Chapter five: The Escape Job Part one
There was so much stuff that needed to be included in this chapter, so I decided to divide it up into two parts which I am loading up over two days to make up for my time spent away from the writing pad.
I HATE EXAMS
enjoy!
"What? You can not be serious my la...er son! All that plan will do is get us some funny looks from the guards and torture! You can not expect people to fall for that?" Gavin whispered. He couldn't believe what he heard Mark speak to John
"Of course it will work! I know people and if there is one thing that will work, it's this. They will only want to watch us! The only it can go wrong is if someone stops smiling" Mark whispered back to Gavin. At this point in time, he was leaning against the back wall of the cell, arms crossed and staring straight at Mark. He was holding a guitar in his hand, something he still wondered how it got into his pocession, but then everything was strange he realised when you work for who he works for. Mark sighed and walked towards Gavin, eventually leaning beside him on her side.
"...And it's either that or your womanly wiles Gavin"
Gavin started choking as Marian laughed loudly. Then the dungeon cell opened, followed by a short squirmy man with a set of keys walking through, leading behind him two people: A bald man and a woman. Mark wasn't paying attention though. Mark groaned as she put up her hood and tidied up her appearance to hide her feminine features. Gavin was gasping for breath, it sounded like though, with Mark mistook for him not having his inhaler on him because guards thought it could be a weapon. A weapon! Yet they were allowed to bring in a guitar...Mark couldn't contain her laughter at the fact as the three approached the cell doors.
"Oh lord" was all Gavin said, whilst nudging Mark with his elbow constantly.
Mark stopped laughing. The three people stood there, a shriveled man Mark remembered as the key-keeper, a bald man with horrible teeth (that reminded her of a dodgy car sales-man she met once) and a woman. She looked at her. It was like looking in the mirror, with a dress. Mark screwed up her face. The only difference (apart from dress sense) was the eyes. Hers seems like they hid something she couldn't quite put her hands on. Mark always believed that the eyes were the "window to your soul" so to speak. It was obvious that the woman was THE Maid Marian, although it looked like she had just been crying, or had just been rubbing her eyes to make it look like that. Mark was leaning to the latter.
"These were two arrested for the heinous crime of blowing up Locksley Hall Sheriff" the key keeper said
Ah.
The Sheriff of Nottingham.
Bollocks.
"I have a bad idea about this my lady" whispered Gavin inside mark's ear as they slowly straightened up against the back wall.
"...We presume that they are responsible for the kidnapping of your husband -to-be Maid Marian" the man continued, who was trying hard to look evil. Although in Mark's opinion, he just looked like a dirty man. Then realisation hit her...hard...with hockey sticks.
Mark leapt up to the cell bars and in the most gruff voice she could muster, said
"Why in the world would we want to take your husband to be? I don't even know who he is!"
She thought about this, and Mark was sure that Robin hood was her husband to be, but he was an outlaw! Which meant that the husband to be was someone else. And she was sure that THAT was Maid Marian...something was very wrong. The silence that had grasped the jail cells was interrupted when Maid Marian spoke.
"NO. These people are not of Robin Hood. They couldn't be. They do not have tags, anything and I could be quite sure they are only some villagers causing disturbance. They wouldn't be the ones who took...guy"
she started sobbing. The sobbing was definitely fake, thought Mark, and also she had a lighter and more airy voice compared to herself. But what was more worrying was the name she said. Guy? Maid Marian is supposed to be with a Robin not a Guy!
"Guy? As in GUY OF GISBOURNE?" her voice was starting to raise higher in pitch as she had got louder, which she tried to combat by clearing her throat in the deepest tone possible.
"No questions my little friends" The man beside the sheriff said
Apart from this, Maid Marian nodded in a pathetic way.
"Oops my son." said Gavin turning to Mark. His face seemed a bit worrying too. Gavin had stopped leaning on the wall now and was impeccably straight, as if he was standing to attention in the army.
Maid Marian stopped sobbing. Well...fake sobbing and turned to them, as the Sheriff obviously started to sigh at the cry. By the looks of it, Marian wasn't fooling anyone, well at least not Mark. The Sheriff was now smiling like that sales-man again as he clasped his hands behind his back and walked closer to the bars.
