![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/fotor-ai-20231123144320-1024x585.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\u2018But Mommy, I\u2019m not tired yet\u2019 and it is half term and anyway, Sammies mom lets her stay up until nine o\u2019clock every night. \u2018<\/p>\n
It was bed time once more, Boo was being slightly reluctant to go to sleep.<\/p>\n
\u2018But Sammie is at the bottom of the class and you keep telling us that she walks around like a zombie, sweetie. I\u2019ll read you one story, then you must promise to go the sleep, deal ? \u2018<\/p>\n
Boo thought about it and then plucked a book from her bookshelf. \u2018The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood\u2019. Boo and her mother read the chapter that introduced Friar Tuck. The story, does not need to be iterated here, but it is a thrilling tale with much derring doing and may archery feats that are barely beleivable.<\/p>\n
Once the story was over and the book placed on her nightstand, Boo kissed her mommy goodnight and closed her eyes while mommy left her room. As soon as she was sure that her mommy was out of hearing range, she hopped out of bed and opened her window slightly, just in case her dragon should decided to visit.<\/p>\n
As she hopped back into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin, she heard the familiar rustle of dragon wings and in the shadows saw her dragon curl up on the floor and place his head on her bed, expecting her to tickle her chin.<\/p>\n
Instinctively Boo reached under her pillow and handed the dragon a snack, this time it was a strawberry yoghurt granola bar. This, she remembered, had gone down extremely well previously,<\/p>\n
\u2018You know\u2019, whispered the dragon as she tickled his chin, \u2018Robin Hood was nothing like he is depicted in the books\u2019. The dragon sighed a happy sigh, \u2018He was a good man, but nothing like that\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018You knew Robin Hood ?\u2019\u00a0 Boo\u2019s eyes widened and she twirled her pigtails, \u2018Can I meet him, please ?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Well\u2019, said the dragon, thinking about it, \u2018We can go and visit him now, unless you are too tired\u2019.<\/p>\n
Boo hopped out of bed and pulled on her jacket and a pair of wellingtons that had been hiding under her bed, pausing for a second to add a bobble-hat, backpack and the sunglasses that she had borrowed. \u201cLet’s go !\u201d.<\/p>\n
Boo jumped onto the dragons\u2019 back and almost instantly they took flight heading north at a considerable rate. As they few north it got lighter and the landscape changed under them, the cities were once more vanishing and the forests growing. This was, she realized, exactly how it would look if she was traveling back in time, which she then realized that she was.<\/p>\n
Boo wondered what it must be like to be a dragon, living a life wherever and whenever they wanted. This gave her a headache though. What if the dragon did something that caused the future to be different, could they ever get back ?<\/p>\n
As if reading her thoughts, the dragon explained, again as a voice in her head, \u2018Whatever we do in the past has already been done, the chicken an fungus pies that you helped to invent where already invented in the past, by you.\u2019<\/p>\n
Boo\u2019s head spun, \u2018this means that I was always going to do that ?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Well, if you had chosen not to, then in the future, they would not exist, or somebody else would do it – history sorts itself out one way or another\u2019.<\/p>\n
This line of conversation was way too complicated for Boo, she decided to think about it later.<\/p>\n
\u2018Just look up the word \u201cParadox\u201d when you get home\u2019<\/p>\n
They were losing height rapidly and heading to a clearing in a wood. A small column of smoke rising from a small fire and the smell of cooking was in the air as they circled inwards.<\/p>\n
They landed lightly in the clearing and looked around, the clearing was very quiet. \u2018Where and when are we ?\u2019, Boo asked quietly.<\/p>\n
\u2018Well, we are in a forest on what will some day become the border of Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. The border at this time is a little vague though, not like today, maps were very fluid. As for when, well, the year is 1270 and it is later August. I think\u2019.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Boo looked around and noticed a rather short, thin man dressed in very odd clothes approaching them, he was grinning broadly.<\/p>\n
\u2018Ahh, the man himself, Robin Hood\u2019 said the dragon,<\/p>\n
\u2018Actually, his name is not Robin, nor even Hood, his actual name is Roger Godberd, but he refers to himself as Robin Hood.\u00a0 You see, back in these days, the language that is used is rather different, Robin Hood is a form of \u2018Rabunhod\u2019, which is a word used to describe an\u00a0itinerant felon.\u2018<\/p>\n
\u2018A what ?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Itinerant felon, a homeless or wandering criminal\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Oh, I see, so he uses the name to describe himself, that is quite clever really\u2019.<\/p>\n
The man approached and extended his hand, not in a handshake, but to accept Boo\u2019s hand, he bent to one knee and kissed her hand. Boo blinked, twice, and Robin stood up.<\/p>\n
\u2018From whence didst though bring this fine princes unto my midst\u2019<\/p>\n
Boo blinked again, there was obviously going to be a language barrier to conquer here and she strained to remember her English teacher telling the class about how words drop in and out of favour over centuries.\u00a0 As she was almost seven hundred and fifty years in her own past, she realised that the version of English that she speaks would be just as strange to him.<\/p>\n
\u2018Hi, I\u2019m Boo, I\u2019m from London\u2019.<\/p>\n
It was Robin\u2019s turn to blink, he had not understood a single word, assuming her to be a foreign princess he bowed low once more.<\/p>\n
The dragon watched this in considerable amusement and explained to Robin, in ancient English that she is her friend and she wants to meet the merry men.<\/p>\n
Robin ran back into the woods and emerged a couple of moments later with a large group of men and women that were all wearing clothes that not only blended into the scenery, but also looked like they had probably never ever been washed, or ironed.<\/p>\n
