N/A: There is a church-scene in this chapter, but since I have never been in a church I don't really know how such a mass thing works. I certainly don't want to offend any religious people here, so if there's anything wrong with it, don't pay any attention to it. I'll probably always stay ignorant about religion.
Nightshade Darkholme: Thank you so much for reviewing! No, I don't mind the long review. ^_^ Thanks for your suggestions, I also thought it was a pity that Gisbourne died so early in the film. I intend to keep him around a bit longer. I'm not going to say anything yet about the future relationship Robin and Will will have, because I haven't figured that out yet myself. Your views on the story really have given me some new ideas!
Thanks also to the other reviewers, you make me want to continue when I have a writer's block!
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Chapter six: A smelly scheme
A beautiful autumn sun greeted Robin the following morning. The sound of the men moving around and getting up woke her completely from the first deep, blissful sleep in three days. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up. She then looked in awe at the energetic way everyone was doing their chores. She personally wasn't that much of a morning-person. She was in the middle of a nice big yawn when she heard a soft chuckle. Robin immediately opened her eyes again and ceased the morning stretch that always accompanied a yawn. Slightly blushing, she bowed her head and looked at the other through her eyelashes.
The man who had chuckled was nothing but a boy actually, not much older than she was. He was tall though, and broad shouldered. He had unruly, curly, dark brown hair and equally brown eyes. Overall, his friendly face reminded her of someone else. He was now grinning broadly, allowing her a full view of his even, fairly white teeth.
'Good mornin'! Would ya like some soup?' He greeted her, offering a bowl filled to the brim with hot, nice smelling soup. Robin now realized she was indeed hungry, and gratefully accepted the bowl. While she was drinking, the boy sat down in front of her.
'They're gettin' ready to raid a food transport that's arrivin' in Nottingham today. We're runnin' low on our supplies again. I'm Wulf Little by the way.'
Robin quickly gulped down the last of the soup and answered: 'Wulf Little? I thought you looked familiar. John's your father.'
The boy merely nodded.
'So you're going to Nottingham. Would you mind if I came with? I have a few things to do there.'
Wulf hesitated. 'I think ye best ask my father. He usually makes the decisions.'
Robin nodded and got up, handing the bowl back to Wulf. 'I'll go ask him right away. Thanks for the breakfast.'
'No problem.' Wulf smiled. That girl seemed nice enough. A bit awkward, but nice enough.
Before Robin went to see John, she decided to check whether or not her clothes had dried yet and to pay Pilgrim a visit. She was quite pleased to find that her clothes were dry and exactly the way she had left them. She then took them behind a bush and changed quickly. She decided to wash and return the other clothes to their owners later. Now on to Pilgrim. It pleased Robin even more to see that Pilgrim had been magnificently taken care of the night before and had been supplied with a highly sufficient amount of hay. No wonder the horse greeted her happily. After making sure Pilgrim and her equipment were in perfect shape, Robin went to find John.
It didn't take long to locate the man, since it was near impossible to overlook him. He was giving his men some last minute instructions about how to tackle the food transport. Robin waited patiently for him to finish.
'…It's really important that ye take the guard with the horn out first. If he's allowed to blow it, there'll be hell to pay. Is that clear? Good, be ready to leave in a few moments.' At these words the men scurried off to finish their preparations, and John turned to Robin. 'What can I do for ye, Robin?'
'I was wondering if I could come with. I have some things to take care of in Nottingham.' She looked at him hopefully. 'I know how important this raid is, Wulf told me. Please, I won't mess things up. And if I get caught, I never met you.' Robin kept on rambling, anything to stop him from saying no.
John started laughing. 'Calm down, Robin. I'm not gonna forbid ye to come. Yer old enough to decide for yerself. Just be extremely careful and make sure ye get back here safely. We're not gonna build ye a shelter for nothin'.'
Robin smiled broadly and opened her mouth to say thanks, but John interrupted her. 'Now get a move on, or you'll be late. I don't want you delaying our plans.' Robin immediately left to ready Pilgrim, and only waved her hand over her head when John shouted: 'And be back before sundown!'
Robin was too busy saddling Pilgrim as fast as possible to notice a pair of eyes looking angrily at her. The man those burning eyes belonged to was perfectly calm on the outside, but was inwardly hot with rage. How could John?! How could he have allowed her to come with them. She would endanger the entire mission. But no, of course he didn't see it. She had him wrapped around her little finger. And his son as well. Why was he the only one who saw her for what she really was? She was nothing but a stuck up brat, all high and mighty because of her 'nobility'. But they would find out sooner or later. And then they'd see who had been right all along. With a final angry tug he fastened his saddlebags, and went to meet his companions. One thing he knew for sure; he would be glad when she was gone.
Robin rushed to meet the others who were saying their goodbyes to the ones that stayed behind. Pleasantries were exchanged and good luck was wished. While Robin was moving her horse to stand in line with the others, Wulf walked up to her.
