Robyn and the Hoodettes (25 page)

T
hey’d won. For now.

“
OK everyone, let’s have breakfast and get ourselves ready to
take on Sheffield!” Marion said.

Buoyed by their victory, they cheered.

Robyn felt sick to her boots. Her body shook from
adrenaline racing through it. They’d just taken on Roger’s band of
misfits and won. Which was brilliant.

But how were they going to win against a whole
city?

***

Tired from their battle, the walk to Sheffield was mercifully dull.
Except for the part where they jumped at shadows and wore
themselves out from constantly watching out for attacks.

Which never came.

Here, their plans became stuck. Not from the mud in the
road but by Godwin at the recently repaired gate. The hunched-over
man with a corkscrew for a spine insisted on asking for their
papers.

Of which they had none. Did anybody have papers in these
parts? Paper sounded expensive.

Godwin looked at them with a sneer and said, “Can’t let you in
if you don’t have papers.”

“
Seriously? Godwin, do you want a matching lump on the other
side of your head?” Robyn asked.

“
Easy,” Marion said.

“
I don’t make the rules,” Godwin said.

Could they quickly make a plan to clonk Godwin over the
head?

For a moment Godwin eyed the horse, Plus One. They’d left
Shadow munching on the last of their oats a little further down the
road.

“
Do you have proof you own that horse?” Godwin
asked.

“
Do you have proof you’re allowed to stop people at the gate?”
Robyn shot back.

“
As a matter of fact I do.” Despite his gnarled frame, he moved
quickly and tugged at the long rope, ringing out the warning
bell.

Oh great!

“
I’ve just thought of something,” Marion said as he grabbed the
reins from Robyn to turn them around. “What if we split
up?”

“
Why would we split up? That’s a crazy idea.”

The enormous gates creaked open and there, standing on the
other side, was Roger of Doncaster and his motley assortment of tax
collectors-slash-thieves.

“
Saints!” Robyn shouted.

“
Everyone split up!” Marion yelled as he leapt to the
ground.

Roger’s mob charged forward. Chaos broke out. Robyn ran
underneath the horse and out the other side. Roger grabbed for her
tunic but she slipped away.

“
Hello!” Ellen said with a wave from the gates.

Fury filling her veins, Robyn ran straight for Ellen to knock
her to the ground. Ellen merely locked her stance and met Robyn
with equal force. The two thumped into each other with a sickening
crunch, sending them staggering backwards.

Head swimming, Robyn jumped to her feet and ran. She didn’t
even know what direction she ran in, she simply barrelled into
Sheffield and hoped to find somewhere to hide.

Something dragged at her throat, suddenly her feet left the
ground. It was Ellen, holding the neck of her tunic firmly in her
fist.

“
Maudlin is really keen to see you,” Ellen said.

Robyn would have said something particularly cutting, except
her throat was closed over and all she could do was gasp and
cough.

The rest
of the gang split off, running in all
directions.

Roger couldn’t get all of them, could he?

Please let them get away
.

Were they getting away? Robyn twisted to get away from Ellen’s
grasp. Ow! Godwin stepped in her path and clonked her in the side.
For a twisted old man he sure was fast with the whacking. Just as
that thought crossed her mind, Godwin smacked her on the side of
the head with a long and heavy stick.

Tears sprang, it hurt so much! Robyn cried out, just as Godwin
aimed another blow her way.

Everything went a bit wonky and dark.

***

When she woke, Robyn found herself locked in a small room
with a narrow window. It wasn’t the dungeon, it had been a cold
place made with blocks of stone. This place felt warmer, less
draughty. If she weren’t being held prisoner, she might almost call
it a comfortable place to retire.

Not that she was going to get comfortable.

She was going to get out.

There was a narrow window on one wall, so she angled her
shoulders in alignment with the window frame and pushed herself
through. Her head stuck against the timber. If she kept pushing
through, she’d probably rip her ears off. Defeated, she pulled
herself back into the room
, earning splinters in the side of her
head.

A head that was already sore and a little wonky from the
bashing she earned from Godwin. She had seriously paid the price
for underestimating the crooked old man.

Gingerly, she rubbed her fingers over her skin and tried to
flick the tiny shards of wood out of her skin. Ow, ow, ow!
She kept touching
her face and pushing and prodding the skin until at last one of
them came free.

It left a stinging sensation
, but at least it was out.

Stuck in the room for who knew how long, Robyn squeezed the
last of her splinters away and took a seat on the one chair in the
room. It had a high timber back that was surprisingly comfortable.
There wasn’t a bed, but there was a table, and its surface was
polished to a soft shine. No chance of splinters, she’d shove it in
the corner and use it to sleep on later.

One wall featured a shelf filled with books. There had to
be at least twenty of them. All leather-bound. She picked one up,
opened the pages and had a flick through. One after another, Robyn
opened the books. None of them had pictures apart from the tangled
illustration on the first page of each chapter. The design was
stunning. Such a shame she couldn’t read.

Maybe, when all this was over, Marion might teach her
how?

The books felt so good in her hands. They had the most
deliciously earthy smell to them. So while she still had nothing to
do and who knew how much time to fill before anyone came for her,
she sat in the chair and flicked through the pages.

The text swam in front of her eyes, but it felt nice
sitting and pretending.

Footsteps grew closer and the door suddenly flung
open.

Maudlin stood there with a satisfied look on her face and a
jackdaw on her shoulder. “It’s all right my dear. I’m not going to
ask you any tricky questions.”

Stones churned in Robyn’s stomach. So much for all their
plans. Unless getting captured was part of the plan all
along?

