The Sword of Davalon

by Tom Jolleys

  Shouts of, ‘Kill him, hang him, burn the castle,’ could be heard from various quarters.

  ‘Yes, indeed we could hang you,’ said Robin, looking down at the Sheriff, ‘but if we did, then we would be just as bad as the Sheriff himself. What do you think should be done, Sheriff of Nottingham?’

  The Sheriff joined Robin on the battlements. ‘Fools, you will all be punished for this outrage. When the King hears of this, then reinforcements will be sent. Robin Hood, release me now and I will reconsider your position. I will spare your life, but you and your men will be my prisoners.’ The crowd jeered him. ‘Quiet you bunch of peasants. I am your ruler – this is treason. Now let me go.’ The crowd booed even louder than before.

  ‘Take him away,’ said Robin.

  ‘Take your filthy hands off me,’ shouted the Sheriff, as two of Robin’s men dragged him down the stairs.

  ‘You can cool off in your own dungeons with your own soldiers,’ said Robin. ‘Maybe you will think differently later.’ The crowd cheered and cheered as he was taken away. ‘Now good people of Nottingham, you must be tired after this morning’s exertions, so go home and rest, but return tonight for a banquet. Put on your best clothes, bring food and wine, for tonight we will celebrate with a feast of victory and a feast of freedom.’

  The crowd chanted Robin’s name as he climbed down the steps. Then he was hoisted high into the air by a group of villagers. ‘And the children,’ someone shouted. Johnny was lifted up by Little John and placed on his massive shoulders. He felt really chuffed that someone so famous should take care of him – in fact Little John was now his hero, taking the place of his former hero, Spiderman.

  Diana was hoisted, a little unladylike, by three young men, but she realised how much they meant to the villagers in freeing them from the evil Sheriff. And with her headache now floating away, she was really enjoying the occasion.

  David, with the Sword of Davalon drawn, felt like a king as he was hoisted aloft in front of this cheering crowd.

  ‘What about Friar Tuck?’ shouted Johnny. ‘We couldn’t have done it without him.’

  Four burly men walked over to the friar and attempted to lift him into the air. They had him halfway up when they collapsed under his great bulk. Everyone was laughing, except for the friar, whose pride had been slightly dented, and the poor men who were trapped underneath him. They couldn’t breathe and were shouting for someone to get him off. But all was well as the friar stood up, and the men heaved a great sigh of relief before joining in the laughter. After this great day of victory, it now seemed that all was well in Sherwood Forest!

  Chapter 9:

  The Portrait Of Lara

  The crowd slowly drifted back to their villages to prepare for the night ahead, while most of Robin’s men returned to the campsite. So apart from Robin, Little John, Friar Tuck, the Sheriff and the three children, there was only a handful of men in the castle to guard the prisoners. It was all so very quiet, but just then, the sound of a horse galloping over the drawbridge, broke the silence and drew their attention. It was Maid Marian. She pulled to a halt in the courtyard, jumped off her horse and ran over to Robin.

  ‘Thank God,’ she cried, ‘I thought... well I thought that you were dead!’

  ‘I would have been but for these children.’

  ‘Ch, ch,’ coughed the friar.

  ‘Oh and of course Friar Tuck, and Little John, and everyone else for that matter.’

  ‘But I heard that you’d been badly wounded.’

  ‘He was,’ said the friar, ‘but fortunately Diana had a special potion that amazingly saved Robin’s life and many others including her own.’

  Marian went over and hugged Diana. ‘Thank you, thank you my sweet child. I really cannot thank you enough.’

  ‘It was nothing really,’ said Diana, ‘we only did what we had to do. Maybe we didn’t come here just by chance after all!’

  Marian frowned as she looked at Robin. ‘But don’t you have a wound or a scar to show me?’

  ‘Diana’s magic potion left no sign of any injury, not even a scratch. Anyway, let’s have a look round the castle,’ said Robin, with his arm now resting on Marian’s shoulder.

  ‘I’ve never explored a castle before,’ breezed Johnny, excitedly. ‘Where shall we start?’

