Silence fell over the group as they stared up at Robin's animated face. Most looked expectant, Charli looked a little upset and Tanya looked sceptical. "You found something?" She deadpanned.
"Yes!"
"What?"
"Come and look!" He reached for her, tugging on her arm and pulling her to standing. "And you lot!"
The others stood slowly too. "Is it the vortex?" Much asked curiously, a hint of excitement evident in his voice as they followed the pair into the bathroom.
"Not exactly..." Robin stepped through the door and began to walk to the other side of the room where the window was.
"So...why are you so excited?" Charli frowned. "Did you finally discover toilet roll?"
Robin gave her a strange look before turning his attention back on the matter at hand. "No...Come and see!" He pulled Tanya over to the window.
"Uh...Robin...there's nothing here. We already went through this." Tanya rolled her eyes, still feeling a little sour from only moments ago.
"There is! We just didn't look hard enough," and with that, he pointed down at the radiator that sat underneath the window sill.
There was a silence as the group stared at the metal object that was bolted to the wall. "It's not silver you know." Charli dead panned.
Robin smiled sarcastically at her before turning back to the radiator. "Look under it!" He knelt down and pointed.
"Just tell us what it is!" Tanya sighed.
"You have to see it!"
"I'm not that flexible...Charli?" She turned to her friend.
"I am not sticking my head up the back of a radiator in the Starbucks bathroom!" Charli protested, hiding behind Will. "Do it your-" she was interrupted by a loud crash. John stood, looking more than a little sheepish, next to a triumphant Robin, the radiator in his hands, the floor covered with plaster dust and paint.
"Oh my god," Tanya covered her mouth with her hands. "You're going to get us all chucked out and before we get to see anything!"
"And just what is it we're supposed to be 'seeing' exactly?" Alan moved forward, squinting his eyes at the wall.
"Look, right here," Robin pointed to one particular brick that, funnily enough, looked strangely older than the many others sat around it.
"What IS that?" Charli moved forward this time, crouching down low to study it some more. Reaching out, she gently brushed away the dust and cobwebs, her eyes widening in astonishment. "Oh god...there's something written here."
"Yeah so, it's probably just a bit of old graffiti." Tanya rolled her eyes, her mood obviously not improving. Truth be told, she was terrified of what they would find.
"I don't think so," she blew some of the plaster dust away, coughing as it bloomed up in her face. "It's actually carved into this stone...have you got a pen and paper? Let's copy this down."
"How do we know it's even relevant to us?" Will peered over her shoulder.
"He's right." Tanya leant against the far wall. "It's probably one of those memorial stones. You know the ones they put on park benches? 'This radiator is dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Starbucks'."
"Oh for god's sake! Either leave or just shut up and make yourself useful." Charli snapped.
Tanya pushed away from the wall and slammed the door open with her hand, walking quickly out. "Shall we go after her?" Much looked at the door worriedly.
"No..." Charli continued to study the wall. "She'll be back."
"Oh...can you make out what it says?"
"Just about-"
"Here," Tanya returned with a pen and paper.
"See," Charli muttered in an undertone to Much, who grinned nervously.
"Go on then!" Tanya snapped. Robin, Alan and Djaq crowded round, but Charli pushed them away, slightly claustrophobic all of a sudden.
"Give me a moment," she squinted harder at the wall. "'For those that wander here, two times will-"
"Will what? Will Scarlett?"
"Ssh!" Came the collective reply from the outlaws.
"Sorry," Much grumbled.
"Two times will collide and history and heart will be revealed...I can't make out the rest..."
"Let me try..." Tanya rolled her eyes and pushed forward, kneeling beside her friend. Leaning forward, she studied the writing for several moments before finally reading it out loud. "This will come to pass when destiny and...time...um...I think it says meander...yeah, when destiny and time meander and cross paths, and will last a life time...'"
There was a collective silence from the group again and then. "What a crock of sh'it!" All heads turned to Alan. "What?"
