"Robin!" she stopped as he pulled his hand loose and stooped to look at something nearby. "There is no time to stop and look for treasures! We need to get deeper into the wood."

"In a moment." He said as he ran away from her.

She was about to give chase and threaten to tan his hide when he stopped and began digging at something in the dirt. Her temper was deflated in an instant when he stood up suddenly and displayed his treasure triumphantly. Lord bless him, it was a cup. It must have been cast off or lost by some traveler upon this road.

"Good boy!" she cheered. Finally, a reason to be grateful for his unstoppable curiosity. "Now, we need to cover the hole with leaves and things to hide that we were here in case they come back."

"It will rain tonight. Father said it would rain soon, and it was very cold today. The rain will wash away our tracks." He asserted as he started toward the nearest tree to grab up some of the fallen debris around it.

Gwyndolyn barely refrained from rolling her eyes and groaning.

This was not the time to be worried about Father's predictions...or was it.

She stopped in her tracks as an idea struck. Scurrying to Robin's side, she helped him hide the evidence of their digging. As before, they used a branch to sweep away their tracks and sprinkled leaves and bits of dirt over the area as they receded.

It was not a perfect disguise, but it would do.

"Rob," she began, "We need to get further into the wood and make a hideaway. I do not know if it will rain tonight, but I have no wish to be cold, tired, thirsty, hungry AND wet. If it does rain, we shall be tucked safely away in our dry place."

"We have to wait until morning anyway." He frowned as he looked around.

"What is it?" She asked. "What do you see?"

"Nothing." His frown deepened.

"What is the problem then?"

"That the problem!" he tossed his hands up and she was reminded of Jackson's frustration with Oliver earlier. She smiled wryly at his antics.

"Pretend I am Oliver, and explain it to me." She chuckled.

He smiled then and shrugged. "Nothing to explain, except there is nothing to eat. Travelers along the road must have taken it all as they passed."

"Perhaps." She shrugged. "Or perhaps they disliked traveling in the darkness of the wood and moved as quickly as possible through this part of the road. Perhaps if we look carefully, we shall find something to eat as we search for a hideaway."

"Hmm." He shrugged and they resumed their search for a good place to hideaway.

"You know something?" Robin said as he discovered a small berry bush and a few berries the animals had not yet taken. He risked the sharp thorns to get to them. "Jordan was right. You are smart...for a girl."

Laughter bubbled and burst before she could stop it. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she swallowed the mirth as she looked around. They needed to stay quiet. Ignoring the sting of the thorns, she snagged a few of the berries and popped them in her mouth.

Absolutely divine, she thought as her eyes closed and a moan of pleasure escaped.

"Quickly, hand me the cup." Her hand shot out suddenly, palm up, fingers wiggling as her eyes popped open.

Kneeling, she used her the hem of her skirt to clean out the cup as best she could manage without water. It was a horn cup and it was cracked, which is probably why it was cast off. But it was better than no cup at all.

"Fill it up if you can, and we will eat them as we go along. Keep looking for the oak trees. We may find some acorns."

"Or chestnuts." He said helpfully.

"I do not think there are any chestnuts in this area, but they would be tasty."

"Grass would be tasty right now." He grumbled making her giggle.

"I believe you are correct, little brother." She smiled and the sky rumbled in the distance.

Robin flashed her a grin.

"Where are we going next?" he asked as he helped her fill the cup.

"We find a hideaway for tonight and depending on the weather, we may travel to the edge of the wood on the morrow. If it is raining still, we shall stay hidden and use our cup to collect water. We can fill the waterskin so that we may save some water for later.

"Then we should collect more berries. If we have to wait another day, we will be hungry."

"I am already hungry." She shrugged. "But we have nothing to..."

She took the cup that he handed her and blinked in confusion. "What...?"

Rob tugged a cloth from his belt and she recognized it as the cloth that they used to carry their lunch when they left the house a lifetime ago. His hand shot out as hers had earlier, palm up, fingers wiggling. Handing the cup back, she watched him dump the cup of berries into the cloth.

"Good boy." She smiled tiredly.

"You must be really tired." He shrugged. "Or you would have thought of it already."

"Me thinks," she tilted her head as she seemed to study him, "that you are a very good sort of lad."

"That should be enough berries." She said a few moments later.

"Even if it is not," he frowned, "that is all there is."

The sky rumbled loudly and she instinctively glanced up, though she could not see the skies.

They were running out of time.

Without speaking, she turned and Robin followed as she began to run, swiftly as she dared in the quickly fading light of the wood.

"There." Robin called as he pointed.

They worked quickly and crawled inside their little space just as the rains started. Robin smiled as he handed the cloth to her.

"Hold this." He said as he started to crawl out. "I am going to find a place to put this cup where it can collect some rain. I shall be back."

"You shall get wet and we have no dry clothes. You shall be sick."

"Good thinking." He smiled and wiggled out of his shirt. "Shall I leave the stockings too?"

"Nay." She frowned. She had no wish for him to run naked through the wood, though he seemed little bothered by the prospect.

Boys.

"I shall return in a blink." He said again as he crawled out and disappeared.

She hoped he would not go too far. It felt like forever before he returned, but it could not have been so very long in truth, for his stockings were hardly wet at all when he returned, save for the marks on his knees where he crawled.

Shivering, he wiggled back into his shirt. It was an odd time to be thankful that she was so small, but it was what she felt at that moment. Their space was confined but the two of them were small, and so there was just room enough.

