22
15 minutes earlier
Outside the Locksley kitchen tunnel
Getting to Locksley Castle took longer than Jill wanted it to. First, there had been the debate about who of the merry men would go. Eventually, Robin had decided ten men would accompany them part way and be ready to provide backup should they meet any foresters or Guy and his men. But only Will Scarlet and Little John would enter the castle with Robin and Jill. Second, Robin and Will had deliberated about how to properly enter the castle. Jill’s repeated urging that they could talk it over on the way won out, and the group of fourteen set out for Locksley.
As the sheriff’s men traveled from village to village collecting tax money, the outlaws were forced either to hide until the soldiers passed or to avoid the soldiers by following a circuitous route, which accounted for further delay. Finally by mid-morning, Robin, Jill, Little John, and Will crouched behind the undergrowth at the edge of the forest, overlooking a small cave guarded by ten soldiers. The cave was on a gently sloping hill with the outlaws both below the opening and downwind of the soldiers. Two soldiers stood guard at the entrance while the others checked their weapons and appeared to be preparing to enter.
“I don’t understand. How did they find the tunnel?” Will asked. “Gripple’s been going in and out of it for three years and was never discovered.”
“Someone told the sheriff about it,” Robin surmised, “which means we could be walking into a trap.”
“Should we try the chapel tunnel?” Will asked.
“It’s been locked and the key was lost,” Robin reminded him. “We don’t have time anyway. Joanna’s in danger and we have to get in there, especially if the sheriff is about to attack.”
Earlier in the day, Robin had drawn a map of the castle in the dirt for Jill. She visualized it now. The tunnel would bring them up through the kitchen, which was on the northeast side of the castle, between the keep and the chapel tower. As soon as they stepped out of the kitchen, they would be exposed until they reached the door of the keep. Jill assumed Joanna would be in her room on the third floor, but there was no way to be sure. If Joanna wasn’t there, the rescue party could creep to the great hall and work their way around the castle until they found her.
“So, what do we do?” Little John asked.
Robin turned to Jill. “Suggestions?”
“I think we kick those soldiers’ butts and rescue my sister.”
“And my family,” Will added. “My mum and brother are in there, too.”
“As well as your stepfather,” Little John reminded him.
“They aren’t married yet,” Will protested.
“Ten soldiers.” Robin brought their attention back to the current problem. “Two and a half for each of us. Everyone ready?”
At Robin’s signal, Jill, John, and Will attacked. Robin and Will both carried light swords and their bows but used their fists to fight. Little John had his staff, which was as tall as he was and almost as thick as Jill’s wrist. Remembering her success with Robin on the slippery log, Jill had also brought a staff. Swinging it over her head, she smacked one soldier on the side of his head then jammed the end of the staff into the chest of the soldier approaching her from behind. While he bent over in pain, she whacked the first soldier again and he fell to the ground. It took a roundhouse kick and two more blows with her staff to finish off the second soldier. As she scanned for more opponents, she caught sight of a soldier moving toward Robin. A whack to the back of the man’s knees threw him off balance long enough for Robin to knock him out with a blow to the jaw.
Robin grinned and Jill felt herself smiling back. For the first time in her life she had purpose, adventure, and someone special to share it with. But she couldn’t stay. Robin’s suddenly melancholy expression seemed to promise understanding of her thoughts before he nodded toward Little John who was finishing off the last soldier.
“Let’s tie them up,” Robin suggested. “We don’t want them coming in after us.”
Using rope Will had brought, they tied the soldiers around three different trees and gagged them with strips torn from the soldiers’ own clothes. When the task was finished, Robin walked to the tunnel entrance, paused, then turned back to the other three.
“I don’t know what we’re walking in to.” Robin grimaced in anticipation. “The sheriff’s men or Guy’s might be waiting for us the minute we open the trap door. Either way, I can’t promise we’re going to get out of this alive. But we do have some advantages. We know the castle, we know the people, and we’re rescuing our loved ones. Neither Guy nor the sheriff possess all three of those.”
“Here, here!” Little John agreed.
“And I hope no one’s afraid of the dark,” Robin added, “Because I forgot to bring a candle.”
