V
Outside the Door
Robin Hood was dead and Rebecca found she was the only one incapable of crying. Contrary to what the other servants thought she would do, she did not go to Guy the moment he returned to the manor. She went out to the servant's quarters to be among the others. It was if hearing the grief was as good as expressing it herself. She did not know why she was unable to cry. She certainly felt just as much as any of the other villagers. For many years Robin had been her master too. Yet she couldn't cry.
When the shock left her she made her way back to her master's chambers. She knocked upon the door twice in soft succession. The door was pushed open from the light taping of her knuckles. Curious, she opened it further only to find Guy readying himself to leave the manor.
"Master?" She asked quietly.
Finishing buckling his sword belt, he turned to face her. His eyes like that of a dead man as he stared at her. He said nothing to her. Unnerved by this Rebecca spoke up, "What are you doing, master?"
"Leaving."
"Leaving?" Rebecca echoed, stunned.
"To the Castle. The Sheriff must be told Robin Hood is dead." He said this last with a note of crazed triumph. He was clutching the outlaw's tag in his fist, the leather twine visible beneath his fingers.
"Master, you can't leave. You aren't well enough to go." Rebecca neither whined nor demanded. She stated her case as sorry and unfortunate fact. The man was practically tottering on his feet where he stood. His black shirt was a mess, half laced up and half tucked into his trousers. His hair was unkempt and unwashed. He had dirt and grime smearing his face from the fatal battle with the now dead Robin. His eyes were red from crying. He could barely put two sentences together in his addled state. He hadn't eaten, he had hardly slept. It was a most detestable sight for one who was the most detestable of men.
"Do you think that I care?" Guy said.
"I care, master!" Rebecca replied. Just looking at the state of him made her heart hurt.
"Leave me be, Becca." He sighed, turning away from her.
"You know I can't do that."
Why was he surprised to hear her say that? He should have expected no less from her. Even at the edge of Hell she was still tugging him back from the mouth of the abyss. He wished she would just let him fall. He looked back at her. Rebecca's eyes seemed to be challenging him to break free of whatever curse he had allowed himself to slip into. She was always giving him such looks, but Guy could see beyond the false sense of confidence. She was tired, she looked almost exactly how he felt. He was dragging her into this living hell. Why couldn't she let go? Couldn't she see he didn't want her help?
"I have to go." He said, walking towards the door.
Rebecca managed to slip past him and block the doorway. She stretched her arms out, touching either side of the wall. Guy's eyes narrowed, "Get out of the way." He warned.
"I'll stand here all day if I have t', master."
"Don't make me strike you down for your disobedience." He growled.
"Then do it." Rebecca whispered, steeling herself for the hit.
"You know it doesn't matter what you do." He breathed out slowly as if fighting to gain a handle on his mounting temper. "I either leave tonight or tomorrow. You can't stand there forever."
"I will if I have t'." Rebecca spat back.
"Becca I'll--"
"Beat me? Have me flogged? Turn me from the manor? Which old threat will it be today, master? I've heard 'em all before." Resentment was heavy in her words. "You are ill. You are unfit t' travel t' the kitchens let alone t' Nottingham."
She gave a great gasp when he slapped her. She did not move from her position, but she shook from the force of the blow. He had never struck her before. He had only ever threatened to. "Master..."
"Move out of the way, woman, or I'll break your neck." Murder dripped from his words.
Rebecca had no choice but to stumble out of his way. She had a hand over the red mark which now decorated her face. It stung, but it would fade. She stared up at Guy. He was surely loosing his mind, or perhaps her blind ignorance was catching up to her at last. To her continued surprise, Guy did not brush past her to the staircase. He, instead, paused and inhaled strongly, turning to look back at her. His dead eyes conveyed nothing. If he felt regret for his actions towards his oldest friend it could not be seen; not even Rebecca could detect a trace of it upon his face. "Tell Thornton I relieve you from your chores today." he said quietly, "Take the day to rest."
