Robyn and the Hoodettes (24 page)

They could hear Ellen’s muffled voice inside, but couldn’t
make out the words.

Georgia swiped her face with her sleeve and continued. “And
now I’ve taken her from her home parents. They’re still in
Sheffield. They must be worried sick about her.”

Guilt churned Robyn’s stomach. She’d completely forgotten
about Joan’s elderly parents.

“
OK, let’s not talk too loudly because Ellen can probably
overhear us,” Robyn said.

“
La la la la la!” Ellen’s muffled voice sang out.

“
I’m going to tell you what I saw in Sheffield, in the
dungeons,” Robyn began. She had to trust Wilfred and Georgia at
this point. They had to be a cohesive group or they’d fall apart.
Trusting them with this information was the fastest way to show
them they were all in this together.

Over the course of the next few logs on the fire, Joan
rejoined them and warmed herself up. Robyn told them how Roger and
Maudlin were collecting taxes for the Sheriff of Nottingham, but
also how they were keeping piles and piles of stuff for themselves.
Not just things stolen from Loxley, but from every village within
one or two days’ ride from Sheffield.

All collected under the name of the Sherriff of Nottingham.
He’d be the one people cursed during the winter, when he probably
had no idea what Roger and Maudlin were up to.

“
It’s quite the conspiracy, when you think about it,” Robyn
said. “Roger steals it all but Nottingham gets the
blame.”

Everyone nodded and looked thoughtful.

“
Now,” she said, looking around the group, “Let’s all put our
heads together and make a plan.”

Marion put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a
kiss on the cheek. “Whatever we decide, I’m with you all the
way.”

“
Me too,” Georgia said, reaching into the long pocket on the
inside of her tunic. “It’s the master key to the dungeons. Should
work, unless Maudlin’s changed the locks?”

They kept their voices low and conspired into the wee small
hours. They would travel to Sheffield, leave Shadow tied up a
little way from the gate, then offer to trade Plus One and bag of
devilfish for the cow and see where that got them. If they stayed
the night in Sheffield, they’d use the key to steal whatever they
could carry from the dungeons and make their getaway.

Eventually everyone staggered back to the carriage to sleep.
Mother Eleanor made for the undercarriage again but Marion stopped
her and guided her to the carriage door instead, offering her his
place inside.

From the distance, Robyn couldn’t tell what they were talking
about, but eventually her mother climbed in.

Instead of heading straight back to the round house, Marion
loaded more wood into his arms and brought it back to the fire. He
put the pieces to the side to dry out, stacking them neatly as if
he had all the time in the world.

Pulling her knees up to her chin, Robyn gazed into the
glowing coals.

“
Don’t get cross,” Marion said. “But now that we’ve made a
public plan we’ve told the others about, we need to have a
contingency plan.”

“
Oh come on!” Was he serious?

“
Shh! Keep you voice down. Your mother has ears like a
bat.”

Robyn muttered, “I’ve already planned
things, and now you’re saying
it’s not enough?”

“
I asked you not to get cross. What happens if we’re arrested
and thrown in the dungeons for real?”

“
We’ve got the key, we’ll get out again.”

“
And what if they lock us up somewhere else, or if they change
the locks in the dungeons?”

Robyn threw her hands up. “I can’t think of
everything.”

He smiled and looked at her with an admiring gaze. “Don’t be
so hard on yourself. You’re doing an amazing job.”

“
Don’t try to butter me up.”

“
But you are,” he kissed her forehead, then her cheek, then
he tucked her hair and kissed the spot just under her ear. “You’re
amazing.”

“
Oh stop,” she only half batted him away. How was a girl
supposed to stay cross when he kissed her like that? He cradled her
chin and angled her lips his way. “I want to make sure you’re safe,
and I want to make sure this works. That’s why we need to plan for
all the different ways this could work out.” Then he kissed her and
lit a fire inside her.

“
Wow,” she said as he pulled away. “When you put it like that.”
She leaned in for another kiss. They wouldn’t need the fire to keep
warm tonight, they were creating enough heat already.

A commotion broke out in the carriage.

Oh what now?

Doors slammed, people yelled, somebody charged off into the
night.

“
She’s getting away!” Georgia yelled. The woman took a few
steps but was far too slow to do anything. She’d been built for
strength, not speed.

A small dark figure scampered off into the shadows.

A heavy sigh took Robyn’s breath.

“
Ellen?” Marion asked.

“
Yep. She’s gone. I’d give chase but . . .” Georgia let out a
sigh. “No point charging off into the woods in this darkness.
She’ll go straight back to Sheffield, won’t she?”

“
Yeah.” Defeat leached
the strength from Robyn’s bones.

“
There is an upside?” Marion said.

Robyn looked at him with confusion crinkling her brows, so he
replied, “Saves us having to take her.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Robyn woke to the sound of fighting. Thwacks with sticks.
Groans. Punches. Fists bashing from the inside of the carriage
door.

S
he
leapt up without thinking and biffed her head on the wheel axle.
“Ow!” she rubbed her head and scooted out from under the
carriage.

To find Roger of Doncaster and at least a dozen others
attacking their Shire Wood camp. Three were pulling down the
roundhouse and–total lack of imagination–set it on fire. A another
four or five, it was hard to tell with all the movement, took on
Joan in the clearing.

With nothing to grab for a weapon, Robyn set upon the one
of Joan’s attacker, jumping on his back. The attacker flailed at
her with his stick, crying out for help. Joan clonked him on the
head, causing both of them to fall.

Only Robyn got up, the other lay there moaning on the ground.
He’d be fine, if sore, in a few hours.

