Chapter 5.2 (six really)-The Escape Job Part two: Searching for a lost soul
It is interesting how a sentence can affect one person.
Ranging from disinterested to amused to annoyed to worried, words can affect one's feelings, even upset their mind state, or their body.
For Sir Guy Of Gisbourne, the words he heard on his phone had now troubled him greatly, leading him to rest on his four poster bed for support as his father tried to question what was wrong.
"Son? son?"
He had now started to approach his son cautiously and held onto his forearm- no response, just a sharp intake of breath from the head that had retreated into it's black lapels. This lack of "words" annoyed him greatly, leading him to shake his son and call to him in greater volume.
"SSSSOOON! STOP BEING A NANCY AND TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON?!"
Still there was a silence of words.
The father left him to walk to the door before being stopped by an arm.
"It was Sophia, Marian's head maid"
He turned his head to look at his son, squinting his eyes at him for his lack of response.
"That common girl? Well, what did she say?"
"Marian is gone"
"Where?"
"That's it. Gavin and her are just gone. Disappeared."
"Well maybe she is just getting over the voicemail, cooling off somewhere"
"No. She missed biscuit break father"
"And?"
"She never misses biscuit break. She's GONE"
And to be modest, at these words, Sir Guy Of Gisbourne Senior exploded.
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Being the Sheriff of Nottingham is very hard work.
You have to yell at people.
And be all bossy.
So since the "namby-pamby" guards were searching for Gisbourne to no success, and with an execution to attend tomorrow, this Sheriff decided to take a long nap.
After all his eyes were starting to look baggy- the stress of Locksley was starting to show and he needed to keep his image going.
Unfortunately he couldn't get to sleep.
He twisted around in the silk burgundy covers and clutched the pillows to his ears with no prevail. Some....racket outside was vibrating the very walls of his chamber. With a sigh he rose and in his most booming voice he screamed,
"GUARDS!"
but no-one came.
"YOU IDIOTS! GUARDS HERE AT ONCE!"
and still no reply. He stormed out of his bed, crashing his bird-cages as he opened the doors, expecting to see two armoured figures beside it.
Instead he was greeted with more noise, cheers and claps and music. And no guards by his doors. In fact as he travelled down all the corridors, no guards in sight!
Where are you you....cowardly idiotic fairy bloody....
He walked into the courtyard only to collide into the guards that should be by his chambers.
They didn't notice him at all, they were to busy clapping and swaying.
The courtyard was packed with guards, peasants, even some nobles who were planning to visit the sheriff but were instead dancing and shouting. There were people who had climbed onto the watch posts and all along the castle walls- all surrounding the execution platform. And on this platform...were a load of prisoners singing and playing instruments to a song he never heard.
There were two Marians there too-one dressed as a man- whose clothes he recognised as the person to be hung tomorrow. Nobody seemed to care that that woman was dressed like that
How strange.
Hmmmmmm.......
That second Marian can sing though - has a very strong smile.
Nice eyes too.
And her clothes work for her...
STOP IT HEAD!
The anger that raged through him was immense- he tried to shout and bang at the guards to be heard but was not. In the end he tried to calm himself and once he came back into his respectable state, something happened.
His foot started tapping along to the beat.
Stop it.
His palms started slapping against his sides.
STOP IT
For some reason his body was acting on his own accord. It would stop only to start again before it was cheering with the rest of the group like his rank did not matter.
"Ooh Baby give me one more chance..."
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Marian couldn't believe what she was seeing as the "Princess and Defender" hauled her up to the platform and began to sing again- she was looking at her as if Marian was supposed to do something.
The song was catchy and Marian couldn't but start to sway a bit.
The relative smiled at her in a way she couldn't help but respond to and sang to the crowd, her lips still curled upwards.
Marian started to dance more, and let herself feel the music. The woman started to call the crowd to sing out, to which they answered vigorously.
She leaned over to Marian's ear and whispered
"Keep dancing, and follow my lead."
Holding her musical instrument in one hand, she took a sack off her belt, loosened the tie and sprinkled the contents into the crowd - gold pieces! The crowd shouted louder, clapped and jumped as the woman and the other people stepped into the crowd engulfing them. Marian followed as people clapped and the singing continued. The song came to it's end as the group finally made it's way to the front gate where they all bowed. The woman also named Marian said in a booming voice
"I am glad you enjoyed this! I wish you God's blessing and happiness for the day. Here is a token to help with Nottingham's troubles!"
She took another loosened bag of gold coins and let the contents stretch out into the crowd, her smile never leaving her face. She bowed again and as the crowd were trying to follow, she ushered the group to run out to the side of the castle, to a pair of horses. She turned to Marian
"And that my er......cousin is how you escape Nottingham castle singing!"
She was still in shock.
"Hello? Hullllllloooooo?"
Marian snapped out of her gaze
"Yea?"
"Thank you for helping me"
"What did I do?"
"You participated. You danced. You had fun. What else?" She somehow thought that answered the question- Maid Marian did not.
