Robyn and the Hoodettes (23 page)

After breakfast, Joan would lead them in battle training to
get them ready for anything. Robyn taught everyone how to fire a
bow, even though they only had one. This was just in case she
didn’t have it, someone else could grab it and make use of
it.

Mother Eleanor and Ellen caught fish, both the regular and
cray kind, and made the most delicious stews to keep their bellies
full.

Georgia, Will and Madge built a ramshackle stable between
some trees, to give the horses them a little shelter from the rain.
For the times when the rain fell vertically. They had no defences
for the horizontal rain. That was the worst, it got into everything
and brought nothing but misery.

Not that Robyn could truly relax. Her mind kept swirling like
the drizzle as she recognised problem upon problem. The freezing
water she’d fallen into had proven just how close they were to
winter. Surely their food would run out as the river iced
over?

They might be able to stay in the Shire Wood for another
couple of weeks at the most, but they’d need proper warmth and
shelter soon. Littleton was out of the question, because Roger and
his men had burned the roofs off. There weren’t many options back
in Loxley either.

They could try for Nottingham, but none of them had ever been
there before. Would they receive any kind of welcome
there?

If
they went back to Sheffield, they knew their way around,
but they also knew they’d be hunted and hounded out. Or strung
up.

Could they stay in the Shire Wood, through a proper winter? It
hadn’t snowed . . . yet. Then what? Huddle together in the round
house and burn everything they had to keep warm and then . . . and
then?

Would the horses survive? Would they starve?

Looking at the faces around her, Robyn didn’t see her
worries pressing down on anyone else’s shoulders. Did they think
ahead about winter’s cold teeth on their necks?

Or were they leaving everything for Robyn to sort
out?

“
What’s wrong?” Marion said, appearing by her side.

“
Oh! Didn’t see you there,” she said, patting her chest to
settle her heart down.

He’d run his fingers roughly through his hair and it looked so
tousled and . . . interesting. “Can we talk for a bit?” He said,
tilting his head, “Away from this lot?”

“
Of course,” she said without hesitation.

A quick glance showed Robyn the rest of their “lot” were
watching Joan and Madge in a long staff battle.

“
This way,” Marion’s voice was low and
conspiratorial.

Robyn’s heart tripped when Marion wrapped his hand in hers.
Both their hands were work-worn and cold, but the effect of them
coming together warmed her from the inside.

A sneaky little voice in her head said they were skiving
off for some kisses. Or at the very least, some alone time.
Excellent!

They crossed the tree-trunk bridge and came to a clearing on
the other side of the river.

Marion turned to Robyn and placed his finger over his lips
in the universal “shushing” motion. He had a surprise for her? How
lovely!

Quieter than mice, they came to the edge of a clearing to find
. . .

Saints
!

Ellen. And on her shoulder sat a jackdaw. A glossy, small
crow just like the one that clung to Maudlin.

Robyn’s spirit slumped. No sound
came out of her, but inside her head
she heard ringing bells of doom.

The jackdaw
proved that Ellen was still in communication with
Maudlin.

Worse, she and Marion wouldn’t be getting that nice kissing
session.

Silently they crept back to the training ground where Madge,
by some miracle, was making improvements and getting in a couple of
good offensive shots.

“
We’ll have to leave again, won’t we?” Robyn said as they
stayed back a bit, pretending to watch the battle.

“
That crow will lead Maudlin right to us,” Marion
confirmed.

“
We could always leave Ellen here.”

“
Can she hibernate?”

Darn that Marion for being right. A group of them, working
together, with enough supplies (which they didn’t have anyway)
might stand a chance of surviving the winter. But one girl on her
own? Not a hope.

As much as she hated having to keep Ellen with them, she
couldn’t live with herself if she abandoned Ellen to the
wilderness.

After some more thinks, Robyn said, “Let’s dump her back at
Sheffield then.”

“
And then what?”

“
I don’t know. Stop making me come up with
everything!”

“
I didn’t mean it to come out like that,” Marion
said.

Ooops
, she’d raised her voice and everyone turned to look at
them. At this point, Ellen returned from her little hiding spot.
Minus the bird, but plus a sack of fish.

With all eyes her way, Robyn had to think fast. “We need to
get Bella back, otherwise we won’t survive winter.”

Mother Eleanor ran toward her and smothered her in kisses.
“You’re such a good girl.”

“
Yeah, yeah,” Robyn said, fighting off her affection. It
didn’t feel right to take praise for something she hadn’t really
meant. They had to ditch Ellen somehow, but they had to make it
look like they weren’t ditching her. Then they needed to find a
safe, warm place for the cold months ahead, and a forest glade
wasn’t it.

Everyone made their way to the roundhouse, where the fire kept
them toasty warm. All eyes turned to Robyn, wanting to know what to
do next.

That was the bit that got her, right in the solar plexus.
They were all looking to her for leadership. Even Marion. Georgia
and Mother Eleanor were the elders of the group, but they too had
somehow shrugged off the mantle of responsibility and piled it on
her shoulders.

And still those eyes looked her way, filled with admiration
and–how irritating–hope. Which only added to the sense Robyn would
let them down.

Horribly.

Marion gave Robyn a gentle nudge of encouragement.

N
o
words came. Robyn’s mind had gone blank.

Giving her a quizzical look, Marion cleared his throat.
“We’re going back to Sheffield, and we’re getting Bella. Any
suggestions for how we do this?”

“
Bash the guards, kick the gate in and grab the cow,” Georgia
said.

What it lacked in sophistication it more than made up for in
cathartic action.

“
I like it,” Robyn said.