  ‘I think the Sheriff’s quarters,’ replied Robin. ‘Do you want to lead the way, friar?’

  ‘Indeed I will,’ he said before leading them into the large banqueting hall. At the far end of the hall were two staircases, one to the left and the other to the right. ‘The Sheriff’s rooms are this way,’ he said, walking towards the left-hand staircase.

  ‘Would you like to go to the ladies’ quarters?’ said Marian to Diana.

  ‘Oh yes please,’ she replied, thrilled to bits at the prospect of searching the castle with Maid Marian.

  ‘We will see you later then,’ said Marian, taking hold of Diana’s hand and leading her to the right-hand staircase, which they climbed with a youthful bounce. At the top of the stairs was a long corridor with rooms on both sides.

  ‘Why are there so many rooms?’ asked Diana.

  ‘Well most of these rooms are for the Sheriff’s guests. He has friends in high places: earls, barons, lords, and these rooms are for their wives and ladies-in-waiting.’

  At the end of the corridor was a large, arch-shaped window, which provided the only light. As they walked along the corridor, the sun came out from behind a dark cloud, and they were momentarily blinded by the light.

  ‘Gosh, that’s bright,’ said Diana, squinting her eyes.

  ‘Yes it is,’ replied Marian, holding a hand over her eyes.

  As Diana looked back, the sun’s rays had cast long shadows, which reached right down to the end of the corridor. ‘Look at our shadows,’ she said, ‘they must be at least thirty feet long.’

  ‘My oh my, we look even taller and skinnier than ever.’

  The girls were laughing at themselves as they looked out of the arched window at the lush, green countryside below.

  ‘It’s so peaceful now, and yet only a short time ago it was a battleground down there,’ said Diana.

  ‘Yes, but let’s forget about that for now and just enjoy ourselves,’ said Marian, thinking about Robin’s injuries. ‘So which room shall we try first?’

  ‘Mmm, this one here,’ replied Diana, looking to her right and pushing the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

  ‘Try the handle,’ said Marian. ‘It looks quite rusty, probably hasn’t been opened for years.’

  ‘It still won’t open.’

  ‘Well let’s both push.’ They pushed as hard as possible, but nothing happened. ‘Let’s give it one more go,’ said Marian. They pushed again and suddenly the door flew open. Diana and Marian went crashing to the floor as they shot into the room. They sat on the dusty floor just laughing at their calamitous entrance.

  ‘I don’t think this room has been used for some considerable time,’ said Diana, looking at all the cobwebs. ‘It’s a bit spooky, even scary. I really don’t like it in here.’

  ‘Oh neither do I, and isn’t it cold?’

  A shiver ran down Diana’s spine as though there was another presence amongst them. She looked around to check if in fact there was anyone or anything else in the room. To her right was a single bed, about the same size as her own bed. It was covered with silk sheets although they were very dusty with a large cobweb stretching from the end of the bed up to the high ceiling. Marian walked over to the window and pulled back the thick, dusty curtain, allowing a shaft of light to enter the room. The only furniture, apart from the bed, was a hard looking chair and a chest of drawers. A large rug covered most of the cold, stone floor. Under the window rested the chest of drawers, and opposite the bed was a large fireplace, above which was a painting of a young girl, a pretty girl dressed in expensive costume.
A gold medallion hung on a chain around her neck. The girl looked to be about the same age as Diana, possibly a little older, but then Diana noticed the strangest thing. Although everything in the room was covered in dust and cobwebs, the picture was as clean as the day it had been painted! There wasn’t even any dust on the large, gold frame.

  ‘Do you know who this is?’ asked Diana.

  ‘Oh what a beautiful girl. No, I have never seen her before, but she must have been quite an important person – not many children have their portrait painted by such a good artist.’

  ‘Will it be all right if I have a look in these drawers?’

  ‘Certainly,’ replied Marian, who was just as curious.

  Diana pulled hard on the top drawer, which seemed to be stuck, but it gradually opened as she applied more pressure. It was full of dolls: small ones, large ones, plain ones and dolls in brilliantly coloured dresses.

