Chapter four: I'm a Party thrower
"How are we going to rescue them?" said Will
"Things are a bit hard without his majesty sorting out his girl problems"
Little John punched Allan's arm for that comment.
"Oi! I didn't mean it in a BAD way"
"You shouldn't mean it in any way" replied Little John
"Let's turn back to the rescue at hand. Without Robin at the moment as Allan had pointed out, things are going to be a little harder. But we must do it." continued Will
"Why?" said Much
"I need to ask about these arrows. There...different. Different wood and there is something inside. I can feel it! And look at these carvings"
Everybody bent inwards to look at the arrow he had brought out to show to them. Will was right. The arrow was heavier, a darker wood and vines covered the arrow shaft. The shield at the arrowhead was also unusual: four initials carved in boxes crossing two arrows and a noose. The letters: M, A, R and G.
"Marg, Maaarg, Marrrrg, ma.."
"You can stop that now Much"
"How can you shoot an arrow like that? It's too heavy, and would probably veer off in another direction when you shoot it. Only a fool would use it" said Diaq.
"Or a fool with toffee apples"
"I suppose"
While everyone kept on talking, Allan noticed something else on the arrow buried in the vines. It was a half a heart with the word "best" written on it.
Allan looked at his own chain hanging on his neck at the moment.
His heart said "friends"
--
The bag of coins hang in the centre of the prison cell, held up by a pair of calm, collected (not to mentioned explosion mark covered) hands.
John looked at the bag. He heard the clang of coins inside, that would feed his family for months! He could pay his taxes, and eat!
"Ye,yea,yeah I am musical. well i can play..."
"Well then! We have a deal!"
"What?"
She took the bag back as the guard returned past. She shuffled closer to John and in a very low whisper said
"We are going to get out of here so you are going to need this to..
--
"You can not make me do this father!"
"You must my son if you want to win Locksley's inheritance"
"But father..."
"Do you contradict your Father's orders?"
"N...n...no"
"Then do it. Locksley and her retched family are known for their loss in concentration when angry. Along with the fact that they like the idea of killing themselves. Not that I blame them. Make that call now Guy!"
Back in the 21st century, Guy of Gisbourne was now holding his mobile in his father's library. He was dressed in all black: black skinny jeans, black shirt and black converses. He didn't want to do this to his Marian. After all that she had been though: her mother and her father, allan...
He pushed up his black shirt sleeves up to his elbows and ruffled his hair. His hands were sweaty. He tried to wipe them on his skinny jeans but it didn't work for long. He stared at his motorola at the contact list and flicked down till he found Marian.
Guy took a deep breath.
He decided to sit down on the leather couch and watched his father with his crazy grin sitting in the chair opposite him. Guy could tell his patience was starting to wear thin.
He stared at her name. He felt his thumb trace over the call button.
Problem was he LIKED Marian. Her quirkiness, her playfulness, her...
"What are you waiting for? You have seen the way she treats you. She hardly recognises your existence! So much for being in love when she goes off places and never tells you where she is. All she does is mope and beat you at sports! Don't you want to win this for once? Be a man for goodness sakes! Call her now!"
Dumping a girl on the phone showed lack of sense and balls in Guy's opinion. But that was his father's point he guessed. Dump her, make her so angry that she loses concentration and win the bet when she is too angry to shoot. Truth was he preferred his idea of replacing his brake fluid with water instead. That way he could keep Marian.
He pushed the call button.
His head was full of regrets. Why do this eh Guy? She said she loves you you git. You said you love her. What's the problem?
She is always there for you whenever you need her. She...
The phone went to answer-phone. Guy cleared his throat.
You know you are going to regret it...
"Marian...It's me Gizzy" she always called him Gizzy. He found that cute...He stopped his thoughts and continued
"Marian, it's...it's over. I'm sorry but I can't continue this relationship the way it is. There can be no solution or working out to fix it. It's gone. I'm sorry"
He hung up quickly and put his head in his hands
"Now that wasn't hard was it eh Son?"
Guy just groaned into his hands
"You don't need that ungrateful wrench. All she does is bask in the glory of the stupid past. That's exactly what you are doing now. Now bask in the present. There are better girls than those who have a phobia of dresses"
All he could think about was when they first got together...
The tall Locksley Manor covered in ivy vines loomed over as he walked up to the door in his tuxedo with his dad.
"never liked these Locksleys. But I will give to them that they throw the biggest parties in the universe at stupid points in time. I mean why a party for Elephants tonight?"
"The Locksleys? As in Robin Hood?"
"Precisely! The very one and stupid only. The great line of Robin is running short now though"
"What?"
They tapped on the door with the knocker. It was a lion holding in his mouth an arrow shaped in a circle
"There is only one Locksley left thank goodness. Lady Marian of Locksley. Rumor is that her father killed himself in front of her at the age of 11 shouting that she was a mistake though the screams"
"Wow...that's..."