Mark had to think of something to get rid of them, otherwise the plan would flop completely. Having the Sheriff of Nottingham here would make sure the guards were doing their job...well you would when your boss was there wouldn't you? It would blow the plan to bits
"Why did you burn Locksley hall? And do be truthful for I don't take lightly to lying..." The Sheriff asked
Then it occurred to Mark...
Be. an. Idiot.
Here goes...
"It was a mistake"
"A mistake riiiight..."
Right...show-time, what annoys a Sheriff? Let's try 90 miles per hour talk...
"Well...yeah. I mean I was given this powder right? Although I don't know where I got it from or WHO..ooh... anyway And my horse Had some rope attached to it so I got a flame to melt the rope together to stop unravelling right? ANd then because I was always a dope with chicken feed OH MY GOD as I told my friend Rich when we went to the shops once as you might know last summer we went to a fair and..."
"That's enough!" said the Sheriff
Perfect.
"Alright keep your teeth in!"
It worked! Lollies on the House!
"I feel like a hanging...hang them tomorrow"
Not so perfect
Mark's hidden face sunk. Marian started to protest
"You can't hang them for that! They..."
"Enough Marian I am helping you with your domestic problem so you better be quiet concerning your lovey-dovey from here on"
Marian stopped talking.
Mark just looked at her.
What the hell are you doing woman? You are letting a man boss you around like that? Fight him! Kick him where the sun don't shine! Do something!
She just turned around and left the cells behind the two men. After they left, Mark had got very angry indeed
--
"Best friends"
"What?"
"It must be her! Friends! We were best friends!"
"Okay I'm lost now Allan. Let's just back up the horses and look them in the eye okay?"
"What kind of a saying is THAT?"
"What's wrong with it?"
"It makes no bloody sense John!"
"Oh EVERYONE'S a critic...'
--
"Pathetic!"
"With respect my son this is the Medieval age"
"Still! Talk about a damsel in distress! Why is she marrying Gisbourne! Do you know what that means?"
"What?"
"It would mean I'm dating some distant cousin at the moment"
"That did occur to my mind but I do think that we are over..."
"Well I am not letting this happen. Not this or the hanging"
Gavin just sighed as Mark chucked him a tube of liquid
"Back to the plan. That's the acid. We need that to last for us, John and the three others"
"That won't cover a small biscuit!"
"Fine then"
Mark then searched through her pockets until she found three more similar sized bottles. She passed two to Gavin and one she rolled to John who grabbed the bottle. Along with that she threw over the sack of coins
"There you go. Now you know what to do with that sack and liquid?"
John nodded and began to pour the liquid on the hinges of his cell door, as Gavin did the same. John watched, amazed as the acid began eating the iron.
"Okay now Gavin call the other three and pass me that guitar. Here, have the harmonica."
Gavin did so as quietly as possible
"Okay then! Let's get out of here! I am sick of whispering" Mark whispered
--
"Keep quiet Much! You are blowing our cover!"
"Like YOU are quiet Allan!"
"I'm not the one who is eating that apple thing while we're sneaking into the castle"
"It's called a to...OW MY TEETH! I THINK A BROKE A TOOTH"
"Quiet you two" tapped Will on the side of the Hay wagon filled over the top with hay and supported by thick wooden blocks, as they approached the gates of the castle. They were stopped by two guards who proceeded to poke and prod the hay stack with forks and sticks. After nothing was found by the guards, they proceeded through into the courtyard where the wooden blocks started to move. As the guards left, Allan, John, Diaq and Much pushed out of the blocks and breathed heavily with their hands on their knees.
"Man did it get stuffy in here" said Allan laboriously
"I think I have some hay stuck on my shirt. They're itchy" said Much slowly as he started to itch his back, one hand holding his jaw whilst trying to get some sort of comfort from the hay that had slipped down into his shirt. Of course there was no such relief.
"Come on Much, stop laying about! We have to save people"
"I reject the fact that you all think that I am just someone who lays about and talks about food!"
