Welp. It's Friday. That means tonight is our first performance. The entire school is abuzz; when walking in earlier this morning I received several wishes of good luck, shyly thanking the well-wishers as I made my way to my locker. A group of three students toting a cart of wood and a folded banner passed by, undoubtedly components for one of the stands that was going to be at the fair next week.

  “O-M-G, there he is! Good luck, Robin!” one of the girls smiled at me.

  “Ah--! Thanks,” I managed to reply upon realizing they meant me. She and her friends laughed, and waved as they continued on.

  “You too, huh?” Rachel said as she came over with a wry grin.

  “Y-yeah, lots of it,” I returned.

  “I think I'm actually getting anxious.” she quietly confided as we got out books for the morning.

  “Same... I think...”

  “I bet some of the other new people are too... new to theater, that is.”

  “Oh for sure,” I agreed. “But... like you said, we just have to do our best every night.”

  “Hmm... I said it for a different reason... but you're right!” she smiled back.

  I know, I know... your dad, I mentally replied as I smiled to her, pulling out one of my books.

  “Sean?” Rachel then said to me, her smile becoming mischievous.

  “Hm?” I returned curiously.

  “That's an afternoon book you're holding.”

  “Hyeck?!”

  ***

  When lunch came along, the two of us made our way almost leisurely to the club room. Surprisingly, we were the first to arrive. We sat down at our usual couch and began eating our lunches a moment later; the quiet of the room was almost unnatural.

  “Even Andi's usually here by now...” Rachel said as she looked around. “Where is everyone?”

  “Hmm...” I pondered, munching on my sandwich and then swallowing a bite. “This is the only club we all have, right? Though Mary might have another...”

  “Did she?” Rachel thought for a moment. “I can't remember right now... you're probably right, though.”

  “I mean, with her university aims, she'd want as many points on her side as she can get for admission,” I said, my girlfriend nodding back to me.

  “Exactly.” she said. “Something to keep in mind the next couple of years for when you figure out what you want to do.” she then grinned.

  “Y-yeah,” I returned weakly, smiling back.

  Boy, I got suckered into that one, huh?

  “Whew! Traffic out there!” Ellie declared exasperatedly as she, Andrea, and Thomas came in.

  “There you are!” Rachel exclaimed.

  “Here we are!” Thomas agreed as they sat down. “Sorry I missed the fun the past couple of days in Panarena; Peaches has us scouring Ygrom for a certain kind of pine-cone.”

  “Eh??” I wondered.

  “It's got some sort of bonus for druidic and summoning skills, or maybe it was a special skill?” he returned, his face uncertain for a moment before he shrugged. “Anyway. It's important to her. I hear your quest got interesting last night.”

  “Pretty interesting,” Rachel replied with a nod. “We have a bunch of Excavators that we... converted?” she looked over at me.

  “Yeah, converted, or reset; definitely an intentional feature, but there's probably more limits than we found so far.” I said.

  “You can claim the Excavators but the other kind only last so long under your control, huh,” Thomas remarked.

  “I'm guessing there's a limit to how many Excavators we can have, too... it'd be way overpowered if we got our hands on a whole army of them. Though I can see Gears and Wheels developing their own when they get wind of this...” I said, faintly grinning at the thought.

  “Oh for sure.” Andrea nodded in agreement. “Where the heck are -- oh here they come!” she then smiled as Anhe and Mary arrived.

  “That lecture would not end.” Mary sighed in frustration as she sat down.

  “I had to stop at my mother's for a moment,” Anhe smiled. “You got stuck in your philosophy class?” she said to Mary.

  “Ugh. 'The bell doesn't dismiss you, I dismiss you'...” the older girl returned as she gave a snarky imitation of her teacher. “School stipends don't pay overtime.” she shook her head, a tired smile on her face.

  “Ah-heh... we'd be cashing in this semester,” I said as I looked over to Rachel, who quietly shook with laughter at the words.

