Scarlet

  He were silent for a long stretch, and I didn’t speak, crunching leaves as we walked.

  “About John,” he said at long last.

  I blinked.

  “I don’t want to know how you two are fooling about, but if it interferes with the band I’ll kick you out myself.”

  The breath stopped in my pipes. “What?”

  “I won’t repeat myself. And I don’t want to talk about it more than that.”

  “But—”

  “I’m not joking, Scar. I don’t want to know.”

  I snapped my yap closed. Fooling about? Did he think I were John’s bit of fun for the day? My belly twisted and I didn’t like the feeling. Worse, were that what John thought? It weren’t like we ever snuck kisses or nothing like that. I never even got an inkling that he might like to kiss me, and I certain didn’t want to kiss him. I didn’t think. He weren’t bad looking or nothing, but he were in my band. I fought with him; I watched him gut deer. Most days I wanted to smack him more than anything tender.

  And he weren’t Rob. But then, maybe that weren’t such an awful thing. Rob’s sort I could never deserve.

  Rob didn’t speak the rest of the way, and thoughts of John and Rob kept wheeling over in my head.

  I sat in the window, spinning a knife on my finger while we waited for Edward to enter his bedchamber. He wouldn’t have a guard or company of the male sort in there, so we waited for him to appear, knowing we could hold him back.

  We didn’t have to wait long. He came in and shut the door before turning with a start. “Robin Hood?” he asked.

  “I heard you’ve been singing Gisbourne a song, Edward,” Rob said, his eyes black.

  “Oh Christ and the saints,” Edward swore. “Of course I told the thief taker. Why shouldn’t I? Quicker I’m rid of you lot, the better.”

  “There are a few reasons,” Rob said, nodding toward my knives.

  “What, a whip of a lad and a few pin sticks?”

  I smiled at that, and Rob chuckled. “You don’t want to know what those pin sticks can do.”

  “Well, you ain’t going to kill me, and you ain’t going to hurt me, and I ain’t going to stop telling the thief taker or the sheriff what I hear. So what do we do now?”

  “We don’t want you, Edward. You’re a fool if there ever was one. But you didn’t know where we live, so who told you?” Rob asked.

  “Informin’ on the informant, eh? That’s the game today?”

  “Just tell us the name. You shouldn’t be shy to reveal your source.”

  “Can’t imagine what you want with him. You ain’t going to kill him neither. And if I don’t tell you, he’ll keep on keeping me on—isn’t that right?”

  “Rob’s got more principles than me,” I reminded. “Me, I know that you pay taxes like the rest of us, and I know where you keep your collection money. What would your sheriff do if you couldn’t pay?” I shrugged. “I like shiny things like that, but the sheriff likes softer bits. Like your wife, or your little son.”

  He looked more worried. “You wouldn’t never hurt my wife or son.”

  “Wife and son, no, no. I told you, I like shiny bits.”

  He grimaced. “Everyone says you lot are so honorable.”

  Rob shrugged. “Can’t hold a thief accountable.”

  “It was Godfrey Mason what told me.”

  Robin’s face went white like someone stole his blood, and I stood up.

  “You’re lyin’,” I said.

  “’Fraid not. The sheriff is awful insistent that we should help this thief taker, and once the sheriff sends me up, Godfrey wants my seat. Thought to grace his way in.”

  I shook my head. “Sheriff’s not sending you nowhere, Marshal,” I told him.

  “Is so. Promised me Constable of the Royal Horses in Nottingham.”

  “That station’s filled,” Rob told him.

  “Things shake up round here fast, Hood. It’ll shake up and we’ll shake you right out.”

  Rob frowned. “Not likely. Will, let’s go.”

  Rob looked toward me and I saw Marshal go for his belt dagger. I pushed forward in front of Rob. “Settle back there, Marshal,” I told him, putting two daggers on him.

  He sighed and moved backward, holding his hands away from his belt. Rob went out the window, and I backed my way over to it, tipping my hat to Marshal and hopping out the window.

  His house had two levels, so we went across the lower roof and then jumped off the end of it, walking farther into town.

