Disclaimer: I do not own Robin Hood, as it is the property of the BBC

Chapter 33

A few days later, the gang were sitting around the camp fire talking.

' Just think,' said Djaq cheerily,' the King will have recieved the message from Lardner by now. This will all be over soon,'

' You'll be in Locksley again,' Ava said, looking over at Robin,' you and Marian as the Lord and Lady of Locksley - maybe you'll even make Sheriff.'

Robin grinned,' Now that, I like. And you, my friend, will be married to the Earl of Bonchurch.'

Ava tightened her grip on Much's hand,' Brilliant,' she too grinned,' Lady Ava Bonchurch ... Lady Bonchurch ... the Earl-ess of Bonchurch.'

Will raised his eyebrows,' Earl-ess? ' he scoffed.

Ava frowned,' Then what do you call the wife of an earl? '

' A Countess,' Will informed her.

' Oh, I like that even better - Lady Ava, the Countess of Bonchurch.' she laughed.

' Maybe,' Much said slyly, to Will, ' if Robin is the Sheriff, you could get Locksley,'

' Me? A noble? ' Will echoed.

Robin shrugged,' Hey, if Much can be, then any one can,'

'Hey! ' Much protested, with a glare.

Ava caught Will's eye and said,' You know, if you're the Lord of Locksley, who are you going to make your Lady? ' she looked over at Djaq swiftly, who was not looking.

Before a blushing Will could answer, Little John ran in to the camp, gasping for breath.

' What? What is it? ' Robin asked, standing up.

' North road ...' John managed to say, as he began to regain his breath,' loads of them ... quick!'

Robin, although not knowing what this was about, nodded and looked at his friends,' Come on, we have to be there, as soon as possible,' he declared.

After racing through the forest for a good few minutes, Robin - being the fastest of them all - was the first to scrambeld up on to the cliff that over looked North Road.

He flattened himself to the ground, and as the others approached one by one, grabbed their arms and pulled them down, telling them to get out of sight.

' Where's Much? ' he asked, once every one else was laid up on the ground, close together, and keeping their heads dwon.

Much threw himself on the ground a split second later, groaning as he hit his shin painfully, and receiving a shhhing from the others.

They watched as Allan - in his black leather uniform, and up on his horse - led men down the road ... a few on horses, some on foot, and one at the rear driving a cart, but all going at a rather slow pace.

' Mercenaries,' Robin breathed,' Fitting to see that Allan's at the head, eh? The Sheriff must be stepping up his plans. There's a regiment's worth of food in that there cart, that'll feed Locksley for the winter, come on,' he commanded, standing up and leading the rest of towards the road side.

They crept up behind the last men of the regiment - there were merely two men walking behind the cart.

John knocked them both out with sharp blows to their heads with his staff, and nodded at Robin, who then clambered atop of the cart, knocked out the driver and seated himself in the driver's place, as the rest of the gang climbed in to the back.

Without any one even noticing, since they were all too wrapped up in marching along the road in an orderly fashion, Robin veered the cart down a different pathway to the one the men were being led down, and then drove it far away, before letting the horse to go put anyone who might come looking for it off their tracks.

They then had to unload it all in to their food store, which was an empty barn just outside of Nettlestone.

There were many, many bags, of food for them to carry back and forth from the cart to the stores, and it made hard work, even with 7 of them at it.

' It's alright lads, Ava, we'll be done soon,' Robin told them, noting how down hearted they all looked.'

'There's enough here to feed an army, Robin,' Ava sighed as she caught the bag that Djaq, who was standing in to the cart, tossed down to her.

'I know, and that's what I'm worried about,' the outlaw leader admitted,' something big's happening, and we need to be ready,'

Ava was about to ask of Robin had any idea what this big thing was exactly, whilst she moved over to the store, when something hit her, hard in the face.

She promptly dropped the bag of food, and staggered backwards, muttering a curse word, that suprised them all.

Out of no where, four men came and began to fight with their staffs.

The outlaws - Will, Robin, Much and John, at least - each began to fight with one of the men, whilst Djaq declared that Ava's jaw was thankful unbroken.