  “Overtime!” Ellie suddenly sat upright. “Dang it! I gotta get my hours in tomorrow to qualify for that this week!”

  “You like overtime?” Thomas asked her in surprise.

  “Dude. It's a ten-dollar bonus on the hour. Fifteen during holidays.”

  “I like money, too, but--well... actually that does sound appealing...”

  “Right??” the blonde girl said with an adamant nod.

  “I doubt anyone but Barnum could pull that off, though.” Mary said with a shrug. “Well... maybe Mrs. Jennings...”

  “Oh def.” Rachel agreed.

  “Hm? Oh, the twins' mom,” Ellie nodded. “For sure.”

  “Heh,” I smiled softly, thinking back on the mini-vacation the woman in question had given Rachel and myself a couple weeks ago.

  We lapsed into silence for a few minutes, eating our lunches with gusto and just enjoying each other's company. There was a whirlwind of thoughts in my head, about the play, about the competition, and about the many things that lay ahead of us on the other side of them yet which still seemed far away for now. Ellie looked out the window, letting out a long sigh.

  “Essays and finals coming up, huh...” she remarked.

  “Yep.” Andrea softly answered.

  “And then prom... and then graduation.” Mary said. She seemed almost sad about it.

  “And then we get to go on a real adventure together!” Anhe added with a smile.

  “Yes, yes we do,” Mary agreed, a smile returning to her face.

  “Woo! One whole months overseas!” Ellie beamed. “Ack! That's double-reason to start racking up overtime again!”

  “Ah--! Good point!” Thomas agreed.

  “But before all that happens... the musical happens, and the school-festival, too!” Anhe grinned as she looked over at me and Rachel. The others did the same.

  “Can't wait!” Ellie clapped her hands. “We're gonna meet the others at the restaura--oops!” she clamped a hand over her mouth.

  “El-lie!” Andrea lightly smacked her friend's leg.

  “Sowwy,” the other girl said bashfully.

  “You're going to a restaurant without us?!” Rachel protested. “Boo!”

  “We'll get you something nice as an apology, promise!” Andrea hastily said in reply.

  “Booo!” Rachel sighed. I could see Anhe and Mary exchanging sheepish smiles with one another.

  “Rachel! Sorry! We really are!” the younger girl said. “We were going to bring something nice anyway... now it has to be really, really nice!” she remarked, Mary nodding at the words.

  “Super-duper nice.” she agreed.

  “Don't think you're going to buy us off that easily!” Rachel returned. It seemed as if the edges of her lips were twitching.

  You're really milking them this time, huh? I noted to myself.

  “Sean! Sean!” she then poked me. “What should we do? What'll we demand from them??”

  “Hrrmm...” I said, sipping on my drink.

  “Ehh--?!” Andrea blinked.

  “He's actually thinking about it...” Thomas said with a hint of unease. I leaned over to Rachel, whispering in her ear.

  “Uh-oh. Whispering.” Mary said, her face lighting up with both surprise and delight. Rachel, upon hearing what I said to her, grinned broadly and nodded to me emphatically.

  “Whatever it is, she just agreed to it...” Ellie softly groaned. We then turned back to them.

  “Minus fifty points!” we chorused.

  “HAH?!?!”

  Rachel and I could barely keep it together for the rest of the afternoon. After the initial shock of having the reverse uno-card pulled on them, the others--reluctantly and bemusedly--agreed to accept it. We had high-fived each other at once, and then all of us had burst out laughing.

  “That was good, man!” Thomas had remarked when lunch was over.

  “Gagged with my own gag... dude.” said Ellie, giving me a headlock-hug as we began heading to our afternoon classes.

  “Why me too...” Anhe sadly wondered.

  “Guilty by association.” Andrea patted her shoulder.

  “Well then next time I am not associating!” she quickly returned, and we laughed again.

  “Good plan.” Thomas agreed, nodding wisely. “I'm with you.”

