This is the next chapter, I hope you like it.

Please, please, review. It will really help me.

ALLAN'S POV

While Robin and Cathy were out talking Allan found he couldn't sit still. He paced back and forth around the camp annoying the rest of the outlaws and not bothering to listen to their calls to him to sit down. What if Robin decided that she wasn't good enough, or if she said something that would undo all the work he had done to convince robin to let her stay.

"Allan," said Luke from where he was sitting carving a little wooden figuring, "Cathy's not going to have a problem persuading Robin to let her in to the group." Allan looked at the young outlaw and was reminded again how much he and his brother looked alike. Allan had become close to Luke, in the same way he was close to Will, they were like second brothers.

"She's an A Dale, Luke," Allan said.

"So?" asked Luke.

"Not being funny, but us A Dale's ruin everything good we have going for us." Allan sighed sitting down next to Luke. "Did I ever tell you I was engaged once." Allan had just confessed one of his most treasured secret. But he didn't feel like he thought he would. He had always imagined that when he came around to telling the gang that he would be embarrassed and they would all have laughed at him. But when he looked at Luke, in to those green un-judging eyes, he didn't feel embarrassed or ashamed. He just felt like he was getting something off his chest.

"When?" Luke asked, not batting and eyelid.

"When I was your age, Her name was Eleanor, she was the Lord's daughter back in Rochdale."

"What was she like?" Luke asked.

"She was really pretty, the kind of girl who takes your breath away when she walked in to a room. You know what I mean." Luke nodded, not looking at him. "She had blond hair, and pale blue eyes. And the most gorgeous smile." As Allan was describing her to Luke, he didn't feel the same as he usually did when he thought about her, with a shock he realized he hadn't thought about her since he had joined Robin and his gang.

"What happened?" Luke asked putting his tools down a turning his full attention on Allan.

"Her Father found out that I was only the Blacksmiths son, and told us to end it."

"Well you didn't exactly ruin that, you couldn't help that her Father was a posh snob." Luke said defending his friend. Allan laughed and shook his head.

"He was coming around to it, we threatened to elope if he didn't give us his consent."

"So then what happened?"

"I stole his horse, and sold it."

"Oh…" said Luke shortly, "Well, I mean… you…" he trailed off hopelessly. Allan started laughing.

"It was a stupid thing to do." Allan said laughing harder. Luke joined in his laughter.

Just at that moment Robin and Cathy appeared around the corner. Cathy caught sight of Allan and ran straight for him, she threw her arms around his neck. Allan blinked shocked, but then brought his hands up to her back.

"Thank you," Cathy whispered in to his shoulder. "Thank you, so much."

"Don't be silly," Allan said patting her back. "I wouldn't just leave you all alone would I?" Cathy shook her heard her face still pressed in to his shoulder. Cathy pulled back and quickly turned around, but not before Allan saw her eyes oddly wet. She stood up and walked over to the kitchen.

"Can I help?" she asked. Much looked at her with a grateful smile on his face. He handed her the spoon as he started to get the plates ready for dishing up.

As the gang sat eating listening to Much talk, Luke shifted closer to Allan and leaned in so that Cathy, who was sitting on the floor leaning against one of the bunks wouldn't hear.

"Allan, do you ever regret it?" Luke asked.

"Regret what?" asked Allan through a mouthful of stew.

"Stealing the horse, not marrying Eleanor."

"Well…" said Allan thoughtfully, "I suppose not, I mean, I can't imagine my self married to her now."

"To her," Luke repeated, "So who do you imagine yourself married to then?" Allan blushed and shoved Luke so hard that he fell of the bench and fell with a thud next to Cathy. "What was that for?" Luke asked a knowing spark in his eye.

"Nothing," Allan said, busying himself with his food.

"Well, I'm just going to stay down here with Kath then if you're just going to push me for no reason." Allan flipped Luke as Luke laughed and settled back next to Cathy.

--

CATHY'S POV

On Cathy's first night as an outlaw she went to bed with her head buzzing. So much had happened to her in the past 12 hours, images of the past day kept flashing before her eyes. But one image stuck for longer then the others. Luke. He had called her Kath, no one had ever called her Kath before. It seemed just right the way he pronounced it with his Yorkshire accent. As the other outlaws fell asleep around her the camp became steadily louder. Little John's snoring got so loud that it rumbled deep in her chest, and Much was chatting almost non-stop to someone in his sleep. As Cathy let those noises fill her ears she heard another noise. It was someone crying, who ever it was, they were trying to muffle it in his blankets. Cathy opened her mouth to call out to who ever it was, but then closed it again. It's the middle of the night, Cathy thought to herself he probably thinks everyone is asleep. Cathy turned over and fell in to a light sleep just as she decided to talk to either Luke or Allan about in the next day.