Reaching into the branches above, she tucked the cloth and the waterskin out of their way and curled up on her side. Once more Robin curled up next to her, his back to her front, save this time, she used her skirts like a blanket to cover him.

They lay quietly for a little while just listening to the sound of the rain in the trees about them. At length Robin began to wiggle.

"I need to get the cup."

"Nay." She stayed him with a hand on his arm. "Take the waterskin and empty the cup into it. Leave the cup to fill again and return with the waterskin."

"Good thinking." He said in admiration as he wiggled out of his shirt again and crawled out with the waterskin. He returned shortly and hung the waterskin in the branches over their head before he wiggled into his shirt and snuggled up against her to get warm again.

They repeated the maneuvers several more times until the waterskin was full; and only then did they let the sound of the rain lull them to sleep.

It rained for two days and they stayed snuggled in their hideaway for the whole of it, save to relive themselves. When at last they were able to leave, she looked around and frowned.

"What is it?" Robin asked, darting his eyes about.

"The ground is soft. We will leave tracks."

"We are deep enough in the wood. Perhaps they will not come this far to look for us."

"Let us hope they do not." She said as they began to step their way through the mud toward the edge of the wood. When they reached it, they stayed in the shadows to look out.

"Well? Now what?" Robin asked expectantly.

They stood at the edge of large fields. Fields only partially harvested; the rest left to rot in the fields. It was clear from the sight before them that the soldiers had been through collecting the men for the king's army.

She knew that beyond the fields lay the road, and beyond that was moor grass and a loch. If they were really fortunate, they could make it through the fields, across the road, around the end of the loch and into the wood without being seen. She said as much to Robin.

"Then let us go." He started then stopped again, returning to the shadows. "We wait until dark and then...we run?" He raised a questioning eyebrow as he looked up to her.

"I am afraid we must. There is a long way to go and no where to hide until we reach the wood just beyond the loch. We have only the one night to do it."

"Then we must find a hiding place and rest until dark."

"Quickest to just climb?"

"But safer to make a hideaway. There is a good place not too far back. I noticed it when I...er..."

"When you snuck off to relieve yourself?" she grinned as he blushed. "Let us be quick about it then. We take turns sleeping so that we can leave as soon as it gets dark. We need every moment of darkness to make it across without being seen."

"If we are seen?" He frowned.

"Then we are caught." She shrugged. "There is no use in fretting about the what if, little brother. We can only handle one thing at a time. And so far, we are doing splendidly."

"Splendidly?" he arched an eyebrow as his gaze took her in from head to toe.

"Splendidly." She repeated stubbornly as she started back toward the place Robin stopped earlier, ignoring the fact that they were filthy and looked to all the world like bedraggled beggars.

...starving bedraggled beggars.

As the first rays of light began to tint the sky, they neared the edge of the wood. Her side was burning and her feet ached, but they made it. If she were not so tired, she might have found humor that her first thought was to thank the soldiers for taking her brothers. All of the additional work she was forced to take on after they left had strengthened her. Otherwise...

"Come!" Robin urged, grabbing her hand and tugging. "We are almost there. Then we can find a hideaway."

Where did this boy find this inexhaustible supply of energy?

Working their way into the woods, they made themselves a hideaway. Safe at last, they gave in to exhaustion and slept all of the day away, and a good part of the night. But they stayed hidden and crawled out again at first light. Well rested, they travelled the wood at a fast pace and reached the edge of Brecken Loch as darkness was falling.

They had only to cross the Brecken Moors to reach the castle.

"Robin?"

"Gwyn?"

"We shall take the morrow to clean our clothing...and ourselves...as best we may in the loch. There is plenty to find to eat here. We shall leave upon the morn the day after."

"Is it safe? What if we are seen?"

"We are close enough to the castle now, I think that we shall be safe in the daylight. We may still look like beggars, but at least we shall not be hungry and we shall not be so bedraggled as we are now."

"What will happen when we get there? Will there be soldiers to take us home again and keep us safe?"

"No. There is nothing for us at home any longer. We need to find our own way now, as best we can. I think..." kneeling, she took him by the shoulders as she looked pleadingly into his eyes. "I need you to do something."

"What?"

"In order to stay, we must become servants of the house. If I say you are my brother, they may take you from me, or sell you to another house. But I think...If I say that you are my son, they may let you stay with me. Can you call me mum?"

"But you are not wed."

"I shall say that your father has died. That much is truth. And I have raised you and cared for you since the day you were born to us. So, in a way, I am a mother to you...?"

"The only one I can remember. I can do that...mum." Robin surprised her as he hugged her tightly.

---

Immediately upon reaching the castle gates, she begged sanctuary from the soldiers at guard. After a moment, they were taken by a servant to the kitchens and presented to a woman called Matilde.

"Well, girl?" Matilde put her hands on her hips and looked at them expectantly. "What is your story then?"

"Story?" she frowned. "I shall speak true."

And she did, except for the one little thing that she and Robin agreed upon while at the loch. She claimed Robin as son, hoping that it might allow them to stay together...and it worked.

Matilde gave them a place in the house and they became servants of Baron Brecken. They lost their freedom, but at least they were safe. There would always be food and clothes and a place to sleep. Outside of the castle there was nothing for them, save for those men that thought she was some sort of key to whatever treasure they were looking for.

Her days were too full to ponder it over much. She and Robin settled into their routine and it was satisfying to know she was earning her keep...that they were earning their keep. Robin worked every bit as hard as she...and she could not be prouder of him. Bless his heart, he even when he was exhausted, he remembered to call her Mum.