  “Right; let's go, dorks! World Cultures awaits!” Ellie said as she grabbed my collar.

  “Uh--sure,” I said as I was half-led along by her and Rachel.

  “See you tonight, Robin!” Andrea called as she and the others headed to their own classes. I waved back uncertainly for a moment, and then began laughing again. Rachel looked at me, and began doing the same. Ellie let go of me, and grinned, shaking her head.

  “I'm not even mad.” she said with a shrug. “Well played, buddy.” she added, giving me a pat on the head.

  ***

  After our seventh and final class for the day, I let out a long sigh, leaning back in the chair. Rachel looked over at me, patting my arm as the others headed out of the classroom.

  “Not a lot of homework tonight,” she said.

  “Thank goodness for that.”

  “Right?”

  “Just this class and... English, right?” I asked her.

  “Yep!” Rachel nodded. “Just those two.”

  “Well, that's not so bad,” I said with a faint grin, finally getting up to head out.

  “We don't have to be at the theater-wing until four-thirty.” she reminded me as she got up as well.

  “Right... so we have an hour to get the homework over with...” I nodded.

  “Club room?” Rachel asked as we began leaving.

  “If it's open,” I agreed.

  “I will come too!” Anhe said as she hurried to join us, her mother smiling after her.

  “Sure!” Rachel smiled back.

  “To get my points back also!” the other girl said, and we laughed.

  Homework was definitely easy to get through today (thankfully). When we had finished it, Anhe gave us both a hug and then hurried to join her mother while the two of us made our way to the auditorium. Joanna was waiting for us in the hall.

  “There you are,” she said in relief.

  “We're going over lines and stuff again until make-up and costumes, right?” Rachel asked.

  “Yep.” the other replied. She turned to head in, and then held back.

  “Joanna?” Rachel wondered.

  “Ahh... hmm... Sean? Is it okay if I ask Rachel something?” the short-haired girl said to me.

  “Heh?” I blinked, confused. “I mean, I don't have any problem with it. I'm her boyfriend, not her owner.”

  “Good attitude,” she said in reply, “But... ugh. I want to ask her-- to ask you, that is,” she turned to Rachel, “If you'd go to prom with me...?” Joanna then said, looking unusually meek.

  Ohh... that's why... I mean, I guess it doesn't *really* bother me... and I feel like I owe her for all the Panarena stuff... I mused as the question hung in the air.

  “I was wondering if you would ask.” Rachel said softly, a faint smile on her face.

  Heh?! You knew she might ask?!

  “Sean, that's okay, right?” my girlfriend smiled at me.

  “Sure, if you want to go,” I said.

  Though I do feel a little jealous... but that's just natural... I hope.

  “I did say I had a plan for prom.” she reminded me. “If Jo hadn't asked, I might've asked first.”

  “Ahh...” I returned bemusedly, thinking back. “Heh. You really are ten steps ahead of me in real-life,” I then smiled. She nodded, patting my arm as she turned back to Joanna.

  “I'll go with you.” she said, and the older girl heaved a sigh of relief.

  “That means a lot. Really.” Joanna smiled.

  “I know.” Rachel told her. She then took a breath, and looked over at me. “So... that's my prom-plan! Half of it,” she confessed.

  “Half of it?” Joanna tilted her head. “If you want Sean there, how -- ah-huh... I see.” she smiled with approval.

  “Hmm?” I wondered.

  “You'll see,” the other grinned coming over to give me a big hug.

  “Ahh--! Sure,” I returned. Rachel then made a face at me as if to say Hug her back already!, so I did.

  “Rachel,” Joanna said, opening up half of the hug so Rachel could join us, which she promptly did. “This is our debut night. No, it's your debut night. Saint-James is out of the running, but there's still a lot of dissidents coming to see us. Let's knock them dead, huh?” she said to us.

  “Definitely!” Rachel agreed.

