Seeds of Time

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Hal put all thoughts of his new friend aside as he prepared for battle and Meg spent the next week trying to get home. She was refused entry to the abbey as at this point in history, it was still an abbey, rather than a Royal Peculiar and a tourist attraction and since it was a Benedictine monastery, they didn't exactly welcome women.

She retreated to consider her options and, hoping that his hail fellow, well met attitude would hold and he wouldn't be upset with her, she went into Hal's room and borrowed one of his shirts, a pair of his trousers and a hat to hide her hair. Meg wasn't particularly well endowed so with the loose shirt and her leather jacket over it, she looked fairly androgynous. Hiding her hair under the hat helped and with the judicious application of a little dirt and dust to her usually clean face, she managed to resemble a male youth.

Dressed as a boy she was able to obtain entry to the monastery but not to the chair, being escorted by a monk to the Abbot, who she had claimed to have a message for, and then escorted out. Learning to write with a quill and ink wasn't easy but after a little practice, she managed. Unfortunately her 21st century spelling and syntax made the Abbot question if the message was really from Prince Hal. She bluffed, claiming that Hal had dictated the message to her and her English was poor, but she didn't think he believed her.

If she could only reach the coronation throne, she was sure she could get home but when she tried the same ruse again, claiming to have another message for the Abbot, she was turned away and the monk took the parchment she clutched and closed the door in her face.

With little other option, she decided she'd have to break into the abbey overnight and gain access to the chair, while the monks slept. She spent three nights watching the comings and goings, noting when the final candles were snuffed out.

She slept late the following day, intending to break in that night. In truth she shouldn't have waited that long but she was eager to hear if Hal was all right, so she made excuses that the punishments for theft (and especially stealing from a church) were grave, so she had to be extra careful to ensure that she wasn't discovered. The fact she didn't plan to steal anything wouldn't be believed, so she had to be especially careful that she wasn't caught before she could reach the chair.

She now spent most of her time dressed as a boy, so when Hal swaggered into the Hog's Head to be greeted with cheers, he didn't immediately recognise her.

She hadn't meant to hug him, much less take a running jump but when he appeared before her, grinning and apparently healthy, instinct overcame her.

"How now, Sirrah, but I do not believe I am well acquainted enough with any boy to be met with such affection." He said as she hung off him like fruit on a tree.

Meg didn't release or answer him but continued to hold tightly.

Mistress Quickly cackled. "She's no boy, my lord, that is your new friend, Lady Meg." To prove her claim, she plucked the hat from Meg's head, catching her hairband.

"Oww!" Meg cried as the elastic band was pulled out of her hair and her head was wrenched back. She released her hold on Hal and scratched her scalp where the hair had been pulled, snatching the hat back from Mistress Quickly.

"My lady, you make a very fetching boy," Hal informed her, his eyes roaming over her figure and evidently enjoying this turn of events.

Meg looked him up and down. "You too," she said.

"I am no boy," he laughed with good humour at her jibe. "And are those not my garments?"

"I borrowed them, I hope you don't mind?"