'So you've succeeded in convincin' my father. Well done.'
Robin smiled. 'Thanks. It was easier than I expected. I see you aren't coming.'
Wulf shook his head. 'No, I'm not. We don't have many horses, so we have to send our best men on this sort o' mission. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them.' He shrugged. 'Frankly, I don't care. Now, you want to get to Nottingham right? This group isn't actually goin' there, but you can ride with 'em until you come to the first village outside the Forest. They're gonna stop near it and ambush the transport. You have to continue on that same road until you reach Nottingham. Can't miss.' He assured her. 'Just don't stray from the road. When yer done with whatever yer gonna do, just backtrack all the way into the Forest. We'll be waitin' for ya.' He smiled at her again.
Robin returned his smile. 'Thanks Wulf, I'll be back in no time.' She didn't have time to say anything else, as the rest of the gang was already leaving the clearing. She directed Pilgrim to follow them and started devising a plan on how to get in and out of Nottingham unrecognized.
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By the time the gang reached the village where the ambush was to be set up, Robin had come up with a plan quite satisfactory. Because not being recognized was the main issue, she needed a rather repellant disguise. The most repellant one she'd been able to come up with –and that would not result in her being thrown out of the city- was that of a filthy, stinking beggar needing a stick to walk. It wasn't that hard to create either. All she needed was a large, hooded cloak, a stick and some horse manure as a finishing touch. Having solved this problem, she told the others not to wait for her return. She then made Pilgrim quicken her pace and set off towards the city of Nottingham.
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It took Robin another hour to reach the city walls. She halted Pilgrim in the shade of a small group of trees that stood out of direct vision from the main gate, and with that, the guards. There, she made her disguise, rubbing the cloak with manure until the stench was almost unbearable. When she was done, she tied Pilgrim's rains securely to one of the trees and told the mare to stay there quietly. To make sure she did, Robin left a large bag with corn with her that she had stolen on her way to the city. Robin didn't realize it, but she was already getting pretty good at casually 'borrowing' and the likes.
Walking closely to the wall, Robin neared the main gate. When the guards could almost see her, she sighed deeply and pulled the cloak more closely around her. Now came the ultimate test, to see if her disguise did what it was supposed to.
When she stepped in the guards' full view, she was no longer a young, agile woman. She was now a hunchbacked, cripple, old hag with a walking stick. Robin could hear the men gasp when the foul stench met them, and she could almost feel their disgusted looks burning her. When they realized she wanted to get into the city, they moved to block the entrance.
Bad luck, Robin thought, she had hoped they wouldn't bother with her. As she moved to stand directly in front of them, she searched for something to say that wouldn't alarm them. She thought it was best to play ignorant.
''Ello sirs,' Robin said with a screechy, annoying voice, 'sorry to be botherin' ye, but I need to get in.' The guards immediately looked annoyed and one of them answered her.
'Oh yeah, and why's that, ye filthy beggar? We got enough of ye in there already, I doubt ye'll be getting' much.' His companion snickered at the remark.
This was not good, she simply had to get in there! It was time for more drastic measures. Robin smiled inwardly, and went for it. She'd always loved acting.
She moved closer to one of the men and clung to his vest. She held on even harder when he recoiled and tried to shake her off.
'Oh please, sirs. Ye can't mean tha'! I need to visit me sister, she's ill! If I don't come, she'll die!' She practically screamed that last sentence in the poor guard's ear. They were now severely annoyed and wanted to get rid of her. They knew she'd come back if they kept denying her passage, so the only thing to do was to let her in. The didn't give that much about the city and besides, one more beggar wouldn't be noticed.
While their slow brains finished this train of thought, Robin was getting increasingly nervous again. She almost wanted to leave and try again when the guards had switched, when the brightest of the two spoke.
'All right, all right! Stop naggin' our bloody head off! Get in if ye really want to, but be sure to be kicked out if they catch ye beggin'. Now get outta here, yer stench is killin' me!' Having said that, he shoved her off of him through the entrance.
Robin stumbled theatrically, but was inwardly immensely relieved and happy. But now on to business. She looked at the church, and she was pleased to see that the mass wasn't finished yet. But she could have counted on that, since Sunday masses were usually longer than those on other days.
Using the cripple, stick-using walk again, Robin made her way to the church, the plan now fully formed in her head. She opened the heavy doors as if it was the most normal thing to do, entering in the middle of a Sunday mass, and went in. She really hoped her plan would come together.
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N/A: Entering the new setting of the city was fun to write, it gave me some fresh words to use. I mean that if I stay in one location for to long, I have to search for too many synonyms to write down the same scenery. Synonyms are important to me, because without them the story becomes awfully boring and seems to repeat itself. I hope you enjoyed it, I certainly did. Next chapter will probably have some action in it, and a major part of Robin's plan of action will be revealed, obviously.
Sorry it takes me so long to post a new chapter, but you wouldn't want me to fail miserably this school year, right? (please say right…) Anyhoo, see you all next time!
