Running Errands -open-

[jakeplatt]

'Oh bugger' Jake thought 'That's gone and done it'. In his haste to change the subject, he'd inadvertently turned it to something almost as bad. He had to fight to keep himself from cursing aloud this time

He was stealing. He hadn’t actually started yet, he’d not wanted to do it when Emma was there, but he was going to. He knew it was wrong, especially when half the people here were as poor as he was, but he had to live. And he had Emma, his little sister to think about. He wouldn’t let her stave. He'd repay them, one day, the one’s he’d stolen from, once he single-handedly righted all the wrongs of the country, been elevated to a lord, and had a beautiful wife on his arm.

Well, maybe not, but he would pay them back. In the meantime, he had to be stay alive. Plus. if he wasn’t alive, how could he pay them back? It was fairly flawed logic, but it stopped him from feeling so bad about what he did.

Jake shuffled his feet. He still had to come up with an acceptable reply for who he hoped was Anne. He really didn't want to lie to her, she seemed like a nice person and he was just beginning to enjoy her company, but what could he do? Telling her the truth would surely make her turn-tale and run. After a moments hesitation, he answered.

"I'm here for potatoes, most of our crop got ravaged last year" Well, that was true, at least. The past year hadn't been kind to them, despite Robin's return. If it wasn’t for him, they probably wouldn’t have made it through the winter.

"So why can't your mother run her own errands?" He asked, realising a moment too late that it was probably an impertinent question. He’d put his foot in it again. Emma would laugh like hell if she ever heard about this.

[hope that makes up for my absence]

[Rose Barns]

"Oh yes, I heard about that," Anne said, meaning the potato trouble. Her family had gathered together a few crops, as Locksley had faired slightly better, and offered them to Nettlestone. When thinking back on it, Anne could almost remember seeing Jake there, though she guessed it was her imagination playing tricks on her. Anne laughed at his question.

"Yes, I suppose she could, except she is lazy and I am young," Anne said with a smile. Jake had brought up a very obvious question and her mother should be embarrassed. It wasn't Anne's fault that if people asked she would just happen to tell the truth. Anne didn't like lies, or lying. She was actually quite good at telling lies, it came with the status of peasant, but she would like to think the peasants didn't lie to peasants, no matter how grave the truth was. But then this wasn't a utopia. No where near it. This was definitely a dystopia and Anne was feeling the brunt of it and she could easily assume Jake was too.

[jakeplatt]

Releif flooded through Jake as Anne [he'd given up hoping that was her name] laughed at his comment. Clearly she wasn't offended and, more importantly, hadn't noticed the lie. He started to smile back at her, then wondered if that was the right thing to do. She couldn’t be happy with the way her mother treated her, could she?

"And you don't mind?" He asked, slightly incredulous. He'd never begrudge doing anything for his family, but they had all worked together, for each other. Even when his mother had lain dieing she had done her best for her children, and they had done what they could for her. If only it had been enough.

Jake stopped himself at that thought. He didnt want to think about that. Not now.

[Rose Barns]

"Well, I do mind, but it gives me opportunities to meet new people. I am glad I was forced to go today," she said, looking at Jake with a sly smile. She didn't quite know where that came from and her cheeks turned a pale pink as she felt herself blushing slightly. Despite being accidentally shoved into the mud, and the walk to the market place, the day had turned out pretty well, so far. Anne agreed to herself that she needed to leave the village more often. Just because taxes were raised and the whole country was in turmoil didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy herself and good company.

"I suppose you are buying potatoes on your own initiative?" Anne asked. She was running errands for her mother, though it would ultimately benefit her and the whole family. Didn't that mean, then, that Jake getting potatoes was also an errand of some kind? "Didn't your mother send you here to buy food?" she asked.

[jakeplatt]

Jake's brow furrowed. She didn't mind? How could that be? It was a concept he couldn’t begin to understand. Being forced into something, anything, was wrong. Looking around he could see that. The Sheriff was forcing people into submission, the King had forced people to go to the Holy Land - and that was worse! half do them didn’t even realise, they’d be duped by all that honour tripe. It didn’t matter what scale it was on, making people do things they didn’t want to was wrong. And her own mother! His mother would never have-

Her question hit him like an arrow through the chest, knocking him back and skewering his heart to the wall behind them. He coughed, his throat closing up, and turned quickly away from Anne, pretending to be thoroughly engrossed with the wears on the nearest stall. He gripped the wooden edge, ignoring the countless splinters pierce his fingers. Covering his face with his sleeve, the tried to slow his breathing down - it was getting ragged and staccato.