  Rob put his hood up. “I can’t believe it was Godfrey.”

  “Honestly.”

  “I doubt Ravenna knows.”

  “She’s his twin; how could she not know?”

  His jaw worked. “God knows you can be right beside them day in and day out, and sometimes you don’t know those closest to you at all.”

  “Should we talk to him?”

  Rob’s face were all kinds of sad, but he shook his head. “No. Let’s get to Tuck’s.”

  “We need to make a stop first,” I told him.

  He just nodded, following behind me.

  I went almost clear to the other side of Edwinstowe, knocking on the door of a small house. A tall man that almost had to hunch over a bit greeted me and smiled. “Scarlet—and Robin Hood!” he realized, bursting into a big grin.

  Rob looked at me. “Scarlet?” he asked quietly. “Not Will?”

  I shrugged at Rob and smiled back to the big lug. “Hullo, George,” I greeted. I produced a small ewer of milk that I nicked from Marshal’s dairy. George took it and picked me up and hugged me like a bear, setting me down inside the house. He greeted Robin, but I went in and went over to Mary, who struggled to sit up. I put my arm on hers, stopping her, and kissed her cheek.

  “You look right as rain,” I told her.

  She smiled. “Almost,” she told me. “We’ve both been a little weak.”

  The bundle in her lap started squirming and began to keen, and I picked up their newborn son, curling him in my arms. He looked up at me and stopped fussing.

  “Look what she brought,” George said, pouring some milk into a cup. Mary drank and then held it out to me.

  “Rob,” I said. “Dip your fingers in the milk and give it to the baby.” I looked up at him as he did what I said. He were focusing hard, but the sadness in his face were gone. I smiled.

  “What’s his name?” Robin asked as the baby started to drink the little drips of milk.

  Tears sprung into Mary’s eyes. “Scarlet didn’t tell you?”

  He shook his head.

  “We named him Robin. He’s given us hope, the same way you have.”

  “Hope,” Rob repeated, touching the baby’s cheek with his fingertip. “I’m sorry if it’s been in short supply lately.”

  Mary’s lip trembled, and tears darted down her cheeks. “Oh Robin,” she whispered. “We’d have nothing left if it weren’t for what you do for us. If giving him your name means our son will have just a bit of your courage and heart, I’d be the proudest mother there was.”

  To my surprise, Robin looked to me, his eyes bigger and bluer. “You knew? About the name?”

  I shrugged. “Thought it might buck you up.”

  He smiled, a big, generous hero smile. I held the baby up and Robin took him, holding him against his chest.

  “Scarlet near saved his life,” Mary told Robin, wiping her eyes.

  “Did she?”

  “A week and a bit ago. The birth was hard, and I was crying out,” Mary said soft.

  George nodded. “Scarlet wanted to help, but I wouldn’t let her in; no one told me he was a girl, after all. Her. She, whatnot. And she climbed into the window instead.”

  “She told me right away the boy was twisted, and she went and got Lady Thoresby. I never even knew the lady was a midwife.”

  I were blushing hot, and I couldn’t even fuss with the baby. Honestly, I didn’t bring Rob here so he could hear them fawning on me. He were holding on to the
lad like he were gold bars, though, so I reckoned my plan worked.

  “She’s resourceful like that,” Rob said with a chuckle. The baby squirmed and twisted against his neck, and he beamed. Something in my belly flipped over a little bit, seeing him hold the baby.

  “I’ll try and get you some eggs tomorrow, Mary,” I told her.

  “We’re all right, Scarlet. You don’t need to dote. We just finished the harvest, and we’ll take it to market tomorrow.”

  Rob looked to George. “How much did the sheriff collect?”

  He sighed. “Near half. We’re still better than most, though.”

  Rob nodded. “We’ll help as best we can. Can’t let my namesake go hungry.”

  Mary rubbed my arm. “We thank God for your help. We all do.”

  A bit of the shadow came back over Rob at that, and I knew he were thinking of Godfrey. He dipped his fingers in the milk again, though, continuing to feed the baby.

  “You warm enough?” I asked Mary.