Charli rolled her eyes at him, and he shrugged, winking at her. Shaking her head, she glanced back down at the piece of napkin grinning. "Since you think it's a 'crock of sh'it', you can read it out to us."
"He cannot read," Djaq smirked much to Alan's surprise.
"Oi woman!" He quickly took the napkin from Charli and cleared his throat. "'For those that wander here, two times will collide and history and heart will be revealed. This will come to pass when destiny and time meander and cross paths, and will last a life time'...still think it's a crock of sh'it."
"It's a riddle," Djaq said, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "And it is related to us. Think about it. Listen to the words!"
Alan stared at her. "You're bloody mad woman-"
"OKAY Alan," Charli plucked the napkin from his fingers and handed it to Djaq, steering the man away from her.
"You say it's a riddle...can you make sense of it?" Robin stared intently at the woman.
"Um...I'm sure I can if I spend a little time on it..."
"Let's go and sit down, have another drink and put our heads together again," Charli suggested.
"Can we have hot-chocolate this time?" Much asked, excited at the prospect of another drink.
Charli smiled at him, if a little sadly. "Much - I'll buy you a hot chocolate with cream, marshmallow and a flake...and I'll even let you have a rocky road."
"Oh no..." Tanya began to head from the room. "You're making me all depressed again."
"Why?" Charli grinned. "It's chocolate. Chocolate is goooood."
"What the hell are you on? Helium?"
"Excuse me for trying to make LIGHT of the situation!" Charli stuck her tongue out at her friend as they headed back into the restaurant area.
"Excuse me?" A waitress approached them. "Not meaning to be rude, but I've noticed you a few times now...the men keep going into the girls toilets?"
"They're not men, it's okay." Charli waved her off.
"They...what?" She looked confused.
Charli grinned at her. "They are going through the process of becoming women. You know. Sex Change…" she lowered her voice to a stage whisper. "They have been taking oestrogen and estrogens and all those other druggie hormone things, and now they are getting used to acting as women before the operation."
The girl looked over Charli's shoulder just in time to see Alan kiss Djaq briefly on the lips. "Right...I see... I'll leave you to it then..."
"Much obliged," Charli saluted her before joining her friends who had found a table tucked away in the far corner.
"Problems?" Tanya grinned up at her as she sat down.
"Nothing I couldn't handle without giving these guys a sex change." Charli grinned, leaning over to inspect the napkin.
"I'll not ask," she chuckled before looking back at Djaq. "So...what do you think?"
"Well," she studied the words along side Charli. "The first part is pretty obvious, 'for those who wander here, two times will collide'; 1192 and 2006 of course. The next part…'history and heart will be revealed'..."
"History." John butted in. "History revealed...our history has been revealed to you, maybe?"
"Well, you didn't believe in Robin Hood, did you." Much pointed out.
"Exactly," John continued, "so history has been revealed to you. 'This will come to pass when destiny and time meander and cross paths, and will last a life time'...hmmm, destiny and time meander," his eyes flicked between Will and Charli before glancing over at Robin and Tanya. "Makes perfect sense to me."
"What?" Alan frowned. "How?"
"I think perhaps the 'vortex' was there for a reason. Is STILL there for a reason…" Djaq nodded her head, as if it were all becoming clear. "Yes, I don't think it would have opened for any one. Maybe we were in the exact right place at the same time as you women; it's as if we were MEANT to be there and we were supposed to convene. See?" She pointed at the napkin again. "Destiny and time meander. We were supposed to meet, YOU were supposed to stumble across us, hence the 'cross paths' part'." She looked at the two couples and grinned.
"And the 'it will last a life time' part? I don't get it," Charli frowned. "Nothing here is forever. We already established that. You guys have to go back."
Will squeezed her hand and all around the table, depressed faces stared back at the two riddle solvers. Djaq glanced at John, and he shrugged, flummoxed. Djaq's face creased into a frown. "Maybe it doesn't mean this will last a lifetime..." she gestured round at them. "It's talking about the vortex, right? Perhaps it means that..." She fell silent and it became clear that she was puzzling over something, her mouth moving slightly as she talked the rhyme over in her mind.
