Chapter Eight

Erasmus awoke to the sound of birdsong, a mishmash of chatters and twitters that interrupted each other more often than a pair of arguing first formers. He lay on his back, wondering whether he’d left the window open last night and why his bed seemed so uncomfortable this morning. Then, as he opened his eyes to the sight of the green-filtered light trickling through the forest ceiling, the events of the previous day came back to him in a rush. Unfortunately realisation came along with a throbbing pain in his temples and he groaned and clutched at his head as he sat up.

Maude hurried to his side with a bowl in her hand.

‘’Ow you feeling?’ she said. ‘You took quite a knock last night. I’ve never seen someone fall over like that – not without one of Alice’s daggers in ’em anyway.’

‘I feel like I’ve spent all night teaching 3C,’ Erasmus groaned, provoking a puzzled look from Maude. ‘Children,’ he said by way of explanation.

Maude nodded understandingly, then took a poultice from a pouch at her waist.

‘This’ll ’elp with the pain,’ she said as she began to wrap it around his forehead.

‘Thanks.’

Maude finished binding his head, then picked up a wooden bowl and passed it to him. ‘Now drink this and you’ll feel much better.’

Erasmus took the proffered bowl, sipped at the contents, then passed it back to Maude. After a moment he spat out a mouthful and screwed up his nose. ‘What’s in that?’ he said.

‘Secret,’ said Maude.

‘It tastes like soap.’

‘Soap?’

‘You wash with it,’ said Erasmus. ‘It makes you smell nice.’

‘I always smell nice,’ said Maude. ‘I changes my under-things every week.’

Erasmus nodded, but the motion made him feel woozy and he slumped back against the tree and closed his eyes. ‘It’s always the same when you go anywhere special on holiday,’ he muttered to himself. ‘You spend the first week feeling ill, then it’s time to go home.’

‘And how is our guest this morning?’

A soft voice that definitely wasn’t Maude’s made him open his eyes and look up. Marian stood in a halo of sunlight, giving Erasmus the feeling he was being visited by a cross between Florence Nightingale and an angel. Seeing her standing there, he could understand why she had persisted in the popular consciousness for so long. Now, here she was, like Aphrodite in a green dress, asking a lowly teacher how he was feeling.

‘I’ve been better,’ he said.

‘You took quite a turn,’ said Marian. ‘What came over you?’

‘I never realised how beautiful you were,’ Erasmus said without thinking. There was an angry clank and Erasmus turned to see the wooden bowl lying awkwardly on one of Ethel’s stones beside him. He looked up – Maude was stomping off across the clearing, her retreating back conveying an impression of annoyance.

Erasmus watched her go. ‘What was that all about?’ he said.

Marian smiled warmly. ‘She’s taken quite a shine to you,’ she said.

‘I thought she was just that kind of person,’ said Erasmus.

‘And who told you that?’

‘Nobody. I’d never heard of her until we met in the dungeon.’

‘Yet you’d heard of me?’

Erasmus nodded, then clutched at his head again. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Everyone’s heard of you – you’re legendary.’

Marian looked at him thoughtfully. ‘I find it a little unfair that, if word of my deeds has spread as far as foreign,’ she pronounced the word very definitely, convincing Erasmus she was educated enough to know it wasn’t a country, ‘that the deeds of my companions have not been included.’

‘I never heard of you having your own band of outlaws.’

‘You heard I worked alone? My, your storytellers must be able to spin quite a yarn.’

Erasmus shook his head. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I heard you were part of Robin Hood’s band.’

Marian’s eyes widened in surprise and her lips set in a firm line. ‘Do you think I’d want to associate myself with that bunch of drunken cutpurses?’ she snapped. ‘I come from a noble family.’

‘I’d heard that Robin was a good man. That’s why I came.’

‘You wanted his help?’

‘No. I wanted to know the truth – what really happened.’

Marian bit her lip thoughtfully. ‘You came all the way to Sherwood to find out if there was truth in a rumour. What kind of man are you?’

‘A scholar,’ said Erasmus. ‘It’s important for me to know the truth about things. Where I come from, not everyone believes that Robin Hood even exists.’

‘Oh he exists all right,’ said Marian. ‘It might be better for us all if he didn’t.’ She turned away and breathed deeply of the forest air. Erasmus watched her hunched shoulders as they heaved up and down.

‘What did he do to you?’ he said gently.

‘I don’t want to discuss it,’ said Marian, keeping her back turned. ‘We don’t mention his name in this camp and that’s an end to it.’