  She nodded, and I tucked her feet into the blankets; I could feel how cold they were through her stockings.

  “He’s a handsome lad,” Rob said, holding the baby out to look at him.

  “Takes after his father,” I told George, and he puffed his chest up.

  Mary laughed. “He thinks far too well of himself after you come, Scarlet.”

  George chuckled, coming and sitting beside his wife on the small bed. “I’ve only eyes for you, my love, but I’ll take pretty words when I can.”

  “I think he’s nodding off,” Rob said, watching the baby’s mouth open and his eyes close.

  “I’ll take him,” Mary said, and Rob put the babe in her lap gentle, wrapping him up tight in the one fur they had.

  “We won’t wake him, then,” Rob said, nodding at me. “But thank you, Mary, for letting me meet him. He’s a good lad.” He patted her shoulder, and she covered his hand.

  George led us out, shaking Rob’s hand and hugging me again. When the door closed, Rob looked sharp to me. “You planned that?”

  I lifted a shoulder. “After hearing ’bout Godfrey, seemed like a good time to remember why you’re doing all this.”

  His eyes looked into mine in a way that made my breath suck out of my pipes. “You’re every kind of surprise, you know that?”

  I shook my head.

  He put his hand to my cheek, just touching the fingertips to my skin before pulling away. “You are.”

  He looked away and started walking down the lane to Tuck’s, and it were a few paces before my breath came back.

  Inside Tuck’s, we didn’t go straight for the back room. Keeping his hood up, Rob pulled Tuck to the side.

  “Who was it, then?” Tuck asked, his face sour.

  “Godfrey Mason,” Rob told him.

  Tuck pulled back. “Godfrey? No. Wasn’t him, Rob.”

  “I wish it wasn’t, but it was.”

  “But he’s such a good lad. Always been right awed by you too. If he did—and I’m not saying so—he must have done it for Ravenna. Maybe they’re in trouble.”

  Robin shook his head. “No. Perhaps, but I don’t believe so. Until I find out otherwise, I need to be sure no one passes him information about my lads.”

  Tuck nodded. “I’ll make sure of it. You and Scar head on back. I’ll get you some food.”

  “Thank you, Tuck.”

  We went into the back, and Rob sank onto the bench. “Do you think it was him, Scar?”

  I slid in beside him, putting my hands on the table. “Yes. He’s a good kid, but he’s got a rotten father and a silly mother, and he’s got his sister depending on him—if she’s not married off soon.”

  He nodded, reaching forward and flipping my hand over. “I think even in these times they want more money.”

  I tried hard to swallow, staring at his hand touching mine. “Working for the sheriff would be good money.”

  “Most likely.” Quick and sure, his thumb pushed over each finger, dragging lightning over my hand. “We played together as children, you know. My father hired his father to build half the Locksley estate. I’d been gone for those few years for the Crusades, but I always thought we were friends.”

  His fingers slid into mine, locking into a grip. I were staring at the hair on the knuckles of his big hand. “Everyone thinks high of them. Ain’t no one doesn’t like the twins.”

  “But to betray us?”

  I hesitated. I knew I tended to see things different, but this were still hard to say right. I squeezed his hand and pulled my eyes up to his face. “As far as betraying goes, he didn’t get us pinched. It weren’t a trap, but Gisbourne thinks he got victory.”

  Robin scowled. “That’s true. Why didn’t Gisbourne ambush us instead of burning the tree?”

  “Maybe Godfrey will know.”

  Robin pulled my hand under the table and didn’t let go till the lads arrived.

  Godfrey made a bit of a mistake that night. Tuck told people to keep their traps shut, of course, and he had to tell them why. John heard, and so did all the customers of Friar Tuck’s. Godfrey showed up well into the night, which meant most of the men were more than a drink down.

  When Godfrey appeared, the place busted open, attacking Godfrey and launching into a drunken brawl. I understood that. It made big men feel better to hit someone when they were scared, and God knew everyone were scared these days.

  He took a few punches, but I managed to squirrel him out while the bar were heaving without anyone noticing him gone. I tugged him around the building to the back door.

