The crowd groaned, and Robin shook his head. So close to the truth, but once again, the Sheriff used his threats to win. The abbot did the sign of the Holy Spirit across his chest. Even he couldn't believe that he had done that.

"Tuck was wrong about you," said Robin.

"Arrest those heretics!" shouted Vaisey.

"No, wait! Wait!" Linda screeched, and made her way toward Robin. Vaisey grabbed her and held her back.

John started to fight the guards, but Robin stopped him.

"John, enough, enough!" he shouted. "It's over, John!"

"What?! No!"

"It's over," Robin said more quietly this time.

Much put his hands in the air, listening to Robin. Robin looked down at the ground sadly. Putting his bow on his back, he also put his hands up. Linda saw Kate in the crowd, tears in her eyes. She also didn't buy that Robin was a murderer or a heretic or a thief. The abbot was gone, he exited through the back. Linda broke out of Vaisey's hold and left through the back, ignoring the calls her father gave. When she found he abbot, he saw that he was in the hall, sadly looking on as the guards readied the podium and put wood around it. She stood right next to him, shaking her head. The abbot took her hand, giving it a small squeeze.

"Your book, it's magnificent," said a voice, and Linda beamed.

"Tuck!" she exclaimed quietly.

Tuck nodded her way. Then he turned his attention back to the abbot. "I just wonder is the world is quite ready for it."

"Tuck, this is no place for decent, educated men," said the abbot carefully. "Give me my book."

Tuck walked to a little fire place. "'If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames but not have love, I gain nothing'," he quoted to the abbot.

"What are you going to go?" asked Linda nervously, backing up.

"Me? I'm going to burn this book," said Tuck with a frown.

"No!" cried the abbot.

"Unless you save Robin Hood!"

"Tuck, don't be a fool!" cried the abbot again.

"Yes, Tuck," said Vaisey as he appeared from the doorway. "Book burning, that's my job."

Guards arrived with crossbows aimed at Tuck. Linda gasped and stepped back, pulling the abbot back as well.

"Book... please?" said the Sheriff. He took the book and gave it to the big man, the executioner, next to him. "I shall be holding on to that until Robin Hood and his gang of maggots are reduced to ashes. Oh, stick him on the fire with the rest of them."

"Father, show mercy. You can't kill them based on a lie!" exclaimed Linda as the guards took Tuck.

"Yes, I can," he responded simply. He went to them and put a hand on the abbot's shoulder. "I win."

*****

"Burn them! Burn them! Burn them! Burn them!" chanted the crowd as the outlaws got dragged out.

Vaisey was placed in his chair, wine goblet on hand. Linda stood next to him, biting her nails nervously. All kinds of things were being thrown at them, and Linda winced every time an orange or something hit one of the outlaws. Hell, even Kate was chanting! The abbot stood to the side, reading in Latin.

Kate ran out to Robin. "Heretics, devils! I trusted you!" she exclaimed and slapped him in the face.

"Kate, please! It isn't true!" Much tried to explain, but he got pulled on the podium and tied up.

But Linda saw Kate wink to Robin. She was helping out. Her eyes met Kate's, and she grinned. Linda couldn't help but also grin and wink back. She saw Robin's arms frantically work behind him.

Vaisey started to talk. "For crimes against the church, heretical and..." Blah, blah, blah. Linda strained an ear to listen to the outlaws talk.

"Come on, Robin," whispered Allan.

Robin sighed. "The rope's too thick. I can't get through it." He dropped the arrowhead accidentally, cursing as soon as he did it.

"... shall be burned to a crisp!" Vaisey said with a laugh, and Linda's eyes widened. "Light the fire." The executioner smiled and was about to light up the podium, but Vaisey said, "Wait! One moment."

"Great," she muttered.

Vaisey walked down the stairs and went to the abbot. "Yes. He has offended the faithful, therefore, he faithful must condemn him. The abbot's right. It's the duty of every man, woman..." he stopped and turned, "child..." he looked at Kate's little sister and walked toward her, "to destroy the heretic, Robin Hood. Now, are you ready, hmm?" he asked the little girl. "To condemn the heretic or be damned yourself, hey?" Vaisey chuckled and gave her the torch. "Burn them."

The girl hesitated, obviously afraid.

"Maggie," said Robin gently. "Maggie, it's all right. Just do it."

Maggie, too afraid to burn Robin, ran back into her mother's arms. Linda sighed in relief, but Robin sighed in relief and disappointment.

"Very touching," said Vaisey. "Very sweet." With a chuckle, he burned the wood surrounding the podium. "Look. I'm burning them." He laughed. "Burn them! Burn them! Burn them!" he cried, and the crowd started chanting once more. Linda couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop!" she cried. "Stop, now!" She ran down the steps, and the crowd silenced. "Look at you people, all of you! Can't you see?" Linda looked at all the people. "I am a woman of honor, justice, truth, but not murder. I believe in purpose, and you're purpose for these men are wrong!" She walked so she was behind Robin's bonds.

"What are you doing?" said Vaisey annoyed with a facepalm.