Robin led the way followed by Will so the two of them could defend against any soldiers waiting for them at the trap door. Jill came third with Little John at the rear since his bulk was the most difficult to maneuver through the narrow passageway. As Jill navigated the dark space, she couldn’t see anything except the blackness. She kept her left hand on Will’s back so she wouldn’t lose him or run into him by accident. As she felt her way along, she decided she would much rather crawl through caves than jump off buildings. John grunted behind her. When she asked how he was doing, he assured her that he was coming along fine, if a bit cramped.
It wasn’t long before Will stopped and Jill heard Robin pushing at the trap door in the kitchen floor. Light flooded into the stairway as Robin opened the door and climbed up. Jill could hear Joanna’s voice carrying throughout the castle even before Will helped her up the last stairs, but she couldn’t understand the words clearly. No one was in the kitchen, even though a fire burned in the fireplace and stew bubbled tantalizingly in the kettle. It was strange that no one guarded the door.
Robin motioned for everyone to don their hoods, and they exited the kitchen, moving along the wall of the keep until they were standing at the back of the crowd of servants and soldiers who surrounded Guy, Joanna, and another man Jill assumed to be Roger near the well closer to the gatehouse. Joanna had just accused Roger of killing the two women and was delivering her explanation.
“Gwen wasn’t threatened by Roger and probably asked for his help unlacing her bodice. He had to kill Gwen to keep his location a secret. After all, she would have told Guy she had seen Roger in the room. When she turned her back to Roger, he strangled her.”
Joanna epitomized confidence and self-possession and projected her voice for the entire castle to hear. Jill swelled with pride at her sister’s performance. Joanna really needed to write a book. She was much more talented than she thought she was, and the modern world deserved to know it. Jill was jerked back to the present when Guy ordered Roger to be silent.
“I will not be silent,” Roger protested, “when you refuse to acknowledge the service I’ve done for you. Who killed the forester we used to frame Robin? Wasn’t it me? Didn’t I do it willingly because I’m loyal to you?”
Robin stiffened at this declaration while the crowd gasped in response. Jill knew Guy was a desperate man, but she didn’t expect him to execute Roger so quickly. There wasn’t even time to react. But Joanna’s response, even as she was spattered with Roger’s blood, surprised Jill even more. Jill had never seen her sister so aggressive—and Jill liked it! How was it possible she had known Joanna for twenty-five years and never seen this side of her?
As Guy related how Marian died, Jill slipped her hand into Robin’s. She couldn’t imagine how hard it must be for him to listen to this. As the story continued, Robin tensed and pulled his hand away before shouting, “Murderer!”
Jill understood what was about to happen. The time had come for the final showdown between these brothers. The confrontation had been building for many years, probably since the day Robin had been born, and Jill could not stop it even if she wanted to. She would be gone soon. Robin would have to find his own happiness, peace, a
nd purpose. If she truly cared about him, she would let him fight this battle and find closure. But she didn’t have to stand here powerless. She would have his back and help him get his revenge.
Robin approached Guy with a purposeful step. Jill picked up the cloak and bow he discarded and joined Will and Little John in the ring of people that widened around the brothers’ battlefield. Suddenly Joanna was at her side.
“I’m glad to see you,” Joanna whispered, “but you’re in danger. The sheriff’s outside with a hundred men. He has Guy’s constable with him and who knows how many people inside ready to surrender. If the sheriff knows Robin is in here, too…”
With Roger’s blood spattered on Joanna’s face, chest and arms and the determined gleam in her eyes, she looked nothing like a mild-mannered wedding planner or damsel in distress but everything like a competent woman who could take care of herself. The new look suited her. Maybe Joanna wasn’t in danger. But if that was true, whose life was Jill supposed to save? She wished now she’d had more time with the Widow Tinsley but doubted the woman would have been any more forthcoming.
Guy’s low, evil laugh brought her back to the present. “Robin, at last!” Guy raised his bloody sword in salute.
If Jill was going to help Robin, she needed to assess the battlefield. The bailey wasn’t very big, and now, crowded with people, there was even less room for the combatants to maneuver. Robin and Guy stood about fifteen feet apart, the encircling crowd giving the brothers a battlefield about the size of a boxing ring. With no one else involved, nothing to hide behind, and nowhere to run, the fight wouldn’t last long. If Jill was going to help Robin, she didn’t have much time. Currently, she and Joanna were several feet back from the inner edge of the fighting ring.
“Take these for me.” She passed Robin’s cloak and bow to Joanna. “And stay back here.”
