Free Maid Marian by Elsa Watson Page B

ready for their day in the fields. It occurred to me then that I had been present for the whole of their time away from their work, from yesterday evening to this early morn. How it must have sped by for them! Today they would pass another full day beneath the hot sun, then another night on the lumpy mattress, and another, and another. Thus stretched the regular order of their futures. ’Twas no wonder Annie preferred our slow life of embroidery and spinning before a great fire, capped by a night of easy slumber. I scratched at my arm without glancing down and heard Annie exclaim, “Law! What a bite you have! Ma, you’ll have to air the straw out soon. It seems to have got some fleas in’t.”

Chapter Seven
    A NNIE AND I RODE AWAY from Wodesley with opposing hearts, for she bid the place good-bye with a tear, while I could not urge my mare to a quick enough step. This very day we hoped to meet with Robin Hood and seek his help. I must admit that I felt a great nervousness at the thought, for if this scheme did not succeed, I didn’t know what I should do. So much seemed to depend upon chance that it made me shake to think of it. But I resolved to push it from my mind and content myself with riding, step by step, closer to Sherwood, where things would surely work themselves out.
    As our horses advanced, the day grew soft as a day in June can sometimes be, warm and mellow and laced with birdsong. Fairy bells, daisies, and early roses peeked up from every grassy byland, and green leaves danced for joy at the sunlight. Ash and hawthorn, white birch and elm, lined our way, leading us into clusters of limes, thick with flaxen flower buds. It was a pleasant ride so long as I could keep my mind steady, though as we neared the famous forest I found that task to be increasingly difficult.
    We had agreed between ourselves that when we were stopped by the outlaws, as we hoped—nay, required—that we would be, I should be the one to speak. Annie agreed to it even more now, for as we progressed through the silent wood, we both became anxious. What would we do if the outlaws proved to be more vicious than they were in the tales? It was all very well to have crafted this plan from the safety of our fireside, but now that we had come on purpose to be abducted, we both began to feel that we had been foolish.
    But now there was little choice left other than to continue forward. Foolish as this scheme might be, ’twould be far more folly to turn back when we were so close. So on we went through the deep canopy, seeing less and less of our beloved sunlight as the forest closed above our heads.
    The longer we rode without seeing a soul, the more alert I became for movement. But for all my attention, it was Annie who spied them when at last the men appeared, standing still by the roadside. Four men stood silent, clad in green, one of them the size of a lesser giant, taller by far than any man I had laid eyes on before, and broader too. In spite of her knowledge of who they were and that we rode forth on purpose to seek them, Annie shrieked a little in fright. The giant stepped out before our horses and pulled them easily to a stop, his hands on the leather bridles.
    “Heigh-ho, fair ladies!” he said with a grin in smooth Saxon, proving himself to be a cheerful giant. “How comes it that two such beings as fine as ye should ride through our wood alone and unguarded? Know ye not that this wood is alive with thieves and miscreants?”
    “Is that what you and your companions are?” I asked, my voice wavering more than I could control.
    “Perhaps we may be, perhaps we may not,” he responded. He had a nice smile above a dark beard. “But I may certainly tell you that we fellows are not untouched by the beauty of a maiden face. Give us each a kiss, my lovelies, and we shall give you leave to ride along your road.”
    Annie, I saw, began to smile, so I spoke quickly. “Enough of that, you saucy beggar. Do you think we came riding hence