http://www.benturner.com/robinhood/

"FAITH IN THE ABSENT"


The first tale has been finished and the people gathered around the
fire are comfortable and relaxed.  Maid Marian arises from her
half-slumber and announces that she has a much more romantic story to
tell.  Watch the men roll their eyes at this news!  Marian's soft voice
allured everyone into listening attentively, and she began...

"When I was a child, we were told of a woman who had been cast out of
our village and who was forced to go live alone in the forest.  She was
even forced to leave her family, which was made up of a dear, dear husband
and two adorable children.  Everyone was heartbroken that day, but the
Sheriff's law was law and nothing could change it...

"She was quite young when all of this happened, so in our rather
mischievious teenage years, we went to go look for her.  Several other
"brave" children said they hadn't found her, but my friends and I just
laughed.  No one was courageous enough to go looking in the haunted
forests of Sherwood.  Well, except for us.  Our curiosity was just more
overpowering than our sense!"  The hut erupts in laughs and giggles,
finally being mollified so Marian may continue...

"So we gathered the necessary equipment for our day-long journey, and
we set off, avoiding the parents and any chores which may have been
assigned to us that day.

" < The atmosphere was high amongst us and we felt as invincible and
invigorated as only young people who have not yet experienced all the 
setbacks of life are.  Little did we know of what was yet come.

"To enter the deep forests of Sherwood was like entering a huge 
church. All was still and the tall stems of the trees served as 
columns, supporting a large ceiling consisting of hundreds and 
hundreds of soft green leaves.  None of us uttered a word for a
long time in fear of spoiling the magic of the moment. >  If our
recognition of such beauty in the legendary forest was this great,
we could only imagine what kind of excitement and danger was waiting
for us at the end of our journey.

" < Of course, since we were so much smarter than those preceding us
in this adventure, we had specific plans and actions to be carried out
by each member of our party that would ensure the capture of the mysterious
mistress where others had failed.  Each of us held as one of our
possessions a crude map of the forest - as detailed as we could make
considering our combined knowledge of the great wooded mystery known as
Sherwood.  Each was assigned to a particular section in which we were to
set a certain number of traps to catch her - unharmed.  This, however, was
only the first on many steps we would be taking over the next few hours,
and only the beginning of one of the most amazing adventures in which I've
been involved. > "

"Passing into the forest was easy and uneventful...for the first five
minutes, at least.  Sherwood opened up her large, verdant jaws and
swallowed us up, as the horizon would the heavenly sun.  Plunged into
blackness, fear seized us from the shadows and everything was after us!
Peg, the most nervous of the bunch, stepped on a twig and it snapped
with an eery cracking sound.  This made her all the more distressed
and the rest of us, being in more relaxed state, questioned the
decision to bring Peg along.  I was busy looking for a safe path of
travel into better lit parts of the woods, while Kara was busy comforting
Peg as only a woman as sensitive as Kara would.

"It took some reminding to the group from me that we were here on a
mission to find the exiled girl and that God would protect us in our
curiosity.  What can I say?  Children are gullible when they're young,
and I understood that early in my life!"  Most of the people sitting
in the hut nod, probably remembering some instance in the past when
they were manipulated by Marian.  Knowing grins are passed around the
room.

" < The moment I had succeeded in soothing Peg's fears, the bushes gave
up a subtle rustle, and she was sent into another squeal of hysterics as a
smooth, sable-colored fox slipped from between the lowly branches and sat on
its haunches, its cool grey eyes quietly contemplating the odd group of
youngsters.  Being the girl of sense that I was, ahem, I calmly began to
watch the fox, for it was unusual that a wild animal would venture so
casually into the midst of humans, and this one certainly didn't have the
characteristics of an animal with any sort of maddening disease.  I noticed
an odd twinkle of intelligence in the animal's eyes, which even calmed Peg a
bit when she finally observed it.  Suddenly, the animal took off at a steady
pace, only stopping to assure that we followed behind, which we had
unanimously decided that we would. >

"For the first time since the beginning of our journey, all of us were
giggling and excited.  As we ran and tumbled after the swift fox, we
recounted bedtime stories our parents told us about such enchanted
creatures as the fox.  Kara's favorite tale described a small forest sparrow
that led a crying child back to his mother, mere hours before the darkness
chased away the sun and evil creatures would descend upon the shadows.  We
knew then the fox was a good omen for our trip.