They all just stared at him
"Fine then!"
And with that rant, the whole group shifted in the direction of the prison until they heard the most unusual noise erupting. Soon the whole castle was starting to shake as they watched townsfolk enter the courtyard and guards cheering and clapping in rhythm coming out of the castle.
"Oh. my. lord."
--
John started beating the coins sack in between his hands as a tambourine and started to stamp out a steady rhythm. Gavin joined in clapping along , gesturing to the three others to start clapping as well. One of the curled up masses of fear started to make rattle noises in time with the beat on the jail bars even. As soon as the beat was collective, Mark rose up and started to play the guitar and started to sing
"When I had you to myself
I didn't want you around
Those pretty faces always made you stand out in a crowd...
By that time, the prisoners started to get excited and hummed along to the song as guards stopped what they were doing and listened to them. Mark saw this as the chance.
"...But someone picked you from the bunch
one glance was all it took
Now it's much too late for me to take a second look"
And that beat, she nodded to John and which point they kicked the jail cells and with a crash the iron doors came down on the chorus beat. From which, Mark, John and Gavin began to slowly exit out of the cells as the guards hooted. Mark began to smile broadly as Gavin inched backwards and applied the acid to the doors of the other three prisoner's hinges.
"...oh baby give me one more chance
(to show you I love you)
won't you please send me
back in your heart.
Oh darling I was blind
to let you go
now since I see you in his arms
I want you back"
And after waiting another 4 beats, All three doors were ripped in a similar fashion, whilst Mark had continued to sing and keep the song alive. More and more guards seemed to come and join to watch Mark, Gavin, John and the new three instrumentalists sing Jackson 5 songs. Anyways it was the song that Allan and her had together, and it seemed fitting that she should play it when tomorrow was the anniversary of his disappearance. The six started to head out of the cells, guards starting to lead and follow them as the crowd started to get bigger and bigger.
Trying to live without your love
is one long sleepless night
Let me show ya girl
That I know wrong from right
Every street I walk down
It has tear stains on the ground
following the girl
I didn't even want around
They turned onto the corridor that led to the courtyard that Mark remembered when she was imprisoned. There she saw her bow, and other stuff that Gavin had carried in one of the corners. She nodded for Gavin to collect them but as he did, Maid Marian came out of one of the doors, mouth open wide. As the guards started to fill the courtyard ahead and Gavin had collected their stuff, Mark traded the guitar with Gavin for her bow and Gavin continued to play with their gear slung on his back.
Oh baby give me one more chance
to show you that I love you...
Mark then approached Marian whilst singing and took her hood down as the instrumental began. Maid Marian started at her in disbelief.
"What the world is this?"
"An escape, without running or fighting. A singing escape! Isn't it just GREAT!... Now what is with this guy?"
"What?"
"Why are you marrying Guy?"
"Why is it your business?"
"it is every right my business"
She took off her wig, and Marian just looked at her, shocked even more
"W..w..w..who are you?"
"I'm...a relative. Well...a relative...um...a cousin with some anger over YOU. marrying. GUY!"
"Well i have to marry him"
"Why?"
"Who ARE you?"
"I told you a relative!"
"Name?"
Man was she annoying. Mark took a deep breath. She hated saying her titles, they always took too long...she started anyway, hoping maid marian would believe her.
"Marian. Lady Marian, Princess and defender of..."
"Marian? Princess and Defender?"
"Hey there is more than one Marian in the world you know! And YES I AM a defender! A quite GOOD defender..."
The instrumental was close to closing and Mark began to get shifty, if she didn't get back to her song, soon it would fall apart and strand them in the middle of nottingham castle with a crowd of guards.
"Tell me more"
didn't give up did she?
"Haven't got time to explain really. Now are you going to help me escape or do I have to pull you?"
"Well..."
Mark sighed as she did the final touches to her hair, she left her hood and wig down and pulled Maid Marian into the courtyard. It was full of people, cheering:
"I WANT YOU BACK, I WANT YOU BACK, I WANT YOU BACK..."
--
When the woman pulled the hood and wig down, Maid Marian's jaw dropped. She was looking at herself, dressed as a man except something was different. Something unexplainable...
