Robyn and the Hoodettes #JustWriteIt #FreshStart

Chapter 6

Robyn woke that morning with the weirdest sensation. "I can't feel my legs!"

"Prolly mine," a half-asleep Joan said beside her.

"No I'm serious I –" Robyn hauled herself into a sitting position and screamed at the sight of a horse's head at the end of the bed.

Shadow pricked up her ears and lifted off. Blood whooshed into Robin's legs, making her feet tingle with welcome pain. What relief! Memories from the day before came flooding back. She had a horse now! A live one, not merely a severed head from some kind of nightmare. Huh, "nightmare". Was a horse on the bed where the word had come from?

More memories bombarded her. Their little rebellion yesterday would land them all in trouble.

"Whut?" Eleanor rolled over and rubbed her face.

"Sorry, false alarm." Robyn's heart beat erratically, on its way back to normal. "Shadow! Don't do that to me! You scared me half to death!"

Awake now, Joan made hearty laugh. Then she fell with a yelp over the edge of the bed. Bella mooed and came over to see what the fuss was. The goats bleated and came over to the bed, nibbling at the straw.

"What's all the noise, girls?" Eleanor had woken up properly now. "Hold tight Bella, I'll get the milking stool and the pail. Poor thing, I know exactly how you feel darling." She climbed over Robyn to get out of bed. Chickens and goats moved out of the way.

"What's that Mother Eleanor?" Joan asked, dusting herself off after landing on the dirt floor.

"When I was nursing Robyn - oh it feels like only yesterday - These things . . ." She grabbed at her chest " . . . were so full and sore I'd have to wake her up and make her feed."

"Mother, please!" Robyn wanted to die of embarrassment.

"It's perfectly natural. Now come on Bella, let's get you into the corner." Being a roundish cottage, there were no true corners, so Eleanor corralled the cow near one of the walls, sat on her stool and placed the wooden pail under her swollen udder.

With her mother busy milking the grateful cow, Robyn climbed down the ladder out of bed and gathered food for the animals. She let Shadow out to graze on the village green, then collected the remnants of last week's bread for the ducks, leading them towards the river where they could forage for grubs and bugs and whatever else ducks ate. The fire on the green smoked away, not fully extinguished. It gave Robyn an idea and she gathered more twigs and sticks and smaller pieces of wood to get it back to cooking strength.

Returning to the cottage she saw that Joan had collected the ducks' eggs in her cloak hood.

"Scrambled or boiled in she shell?" She asked.

"Scrambled, with bread chunks," Robyn said, "Let's cook it on the green, I've built the fire up."

Soon more families joined in, breaking their fast together in the middle of the village. It was fun having a cook-out with everyone, sharing food supplies and recipes as they each made their favorite dishes. Everyone wanted to give Robyn and Joan extra helpings to give thanks for bringing their goods back the night before. They were all being far too happy about their circumstances. Part of Robyn wanted to shake her villagers and tell them how much trouble they were in. The other part of her kept her mouth shut because she didn't want to get the blame for the trouble they were in.

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With aching muscles burning them and tired horses pulling their wagon, the taxmen staggered in to Lady Maudlin's castle in Sheffield. The castle dominated the landscape with its high timber towers and battlements. Not all of it was timber, as some sections were being re-built with stone for added strength. When finished, the castle would be stronger than ever.