PART EIGHTEEN



N.B. Quotations highlighted in blue are taken directly from "The Time of the Wolf."


"Guy!" shouted his father. "Guy, come back here at once." Margaret rose to pursue him, but Robin made her stay.

"No, let me," he answered angrily. He walked out into the corridor and caught up with Gisburne before the knight reached its end.

"You could have at least tried to be friendly towards them, but that was too much for you, wasn't it? You couldn't have even pretended could you, Gisburne?"

"Why? Must everyone in your family be happy?" snapped Gisburne. He crossed his arms and glared down at the floor, feeling very ill at ease.

"It's her, isn't it?" ventured Robin. "Margaret..."

"That strumpet?"

"Strumpet!" Robin laughed. "Guy, she's your sister!"

"That woman is not my sister!" snarled Gisburne. "She is as much my sister as you are my brother, meaning not at all!"

"Why not?"

"Why not!"

"Why couldn't she be your sister?" asked Robin bluntly.

"Because it's--" He had been about to say impossible, that it would have been impossible for his mother to have had another child because Edmond of Gisburne couldn't give her any, and that he himself was a...Some secrets were meant to be hidden, thought Guy, especially when those secrets were about himself!

"She isn't my sister," he reiterated quietly. "I don't have any family, Wolfshead. My family is dead." He looked down again, finding Robin's gaze disconcerting. "When are we leaving here?" he questioned, wanting terribly to change the subject he had fallen into.

For a moment Robin wasn't sure what to say, but then he could hear Herne's prophecy droning in his head.

"Together they must be. Together to be free...Brother must aid brother before the Wheel shall turn...When it is done, you will come to me, to a place and time of our knowing...You will know. You have always known..."


"First light...The Wheel...Rhiannon's Wheel..." Robin answered, as the time and place of their journey's end suddenly flashed before his eyes. It was where it had all began and where it now had to end. What he had always know was that one day, like Loxley, he would have to face the Wheel's power, to face his very destiny...

"Good..." said Gisburne warily, as Robin slowly emerged from the trance he seemed to be under. Guy began to walk away.

"We'll leave by midnight. I'll make sure to wake you!" called Robin.

"Don't worry. You won't have to!" responded Gisburne, and then he was gone. To Robin's chagrin, he realized that he hadn't come any closer to understanding Gisburne, although they had just spent more time in each other's company over the past few days than they had ever spent together in their entire lives. Robin convinced himself that it was probably better this way. He returned to the hall to try to explain Guy's behaviour, despite his inability to understand it himself.

"I just don't understand it," spoke the Earl as Robin entered. "I have never seen Guy act this way before."

"What could I have said to upset him?" lamented Margaret.

"Nothing," replied Robin, attempting to console them both. "He's just--"

"Yes, I know," spoke the Earl. "Tired and unwell...Well, Robert, I think it was more than that. Guy was like a different person...a stranger...I know my son. The man who dined with us this evening wasn't him."

"Oh, Father, come on!" protested Robin, beginning to feel uneasy about his father's admission.

"It was his eyes. He hardly looked at me, but when he did, the eyes I saw did not know me. They were so distant and..." His father swallowed, then bowed his head. "Margaret has told me what happened at that place...about how you were both engaged in that fight..."

"Father--" broke in Margaret in concern.

"No. I have to know. Did Guy truly wish you dead?"

"Of course not," said Robin, vastly twisting the truth. The Earl wasn't easily fooled.

"Robert..." he warned.

"He was possessed. He couldn't help it. He was made to do it."

"Clun ordered him to kill his own brother?" gasped the Earl, before the rest of what Robin had said became clear to him. "Possessed!" he cried at last. "Is that why he...Is he still...?"

"Under their power?" offered Robin. "No, their power over him is broken."

"Can you be certain of that? I mean...Look at him!"

"Father," intervened Margaret gently, "if something was really the matter with Guy, don't you think Robert would tell us? He has always been honest with us, so why should he lie to us now?" she questioned.

Robin felt a terrible pang of guilt because of Margaret's complete trust in him but, at the same time, he knew that the truth in this instance would hurt more than his lies. If they discovered that the true Guy of Huntington was dead, it would surely devastate them. No, this was just one more secret Robin would have to keep.

"I'm sure he'll be back to his old self by morning," spoke Robin. His old self in his old time, Robin hoped. 


