Chapter 3

A/N: Alright now here are some hints of an actual plot. a little hint of Will/Djaq too. Enjoy

The next morning, the atmosphere of the camp was somewhat different than what it had been the night before. It seemed as though it had been split into two layers. On the surface, everything was normal, everyone in the gang laughed when Much woke up out of a dream saying "Don't take my bread pudding!" Underneath, however, the tension was even thicker. Anything that could have remotely been related to Marian was a tabooed subject. No one missed the fact that Robin had been the last one to fall asleep and the first one to wake up without moving from the position he had adopted the night before. No one missed the fact that he tried to make things seem like normal, and they did. The gang just knew he still wasn't alright.

It was quite early when they split up to make their drop offs. As instructed, Will and Djaq went to Knighton, Much and Robin went to Nettlestone, while John and Allan went to Clun. The villagers were happy to see them as usual and Robin's absence did not go unnoticed in Knighton. A little girl tugged on Will's sleeve.

"Excuse me, sir, but where is Robin Hood? My mother told me that he always comes on Saturday's. I did so want to see him. He makes us laugh." she giggled at the memory.

The shy carpenter, not knowing what to say to such a sweet little girl could only smile and say as kindly as he could, "He wanted to come really, but he had to be elsewhere." He kneeled on the ground so he could meet her at eye level, leaned towards her and whispered, " Now, can you keep a secret?" She nodded enthusiastically, red curls bobbing up and down "Robin Hood has something very special planned for the children of Knighton and he had to be away so that he could take care of it." The little girl gasped and was about to speak, when Will put a finger to his lips, "But you mustn't say anything okay?"

"I promise," the little girl said solemnly as she scampered off to play with some of her friends.

Will smiled to himself and stood up to find Djaq standing right infront of him, looking unreadable as usual. His smile turned right to a neutral expression. He still wasn't sure how to act around Djaq. He never knew if she was happy, sad or upset. She was impossible to read but she somehow knew what everyone was thinking. She held his gaze for another moment before Will blushed and looked down, embarrassed.

"Why did you lie to that child?" she asked, as they continued to hand out food and money.

"I didn't." he said. He wondered what she must think of him, to come to the conclusion that he would lie to a little girl.

"Well then what do you call it? Robin has no plan for the children." she cast him a worried glance.

"Robin doesn't yet." Will corrected, now fumbling with the parcels of food, "I have a plan." his hand was trembling now, "I thought that, well, in my spare time, that is, that I would make little wooden toys for the children. They don't often get anything new, and I didn't want that little girl to be let down." he blushed again and looked down.

"Oh," was all she could say softly. She felt a twinge of guilt at calling him a liar. Why couldn't she give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes? She sighed and continued to distribute what they had brought when she heard someone whisper her and Will's names. They both turned to find Marian standing on the side of a small hovel. She beckoned them to follow her with her hand and dissapeared. So, they handed out the remainder of the food and carefully followed where Marian had dissapeared from.

They found Marian behind the small structure, looking around cautiously to see if anyone saw her. Djaq looked at her and wondered if perhaps it was just a trick of the light, but Marian's eyes seemed to have small dark circles under them. Was her night as sleepless as Robin's, she wondered.

"Where's Robin?" Marian asked, her face full of confusion and a little bit of worry. Interesting, Djaq thought, She is concerned for him. I wonder if she is concerned about breaking his heart.

"Robin-he, well-" Will said hesitantly running his hands through his hair, while Djaq cast her a look saying, as if you don't know why he isn't here.

Marian caught Djaq's look and rolled her eyes, "Well look, I don't have much time." She reached into a hidden pocket in her dress and handed a white feather that was tipped with blue to Will. "Tell him that this is in Nottingham. Robin will understand." hearing horses in the distance, Marian took one last look around and walked away making seem like she had never seen the outlaws.

Will and Djaq looked at each other. What could a feather have to with anything?

Nettlestone

"Well, that's the last of it." Much said cheerfully to Robin, who clearly had his mind on other things. Oddly enough, Much had not ventured to make any further inquiries about Marian since the night before, and for that Robin was thankful. Talking about Marian only reminded him how much of this situation was his fault.

Just then one of the villagers came up to Robin and Much, his name was Geoffery but everyone just called him Jeff. "Robin, do you have any idea of what's going on in Sherwood?" he looked very worried and a little frightened.

Robin looked at Jeff quizzically, "What do you mean?"

"Well, everyone has been hearing some odd noises at night. They sound like strange animals, but not like any we've got in these parts. We only hear them for a few moments and then they are gone. It sounds like they jus come and go."

"Strange animals?" Robin repeated. "In Sherwood Forest?" Jeff nodded. Robin raised one eyebrow, still not quite sure of what to make of the report. He and his gang had heard nothing, but they were also camped on the other side of the forest, nowhere near Nettlestone. "Where exactly?"

"No one know's for sure, but everyone's frightened to death, no one wants to go in the forest for fear of being eaten."

Robin nodded slowly. "Right" he said slowly, the wheels turning in his head. "Thankyou Jeff." Robin smiled, "My men and I will see what we can do. Here" he handed Jeff the last bag of money. "See you next week." Jeff bowed gratefully and left to show his wife what Robin Hood had given him.

"Master?" Much broke into Robin's thoughts as to what these animals might be, if indeed they were animals at all, "What do you think these things in the forest are? I mean, there are alot of fearsome creatures in the world. We don't know how dangerous they will be." Much looked genuinely worried.

But Robin flashed that grin that Much hated. "Well, that will make it more fun, then, won't it?" Much rolled his eyes. Then Robin nudged his ribs and told him that they should make their way towards the camp to tell the others.

TBC

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