The Forgotten Keepsake

Chapter 6

VI

Robin Hood and his band of merry men had not been all that merry of late. Which was strange because all had been peaceful the past few weeks. Which had Robin feeling rather paranoid.

What could Gisborne be planning?

It had all been quiet on that front since the wedding – which was not at all what Robin had been expecting. He had been expecting swift reprisals from the Knight – he had after all bolted through with Gisborne's bride-to-be but no... so far nothing... Which was somehow even more unnerving.

"Ey 'ave you heard Robin? Gisborne's gone to York"

Thank the heavens for Allan-a-Dale. Ever since Marian had left the Castle, he had been the only one with news from there. Who would have thought that he would come to rely on the wide-boy's ability to charm the pants off kitchen wenches as a source of information?

"York?"

"Yeah, he set off this morning."

"What...?"

Robin was baffled. What in God's name could he be doing in York?

I'm here Gisborne, where I've always been, what could you possibly be wanting there?

"He's visiting a friend apparently..." Allan shrugged.

"He hasn't got any friends!"

Robin was scared now. First weeks and weeks of silence and now the arsehole is in York?

"Maybe a mate of the Sheriff's?" Alan offered.

That's more likely. A mate with a lot of weapons. Or maybe one big weapon. After all the Sheriff and Prince John have tried so far, who knows what they could come up with next? The imagination runs riot in situations like this. Maybe something completely ridiculous like a big f***ing lion or something...

*****

Guy looked down once more at the scribbled directions he had received in Clun. That the girl had moved with her father to York after all that had happened in Castlebrook had made things more complicated for him - such a long journey could not be kept secret from his Master.

He had however, become quite creative when it came to lying to the Sheriff. Of course, he could no more tell the Vaisey the truth about wanting to travel to York than he could anyone else, who would believe him after all? And so once again he had spun the tale about finding the girl for Marian, it had been all too easy to convince Thornton's friend that he was doing it out of self-interest – to curry favour with Marian – and happily Vaisey came to that very same conclusion. Where the creativity came in, was convincing the Sheriff that finding the girl could be somehow useful to his schemes. Fortunately, the older man was sufficiently paranoid when it came to Marian; suspecting her of having deeper ties to Hood than she ever let on (something that she had also all but blatantly admitted in riding off with the outlaw that disastrous day) and so he was quick to see the benefits of reuniting Marian with an old friend – an 'old friend' who could find out what Marian was getting up to with Hood for them.

The scheme was of course a Castle in the clouds, merely a story Guy had spun to get to York, there would be no 'old friend of Marian's' who would spy for them - he would ride back to Nottingham in a few days' time and no matter what actually happened in York, the only thing he was ever going to tell the Sheriff was that he had not been able to find her.

It frustrated Guy that these were the things he had to do because the Sheriff had to know the whys and wherefores of everything in his life. But it also satisfied him to know that he could sometimes get one over on him, that he was clever enough to pull things like this off, that he knew how the Sheriff's mind worked and could use this knowledge of him to his advantage. There had been a split second where it had nearly gone wrong and Guy's stomach had lurched as Vaisey had suggested accompanying him on the trip... But then, as he'd suspected, the Sheriff was too busy and thankfully had decided to stay in Nottingham.

And now here he was – riding in to York – with the Sheriff's blessing. And it was all he could do to keep himself from smiling.