Erasmus watched thoughtfully as Marian crossed the clearing to where Alice was sharpening her dagger on a stone. What could Robin Hood have done that had caused feelings to run so high? If he were anything like his legend, then it would be inconceivable he would wish to inflict such pain on the woman he was supposed to love. And, if he were such a terrible man, what writer would then bring the legend together in a form where he and Marian were lovers and companions in arms? Curiosity gnawed at Erasmus, but he knew that, at least for the moment, he would get no more from Marian. He looked across the clearing at where Maude sat, studiously ignoring him. Perhaps he needed to mend his bridges with her in order to find out what was really happening in not-so-Merrie England.

 

Maude’s task for the morning was to catch rabbits and she reluctantly agreed to Marian’s insistence that Erasmus accompany her. As Marian had said, if they had an extra mouth to feed then the extra hands could catch some extra rabbit and earn their keep. The two walked through the forest in subdued silence, Erasmus looking around him for any sign of furry comestibles.

Eventually he decided that sufficient time had passed for him to break the silence. ‘How do you catch a rabbit?’ he said.

Maude looked at him in shock. ‘You never ’unted rabbit?’

‘I’ve never eaten rabbit,’ said Erasmus, ‘and to be honest, I’ve never hunted anything.’

‘What do you eat in foreign?’

‘We farm animals mainly. People only hunt animals for sport and it’s not a very popular pastime.’

Maude nodded understandingly: farming was a common practice for her people as well, but it tended to be difficult to set up a farm when you were in hiding from the authorities – a field of sheep was an even bigger indicator of occupation than neatly piled rocks. She unslung a small bow from her back and picked out an arrow from her concealed quiver.

‘You hunt them with a bow?’ said Erasmus incredulously.

‘Traps would be found,’ said Maude. ‘We all use bows – except for Alice.’

‘What does she use?’ Erasmus wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know the answer.

‘Just ’er dagger.’

‘She’s very fond of the whole up-close and personal approach, isn’t she? Did she have an unhappy childhood?’

Maude shrugged. ‘She ’asn’t said.’

‘You don’t ask, then?’

Maude shook her head. ‘Best not to,’ she said. She motioned for Erasmus to be quiet, set her arrow to her bow and stared intently into a nearby thicket. Erasmus followed her gaze, but it was too dark under the leaves for him to make anything out. Maude, however, seemed to be staring intently at something in the shadows and, as Erasmus watched, her posture changed. In a single motion, she went from an upright, civilised stance to that of a hunter – thousands of years of evolution appearing to fall away at a stroke. Her eyes glittered as she pulled back on the bowstring then, in a single fluid motion, she released her grip and the arrow sailed into the thicket. There was a soft thud and Erasmus could see the green feathers of the flight, still quivering slightly, in the shadows of the bush. He knelt down and stretched his arm under the bush, grasping towards the arrow. There was something warm just at the furthest extent of his reach. He closed his hand over it, then yelped and withdrew it hurriedly.

‘What?’ Maude hurried to his side and looked at him.

‘I think it’s still alive,’ said Erasmus, looking at the scratch on his palm. ‘It must have bitten me.’

Maude knelt down and pulled on the arrow. Erasmus expected some kind of squealing, or at least the rustling of leaves as the beast struggled, but it slid out unresistingly. It was quite definitely dead. It wasn’t, however, a rabbit.

‘A hedgehog!’ said Erasmus. ‘No wonder it hurt.’

‘I just saw movement,’ said Maude. ‘Mind you, there’s good eating on an ’edgehog.’

Erasmus nodded. ‘That’s as may be,’ he said, ‘but how do we carry it home?’

In the end they buried the hedgehog – it was easier than carrying it, but safer than leaving it.

 

The sun was at its apex by the time Maude and Erasmus decided they had hunted enough for the day. It hadn’t been a hugely successful hunt, but their catch of three rabbits and a squirrel would be enough to feed the outlaws. Erasmus carried a rabbit in each hand as he walked alongside Maude. He was in high spirits: the quarrel of the morning had blown over and Maude was her usual friendly self once more. As they made their way through the clearing where they’d buried the hedgehog, Erasmus decided it might be the appropriate time to pursue his line of questioning once more.

‘Why is Marian so upset by the mention of Robin Hood?’ he said.

Maude stopped and turned to look at him. ‘Why do you keep on about ’im?’

‘I told you – it’s why I came here in the first place.’

Maude adjusted the position of the rabbit on her shoulder and continued towards the camp. ‘She’s never said. She seemed upset when we first found ’er, you see, but we didn’t like to ask.’

‘She’s not your leader then?’

‘Oh, she’s that all right – stands to reason, she’s nobility – but there was a time before.’

‘Before?’

Maude stopped again and examined Erasmus’ features. His smooth face was not an unkindly one and there didn’t seem to be a trace of guile behind his hazel eyes.

‘You won’t tell Alice what I’m going to tell you, will you?’ she said. ‘Promise?’

‘I don’t think she’d listen if I—’

‘Promise?’

