The Girl [[Open]]

[Carter]

The droning drum beat started, as a small girl was dragged towards the gallows. The screams of her mother were clearly audible, even though there must have been an audience of 100 strong. Carter pushed his way through the crowd, so he had a decent viewing point, and wasn't too noticeable. He hoped that his blond hair wouldn't be a giveaway.

He watched the noose get fastened around the small girls neck, and grimaced. She must have been only about 10 years old. Carter fiddled uncomfortably, itching to just run up onto the stage, grab the girl, and run away. The rasping screeches of her mother panged in his ears and Carter groaned, his forehead creasing as the drumbeat stopped with an abrupt hard note. There was a deadly silence throughout the gallows, and it seemed no-one was even breathing.

But then the stool the girl was standing on with suddenly kicked away, and the hanging begun. Carter shielded his eyes as the girl squirmed around, choking and spluttering. His eyes stung, and he couldn't take it any longer. He unsheathed his sword with one smooth motion, and then threw it as hard as he could in the direction of the noose. The sword sped through the air like an arrow, caught the rope, and cut it down. The crowd gasped, and looked around to see where the sword had come from. Carter did the same, just so he wouldn't rouse any suspicion. The girl fell and crumpled to the ground, the noose still hanging limply on her neck. She got up shakily, and stumbled over to her mother. They embraced, and then started to flee.

Carter swore under his breath. He'd need to get a new sword.

[Isabella]

Isabella had heard the drumbeat booming out across Nottingham, and knew with all certainty that an execution was about to take place. True, murderers deserved it, even some of the thieves, but she had seen far too many fathers executed for stealing bread to feed their starving family, far too many boys hanged when they were still a stranger to the world, with many years left in them to live. There needed to be punishments, but the law did not stipulate any difference between the seriousness of a crime – stealing meant death, be it the king’s crown or a loaf of bread. It frustrated Isabella that those who could see the truth, people like Robin Hood and the outlaws, did not have the power to change everything. They could feed families but they could not rewrite the law, and the people who could were deaf to the plea for justice.
Despite her detest of executions, Isabella was still curious to see who was being hanged. She walked swiftly through Nottingham amongst the crowds of people selling their wares, a thousand voices haggling, bartering and calling to one another. The drumbeat marked out her steps and she realised she was walking in time with them. As they sped up, she quickened her pace, until she was standing on the edge of the street where the marketplace joined the gallows. She poked her head around the wall that separated the two.
There she saw on the scaffold a young girl, thin and ragged and wide-eyed, a noose around her neck. The terrified creature could not have seen more than nine or ten summers. A woman was wailing, her voice sounding out over the crowd, filled with hatred and grief. It must have been the girl’s mother, but she was powerless to save her child.
All of a sudden, the drumbeat stopped. A second’s silence as the world held its breath and Death prepared to take another away. Then the stool the girl stood on was kicked from under her feet, and she fell, the rope constricting around her throat. But her neck didn’t break, so she choked and writhed, bony arms and legs flailing around. It was hideous to see her dying like that. Then something unexpected happened.
From somewhere in the crowd, a sword was flung up and severed the rope in one clean action, before clattering onto the ground. The girl crumpled onto the scaffold, her mother running to her at once. The girl wasn’t quite dead – she had the strength within her yet to scramble to her feet and flee the gallows, her mother beside her. The crowd looked around, shocked, to see who had thrown the sword, but it was clear that no-one knew for sure. It had all happened too fast.
No-one had seen what Isabella had seen. Standing on the street corner, she had watched everything, and had a clear view of the crowd. The person who threw the sword had been a man – a man with fair hair that stood out. There was only one person Isabella knew who fitted that description. Yes, it must have been Carter.

[Carter]

Carter stared his sword which was still wedged into the post of wood which held up the noose. Should he run up and get it? No, that would be suicide. And then the Sheriff and everyone would find out that he was in Nottingham. The girl and her mother were stumbling away, and Guards were already closing in. But the audience members seemed to have been turning against the guards, and started throwing objects at them. No-one really wanted to endure such a young girl getting brutally murdered.

