"So, this Esmerelda, with all her charms I just told you about, has all the men standin' up and takin' notice, if you know what I mean. But she's gotta make a choice, so she narrows it down to three different gents."
"Believe me, two's more than enough," Robin sighed, listening to Allan's ribald tale as the two men headed toward Knighton Hall. A full moon illuminated their path, but they kept safely hidden in the shadows.
Robin, finding Marian out when he'd arrived earlier in the day, discovered he couldn't keep away any longer. Convincing himself he crucially needed to see her to learn whatever news she might know concerning the sheriff's plans, he headed toward Knighton after dark, taking Allan with him, to Much's chagrin. Robin would have preferred going alone, but he knew Allan had been sampling mushrooms again, influencing Little John to do the same, and he needed them to stop.
Only half-listening to Allan's story, Robin was waiting for an opportunity to broach the subject of mushrooms, hopefully finding the right words to secure Allan's promise to abstain from them. But Allan's next twist in his storyline gathered Robin's full attention.
"So Esmerelda decides the way to choose is to hold an archery competition, and make hay with the winner."
"Now that," Robin said, "is a smart woman! Any chance you can clean up your story, and tell it to Lady Marian?"
"I might. Not bein' funny, though, but it wouldn't do any good. She'd think you made it up. But anyway, all three gents were good shots, so nobody knew who would win. The first gent shoots, and THUMP!, hits the target, right in the center. The second gent shoots, THUMP!, and splits his arrow. The third gent, THUMP! THUMP!, he shoots the other two gents right between their eyes, so of course, he's the winner."
Robin, appreciating the irony, threw back his head and laughed, wishing it could be that easy to dispose of Gisbourne.
"So, anyway, he and Esmerelda fall into bed, and have a grand time! They stay there for forty days and forty nights, and every morning, when the sun rises, and so does his-"
"Shh!"
They could see Knighton Hall by this time, and Robin's instincts alerted him they were not alone. Melting back into the trees, Allan waited, hand on sword hilt, while Robin's eyes scanned the area.
Gisbourne! Robin realized how dangerously close they had come to walking right into him!
Luckily, Sir Guy seemed unaware of their presence. Indeed, every nerve in his body, every thought in his head, was focused entirely on Marian's lighted window.
"Oi! He's a bloody Peepin' Tom!" Allan whispered, laughing.
But Robin did not find the situation at all laughable. Moonlight lit up Gisbourne's face, showing the throbbing vein in his forehead, his intense, unblinking eyes, his taut jaw and thin lips drawn back, dry, itching, thirsting.
Robin looked quickly at Marian's window, wondering exactly what Gisbourne could see. Her shutters were drawn, but not completely. If a man stood at Gisbourne's spot, he might be able to...
Red hot fury shot through Robin. Before Allan knew what was happening, Robin charged Gisbourne, throwing himself upon him and tackling him to the ground.