‘Promise,’ said Erasmus, wondering what was so bad that even telling Alice was a bad idea.

‘There were five of us at first,’ Maude began. ‘We’d all run away from ’angings or bad masters and found our way into the forest. We didn’t rob nobody or nothin’, just kept ourselves to ourselves and the Sheriff never bothered to look for us. ’E had bigger game to catch.’

‘Robin Hood?’

Maude nodded. ‘Back then, Robin ’ood was all you ’eard about. ‘’E’d steal from rich merchants and give it all to the poor. ‘’Elp anyone in trouble, ’e would.’

‘What happened?’

‘We don’t know, people just stopped talking about it,’ said Maude matter-of-factly. She stepped over a tree root and pulled the rabbit’s ears to stop it sliding down her back. ‘At that time we ’ad other things to think about.’

‘Other things?’

‘Alice came to the forest, what, ’bout two years ago. Murdered a man at the altar, they said. I don’t know about that, but she wasn’t ’appy to simply live in the forest and stay alive. She wanted to kill. Gisburne began to lose soldiers – ’e was told to get all the women out of the forest and we thought the only way to save ourselves was either to join Alice or stop ’er.’

‘Which did you do?’

‘Neither. That’s when Marian came along. She’s got a way with people ’as Marian. She got Alice to stop butchering people and she brought us all together.’

‘Did she ever say why she wanted to join you?’

‘No. Why should she ’ave? ’

‘Well. It’s just... she’s from a noble family, isn’t she? Seems an odd thing to do – just heading off into the forest to start life in the rough.’

‘It’s not like that,’ said Maude. ‘Marian came to us because she said the country was run by bad men and we’ve got to do what we can to disr– disru–,’ she faltered.

‘Disrupt,’ Erasmus supplied.

‘That’s it,’ said Maude, ‘to disrupt their doings. We robs from the rich and gives it to the poor. We ’elp people and we don’t kill people – unless we can’t avoid it.’

‘What about up at the castle? Alice seemed to be able to avoid it.’

‘She’s too fond of killing. If it weren’t for Marian, she’d ’ave given every man in the kingdom a shave ’e wouldn’t forget by now.’

Erasmus adjusted his grip on one of his rabbits. The beast’s eyes looked at him balefully and, although he hadn’t managed to kill any of the rabbits, Erasmus looked away guiltily.

‘I still don’t understand why she didn’t join up with Robin Hood,’ he said.

‘With Robin’ood? Why would she?’

‘Well, if he was doing the same thing already. It would make sense, wouldn’t it? They might even get along.’

‘But ’e’s not doing the same thing.’

‘I thought you said he was.’

‘’E was, yes. But like I said, people stopped saying ’e was. Perhaps ’e’d stopped?’

‘Perhaps,’ said Erasmus thoughtfully. He frowned. ‘How did you end up in the dungeon?’ he asked.

‘I was unlucky. I came across a man robbin’ a young girl and tried to stop ’im.’

‘What happened?’

‘Turns out ’e was a soldier, trying to have ’is way with this girl from the village. ’E rose all ’ell and ’is mates came in and got me. Sneaky.’

‘Sneaky?’

‘If ’e was a soldier, ’e ought to ’ave been dressed as one. ’Ow was I supposed to know?’

‘Well, you can’t exactly…’ Erasmus hesitated, ‘steal from a girl in full armour, can you?’

Maude looked at him, momentarily puzzled. ‘’Course you can,’ she began, then stopped and smiled. ‘Oh!’ she said. ‘Suppose not – though some girls reckon they like a man in armour. Takes all sorts. ’Ow do you like your girls?’

Erasmus flushed. ‘Not in armour,’ he said. ‘Perhaps in amour.’

Maude shot him a quizzical look. ‘That foreign?’

‘French,’ said Erasmus.

‘You’re not one of them, are you?’ she said, suddenly worried. Erasmus was taken aback, his twenty-first-century mind placing an entirely different meaning on the words than was intended, but he quickly realised what was meant and shook his head.

‘I speak several languages,’ he said, ‘but English is my native tongue.’

‘Where do you come from?’ Maude asked.

‘I couldn’t begin to explain.’

Maude nodded and adopted a thoughtful silence as they arrived back at the camp. Ethel had fashioned a makeshift work-surface out of the flatter stones and Maude deposited her catch down carefully. Erasmus followed suit and the two walked away from the clearing as Ethel began to skin the animals with a sharp knife.

‘Do you really want to find out about Robin ’ood?’ said Maude, once they were out of hearing distance of the clearing.

‘Yes,’ said Erasmus. ‘I really do.’

Maude looked at him. His features were earnest and she knew she couldn’t refuse him. ‘I’ll show you where they’re camped,’ she said. ‘After that, I’m afraid you’re on your own.’