by Paul Kane
"Yay you…" said Mary half croaking out the words. She wasn't in a much better state, her face all banged up, dried blood at her nostrils – yet it was still beautiful in spite of all that.
Robert laughed at her words, coughing, and when he did his shoulder and side felt like they were on fire, while the actual fire on the square was seemingly burning itself out. "Yay… Yay us," he managed.
Mary smiled and kissed his forehead, her hand reaching down and helping to stem the blood flow at his side.
"You… you finished with my clothes now?" he asked her.
"Why, you going to need this old Hood again, Robin?" she asked him.
He smiled weakly, the sound of vehicles in the distance reaching his ears. Maybe it was De Falaise's men fleeing? he thought. But when he saw Mary waving he knew it had to be his own men, drawn to the place by the smoke from the crashed vehicles.
It could mean only one thing. The battle for the castle, for Nottingham and the region, was finally over. Certainly the villain of the tale was dead…
But what of the war?
What of the future?
Those were questions for another time, another day, he told himself as he closed his eyes.
Yes, those were questions for another day entirely…
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
If he hadn't wanted to be found, he wouldn't have let her.
But Robert was getting better at allowing Mary to track him down these days – getting better at letting her in. It would still take time, and she knew that. This wasn't some magical fairy story, and he couldn't simply erase the past. She wouldn't expect him to. Though yesterday seemed increasingly distant the more time that passed and the more time he spent with her.
"They said you'd come to the forest." Mary joined him in the clearing. It was the same one she'd followed him to that night, when they'd both seen the stag – except now the leaves were turning autumn gold. He knew that once she would have said it all looked the same, but now she actually recognised the place… he could tell from her expression.
"They were right," he said.
"You're waiting for it to come back again, aren't you?"
Robert sighed. "It won't, I know that."
Mary closed the gap between them. "You miss this place…"
He nodded. It had been two months since they'd taken over the castle, but he'd come back here often. He just couldn't settle. Bill, Jack, Tate, they had things running pretty smoothly now they were all fully recovered – thanks in no small part to Mary's attentions and a few other medical people who'd stepped forward. The soldiers who hadn't fled had been either placed under arrest until they worked out what to do with them, or offered a minor post in their ranks… under supervision, of course. The dead, like Granger, had been buried – not cremated, Robert hadn't allowed that – and words had been said by their graves in the grounds, near to the war memorial. They'd done this for their men and for those who'd sided with De Falaise. After all, many of them hadn't had a choice. Some had, of course – some wanted the power that came with serving their demented master. Men like Tanek, whose body could not be found anywhere after the battle ("There's no way he was getting up after what I did t'him," Bill said, but still there was no sign of the man…). At any rate, word had gone out to the villages, and through the markets, that there was a new force in Nottingham, a force that wouldn't tolerate violence or stealing or attacks on the communities it sheltered. If the region was to stand again on its own two feet, it would need policing; it would need defending. And they were the ones to do it.
Still he'd been thinking about coming back, even though he hadn't said anything aloud. But every time he stepped foot inside the forest, he felt it. Something was missing; something had changed.
"You don't belong here anymore, you know," Mary said, her little finger brushing his. "What you came here to run away from…"
"Mary, don't," he said, but she pressed on anyway.
"What you wound up doing here… It's over. You have a different life now, a chance at a new beginning."
(Robert had a sudden flash of De Falaise in his head then, heard what he'd said during their last fight. "It is only just beginning, mon ami…")
"There's no need to run anymore. And they need you back there," Mary went on. "Mark needs you." Now Robert saw a picture of the boy… the man who'd had to grow up so fast. He remembered the first time he got a chance to speak to him after the battle, once they'd both rested up and gained their strength back. Mark's hand was bandaged, so was Robert's side. A right pair they'd made. Robert told him how very proud he was of him, how brave he'd been holding out under torture. Mark looked at him, fighting back the tears, then he'd hugged Robert – so hard he had to suck in a breath from the pain, but he'd endured it gladly. For a little while the child in Mark had returned; it was nice to see.
"They all need you. And… and I do too."
Robert nodded slowly. "How's Gwen?" he asked, changing the subject.
"The Reverend's looking after her. She's really starting to show now; late bloomer I guess. She's still convinced it's Clive's, though. A legacy of their love."
"Better for her if she carries on thinking that." Gwen's would be the first baby born in the castle, but the more time his men spent out there in the villages, the more relationships were blossoming. It wouldn't be long before other children came along. Each one would give them all new hope.
"And how's your side today?" she asked him.
"Better. Still twinges, especially now it's turning cold, but it's okay." Mary had seen to that too. A proper little medico she'd become, whether she intended to or not.
"You'll live, eh?" She smiled. "That's my Robert… So, are we going back to the castle or do I have to stick a needle in you again?"
"I still haven't forgiven you for the last time." He laughed softly and took hold of her hand.
Mary looked down and squeezed it. "Come on, there's still lots to do – and it looks like it might rain anytime. Let's go home." Now she tugged on the hand, and for a moment or two he held fast. Then he relented, turning, walking with her out of the clearing, back towards their jeeps on the outskirts of Sherwood.
There was a noise behind them, something in the undergrowth. Robert looked over his shoulder quickly and caught a glimpse – or was it his imagination? A flash of antlers against the green. Then it was gone.
"What is it?" Mary said craning her neck to see.
"Nothing," he told her. "Nothing at all."
As they walked, Mary chatted, but he wasn't really listening to her. He was taking in the trees, remembering the first time he came here. The reason why he'd hidden away…
Suddenly he recalled what Stevie had said the first time he'd finished reading him his favourite storybook.
"Is that it? Is that the end of the adventure, Dad? What happens to them all afterwards?"
Robert couldn't answer him, nor the many times after that he'd asked, because he didn't know. Robert still didn't know. What did come after the end? Peace? Love? Or would they find themselves having to deal with another threat one day? What came afterwards?
What came next?
With his free hand, Robert reached up and pulled his hood over his head.
Then, falling in step with Mary, he walked to the edge of the forest without looking back.
Knowing that there was one – and only one – sure way to find out…
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