"No. She didn't" He replied, once he'd reconverted himself slightly, trying to keep his voice steady. He didn't want to talk about this. He couldn't. Not even to Emma. He had to be strong, look after her, look after them both. But she'd always been the strong one, and now he was floundering.

[Rose Barns]

Anne was confused when Jake turned around. She tried to think of what she had said. Was it the doing what her mom asked, or the mention of a mother? Anne couldn't guess, but she could tell Jake was distressed. Anne stepped closer and put a hand on Jake's shoulder. She didn't know if he would mind, but it felt like the right thing to do. "Jake?" she asked. "Are you alright?" She saw him gripping the stall's edge, wondering if he was preventing tears from coming, or from doing something worse. Maybe hitting her. Anne didn't know as she had just met him.

When younger, her mother had said not to talk to strangers, but Anne was 18 now, and she generally could trust herself in talking to strangers who wouldn't cause her harm. But once Jake finally did talk, Anne relaxed. Her hand was still on his back for comfort as she stood close to him.

[jakeplatt]

Jake tensed as he felt Anne's hand on his shoulder. God, he couldn't deal with this. He knew there was a reason he spurned human interaction so much. One minute you're fine and the next you're colapsed against a cart. Poetry made sense, philosophy, ruthless introspection. That he could understand, could cope with. This just hurt.

He squeezed his eyes shut, but couldn't stop a tear from leaking out of one. He brushed it away angrily with his sleeve, clenching is fist then wincing as he forced a splinter further in. But physical pain he could deal with. He turned abruptly back to Anne.

"She's dead" he said, his voice devoid of emotion "My mum, she's dead"

[Rose Barns]

Anne suppressed the initial reaction to be startled when he abruptly turned toward her when she noticed the look on his face. Motherly instinct kicked in and she took Jake into a hug. Her own mother was alive and well, but she had known children who had lost parents and she could not wish that on anyone, unless the parent was abusive. But it seemed like Jake had not dealt with the death of his mother.

"It's alright," Anne said softly, rubbing her hand up and down his back as she held him in a hug, though he could easily move out of it if he wanted to.

[jakeplatt]

"It's not alright!" Jake yelled, pushing her away. He was startled, He’d never been hugged by anyone outside of his family, but it was what she’d that said that brought on the outburst. Everyone close enough to hear had stopped and turned to stare at them, and out of the corner of his eye he could see the guard's hands had leapt to their swords, ready for any trouble. He gulped involuntarily.

"Shes dead, how can it be alright?" he continued, more quietly this time, but with the same anger. Nothing was alright. Nothing ever would be again. Nothing. He bowed his head and dug his fingers into his hair. This wasn’t like him, he didn't explode like this in public. He'd never make a good outlaw if he kept showing himself. God.

He turned away from Anne again. "I'm sorry" he mumbled, keeping his head bowed. God. What a right royal mess this was.

[Rose Barns]

Anne was hurt when Jake had pushed her away, though she understood at the same time. She didn't know if he wanted to be alone now or not, but then he spoke softly. "I only meant," Anne said, trying to think of something to say. What she had meant was only that other things could be alright, and that he wasn't alone. She had only wanted to make him feel better, though she didn't exactly know why. It seemed like in the short time she had known Jake, she had found that she sort of liked him, whatever that meant. Perhaps Anne was just overly sensitive to the way others felt, or maybe seeing his beautiful face distorted in pain and anger moved her somehow.

"That's fine." Anne didn't mind when people exploded from feelings. "There is no harm in being upset," she added. Anne found that crying was natural. No one should try to suppress emotions as it only did harm. She didn't feel comfortable hugging him again, but she moved closer as her hand hovered close to his arm. This time she would wait for him if he wanted physical comforting.

[jakeplatt]

"Thanks." Jake replied, though he remained facing the other way. He didn't really know what to say. He'd knocked a girl flying, found he liked her, lied to her and yelled at her all in the space of a few minutes. God. This was difficult. He could tell it was difficult, he’d said "God" far too many times. Good thing he didn't care about taking the lords name in vain any more.