"Maybe I shoulda been listening t' the others all along." Rebecca said, "Maybe ya really are as cold hearted an' evil as they say. Maybe ya always were!" She saw him flinch at her words and at the betrayed tone in her voice. Good. She wanted that to hurt just as much as his slap had hurt her. He thought he had her under his rule. That he could abuse her in one second, give her a reward the next and she would appreciate it and crawl away like a dog, but she was no trained puppy.
She tore ahead of him and pounded down the stairs, hoping to leave his sight quickly. She crossed the hallway, but paused and marched back over to the foot of the stairs, looking up at him. "Come back safely, master!" She said through gritted teeth, as if resenting the fact that she could not let go of her concern for him. Sometimes she truly despised that man for all he did to her.
1191
"Alright ya lazy flock o' hens, what's this with this pile o' dirty dishes stacked as high as a mountain? Jenny, ye daydream'n excuse fer a girl, get these washed. Sarah, I see ya back there ya cowardly mite, come o'er here and help Jenny dry. The rest o' ye, tie up those apron strings and get t' work. An' if I hear any idle chatter'n, I'll drop ye into the water trough and 'ang ye with the linen! Becca! I see ya sneak'n off, come here this instant my girl."
Old Gemma Tanner was a coarse as they came. Robin used to refer to her as his battle ax; she was certainly as formidable as one. No one crossed her in the servant's quarters, no one dared. If Gemma gave an order it was done, no questions. She understood the workings of the manor almost as well as Thornton. The two would go toe to toe on mostly every detail concerning the upkeep of the manor. If the two old ones starting fighting again it was usually the highlight of any routine day. Everyone understood that in the servant's quarters, Gemma was in command, everyone that was, save for her foolish daughter.
Rebecca winced at the sound of her mother's sharpened shout. "Mum?" She asked innocently enough as she looked over her shoulder.
The aging woman was giving her a look few servants ever wanted to see directed at them. She marched over to her daughter and gave her a quick yank on the collar of her gray shift, "I thought I told ya t' sweep up?"
"I was gonna!" Rebecca protested. She hated being reduced to no more than a child again whenever she was chastised so publicly. She was far and above a grown woman, but one word from her mother and she was once more a groveling child.
"Then why ain't ya?"
"I was just on my way t'..."
"Ye were going t' see the master again weren't ya?" Gemma guessed with a scowl.
"He said he wasn't feeling well yesterday, I was gonna check an' see if he needed anything." Rebecca explained hastily.
"Oh? An' has the master asked for anything?"
"No...."
"Then mind yer business an' get back t' your chores!" Gemma emphasized her words with a light cuff over Rebecca's ears. From behind them they could both hear Jenny and Sarah giggling. Those devilish eyes turned their gaze over towards them and the pair quickly hushed up and resumed their washing and drying of the dishes.
Grudgingly, Rebecca picked up a broom and went out into the hall to sweep up all the while muttering that she was a grown woman who could decide what she wanted to to when she wanted to do it. A call from upstairs silenced her sullen thoughts.
"Becca?" Guy was leaning over the railing, a question in his eyes.
Like a veil lifting, the gray mood hovering over the servant woman fell away like dust. She smiled up at him, "Master?"
"I need you to do something for me."
"Anything t' get out from under the watch o' my mother." She teased, her mood lightening even further at the smirk he shot at her.
"Go to Nottingham. There's a physician there named Pitts, he lives on Batering Street--"
"Physician! Master..."
"Becca! I need you to tell him to come to Locksley."
"Be back almost as soon as I leave, master!" Rebecca said, hiding her concern, "In the meantime, you should be in bed, if ya feel so sick, master. Shouldn't ware yourself out."
"I'll do that. Now go." Guy urged.
Rebecca took off back to the servant's quarters to stow her broom away in the closet. "An' where d'you think you're going, my girl?" Gemma was there, folding up some of the linen she had taken down form the line.
"As it so happens, mother o' mine, the master does need me. He asked me t' get him a physician an' I have t' go straight away." Rebecca crowed, taking pride in the fact that her master trusted her so much to see after his well being.
