24
Sherwood Forest
Jill’s top priority was to get Robin back to camp. Since he was unable to walk on his own, Will and John each had one of his arms draped over their shoulders as the rescue party headed back to camp. Robin smiled at Jill periodically, but she could tell he was in pain. While she knew about tourniquets and bandages and treating the initial signs of shock, Robin needed stitches—and needles fell far out of her area of expertise. Hopefully John or Will had experience treating wounds like this.
She studied her hands, covered with Robin’s blood. She had wiped off as much as she could in the grass, but dried streaks of reddish brown covered her skin up to her elbows. Her fingernails and the creases in her knuckles were black with blood and dirt. The journey through the tunnel had also left its marks. The candle she carried had dripped wax and burned the skin in several spots on her arms and hands. Her clothes were a mess as well—dusty and blood-splattered. She was exhausted, and now that the adrenaline rush was fading, she wanted nothing more than to sleep.
The merry men encouraged Joanna, who walked a few steps behind Jill, to share more about dragons. Joanna used artistic license when she described a battle between a Brachiosaurus and T-Rex, but since bones of these creatures wouldn’t be discovered for several hundred years, Jill didn’t point out the fallacies she heard. The constant din of Joanna’s high-pitched voice grated on Jill’s nerves. However, Jill understood why the men were fascinated. Joanna had a talent for explaining abstract, scientific details in a way the people around her could understand, and she adapted quickly when she sensed a particular piece was especially interesting or difficult to relate to. Jill appreciated Joanna’s skill, even if she did wish she would stop talking for a while.
Recognizing the signs that they were approaching camp, Jill breathed a sigh of relief. Robin was tiring quickly although he was doing an admirable job of hiding it. Jill imagined that the emotional stress of the day contributed more than anything to his exhaustion. In addition to his injuries and loss of blood, he had learned Marian’s affection for him had been even slighter than he had believed, and he’d lost his brother—an evil one, but a brother nonetheless.
When they reached the camp, the men made appropriate exclamations over Robin’s wounds. Little John offered his lean-to as a better place for Robin to recover since it was closer to the fire. The location pleased Jill as Robin wouldn’t be as cut off from the action of the camp. She knew he would hate to be laid up, but it would be more bearable if he still felt included.
John went for water and medical supplies while Jill stayed with Robin. She held his hand as he dozed, covered by John’s large cloak. Robin would be all right with some rest, but he looked so vulnerable right now that the thought of ever leaving him seemed out of the question. When the Widow Tinsley had said Jill was here to save a life, she must have meant Robin’s—not that Joanna hadn’t been in danger, but Robin was the one who had come closer to dying today.
The camp began to calm down from the initial excitement of the rescue party’s return. Everyone was tired from the events of the day before and the lack of sleep. Will and Gripple sat apart from the men on one side of camp, their heads bent together, probably discussing Elaine. Jill had only met Will’s mother yesterday, but she seemed like a pretty tough cookie. Jill hoped she would be all right and that her sons were worried about her for nothing.
The twins had been scheduled to fly back to the States on the eighteenth. By Jill’s calculations, that was two days ago. She wondered how her parents were holding up, worried about their daughters and believing the worst. Hopefully Dad hadn’t started an international incident yet.
Joanna, apparently unconcerned about what was happening beyond this camp, sat by the fire surrounded by a few of the men who had accompanied them through the forest as well as several who had stayed behind. One of the men said something inaudible and Joanna laughed. Jill rolled her eyes. This had been exactly what she was afraid of. Joanna was already stealing all the attention.
“Sounds like she’s fitting in.”
Robin’s eyes were closed as he spoke, but a smile played at the corner of his lips.
“Does she have to earn her way into the gang?”
“You’re not going to forgive me for that, are you? There’s no need to be jealous.”
His accurate assessment of her mood irritated her. “They didn’t moon over me like they are her.”
“They didn’t have time.”
She considered this, remembering how he had teased her through the fight, allowed her to beat him, and walked with her to the camp. She hadn’t realized at the time how clearly he had indicated his interest or how quickly he had acted. In the movies, people fell in love at first sight and made life-altering decisions based on only a few days of knowing someone. But this was different. Jill thought of what Joanna had said about Marian and knew Joanna hadn’t been talking about Marian at all.