“What are you doing?”
“Not sure yet,” Jill admitted.
“They’re going to kill each other,” Joanna warned. “You don’t want to get stuck in the middle of it.”
“I already am.”
Joanna’s expression reminded Jill of how Mom always looked when she was about to scold the twins for doing something stupid. Joanna looked at the dagger in Jill’s belt, and her face regained the self-possessed, confident look Jill had admired a moment before.
“Be careful,” Joanna said.
Jill nodded, grateful for the understanding, and pushed her way forward to the front.
Robin had not yet drawn his sword when he addressed the crowd. “People of Locksley! This quarrel is between Guy and me. No one else. I have no wish for more blood to be spilled.”
Jill studied the faces of the crowd, hopeful they would honor his request.
Robin turned to Guy. “For three years I’ve dreamed of killing you, and you more than deserve it. But in honor of our mother, God rest her soul, I will grant you mercy.”
“Mercy is for cowards!” Guy mocked.
Robin’s nostrils flared. “For the sake of the people of Locksley, turn yourself in to the sheriff and clear my name. Return to me my title and lands—”
Guy was fast. He covered the distance between him and Robin and swiped his sword blade across Robin’s chest. Had Robin not leaned back in time, Guy would have finished him off as easily as he had Roger. But instead of slicing open Robin’s chest, Guy severed the strap of Robin’s quiver. The leather pouch fell heavily to the ground, the arrow shafts clattering against each other. Robin hadn’t even drawn his sword as Guy prepared to strike again. Robin dropped to the ground and rolled out of Guy’s range as the sword blade came down. Leaping to his feet, Robin ran behind Guy to the farthest end of the makeshift arena and drew his sword.
With a roar, Guy charged. Robin’s steel met his as they exchanged blows. Guy’s blade was thicker and stronger than Robin’s. It didn’t take Jill long to notice Guy was pushing Robin around the circle, overpowering him with his strength. Guy was obviously the better swordsman. But Robin was fueled by righteous anger. The older brother he loved and trusted had stolen his life and his woman. Having grown up with only a sister, Jill had never witnessed male aggression to this degree. She understood now that Robin had only toyed with her when they fought on the fallen log. If he had attacked her with the same intensity he now directed toward Guy, Robin would have finished Jill quickly.
A collective groan sounded throughout the crowd as Guy drew blood on Robin’s right arm. Jill cringed. But Robin didn’t seem to feel it. His face contorted in rage, he wounded Guy in the leg.
Jill looked around frantically for Little John and Will. John was easy to spot. He towered over Joanna who stood where Jill had left her. Jill was grateful for Little John’s forethought. He still struggled with guilt for letting Joanna down in Nottingham Castle several days before. Jill could count on him now to defend Joanna with his life and get her safely out of the castle if the sheriff breached the walls.
Will stood near his mother, Gripple and Sirsalon. Both Will and Sirsalon had their swords drawn and were braced for battle while carefully watching the duel between the brothers. Seeing the family together, even if Sirsalon was an addition Will begrudged, caused a lump to rise in Jill’s throat. She wanted nothing more than to return to her own family when this was over.
The ring of steel blades colliding called Jill’s focus back to Robin and Guy. Guy sliced at Robin’s neck, but Robin ducked and turned, slamming his shoulder into Guy’s stomach. The force dropped Guy to the ground and caused both men to lose their swords. For a moment, they grappled hand to hand on the ground, wrestling, punching, and kicking like they must have as boys. Robin pinned Guy to the ground and punched his face repeatedly until Guy’s knee connected with Robin’s groin and pushed him off to the side. Both men, groaning, rolled on the ground. Guy tried to clear his head and Robin attempted to stand. They were tiring.
Robin, still doubled over, was the first to retrieve his sword and scuttled as far to the opposite side of the circle as he could, hoping, Jill guessed, to give himself a little more time to recover. Jill wished Robin had finished Guy while his ears still rang from all the punches Robin had thrown at him, but Robin was either too noble or too physically weak to take advantage of the situation.
As Robin rested with one knee on the ground, Guy rose slowly, retrieved his sword, and staggered toward Robin, gaining strength and height with every step. Robin stood just in time to deflect Guy’s blow. But the heavier sword came down with such force that the blade was severed above the hilt. Jill gasped in dismay. How would Robin defend himself? Robin stared at the bladeless hilt in his hand and she saw panic and despair. Guy would kill him as he had killed Roger. But Robin’s panic passed as quickly as it had come. He rolled away from Guy’s blow and ran to the other side of the circle.
