Robyn and the Hoodettes (20 page)

Robyn in a hood . . .

Heat roared up Robyn’s neck. She pulled the edges of her
hood over her face. “Sing about someone else.”

“
Come on Robyn, it’s a great song. You’ll be famous,” Ellen
said.

“
It is catchy,” Mother Eleanor said.

Robyn said, “I don’t want to be famous.”

“
Fine then. Let’s sing about . . .” Ellen looked around the
group, “Little Joan!”

“
I’m not little!” The giant protested.

Little Joan with a staff of gold

Would not do as she was told

“
I don’t have a staff of gold!” Joan threw her hands
up.

“
Poetic license,” Ellen said as she kept going.

Met Will Scarlett on the road

Yes she met him on the road

And what did they do upon the road?

The battled each other with staffs of gold.

“
Now you’re just making noise!” Joan said.

“
Am I really that red?” Will asked Madge. Madge shook her head
and cuddled him a little more. Then they said something quietly to
each other and walked off to the carriage.

Robyn and the merry friends

Travelled the wood from end to end

Robbed from the rich and gave to the poor

That’s what the Robbing Hoods are for

We cannot forget there’s Georgia Green

Along with Joan the two are seen

The favourites in the group by far

Travel with Robyn wherever they are

Among the friends was the tie-er of frocks

Soon to be known as Friar of Tucks

“
That doesn’t even make sense!” Robyn put her hands over her
ears. Ellen had a nice voice and all, but the song was getting
silly.

Timber creaked noisily beside her. The carriage was . . .
rocking.

“
Marion, you see that?”

Marion’s eyes widened to show he had. “Will and
Madge?”

Heat spread through Robyn.

Then they heard Madge’s high-pitched voice. “Oh, stupid thing!
Get in!”

“
Nearly there.” That was Wilfred.

Then some grunting. Robyn didn’t know where to look. The
ground suddenly held enormous interest as she stared at a small
rock.

She must be redder than Wilfred after being near the
horses.

“
We can hear you out here,” Marion said.

“
Good,” they heard Madge grunt. “Get in here and help us
out.”

Marion and Robyn boggled at each other, knowing their minds
were both way down in the mud. “Er, help?” Robyn asked, her voice
cracking in the middle.

Another grunt from the carriage.

“
Are you both all right?” Marion called out. He didn’t take a
step any closer to the carriage though.

Mother Eleanor spoke up. “Go on then, they obviously need
you.”

At which point, Wilfred shambled out of the carriage and waved
them over. “It’s this last bit, then we’re done.”

Confused and apprehensive, Robyn and Marion walked towards
the carriage.

Way back when her father used to be around, she’d heard her
parents making strange noises and knew exactly what it was. She’d
grown up around plenty of animals and witnessed season after season
of babbies and calves and goats in the village.

“
Oh!” Marion cried out as he looked inside, then staggered
backwards, laughing.

“
What?” Robyn stepped closer.

Inside the carriage, Madge had bundled branches across the
width of the foot well, to build it to the height of the seats to
form a large bed for several people. They were trying to get the
last couple of timber wedges in to hold it all in place, but they’d
shoved the sticks in so badly it would end up being incredibly
uncomfortable. They wanted to take everything apart and start
again, but now they’d dislodged some of it, the rest of the
branches wouldn’t come loose.

“
Oh!” Robyn said, as she finally made sense of the
situation.

Marion grabbed at the sticks and pulled with all his might.
The carriage rocked violently.

That would explain all the rocking and swaying
then.

And the grunting. Forcing the branches out was the reason for
the grunting.

“
Whey!” They all cheered as the jammed branch came loose.
Everything else could come out and they could start
again.

Drizzle swirled, coating everything with shiny dampness as
they worked to get the large bed right the second time around.
Instead of rounded branches, Marion fetched an axe head and sliced
some of them straight down the middle to create a flat
edge.

Drizzle turned into showers as they worked on. Steam
swirled with each breath. Showers deepened into steady rain. Making
a comfortable shelter became a priority.

Back in the village,
the smithy would have offered warmth and a place
to dry out. But here in the woods, until Joan and Georgia could
finish the round house, the carriage offered the only sure roof
over their heads.

Shadow and Plus One shook the rain from their hides and
carried on eating grass. It wasn’t raining so hard, just the usual
early winter cloak of misery. But if the rain grew heavier, surely
the horses would feel it?

In which case, the animals needed a proper shelter as
well.

“
What’s wrong?” Marion asked as he sliced another branch
through the middle.

“
We can’t keep the horses.” How her heart bruised to say
that. Two less horses would be two less mouths to feed. Sure they
ate grass, but they needed oats as well. Oats from a bag already
quarter gone.

“
They’re not tethered,” Marion said as he split another branch
and handed the halves to Wilf. “They’re free to go home any time
they like.

Wilfred and Madge were creating an impressive cot. It would
fit six people in a squeeze, but they had eight.

“
I’m going to see how Joan and Georgia are getting
on.”

On the way she passed Mother Eleanor, dragging another
branch over the fire. The branch was wet from sitting on the Shire
Wood floor. It spat and bubbled as it burned. Thick smoke rose.
Coals hissed with every
sploshed
raindrop.

“
Tie your frock, it’s dragging on the ground.” Eleanor
said.

“
Tie your frock,” Robyn mimicked as she trudged
past.