As the man Robin was fighting, who seemed to be the leader, knocked him to the ground and raised his staff to strike him, he stopped halfway in to the motion and asked,' Robin? '

The other men, very suprisingly, stopped fighting on hearing the mention of Robin's name.

Robin took the man's hesistance as a chance to hurry back to his feet, and kick this man down with one swift motion. He pinned him to the ground at the chest with one hand, and used the other to pull down the scarf that was covering the lower half of his face.

' Legrand? ' he gasped in shock, his eyebrows rising.

Legrand was a member of the King's private guard - which Robin had been the head of during his time in the Holy Land, and Much had also been a part of.

' I have a message from the King,' this man - Legrand, apparantly - told him.

Legrand reached in to his breeches pocket and handed Robin a piece of parchment, which when Robin inspected it, was just a picture.

' This is is? ' he asked, rather bemused,' The King's message,'

' You're hard men to find,' Legrand told them, as he joined in with the moving of the haul,' we've been wandering this damned forest, for days,'

' Well, still,' Much began, clearly unimpressed,' you might have announced yourselves a little less violently ,hmmm? '

He looked up from stroking Ava's jaw lightly with him thumb and forefinger, to glare at Legrand - the man he had known and rather disliked in the Holy Land.

No one hurt his Ava.

Legrand at least had the decency to look sheepish and apologetic,' Sorry about that, Miss,' he said, looking between Ava and Much. Settling his gaze on Much he asked,' She your girlfriend? '

Much nodded,' Fiance,'

Legrand smiled ruefully,' Sorry, about that. Nothing personal, she could have been anyone, in this forest, you know? '

Ava pushed Much's hand off her face,' I'm fine, Much, and it's fine, no harm done.'

Legrand gave her a grateful look, as Robin continued to analyze the King's somewhat unhelpful message.

' And this? ' he asked,' an eye looked down up on a king? It could mean anything ... the King gave you no more clues? Who's the contact?'

' A wool merchant,' Legrand informed him,' who goes by the name of Paxton. He awaits us. The King was insistent we complete this mission by mid-summers day.'

' And what are we looking for? ' Robin queried.

' Thesaurus Patriae,' came the reply.

' That's Latin,' Djaq called, to help everyone understand,' for "treasure of the nation" '

' She speaks Latin? What a woman! ' Legrand leered.

' Oi! ' John warned him., as he handed him the staff that had been taken from him during the fight.

As they walked through the forest, Robin made conversation with Legrand, whom the others were wary of - Much because of his assault on Ava, and John and Will because of his comment towards Djaq.

' You and your men should rest Legrand,' Robin told him,' three days without sleep? '

' I could go 10 and still run rings around the lot of you,' Legrand said confidently.

' So ... you think the king is collecting treasure? ' asked Robin as they walked, referring to the message.

' He neds men and equipment to take on the sheriff and Prince John, so that needs money. I think he's trying to get his fortune out of the country,' the man responded.

' The King's gone to real pains,' Robin noted, coming to a stop as he spoke,' I mean - two messengers, a codes, orders of specific days - I think this is bigger than gold and money. I think this plan has been iplace for a while.'

' Midsummers day is the day after tomorrow,' Will pointed out,' this doesn't leave us much time.'

' But time enough to pay this Paxton a visit, come on,' Robin orderd, setting off once again and leaving the others to follow along after him.

Once they got near to Paxton's home, Robin told his gang to wait there - the edge of the forest - whilst he and Legrand went in to speak to Paxton, and collect the next message.

Robin and Legrand returned 10 minutes later with Paxton and another piece of parchment - this one with a picture of a blazing fire, and a few dots, in the shape of a semi-circle.

' I'm telling you, it's a star map,' Much declared when they all gathered around to look at it,' look, there's the moon, this is the night sky, and there's the stars. '

' No, Much, they don't work that way,' Djaq disagreed,' it's the wrong shape.'

' Yeah and that's not a moon anyway,' Ava laughed,' it's the sun, if you look at it properly.'

Much gave her a look for laughing at him, and held her around the waist tighter.