She had a richer voice, one of calm and unshakeable certainty. Her stance showed confidence, and possibly show-offness. Her neck was cluttered with necklaces of different shapes and lengths. Were they PURE silver? It looked like it. But there was a...feeling around her, A glow. It felt like as long as she was there things would be okay and problem-free. As long as she was there, she was fine, and that the world would be too. She stared into her eyes, they pierced her body and looked into her heart and soul, but that wasn't just all.
They looked like Robin's eyes
--
--
"SON! YOU HAVE DONE IT!"
Lord Guy of Gisbourne had never been more proud of his son. For once in that boy's life he had done something that had worked. He rushed through the richly furnished hallways to the bedroom of the person in question. And with an evil flourish of his hand (he liked his evil flourishes- that looked oh so cool in the mirror) the heavy door was flown open on it's squeaky hinges.
There he was.
Lying face down on his bed.
Holding a photo in one hand and his phone in the other.
He had laid himself out in a crucifix shape.
Muttering incoherently.
Well there blows that proud feeling he had for his son.
It wasn't gonna last for long anyway.
"Boy get yourself up! What the hell ARE you doing?"
"ummhumm"
"What?"
"I'M WALLOWING IN PITY AND BEGGING FORGIVENESS LIKE EVERY PERSON HAS THE RIGHT TO DO SO WHEN THEY DUMP A PERSON AND ARE HAVING DOUBTS ABOUT WHAT THEY DID" Guy shouted into the silk pillow covers
"really?"
"yea"
"I don't see how that fits into 'ummhumm' do you?"
"well I said it fast"
"no you idiot you just mumbled. NOW GET UP!"
Guy pushed himself off the pillows and sat down cross-legged as his dad leaned against the bed-side.
"Now we are going to do some archery practice"
"May I ask why father?"
"Because I said so! And also I anonymously called some tabloids about the situation. Ooh! The publicity! Perfect isn't it? Anyway, I am not having the family name slandered on papers because you can't even shoot the target yet won a bet against Locksley. That will bring suspicion up."
"t..t.t.t.t...tabloids?"
"Yes"
"But Marian has lost me and if this plan goes through, her estate! She's lost so much through her life you know father. What if we just..."
A ring of 'we will rock you' interrupted the conversation, coming the black block still in Gizzy's hand. He turned the phone over in his hand
Marian
Gizzy squeezed his eyes shut as he pushed the talk button, and put the phone next to his ear. He could only bring himself to hiss almost silently
"h.h.h.h.h..i?"
"Mr Gizzy?"
It wasn't Marian, it was Sophia who helped look after Locksley manor with Marian's companion/butler/target/test-subject Gavin. Gizzy sighed. She was woman of her twenties that Marian found working a part-time job as a checkout girl at a supermarket. Marian offered her minimal work at the manor, including accommodation at more than checkout girl wage-More than alot of wages really. Of course Sophia had accepted gladly.
The manor was occupied with several people that Marian had helped through time and had offered jobs and accommodation to. From cleaners to odd-job people were working at the manor. Although these people really didn't work that often-regular holidays were common.
Sophia was Marian's clubbing mate (and always dressed a little too skimpy for Marian's liking on a saturday)- along with head chef Raymond (known as Rachel-and always wore pink knee length boots).
Raymond always scared Gizzy a bit.
The looks he gave him always made him feel awkward.
Very awkward.
Gizzy noticed suddenly that Sophia had been calling his name several times. He replied hastily,
"yeah?"
"Phew there...thought I was talkin' to a ghost there!"
Sophie's voice quivered even though it sounded like she was pretending to be fine.
"Mr Gizzy...have you been in contact with Lady Marian lately?"
This couldn't be good
"No sorry"
The breathing hitched on the other line
"Why? Has something happened?"
"Lady Marian has not turned up for Lunch or afternoon tea, or even for the biscuit break. She hasn't called once to hold the Tim tams for her, nor has Mr. Gavin turned up."
Oh no.
Marian never missed biscuit break.
Something was definitely wrong.
To be continued