We talked as we walked towards the woods. Robin asked me about my parents and my life in London and I found out about his life in the castle. We had very different upbringings and experiences of life so far. I had little knowledge of the countryside and hardly knew one tree from another; whereas Robin could name every tree we passed and did so for a while until I begged him to stop. Apart from a brief trip to London when my father died, Robin had never left Moonacre Valley, whereas I had only ever briefly left London once in my life before when I visited my maternal grandparents in Kent. I think he was incredulous that I had only seen the sea for the first time on the previous day.

"And then you jumped in it!" He laughed.

"It seemed like the only thing to do." I protested.

"Well, I'm not taking you to the sea again if that's what happens when you get close to it!" he joked. "You may not be so lucky next time, and I don't to have to jump off that cliff to save you!"

"I won't do it again," I promised. "Next time there's a valley to save, you can do it!"

It was amazing how quickly we had managed to turn the events of yesterday, which seemed so momentous at the time, into something shared to laugh about.

We had to stick to wide paths when we brought periwinkle into the forest, so we passed the clearing where I had trapped Robin. I had managed to refrain from saying anything about it, when I caught Robin's eye and started to giggle.

"It wasn't funny!" he complained.

"No, it wasn't," I agreed, trying to sound soothing, but failing miserably when I remembered the look on his face as he had hung there from his feet.

"Stop it!"

I couldn't contain my mirth any longer and I began to laugh so hard that tears welled up in my eyes as I remembered him declaring his head was starting to swell. At first he looked affronted and then he too began to laugh, although it was somewhat reluctant at first.

I slid off Periwinkle and walked up to him. He stood looking down at me, a mixture of amusement and uncertainty. I reached up and kissed him softly on his cheek.

"Thank you." I said the words softly with my eyes locked on his.

He looked slightly stunned,

"What for?"

"For listening to me. For believing in me. For helping me." I told him.

He reached out to stroke my face,

"Any time, Princess." And he bent his head as if he was going to return the kiss. I was suddenly full of mischief and I reached up, grabbed his hat and ran off down the path with it. He gave an exasperated shout, caught Periwinkle's bridle, and ran after me.

"Come back here, you little witch," He shouted, but there was no anger in his voice, only exasperation that I had tricked him. I waited for him to catch me and then I put the hat on myself and asked him what he thought.

"I ought to spank you" he threatened.

"Oh" I pouted, "Doesn't it suit me?"

"No, you look... you look... um..." he hesitated, "You look beautiful." As he said the words, I stopped teasing him and returned the hat. He seized it and returned it to his head, without further comment.

We had reached the Moon Princess's tree by now and I really wanted to have another look inside. Yesterday had been so hurried and I felt that there really must be more to be seen. When I suggested to this to Robin, he readily agreed but suggested we sat outside to eat our picnic first.

We leant against the tree roots as we ate. We no longer talked, but the silence was companionable rather than awkward. The sun was warm where it peeped through the trees and I closed my eyes as I rested against the tree.

When I next opened my eyes, I found that I was alone.

"Robin?" my voice came out a little squeaky.

I heard a rustling beside me and Robin's head appeared out of the tree roots.

"You went without me!" I accused him. "Why didn't you wait?"

"You were fast asleep, Princess. I didn't want to disturb you. Anyway, you are awake now so come on." I scrambled down after him between the roots. I don't think I'd really noticed how dusty and dirty it was down there, I had been so intent on finding the pearls. Today, I could see the potential immediately.

"A secret den!"

Robin looked at me, a little confused at first and then he began to smile as he realised what I was proposing.

"Just for us?" I nodded and smiled back at him.

"I think we might have to clean it up a bit first, though."

"I think we need to bring things to help us clean next time" Robin suggested as I moved towards the bed and poked the cover. It nearly disintegrated at my touch, but the bed itself seemed fairly sturdy.

"I could make a new cover for this and some cushions" I was getting excited.

"If we turn it around, it will be more like a seat" Robin suggested. "And I could make a table for in here."

"Oh, Robin, won't it be cosy?"

He reached over and squeezed my arm and I felt so happy I could have flung my arms around him.

We could do little else in the den that day and so we went back up outside and started to walk home slowly. I didn't want the day to end. It had been so enjoyable and I couldn't remember when I had ever had fun like that before. I was so comfortable with Robin I couldn't believe that I had ever found him arrogant.

He walked me to the stables and then apologised that he had to leave me, he hadn't done any of his chores for that day, he explained. We looked at one another for a moment and then he reached over and traced a finger down my cheek.

"Can I see you tomorrow, Princess?" he asked.

I nodded, too excited to speak, and he laughed.

"After lunch, I will meet you at the den. Do you think you can find your way there?" he asked.

"If I can't, Periwinkle can." I said, a trifle embarrassed that a horse might actually have a better sense of direction than me.

"Until tomorrow then." He smiled at me and left. I gave Periwinkle a hug and was just starting to remove her saddle when Digweed came out. He took over from me and told me that Marmaduke had prepared tea for me.

"Really," I thought to myself. "Does anyone here not think about food all of the time?"