"Making a point," she said. "Say I take this knife...." Linda grabbed her knife from her boot. "What would I use it for? Who would I throw it at? What would I throw it at?" To show what she meant, she threw it near Robin's hands. He stiffened, but then grabbed the knife and used it to try and cut through the bonds. "See? There was no point in that. No purpose. No reason. I just threw it without a care." She looked to the abbot. "Some purposes are correct, but others are worth giving up, even if you think it is correct."

The abbot nodded. "People of Nottingham, you have been betrayed!" he exclaimed, waving the hand with his Latin bible in the air as he walked.

"Stop him!" yelled the Sheriff.

"Stay where you are, or your souls will be damned forever," warned the abbot with a quick whirl around, holding out his cross necklace. The guards and Vaisey froze.

Linda heard the snap! of a rope breaking. Robin was free. He gripped the knife tight and picked up the arrowhead.

"Here you are," he whispered, giving the knife to Allan, and the arrowhead to Tuck.

"You have been deceived," said the abbot. "That was not the hand of St. Luke. It was a bone sacrilegiously disinterred from a peasant's grave. It was meant to device you. It was meant to control you. And I stand before you full of shame."

Allan passed the knife to Much, Tuck still working on his bonds.

"Come on, hurry up, Much," urged Robin.

"This man is the true devil," he pointed to the Sheriff, and the crowd gasped. "He steals your hopes. He steals your souls. He is the spawn of Satan."

By now, Much and Tuck were free. Tuck gave the arrowhead to John, Much passed the knife to Allan, who passed it to Robin.

"Is everyone ready?" whispered Robin, and the gang nodded.

The Sheriff pointed to the abbot. "I warned you. I warned you," he said to him. He went and grabbed the book from a guards hands. "I warned you!" he cried one last time, before throwing the book in the fire.

"Now! Now!" commanded Robin to the gang, and they made their escape. The crowd cheered and applauded.

The abbot climbed up the podium. "No!" he cried, watching as his book burned. Before he could do anything stupid, Linda grabbed him and pulled him away from the podium. "No! My book!" he cried.

"Abbot, stop! It's gone," she whispered gently. "I'm so sorry."

*****

Back at the Outlaws' Camp, the gang was putting their stuff away. A pig was cooking on a spit, and Much and Linda looked at it.

"I will never look at a pig on a spit in the same way ever again," he said with a grimace.

John chuckled and pat him on the shoulder.

Robin rose from his seat and lifted his cup. "To the abbot," he said.

"To the abbot!" exclaimed everyone else.

"Oi, and also Linda," pointed out Allan, winking to her. "She saved our skins."

"No wonder why it's not burnt," she said with a chuckle. "Actually, it's to my knife. Oh, and Robin, I'm going to need it back."

The others laughed and raised their drinks to their mouths. Linda thought about her last conversation with the abbot before she followed the others...

*****

Linda walked through the abbey with her head hung low. She felt terrible for what happened to the abbot's book. But if she didn't do what she did, then Robin and the others would be toast. Literally, burnt like toast.

Sighing, she rounded a corner and went to the service room. She needed to get a few things off of her chest. She was surprised when she saw the abbot kneeling at the podium, praying in Latin. She was about to leave, but the abbot's voice stopped her.

"I know you're there," he said.

She gulped. "I'm sorry to disturb you, my lord," she said nervously. "I'll just take my leave."

"Linda," he called. Standing up, he held out a hand. "Come here."

Slowly, she made her way to the abbot. He took her hand, patting it lightly. He lead her to a bench, where they then sat down.

"Something is on your mind," he guessed.

She nodded, unable to meets the abbot's eyes.

"A man?" he asked once more, and she nodded again. "Your father?"

Linda chuckled blankly. "No, not him. Another man," she responded. "One that I miss truly."

"Ah," he said. "Gisborne."

Now she looked up. "Yes. Yes, it is him. How did you--?"

"He is very well known around the church," the abbot responded. "They say that he is one with darkness, and no one can bring him to light."

"I find that very untrue," retorted Linda. "He can be dark and rude, but it's not his fault. In truth, he is a kind soul, very sweet and caring, things that people don't see from him."

The abbot nodded. "You need guidance, don't you."

A nod. "He was taken from me. He is to be at London and explain to Prince John why the patronage money was not payed. He is there now, actually, and has been for a while. He said that everything was okay, but I fear for him greatly." She shuddered. "I cannot lose him like I lost my mother, not from Prince John's hand yet again."

The abbot smiled. "Trust him, and do not fear. If he says all is well, then all is well."

Linda sighed and looked down again. She started to fumble her fingers around, and the abbot noticed. It was odd for her, in his opinion, to come for guidance about men. She was strong, and she could hold her own. But he then realized that it wasn't the man she needed guidance on, it was the emotion for the man.

"You love him," he whispered in awe.

She nodded. "More than you know."

The abbot took her hands in his. "My Linda," he started, "love is an emotion that cannot be guided, it is felt. You are not only afraid for him, but his heart. You have no idea what he will be back when he returns, and it scares you. But I promise you this: You can change him."