"He did, eh?" Gemma raised a doubting eyebrow. "Well then--" A hacking cough interrupted her words. She bent over slightly as the wind was knocked out of her by the intensity.
"Mum!" Rebecca was at once at her side, "How many times do I have t' tell you, ya need t' lighten your work load. You should rest sometime."
Another final cough tore through her as Gemma waved her daughter away. "'M fine." She insisted as Rebecca rubbed her back soothingly. "Away with you, Becca."
"Are you sure you're all right, mum?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes, yes. Cough once or twice an' ye get all out ' sorts. Besides, thought the master gave ya a task t' perform?"
"He did, but I'm not going until I know yer all right. Ye've had that cough for months now, mum."
"You're refusing an' order from him?" Gemma laughed.
"He's the master, you're my mother." Rebecca fired back.
"Glad t' know that on occasion ya remember that." Gemma gave two short closed coughs.
"I'm gonna go now, mum, I'll be back. You'll rest?" Rebecca made her way towards the door.
"Yes, yes, now get going." Gemma said dismissively. Rebecca knew full well she wouldn't rest. Gemma wasn't the type to waste her days in bed, even when she felt weak.
"Right off, t' Nottingham! Love ya, mum!"
"Becca!" Rebecca paused at her mother's final call, "That fool o' a man up there doesn't deserve ya; master or no."
"Mum..." Rebecca rolled her eyes, Gemma often said that.
"I'm jus' saying. I'm your mother. I have t' say it, no one else will."
"Good bye, mum!"
"Love ya, my girl. Come home soon, ye ain't getting out o' sweeping those halls that easily!"
***
"Let me take the master his supper, Thornton." Rebecca asked one night. It had been two weeks since the physician, Pitts, had established a quarantine around Guy's room. Ever since then no servant had been able to get near the area, nor did any particular want to. The threat of contagion and fever kept most of the servants to the halls of the first floor of the manor and the grounds surrounding it. No one went upstairs anymore save for the physician.
"You know I can't have you do that. Pitts specifically said no one was to take the master's meals upstairs, but himself." Thornton replied calmly, as he placed a few dishes of food on a small wooden tray.
"He said that 'cause you lot are all shivering out o' fear o' sickness." Rebecca snorted as she tried to reach for the tray. Thornton slid it out of her grasping hands.
"Be that as it may. We are under strict orders, and I can't allow one foolish girl to go about breaking orders because she thinks she wants to see her master." Thornton said.
"But--"
"That's the end of it, Rebecca, if you still feel like arguing we can take this matter up with your mother." Thornton threatened lightly.
"You're a cruel taskmaster ya know that, Thornton?" Rebecca scowled mockingly as she relented.
"You do so often remind me of this." He gave the woman a smile as she made her way from the kitchen. It was dropped as soon as she left the room. He could hear two scullery maids start to chatter from the other side of the kitchen. Their tittering laughter made it obvious as to who the subject of their conversation was. Rebecca had made quite a few heads turn by her behavior these past four years. If she knew it she played ignorant very well. Thornton knew the nicknames that were beginning to crop up around the village. None of them were at all flattering towards a woman well passed any suitable marriageable age. Just into her thirties, Rebecca could have all the common sense of a young girl when it came to Sir Guy of Gisborne. Everyone saw how she practically fawned over him. Everyone knew how she lit up like a firefly whenever he spoke to her, or even looked at her. Everyone knew, save for Gisborne himself. It was the biggest joke among the servants and that gossip spread outwards to the villagers: how Guy had practically taken every young maid in his service to his bed except for Rebecca. She was a whore in name only. It was highly unseemly, but Thornton thought it was also highly undeserving. He sighed as he watched her leave. One day she would realize her foolishness. He just hoped she would be willing to accept her place and find a true life for herself.
Rebecca, meanwhile--oblivious to the circulating rumors, had run into the physician as he was coming down the stairs. "Thornton has the master's supper ready if ya plan on taking it to him." She said casually, gesturing behind her towards the kitchen doors.
"Thank you." Pitts said rather dismissively.