“
Where are the others?” Robyn cried out as Joan kept up her
defence against the rest of them and Robyn crouched, ready to
pounce.

“
Locked in the carriage.”

“
Right then!” Robyn darted to the carriage where a guard stood,
the door firmly wedged shut.

“
You’ll have to go through me, lass,” the guard
said.

“
Fine then.” Robyn darted away and heard him laughing behind
her. If he thought her a coward, all the better.

Avoiding Joan and her three attackers (another had fallen
by the wayside with a sick grunt) Robyn grabbed the unburned end of
long stick that used to be part of the round house. She headed back
to the carriage. Approaching from the non-guarded side, she slipped
under the carriage and wriggled forward. She could see the guard’s
boots and the bottom of his pants. They didn’t quite meet, the
pants being far too short, exposing a sturdy ankle and healthy crop
of curly dark leg-hair.

Perfect.

Robyn held the glowing coals closer and closer to the man’s
leg. Because of the pants-gap, his cuffs were a long way from the
wet ground, and therefore dry. The coals only needed a slight
breeze to glow a satisfying orange, and his leg hairs and pants
were alight!

“
Ahhhhhh!” The man screamed and leapt away from the heat,
battering at his smouldering leg.

Seizing her chance, Robyn dashed out from underneath, then
pulled with all her might at the carriage door, where the rest of
her friends were locked inside. Marion and Will leapt out first,
taking on Roger’s men. With a war cry, Georgia scrambled for fresh
air, calling for Joan. Mother Eleanor and Madge sat
inside.

Madge looked at Robyn with innocent eyes and pleaded, “Can we
stay in here please?”

“
Fair enough.” Robyn shut the door closed and joined in the
fray.

In all the plans they’d made, they hadn’t planned on an
ambush. But it made perfect sense that Roger would come for them.
He’d want to catch them by surprise, and that’s exactly what he’d
done.

The round house lay in smouldering splinters. Robyn grabbed
one of the support beams that now lay on the ground and used it as
a long staff to defend herself from two attackers who appeared out
of nowhere. They were relentless and strong. Meanwhile Joan and
Georgia were laying waste to their attackers. Any moment now they’d
come and give her a little support.

Any moment.

Now would be a good time to “Ow!” her attacker got her in the
leg and she hobbled backwards.

This guy wasn’t going to give up. With a brutal lurch,
Robyn got him in the stomach, then she stumbled on her bad leg back
to the safety of the carriage.

She pulled the door open and Mother Eleanor sat there with
Robyn’s bow and arrow. “Will this help?”

“
Yes it will!”

She grabbed the quiver full of arrows and slipped it over her
shoulder, then with the bow over her other shoulder, she scrambled
onto the top of the wagon.

“
Everybody stop!”

Nobody wanted to stop.

“
I said stop!” An arrow whizzed through the air, narrowly
missing a man attacking Marion with a long staff.

Robyn pulled another arrow into position. “Now put down
your weapons or the next one will hit true!”

Slowly, they did what she said, laying down whatever they were
using and all facing Robyn. From here she could count how many
there were on both sides. Her friends were still standing, which
was excellent. She was sure there should be some of Roger’s men
lying passed out on the ground, but there were still a dozen, no,
fourteen of them.

Not counting Roger.

Roger was the one she now aimed her arrow at. The tight
string dug into her fingerpads, held in place by the calluses that
had grown from archery practise. Weak sunlight glinted off the
sheen on his sweaty forehead.

Next she moved her sights onto other men and some women
standing closest Roger. Nice of him not to discriminate in his
choice of hench-staff.

“
Who here is willing to die for Roger of Doncaster, the tax
collector? Step forward now and meet the almighty!”

As she predicted, nobody moved forward. Nobody moved at
all.

“
Good!” She said, impressed with how persuasive a bow and arrow
could be. She returned her sights on Roger. “Doncaster! Gather your
brutes and get back to Sheffield where you belong, cowering behind
Maudlin’s skirts!”

Joan, Georgia, Marion and Will all laughed.

Will gave his closest attacker a smack over the side of the
head. “That’s for making Madge cry,” he said.

“
Will, behave yourself!” Robyn warned. “We might be outlaws but
we treat people with respect. Now say sorry!”

“
What?” Will protested.

“
Go on!” Robyn aimed her arrow at Will for good
measure.

“
I’m sorry,” he said quickly.

“
Good.” Robyn resumed her aim at Roger’s torso. He wore thick
padding but not armour. Would the arrow pierce it? If she struck it
hard enough it would. “Go on Roger, get back to Sheffield before I
really lose my temper.”

Shaking his head in defeat, Roger walked to the edge of the
clearing where he’d left his horse near a tree.

“
This is only a reprieve, hoodlum, you will get yours!” he said
as he mounted his horse.

Robyn let the arrow loose. It pierced Roger’s hat and nailed
it into a tree behind him.

Roger spurred his horse away from the clearing.

Saints! She’d meant to get him in the shoulder. She hadn’t
dared aim any lower lest it hit the horse.

She turned and faced the rest of the men and women. “You’re
free to join us and become outlaws in the Shire Wood, or return to
Sheffield. I won’t hold a grudge against you whichever you
choose.

They looked around at their options. Some of them shook hands
with Robyn’s friends, muttering things like. “No harm
done.”

“
Rather decent.”

“
All things considered.”

“
Family things.”

“
Best get back.”

They too headed towards the edge of the clearing and the
nearby Kings Road that would take them back to
Sheffield.

Exhausted from the confrontation, Robyn scrambled down and
found herself in Marion’s arms.

“
You were amazing!”

Everyone wanted to hug Robyn and pat her on the back. It
was suffocatingly wonderful.