"The vortex will last a life time? Can that be right?" John asked, glancing over her shoulder at the paper. "So, it will always be there, so we can come and go as we please?"
Depressed looks turned hopeful and eager as Djaq's expression brightened. "Yes...that would make sense...to me."
"But how can it last a lifetime when it's not even there now!" Robin pointed out.
"I think it is," Djaq smiled. "We just can't see it."
"Well you know, that's what I thought, but when I tried to 'feel' for it you all thought it was a stupid idea!" Alan said in a 'told you so' voice.
"Sure Alan." Much grinned. "That's what you thought."
"It is!"
"It doesn't matter." Tanya interrupted them. "We know it might be there, we still have to find it."
"So let's go take another look," Robin suggested.
The girls groaned, Charli's head flopping onto her arms on the table. "Again? Can't we wait five minutes? I haven't drunk any of my coffee or cappuccino yet!"
"We don't have five minutes! We have to find the way back today-"
"Why today?" Much frowned.
"Are you completely stupid? Because we're running out of time and because I said so!"
"Is he this much hard work back in 1192?" Charli shuck her head. "I mean do you guys ever get a break?"
"No they do not!" Robin answered for them. "And we're not leaving here until we find that way back! I'll be damned if I let the Sheriff and Gisborne get their way!"
"Robin!" Tanya laid a hand on his arm. "We have till the end of the week, five minutes isn't going to make any difference!"
"It does! If we wait five minutes now, it's five minutes longer we have to live with their threats hanging over us!"
"Surely no one could be that fussy-"
"You'd be surprised!" He argued. "Beside, I'm not willing to take the risk."
"Me neither," Charli rose from her chair. "I don't ever want to see a knife again for as long as I live, let alone be threatened with one."
"You were the one asking for a rest." Tanya grumbled as Robin pulled her to her feet. "Okay Robin, I'm coming! I'm coming!" She shook herself free from him.
"So...we're looking for something we can't see...or something that's not there..." Alan murmured as the group headed back into the toilets again.
"Don't be such a pessimist, Alan," Robin grinned as they scattered and began to search the room again.
Djaq narrowed her eyes, and headed straight for the window. "Something here..." she murmured, her eyes landing on the ancient looking brick embedded in the wall. "It has to be here."
"Why?" Much bounded over.
"Because the brick was here!"
"Hey guys," Charli called. "When we have found it, we need to leave pretty sharpish!"
"Why?" Much repeated.
"Because John and Robin are now vandals!" Her gaze was on the broken radiator.
"I think you'll find that it was John who did that," Robin joined them over by the window.
"Ssh!" Djaq held her hand up, silencing them before they started to argue. "Let me think." She stared at the wall for several moments, her eyes not leaving the inscription.
"I had no idea Djaq was so-"
"Ssh!" John shushed Much this time.
"The window." She suddenly said, her head shooting up to study the small pane of glass that sat at the top of the wall. "Did anyone try the window?"
There was a silence and everyone slowly turned their heads to look up. "Well, you did fall from the ceiling..." Charli said uncertainly.
"And Will did end up in there," Robin pointed at the cubicle Will had landed in..."But how do we try it? It's really high!"
"Well it's obviously a little temperamental," Djaq rolled her eyes impatiently. "John! I'm going to need your shoulders." She told him as opposed to asking.
John moved to her side without question. Alan shook his head, murmuring something along the lines of 'this being ridiculous', resulting in him receiving a sharp shove from Charli. Much and Will stood gaping and Tanya and Robin looked slightly tense as Djaq hopped onto the large mans back and began to climb to his shoulders. "Hold steady."
She reached his shoulders and John began to straighten up. As he did so, Alan let out a cry of alarm. "Stop John!"
Djaq's head had completely disappeared through an invisible barrier in midair. The group stared at the sight. "Well, there's the vortex." Charli said weakly.