Jill sucked in her breath. She had to do something to help. Drawing the dagger from her belt, she pondered how to get Robin’s attention and pass it to him. Robin still held the broken sword hilt in his right hand and Guy turned to charge him.
“Robin!”
His eyes turned in her direction but only for an instant as Guy swung his blade and Robin dodged. Guy swung again, and again Robin dodged. What was Robin doing? Why was he allowing Guy to chase him all over the ground? Then she understood. He was making his way to her. She held the dagger ready. As Robin dashed past her, not stopping for fear of putting her in range of Guy’s sword, she slipped the dagger into his left hand and he moved on, this time, in his distraction, getting sliced across the chest by Guy’s sword blade.
Jill didn’t cry out, but her palms were cold and sweaty and she felt faint. There was nothing else she could do. As blood flowered on Robin’s white shirt, she saw him weakening. Guy would kill him. How could this be happening? Robin was supposed to win!
Robin deflected a blow with his sword hilt, but as he tried to back away from Guy, he slipped and fell on his back, his torso fully exposed. Guy grasped the hilt in both hands and raised the sword high, re
ady to plunge the blade into Robin’s heart and end their feud forever.
“Noooooooooo!!!”
Where was that noise coming from?
Jill recognized with amazement that she was the one screaming. Her shriek seemed to make the very stones of the castle vibrate and caused her ears to ache. She had no idea she was capable of making such a desperate, frightening sound, and yet it kept pouring out of her. The sound she had made while jumping off the Nottingham Castle wall seemed inaudible in comparison.
Guy’s sword stuck in mid-air, and his face paled as though he’d seen a ghost.
“Marian?”
As Guy likely relived the very moment Marian fell to her death, Robin drove Jill’s dagger under Guy’s rib cage. Guy shuddered and inhaled a groan. He dropped the sword and staggered several steps before falling.
Jill rushed into the open space and kicked Guy’s sword out of his reach. Then she knelt at Robin’s side. Sliding Robin’s head and shoulders to lean against her body, she encircled him with her arms. His head lay back against her left shoulder, allowing her to study the gash on his chest. She pressed her hand against it to stop the bleeding. With a little groan, Robin clasped her forearm as they watched Guy thrash in pain.
“Marian,” Guy said weakly, blood tricking out of his mouth.
Jill pressed her lips against the top of Robin’s head.
“Marian,” Guy repeated. “Forgive me.”
He reached a hand toward Jill. It hung in the air a moment then slumped to the ground as blood flowed from his chest and mouth into little rivulets between the pavers.
A ragged breath that might have been a sob escaped from Robin’s lips. Jill pressed her hand harder against his chest. His ribs and breast bone had not been fractured. She could feel them firm under the bloody skin. Ordinarily, she would have been disgusted by something like this, but instead, she only felt concern and wished she had a bandage.
The entire castle was eerily silent. Jill could hear the horses snorting in their stables. Joanna, with Robin’s cloak still draped over her arm, walked slowly to Guy and kneeled down beside him. With a sober glance at Jill, Joanna pressed two fingers against his neck to check for a pulse.
“He’s dead.”
“Cover him up,” Robin requested, his voice hoarse. “He was my brother.”
Joanna shook out the cloak and laid it over Guy’s body, hiding his face. Then, she stood and with hands clasped recited a poem Jill recognized as one Joanna had written several years ago during one of her “dark” periods.
The apparition of regret
Appears to men of tortured frame
Who harbor memories long beset
By evil deeds they dare not name.
Should opportunity inspire
Atonement for such heinous crimes,
Beware the man of bitter ire
Who fails to make use of the times!
Then even morning stars lose hope
When dark suns rise on days of grief.
The guilty soul in darkness gropes
Till only death can bring relief.
As she recited, the crowd bowed their head, as they would for a benediction. Robin took a ragged breath and squeezed Jill’s arm. When Joanna finished, silence reigned for several seconds until it was shattered by a booming clang that sounded like a door opening in the gatehouse. Then, chains rattled and the portcullis began to rise.
Jill wondered if her own eyes were as wide as her twin’s when Joanna exclaimed, “The sheriff is coming!”