Chapter 6: "I need you to speak!"
Gisborne's breathing was labored and shallow; he grimaced at the sudden knife-life pain in his stomach. The objects about the room grew indistinct, and his head dropped with a thump to the wooden table. Yet, strangely his hearing remained keen and his mind alert, despite what was now intense pain.
The Sheriff was beside him, his eyes glittering. "Can you hear me, Gisborne?"
The knight moaned his reply.
"I need you to speak, damn it!"
"I…can hear..." Guy moaned, still unable to lift his head from the table.
"Good. Now repeat these simple instructions. Say: "I need to get to Newark.'"
"I…need to…get to…Newark," Guy replied, struggling to hold the six words in his mind.
The Sheriff continued his coaching, "Fine. Now say 'Hildegard will die.'" Again the tortured knight repeated the phrase.
"Lady Hildegard?" The King's man questioned.
"Yes Hugh. My dear old Aunt Hildegard."
"Is she still alive?"
"The woman is older than sin. I swear she lives on because neither God nor the devil want her." The Sheriff's tongue was acid sharp this day.
"What has she got to do with this plan of yours?"
"Gisborne begins his ride to Newark to greet Hildegard. Of course Rufford Abbey is en route, and we know who's in residence there, don't we?
"Ah…" de Burgh replied, "…Edward Fitzwalter, your predecessor, and his daughter, Lady Marian."
"All Gisborne has to do is drink the potion, seek shelter at Rufford for his sudden 'illness,' and speak his message while in apparent delirium. It's sure to bring Robin Hood."
"I don't follow you…what if Marian does not see Gisborne? There are dozens of sisters…."
"And all women!" The Sheriff spat, as if the last word left a bad taste in his mouth. "All bored and boring with nothing to pass the time but telling tales an ill knight may speak in a haze of fever! Do not worry; Marian will hear of it, she and Robin Hood!" The Sheriff fingered his chain of office and smiled again. "When Gisborne here appears to escort Hildegard to the castle, I spring the trap. In the confusion dear old Auntie succumbs."
"What?"
"How much excitement can an old woman take? And if the raid is not shock enough, she may fall from her litter or whatever she's riding around in these days…."
"She may…."
"Do not worry, Hugh. Whatever I'm forced to do, you won't need to know about it."
"Good," the ambassador remarked, assured his conscience could remain clear.
"God knows she's stood between me and my inheritance long enough. Think of it, twenty thousand acres." The greedy Sheriff rubbed his hands together with devilish delight.
"Don't you mean ten thousand acres, Sheriff?" Hugh de Burgh took great pleasure in annoying Vasey. He had no use for the man and most certainly did not trust him. Vasey promised de Burgh ten thousand acres of Hildegard's estate if he came to Nottingham to witness the capture of Robin Hood, knowing that after so many false reports Prince John would not believe it without trusted corroboration. Sheriff Vasey was through being bested by a self-important noble do-gooder, four peasants and a Saracen woman!