' What if the dots make a circle? ' one of Legrand's men suggested.

Robin looked down at the two pieces of parchment - each had a dot of semicirles. He out on piece in front of the other so that the dots made a circle,

' Look - now we're getting there,' he nodded.

Will lifted a hand to point at the parchment, ' It could be a building,' he said, his carpenter mind taking over,' each dot could represent a foundation stone, and the King's sword points to the entrance,'

' Right, but there's no clue as to what kind of building it is ... or where,' Robin mused.

Before anyone could say anything more, a piercing whistle was heard, coming from through the trees. It sounded three times.

' Keep working on it, I'll be back,' Robin told them before rushing off.

Will, Djaq, John, Much and Ava exchanged the same looks of knowing - Robin was in a rush to go and see Marian, that was her signal.

' That signal,' one of Legrand's men asked,' is that another member of the gang? '

' Something like that,' Much smirked.

Ava rolled her eyes and informed the others,' Robin has gone to meet a friend of ours who passes on inside information from the castle.'

' In exchange for kisses,' Will grinned.

Much then pressed his lips to his fiance's ear and whispered,' Speaking of which, if Robin gets to go and meet with Marian, why can't we just go and have a walk over there,'

Ava giggled and slapped his arm,' Much,' she laughed 'that's terrible, we should be trying to figure out what the message is,'

' There's enough people here, they don't need our help,' he mumbled.

Ava then cleared her throat, catching the attention of the others and mock-gasped in pain,' Oh no, I think my leg is cramping, I'll have to go and walk it off,' she said.

' Oh, I'll come with you, so you've got some one to lean on for support,' Much suggested, offering out his arm as they walked away, Ava limping a little to try and make the "cramp" look more realistic.

Once they were out of earshot, John rolled his eyes and said to the others,' How transparent was that? '

' She's a pretty good liar though,' said Will,' how many other people would be able to keep a straight face like that? '

' Allan,' Djaq said in distaste,' she gets it from her father, all right.'

Meanwhile, Much grabbed hold of Ava's forearms and backed her in to a tree, pinning her arms above her head, before kissing her quickly and passionately.

When he paused to plant light kisses down her neck, she laughed.

' My my, sir, what has gotten into you? You're so very full of passion,' she giggled.

' You're just too beautiful to keep my hands - and my lips - off, my love,' he replied, showering her with all his usual compliments.

' Oh, you do know how to charm a lady,' she said, placing one of her hands - which he had let go of - behind his head and pulling him back to to claim his lips with her own.

' Not a lady, my love,' he breathed,' but a Countess,'

His only response was for her to move forward and kiss him again, this time her hand wandering under his shirt.

Their heated time was broken up when they heard their names being called by a frustrated sounding Robin.

' Damn,' Ava muttered, running a hand through her hair to flatten it as she and her beloved made their way back to the others.

' Cramp gone, has it? ' Will asked her sarcastically, ' there's too much "going for a walks in the forest" around here.'

' Not bein' funny Uncle Will, but you're not my father,' Ava sighed.

' I'm aware of that,' he said,' and just count yourself lucky that Allan's not here, because he'd have something to say about it.'

Ava's retort - that she had been engaged for near on a year and was entitled to some time alone with her future husband- died on her lips when Robin looked over at John and asked the larger man what he was doing.

John was sat on the ground, making a circle with some of the stray pebbles.

' A circle of stones,' he said looking down at the message from the King.

' Standing stones,' Robin said in realisation as he knelt down and studied John's pebble diagram,' The Standing Stones of Hathersage,'

' Told you he'd get it,' John said, looking at one of Legrand's men triumphantly,

' Yeah, I'd have got that,' Much shrugged.

' No you wouldn't,' John replied confidently,' because you were off galivanting with your girlfriend.'

' She had leg cramp,' Much hissed,' I was aiding her in walking it off,'

' Whatever,' muttered John, not buying a word of it.

' Robin,' said Paxton urgently,' I need to leave you now. I shall prepare a ship - leave tomorrow night from Hull, with the treasure.'