"I'm a farmer" He said eventually, still not looking at Anne "[/b]I'm a farmer, and I'm taxed into the ground by the Sheriff. My parents are dead. My mum only died two weeks ago. And I’ve got a little sister, and God,[/b]” - he smiled at that - “She's probably the only thing in my life that I care about, apart from Aristotle and Plato, though I doubt you know who they are. I'm a farmer, but that’s not enough any more. So now I'm thief too. And I think I trust you" And with that he grabbed Anne's hand with one of his, a loaf of bread from the stall behind him with the other, and ran full pelt away from the market place.

[Rose Barns]

Anne looked at Jake as he spoke, not able to look away. She truly felt for him at the moment. Her own father wasn't doing so well at the moment, and he mother was too lazy to do anything. Anne worked in the fields when needed, and was an apprentice to anyone who needed her at the moment. She could sew, sow, pick apples, and secretly she could read and write. Anne knew how to bandage wounds, though that was all. But she knew how to run errands best.

Anne wasn't shocked when Jake mentioned thief. It was common, but she was glad he finally admitted it to her. It showed that he trusted her, and that meant a lot. Anne could be trusted with a lot of things. Then suddenly he grabbed her hand and a loaf of bread and they were running. It happened so fast and she was shocked that she hadn't tripped over he feet of skirt, but she quickly pulled her skirt up past her ankles as she followed him. If it weren't for the fact that they were running, Anne probably would have brought her attention down to where their hands touched. Though Anne was in shape, she was slowly losing energy.

[jakeplatt]

What the hell was he doing? Until now, all Jake's thefts had been quiet, stealthy, sensible. This time he's just grabbed an run! What the hell had he done that for? Now they’d hunt him down, arrest him, and then what’d happen to Emma? He was so bloody stupid! Stupid stupid stupid! And he'd got Anne involved to. God! What the hell was he doing?!

But he kept running, there was little else he could do - until he felt Anne start to pull slightly on his arm. Of course, he thought, she was a woman, she couldn’t run like he could. "Quick," He said, dragging her towards a side ally "In here." It was full of broken carts and barrels and other debris, but he squeezed into the tight space and pulled Anne in after him. They both stood panting for a moment. Jake's pulse was throbbing in his head as he strained fro the sounds of the pursuing guards, but he couldn’t hear anything. Slowly, as his heart beat slowed down, he began to be able to hear again. Still nothing. That was odd. Why weren't they being followed? Surely they’d been spotted? He leant across Anne to look back out into the street, but it was entirely devoid of guards. That really was odd.

[Rose Barns]

Anne probably could have run more, but this time she let herself feel the pain from running so much as she wanted to know what was going on, and why he had up and ran with her and a loaf of bread. She followed him into a side alley, and quickly welcomed the rush as she stopped running and allowed her muscles to feel slightly sore as her long hair stuck to the back of her neck. She leaned against the side of the building, slightly bent over, her eyes closed as she caught her breath. Finally she looked up at him, a puzzled look on her face.

After a few seconds, she felt Jake lean across her and she rested her head on his shoulder, still tired from the sprint. She didn't hear anything as well. Perhaps it had all happened so fast that no one noticed. Or maybe they thought the two of them were just running for fun. She didn't know, but she was now thrown out of her element and had no idea what was going on. But she still could not speak quite yet.

[jakeplatt]

Jake was barely aware of Anne's head resting on his shoulder as he stared out into the street. Something really wasn't right - how could they not be being followed? He'd just grabbed a loaf of bread! Something must be seriously wrong, if no one was after them. The thought disconcerted him so much that he didn’t even consider how improper it was that he was wedged into this tiny alleyway with a girl he hardly knew. Perhaps they were lying in wait, the guards - swords drawn, setting up an elaborate trap to catch the both of them as soon as they stepped out from their cramped hiding place.

Jake mentally shook himself. Stealing a loaf of bread wasn’t nearly serious enough a crime to warrant some large-scale plot; that sort of thing was saved for Robin Hood and his men. It should have been a reassuring thought, but Jake found it slightly depressing. He almost wanted there to be a trap for him. Him! Jake Platt! Famous outlaw! Saviour of the people! God, there he went again. He really needed to stop his mind wandering off so much. And he needed to realise he’d never be anything like his hero. Nevertheless, he steeled himself and stepped out into the main street.

"Stay here" He mouthed at Anne as he ventured back towards the market. His heart started beating faster again as he retraced his an Anne's steps, half expecting the Sheriff's men to jump him at any moment. He nearly jumped right out of his skin when he realised he was still holding the loaf of bred, and stashed it in one of the deep pockets in his tunic.