Falconer's Prey

by April Hill

  The battle raged for two hours, and at times, the sky was black with the rain of arrows their own archers sent aloft, but it was soon apparent that the Sheriff of Nottingham had lost the day. The screams from the forest as men were hit, and the curses of the Sheriff’s fleeing men as they crashed noisily through the brambles soon gave clear evidence that the tide had turned Robin Hood’s way. Only three men managed to break through the first line of defense that day and reach the ring of huts, and all three died almost instantly in a hail of flaming arrows.

  When it was over, the camp counted its casualties and discovered seven men wounded by the Sheriff’s archers, two of them badly. Three other men had fallen from the platforms and broken limbs. A woman in the caves had given birth to a boy, whom she named Robin. Alice had discovered that half of all the boys in camp were already named Robin, and already knew about the confusion that ensued when a Sherwood mother called out for “Robin” to come to supper.

  The most severe loss of the day was suffered by Fannie, whose pen of pigs had all escaped into the forest. The freed swine were now happily rooting out mushrooms and other delicacies, and would have to be retrieved.

  An hour after the skirmish ended, Alice walked about the camp, surveying the damage, and finally, went to Robin’s quarters. “This is my doing,” she said miserably, indicating the confusion and damage outside. “Whatever penalty you assess, sir, I will understand. If your plans on my behalf succeed, and I am finally able to recover my dead father’s estate, I will, of course, offer whatever help I can, as long as I live, to you and your cause… and pay for this, as well. But now, in my present penniless state, all I can offer is my gratitude and my promise of future obedience.” Humbly, Alice knelt on the ground before him. “And for what I have brought upon my friends this day – I offer my sincere contrition.”

  “For this?” Robin laughed and gave her his hand to rise. “Nay, Mistress, a good fight with the Sheriff like today’s simply keeps us alert for the next. And even our quarrel with the Bishop of Hereford and his Abbess is of long–standing. You’ve no part of bringing that our way, either. But, since you’ve come here seeking penance, I’ll speak honestly. Your foolishness was responsible for endangering not only yourself, but young Arthur, to say nothing of nearly getting poor, battered Will slain. For that, and for what appears to have become a disagreeable habit of thieving and lying, you will most certainly need be taken to task. However, since it appears you and Will have come to an understanding of sorts and since most of your offenses were against him, I will leave it to him to decide – and to administer – what penalty, if any....”

  “To Will Fletcher? To that uncaring beast?” Alice cried, instantly forgetting her vow of obedience.

  Robin sighed. It was his experience, which he had always meant to write down somewhere, that the course of true love never did run smooth. “Yes,” he said. “To Will. It is only fair.”

  Alice flushed, fumbling her words as she tried to explain her objection to his edict.

  “The truth is… is that Mr. Fletcher dislikes me,” she said quietly. “And his dislike of me is reflected in his…in his methods of correcting my errors in judgment. He appears to know only one way to impress upon me his dissatisfaction.”

  Robin nodded. “What you mean is that he shows his dissatisfaction with a sound spanking when the need arises, is that your complaint?”

  Alice groaned with embarrassment, but made no reply.

  “Has he ever punished you unfairly? I would advise an honest answer. Will isn’t the only man in camp who finds a thorough spanking an excellent way to impress a disobedient lady. Has he ever punished you unfairly?”

  She shook her head.

  “Go, now,” Robin said quietly, “and talk to Will as soon as you can. He’s a good man, and a fair one – but I believe you already know that. One last question, though, before you go. What are your feelings for Will – when you’re not across his knee with your backside aflame, that is?”

  “I detest him,” Alice hissed. “Even in my present difficulties, I would think myself a happy women if I could never lay eyes on the man, again, so long as I live!”

  Robin sighed. “Yes, I thought so. Good night, Alice.”