Carter ducked as a rotten tomato flew inches away from his head. Someone obviously had terrible aim. He shuffled backwards a few steps, and quickly sprinted towards the market place. But before he had even ran a few meters, he crashed into a woman that he recognized. For a moment her name escaped him, and he stood awkwardly with his eyebrows raised. But right now was not the time for pleasantries, so he grabbed her wrist and dragged her away with him.

[Isabella]

Isabella did not see Carter heading her way. She was busy following the movements of the girl and her mother, silently willing them to escape. Then, suddenly, a human cannonball crashed into her, and before she had time to ask what the hell they were doing, she looked up and realised it was Carter. She was about to say something to him, but then he took a rather direct approach to greeting, namely grabbing her wrist and pulling her away after he had crashed into her.
She tried to keep up with him, but he was too fast, and he was dragging her along at a startling pace. It was particularly hard for Isabella to run in her long dress, so with the hand that wasn’t enclosed in Carter’s, she grabbed her skirt and hitched it up a little to allow her to run faster. She might flash a bit of ankle, which was quite scandalous, but it was also quite scandalous to be hurtling through the town with a complete maniac. There were people all around them, but Isabella hoped that she didn’t pass anyone she knew. She certainly wasn’t behaving like a noblewoman.
“Carter,” she began angrily, “Where on earth are we going?”

[Carter]

Carter sped through the streets, not turning back. He was pretty sure that no-one was following him, but it would be best to run as far away as he could, before he explained things to Isabella. As he heard her cry, he stopped abruptly, turned so that he was hiding behind a house, and yanked her towards him. "Hi." he said after a while, seemingly not out of breath at all.

"Well I recognized you!" Carter retorted, flashing her a charming smile, "and I didn't want to just bump into you, and then run away again without saying hello." He was still struggling to remember this womans name. He racked his brains. Something -ella, he was sure of that much. "Besides, I needed to get out of there before anyone got suspicious." he grinned, and then remembered that his sword would still be at the gallows. He sword under his breath, and then leaned against the wall of the house. "You don't happen to know a good blacksmith do you?"

[Isabella]

Isabella shook her head. She did actually know a blacksmith – several, in fact, but she was still recovering from what had just happened. Carter had dragged her through the streets of Nottingham, pulled her behind a house and was proceeding to ask her a question about tradesmen. He leaned casually against the side of the house, smiling at her as if this was the most normal thing in the world to do.
She couldn’t help but be taken aback, and felt rather uncomfortable to be so close to him.
“There’s plenty of blacksmiths around,” she replied, “Or you could just go back and get your sword?”
Isabella wouldn’t put it past him to drag her back to the gallows now to retrieve his weapon.
“And by the way, Carter,” she added, “Is this how you normally greet people on the streets, or am I just lucky to be round the back of a house with you?”
She bit her lip, realising her sentence had not come out in quite the way she intended it to.

[Carter]

With a flash or realisation, Carter rememered who the woman was. Isabella, sister of Guy of Gisbourne. She was the one who had helped him retrieve Djaq from the castle. It was all coming back to him.

"Come on, I thought you were smarter than that!" Carter said with a grin. "I can't go back to the gallows just yet. There will probably still be a riot going on. Plus if I just waltz on stage I'll probably be recognised. You do know that I was sent to assassinate Robin Hood, but turned the other cheek don't you?" Carter stopped suddenly, when he realised that she probably didn't.

"Well, what blacksmiths do you recommend?" he asked, changing the subject. "I need a sword now, since my other one's probably already in the possession of the Sheriff. They have to be good. I don't settle for any old scrap of metal." Carter said with a sniff.

At Isabella's concluding comment, Carter raised an eyebrow, and grinned. "I wouldn't expect those kind of remarks coming from you Isabella." he said folding his arms, "Especially because of how you've been getting...well lets say a little chummy towards old Roe." Carter laughed. Nothing was a secret from him.