“
But we can’t simply bash our way through, people are bound
to get hurt,” Madge said, wrapping her arm around
Wilfred.

“
We could buy her back,” Eleanor said.

This was met with nods and murmurs of approval.

Reality jumped in and Robyn had to disappoint them. “Not to
put a dampener on the enthusiasm, but we don’t have any coins left
to buy her.

“
We could trade for her,” Ellen said, “I’ve set the crayfish
traps, they’ll be crawling with fresh ones by morning.”

Robyn tried not to smile too much at Ellen’s suggestion. Of
course the girl wanted to get back to Sheffield. She had clearly
seen which way the wind was blowing–cold and from the north–and
knew it was suicide to stay out in the woods for much
longer.

But they couldn’t simply stroll back to the front gates at
Sheffield and expect to be let in. It would play directly into
Maudlin’s hands for them to return and ask to be let in.

It would also save Maudlin from having to send out a search
party.

Strange that this hadn’t happened already.

Heaviness weighed in Robyn’s stomach. Perhaps Roger and his
men were
already on their way? They’d have a fight on their hands,
obviously.

If he had a lick of sense, Roger would bring reinforcements
this time.

“
We need to be prepared just in case Roger and his men try
and capture us,” Marion said as Robyn was formulating the words in
her own brain.

“
We’ve been
training,” Joan said. “Even Madge is getting
good.”

“
Aw, thanks Joan,” Madge said.

“
No really, you are,” Will added. “Plus, you’re short so it’s
easier for you to ram them in the soft bits.”

“
Maybe the crayfish and one of the horses would make a good
trade?” Ellen suggested.

Oh she was crafty.

Marion piped up. “Would they see that as a fair
trade?”

Nice one, Marion.
He wasn’t dismissing Ellen’s argument, just being
his normal, ‘think everything through to the last degree,’ self. It
would drive Ellen crazy.

The discussion around the fire continued. During the too-ing
and fro-ing, Robyn had to hide her face a few times so the others
wouldn’t see her smiling so much. The fire belched smoke with each
new branch placed on top. It helped hide her laughs with a coughing
fit. They were all coughing now, and for a while they stood outside
in the fresh air, until the rain picked up again and they huddled
back around the fire.

Soon, everyone was sharing ideas about how to get to
Sheffield, get the cow, and get out again.

“
If we’re caught, we’ll be thrown in the dungeons,” Marion
reminded them.

“
But the d
–” Robyn pulled herself up short and pretended to have
another cough. She’d almost revealed what she knew about the
dungeons. She knew they weren’t empty. Well, they did had one human
prisoner down there, and he flapped his hands about like a man with
no alms. But the other cells were being used to store Maudlin’s
ill-gotten gains that Roger and his crew had taxed from all the
neighbouring villages. With a bit of luck and some planning–she’d
ask Marion about how they should go about that–they wouldn’t end up
in the dungeons. But they would get those ill-gotten goods out of
the dungeons.

“
What were you going to say?” Ellen asked, trying–and failing
in Robyn’s mind–to look innocent.

Quick, think of something.
“I was thinking that the dungeons aren’t
guarded. Well, not any more.” She said. Because they weren’t, what
with Georgia the ex-turnkey being one of them now. And Wilfred who
used to guard the gates. “Will? Georgia? How many guards are left
in Sheffield?”

“
I don’t know,” Wilfred said. “I’m sure Godwin is still at the
gate.”

Georgia shrugged and said, “She may have hired more since
our last dust-up.”

“
This could work for us,” Ellen said, revealing her
enthusiasm. “Sheffield isn’t well guarded. Why don’t we simply walk
up to the gates, ask to be let in and see what happens?”

“
See if we’re arrested, you mean,” Madge said as she clung to
Wilfred.

The fire crackled and popped as they mulled this
over.

“
We’re overlooking one thing,” Joan said, “I don’t trust Ellen
as far as I could throw her. And you, Robyn, you shouldn’t be
trusting her either.”

Robyn’s stomach sank. Joan was about to blow
everything.

“
Fair enough,” Marion said. “Ellen, I’m sorry, but with your
connection to Maudlin, I don’t think we can ever fully trust
you.”

The perfect intercept. Thank you Marion.

“
Of course you can trust me!” Ellen protested. “I’m here with
you lot! Freezing my tits off when I could be in Sheffield, covered
in sheep skins in front of a roaring fire!”

“
This fire’s pretty good,” Marion said.

Robyn heard the defensive tone in his voice and gave his arm a
squeeze. “It’s a great fire.”

“
I say we continue this without Maudlin’s eyes and ears on us,”
Joan said as she stood up and held her hand out for Ellen to take.
“Come on girl, time to get back in your box.”

“
Honestly, you’re all so unfair!” Ellen protested as Joan
lifted her up by one armpit and guided her–with some dragging–to
their carriage sleep-out. The carriage stood a few paces from the
round house, close enough to be warm, distant enough to prevent it
catching fire should the worst happen.

“
Please Joan, what do I have to do to earn your trust again?
I’ve been working so hard, catching food and cooking the best
meals. I thought you liked me?”

“
I do like you,” Joan said as she opened the carriage door and
shoved Ellen in, “But there’s no way I trust you.”

“
You trust Georgia, and she worked for Maudlin!”

“
That’s different,” Joan said as she pushed Ellen’s head back
so she’d fit in her box. “Georgia’s my mother.”

Tears welled in the former-jailers eyes. “I never thought
I’d see her again. Not a day went by when I didn’t wonder what she
looked like. If she was healthy.” The tears broke down Georgia’s
cheeks. “If she was happy.”

Over by the carriage, Joan stood by the door, leaning her head
into the frame but saying nothing.