  * * * * *

  The next day as they tracked a deer through Sherwood together, Robin spoke of his suspicions to Will. “I’m getting old, my friend,” he said, “but not blind. Permit me to suggest that our Alice has come to mean more to you than you are willing to acknowledge. Plainly speaking, Will, you are becoming a difficult fellow to be with these last few days – grumpy and querulous. She is difficult, I will admit. And since the two of you returned, she’s acted more of a shrew than ever to you. It’s obvious that the lady very much enjoys causing you sleepless nights. Its time to test your courage in battle, or retire from the field, beaten but wiser. My advice, if you’ll have it, is to go and tell the woman you love her.”

  By this point, Will Fletcher knew that his feelings for Alice were apparent and he chose not to lie to his long–time friend. “Well enough, but the lady refuses to speak to me, Robin, or even to acknowledge my presence.”

  “Ah, yes,” Robin replied, “but the lady clearly has her eye on you, as well, whatever she doth protest. Go to her and speak to her of your passion. It’s a talent I know you have – or did. And as you also know, with women when there has been a quarrel, an excellent fucking is often better than words as a bridge from here to there.”

  “Even bold Robin Hood would have difficulty fucking a woman who will not be in the same room with him,” Fletcher observed wryly.

  “Ah, yes. Well, first of course, you must force the lady’s hand and make her speak to you. Seduction is difficult without conversation, especially with a lady of Alice’s no–doubt limited experience. Do you believe that she and this false Frenchman ever…?”

  “No,” Will said. “Though not, I gather, from want of Alice’s encouragement.”

  Robin nodded sagely. “Yes, Alice has been long in a convent, but that in itself means little. I suspect, like someone long deprived of water, her thirst may be almost impossible to slake. It will be a great burden to take on, Will, but I’m sure you’ll be up to the task. I must warn you though, that afterward the next step may well be a wedding. A girl this long in a convent may settle for nothing else. Even Marian is more and more frequently mentioning that possibility and has recently taken to describing to me a charming church she knows in Edwinstowe. I fear my days as a roving bachelor may be coming to an end, as are yours.”

  “Marriage?” Will repeated.

  “Well, many men have done it, I’m told, without ruining their health. Why not us? Have you known a woman you’d rather spend your years with, or share your bed with, than Alice Johnstone? Lie, and I’ll know it, Will, I swear to you. Besides, we’ve been friends for far too long to lie to one another.”

  “There’s more to it than that. Alice will soon be a very wealthy woman,” Will observed. “And I’m fortunate to own the clothes on my back.”

  Robin laughed. “I think that is a male concern, not female. The question is, do you wish to be a farmer again, living among all those cows and sheep dung – one of the landed gentry with a household to keep up and annoying business matters to consume your waking hours? Say what we will about this life, but being a brigand all these years has been entertaining, has it not?”

  “Entertaining! How many wounds do you carry on your person, Robin, my friend?”

  “Ah, well! There are different sorts of wounds, aren’t there? What the Sheriff and Prince John have delivered with sword and arrow are slight, I am told, when compared to the wounds caused by love and marriage, and by family. Greengrocers’ bills, tax collectors, midwives for both wives and cattle. It never ends.”

  “Alice has become an excellent thief and she’s devoted to our cause, and to you,” Will remarked. “She may well wish to stay here.”

  “A fine trait, for a cheerful wench in Sherwood, and who knows, perhaps elsewh
ere, but it is high time to discourage her aspirations in that direction. Another spanking may be called for. It’s true enough that Alice appears to have developed a taste for this life and I think she’ll not relinquish the habit readily. But you, my friend, have never been a happy thief, despite your posturing. If you stay here, you will one day end up hanged, which I am told, makes a fellow unfit for much else. You have the cut of a husband, Will. And husbands are rarely hanged, although there may be many who wish it.”

  He paused for a long moment. “Tell me, Will, have I ever given you an order – a direct order?”

  “No,” Will said. “You have not.”

  “Well, I now order you to put your case before Alice Johnstone. I am weary of watching the two of you try to hate one another, when an idiot can see that what’s really needed are a few hours alone on a wide, soft bed.”