 *   *   *   *



Just before the appointed time, there was a quiet knock on Guy's bedroom door. Gisburne appeared, the light from his candle casting deep shadows across his face.

"Are you ready?" asked Robin in a whisper.

"Not yet. There are still some things we need to discuss."

"We can talk about it on the journey."

"No. I'm not leaving here unless we discuss them now."

"But I thought you were the one who wanted to get out of here, Gisburne."

"I do, but I want to be certain about what I'll be returning to. And if I don't hear the kinds of answers I want to hear, neither one of us will be leaving here."

"Even with Margaret?" retorted Robin. Gisburne pretended not to hear him. "All right then," complied Robin, "let's talk about it." He walked past the knight into the chamber, and two eyes watched Gisburne shut the door.







Margaret watched Guy admit Robert into his chamber and shut the door. She had hoped to speak to Guy herself. She had almost been outside his door when she had heard both her brothers speaking in a whisper. She had wondered what they could possibly be discussing, but felt she had little right to eavesdrop. She had been about to return to her own chamber when she observed Robert entering Guy's room. There had been something furtive in their movements and Margaret found she was intrigued by it all.

Margaret had been so distressed by Guy's behaviour that she had found sleep impossible. She sincerely believed that Guy was in some kind of trouble and she wanted to help him. She had also witnessed his animosity towards her and wished to discover why he was angry with her.

Margaret moved closer to her brother's lighted doorway. She found that she was trying to listen to their hushed conversation despite herself. She couldn't quite make out their words, but by the tone she detected in their voices, it seemed that they were spending more time arguing than engaging in friendly conversation.

What could they possibly be quarreling about at this hour, she wondered. However, their voices eventually became hushed and Margaret had to strain her ears to catch anything. Then, she heard the sound of a hand falling upon the latch of the door. She sprinted into hiding.

"You won't need the candle," stated Robin to Gisburne. "I know this castle well enough." Guy acquiesced and blew it out, bending down on his haunches to place it carefully on the floor. Margaret listened to the soft echoes of their footfalls as they walked down the silent corridor. They were both fully dressed and heading in the direction of the stables, which could only mean one thing: they were planning to leave Huntington Castle.

She was dressed in barely more than a shift herself, but she was determined to follow them and decipher what all of this plotting was about. She threw on a cloak and ventured out of the castle in pursuit of her brothers. Unfortunately, by the time she reached the stables, Robin and Guy had already left. She watched the silouette of their forms as they passed through the gates and rode off in a gallop.

Margaret knew that she had to catch up with them somehow, but getting past the gate in only a shift and cloak was going to be a challenge. And the fact that she was the Earl of Huntington's daughter made everything all the more difficult. However, as she entered the stables to find her horse, she spotted something that would make her task much easier.

When Margaret emerged from the stables again, she was dressed in the guise of the stable boy, wearing his trousers and rather over-sized boots. Her clothing felt odd, but with her hair tied back, and most of the rest of her hidden under a hooded cloak, she believed that she could fool the guards at the gates.

She delivered a fairly good imitation of the stable boy's voice and manner, stating that it was imperative that she find the Earl's sons. She succeeded in getting past the guards and discovering what direction her brothers had headed off in. Her only concern now was not to lose them.

But Margaret had spent more time in the stables than any of her family knew, or might have wished. She might not have shared her older brother's interest in the hunt, but she did share his keenness for horses. She was also endowed with much of his skill and, although she had never managed to get Guy to admit it, she could at times, outride him as well.







They reached Rhiannon's Wheel shortly before daybreak. Dismounting their horses, they moved into the center of the ancient stones.

"What happens now?" questioned Gisburne, trying not to appear nervous by the eery silence of his surroundings. Robin smiled as he read the knight's discomfort.

"Herne, the pagan forest god, shall come and make this pile of old stones turn," he answered, remembering some of Gisburne's previous remarks.

"Well, I can't see anything," spoke Gisburne.

"Can't you?" Mist had started to billow towards them, gliding swiftly up to their knees and around the ancient stones. Before Guy could understand any of it, Herne was before them. Guy did not say another word.

The sun slowly began its ascent. The sky transformed itself from inky darkness to the beauty of rosy gold daylight. Herne raised his arms and the stones began to rumble, then turn.







