Does He Understand Flight, the Pale One?

Chapter Three

Djaq awoke a few hours later, after finally succumbing to sleep upon lying down beside her husband after constant prodding from her friends. When she opened her eyes, she found John still sitting over Will while continuing his administrations, wiping down his body with a cool rag in hope of bringing down his fever and changing his bandages when needed. Djaq sat up slowly and moved closer to them as she picked up a wooden cup, filled it with water from one of the men's flasks, then put it gently to her husband's lips in hope of getting the cool water down him.

She kept her eyes trained on the man whom she loved, but spoke to John as she asked quietly, "Have you been here all along?"

The big man nodded and answered, "It was no trouble. Robin and the others left the camp for awhile. They had business to attend to."

"Is there trouble?" she asked again nervously.

"No, not at all," he replied with a smile as he turned his head to look at the young woman. "They just went to cause trouble for the Sheriff and Gisborne. For most of them, it can still be like fun and games."

The Saracen understood what he meant as she responded, "Yes, making trouble at their expense never was boring. How is Robin doing? Has he mourned Marian properly?"

John nodded as he answered, "He has now I believe. He is still grieving, but at least he has moved on from wanting revenge on Gisborne. I mean, we all want to destroy them once and for all, but what I mean is that Robin has finally returned to his old self. Revenge isn't the only thing he thinks about now."

"That is good," she replied and slowly began to run her fingers through Will's hair as she watched John continue to care for him. "I tried to tend to him the best I could as we fled Salah ad Din's soldiers' camp, but there was very little I could do. He was in a bad way. I applied what little poultice I had to his wounds, then wrapped him in bandages and tried to get all the water into him as I could."

"That just goes to show how strong Will Scarlett really is," he responded. "You saved his life, of that I am certain. I never thought I would miss the two of you so much when we left your friend's home in Jerusalem to return here, but it turns out that I did, more than I would ever care to admit to anyone else."

Djaq smiled for the first time in weeks as she answered, "It is wonderful to see you again too, John Little. Your son must be very proud of his father. Will and I may not be your children, but you always treated us as though we were and we're very proud of you. Have you seen Bassam's birds at all since earlier this evening?"

John shook his head and replied, "I am afraid not, but I haven't left this shelter at all since I began to treat him. They distracted the Sheriff's men long enough for us to get to you, but they kept flying."

"That's all right," she responded calmly as she carefully lifted her husband's upper body up off the ground with John's help in order to look over the wounds across his back to make sure that they hadn't become any more infected. "They're around here somewhere. Somehow, they always seem to know where I am and they stay close by."

"They must love you as much as you love them," the big man answered as he looked toward the skies, then put his attention back on the young man in his arms. "Has Will awakened at all since you found him?"

They gently laid him back down, seeming satisfied that he was no worse off, and then she replied sadly, "Only for a brief moment. And even then I don't believe that he saw me. I doubt he knows that he's safe and no longer a prisoner of those soldiers."

He nodded as he responded, "No, I suppose not. But he isn't and he is safe. You made sure of that. You should be proud of yourself too."

"I can't be until I know for sure that he will recover, that my efforts were not for naught," the woman answered solemnly. "Thank you John, for helping me care for him."

"There isn't any place else for me to be," he said sincerely and then stood up to leave the shelter for only a few minutes to refill the few flasks with water from the river nearby that were now empty.

Djaq watched the strong man leave, turned back to look down at the man she loved as she laid once again beside him, placing her head gently over his good shoulder and began to stroke his face, then whispered in his ear, "You're going to be alright, my love. Just as long as you don't stop fighting. I won't let you give up, do you hear me? You're safe now."

It was then that Robin entered the shelter and was happy to see their old friend awake as she sat up again nervously, then he stated, "It is good to see you awake again. How are you feeling?"

"Better, more rested than before," the Saracen replied quietly.

"That's good," the leader of their band of thieves responded. "And Will? Has his fever gone down at all?"

She simply shook her head and after another minute spoke up saying, "If anything, he's worsened. There is nothing more I can do, but try to make him as comfortable as possible and wait. It's killing me."

Robin nodded and then said again, "We all know how you feel. He's a brother to all of us. That reminds me, I sent Allan to Scarborough to find Luke. I thought it best that his brother be here for him."

"I cannot believe I didn't even think of Luke this whole time," Djaq answered sadly. "I don't… Thank you, Robin. You're right. Will is all Luke has left. He would never forgive me for stealing his brother away from him, especially if Will were to die."

"I think that Luke will be happy to learn that he's come home," the archer replied as he stood again and patted her shoulder. "I will let you know when he arrives. Until then, come out and have something to eat. Much is making something for us to eat. It won't be great, but it will give you your strength back."

She nodded and rose to her feet with his help, then stated, "So long as it isn't his rabbit stew again, any kind of food sounds wonderful."

Robin laughed and responded, "You might want to try it before you make that assumption. Come on. And don't worry about Will. John will return from the river in a few minutes and will continue to take care of him for you. He may not admit it openly, but I think he always thought of him like another son. It was hard on him when you both decided to remain in Jerusalem, but he was happy for you. It will be good to have you both fighting by our sides once again."