"Uhh...my pleasure"
"cool. Please tell me why you are marrying Guy of Gisbourne?"
"You never forget these things do you? I have to"
"But WHY?"
"I just have to"
"Urgh! You can't marry him"
"Why?"
"You.....just can't!"
"Well I have to!"
"Why do you have to?"
"Why must I not?"
"Um excuse me ladies?"
The both of them turned to the men in front of them. Lady Marian walked up to one of them to say
"Sorry John. Here have this. Now all of you go back to your families and get out of here okay?"
She handed all the prisoners some coins. After getting over the shock they left running shouting thank you in the distance. Only one man remained by Lady Marian's side and had now proceeded to climb upon one of the horses.
"Would you like a ride home Maid Marian?" said the lady-she was already upon the other horse in no time.
"No. I will walk"
"Fine then. I will be back cousin. You need to know about the whole situation"
The tone was almost chilling despite the smile it was hiding behind.
Those words made her believe that that woman who looked like her would be back, and it would be very soon.
She watched as the two horses galloped down the alleyway towards the forest, and she turned away, convincing herself that Guy was a man of good qualities: a worthy man, a man she would marry to save her father, robin and herself- All the way home.
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"Gavin I think we are here for more than one reason"
"Oh really my Lady?"
They were riding through the forest tracks casually-Lady Marian had put her hood back up and was carving some pears up with her fruit knife. Occasionally she would try and feed pieces to Black Lightning by bending over rather dangerously and hand some pieces to Gavin
"Of course. Maid Marian is not meant to marry Gisbourne. That's obvious"
"Are you sure?"
"What do you mean?"
"Everyone is entitled to choose who they want to marry, and you cannot choose who you fall in love with. And certainly some distant yet remarkably similar looking relation from the future can't tell you what to do. It is Maid Marian's life, and if she loves Gisbourne, she should marry him. Whether you say so or not my Lady"
"But she doesn't love him!"
"How do you know?"
"I just know! When I asked her-more than once- why she was marrying him she would say she HAD to! Like she had no choice in the matter-if she loved him she would tell me. I have the feeling she has been forced to do this and she is trying to love him to make up for what is happening in the situation. I am sure that Guy probably has some good intentions inside of him, and that is twisting her mind! What is interesting is how he had disappeared though" she finished biting into a fruit piece and looking at the tree branches above her
"Would that be another reason why we are here then my lady? I am glad we are out of that prison and I know that you slipped me happy pills mixed in that cup of juice a moment back to calm me down and I am out of my senses but how are we going to find him? How are we going to get home? We have no idea how we got here!"
"What?"
"You weren't listening were you?"
"No. Sorry what did you say?"
"What is the other reason we are here for then?"
"I thought I saw someone"
"umm?"
"In the crowd back at the castle. I thought I saw......I'm not sure but maybe.....................
..oh never mind..."
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Much was now shouting at the top of his lungs and jumping up and down with the music. The group had been boxed in with many of Nottingham's residents from all classes enjoying the music that the group on the platform were supplying. Djaq was swaying along holding hands with Will. John was tapping his stick and moving sort of awkwardly from side to side trying to push off the people squashed next to him. Allan was looking around his point for the person he wanted to see.....had wanted to see for 9 years. He saw guards clapping, people hanging off the balconies but not what he wanted.
Then two people jumped onto the platform: Maid Marian and........maid Marian?
Allan looked at the woman-dressed in the clothes of mark, hair slightly longer, and what a voice she was putting out.
She stood differently to maid marian.
It was her.
He knew it.
John had now stopped "dancing" and he and Much pushed to reach Allan
"MARK'S A WOMAN?!" Much shouted. It was the only was they could communicate
"OF COURSE SHE IS! THAT'S HER!"
"THAT GIRL YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IN AGES?"
"YEAH!"
"I THOUGHT SHE WAS DEAD"
"SO DID I"
"THEN HOW COME SHE IS THERE SINGING? YOU DIDN'T SAY SHE LOOKED LIKE MARIAN!"
"I DON'T KNOW. BACK THEN WE WERE LITTLE AND I AM HAZY ON EVERYTHING STILL. WE HAVE TO GET TO HER"
What Allan said wasn't any joke or question, it was a demand. The group that were just sprinkling gold coins into the crowd had now reached the front gate and were sprinkling more coins into the crowd once more. Even though the song had ended, people were cheering and Much kept saying how he was sure at the back he could see the sheriff in his bedclothes shouting.
'SHE IS RICH ALLAN YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT" said Will. They snuck up behind him although he hadn't noticed. He was watching her as she talked in a rich voice-putting her miles away from the striking resemblance she shared with the person next to her. She bowed and as she lifted her body back up, they crossed eyes.
Just for the briefest of moments it looked like she saw and recognised him before swinging her head back, and running off.
He wanted to reach out to touch her. See if she was real.
He called out and tried to get out of the huge crowd to catch her.
He struggled to push past the workers and guards and by the time he made the side of the castle he saw her run to...
she was gone.