As the great stones started to rotate, Robin felt the ground momentarily shift beneath his feet. Everything in his vision seemed to blur. Robin distinctly heard the stones whirr as they rushed past him. He had the sensation of being trapped in a powerful storm, but he wasn't afraid. The only startling moment was when he thought he saw a woman's face whirl past him, but it appeared almost as quickly as it disappeared. Then, everything else around him seemed to fade as well. Robin could only see a massive streak of grey thundering around him.







The Wheel stopped. Everything was still once more. The sun had ascended past the horizon. It was now day. Robin gazed around him. For an instant, he wasn't sure what was wrong. Then he realized: Gisburne was gone.

Robin scanned the field, thinking that Guy might have somehow fled from the Wheel without him knowing it. But there was no sign of the knight anywhere. Had Gisburne not made it back, or had he been safely restored to his place as the Sheriff's steward at Nottingham Castle? Had he been removed from existence again...? If Gisburne had not returned to this time, there was nothing Robin could do for him now.

Robin mounted his horse and headed towards Sherwood and his friends.





Chapter Eleven




Gisburne woke and looked wildly about. He was in his bed in his own chamber, but Guy had no recollection of how he had gotten there. The last thing he could remember was walking into the center of Rhiannon's Wheel with Robin Hood and...

He got out of bed and dressed quickly. He had to discover what had happened, to know how everything had turned out. Was he safe now, or had he been thrown into deeper peril? He didn't know what day it was, let alone if it was morning or night.

He didn't know where he should be heading either, but his instincts led him in search of the Sheriff. If there was anyone in the castle who could sort him out, it had to be de Rainault. Gisburne stopped a servant and asked him where he could find the Sheriff. He gained directions and headed across the courtyard. Then, he heard the Sheriff shouting. He knew where he was for certain.

"Gisburne!" hollared de Rainault. "Gisburne!"

It was his name! The Sheriff didn't think he was Guy of Huntington anymore!

This could mean trouble, thought the knight, as he remembered that Guy of Gisburne's lot hadn't been too favourable before he had left. And his head wasn't in the most secure position. It might still end up on the block. However, at this point, Guy felt he had little else to lose.

He grasped a hold of what remained of his courage. He walked into the room de Rainault was occupying, just managing to avoid being hit by the messanger de Rainault shoved out of the room.

"Ah, Gisburne. A little hard of hearing, are we?" commented the Sheriff. "I thought you'd be in your armour. Isn't there that wretched tournament today? You're on the Earl of Derby's team." The tournament? But that would have been days ago...

"You know," continued the Sheriff, in the same angry verbatim, "I don't employ you to prance around the countryside getting your head knocked off, whilst I stay here in Nottingham slaving away from cock-crow to sunset!" Guy gaped at him in astonishment. They had had the exact same conversation on the day when all of his troubles had first began. Could this be his chance to amend everything...?

"Well?" demanded the Sheriff, further irritated by Gisburne's silent stare. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Yes, my lord," answered Gisburne, carefully calculating his reply. "I...I wasn't planning to go to the tournament. As you said before, there are much more important mattters to be dealt with in Nottingham."

"What?" Now it was the Sheriff's turn to be awe-stricken. "Good God, man, are you ill? You've been badgering me about that tournament for days and now you're telling me it doesn't matter?"

"Yes, my lord," spoke Gisburne calmly. "With a war in Wales, we will have to collect grain from the villages for the King's army and--"

"How do you know about that when I've only just received the King's letter myself?" inquired the Sheriff in surprise. How did he know? Perhaps a better question should have been: How could he possibly explain this previous knowledge to the Sheriff?

"Gisburne, you haven't been reading letters addressed to me before I have, have you?" asked the Sheriff, his voice betraying both suspicion and malice.

"No, of course not, my lord!" protested Gisburne.

"Then, pray tell me how you could have possibly known about the war in Wales, Gisburne."

"Well, my lord..." began the knight.

"Yes, Gisburne...?" drawled the Sheriff.

"Well, it was only a few nights ago when you said you felt certain there would be a war," said Gisburne, quickly inventing a lie.

"I said that?" questioned the Sheriff. Gisburne took a deep breath and plunged into an even deeper lie.

"Yes, my lord. When I saw the messenger just now and the King's seal upon the letter, I just assumed--"

"You just assumed that in this letter, the King was demanding grain from the villages?"

