Robyn and the Hoodettes (12 page)

“
You’re supposed to be quiet!” She said to Madge. “I can hear
you from the street.”

Everyone hushed.

“
That’s better.” Grannyma said. “We’re trying to keep a low
profile, obviously.”

A sheep trotted over to see what they were eating. Robyn
gave it a pat and it scarpered away. “Um, Grannyma Miller, whose
animals are these?”

“
No idea, Lovvie, but they couldn’t very well milk
themselves so we’re helping out.”

“
What if the owners come back?”

“
Then we’ll have done them a favour. If sheep aren’t milked
on a regular basis, they stop producing.”

Robyn boggled. “OK. And, um, where are you living?”

“
Right here of course.” Grannyma Miller looked at her like the
chatelaine of a grand estate.

T
here
wasn’t much space. Certainly not for herself, Marion, Will and Joan
to stay. Maybe they should take them back to
The Unicorn
?

“
Where is everyone from Loxley?” Marion asked
Grannyma.

Why hadn’t Robyn thought of asking that
?

Grannyma held her palms out to the side. “We’re it love. They
took the rest.”

“
Have you seen anyone from Littleton?” Joan asked.

“
No sweetie, I’m sorry, I haven’t,” Grannyma said.

More guilt weighed Robyn down. Nobody from Loxley or
Littleton. Not good.

Grannyma continued. “Don’t take it so poorly, you weren’t to
know. After they came to Loxley, they set us on the road and walked
us here. Once we got through the gates, Madge and Tuppence and I
snuck off and stayed here with the sheep to keep warm. We’ve tried
to find out what happened to the rest and . . . I’m sorry to bring
bad news but I think they’re all locked up in the
dungeon.”

Bile rose in Robyn. Before she could ask any more questions–as
if her brain could work anyway–Grannyma Miller clasped Joan’s
hands.

“
Oh sweetheart, your hands look awful. Come and rub them in the
sheep’s wool, the lanolin will fix them right up.”

“
Cheers for that,” Joan said as she followed Grannyma’s
suggestion.

“
Oh goodness, look at your poorly hands as well,” Madge said to
Wilfred. “Come with me, we’ll have them all better in no
time.”

Utterly baffled, Robyn steadied her breath and tried to
sort out what was going on. As far as she was concerned, everything
had turned out about as badly as could be, and yet they were
stopping everything to have manicures?

***

“Don’t take this the wrong way , but I think we really need
a plan this time,” Marion said as he and Robyn mucked out the sheep
pen together.

“
Yes, yes.” Each reminder of their situation added to the
weight on her shoulders. They should be freeing their village
people. Instead they were playing at shepherds.

Marion worked faster to get the job done. Perspiration made
his shirt stick to his chest, which proved monumentally
distracting.

“
I’m not having a go at you,” he said. “But we do need to
work something out.”

She couldn’t be cross at him for stating the truth. And he’d
said ‘we’, which made her feel like they were sharing the load. The
gold in her leather pouch weighed almost as heavily as her burdens.
“Part one of the plan, you carry this.” She held it out to
him.

“
What am I going to do with it?”

“
You’re the one who says we should plan everything, so maybe
you should be the one to carry it?”

Marion weighed it in his hand and was lost in thought for a
moment. Then, he said, “Let’s share it. That way, if one of us is
caught or lost or we get split up or something, the whole purse
isn’t gone.”

“
That . . . makes a lot of sense,” Robyn managed.

“
You’re welcome,” he said, giving her a wink.

Robyn’s stomach did a strange flip and her heart kicked like a
freshly caught rabbit.

Meanwhile, Joan and Grannyma Miller fed the sheep and Madge
stuck close to Wilfred, the two of them casting shy glances at each
other, oblivious to the worries of the outside world. Why couldn’t
she and Marion be like that, instead of having to make plans and be
responsible for everyone else?