Was she real? Was she even there? He kept running down alleyways and streets, pushing out the returning citizens like a madman.
Nothing.
After he couldn't run any longer, he crashed himself into a cottage wall only to crumple to the ground holding his necklace in his hands, breathing deeply.
Much, Little John, Will and Djaq finally caught up with him only to stare at the state the man was in.
"She's not there. She's not anywhere-I saw her and I know I am not mad. It's like all those years ago: She just disappeared. I KNOW she was here. Where is she?"
He finally brought himself to look up at the people who were now surrounding him in sympathy.
"Where is she?"
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"WHERE IS SHE?"
"I don't know father! Could not possibly not shout into the phone so loud?"
"I CAN'T HELP SHOUTING WHEN I'M ANGRY! NOW YO...."
Gizzy had to hold the phone away from him before he felt he would become deaf in one ear if he kept listening to his father.
He looked across at the staff of Locksley Manor gathered by the grand double staircase. All had kept their heads down, those with hats held them across their heart. Even Ray-sorry-Rachel's grandmother Mary: the previous head cook was present leading sadly on her walking stick. Sophia had now taken to eating biscuits constantly for comfort. She held a packet of mellow-puffs in her hand that was nearly empty. The team of gardeners that looked after the grounds had picked flowers to lay at the foot of the tapestry that showed the family line at the top of the stairs.
"Look I know I haven't known Marian as long as all of you, but don't you think you are overacting? It has been five hours for goodness sakes and you are acting as if she was dead!"
Sophia began to sob
"Ooh. I didn't mean that....I well...Don't just cry....I just think that we need to search more"
Rachel popped up
"Who do ya think ya are sugar-puff? We HAVE searched: everywhere in fact! The whole grounds, the clubs, the alleyway she likes to go down if she wants to take the long way home, the RSPCA, even Sherwood forest! SHE. IS. NOWHERE!"
Sophia sobbed even more and began to lean into Rachel who took her in his arms.
"What would Marian say if she heard you talking like that eh? After all she did for ALL of you, and don't think you can count yourself out of that equation"
"I was born into my position"
"And she was willing to let you do what you want: She said you could be what you want, despite what her father had always said the necessity for uniforms. She BOUGHT you those pink boots for your BIRTHDAY you...ponce! We can't give up!"
Rachel had taken a few steps back, let go of Sophia to fall upon stairs with him.
"I know darling I know it's just...I don't know what we can do. What DO we do?"
The house was silent but for the crackle of Gizzy's father still yelling in the phone, as if his son had been listening the whole time.
Mary the old cook tapped her walking stick
"We wait. Locksleys always come home. So, we wait"
"Okay then Mrs. Much, we wait" Guy replied. The rest of the manor nodded slowly in succession.
"Good. I'll put the kettle on"
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"...I WANT YOU TO FIND THAT STUPID LITTLE TWAT OF AN ECCENTRIC ARISTOCRAT AND BRING ME HER ESTATE ON A PLATTER YOU HEAR ME? I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS NONSENSE AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR THE TABLOIDS TO THINK THAT WE HAVE BUMPED OFF A NATIONAL 'TREASURE', NOT TO MENTION BRITAIN'S DEFENDER TO GET HER BLOODY HOUSE! YOU FIND HER! YOU MAKE HER CRY AND YOU GET HER MONEY NOW! YOU STUPID SON-MAYBE MATILDA WAS RIGHT WHEN SHE SAID YOU LOOK LIKE YOU HAVE A LEARNING DISORDER WHEN SHE NURSED YOU! 'CAUSE YOU HAVEN'T LEARNT TO KEEP YOUR FATHER HAPPY!"
He slammed the receiver into it's holder with a huge clatter, as the phone fell off the table onto the floor. He muttered to himself as he stormed through the passageways to reach the family room door.
He turned the brass handle and walked slowly into the room- it was full of portraits, family crests in various sizes but most of all a huge portrait of a man in black leather, leaning on his sword with both hands looking off into the distance with black hair framing his face. Underneath this there was a plaque that read
Sir Guy of Gisbourne
Head of Arms for the Sheriff of Nottingham
Defender of the Law.
The man clasped his hands together and stood in front of the painting, head tilted upwards to look at the face of the picture only to say in a low, dark whisper
"You wished vengeance on the Locksleys. They gave our family pain...
We will take back what we deserve.
And you will get your revenge..."
To be Continued
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AN: I finally got over a writer's block I had for a while but I am back and I will finish my story now. I hate to leave things unfinished. That reminds me of my other stories....oops.
Review! Enjoy!
Next Chapter: Life on Mars with the Locksleys
....
"ALLAN! I KNOW YOU ARE HERE SOMEWHERE! WHERE ARE YOU YOU DISAPPEARING ERR.....what's the word I am looking for here Gavin?"
"moron my lady?"
"yeah! WHERE ARE YOU YOU DISAPPEARING MORON! ARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!"
"Nice touch with the grunt my lady"
"Thanks Gav"
...