" < Despite the uncanny ability of the fox to find only the darker and
more treacherous paths through these glorious woods, we still had no fear.
We knew, somehow, that the fox was leading us to something wondrous...if not
the lost girl, something within only the realm of influence of the sable
fox, something only we among all others who had sojourned through
Sherwood's hazy vales would be privy to.  We traveled thus for hours that
seemed minutes and abruptly found ourselves without our guide.  In the
excitement, we had all turned away from the fox for no more than the space
of a breath between calm lips, and our guide had taken leave of us.  Peg
immediatly became hysterical once more, and refused even Kara's calming
influence.  But I was neither ready nor willing to abandon my senses so
abruptly.  After a quick glance at the shaded path we were now on, I turned
towards the last place I had seen our mysterious grey-eyed guide and
continued to walk, content that the others would follow.  My peace lasted
only a second, as the bushes to my left exploded with the wild fury of a
magnificent silver buck, with antlers of purest moonlight and luminous
pools of fire staring into the most secret corners of our souls. >"

" < As the buck and I stared into each others eyes, I was filled with
the most profound feeling of having found an old and very dear friend.
Peg and Kara were forgotten for the moment, as this silent bond stretched
betwen the buck and me.  He gave a slight nod of the head and turned to
go, so I knew we were meant to follow him, and I signalled to the others,
who had grown silent as they too sensed the almost magical qualities of
this beast.  Joining hands, we stepped behind the buck and followed in his
footsteps > , giggling slightly as our imaginations were filled with
wonders we'd never experienced before."

" < In the buck's eyes, I'd seen strange things.  I saw the eyes of a
horse, a goat, a swan and something else ... something much older."

The audience sat entranced.  "One of the faeries ... er, fair folk!"  Mary
said gleefully.  She was Alan a Dale's oldest daughter.

"Hmmmph.  Fair folk, indeed!" Robin scoffed.  "Marian, surely this tale is
not for these folks.  Surely, they'd rather hear about the time I snuck
into Nottingham and won that archery contest.  Or how I held off twenty
of the sheriff's men with naught but a loaf of bread."

"Twenty?" said young David, Little John's youngest child.  "I thought you
said it was fifteen men."

"Nay," said Mary who was a few years older than David.  "I heard it was 10
men."

"Robin told me it was 5 men," Marian quipped, miffed at seeing her tale
interrupted.

Little John slapped his leader on the back.  "I was there.  It was three
men, and Robin had a sword."

"It doesn't matter.  Robin, dearest love, if you could stop talking about
your loaf and how that tale grows, maybe we could get back to my story of
the magic buck?"

Marian glared at Robin, her eyes speaking a threat that all the married
men knew well, but which the children present did not perceive the meaning of.

"Of course, love," muttered Robin sheepishly. >

" < We never doubted for a moment that our quest for the cast-out woman
would end in anything but soul cleansing success, but as even I became
disoriented behind the stately buck's tread, I began to fear that our
success would come at a high cost.  For the first time in my young life, I
felt the doubt that cripples brave men in battle and keeps the wisest
sage in check.  It is the little voice that wonders, "Have I, perhaps
unwittingly, chosen an alternative that will keep me from continuing in my
life?  Am I wrong to be right here, right now?"  This fear was subtle, and
gnawed at the corner of my mind, just barely giving me a glimpse before
slipping away into the inner recesses of thought.  In my pondrous state,
I stopped.  The buck sensed immediatly that there was something amiss in
his charges and paused as well.  I looked the few feet up to his eyes
and was overcome by both the pride, and the sadness written in his eyes.
All at once, my mind was filled with a cacophany of images, all pain-filled
and heart wrenching.  I saw all the horrors that war is kin to, and all the
sorrows of those who can afford neither food nor shelter, but still must
live for the sake of retaining life.  I could barely feel the tears fall
from my eyes, but as they did the images changed.  I saw the calm of one
resigned to a fate that while horrible, is still an unalterable part of
one's life.  I saw, for the first time, the exiled woman.  The group of
fearful girls behind me were forgotten as I stared, no longer at the
stately buck, but at the woman who was as familiar to me as my own
reflection in the pond near my home.  The woman put out a hand to me and
I took it tentativly.  Her hand was warm and showed the result of many
years of honest labor.  She spoke not a word as she lead me to a small
sapling that was struggling for it's place in the wood.