  “You got it, Joanna.” I smiled back.

  “Call me Jo, Lana.” she softly whispered back, tugging my ear.

  “You got it... Jo.” I quietly laughed back.

  “Right! Lines!” she then said, letting us go so we could finally head in.

  “One quick run-thru!” Rachel smiled.

  “There you are! Hurry up!” Herby called as he caught sight of us.

  “The stars of the show, showing up late; typical!” Maggie smirked.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Ah-ha!” Matt clapped triumphantly. “Fear not! You're only five minutes over-schedule; and five minutes never killed anyone -- unless they were underwater, I guess... but you're not underwater, so you'll be fine!” he beamed.

  “Hah?” I looked at him bemusedly. Herby and Maggie shook their heads.

  “Oh, you.” Maggie said to him.

  “Heh-heh!” he grinned to her.

  “Right, I'm going to find Marcus,” Joanna said with a soft smirk.

  “All ready for the big night, pally-o?” Matt said as he playfully thumped my back. “Well the night's ready for you! Or was that the knight, as in Sir Richard? I can never remember which is which, though--”

  As he continued rambling, the rest of us looked at each other and started grinning. We all knew what to say.

  “Shut up, Matt!” the four of us said, and then we burst out laughing together.

  So. How long does it take to go from feeling mostly at ease to being a semi-nervous wreck? Just shy of two and a half hours, as it happens. It was now fifteen minutes until seven. We were all costumed and made-up for the big night. And now--now of all times--I was trying to think of how I had gotten into this and if I could get out of it. As I wandered around the stage as softly as I could behind the curtain, I heard a large crowd gathered.

  I'm not gonna look, I'm not gonna look... I determined with a nod, slowly and robotically walking back to the wings. Stephen, our King Richard, looked at me curiously and gave me a soft bump on the shoulder.

  “You'll be fine. Just focus on the rest of us.” he whispered. I nodded back, slowly making my way into the hall behind the stage.

  A wall clock on my left read six forty-eight. There was a soft ticking sound that came from it; most clocks these days don't have that, but for some reason it felt appropriate right now. Ticking away until go-time, I thought to myself. As I slowly plodded along the hall, I suddenly noticed Rachel was here too. She was staring idly into space, unaware of me at the moment. You too, huh? Maybe she wants some alone-time... I'll just slip back on stage, I mused, softly turning to do so.

  “Sean?” she then said, bringing me to a halt.

  “Hm?” I turned back. Rachel came over to me, laying her head on my chest. I smiled, gently placing my arms around her. She took a deep breath, slowly doing the same.

  “We're gonna be fine.” she said, quietly but confidently. Suddenly, the anxiety that had been creeping up on me began dissipating.

  “I know.” I then agreed.

  No more words passed between us for several minutes. The two of us simply stayed like that, holding on to each other behind stage. A few of the others came back to check on us. I heard more than a few soft exclamations to the effect of “how cute they are!” and stuff like that. Some of them came over to turn it into a group hug. Matt, Herby, Maggie, Allie, Joey, Billy, Henry, Brian, and Stephanie all came to join in, Rachel and I at the center. I could feel her softly giggling in the small pile of people that had suddenly clustered around us.

  “We're gonna be great! We have the perfect cast and the perfect leads!” Allie whispered as loudly as she dared.

  “You can say that again!” Herby agreed.

  “What the--? Ah, heck,” I heard Stephen say as he came over to join in; the squeezing definitely got tighter with that strong ox hugging the rest of us.

  “Dude!” Matt hoarsely whispered. “If you squeeze any tighter it's going to be called 'Thinwood's Merry Men'!” he quipped, and the rest of us began softly cackling, trying to reign it in.

  “Ah, shaddup, Matt.” the older boy grinned. He did let go, however. The rest of them did as well, one by one, and Rachel and I then let go of each other. “Right; remember, you're on my side of the stage for now, buddy.” Stephen reminded me, patting my head and heading back up.