"How? He feels nothing for me," she whispered.

The about smiled. "In time, you will see that you are wrong."

She smiled. "Why are you so wise?"

The abbot chuckled. "It's my job to be wise. God has granted me this life, as he did you." He put a hand on her cheek. "It's time you start living through." He stood from the bench and stretched. "I must get ready."

"Leaving so soon?" she asked concerned, also standing.

"I head somewhere in France. A church there has provided for me, and I must go at once," he explained. He made a small smile. "Also, I wish to start my book again. 'In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth.'"

Linda chuckled. She bowed slightly and kissed his ring. Standing up straight, she smiled. "Thank you, abbot," she said honestly.

The abbot smiled once more. "If you need me, child, you know where to look."

*****

Now she was riding back to Nottingham, his words processing through her brain wildly. She found herself giggling happily, knowing that the abbot was right. Besides, he always was.

It's time you start living through, he had said, and she was going to.

The drawbridge to enter Nottingham opened, and she entered. She then went to the castle, the gate rising for her. She unsaddled Guy's black horse (she of which was becoming very attached to the beast, and the horse felt the same way) and went to find her father. Of course, she found him in the money room. He had his arms crossed as he talked to Scrope, the treasurer.

"Give me good news," the Sheriff said.

"Um," Scrope chuckled nervously, "yes. Well, uh, with the, uh," he went to a little chart, "money you get from, uh, selling the winter good stores to the merchants, uh, you'll be back in profit by..." Scrope grimaced and turned around nervously, "sixpence, ha'penny."

Vaisey walked to Scrope, a look on his face. "Is this some kind of joke?" he asked.

"No," said Scrope quietly.

Vaisey snatched the book from Scrope. "Oh, I forgot, you don't do jokes."

"I'm not very good at them," stammered Scrope nervously.

"That does it!" yelled Vaisey, and he threw the book across the room. "I want money! Prince John will not wait for his patronage!" Vaisey started to pace around the room, and poor Scrope hid behind a table. "I must have one thousand crowns or I'm finished. Where is Gisborne when you need him?"

"Oh, I don't know," Linda said from the doorway. "Probably in London because you decided to give him away like an idiot."

"No, he's gallivanting with Prince John, scheming against me," answered Vaisey.

"Um..." Scrope said as he appeared from behind the table nervously. "The new tax collecter comes today. They say he's very good. Ruthless Rufus."

"He sounds like a madman," commented Linda

"Well..." said Vaisey, getting ready to throw yet another object across the room, "he better live up to his name because I want money!" He threw the book again, and Scrope ducked behind a table.

Groaning, Linda left the room and left the castle. She went into Nottingham city, just wandering. Her eyes landed on a man in a black cloak, standing there. He had a short brown hair, fiery light blue eyes, a stubble beard, and a nasty look on his face. A boy at around seventeen or so, probably the man's son, stood next to him. Linda decided to walk over there.

"You two here to see the party?" she asked them.

The man raised an eyebrow. "What party?"

Linda smirked. "Oh, you'll see. Come here."

She brought the man over to a wall near the tavern so he could get a good view of what was going to happen. Linda knew what was going to transpire, for she had told the outlaws that a wagon was coming. To be more specific, the Sheriff's winter food store.

Just then, bees appeared. They attacked the guards that were draped in honey (thanks to John and Allan), stinging them like crazy. The guards ran away, trying to escape from the bees. Much climbed on the wagon. It passed by Linda and the man, Robin in the back.

"Much, come on. Faster!" urged Robin.

"Not bad," complimented the man.

"Thank you," sad Robin. He looked to Linda. "And thank you for informing me."

Linda giggled. "Go away before we get caught, outlaw," she teased.

The boy arrived next to his father. He gave then both a look, an eyebrow raised.

"Told you it would be a good show," said Linda.

She heard her father's voice he was on a white horse, talking to the guards that were supposed to be guarding the wagons.

"And it just got better," she chuckled.

"What do you mean, the wagon's disappeared?" said Vaisey to the guards. "Wagons and horses do not just vanish!"

The man looked to Linda. "Should I intervene?" he asked.

She laughed. "Make thing more enjoyable, please."

The man made a crooked smile. He went to the tavern pillar and leaned on it.

"Looks like you got played," he said, and Linda covered her mouth to keep from cracking up. Shaking her head, she decided to join in on the fun.

"And I thought you, as my father, as Sheriff of Nottingham, would be untouchable by now," she said, going next to the man.

"Ouch," he said, looking at the bee stings that a guard received.

"Do I know you?" Vaisey asked the man. "Obviously, my daughter has a charm for you."

Linda smirked. "No, he's just entertaining."

"My name's Rufus," he answered, and the smile from Linda's face faltered, "your new tax collector, back in my hometown. And this time, I've come to make Nottingham pay."

*****

a/n: RUTHLESS RUFUS IS IN TOWN. I REPEAT, RUTHLESS RUFUS IS IN TOWN!!!!