Robin rubbed his thumb back and forth across her knuckles. “You saved my life.”
“All I did was hand you the dagger.”
“I didn’t know you could scream like that.”
“I’m full of surprises.”
“I hope so.”
She wanted to ask Robin what he meant by that, but Little John’s return with rudimentary medical supplies discouraged further discussion. Although she had mentally braced herself to hold Robin’s hand through the stitching of his wound, she couldn’t help but cringe as John threaded the needle.
Robin waved her away. “Go see your sister before one of those idiots proposes to her.”
Feeling grateful but guilty for leaving him, Jill approached the fire, catching Joanna’s eye and motioning for her to come. Joanna, who was in the middle of a story, held up a finger to indicate she was almost finished.
“So once Jill strung the rope from one tree to the other,” Joanna related, “she hung a curved piece of polished metal over top of it. Then, she held onto the handles she had bent on both sides and pushed herself off the branch. She slid like lightning down the rope and landed on a branch in the other tree without her feet ever touching the ground. And that, gentlemen, is how Jill created the zip line.”
The men applauded.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Jill said, “but I think my sister would like to wash up.”
“Oh, yes, please!” Joanna shyly tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled at her audience. “If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen.”
“I remember that zip line very differently,” Jill remarked under her breath as the twins walked to Jill’s hut.
“I’m making you look good.”
“Don’t overdo it.”
Joanna waved her hand in dismissal. “They adore you. I’m only adding to your legend. You are pretty awesome, you know.”
Jill grinned, enjoying the praise. “I like to think I can kick butt when I need to.”
“Yeah, I’d say you’ve proven that.”
Opening the door of her little hut, Jill motioned inside. “And here we are—my happy little abode.”
Joanna paused in the doorway, her happy expression turning into a look of distaste.
“What?” Jill’s irritation flared. “Not your style?”
“Cozy.” Joanna’s face showed she was trying to mask her expression. “Where’s the bed?”
Jill pointed to the pile of moss and foliage on the ground.
“Interesting. There aren’t any mice or spiders in there, are there?”
“Not that I noticed. What were you expecting, a feather mattress?”
“It’s what I had at the castle.”
“Well, you’re not at the castle anymore, are you?”
Joanna pursed her lips. “Is there room for both of us to sleep in here? I know how you hate sharing a…bed.”
“I might sleep outside tonight in case Robin needs anything.”
Joanna raised her eyebrows.
Jill motioned inside. “So, are you going in or what?”
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With a little sigh, Joanna ducked into the doorway and sat on the makeshift bed, testing how springy it was. Jill sat in the other end of the small hut and closed the door. While she had longed for Joanna to be safe and to be with her, now that they were together, Jill didn’t know what to do. Joanna’s presence brought a dose of reality to the outlaw life that Jill hadn’t considered before now.
“Is that change of clothes for me?” Joanna pointed to the bundle on the floor.
“Yeah. I’m not sure how well they’ll fit you. I had to piece together an outfit from what the gang could spare.”
Joanna attempted a smile. “Thanks. And thanks for saving me. I wouldn’t have enjoyed spending more time with the sheriff.”
Jill considered asking about Guy, wondering how Joanna felt about his demise, but the topic might get emotional, and Jill didn’t want to deal with that right now. “You’re welcome. I’ve got our modern clothes, too.”
Joanna shifted the outlaw garb to reveal her pink shirt, khakis, and shoes below. Lifting her blouse to her face, she jerked it away, grimacing. “Ugh! Is that stink from me? I thought I was wearing deodorant.”
“It’s Lester. You’ll want to do laundry.”
“Gross! You didn’t wash them for me?”
“I was too busy trying to save your life.”
Joanna’s face grew serious. “Look, Jill, I know I’m in your territory now. I don’t want to get in the way, but I’m not sure where I belong.”
“It’s fine. I’m glad you’re here. It’s just…weird.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know. Maybe get cleaned up and put on some better clothes. You’re a mess.”
“What? Medieval mini skirts aren’t a good look for me?” Joanna copped an exaggerated magazine pose.
“Roger’s blood is all over your face.”
“And my hands, philosophically speaking. But at least Gwen and Bess have justice now. You’ve got your own share of bloodstains going on.”