' Thank you, my friend, the king is in your debt,' Robin said shaking the man's hand.

' Proud to have been of service,' he said, before leaving.

' Right you lot - to Hathersage! ' Robin announced.

The Standing Stones of Hathersage were a half hour walk away, and were up top of a hill.

They reached the top of the hill, to find it cold from the chill of the wind - causing Much to immediately fuss over Ava, chastising her for not wearing her cloak and pulling her close to him to try and keep her warmer.

He was always making sure that she was alright above anything else and although some owmen might find it smothering, Ava loved how caring and sweet he always was, and let him fuss over her because she knew it made him happy.

' What kind of a place is this? ' Legrand asked, screwing up his eyes as he looked around.

' It's been here as long as anyone can remember,' Will supplied,' some kind of settlement, maybe? '

' Or a shrine? ' suggested Ava.

Djaq held the king's message and looked down at it, working out which stone the message referred to,' The stone points to that one,' she declared after a moment.

Robin looked around, ' These stones are all perectly aligned ... but what if the sword isn't pointing north? '

He approached the stone directed and saw that it had a small cut out of it, which when he lowered his eye to the level of, he saw was also in the stones in front of it.

' What if they're an order to follow this line? ' he realised, stringing his bow and firing an arrow perfectly through the hole in the stone, which went through the next stone, and the next, and so on until it had passed through all of them and out of the other side.

After shooting it perfectly, the others simply looked at him in admiration.

He rolled his eyes,' Don't just all stand there - come on, follow the arrow! '

And so that was what they did.

They ran through the fields and along the pathway that led back in to an area of the forest.

The arrow had landed in the trunk of one of the trees, embedding itself there firmly.

' What does this mean? ' Much called, over the noise the wind was making through the trees, after apparantly following them from the standing stones.

Robin turned around to inspect the surrounding area and saw that they were stood in front of a cave - it was low and they would have to duck to get in there, but it would surely widen once they got far enough in.

' Looks like this is it, then,' Robin said,' come on everyone,'

He ducked in to the cave, leaving the rest of his comreades to follow after him, one by one.

Once they were all in, they shuffled along the dark, dank corridor of the cave, looking around for some sort of clue.

' Ack! ' Much suddenly hissed.

' What? ' asked 9 people urgently.

' Something just moved beside me,' he told the others.

' Darling that's me,' Ava replied, as the others sighed in exasperation.

' Keep moving,' Robin whispered - there was just something about a dark cave that required one to whisper for no reason.

' Why, it's a dead end,' Ava said in annoyance as she, Robin and Much were the closest to the end.

Robin shook his head as Ava held the small candle she had been carrying up to the end of the cave.

' Wait,' he said,' that candle's flikering - there's fresh air coming in from somewhere.' putting his hand up to the stone he said,' yeah, I can definitley feel it.'

' Stand aside,' said Legrand moving forwards, kneeling down and attempting to pull the stone up to reveal another room or something.

' Legrand you cannot move that on your own,' Robin told him, as if he were crazy.

' My men,' he said, causing his two men to rush forward and help.

Much grasped Ava's upper arm and pulled her back, out of their way, only for her to stumble and dash her arm against the stone wall.

The exact brick that she had hit moved backward in to the wall, like a sort of lever, and caused the seemingly dead end wall of the cave lift up and reveal another section to the cave - a hidden room.

Silently, they all filed in to the room and stared up at the walls, hoping to discover something.

' I loosened it,' Legrand said haughtily to Ava as she passed by him.

' Yeah, right,' she scoffed with a smirk.

' There's light getting in here from somewhere,' Robin announced,' and it is growing stronger.'

' It's coming from over there,' Will said, raising one hand to point at a gap in the ceiling,' and it's almost mid-day.'

Kneeling down besides a small urn in the centre of the room, the young carpenter continued,' I get it. When it's directly overhead, it should just...'

He trailed of with a triumphant grin when the cave was lit up.

On the wall, there was some sort of symbol.

' Hey, that looks like the eye of the King's message! ' Ava cried, diverting everyone's attention to it.