  The following day, Robin called Alice to him and ordered her to talk with Will, to which she grudgingly agreed.

  “We will walk,” Will announced when she appeared at the door to his hut, sullen but compliant.

  “I do not wish to walk with you!” she snapped. “Robin ordered me to come here and talk. He said nothing about walking.”

  “We will walk, nonetheless,” he repeated, pointing to the pathway that led into the woods.

  Once again, Alice refused. “It my dearest wish never to speak with you again, Master Fletcher, but I will do so, because I promised Robin that I would. My affairs may be cleared up soon, at which time I will leave Sherwood and spare myself the unpleasantness of seeing your face every day. Now, what was it you wished to speak to me about?”

  “We will walk, now,” Fletcher said, taking her arm, “and if you remain this disagreeable, you will find yourself publicly spanked, on this very spot.”

  Alice walked, but once walking, she refused to talk. Finally, Will sat down on a log and motioned for her to do the same.

  “We will have this out, now, Alice,” he said. “There are things of which I need to speak, and your....”

  At this juncture, Alice stuck her fingers in her ears. “I am not interested in your apology!” she said smugly.

  “Apology!” Will roared. “And what causes you to believe I would apologize, or need to?”

  Alice began to sing loudly, her fingers still firmly in her ears.

  “I am not listening to you,” she said sweetly.

  “Very well, Mistress, if it is a child you would be, then it is as a child you shall be treated!”

  Pretending disinterest in his threat, Alice stood up and prepared to return to the camp. She had taken only a step or two when he lifted her off her feet and carried her back to the log where he’d been sitting.

  “I understand that it is Robin Hood’s order that I submit to you in this brutality,” she said coldly. “I do so in the knowledge that….”

  Fletcher put a hand across her mouth to interrupt her chatter. “Raise your skirts and pull down your stockings,” he said, watching as she obeyed, her lips grimly clenched. He reached up and broke off a full handful of slender birch switches, then sat down on the log.

  “Now, you will place yourself across my lap, and know that we are not leaving this spot until every one of these switches is worn to a nub, and until I have your apology!”

  “HAH!” cried Alice. “It will be a cold day in hell, sir, before I say a single word to you that even hints of an apology!”

  But Alice did as he ordered, her mouth firmly set. When she was in position, he drew the switches slowly across her raised bottom, and Alice groaned.

  “I have often heard it said that chastising a child is more painful for the parent than for the spanked child. As a boy, though, I never found that to be true,” he observed with a chuckle. “When I’ve finished, here, you may decide for yourself whether the adage is correct, or not, but in all honesty, I believe this is going to hurt you a great deal more than it does me. I shall certainly try my best to make it as disagreeable for you as possible, anyway.”

  “Brute!” she called back to him, pulling her skirt defiantly higher. “Just do what you will and have done with it! We are wasting time and my ass is getting cold!”

  He put an arm around her waist and pulled the unresisting Alice closer against him. “I assure you that cold will not be a complaint shortly. Now, shall we begin?”

  “If you wait for that answer, sir, or for my consent, we will be here all night! Since your intention is to brutalize me, then do so, but pray, do not expect enthusiasm on my part. I am obviously helpless to defend myself and have quite resigned myself to enduring your abuse!”

  Fletcher laid the first swats across her buttocks with every ounce of strength he could summon, and despite the difficult angle, the birch left a vividly angry thatch of red lines. When Alice bucked, but made no sound, he applied the next few a bit lower, turning the soft under curve of her bottom and the backs of her thighs a similar color. Again, Alice gritted her teeth, and when she said nothing, nor offered the required apology after the first dozen swats, he stopped to carefully inspect the switched area. To his admittedly untrained eye, it appeared uniformly red and stripped, and quite painful. He tapped her on the back.

  “If I am unsatisfied with your response to this, Mistress, I can spank you very much harder, if that is your wish – and a great deal longer. I am in no hurry to return to work on such a pleasant day. Perhaps you would prefer to be spanked in a more humiliating posture? There are quite a few that I believe will increase your embarrassment, as well as your discomfort.”