  “What in God’s name was that?” he demanded, spitting out some blood.

  I crossed my arms. “You know.”

  His face went white. “They all know?”

  I nodded. “You want to be marshal?”

  He sighed. “Look, my parents want to marry Ravenna off to a Frenchman. A Frenchman. If I can start my own household, she can live with me.”

  “You near cracked Robin.”

  He hit the wall. “I figured.”

  “Maybe you should be talking to him,” I told him.

  “I’m listening,” Rob said, coming from behind me. He must have followed us out.

  Godfrey’s face went all kinds of mournful. “No one got hurt, did they? I told them that’s where you pass messages with the townspeople, not that you live there.”

  “We’re all right.”

  “I’m sorry, Rob. Gisbourne wanted the information or he said he’d throw me in the prison.”

  Rob nodded. “It’s all right. We just can’t tell the townspeople anything anymore. And that will include you, Godfrey, but I’m not singling you out.”

  “I know. And I suppose I’ll get a rough shake from the townspeople, then.”

  “Probably. But come on, we’ll see what we can do to fix that.”

  Rob put his arm around Godfrey’s shoulders and brought him in through the back door. It weren’t a moment or two that John appeared, kicking a bucket so hard it split in two.

  “Unhappy?” I asked him.

  He spun around to look at me, and then kicked a bucket bit again. “He betrayed us and Rob’s welcoming him back. He’s a rat!”

  “Thought I were a rat.”

  He wedged his hands onto his hips and looked at me. “Different sort. Your kind of rat isn’t so bad.”

  “He did what he thought he had to, John.”

  “Christ, I don’t get you, Scar. You spit with venom at the likes of the thief taker and the sheriff, but other than that, you can’t judge a living soul.”

  “I’m a thief. Ain’t got so much moral ground to stand on.”

  He gave me a little smile at that. “I suppose. I still think Robin’s a fool.”

  “We both know he’s no fool.”

  He looked at me, his eyes running over my face. He came closer, and I were against the wall, so my heart started to flutter-beat in my chest. I didn’t much like feeling trapped. He palmed my hat, pushing it back.

  “Wh
at are you doing?” I asked, pulling away.

  “I need to see your eyes when I ask you this.”

  “Ask what?”

  “Are you in love with Rob, Scar?”

  I hesitated. Sometimes, like with the baby, or the strange way Rob touched my hand, I kind of thought I might be. But then he would yell at me or shut me up with a glare and an insult like he had that morning, saying I were fooling with John. John, who were in front of me, asking if I loved Rob, looking at my weird eyes without looking away. “No,” I told him. It were the truth, I think. Or as much of the truth as made a difference.

  “Good.”

  He leaned forward, his eyes looking right into mine, and his mouth came so near I felt the skin of his top lip on mine. His eyes stared into me, and he just waited there, looking for something, or waiting for me to do something, but I didn’t know what. I looked down, not sure of myself.

  He chuckled, and his thumb ran over my lips. The touch made me jump, made everything stranger, and I pulled away from him.

  “See you back later, Scar,” he told me.

  I didn’t look up until he left, and then I sat on the ground and hugged my arms about my knees. I didn’t know what to make of that at all.

  Chapter

  Seven

  The morning were rough. It were our first day on the road since the chest were taken, and it felt like rolling thunder in the distance. With just a fortnight to get enough goods and fence them again before tax day, we all knew how much more gold were needed now, but it felt like all our luck had pure run out.

  I kicked at a branch and stared at the empty road like travelers would appear if I wished it. I kept glancing at Rob and John, and the rough feel of John pushing his thumb over my mouth jumped into my head.

  I stood. “Rob!” I called. He stepped out onto the road, looking up at me. “I’m going to Nottingham, see what I can steal there. This isn’t helping none.”

  He nodded. “Fine. Meet back at Tuck’s tonight, all right?”

  “Sure.” I skittered across a tree branch, heading to Nottingham Castle and away from John and Rob. ’Course, going to Nottingham weren’t getting away from Rob, in truth. It had been his home once, and walking there felt like he were walking ’longside me.