' Follow the line of the eye,' Robin said, meaning that they all immediately began lowereing themselves to different levels to try and figure out where the line of the eye was exactly.

' Here! ' Djaq cried a few moments later, and pulling something out of the stone work.

' Thesaurus Patriae,' he murmered.

' What is it? ' Legrand asked eagerly.

Robin uncirled it and et out a sigh of frustration,' It's another map!' he exclaimed.

' It's a cross,' he said, pouring over it,' and it's at Kirklees. Sign of the cross at Kirklees - Kirklees Abbey! '

' Kirklees Abbey? ' sneered a horribly familiar voice from the door of the secret cave room, ' How interesting. '

They all turned to see that the Sheriff was stood there, an ugly grin up on his face, with Paxton besides him.

'Paxton - you traitor! ' Legrand spat.

' Last one there's a rotten egg,' chuckled the Sheriff, in his usual way that only he found funny, before he made a move towards the lever that would close them in.

' Stop him! ' Robin yelled, darting forward.

But he was too late, as the Sheriff merely gave a mocking wave as he pulled on the lever and trapped them in.

' Goodbye Hood! ' they heard him call as the walked away.

' The light's fading! ' Much told them all.

' That's because the sun is passing over,' Will supplied.

' Well what now?' Much asked in desperation.

' We're trapped,' hissed Legrand.

' When I get my 'ands on that weasley little Paxton rat, I swear to God I'm goin' to kill 'im,' Ava spat.

The others noted - John, Much, Will, Djaq and Robin, that is - , with amusement, that her Rochdale accent had become thicker, and more pronounced, as it always did when she was angry.

'Well bad news sweetheart, because by the time we've got out of here, he'll be long gone,' Legrand told her.

' Not if I've got anythin' to do with it,' she replied tartly,' and I'm not your "sweet'eart". '

'Oi, you two, put a sock in it,' Robin told them, sitting down to examine the map, ' We only have a few hours to get to that rendevous, and I'm sure Kirklees Abbey is to the north of the river, wheras this points to the south.'

' North, south - what does it matter if we die here? ' Much asked with a sigh.

' And this rock won't move for anyone,' Legrand declared, after he and his men had tried to lift it.

The gang all turned to look at John - he had gotten them out of plenty of scrapes before using his brawn.

' Go on John,' Robin nodded.

' Nah, you got no hope,' Legrand told him obnoxiously.

John strode past him, making sure to barge the man's shoulder on the way past.

He stooped to the ground and put his hands at the stone, gripping it tightly and heaving it up inch by inch, ignoring the beads of sweat on his forehead and the searing pain in his arms.

With his friends cheering him on, he slowly lifted the stone until it was high enough for everyone to get out safely.

Minutes later, they were all out of the cave and back in to the open air of the forest, congratulating John and praising him for his strength.

' Right,' Robin said finally,' to Kirklees,'

' The Sheriff's going to get there first,' Much said down heartedly,' he's going to get the treasure,'

' Not if he's going the wrong way,' Robin disagreed.

' But you heard him .. Kirkless, that's where he's going.' Will pointed out.

'Ah, but that was before I looked at this map properly. Look - the cross is on the south side of the river, whilst the Abbey of Kirklees - the one that we know, is one the north bank.'

' So we're now searching for a church on the south side? ' Ava checked.

' Yes,' Robin replied,' the Sheriff doens't know about it, and we need to hurry. We'll go cross country, to avoid the roads, and that means running.'

' Who cares? This is for the King! ' Much declared, causing Ava to beam at him for his loyalty, because she knew how much he hated having to run everywhere.

' Hey look! ' Will cried,' the Sheriff's killed Paxton,'

They all looked at his dead body and exchanged grins.

'Saves me a job,' Ava shrugged.

' Come on,' Robin laughed, setting off jogging.

--

By the time they reached the river they found a church on the south side and approached it.

It was a small stone building, that looked uncared for and as if it had been deserted for many years.

' Why would the king trust something so precious to a place like this? ' Much whispered skeptically as they slowly entered the church.

' That map must be playing tricks again,' John muttered.

' No, this is the only church on the south side of the river,' Robin reasoned.