In the stream, she found Ellen shaking and shivering as she
secured her wicker trap. The poor girl’s lips purpled from
cold.

“
You’ve done plenty for now. Go and thaw out by the fire,”
Robyn said.

“
But I’m nearly done.”

“
You’re nearly dead. Go warm up.”

Ellen wedged another rock against her half-completed fish
farm and sloshed out of the river. Her teeth chattered as her
soaked body came into contact with the wind.

Concern pi
nged Robyn. The girl couldn’t be trusted, but she was also
doing her best. If they let her go they’d have one less mouth to
feed and one less person to keep warm and dry. On the other hand,
if they let her go, would she turn them all in to
Maudlin?

Did they give her another chance? Maybe that was the right
thing to do.

“
Joan? Georgia?” Robyn called out as she approached the two
giants working together.

“
Hey Robyn, look what we’ve done.” Georgia said, taking a step
back to show their work.

They’d done something amazing, that’s for sure. They’d
rammed guide branches into the soft wet ground and woven thinner,
green branches between them, creating an impressive round house
with a small opening for the door. Above it, they’d made the
framework for a roof. A roof that didn’t have a hope of keeping the
rain off in its present state.

Staying in it tonight would be impossible.

But soon.

“
Brilliant
.” She kept her teeth closed to stop them from chattering.
Her soaked hood dripped water down the back of her neck, each drip
chilling her that little bit more until she felt like she could
scream.

Why couldn’t this adventure have happened in summer? Not that
the rain always held off anyway, but at least in summer the
branches were full of leaves that offered more shelter.

Why hadn’t they stayed in Sheffield? Working in the tower
for no reward might have been preferable to this misery.

“
Cheer up love,” Georgia said as she shook the droplets from
her hood. “It’s only rain.”

Shadow and Plus One ambled over to see what they were up
to. Robyn couldn’t help giving her horse a gentle rub on her wet
nose. Both horses shook themselves, sending water droplets in all
directions. Their manes and tails were soaked through.

“
Oh dear,” Joan said as she looked at the two large animals.
Large, soaked animals. “Get them in, it’s a little drier at
least.”

“
Come on,” Robyn said, “Let’s go warm up by the
fire.”

As they stood around the flames, Robyn suggested their
sleeping arrangements. “Will and Madge have converted the carriage.
We’ll sleep in that until the roof on the round house is
watertight.”

But there was no way they’d all fit in the carriage. Not eight
people, two of them giants at that.

Marion said, “We can sleep underneath.” The ‘we’ included
Robyn because he made an off-hand gesture and a shrug, as if it
meant nothing.

Robyn
kept her eyes down so nobody else would see how much the
statement affected her. She missed what Marion said next but it
ended with, “The carriage has been in the same place for so long,
it’s dry on the ground below.”

As dry as ground could be at this time of year.

“
I’ll sleep on the ground,” Ellen said.

“
Nice try,” Robyn said out loud before she could reel the words
back in.

“
Nice try at what?” The girl looked affronted.

“
Come on, Ellen, as soon as the rest of us are asleep you’ll
scarper back to Maudlin.”

Hands on hips, Ellen protested her innocence. “In the dark? In
the rain?”

“
You’d probably take a horse while you were at it.” Robyn
said.

“
Don’t give her ideas,” Marion kept his voice low.

But maybe a small part of her wanted Ellen to leave, and take
the other horse with her. Not Shadow, obviously. Shadow was hers
now.

All the same, Ellen was crazy if she thought they wouldn’t
keep watch over her. “You’re sleeping in the carriage” Robyn said,
“We’ll take turns staying awake and keeping an eye on you, so you
can’t get up to anything.”

“
I’ve frozen myself to the bone to get you fish for supper
and you don’t trust me.” Fat tears rolled down her face like
slugs.

“
You’ve got a long way to go before you earn our trust,” Marion
said.

Warmth spread through Robyn knowing she had Marion’s full
support.

“
Darling, I think we should be the ones to sleep on the
ground,” Mother Eleanor said, casting a look between Robyn and
Marion. “We need Marion in the carriage to keep an eye on
Ellen.”

Everyone
except Mother Eleanor climbed into the carriage. Robyn
opened the door to bid everyone goodnight. And to check they were
all in there. It was a hot mess of warm, smelly bodies and damp
clothes. Jealousy spiked her.

“
Where’s Ellen?”

“
Under here,” the girl said. She’d wedged herself into the foot
well underneath them. Smart move. She’d be toasty warm in the
crawlspace. It left plenty of room for five others to lie above
her.

“
Let’s get some rest,” Mother Eleanor said.

Bone weary, Robyn and her mother crawled under the carriage
and clung to each other to keep warm.

“
I wish the cow was here,” Robyn said.

“
Me too,” Mother Eleanor said on a sigh.

“
She’s lovely and warm, isn’t she?”

Mother Eleanor shifted again and squished herself into Robyn.
“You’re not . . . jealous of a cow, are you?”

“
Course not,” she said too quickly.

“
I love you so much my darling,” Mother said as they tried
to get comfortable and failed. “I have said too much about Bella
lately. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m having a hard time adjusting to
all the changes going on, what with your father being away. Lord
knows what Crusades are for anyway. I don’t even know how you can
go to war against a belief system. I’ll tell you now, no good can
come of it.”

It must be exhaustion making her eyes go funny, because a tear
splashed out onto Robyn’s cheek. “I miss father so much. Why aren’t
they back yet?”