Page 13 of Robin and Marian
“Friar Tuck?” Marian asked. It slipped out before she could take it back.
It fit. Robin had called him that in prison, hadn’t he? Turning to Robin for confirmation, Marian saw him duck with a smile. “Maybe. Yeah,” he admitted.
Tuck stared at her. “Marian,” he tested her name on his lips. “It’s like a Robin Hood Con for geeks out here. You do larping too?”
“Larping?” Marian asked.
“Live action role playing,” Tuck translated. “That’s what this is, right? You’re all super fans here? You gonna do sword fighting later?”
“Only a little archery.” Robin held up his arm with the brace, acting too embarrassed now to be the suave guy he’d been earlier. “But you’re out of luck. I can’t show off my skills today.” His red-rimmed eyes were beginning to droop with exhaustion. “Did you take an Uber, Tuck? I’ll pay the driver to take you back.”
“Robin didn’t want me to come,” Tuck told Marian brightly. He circled to check out the large entryway. There was a parlor to the side that he eyed. “Nice! This party’s going to be lit.”
“Too bad you’re not going to be here,” Robin said. Definitely annoyed, he pulled out his phone to call his friend a ride.
“I’ve scrambled your wireless signals,” Tuck said. “Nobody’s coming.”
“Well, unscramble them!” Robin’s voice broke between a laugh and a yell. He held up his phone to show he had no service. “You didn’t?”
Was he that powerful? Marian wondered if they shouldn’t anger Tuck—he could be a mass murderer or something. “You’ve scrambled our signals?” she asked.
Robin’s friend shrugged, studying an ugly painting on the wall. “You’re a super fan; I’m a super hacker. I was in prison for conspiracy theories,my lady… that all happen to be true. That’s why the government wants me dead. I know their secrets.”
“So he’s banned from using the computer,” Robin said, “but not doors, so next time, Tuck, you can use the door… when you’re invited. Get lost and I won’t tell anyone you hacked anything.”
Tuck cracked a smile. “Relax, Rob. It’s just a dead spot. I know. I’ve been all over this place looking for a signal. These rooms are fantastic by the way!”
Marian couldn’t help it—the bemused look on Robin’s face made her erupt into laughter.
“We had service four years ago,” Robin muttered, sliding his phone back into the pocket of his jeans, like he didn’t quite believe him. “You’ve got to go, Tuck. You know the conditions of our parole. No associating with anyone with a criminal record.” This was said in a harsh whisper and with another self-conscious glance at Marian.
The former convict snorted. “That’s why I’m not Tuck, I’m Uncle Franco. The youth pastor. I just got the position in town.” He winked at Marian, who wasn’t sure if she should be laughing or calling the police. “You can use a friend here, Robin. Oh, what’s this?” Tuck knelt next to a table. “I found a miniature spy?” He poked his finger past a chair. Marian wondered if he was losing it until a muffled shout met her ears.
She got on her knees too, which was difficult with her skirt, and found two big eyes staring back at her. A muddy boy was hiding under the table. “Midge?” she asked.
“What?” Robin dropped down next to her. “Uncle Midge? Is that you?” The excitement in his voice broke her heart. Had Robin not seen his godson the entire time he was in prison?
“Uncle Midge?” Tuck’s nose wrinkled. “How’s that? He’s a little guy.”
“No, no, he’s not!” Robin pushed Tuck away to get a better look. “Midge, you’ve gotten so big!”
Midge would be ten years old now, and just like before, he was a picture of Robin, and also up to mischief. Another trait of his godfather’s. Midge held onto the table leg shyly. “How’d you like prison, Robin? Did you beat up bad guys?”
Tuck and Robin met eyes before Robin answered reluctantly, “Yeah, some.”
“What’s that?” Midge pointed to the spade tattoo on his arm.
Robin pressed his lips together before answering. “That was to stop the bad guys from coming at me.”
“Like a magic spell….”
“Kinda. It was stupid.”
“But they got you, huh?”
“Oh, you mean, the brace? Well, a man’s going to come back with a few scars when he comes back from war.”
Midge nodded. “Yeah,” he whispered. “Can I be in your band of thieves, Robin? I wanna fight bad guys!”