' I don't know, I think this might be the right place,' Djaq shrugged.

They continued to walk down the aisle of the church, looking this way and that for something that could be what they were looking for.

Will couldn't resist the urge to nudge Ava's side and remark,' Walking down the aisle - this'll be good practise for when you finally marry Much,'

Ava didn't reply, but merely blushed a shade a pink.

Will smirked - loving to tease her - and continued,' Why don't you just do it now, while we're here? '

' Don't be stupid,' she told him,' my father isn't here,'

' You're not marrying your father, are you? ' one of Legrand's men asked stupidly.

Much glared,' No, she is not,'

The possessiveness in his voice caused his future wife to giggle a little.

Robin turned around and held up a hand to stop them from going any further,' Wait,' he said.

They had now walked the length of the aisle and had reached the front of the church, where a veil seperated the main part of the church from a side altar, which was lit with candles.

He then slowly approached the side altar, as there was a figure knelt down inside - wearing a long black cloak, and with their back to the group.

He nodded at his comrades to follow him. Much and Ava were the first, but because of limited room in the doorway, the others hovered behind.

The figure seemed to sense that they were there because he or she stood up and slowly turned to face them.

It was a woman - a woman aged in her mid fifties. She wore a long dark red dress trimmed with gold and a small crown of jewels up on her head.

Robin and Much - having served the king - knew who this woman was. Ava did too, since her mother had had a portrait of her.

All three immediatly fell to their knees and bowed their head.

' Your majesty,' Robin breathed.

' Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine,' Ava whispered,' the Queen Mother.'

At Ava's words, the others also bowed low.

' Thesaurus Patriae,' Robin realised,' you're the treasure of the nation,'

' Why such formalities, Robin of Locksley? ' laughed Queen Eleanor stepping forward and handing Robin up,' I thought we were friends. You're late, Robin,' she added sternly.

' Apologies, your majesty,' Robin said, with a glance at his comrades, to let them know they could get back to their feet,' we ... uh, we ran in to a few problems.'

' You're meant to be in France,' Legrand said.

'No wonder you've taken so long to find me, Legrand, if that's where you've been looking,' Queen Eleanor remarked, then explained,' my son Prince John invited me to spend christmas with him. Festive celebrations entailed locking me in the Tower of Pontefract Catle.'

Robin nodded,' So Prince John announces your alliegance to him, and secures the army of Aquitaine to fight against King Richard.'

' But your're the Queen Mother,' Legrand commented, for no reason.

' Less of the mother, thank you,' replied the woman before looking around at them all with a smile and walking around them all,' So. You are Robin Hood's famous outlaws. It appears you have been doing most of the work for my son, King Richard. And who is this? ' she asked, stopping in front of Djaq.

' That's Djaq, from the Holy Land, your majesty,' was Robin's ready reply.

' Interesting,' Queen Eleanor commented,' you're a long way from home Djaq. Why did you choose this particular battle? '

'It chose me, your majesty,' Djaq replied,' I fight here, with my friends.'

' Very good,' replied the elder woman, with a smile that indicated the was impressed.

Queen Eleanor then turned on her heel, ignoring all the men to walk back and stop in front of Ava, who was stood between Robin and Much.

' Surely a pretty girl like you isn't an outlaw? ' the Queen Mother smiled kindly.

Ava blushed at being adressed by royalty and replied, ' Why yes, ma'am, I am.'

' Ava's not just a pretty face, your majesty,' Robin interjected quickly, placing a hand on her shoulder, keen to point out his gang's strengths,' she's a skilled fighter and can make up decent plans when neccessary. And she would do anything for her friends and for her country too,' he added.

Queen Eleanor looked from Robin to Ava and said,' I'm certain, Ava, my dear, that if you are so accomplished as your fine leader claims you to be, then one of the charming men you live with in the forest must have had the good sense to recognise a divine creature when he sees one. Robin, perhaps? I always though you needed a girl, Robin.'

Ava looked rather taken aback, but Robin took it in his stride, quickly answering,' No, your majesty. I am afraid I love another, and Ava only has eyes for her fiance.'