"Not surprising. I thought he did the right thing though. We went to his funeral if you remember but you were asleep most of the time. So was I actually... The family is famous for being suicidal. But listen this don't think too much if you find she seems a bit weird and STAY WITH ME AT ALL TIMES. Apparently she is so eccentric that the queen pardoned her from applying to palace rules because they got so tired of telling her to wear a dress when she visited "
The door opened and there was a stiff butler who turned his head inwards to show them in. Then in a boom-crashing voice he shouted
"Lord Guy and Guy of Gisbourne! Welcome to Locksley Manor"
The huge place was filled with people in various types of dress holding glasses and chatting to each other. Ice sculptures, fondue fountains and all sorts of things were there. He could see the table of the dining room to the left of him in a separate room. It was huge! He followed his father inwards as his dad walked through the masses of people to the staircase that circled to the room. There she was in black skinny jeans, a white ruffled top and a long dark green trench coat and her riding boots smiling brightly at the two. Her clear green eyes shook him. In a rich deep tone she said
"Glad you could make it to the party"
She bowed rather than curtsied to them to which they both also did so. He found that strange. He then remembered what he said. She continued to say
"We haven't meet properly I know but you did attend my father's funeral so I wanted to meet you so to speak since you knew my father"
"Kind of you to invite us Lady Marian.." he father said
"Oh call me Marian such formalities can get annoying at times. Anyway you can't be personal with someone when they keep calling you my lady"
"rather"
"And you must be the other guy" she said to him holding out her hand. He took it and with that she gave the roughest handshake he ever felt.
"Nice to meet you Marian"
She laughed. Strange.
"Very nice to meet you too. Now enjoy the party Guys! Get it? Guy, Guys? oh doesn't matter. Just have fun!"
With that she winked at them and ran back up the stairs and disappeared.
"You know what son?"
"what father?"
"She is weirder than I thought."
"She does seem a bit unusual"
"A BIT UNUSUAL? Oh I can see that love look on your face son. Don't think it. It would never work, and imagine what life was like with her there prancing about in suits laughing at strange things ignoring you"
"I wasn't thinking anything. I will be fine"
LATER
They had dinner, a meal of simple food with extraordinary tastes that he would never forget. He always saw her here and there as she sat across from him and his father, eating mainly very quickly and talking to Prince Harry and William beside her. Prince William and Harry?
Then a voice whispered into his ear
"She might be loony but does she have connections"
"A lot of them"
"Hmm..."
He could tell he was thinking something about her. He knew it.
They danced. Oh did they dance indeed to music anybody wanted to yell out. Mainly sing-a-longs that some people to the left were drunkenly shouting. He was made by his father not to participate but he wanted to dance. However weird it would damage Gisbourne image. All his father did was talk
"The Locksleys are also famous for betting too, and not just the simple toss a coin either. Limbs, houses, countries even this family have betted on. This Marian has bet her house more than once and her prized bow and arrow over a kit kat bar."
They sat at the bar in the corner set in the dance hall. All his father did was talk but then while he went to the toilet, she pulled his arm from no where and took him to the dance floor.
"Feel like dancing?"
"You are on"
They danced for ages, laughed and joked not noticing his father searching for them in the crowd. She was cheerful, playful and a good dancer. Nothing like what was depicted by her father. By the end of We will Rock You, they walked out onto a balcony off the side of the dining room with drinks in their hands, laughing
"Your a good dancer you know Guy"
"Why thank you very much. You are not bad yourself"
They leaned on the rail of the Balcony as the red curtains waved in and out as the wind pushed them. They looked at the view: Hills and trees flittered the view shown by the light of the moon and the millions of stars that twinkled above. He had a idea.
"Fancy a bet?"
She turned around to him with a grin. Her green eyes sparkling.
"always. What is your terms?"
He pulled out a coin from his pocket
"I win, I get to kiss you"
Her eyebrows raised
"You win..."
"I get your drink and that coin. You are on Guy"
He smiled. He flipped the coin and caught it, placed it on his hand and covered it
"Heads" she said
He opened it. Tails. Fantastic.
"Looks like I win. And I was under the impression that you always won and hated losing."
She placed her drink on the ledge and wrapped her arms around his neck whilst whispering
"Really? Cause I didn't mind losing this bet"
And with that they kissed. Her lips tasted like strawberry unusually when she was drinking a banana cocktail...didn't matter. He held her and brought her closer. It seemed to last forever, lit by the stars, cradled by the night and lifted by the moon.
When they parted, all she said was
"I'm still taking your drink though"
He could still taste the strawberry on his lips. It seemed to last forever, just like that kiss. It was worth the yelling he got when they were found by his father just minutes later. Oh was it worth it. If only he could find out where she was now and ask her to forgive that message he sent to her mobile and things be okay. Damn his father, dictating his life...
--
"...to.."
Marian felt a vibration in a her pocket.
It was her mobile phone. Why does it work here in 1192?
She took it out of her pocket under the belt, the black phone Gizzy gave her for her birthday. She in turn gave him a night out at a restaurant and a laptop. He liked his technology. She really liked the phone a lot...and Gizzy too.
She looked at the phone and it was a call from him under 'not important'. She gave him two sim cards to call from, one important and one unimportant or 'don't answer this cause my father is here ANNOYING ME to make me do something'. But he always forgot which was which. It would have worked but it never did. She turned from John to prevent any early invention of the cell phone or being called a witch, and sent the call to her answer-phone.
She placed it back in her pocket and turned back to John who eyes went wide.
"It's...a little distraction I have created to get us out of here um...I was just fixing it a bit"
His eyes relaxed
"Now back to the plan..."
She hoped that the call wasn't important or anything.
--To be continued--
(Plus I will bring 5 up soon I promise!
NEXT TIME: THE ESCAPE JOB!)