Marion should have told her if that was the case. “We came
back to trade a horse and some fish for the cow. We don’t want any
trouble. We just want our cow back and we’ll leave.”

Maudlin made a sigh, “You know that’s not
possible.”

“
What are you going to do with me then?”

“
I’m not sure yet,” Maudlin cocked her head to one side and the
bird did the same. “Marion’s already told me everything I need to
know.”

Marion had been captured? When? What had Marion told her?
Trying–and failing–to keep the wobble out of her voice, she said,
“We don’t have any secrets.”

“
You misunderstand me. When I say ‘there’s no need to talk,’ I
mean you should stay quiet.” Two pairs of pitch black eyes bore
down on her.

That little raven on her shoulder. Never in her life had Robyn
wished harm to another animal, but on this occasion she’d make an
exception. The urge to rip every feather from its body while it yet
lived was so strong her fingers curled.

“
That’s better,” Maudlin said at Robyn’s silence. “I like it
when you behave. Makes things run smoother.”

Behave? Forget it.
“Where’s my mother?”

A slick smile broke Maudlin’s face. Cold nasties zipped
down Robyn’s spine. “Your mother has her beloved bovine. She is
utterly content and will remain in Sheffield through the winter.
Strange woman that, putting a cow ahead of her own daughter’s
welfare.”

The words ate like acid. “You’re just trying to upset
me.”

“
I don’t have to
try
.” Maudlin made a strange snort before she went on, “I
thought my family was horrid, praying all those years for a boy
that never came. But your lot? Fancy putting a beast of burden
ahead of your own flesh and blood.”

“
You’re just saying that to make me upset. You think I’ll
cry and say things I’ll regret.”

“
You got that right,” she said, giving another of those cold
smiles. “I do want you to get upset. I get a strange kind of thrill
from watching people break down. I find after they fall to bits,
they’re only too happy to be reassembled. And you, my dear, are the
best puzzle I’ve had for a long time. I can’t wait to take you
apart and put you back together again.”

Barely a third of what she said made any sense to Robyn.
They kept staring at each other for what felt like the longest
time. Maybe Marion had been right with his incessant planning.
Robyn should have planned for being captured. Considering how badly
things were going for them, she should have considered the
worst-case scenario. Cold dread grew in her belly. Being captured
wasn’t the worst thing.

She didn’t want to think about the absolute worst thing
right now.

“
We can stay here for as long as it takes,” Maudlin
said.

As long as what takes? Robyn wanted to know, but she figured
she may as well take Maudlin’s earlier advice and stay quiet for a
while.

“
I have your friends here in Sheffield, working for me.
They’d be stupid to be anywhere else at this time of year. And of
course there’s Marion. I can see why you’d do anything for
him.”

Robyn’s eyes widened at Marion’s name, only to see Maudlin
fanning herself with her hand. “Oh yes. He’s exactly what a lady
needs to keep her warm on a cold winter’s night.”

Robyn nearly threw up.

“
Same time tomorrow then?” Maudlin added a cackle for good
measure. “Don’t get up, I’ll see myself out. Oh, and one more
thing. I’ve sent a message to the Earl of Derby. He’ll be so
pleased I found the outlaws who stole his carriages and horses,
although he’ll be none too happy with the condition they’re
in.”

With that, she swept out.

Saints! Robyn ran for the door and pulled at it, but
Maudlin must have locked it from the other side. “Oh yeah? Is that
the Sheriff of Nottingham, the one you’re supposed to give all your
taxes to? I bet he can’t wait to find out–”

The door swung open so fast Robyn fell onto her
bottom.

Maudlin’s blotched face towered over hers. “Just you try,
peasant. You say one word about that and you’ll be worm food faster
than you can blink!”

The woman stormed out and slammed the door behind
her.

In
stead of panicking, Robyn couldn’t help smiling. Maudlin
was rattled, and Robyn had done the rattling.

If the Earl of Derby arrived, Robyn could show him Maudlin’s
betrayal. As long as she could get to him, which would take a
little cunning and a lot of planning.

Not that she had a clue how she’d do that. In their double
planning (or was it triple planning?) she and Marion had thought
they might be split up or locked up, but they’d thought it would be
in the dungeons, the ones Georgia’s key would open.

She hadn’t planned on being up here. She wasn’t even sure
how ‘up’ she was, so she went to the narrow window again and gently
pressed her face closer. Not too close, she didn’t want splinters
again. But enough to see she was at eye level with high tree
branches, and not the ground. Even if she could break the window
edges, how would she climb down?

Which brought Robyn to the realization that no matter how much
Marion loved making plans, sometimes you simply had to deal with
the situation as it developed.

Tiredness took over. The wooden table would be the most
comfortable place to sleep. Robyn grabbed a couple of leather-clad
books to support her head and she lay down. Which is when she found
another splinter that she’d missed. She sat up, curled her knees
under her chin and leaned a little against the wall. Enough to hold
her in a steady position and not agitate the embedded splinter. The
injury made her head throb, even though she knew the shards of wood
had to be tiny wee things. How did something so small cause so much
pain?

Being up a little higher put her within range of the window.
No tapestry prevented the breeze from whispering
through.

Maudlin is not going to get to me.

No way.

I will not let her upset me one bit.

That crow though . . .

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

By morning, Maudlin came back. In her hands she carried a
tray of hot porridge and a tankard of something delicious, judging
by the steam rising from it. The little crow sat on her shoulder,
like a second pair of eyes, never taking its gaze from
Robyn.