"Yes, my lord," replied Guy hoarsely.

"Hmm...you must be more observant than I've given you credit for," stated the Sheriff, who felt that if Gisburne had really read the letter before he had, which would have been next to impossible, the guilt would have been plastered all over his face. He would never have been able to lie effectively about it.

The Sheriff concluded that he must have spoken his suspicions aloud to Gisburne, then simply forgot about it. After all, he had been drinking rather heavily a few nights ago. How could he be expected to keep an accurate account of the evening? It was shocking enough that Gisburne had! De Rainault figured that there had to be a lie somewhere in Gisburne's story but, at the moment, he didn't have the patience to go looking for it. He passed the letter to Gisburne.

"I see no purpose in having you read this, since you seem to know so much about it already, but here it is..." Gisburne unrolled the parchment pretending to make a careful study of the letter he had already read through before.

"If the King's army needs grain, it's up to us to provide it isn't it, Gisburne?" spoke the Sheriff.

"Yes, my lord," complied his steward.







"Lad, where have you been? We've been looking all over for you!" exclaimed Little John, laying his large, but gentle hand on his leader's shoulder. Robin, who had just entered the camp, grinned as his friends began to crowd around him, questioning the absence they believed had been a few hours.

"I was with Herne," replied Robin, making a statement that wasn't far from the truth.

"With Herne were you?" said Will. "Since when has he kept you away this long? Where were you really? Come on. You can tell us."

"Aye, Robin, we'll understand," Tuck reassured him.

"Tell us," prompted Much.

"Well..." started Robin, suddenly feeling very tempted to tease them. "I woke during the night and met up with Gisburne, who decided how nice it would be if we went riding together." His friends stared at him, looking completely taken aback.

"You did what? With who?" hollared Will.

Robin instantly felt himself go cold. They didn't know who Gisburne was, which meant that the knight couldn't have returned to his own time. Once again, he had messed up everything! Robin suddenly feared that he was going to go mad. But then the outlaws began to laugh and John thumped him on the back.

"That's a good one, Robin! I'll have to remember that!"

"Yeah," agreed Will. "That must have almost been as good as the night I dined with the Sheriff!"

"Aye, John, but not nearly as exciting as the time I attended that feast of King John's," piped up Tuck.

"Or the time I went hunting with him!" said Much.

"Or the time I fought beside Saladin," added Nasir. The outlaws' laughter grew louder.

Robin joined in too, both relieved and amused that his story had been accepted without further question. However, when the last member of the band entered the camp, the truth about his previous whereabouts was one of the last things on Robin's mind.

"Robin! There you are!" she stated.

"Marion, it's you!" cried Robin ecstatically.

"Of course, silly. Who else would it be?" she questioned, studying him in perplexity. Robin was practically grinning from ear to ear. She had returned to Sherwood. She wasn't in Halstead Priory anymore...

"Robin, where have you been?" she demanded. "We haven't been able to find you anywhere! You've been missing all morning!"

"Oh, it's all right, Marion. He only went riding with Gisburne last night," replied Will, and the others began laughing anew.

"Gisburne was it? Well, I believe that for once I'm less angry with him than I am with you!"

"Uh, oh..." murmured Will and John.

"Marion, let me explain..." began Robin.

"Explain! If you explain to anybody, it should be to Matthew. He came here for an archery lesson and instead he had to help us search for you!"

"Matthew?"

"Aye, Will made him his own bow and everything," stated John. "Didn't you, Uncle Will ?"

"Shut up," grumbled Scarlet.

"Today?" broke in Robin. "Matthew was supposed to come here today?"

"Aye, Robin, you said you'd teach him yourself," Tuck reminded him. But surely the day he had promised that had been the day when his problems with Gulnar and Fenris had first began...If this was so, then he had also made it back to this time before Marion had left Sherwood and Wickham had been destroyed...Wickham...His place right now was in Wickham...He started to walk away.

"Robin! Where are you disappearing to now?" questioned Marion.

"Wickham," he replied. "Are you coming?" All of his friends seemed unsure what to think, except Will, who was prepared, as always, to provide his leader with a quick and ready answer.

"I'm coming," spoke Will. "With the adventures you've been having lately, I'd hate to be left behind!"





PART NINETEEN