  “And you're with us, girlie.” Allie smiled.

  “I know.” Rachel smiled back.

  “Five minutes!” Herby remarked, and scurried back to his position. As the others got back into place, I hesitated for a moment. Rachel looked back, and smiled at me.

  “Let's go, Robin!” she softly called. I had to smile back.

  “See you up there, Marion!” I returned, and headed for the stage as we waved to each other.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, the show will begin in three minutes.” a voice said over the PA-system. “We would like to take this opportunity to remind you, our valued audience: please, disable the flash-setting on your imagers. Also, in the event of an emergency, please take note of the exit corridors nearest to your location. If an emergency should occur, please head out of these exits in an orderly manner. Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors and donors, along with all of our other patrons, for their contributions to the musical this year. At Horace Mann Academy, we value all forms of education--including the arts--where we encourage our students to develop their artistic talents, and in doing so gain a deeper appreciation for the culture that surrounds them in their everyday lives. And now, we would like to present to you the Horace Mann Academy Drama Club's performance of 'Sherwood's Merry Men: A Robin Hood Story'.”

  As the voice finished speaking there was a round of applause. I could see from below the curtain that the house lights were going down. Henry was in place, his lute ready to play. At the moment the curtain began opening, he began strumming. A member of the orchestra who had been costumed for the musical joined him moments later with a medieval flute, and below the stage, the orchestra itself join in with the melody.

  It was a merry, almost swashbuckling piece of music; and as it was playing we the performers went out in pairs, groups, or by ourselves, doing a dance or giving a wave to the audience before disappearing back-stage. I, and Joanna, were the last; as we had practiced, I came out from behind one of the stage trees, sliding down a rope to the ground and making a grand bow.

  I feel like a pirate doing that, I couldn't help but think. Joanna did the same from a tower, and then, before we went back-stage again, we drew our swords and crossed them as the music became more intense, grinning at each other fiercely. As soon as the cue was over, we disengaged, sheathed our swords, and returned to position. Gradually, the orchestra faded out, and Henry was left with the flute player, who faded out a few moments later as he kept playing. And then he began to sing.

  Here we go! I thought to myself.

  “List and hearken, all of you

  Now gathered here within,

  A tale, a tale of Robin Hood

  Is what I shall begin:

  “The outlaw archer, noble thief,

  A friend to all the poor;

  But terror to the rich he was,

  This gallant fiend of yore!

  “Now here we find bold Robin Hood

  On journey to the Faire,

  To win the gaze of Marion--

  His chosen lady fair!

  “And as he walks thru' the Greenwood,

  The foresters of the king

  Call out to noble Robin Hood,

  Of this scene now I sing!

  “Robin, Robin, 'ware the hunters!

  See them, see them, the foresters vile!

  Robin, Robin, run now, Robin!

  But he stops to listen a-while!”

  I strolled out onto the stage while Henry went into the background. Jeff Brown and Lucas Rosens, our hunters, came out on stage as well, laughing and carousing as they had rehearsed so many times over.

  “What, ho! See now, Simon, there's a strapping young lad, and with a goodly longbow as well! Hi there! Ho, I say, my lad! Where be you a'going with such a fine length of yew?” Jeff called to me.

  “Good sir foresters, I am making my way to the tourney in Nottingham this day!” I replied, and the both of them laughed.

  “The tourney, says he, my Rufus!” Lucas mocked.

  “'Tis what he said, my good Simon!”

  “Aye! But I'll wager he's never so much as pulled the string in his life! Look at how slender he is; odds-bodkins, how do you survive the winters, you scrawny twig?”

  “But I am indeed going to the tourney, my good sirs, and though you mock me for it the prize, I declare, shall be mine!” I then said. They laughed again with great gusto.

  “By God! A lad like you could ne'er even his so much as a great oak tree! I say! Rufus! What say you? If he should bring down that stag yonder, let us leave off our mockeries!”