Boo tried to count them, but they moved around a little too often. The dragon whispered \u2018there are almost a hundred of them now\u2019, they have been living in the forest for two years now, Roger, I mean Robin, recently escaped from the sheriff of Nottingham, one Reginald de Grey, or Reggie G as he is known.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018No he\u2019s not, that would be silly\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018True, he is not, but he did escape recently and ever since Robin has been spreading the rumour that Reginald wear women’s frilly bloomers, it is hilarious, nobody is scared of a man that wears frilly bloomers, so Reggie is unable to collect taxes and is madder than a box of frogs.<\/p>\n
Boo laughed. \u2018You are such a silly dragon sometimes\u2019.<\/p>\n
All around them the gang of outlaws were talking and Robin pulled a couple of them out to meet Boo, first up was a thin man not much taller than Boo, who despite being tall for her age was not yet five feet tall. \u2018This is Lytil Jhon\u2019. The man smiled and dropped to one knee grasping her hand and kissing it.<\/p>\n
\u2018Madam\u2019<\/p>\n
Lytil Jhon was not a giant, he was, as his name implied a small man but with piercing eyes behind which there was great intelligence.<\/p>\n
Boo curtsied and nodded.<\/p>\n
\u2018Lytil Jhon is Rogers best friend in the world, the two men are inseparable,\u00a0 Roger has the crazy ideas, Jhon meanwhile figures out how to make them work. He is also, according to the king, the most loyal man in all of England.<\/p>\n
Boo and the dragon met many of the outlaws, before eventually meeting a man dressed in monk\u2019s robes. \u2018This\u2019, said the dragon, pausing for effect, \u2018this, is The Monk\u2019.<\/p>\n
Boo smiled \u2018Friar tuck ?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018No, there was no such man, he was an invention, a man of fiction\u2019<\/p>\n
Boo frowned, \u2018How can the books all get it wrong, how can they invent people that did not exist ?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Its easy\u2019, said the dragon, watching the monk kneel and kiss Boo\u2019s hand, \u2018events in this day were not documented like they are in newspapers in your time. The stories were told and they changed as they were embellished throughout the ages. Eventually the story became legend. \u2018<\/p>\n
Boo frowned a little more, \u2018But the storytellers should have stuck to the truth\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018Next time you have a quiet moment with your friends, you should try a round of Chinese whispers, whisper something to one friend and get them to whisper to another, then another then another. After ten friends the original sentence will be completely different. This is what happens to stories over time in the absence of newspapers and reporting.\u2019<\/p>\n
Boo pulled out her sketch pad and some pencils and sat cross-legged on the ground drawing pictures of the people, the big cauldron of food cooking lazily on the fire and of the clearing.\u00a0 She noticed a couple of people dragging a hand cart into the clearing. The cart was laden with bread and what looked suspiciously like a for-runner of Mr Farriners pies, with feathers and bird feet sticking out from under the top.<\/p>\n
\u2018oooh goodie, its dinner time\u2019 said the dragon, that slightly scary glint in his eye.<\/p>\n
Boo looked up, the sun was high in the sky, dinner time was not until early evening at home, this felt much more like lunch time.<\/p>\n
As if reading her mind, the dragon explained to her that unlike the modern day, dinner was consumed at lunch time and supper was a late evening meal. Further, meal times were great social events where everyone would eat together. \u2018Look around you, everyone is gathering for food, come on, lets join them\u2019.<\/p>\n
They joined the crowd and Boo was handed a wooden bowl and the dragon something that looked suspiciously like a large pail. The queue for the stew was first, she was given a ladle of lumpy stew and the dragon was restrained taking just half a bucket full. They broke off equally lumpy, hard bread and sat on the grass with everyone else, a wooden cup of water was also handed to her, but the dragon warned that it might upset her tummy.<\/p>\n
In 1270 nobody used a fork or even a spoon, it seemed that drinking the soup and using the bread to capture the lumpy bits was the best idea. Boo declined a piece of the game pie, it looked considerably worse when sliced.<\/p>\n
Boo stifled a yawn, she had been awake for a very long time already and while she knew already that no time at all would have elapsed when she got back, today was already turning into a very long day.<\/p>\n
\u2018Come on, lets\u2019 get you home\u2019 said the dragon, who had eaten three full pies, two loaves of bread and an entire bucket of stew having gone back for seconds.<\/p>\n
Boo packed away her sketches, waved goodbye to everyone and climbed onto the dragons back once more. The once more hurtled towards the clouds and within minutes they were once again heading towards Boo\u2019s open bedroom window.<\/p>\n
Boo was very tired, but she packed her backpack away and re-plaited her hair before collapsing into her bed. The dragon was already snoozing on the floor, little wisps of smoke occasionally curling up from his nostrils.<\/p>\n
The next day Boo started her homework, a short essay entitled \u2018Life in the 13th Century\u2019. She used all of her sketches and described the clothes, the food and the language perfectly.<\/p>\n
A week later she would get an A+++ and five gold stars, the only student at the school to have ever received such a mark.<\/p>\n
\u2018This dragon seems to know where to take me whenever I have difficult homework\u2019 she thought to herself as she picked up her next assignment. \u2018Write 1000 words on the\u00a0origins of ice skating\u2019\u2026..<\/p>\n
\u2018Mommy, can we go ice skating, please\u2019\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018But Mommy, I\u2019m not tired yet\u2019 and it is half term and anyway, Sammies mom lets her stay up until nine o\u2019clock every night. \u2018 It was bed time once more, Boo was being slightly reluctant to go to sleep. \u2018But Sammie is at the bottom of the class and you keep telling us that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":67,"menu_order":50,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-529","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":650,"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/529\/revisions\/650"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nealon.uk\/dragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}