They had a village elder here with them too, so why wasn’t
Grannyma Miller taking over the decision making?

A sense of vague disappointment with the world hung about
Robyn like a hand-me-down coat.

“
Robyn! Robyn, where are you!”

Hang on, that voice sounded like . . .

Ellen ran down the street, calling their names.

“
Over here!” Marion called out.

“
Oh, thank the angels I found you. They’ve arrested Mother
Eleanor!”

Cold fear trembled through Robyn. “Where is she?”

“
This way!” Ellen grabbed Robyn by the arm and they took off,
running and stumbling down the street.

“
Wait!” Marion called out behind them.

But Robyn had no time to argue the point with Marion. Her
mother had been arrested! This was terrible!

Panting for breath, they skidded to a halt in the village
green to find Bella standing there, munching away on the grass as
if nothing had happened. OK, at least they hadn’t harmed the
cow.

“
What happened?” Marion said as he pulled up beside
them.

Ellen swallowed a few times and then reached for the milk
bucket to quench her thirst.

“
Where is she?” Robyn screamed at Ellen. Why was the girl
stopping for a drink when her mother could be in danger?

Ellen put the bucket down and wiped her face. “They arrested
her for selling milk without a permit. We have to go to Maudlin and
pay bail money.”

Before the words, “what’s bail money?” could cross Robin’s
brain, Ellen was beckoning them to follow her towards the tower. No
time to think, Robyn followed.

“
Hang on a minute.” Marion called out.

“
There’s no time!” Ellen said.

Robyn left Marion behind to keep pace with Ellen. As they
reached a corner, Robyn slid sideways to catch a glimpse behind
her. The crowd was too dense, she couldn’t see Marion. Irritation
nagged Robyn, knowing when Marion did catch up, he’d give a lecture
about planning things first.

“
Where is she?” Robyn now wished she’d glugged some of that
milk as well, her mouth had turned as dry as summer
dirt.

“
Through here,” Ellen said.

Blood pumping, Robyn blindly followed Ellen through a door,
down a hall, then through another door until they burst into a
massive banqueting hall.

Along one wall was a long dining table, enough to seat twenty
people or more. Down one end was a stone fireplace, tall enough for
a person to stand inside. It was fully lit, warming the length of
the hall. Robyn could see no sign of her mother. Whipping her head
around to the other end of the hall, she saw a magnificent woman
dressed in darkly tanned animal skins, standing there with a
jackdaw on her shoulder.

Who didn’t seem the least bit surprised by two girls crashing
into her hall.

Sickness roiled inside Robyn. Nothing about this felt
right.

“
Hail fellows well met,” the woman said, striding forward.
Her skirt hem touched the floor, giving her the appearance of
gliding across the timber boards.

“
It’s the Lady Maudlin,” Ellen said in a soft voice, “Bow to
her.”

Following Ellen’s example, Robyn lowered her head.

Then Ellen took a step backwards, so Robyn did too.

“
No, you’re supposed to step forward.” Ellen said.

“
Oh.” Robyn fixed her footing at the same time Maudlin
pinned her gaze on her. Cold sweat seeped through Robyn’s skin as
she took in the woman and the bird. There was something hauntingly
horrible about the double-act, the bird as secure on her shoulder
as a long-grafted tree branch.

“
Come closer, there’s nothing to fear,” Maudlin said. The
woman’s eyes pierced Robyn just as surely as that jackdaw on her
shoulder might stab a grub with its beak.

If free will played a part, Robyn would have bolted for the
doors and made a dash for it. Her spellbound body moved forward as
directed.

Lady Maudlin spoke with a clear voice, her tone sweet with an
underlying cadence of malice. “You are here about the woman
Eleanor, who sold wares without a permit?”

The words, “How did you know?” Formed in her mind, before the
politeness filter came out of nowhere and had her responding with a
“Yes.”

“
And you are her daughter?”