  “PLEASE!” she pleaded. “Be done with this!”

  “I have not yet heard the requested apology,” he observed. “Perhaps if I found another, stouter switch, or my belt, it would encourage….”

  “What is it you want from me?” she wailed, at last.

  Will stopped spanking. “Two things,” he said simply. The first is an apology.”

  “I gave my apology to Robin!”

  “Insufficient,” he said, and to Alice’s astonishment, began to spank harder.

  He bent her further forward and delivered the final swats to her thighs and legs. Alice emitted little yowls and yelps of pain, and kicked frantically. True to her promise, though, she made no attempt to escape, knowing, in any case, what would happen at this stage if she attempted such rebellion. When he stopped, she stood up, grabbed her buttocks with both hands and moaned a bit, but still held her tongue.

  “The apology ?” he asked.

  Alice sniffled, and wiped her nose. “Of what value is an oath, falsely given, or compelled?”

  With a deep sigh, Will admitted defeat – to himself, if not to her. “None at all, I suppose. You’re free to return to camp, whenever you wish. I’ll not trouble you, again.”

  Alice stood apart from him as she straightened her clothing and did what she could with her face and hair. When she nodded her readiness to leave, they walked back to camp, with Will a few steps behind her. Just short of the camp’s perimeter, Alice stopped, and sat down painfully on the pine needles of the forest floor.

  “Please, before we return….” She paused for a moment, gathering her courage. “I am without words,” she began softly, “to tell you how much I am in your debt.”

  Will raised a hand to stop her, but she continued.

  “I have been unable for all these years to trust anyone, other than the uncle I was never permitted to see. And when I did trust, I was cruelly deceived. I learned in those terrible years to care only for myself and to trust only myself. In this camp I’ve found nothing but honesty and shelter, yet I repaid these kindnesses with lies and anger. I cannot simply say ‘I am sorry,’ as you ask, because these words are inadequate. All I can do is beg one further kindness from you – that you accept these words as a beginning – a small payment on what is owed you, and Robin, and everyone else who has befriended me.”

  Will stood silently for a moment, wanting to reach out and touch her, yet knowing somehow that it wasn’t the time.

&nb
sp; Alice wiped her eyes “It’s not enough, and can’t ever be,” she murmured. “But with all my heart, I do apologize. I don’t know what else to say, except I’m sorry for lying to you, for deceiving you, for being more trouble than I can ever hope to be worth, for… for everything. I won’t ask you to forgive me – it’s too early for that, but I hope you’ll be able to – someday.”

  She paused for a moment, to blow her nose. “You said you wanted something else of me. A second thing. You need only to ask, Will, and it’s yours.”

  Will shook his head sadly. “Not now, Alice.”

  * * * * *

  The next days brought joyous news and Robin called Alice to his hut to explain the events that would now change her life.

  “Your stepmother has left Lincolnshire,” he said, beaming. “Under threat of arrest by the magistrate. She has forfeited your father’s estate, in an effort to forestall further actions against her for bigamy and fraud. Even as we speak, your uncle rides to your estate to oversee the property’s transferal to your name. Additionally, the Bishop has wisely chosen to withdraw his complaint of theft against you – in light of most of his stolen goods being found in Isobel’s possession. As soon as the papers are notarized, dear Alice, you are a free woman – and a rich one.”

  Alice sat down, trying to collect her thoughts. She had expected to be happier at this long–awaited moment.

  “I am….” she gave up. “I know not what to say!”

  “Isobel Henchley will never be brought to trial for your father’s death, I’m afraid,” Robin continued. “So the victory is far from complete. It was a long time ago and the proof, your uncle tells us, is thin at best.” He handed her the letter from Henry Burden. “He has asked me to take you home, when you’re ready. He’ll meet you there and explain more.”

  “Thank you… yet again,” she said, sobbing softly now. “In truth, I will be sad to leave this place.”