Rebecca seemed not to care at the response, but she paused in mid step and backtracked over to the man. "Sir?" She piped up.
Pitts turned to face her, an inquiring look upon his face. Rebecca came forward, "Sir, I know you're here for the master, an' I would never try t' distract ya away from making him well, but...ya see...it's my mum. She's a servant in the manor with me an'--now she'd never admit this--but she's been sick for months. Coughing an' weak. If...If you could, Sir, just take a look at her. See if she's all right."
"I'm afraid I don't have time to tend to the ills of every body in this manor." Pitts said.
"I know. It would only take a moment, I swear!" Rebecca tried again.
"Why don't you get one of the village healers to see her, hm?"
"She won't go with me t' see them! She's never been sick before, Sir, please. I have a little money if ya--"
"You think your miserable handful of pennies would be enough to buy my services? Get on with you, woman, get back to your chores." Pitts sniffed at her disdainfully as he turned and left her.
Rebecca was dumbfounded. Were all physicians as weasel-faced as that one? She had no choice, but to do as the man had said and get on with her chores.
***
She waited at the bottom of the stairs. Pitts should be coming out of the master's chambers now with the empty dishes. No sooner were those thoughts conjured up in her mind then she heard the creak of an opening door. She ducked under the staircase as she waited for the man to make his way down. He would go into the kitchen's to drop off the plates and then he would retire to a special cot made up for him in the servant's quarters. Rebecca had to resist the urge to trip the man as he came down the stairs. She shouldn't have expected anything less from such a physician. She was a mere servant. Who would help her or her mother? She did not have any money to pay for such services. Justified or no, Rebecca still burned at the way she had been rejected.
Waiting for Pitts to cross the hall towards the kitchen, Rebecca stole herself away from her hiding place the moment he was no longer in sight. She flew up the staircase to her master's bedchambers. No one else would be coming up for the rest of the evening now that Pitts had gone downstairs at last. Recomposing herself, Rebecca rapped upon the door twice in soft succession. "Master?" She said in a hushed and gentle voice. "Master, I know ya don't want anyone up here, but it's only me, Becca."
No answer was given and no sound could be heard from beyond the door so she didn't dare open it herself. "Just wanted t' see how ya were." She went on, "Been worried." No reply.
Rebecca frowned a little, "I know ya haven't been wanting t' talk t' me, an' I know you're ill. Thought ya could use a friend." She pressed a hand against the door as she spoke, her voice carrying in the most gentle of tones, "I know that when I use to get sick as a girl you'd come an' see me an' I'd always feel better so...I just thought..." Her words trailed off into silence. She received no response from the chambers beyond. It was almost as if no one was in there it was so eerily silent.
"Maybe not then." She tried to make her voice sound ruefully cheerful, "You know ya don't have t' be so silent with me. I know things have changed over the years, an' we certainly aren't the same people as we were when we were children, but...nothing's changed for me, master. As far as your concerned, you're still my friend. An' if...if ya ever need me jus' to be there an' listen I am. If ya need anything, or nothing," she giggled lightly, "I just want to let you know I'm still here."
Perhaps that would get her the response she was waiting for. Nothing. She heaved a small sigh, "Or, maybe you've already fallen asleep an' I'm wasting my words." She laughed a little, "In that case I'll be praying ya get well tomorrow like I do every night." She walked away from the door. Even though Guy had not given her a sign that he had heard her words she felt lighter in her soul for having spoken what had been in her heart for a while now. She was confident that even if he didn't have the strength to let her know he had heard her; he had still heard her words, and that's what was most important. She hated the darkness that had filled his soul; the evil that had come and twisted the man she had known. She hoped he realized he wasn't so alone. "Good night, master." She whispered into the empty hall of the darkening manor.
A/N: Our first look at Rebecca's mother. As of now, she's only in a few flashbacks, but that might change. I actually enjoyed developing this character.
As we all know, that confession of Becca's went entirely unheard as Guy was off in the Holy Land at this time. If Becca seems a bit foolish and out of line in her behavior, she should. She is a bit of a fool.
Next part should be up soon! :)