AN: another chapter, another twist in the plot. Some familiar faces will make an appearance.

Enjoy!

-familiar faces-

The young nobleman left, trying to make it look as if he wasn't fleeing.

Robin and his manservant, traveled for many long hours, until they finally arrived in Nottingham. It was late afternoon but the sun was still hanging high in the sky and it was unseasonably warm. The horses were in need of water and some cooling off. Taking a detour through town, rather then the main road around it had seemed like a good idea.

As they rode past the town square however, Robin made a surprising discovery. The market place was unusually busy for a Monday afternoon. Sure, there was your usual crowd of farmers, merchants and salesmen. The peasants were present too of course, but for some reason, there were a lot more of them than what could be expected on a slow day like this. The masses all seemed to be moving collectively towards the inner courtyard, which could only mean one thing: the sheriff had some kind of announcement to make.

Robin contemplated that thought for a moment and then urged his horse forward, breaking through the crowd. "Excuse me, just passing through!….Step to the side… Watch out!," he shouted as he zig zagged his way down the street.

"Master Robin?!," his servant hesitantly called after him.

This was a yet another detour from their planned route, one that would make their journey at least half an hour longer..

"Master?! The horses…Locksley… your father!," Much tried again but to no avail. Sighing, he pressed his heels into the horse's flanks and set off after his master.

Despite being a skilled horseman, Robin had to slow down his pace considerably to get anywhere in the crowd that filled the street leading in towards the castle. His horse, a brown gelding, was growing more and more skittish as the noise level increased.

Their journey came to a complete halt when, suddenly, a young child darted out in front of them. Robin miraculously held his balance when the horse instinctively stepped sideways to avoid collusion.

"Whoa, calm down boy!" he soothed the horse, gently running a hand through its mane. "Are you alright?," he asked turning to the child, a boy who appeared to be five maybe six years old. "You need to be more careful, young man!"

"Sorry-he-outran-me!" The explanation came from another boy, slightly older and a lot taller, who stepped forward to fetch the young child. "I'll keep a better eye out next time."

"Don't I recognize you from somewhere?"

The tall skinny teenager looked up and then bowed when he recognized young Robin of Locksley. "Yes sir, I'm Will Scarlett and this," he paused to grab the disobedient child by the arm, "…this is my brother Lukey."

"Aah, the Scarlett boys, from Locksley," Robin nodded with a smile. "It is really good to see familiar faces. Here, can you hold this for a moment?." Not waiting for a response Robin slid off his horse and handed the reins to the oldest of the Scarlett boys.

Once on the ground, Robin wiped his forehead on his rolled-up sleeve and scanned the crowd in a slow sweep. "So, tell me, what's going on? There are an awful lot of people out on the streets today."

"We just got here, I'm not sure," Will Scarlett said shrugging his shoulders in typical teenager fashion.

"It looks like a celebration of some sort." Much offered, slightly out of breath as he caught up with them.

"I hope it's a hanging. There was a full moon last night. Dad says when the moon is full, someone's bound to dangle."

"Luke," Will hissed, clasping a hand over his younger brother's mouth. "That's just a saying and besides, it has been month since the last public hanging. Our sheriff is a fair man."

Robin nodded. "Ay, he sur-…" he started to respond but was interrupted mid sentence by a thud and an "Oof!" coming from somewhere close behind him.

"Master did you see that? That little son-of-a-bitch tried to pick your pockets!" Much exclaimed, stumbling forward nearly falling over.

"What –Who-How?!," Robin, Will and little Luke asked in unison and swirled around just in time to catch a glimpse of a cloaked figure scurrying off in a hurry.

"I'll fetch him," Will offered and helpfully stepped on the cloak trailing behind the thief. This caused the figure to jerk backward and the hood to slip back slightly, revealing a strawberry blond scruffy looking young 'manchild'. Old enough to sport a hint of facial hair but still young enough to be almost a head shorter than Robin.

"He tried to pick you pocket," Much hollered again louder this time.

"It's just some kid," Robin said shaking his head. "Think about it, I got the last laugh. There is nothing but holes in my pockets."

"But master.. We should… we should…. we should let the sheriff know about this."

"Not being, funny but it looks to me as if your precious sheriff has his hands full at the moment," the thief piped up with a smug little smirk.

"Yeah?! What do you know about it? What have you heard?," Robin asked with renewed interest.

"It will cost you," the thief grinned, rubbing his fingers together with an impish glint in his eye.

Robin dug up a coin out of his saddlebag. "What do you know?!"

"It's his daughter, Mary, Megan. Margret or something…"

"Marion?! What about her?"

"Well, there is not much to tell, really. I just heard she is back that's all."

"Back from what?"

"Don't know."

"I believe she was sent away when her mother died?! " Much piped in helpfully.

"Riiight, I remember that…sort of… This was ages ago, though, wasn't it?! I don't think I have heard anyone speak of her in years. Didn't think she'd return."

"Oh, she has returned alright. I saw the carriage roll in earlier. Figured she must have been the lass in the fancy dress, with the big hair and posh sounding voice," the thief said as he readjusted his cloak and pulled the hood over his head. "Right, well I'm outta here."

"Wait, not so fast," Robin said holding up another coin. "What's your name?"

The boy hesitated for a second or two, and then he shrugged. "It's Allan, Allan a Dale."

"Stay out of trouble, Allan a Dale!" Robin chided tossing him the coin.

"Trouble finds me - I ain't got time to go lookin' for it."

Conversation was suddenly brought to a halt by the deafening sound of trumpets, a fanfare announcing the arrival of the sheriff. The thief used the commotion to sneak off and Robin was much too preoccupied to even notice.

The sheriff made his announcement, something about festivities to be held in celebration of his daughter's safe return to Nottingham. Robin didn't catch the exact words as he was much too busy staring at the daughter in question.

"Well, I'll be darned," he groaned and pressed a hand to his forehead as he felt a sudden headache coming on.

"What?" Much asked, obviously still clueless as to his friend's dilemma.

"I should have known..."

"What, master?"

"Take a closer look at Sir Edwards daughter, our childhood playmate, she has grown quite a bit wouldn't you say?!"

"I… eh.. she looks like.... isn't that... Whait a minute that's your lady friend Bernie, isn't it?!"

"No, I believe her real name is Marion Fitzwalter."

"Oh?… Ooooh, now I get it! I thought there was something familiar about her."

"And you didn't think of telling me till now?," Robin hissed between clenched teeth.

"Well master there's good news and there's bad news. It looks like you won't be going to hell just yet… but if her father ever hears about this…."

"Little Lukey will get his hanging."