The air was cold and crisp the next morning. Cathy sat up and found that she was one of the last one's awake, the rest of the gang were all sitting around the ashes of last nights fire talking in hushed voices. Cathy swung her legs over the edge of the bunk, bringing the attention to her self. She threw her cape around herself and joined Allan next to the fire.

"You should have woken me earlier," Cathy hissed low enough so that only Allan could hear.

"I wanted to but Luke said that you were probably tiered from yesterday."

"Well I was, but still. How long have you been up?"

"A couple of hours. Don't worry you haven't missed anything. We're going to do rounds in a bit."

"Rounds?" asked Cathy, suddenly realising that the entire gang was listening.

"We do it once a week, where we give whatever money we've stolen from over the week to the poor," supplied Much.

"You in for this morning?" asked Robin looking at her nightdress. Cathy nodded and walked over to her bunk to change. Changing under the covers was a bit uncomfortable, but the lads all turned their backs to give her some privacy.

A few minutes later Cathy found herself in Clun with Robin. Her arms were laden with food and bags of money. She and Robin hardly talked to each other while they were in Clun, they both talked to the villagers but not to each other.

On their way back to camp, it was Cathy who broke the silence.

"Why did you become an outlaw? I mean, weren't you a noble before?" Robin looked at her.

"Hasn't Allan told you about that?"

"I haven't seen Allan for about two years. So we're a bit behind on the talking."
Robin nodded in understanding, and then looked straight ahead.

"I was Lord of Locksley, Earl of Huntington. But then I went of to fight in the Holy war." Cathy's eyes widened, the Holy war, the Holy Land. She had herd stories about the Holy Land, stories of men losing their minds after seeing thousands of men die before their eyes. She quickly checked her shock, in case it triggered something in Robin. "While I was away a new sheriff came in to power. He's a lot like the Sheriff in Lancashire, although a lot worse." Cathy felt her chest tighten, some one worse then the Sheriff who had destroyed her life. "He caught Luke and his brother, Will, stealing flour. So Luke, his brother, their friend who betrayed them and Allan were all sentenced to death. I wouldn't stand for it. So I stopped the hanging, and fled to the forest." He finished.

"Oh, is that it?" Cathy asked pulling a face, before she let her face fall in to a smile at Robin's shocked face. When Robin saw Cathy smile he laughed.

"So they were going to be hung! For stealing flour!" Cathy asked incredulously. "In Rochdale they would flogged, or be publically humiliated. Stealing doesn't deserve death."
"Exactly," said Robin, a menacing spark in his eye. "You don't seem very surprised that Allan was to hang."

Cathy shrugged, "he probably blundered his way in to a situation by lying." Robin grinned at Cathy. She returned it noticing how the smile didn't reach his eyes. They walked on for a few paces in silence.

"What sort of public humiliation would they do in Rochdale?" Robin asked attempting to sound casual, but Cathy herd a note of strain in his voice, as though it pained him to speck of public humiliation.

"Well they would cut women's hair. A lot," said Cathy, "But if they were unmarried they would allow the guards to grope them." Cathy noticed at the last minute that her voice was wobbling. Robin was looking at her hard.

"Did they do that to-?"

Cathy cut across him quickly. "I stood up from a kid who was stealing from me, I told the guards that I gave it to him. They then twisted my story so that it ended up that I stole it from him and was giving it back to him."

"Did they…?" Robin drifted off.

"No…" said Cathy firmly. "Not to me anyway."

Robins eyes darkened.

"To the men," Cathy said bringing Robin out of his dark place. "They would hang them from the wall of the castle. Put them in metal cages, and give rotten food to the peasants to throw at them. This one time this young man got caught so many times that they cut off his man hood."

"What?" said Robin coming to a stop. Cathy stopped and looked back at him. She nodded when he was looking at her as though he didn't believe a word she said.

"That wasn't the worst of it either, They made his fiancé do it."

"That's horrible." Cried robin outraged. Cathy nodded.

"But they don't kill people in Rochdale." Robin nodded solemnly. Cathy slipped her arm through his. "They need you more here, then they do there. You can't save everyone." She smiled encouragingly at him. A ghost of a smile touched his face before he looked away from her and stared off towards camp again.