' Much and I are engaged, your magesty,' Ava informed the regal woman, slipping her hand in to Much's. She had been longing to have the feel of his skin against hers for a while now, but both had thought it inappropriate in front of the Queen Mother. However, now, it dodn't seem to matter.

' Oh, how lovely,' the Queen Mother smiled, as Much kissed her hand, using his free hand.

Robin then introduced King Richard's mother to Will, who also kissed her hand by way of greeting.

' But who is this fellow? ' the woman then asked, turning her attention to John, who had so far been stood like a wall flower, rather unnoticed and ignored by all.

' This, your majesty,' Robin informed her,' is Little John,'

' Little? ' her eyebrows shot up and a mischevious smile played on her lips,' I can't imagine there's any part of you that's little.'

Ava and Djaq exchanged grimaces at the very thought.

The Queen Mother continued,' I need a man like you around the castle at Aquitaine. We will talk later.'

Beofre anyone could say anything more, arrows landed on the woodwork of the little altar table, and they saw that archers - the Sheriff's archers, no less - were running down the aisle.

' Behind me, your majesty!' Legrand commanded with force, as everyone drew their weapons.

Little John quicky shut the door of the side altar and leant against it to stop anyone coming in.

'It's time to leave!' Robin announced.

' But that door's the only way out of here,' Ava pointed out.

' Oh, here we go again,' Much sighed.

' Precautions have been made for all eventualities,' Queen Eleanor told them calmly, tapping a stone in the ground with a handle on with her foot,' this leads directly to Barnsdale forest. Perhaps you would do the honours? ' she asked, looking right at Little John,' you, big bear.'

John mouthed the two words "big bear" in suprise to his outlaw friends, who were bust trying to stiffle their laughter, before he set to work pulling away the stone that would enable them to escape.

The Sheriff's taunting voice came through the door, as they saw him approaching through the small peephole in the door.

' Stop banging, you blithering oaths,' the Sheriff told his men as he got closer, before adressing the people shut inside the side altar, ' There is no escpae. My men are all over the forest. '

' It's too late Sheriff,' Robin called,' this treasure is ours,'

Through the small gap, the Sheriff managed to see what - or rather, whom - exactly the treasure was.

'Oh,' he said in a low voice,' and what a national treasure it is.'

' Who is that man? ' the Queen Mother asked sharply, looking around at the outlaws.

' Sheriff of Nottingham,' replied the Sheriff with ease,' Love the dress, you'd better come with me.'

Robin sighed,' What? So you can hold her to ransom in a tower? I don't think so.'

' That man,' the Sheriff said, pointing a short stubby finger at Robin,' is a sworn enemy of the state, and especially, your son Prince John.'

' Alas,' Queen Eleanor silenced him,' one can choose one's friends, but not one's family. You and John deserve each other.'

' Oh, then alas,' the evil Sheriff mocked,' you shall never leave England alive.'

'Are you always this odious, or have you just practised for me? ' asked the King's mother, with a wry smile, as Legrand and Robin helped her through the secret passageway, with John at the bottom to help her from that way.

'Oh, you haven't seen the half of it,' the Sheriff hissed before slamming the little shutter on the gap.

Legrand and his men followed Her Majesty down, whilst Robin stayed back as always to be the last one, and to ensure his comrades safety.

Will went after Legrand, and then helped Djaq down.

Much went down next, following an argument between him and Ava about who should go first - each wanting the other in safety - which was ended in Robin shoving Much down.

Robin nodded at Ava, signalling for her to go through the passageway.

The only thing was, that the passageway was quite deep and took her by suprise.

As she sat herself on the stone and pushed herself to the edge, she slipped and let out a little squeek.

Luckily she fell straight in to Much's arms as he had been waiting ready to grab hold of her.

' Got you,' he grinned, as he held her the way one would carry a bride over the threshold of a new maritial home.

She matched his grin,' Much obliged, darling,' she beamed as she towards him a little and kissed his lips quickly.

Appearing beside them, Robin rolled his eyes.