  “That one, yonder?” the other replied, gazing into the distance. “By Jove, there's a king for the king's feast! I agree, my good Simon; if he brings that down, mayhaps he'll even best the sheriff's own archer!”

  “What? Thomas of Barnesdale? 'Tis a dream, dear Rufus! But be it as you say!” he said.

  “Aye, so it shall!” Jeff declared, and they both laughed again. I made my face, and then delivered my line.

  “Forsooth, vile villains, yon hart shall hearken to fate's arrow soon enough for your liking, and ye shall take note that I am indeed the finest archer you've ever met! Fie on your jeers and mockeries, and then I shall resume my stride to the tourney!” so I replied, and they laughed the harder as I strung my bow and shot my arrow, carefully, to a target off-stage. A few seconds later, they gaped in disbelief.

  “By Jove!” Lucas breathed.

  “Aye, he's done it! Killed a king's deer, he has!” the other nodded.

  “My bold lad, we'll have to hang you now! And there'll be no tourney for you this day!”

  “You villains! First you accost me, then you mock me, and now, when I have done as you so treacherously demanded, you say I am to be hanged? By God, I will not die this day from your hands!”

  “Rufus! To arms!” Lucas called, drawing out his sword as Jeff and I took ours out as well. We froze in place, and the focus of the light returned to Henry, who resumed playing as we three headed off-stage in the dark.

  “Robin, Robin, shot the stag down;

  'Twas a bet that they had made!

  Robin, Robin, running Robin,

  The hands of fate have now been played!

  Robin, Robin, the foresters slew--

  Treach'ry repaid to them in kind!

  Robin, Robin, marked you are now,

  A prize indeed for the sheriff to find!

  Robin, Robin, run now, Robin!

  In disguise go to the faire!

  Robin, Robin, good luck, Robin!

  Marion's gaze awaits you there!”

  As Henry finished the song with a final flourish, the stage was then quickly adjusted for the next scene. This time, it was the sheriff's castle of Nottingham.

  “My guards! Is all prepared? There is nothing lacking, nothing forgotten?” Marcus quoted to begin the scene.

  “Nothing, my Lord Sheriff!”

  “Not one seat has gone astray!” Billy and Daniel, in their guardsmen roles, replied.

  “Good! See to it that the contestants are carefully counted, and make sure especially that our champion is fit for the match!” came the reply.

  “Yes, my lord; I see to it personally -- see how I go!” Daniel said in answer, scurrying off to do his lord's bidding. Behind them, Genevive, the Sheriff's daughter, yawned.

  “My daughter, you are not bored of the day already?” the sheriff said to her.

  “Nay, father; it is merely a slow morning for myself; do you really think your champion will win? The golden arrow is far to precious a prize for commoners to appreciate, after all!” she said to him.

  “Rest assured, dearest daughter, you shall as always be given the prize of the golden arrow! Have I not placed the best of my archers, Thomas of Barnesdale, into the contest? And shall he, beholden to me as he is, deny the prize to my own daughter?”

  “No, no I suppose not,” came the reply. “But--ah, father, suppose, suppose for but a moment that there is one better than he; will such a person be of a mind to do the same?”

  “It is, after all, my contest! Surely no one would deny the tradition of giving you the prize!” the proud sheriff replied to his daughter, Rachel giving a sly grin to the fourth-wall.

  “Oh, father!” came the rapturous response from Genevive.

  “Yes, yes, my dearest; now go and prepare yourself! The tourney is but a few hours away, and we all of us must look our best -- see to my daughter, maid!” ordered the Sheriff.

  “At once, my Lord Sheriff!” said Marion. When Marcus had gone off stage with the rest of his guards, Allie turned to Rachel.

  “And have you a thought on the tourney, Dear Marion?”

  “None that would interest my Lady at all, I assure you,” the answer came.