"You and I and this tree are very much alike" her voice whispered in my
mind.  "We are born...we will grow...we will struggle for self...and we
will die.  Some are not strong enough to survive the battle, and they are
those we weep for in our hearts.  Others are able to bear the burden of
self, but they forget that all those around them are fighting the same
fight, and it is they who are the enemies we must fight against.  But then
there are those for whom the fire has made stronger, and it is they who
truly do not die, but live forever."  As she spoke, the sapling started to
stretch its leaves to the sun and it began to grow. "We are those who will
live forever..." I heard myself whisper.  I no longer felt the gentle
pressure of the woman's hand and I was not alarmed when I did not hear her
voice in response. I knew that I was no longer within her realm of
influence.

"I found myself again in the company of girls I had set off with earlier in
the day.  They looked at me with timid eyes, and Kara softly spoke.
"Marian, are you still alive?" (She had intepreted my silence as a death
swoon, poor girl)  "Did you see her?" I asked, afraid of the answer.
Silently, they all nodded.  "But she spoke only to you," was Kara's soft
reply.  I turned away from the girls, unable to face their wondering gazes.
I saw before me a great tree, and I soon knew...just felt inside me that
this was the sapling, and that this was where the exiled woman had fought
her last battle of self and had won.  She would live forever, even if her
body had not remained to greet us.  I put my palm on the tree and felt the
cool whisper of the wind.  "We are those who will live forever..."  The wind
spoke with her voice, and with my words, and I knew that I was always on the
right path and my own journey of self was just begining. > "

At that point, Marian stopped to think, as if in a reverie, while the adults
admired Marian's eloquence and sincerity in telling her story.  The children?
Well, they seemed a little uncomfortable with the voluminous words and some
had begun to get sleepy.  Whether they were bored or not, everyone there felt
very relaxed and calm, happy to be in each other's company, thankful just
for that.  Perhaps in each one of the people in the warm hut, a new
personal philosophy of life was making itself known.

< "So," Robin pressed softly, "you mean to say that you never actually
found out what happened to her?  Did you ever know who she was?"   Marian
gazed in silence into the fire, and Robin was afraid that he would have
to repeat himself.  But he didn't have to do so.

Little John beat him to it.  "So who was she?  And why did her ghost
talk to you?"

Marian looked up slowly, as if unwilling to meet the curious gazes around
her as these new questions presented themselves.  "I know not how she
died, but her death was not as important as her life.  As my life..."  She
trailed off, unwilling to continue.

Robin put his hand on Marian's back.  "'Tis safe Marian.  If you don't
want to speak, 'tis fine.  But we are curious to know.  Please, my love."

Marian looked into Robin's eyes, and as if finding the courage she needed
to continue, she did so.  "It would first be wise to tell of how we got
home, because we were now deep in Sherwood.  But our experience had given
us a strength owing nothing to rest or lack of hunger.  We were able to go
home with the power of a quest fulfilled, even if I had been the only one
among us who had spoken to her.  But we were also helped by both the buck
and the fox, each leading us again to where we had found our respective
guides.  The journey home was more calm and reflective than the way to the
woman's grove had been.  I began to wonder just why she had spoken only to
me and no other.  I was reminded of how familiar she had seemed to me, as
if I knew her, as if I had seen her before and had in fact seen her my
entire life.  But I could go no farther in my thoughts, and we were soon
home.  Because it was after nightfall, our parents were...not in the best
of moods."  The parents in the hut looking skyward in frustrated
amusement.  "But my father, he seemed only glad that I was home, and
seemed not angry at my absence.  At first I thought it was just that he
loved me so much, but then I realized that what I saw in his eyes was more
than love.  I saw, very simply, fear.  I asked in later, years later, what
he had been so afraid of that night.  He was very reluctant in his answer,
but I finally pressed him to speak.  By then we had told our parents of
our quest, but not our success.  But I learned then that my father had
known from the moment we had returned that night that we had found the
woman.  I had found and finally spoken to my mother." >