' Come on, Bonchurch,' he chuckled,' put the countess down so we can be on our way.'

Much, rather reluctantly, set Ava down on her feet and the three of them began to run after the others.

After ages of running through the forest, Robin stopped at a fork in the road and nodded in one direction, 'We need to keep going east,' he declared, before stopping and looking around.

There was something about the place ... it just wasn't right.

' What is it? Why have we stopped? ' Queen Eleanor asked.

Robin held up the palm on one hand to silence everyone, as he looked around, inspecting the place.

Then, they appeared.

The Sheriff's archers stood on top of the cliffs of the valley the gang were in.

' This, my lady,' the Sheriff said as he appraoched, surrounded by his guards, ' is an ambush.'

The Queen Mother glared,' I presume, Sheriff, that for the right price you would be willing to let us go? '

' Erm ... no, your majesty. You're worth far more to me than jewels,' the Sheriff said.

' You do not scare me,' replied the royal woman cooly.

' Oh, such spirit eh? Bring her, and kill the rest,' he ordered his men.

Legrand ran forward towards the Sheriff, ignoring the gang's shouts, and knocked out a few guards with his staff, whilst Robin shot arrows in to the guards who were raised up on the cliffs.

Legrand was them unfortunately stabbed right through the back by the Sheriff, whilst in the act of killing the last of the men on the ground.

The archers from the cliffs ran down to the ground where the outlaws were, and each one took on one or two of the outlaws, whilst Robin duelled the Sheriff.

As each of the outlaws - and Legrand's men - managed to either kill or knock out their opponents, Robin delivered a sharp blow to the Sheriff's jaw and knocked him out cold, giving them safe passage and time to get away.

They then gathered around Legrand, who was lying flat on his back on the forest floor.

' A stronger man, I never knew,' John said sincerley, kneeling beside him.

' The Queen,' Legrand breathed, hoping that it had not been for nothing, that she was safe.

' Legrand,' Queen Eleanor called gently, as she approached.

Legrand let out a short laugh of relief, before his head lolled to the side, and his last breath was breathed.

' Him ... I liked,' Little John said, with a saddened face.

Much pressed his lips to Ava's ear and muttered, ' I didn't,'

She smiled and shook her head, ' Not bein' funny but you shouldn't speak ill of the dead,' she whispered, making sure no one else heard.

Much rolled his eyes to the heavens,' Why must you continue to use that stupid phrase of your father's? ' he asked.

She shrugged, ' I can't help it ... it's with being around him, and talking to him.'

' Ah yes,' he nodded,' yesterday was Monday.'

Monday was the day Ava and Allan had agreed between them that they would meet by the stream.

After paying their respects to Legrand, they made their way back to the camp so that they could collect Legrand's horse for Queen Eleanor to ride away on.

' You should follow this road down to the coast,' Robin told her as she sat astride Legrand's white stallion at the side of the road, preparing to leave,' there will be a boat moored for you at the docks. Legrand's men will see you off to your friends in Ireland, and then off to France. '

Queen Eleanor sighed,' Poor Legrand,' she said - she had rather liked the boy.

' We'll give him a proper burial,' Robin assured her,' don't worry.'

' He was a hero, as are you all. Thank you,' said the Queen Mother sincerely,' my son, King Richard, will know of your bravery and sacrifice.'

Robin kissed her hand, as did Will and Much.

' Look after this pretty little creature,' the regal woman told Much, with a nod towards Ava, whose cheeks flushed lightly.

The Queen Mother then kissed the top of Little John's head, causing Little John to grimace and supress a very annoyed look, which in turn caused the others to have to supress their laughter.

' Remember your invitation, big bear,' she said in a low voice.

She then pulled a small bag from the inside of her cloak and threw it in to Robin's hand. As he caught it, it jingled with coins.

' My contribution,' she told him.

' Your majesty,' he said with a shake of the head,' I can't accept this.'

She shrugged,' I am rich. The poor are poor. Isn't that where you come in? '

With that she offered them all one last glance and a quick smile before turning the horse around and beginning her departure

' Come on Lads, Ava,' Robin said,' let's go home.'