[Isabella]

Isabella frowned as Carter told her about his attempted assassination of Robin Hood.
“No,” she said, when he asked her if she knew about it, “I didn’t know that.”
It did explain a few things, though – his adeptness at fighting, and why he wasn’t out of breath now. But why he had changed his mind and was now working with the outlaws, she had no idea. He was evidently good at heart – after all, hadn’t he just saved the life of a young girl? And he’d helped her to stop Djaq from killing the Sheriff.
As he asked what blacksmith’s she suggested, she thought of the name of the one who shod her horse’s hooves. She remembered seeing racks of swords inside his shop.
“There’s Branshaw,” she said, “And Talson, they both make weapons. Though I can’t say I’ve bought any myself.”
As soon as Carter mentioned her comment about being lucky to be round the back of a house with him, she blushed in embarrassment. Then he mentioned her and Roe, and she found herself trying not to blush even more and turn scarlet. She wondered how much Carter knew, and precisely how he knew. She remembered that he and Roe were friends, but doubted Roe would have told him somehow. Maybe he’d just seen them together that night they got Djaq out of the castle, when she and Roe had first met after twenty years, and leapt to conclusions.
“I’m evidently not lucky to be here, then,” she retorted, adding, “And don’t come too easily to conclusions.”

[Carter]

Carter laughed loudly. "Just by the way you've turned a bright shade of pink, and the way you reacted rather badly to what I've just said, proves my point exactly." Carter said matter-of-factly. But he decided to drop the subject anyway. It was clear it was something Isabella did not want to talk about.

"Okay." He memorized the names of the blacksmiths she had mentioned in a florish. Carter had always been clever, even as a child. He found memorising things and adding up sums so easy, it was like second nature.

"I'm going to go check out those blacksmiths." he said seriously, scratching his blond head. "And now, since I'm sure that I've now annoyed you beyond repair, you are more than welcome to relieve yourself from my treacherous grasp." Carter said, fancying up his words with the air of a Noble. "So I guess I'll be seeing you around." He raised his eyebrows, awaiting Isabella's departure.

[Isabella]

Isabella's embarrassment continued. She could lie well about most things but not, apparently, when it came to this. She was glad when Carter dropped the subject, and began to talk about the blacksmiths instead. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his sarcastic words that she was 'welcome to relieve himself from his treacherous grasp'. Honestly, she was a noblewoman, but not the foolish kind many were, she hoped. Even so, that kind of thing was still extremely irritating.
"Thankyou for being so kind to allow me to escape you," she replied, "It is greatly appreciated. And yes, you have annoyed me, though not beyond repair. Not yet, anyway."
Isabella began to turn away and leave, but thought better of it.
"And by the by, Carter," she added, "The next time you want someone out of your way, think of a better way to say 'goodbye' than this."
And with that, she turned on her heel and began to leave.

[Carter]

Carter smirked at Isabella's angry words, and then folded his arms, waiting for her to depart. "Bye then!" he called after her as she left. He expected such a reaction, Carter often had that effect on people.

When he was sure she would be on her way, Carter slid behind the house and kept to the shadows, so it had seemed he had completely disappeared from the face of the earth. Once he was hidden from Isabella's sight, he swam through the pedestrians walking through Nottingham, and span around in confusion. He would have to find the blacksmiths, of the name Branshaw and Talson. It shouldn't be too difficult.

[Isabella]

As Carter's words reached her ears, Isabella realised that Carter was enjoying this. Evidently it was fun to irritate her. The thing was: he was the only person that did it. There was no-one else who would happily stand there and poke fun at her. He was an outlaw, for Heaven's sake - she could turn him in to the Sheriff if she wanted to. But she wouldn't - and he knew that. Isabella sighed as she realised that Carter was one of those people who had to push their luck. And that could end well... or painfully.
She continued to stride away from him, rolling her eyes. She was playing right into his hands by rising to the bait like this. She'd have to contain herself next time. That would be hard.
"Bye then yourself," she muttered angrily under her breath, trying to distance herself from him before she did anything she would later regret.

(OOC - Just wrapping it up, I reckon this is the end of the thread, Carter)