Again with the knowledge. Seriously, how did this woman know
so much already? Or was she making really good guesses? Robyn
turned to Ellen for some clues. Maybe Ellen had begged for Mother
Eleanor’s release already?

“
It’s complicated,” Ellen said with a shrug.

Which gave Robyn precisely nothing more to go on. Only extra
confusion.

“
Lady Maudlin,” Robyn’s voice came out scratchy and meek,
because her body was about to fall in a heap of pathetic begging.
At least she hadn’t burst into tears. Yet. “I understand my Mother
Eleanor has been arrested. I’m sure she meant absolutely no harm at
all. We are newcomers to Sheffield and–”

“–
I asked if you were her daughter. A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is
all I require.”

“
Yes.” Robyn said, then nearly bit her tongue to stop it
running on.

“
And you have funds with which to bail her?”

“
I beg yours?” Robyn turned again to Ellen to see if she could
translate the lady’s speech into plain English.

“
Bail, my dear,” Maudlin said ahead of Ellen saying
anything.

The little crow fluffed her wings out on her shoulder, growing
to double normal size.

“
The gold,” Ellen whispered.

“
Oh yes. I have gold. Here,” Robyn said, reaching for her
purse. It didn’t weigh as much as it should, on account of her
halving it with Marion. What if she didn’t have enough? “I’m ever
so sorry. None of us have ever been in trouble before, so I have no
idea how any of this works. How much do you need?”

“
All of it.” Maudlin said, unfurling her palm.

Acting before her brain had time to engage, Robyn held the
purse and stepped closer to Maudlin. That’s when the jackdaw took
wing and flapped over, ripped the purse from Robyn’s hand (making
her yelp in shock) and flew back to her mistress.

Maudlin looked in the bag, jingled it, then looked not to
Robyn, but to Ellen. “Is this all?”

“
I’m sure there was mo–” Ellen sucked in her breath.

At which point Robyn’s brain finally caught up to speed.
She stared daggers at Ellen the betrayer. “You . . .
You
!”

Marion had been right! He’d tried to make her stop and think,
but she’d been so worried about her mother she’d run blindly into a
trap.

Maudlin wasn’t going to let her mother go. She probably
didn’t even have her! The woman was only interested in their
money.

“
Calm down Robyn or she’ll arrest you too!” Ellen
said.

The betrayal stung worse than a thorn in her shoe. They’d been
so welcoming towards Ellen. Given her warm milk, a ride to
Sheffield, a warm place to stay and bread with honey for breakfast.
“What did we ever do to you?”

“
This,” Ellen lifted her tunic to show the purple-yellow
bruises flourishing across her sides and back. “Your friend the
giant walloped me a good one the other night on the King’s
Road.”

“
You were there?” Confusion curdled Robyn’s stomach. “You
burned our village!”

To her credit, Ellen looked ashamed. “I won’t lie to you, I
was in Roger’s gang. But I never struck the flint or set fire to
anything.”

Robyn didn’t want to hear excuses. Her hands clenched and
unclenched, her body burned to punch a hole in something. Ellen’s
throat for starters.

But then she heard Marion’s sensible voice in her head saying
something like ‘you need a plan’. Being angry and kicking and
screaming, although immensely satisfying in the immediate sense,
wouldn’t get her anywhere.

No plans came to mind. Nothing sensible anyway. Maybe she
should overturn the tables and throw furniture around the room. At
least she’d feel better for having a tantrum.

Which would get her arrested no doubt, so it wasn’t an
option.

Whoa, maybe Marion’s planning is having some kind of calming
affect?

Ellen crossed the floor to be closer to Maudlin and the
all-seeing bird.

“
You’ve done well,” Maudlin said to Ellen. “For
now.”

For some reason, Ellen didn’t look too happy with herself.
Could it be regret Robyn read on her face?

It gave her hope and she once again reached for the security
of sarcasm. “Yes, well done. I didn’t see it coming.” She gave a
slow clap of applause.