  “Oh come! We are both women here; leave aside the thoughts of men for a moment and give to me an honest answer! Who do you see winning this archery tournament?”

  “Well, if my Lady will oblige me -- there is a certain young man I knew, one Robin of Locksley; if he should enter the tournament, I fear the sheriff's archers will all have entered for naught!”

  “A bold claim, that! But I did ask it of you in confidence, and will not deny you your answer. Now come! Let us not keep father waiting!”

  “Of course, my Lady.” the reply came, and the two of them headed off the stage in the other direction.

  Well, this is going well so far, I thought to myself. Lacey, one of the tournament archers, then nudged me.

  “Get ready.” she said, and I nodded back to her.

  ***

  The musical went by smoothly; every note, every dance, every line and movement -- well, okay. We did have a couple of small goofs, but nothing that we didn't either recover from or manage to incorporate as if we had meant to do it. But over all, we got the laughs we wanted; we got the cheers for the heroes, the boos for the villains--in short, we had a terrific audience for our opening night. Whether I was getting whacked on the head by Little John or Friar Tuck, or whether we were outwitting the Bishop of Hereford with the feast whose price kept going up and up and up for the sake of Sir Richard of Lee, they were with us every second, man.

  Our momentum carried us through without hiccups to the heart of the story where King Richard, in disguise, gains the help of the outlaws to outmaneuver his treacherous brother Prince John and the Sheriff to reclaim his kingdom. By the time we got to the climactic duel at the end, they were wholly invested. As I walked on stage to the scene where Gisbourne had been trying to assault Marion, Joanna turned to me, blade upraised.

  “Locksley! Damn your eyes, you spurious outlaw! From the moment you appeared at the tourney, you've done naught but steal from me-- and now you've stolen Marion from me as well! But tonight we end this!”

  “Gisbourne! By all the saints! Your vile villainy ends here, wretched knight! Your treachery towards Lady Marion will be repaid!” I declared emphatically.

  “Come, then, hero of Sherwood! Let us see who shall win the day: the sheriff's own knight, or a despicable and traitorous noble turned outlaw!” Gisbourne quoted back.

  “Speak to me not of treachery whilst wearing the livery of Lackland! While Richard yet lives, 'tis yourself who is the traitor, Gisbourne!”

  “A feckless king with a feckless subject! Have at you, Locksley! To the death, and God help me!”

  We then engaged each other in the long-practiced sword-fight, executing it without one misstep; we even found a few moments to improvise a few moves before the final sequence, whereupon Gisbourne fell, valiantly, to Robin's last moment attack. As soon as she had finished dying, Marion came dashing down the steps.

  “Oh, Robin! Thank God! Now come quickly, I pray you, for there is yet the sheriff to deal with and the gates of Nottingham to open for the rightful king!” she said.

  “Trust, my love; Little John and the others have it well in hand! The king will find the gates open, and that worm Prince John and his quivering sheriff shall be dealt with royally!” I said in reply.

  “All the same, Robin, come quickly!” she implored me.

  “As you say, my Lady Marion! Let us away from here!” I returned, and we exited stage right as the audience applauded the scene. I breathed a sigh of relief, and Rachel did too.

  “Dude! We are on it tonight!” Herby whispered ecstatically.

  “You're telling me!” Matt grinned back. We had to smile at the words.

  “He's right!” Rachel quietly mouthed to me, and I nodded back.

  The final few scenes commenced; the gathering of knights and outlaws in Nottingham Castle, the punishment of King John and the Sheriff, the pardoning of Sherwood's outlaws, and the promise of marriage between Robin and Marion. And then, one final time, Henry appeared on stage with his lute to begin the last song.

  “And so we come to the end of the tale,

  The tale of outlaws proud and true;

  For ne'er again will their like be seen:

  The bold, mischievous, Sherwood crew!

  “Now Robin and his Merry Men all

  Do bid you goodnight, goodnight!