"Oh my..." Tanya moved subconsciously toward Robin, forgetting every argument and tiff they had ever had. He took her arm and pulled closer, his eyes not leaving John and what appeared to be the now headless woman. "Djaq? Do you see anything?"
The woman ducked, her head reappearing. She glanced at her friends, her eyes wide. "Nothing...just darkness."
"I want to see." Alan moved forward.
"But I just told you, there's nothing TOO see."
"Still want to see!" Alan pouted, but Djaq had climbed down from John's shoulders and Robin shook his head.
"Now we know it's there...and it goes to 1192, we can relax for the rest of the week." He smiled, a little unenthusiastically, wrapping his arms around Tanya's waist.
"How do we know it goes to 1192?" Much frowned. "It could go to a completely different time." Robin shook his head.
"The rhyme thing said 'two times...' that's 2006 and 1192."
"Good point," Tanya agreed with him for probably the first time that day. "Even though it's a riddle and it doesn't make any sense, it all makes PERFECT sense now...if...that makes sense too..." she frowned at herself as she leaned back into Robin's arms.
"I hear ya," Charli laughed. "What surprises me is YOU John." She looked at the man and chuckled.
"Me?"
"Yes, I mean I expected it from Djaq, but you? Quite the cryptic aren't we?"
John cleared his throat, obviously embarrassed, but was saved from answering when the alarm clock on Tanya's phone went off, causing the six outlaws to jump.
Charli grinned evilly. "You would have thought you'd be used to the strange noises by now..."
"Oh sh'ite." Tanya groaned as she flicked through her phone. "I gotta go."
"Where?" They all, except Charli, asked at the same time.
"Panto time." She grinned, stuffing her cell into her back pocket again.
"What time?" Robin turned the woman in his arms and looked down at her.
"Pantomime. You finally get to see my wonderful acting skills." She grinned up at him, trying her hardest not to be fazed by the look of disagreement etched on his face. "But I have to head off first for dress rehearsal first."
"You can't go on your own!" Robin told her.
"Robin! We found the vortex-"
"It's still not safe!" He snapped. "Vaysey and Gisborne don't know we found it yet!"
"Oh for fu-"
"Ill go with her this time," Alan volunteered. "You lot can come up later with Charli when it starts."
"But Alan, it'll spoil the fun for you." Tanya whined.
"Never mind that," Robin said. "You're safety first."
"But…Charli?"
"Oh no." Charli shook her head, leaning against Will. "Don't look at me, Miss 'who set my alarm for four 'o' clock?'. You didn't help me this morning! You'll be late if you don't go!"
"Bitch..." Tanya mumbled as she pulled out of Robin's arms. "Okay...Alan?"
Alan nodded and began to follow her and the rest of the assembly out of the toilets, but not before Robin stopped him. "Look after her," he said quietly as they exited behind them. "Don't do anything stupid-"
"Seriously, Robin, I may be a clown from time to time, but I won't let anything happen to her. I promise." Robin smiled in response, watching as Tanya and the rest of the group headed to the front door. "Are you okay?"
"What?" He snapped his head round, eyes landing on Alan again. "Yes...it's just...now that we've found a way back; it all seems pretty real, if you know what I mean?"
"Yeah," was all Alan could say, patting his friend on the back reassuringly. "It will all work out." He hoped.
"Right!" Charli clapped her hands as they left Starbucks. "Home. See you later Tanya, break a leg! Where are Robin and Alan? Oh there, okay, come on Robin!"
"Calm down!" Will chuckled, taking hand. "Are we going back to your flat?"
"Yup! The pantomime doesn't start until seven. You can choose something to do."
"I can think of a few things," he cackled quietly.
"Oh lord," Charli said, a little breathlessly.
"Will Scarlett!" Much gaped. "And I always thought you were the quiet one!"
Will simply grinned along with John, and Djaq. "Appearances can be deceiving, Much!"
Charli snorted. "Ill tell you a secret, Much," she leaned close to his ear. "He is definitely not quiet." she whispered.