  ‘What lovely dolls,’ said Marian. ‘This girl, whoever she is, must have spent many happy hours playing with them.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Diana, thinking of the wonderful times she had spent playing with her own dolls. She closed the top drawer as Marian opened the middle one. This drawer overflowed with clothes, and Marian took out the first dress, which appeared to be the actual dress in the painting. She held it up against Diana. ‘Fancy that, it looks to be a perfect fit!’

  ‘Can I try it on?’ glowed Diana.

  ‘But of course. Try any of these on.’

  While Diana was taking off her borrowed clothes that itched and felt rough to the skin, Marian rummaged through the other clothes in the drawer. ‘Here you are, Diana, a beautiful petticoat to go with your dress.’

  ‘Yes thank you, it’s lovely.’

  When Diana was dressed, she really did resemble the girl in the picture. The dress was white and blue and covered in sparkling sequins.

  ‘This must have cost a fortune,’ declared Diana.

  ‘Why don’t you wear it for the celebrations tonight? You will truly be the belle of the ball.’

  ‘Oh yes, yes, I would love to wear it. Thank you.’

  ‘Try these on as well,’ said Marian, passing over a pair of gold-coloured shoes.

  Diana dusted the chair and sat down on it as she tried them on. They fitted as though they were made for her. ‘I feel like Cinderella.’

  ‘Who’s Cinderella?’

  ‘Oh, she’s a beautiful, young girl in a fairy tale. She wore a dress like this one,’ said Diana, thinking that this was no fairy tale as she closed the middle drawer and opened the bottom one. Unlike the other drawers, which were crammed full of either dolls or clothes, this drawer contained just one small, wooden box. Diana picked it up and slowly opened the lid. Immediately they felt a cold wind blow through the room!

  ‘Brrr,’ shook Marian, ‘it must have turned cold and windy.’ They didn’t realise that the wind had actually come from within the box! Inside was a medallion on a gold chain, the same medallion as the one in the painting. There was also a small, gold ring, set with a green stone. Maid Marian picked up the medallion and fastened it around Diana’s neck, while Diana placed the ring on the forefinger of her right hand.

  ‘Well let’s have a look at you. Yes, now you look even more like the girl in the painting, although your hair’s a different colour. Quite strange don’t you think?’

  ‘Yes,’ replied Diana, a little puzzled. As she looked more closely at the painting, she noticed a small, gold plaque on which was written, “Portrait of Lara”. ‘She’s called Lara,’ beamed Diana, thrilled to know the name of the girl.

  ‘That’s a lovely name, but very unusual. Anyway Diana, if we’re going to look at the other rooms then I think you should change back into your other clothes.’

  ‘Yes, I wouldn’t want to dirty this beautiful dress.’ Diana quickly changed back into her peasant clothes. She draped the dress and petticoat over the chair, under which she placed the gold shoes. The medallion and ring were left on top of the drawers, but as they left the room, the large, heavy door closed with a bang, all by itself!

  ‘Spoo-kee,’ said Diana, as they went to another room. Then she turned, ran back, opened the door again and whispered, ‘I’ll be back, Lara, don’t worry, I’ll be back!’

  Chapter 10:

  The Secret Passage

  Meanwhile, Robin, Friar Tuck, Little John and the two boys had ascended the opposite stairway. Unlike the other one, this staircase spiralled upwards with rooms leading off at regular intervals. Friar Tuck led them to the second room, which was indeed the Sheriff’s quarters. But the two boys couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the state of it. They were expecting a huge, superbly decorated bedroom, but instead it was in a terrible mess, even worse than their own bedroom back home! Clothes were strewn all over the floor, and others were piled high on the solitary chair. This stood next to the writing bureau, which was covered by open books and scrolls upon scrolls of paper.

  ‘What a shambles,’ spouted Johnny, ‘and he hasn’t even got a bed!’

  ‘Oh,’ chuckled the friar, ‘this is only the Sheriff’s changing room, he dresses differently depending on how he feels when he wakes up in the morning. His bedroom is just through that far door and up a few steps. I suppose these scrolls of paper concern the collection of taxes.’