Jill glanced at her blood-streaked skin and grimaced. “Disgusting, isn’t it? Come on. I’ll show you where we can wash up.”
Jill led her sister to a spot where the women could bathe in privacy. Since the streambed was narrow and the water shallow, Jill decided not to fight Joanna for space as they had when they were little girls sharing a bathtub. Instead, she kept watch while Joanna washed and changed into what she complained were baggy leggings and an oversized doublet.
“If you don’t like them, you can find something else,” Jill retorted, secretly pleased that she looked better in Marian’s costume than Joanna did in the hand-me-downs.
Employing some ingenuity, Joanna detached the doublet sleeves and used the lacing to fashion a belt that made the doublet more closely resemble a bodice and fit her more snugly.
“The boots are perfect, though,” Joanna declared, wringing out her wet hair and combing it with her fingers. “Better than those slippers I wore at the castle. Wish I had my comb.”
“What happened to your purse?”
“It’s still back at the castle somewhere. But it’s all right. There’s nothing in there that can’t be replaced.”
“Not even your journal?”
Joanna shrugged.
This reaction coming from the woman who only a few days ago had insisted on writing everything down and carrying too much in her purse struck Jill as very odd. “Who are you and what did you do with my sister?”
Joanna shrugged. “Call it personal growth. Are you going to take a bath or what?”
While Jill bathed in the cold water, Joanna did her laundry, draping the wet shirt and pants over some bushes to dry. When she finished, she picked up Jill’s medallion to study it.
“That’s mine,” Jill cautioned, remembering Joanna’s inability since childhood to keep her hands off anything that wasn’t hers.
“I know! I was just looking at it.”
“Well, be careful. Don’t drop it in the water.”
“Good grief! Here, take it if you’re so worried about it.”
Jill retrieved the medallion from Joanna’s hand and hung the chain around her neck, feeling both comforted and burdened by the weight.
“Jill, we need to talk about Robin at some point, as well as the whole time-travel thing.”
Jill groaned. “Can’t we do it later? I’m hungry and tired.”
“I don’t want us to be stuck here. If we have a way to get back…”
“We do.” Recognizing she couldn’t escape the discussion, Jill shared in a few words as possible what she had learned from the Widow Tinsley that morning. When Jill finished, Joanna sat quietly for a long time, frowning in concentration.
“A pistol in a holster?”
“After everything I told you, that’s what you question?”
“It’s an interesting detail, don’t you think? She could have kept it hidden, but she let you see it, which means she wanted you to know she’s a time traveler. We can also assume she travels in America as well as England and to more time periods than the twelfth century.”
“She knew my name,” Jill added, “and what I did for a living.”
“Who’s to say she hasn’t met us sometime in the future that we haven’t experienced yet but she remembers?”
“You’re taking this awfully well. Doesn’t it seem absurd to you?”
Joanna shrugged. “My internal absurd meter may be calibrated differently than yours. I’m a fiction writer and a wedding planner, after all. What did she say again about how we get back?”
“She said, ‘You go back the way you came.’ When I asked her what that meant, she told me to use my imagination.”
“That certainly leaves room for artistic interpretation. She said no magic wands, talismans, stuff like that?”
“Right.”
“Okay…so…how did we get here? We were wearing our twenty-first-century clothes and riding horses. You already have our clothes and the horses.”
Jill was beginning to see where Joanna was headed. “A fog rolled in. Robin’s horn blew. My ears popped.”
“Mine, too.”
“It was mid-morning,” Jill added.
“There you have it.” Joanna spread her palms like everything was clear. “We have everything we need. We wait until a morning fog rolls in, put on our modern clothes, get on the horses, and ride into the fog while Robin blows his horn.”
“This is England. A fog could roll in anytime.”
“Precisely! We could go home tomorrow!”
Jill’s stomach dropped at this realization.
“Jill, you okay?”
“Yeah. Let’s go back to camp.”
“We still have a lot to talk about.”
“Not now,” Jill motioned for Joanna to follow her. “I’m grumpy and my blood sugar is low.”
Joanna’s face took on that pinched expression she always got when she wanted to say something but knew it wouldn’t be welcome. Jill rolled her eyes and led the way back to the campfire, wishing with all her heart that tomorrow would be clear and sunny.