  We'll see you again some other day,

  But for now we say: goodnight!”

  At that moment he began picking up the tempo a bit, the orchestra right on his heels; the rest of us came out to join him for the final two verses.

  “Goodnight, goodnight, we bid to you,

  Who are gathered here within;

  Goodnight, goodnight, we sing to you,

  And pray you'll come again!

  “To hear the tale of Sherwood Green

  Where once walked Merry Men;

  And until we meet again, we say:

  Goodnight to you, our friends!”

  “Goodnight to you -- our friends!”

  We sang as the music reached its last crescendo, the audience cheering mightily at the performance. As soon as the curtain went down we looked at each other, all of us, and gave each other either a big smile or a thumbs-up. The orchestra then started up again, and as the curtain rose we went out to take our bows to the sound of continued applause.

  Okay. That wasn't so bad after all, I decided as I took my own bow with Rachel. There was a huge outcry of cheers that time; the two of us exchanged a brief smile as we stepped back to take a bow with the rest of our cast-mates. Then the curtain went down for the final time that night, and we all began celebrating back stage.

  “We did it!”

  “Woo-hoo! Yeah!”

  “All-right!!”

  “Dude! We gotta keep it up!”

  “I know, I know!” the others around us began chattering.

  “How're you feeling?” Rachel smiled to me.

  “I'm okay,” I smiled, “But I kind of want out of this costume now...”

  “Oh def.” she nodded back. “See you in a bit?”

  “See you in a bit,” I said, and we headed to our respective changing rooms.

  Backstage, there was someone there whom I had definitely hoped not to see. Constantine. Or, as he might say, Constantine William Nathaniel Saint-James... the Second. He stood there, giving me a slow clap as I came off the stage.

  “Who let you in?” I wondered with a weary sigh.

  “Fair enough.” the older boy replied. “I just wanted to congratulate you. Sincerely this time. I think you'll definitely win over the naysayers with your performances, now that my father is out of the way.” he said with an indifferent shrug. “I'd have prepared a gift for you, but I doubt you would accept it, being a friend of that woman as you are.”

  “You know what they say about Greeks and gifts, even if you are more of a peacock than an Ithacan,” I shrugged.

  “O-ho, not so dull a peon after all?” the other grinned. “I stand admonished, if insulted! And with that I bid you goodnight,” he then said, and left with the most outrageous bow.

  I then continued on my way with a shake of my head, changing out of my costume into some normal clothes I had brought once I got to the changing room. Some of the others were also hurriedly getting changed. When I was done, I found Rachel in the hall. She smiled at me.

  “I think the others are waiting to see us.” she said. “Oh, and someone in particular will be waiting for you.” she winked at me.

  “Heh...?” I returned, giving her a suspicious look. “I guess I'll see,” I then laughed.

  “Rachel!” Miss Holly called, coming up to us. “Someone gave this to me to give to you; he didn't say who he was, but he insisted,” she told us, handing her a box. Rachel took it gently, a soft frown on her face.

  “I bet it's from him,” she said as she opened it, gasping as she saw what was inside.

  I did too. Even I can recognize a Juliet Rose. And here was a small bouquet of them, along with a note.

  Dear Rachel, it's your father. I know you don't want to see me, and I can't say I blame you. But I am proud of you. Even if you go on hating me for the rest of your life, as long as you succeed in what you want to do, what you want to be, I will always be rooting for you. Please, accept these; I hope this helps, in part, to make you understand how precious you are to me.

  It was signed, but I couldn't make out the name in the signature. That's some fancy hand-writing, pops, I mentally whispered to the man who had left them.

  “You're still a rat,” I heard Rachel say, her voice breaking. “But I do get it.” she said. There were tears forming in her eyes. I put my arms around her, holding her close.

  whole musical. That'd be way too much even for me, which is why I gave out snippets and scenes in the chapters leading up to this--some of which make a reprisal here (yes, pun intended).