  David picked up one of the scrolls. It was written in very fancy writing, but he could just about read it. ‘You’re quite right, friar. This document refers to the collection of taxes from the village of East Retford.’

  ‘That’s a village due north of here,’ said Robin, ‘but the Sheriff won’t be collecting taxes from there for some time.’

  The friar nodded in agreement as he opened the far door. He walked up a few steps and went into the Sheriff’s bedroom, closely followed by the others.

  ‘This is more like it,’ said Johnny.

  The room was enormous. To the right was an ornately carved four-poster bed, and opposite was a huge fireplace, as tall as Little John, although no fire was lit. The walls were covered in paintings, and the two boys looked at each one as they walked around the room. There were ships and battle scenes, paintings of the castle, portraits of previous sheriffs, and above the fireplace rested a portrait of the Sheriff himself. He was wearing a crown – in fact his whole attire was most regal. He really did look like a king.

  ‘Oooh, look at this picture,’ sneered Johnny. ‘He looks a right shifty character.’

  ‘I suppose he does,’ laughed the friar.

  On the far side of the room, below a double arched window, was a long table surrounded by six very plush chairs. To the right of this was a bookcase full of documents and a few books. Opposite this, in the other corner, was a large, wooden chest. They all went over to investigate. Robin turned the key and opened the heavy lid, which creaked loudly. Immediately they were hit by the sparkle of the contents. The chest contained hundreds, even thousands of gold and silver coins, plus various pieces of jewellery: necklaces, bangles, bracelets and even two gold crowns.

  ‘So this is where all of our money has gone,’ declared Little John.

  ‘Yes, what a miserly man he must have been,’ said Robin.

  Friar Tuck nodded as he picked up one of the crowns, the one in the painting. It was covered in jewels: rubies, emeralds, diamonds and sapphires, all set in gold. The friar turned to Johnny and placed it on his head. ‘How about being a king for the day?’ But as he let go of the crown, it fell over Johnny’s head, completely covering his face. Everyone started laughing, no one more so than Johnny himself.

  ‘Never mind, Johnny,’ said Little John, ‘it just might be that the Sheriff has a very large head.’

  ‘Ha ha ha, you’re probably right,’ laughed Robin.

  Johnny took the crown off his head and gave it back to Friar Tuck, wondering how anyone could wear such a heavy object without getting a headache. F
riar Tuck then went over to the bookcase, while Robin and Little John sorted out the coins, putting them in neat piles on the table. Johnny walked back over to the fireplace, followed by David – he still couldn’t believe how big it was. ‘Come inside,’ he said to David, who reluctantly followed his younger brother into the fireplace. As they looked up, they could see a clear, blue sky through the wide chimney, which seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.

  ‘There’s a lever here,’ said Johnny.

  ‘Don’t touch anything,’ said David, quickly, but by then it was too late. Johnny had pulled on the lever and they were swung round, like being caught in revolving doors that only go halfway round. The bedroom disappeared in a flash, and they ended up in a darkened chamber, although there was a dim light shining down on them from the top of an old stairway.

  ‘Look what you’ve done now,’ snarled David, ‘you just can’t leave anything alone can you?’

  ‘But this is fantastic,’ said Johnny, not a bit frightened. ‘It’s a secret passage, probably used by the Sheriff as an escape route.’

  ‘Can you see any other lever to get us out of here?’

  ‘Nope, it’s too dark,’ replied Johnny, feeling along the walls with his hands. ‘Oooh, cobwebs. I don’t like cobwebs, David.’

  ‘Well you’re not so cocky now are you? Anyway let’s go up these stairs, there must be a way out of here somewhere. Here you are Johnny, hold onto my hand and take it easy, we don’t want any accidents in here.’

  Back in the Sheriff’s bedroom, Robin was asking where the boys had gone.

  ‘I thought I heard the door open and close,’ said the friar, who was busily reading through some document.

  ‘They must be looking round the castle. At least they can’t get into any trouble now!’ said Little John, unwittingly.

  By now, Diana and Maid Marian had been in most of the other rooms, but they seemed quite boring compared to the first one and the Portrait of Lara.