark brown hair and deep green eyes. She wore her hair to her shoulders with a rag wrapped around the top of her head. She was a good foot smaller than the shorter of the two men. All three of them wore green and brown outfits that looked as though they had been bleached and darkened by accident multiple times. When their eyes met those of the two girls, they all pulled out various weapons. The large man and the girl prepared quarterstaffs made of branches from trees, and the smaller man pulled out two daggers.

"Who are you, and what is your business in Sherwood?"

"Well, that answers the question of where we are," Jaq muttered, "Now where is Sherwood? And why are they talking so funny?"

"We are not talking 'funny'. It is you who talk strangely. And Sherwood is in England, near Nottingham. Surely you know that," the smaller man retorted.

"Okay, Iris… how can one storm sweep our tent to ENGLAND!?!?!?!?! I know that was a strong storm, but this is ridiculous! I mean, there is no WAY we could get across the Atlantic Ocean in ONE NIGHT!!!"

"Jaq, calm down. I think you're scaring these people."

"We are not scared by one yelling boy."

"But Jaq's not a boy…"

"Really! I'm eighteen years old!" Jaq glanced at her friend and winked, whispering for her to play along. Iris shook her head.

"Do you live here?" Iris asked suddenly, startling the others into nodding. "Then I suppose it would only be polite for us to introduce ourselves first. My name is Iris Kentbury, and this is Jaq Foster. We do not know why we're in Sherwood, but we were hoping you could help us find our way home."

"With such an introduction, we would be poor hosts to not answer in kind," he large man said, grinning as he stepped up to Iris. He bent and kissed her hand before turning to shake Jaq's. "My name is John Little, and these are my companions, Will Scarlet and Kittie Longbow. We would be pleased to help you as we may. First, though, you must meet our leader. He will want to know how you got here, and what he could do to help you get back."

The five people set off together for the center of the forest. After awhile, John called out for a rest. Iris was breathing only slightly heavier than usual, and Jaq began to climb the trees. John sat down beside Iris.

"Your friend is most unusual."

"Why do you say that?"

"Even Kittie, who has lived here for years, still gets out of breath after a walk like that. Jaq still seems like he hasn't felt a thing."

"…He hasn't. Not really. There's a forest back behind his house, and he spends most of his time there. His parents are… kind of cruel to him, so he takes refuge in the forest. He kind of… feels at home in the trees."

"And you?"

"I'm okay with the forest when he's around to keep me from doing something stupid, but I feel more at home in the kitchen, as old-fashioned as that sounds. It's hard work, but I enjoy watching my younger brother and sister while our parents are away."

John and Iris talked for a few more minutes while Will tried to talk Jaq into climbing down out of the tree. She simply climbed higher. Kittie sat near Iris and John, thinking that this was the strangest lady she had ever seen. When everyone was rested the group started up again. They made it into a clearing before anyone started getting overly fatigued, and the two guests were shocked at what they saw. It was a large camp, swarming with people rushing to do something. All but one person, who sat next to a large fire, playing with a stick and some feathers.

"Twirling them around your fingers will not turn them into arrows," John called. The man stood up and faced them.

"Little John… you brought strangers… How do you know that they are trustworthy?" Kittie rolled her eyes and the man. It was then that Iris and Jaq noticed that the man had the same exact shade of hair and eyes as Kittie. The girl in question realized what they had noticed and took over the story from Little John.

"They obviously didn't know where they were, and how many of the Sheriff's men don't know? And you can't say that any of them is good at lying! This is Jaq Foster, he says that he's eighteen, and not a boy. The girl is Iris Kentbury. We may have found Tuck some help, if she's willing to help out while we try to find a way for them to get home. Iris, Jaq, this is my older brother, Robin Hood. Now that that's over with, I have sentry duty with Much that I need to get to."

As Kittie walked away, a fat little friar walked up to the group and shook hands with Jaq after clapping Robin on the back for not yelling at Little John and Will for unthinkingly trusting a pretty face. "My name is Friar Tuck, Greentree's resident cook, healer, and Holy Man. I suppose the two of you will want to meet the rest of the camp now?"

"Honestly, if I add too many more names right now I think my head would explode. If it's alright with you, can I just have a spare twig or something and sit down for awhile?" Jaq asked.

"Of course. Just take any piece of wood not in one of the two piles you see there," point at two piles sitting near the fire, "and take a seat anywhere but in the fire. Miss Kentbury? Would you like to make the rounds?"

"I would love to Friar Tuck, but I have to agree with Jaq that I doubt I'll remember any more names right now. But if you want, I can help with any cooking you have to do?"

"My child, you can stay with us for as long as you like," Friar Tuck announced, grinning broadly as he steered the young girl towards a smaller fire that had a cooking pot resting above it. Robin sat back down in the seat he had recently vacated, staring off into space for a moment before noticing a flash of silver out of the corner of his eyes. He turned to look and saw his own face emerging from the block of wood in Jaq's hands.

"You're very good at that," he observed.

"Thanks. This is just my way of passing the time."

"That dagger is amazing."

"Again, thanks. Iris bought it for my sixteenth birthday. She was tired of my stealing her kitchen knives."

"Why would you steal them?"

"Those were the closest I could come to knives, and I've always been fascinated with daggers, both for carving and as weapons."

"Can you use that as a weapon?" Robin asked, showing even more interest, now that the new 'man' had a useable skill.

"Well enough, I guess. I've never had a real opponent."

"In the next few days Will could work with you."

"That would be great. Thanks."

… … …

A/N: Well? What do you think of this chapter? The other females in Robin Hood's group will make an appearance next chapter. That could come out any time from tomorrow, to three months from now. I've said this before, but I WILL NOT UPDATE THIS STORY UNLESS I GET AT LEAST ONE REVIEW FOR CHAPTER THREE OF Way of the Rose, I'll Always Remember, and Sherwood High.

ThankYous:

boogalaga – I really hope I spelled your penname right… And thanks for the compliments! I've never gotten such… I don't think explicit is the right word, but I'm going to use it anyway… explicit comments on my writing style. Thankies much!!