Scarlet (15 page)

.
143
.

“Lena, the sheriff gave you meat for your customers when you needed it. He expects his investment returned. ”

She crossed her arms. “If I had known his ‘gift’ came with such a price, I wouldn’t have taken it. You’ll get your money when I have it. ”

“Sheriff ’s cracking his whip, Lena. ” His fellow took the candle from the middle of the table and held it underneath the wood table. The other two men grabbed Lena and Pea as she screamed at them.

I whipped a knife at the candle, pushing it from his hand. The fl ame doused before it hit the ground, and the table were black but not burning. The ringleader whipped his head round to see who did it. “Someone bein’ a hero, then, eh?” he asked, drawing a knife and turning toward Lena. She screamed again, and as I drew another knife, a customer tackled the guard. The place split open into a brawl.

Lena began yelling for people to get out, and sent one of the girls upstairs to warn the travelers. If they meant to burn the place, they wouldn’t stop there. I ran outside with a nasty feeling in the pit of me. Sure enough, I heard a horse’s scream and saw another set of guards lighting the barn on fi re. They put a torch to the hay, and the animals started to fret something awful. I ran at them, taking fi ve knives in my hands and starting to throw. I hit two guards with the hilt of a knife tossed to the back of their necks, which dropped them to the ground. The third turned to face me, which were a stupid move on his part. I jumped onto my hands and fl ipped to kick him square in 212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 143

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 143

5/31/11 1:45 PM

5/31/11 1:45 PM

.
144
.

A. C. Gaughen

the chest. He went down. I didn’t much care if they stayed down or not; I needed to get the horses free. The fi re were spreading quick with so much hay, and they were kept in by ropes across their stalls.

With a knife in each hand I sawed the ropes loose one by one, letting the panicked horses run out. I had two left to do when one of the guards pushed me hard against a stall wall. I grabbed the wood of the wall and slammed my head back, connecting with his nose— including the nosepiece, which set my head to ringing— and stepped hard on his foot. He scooted back enough for me to cut another rope and grab the last one. The horse were rearing on his hind legs, and I did my best to forget I might well be trampled soon as I loosed him. I ducked to miss a kicking hoof, sliced the rope, and curled off to the side. The horse bolted and the guard grabbed me by the throat, pulling me off the ground and ramming me against the wood. Black smoke were billowing and it swallowed the horse up whole. The whole barn were popping and cracking like a heaving giant.

“And you must be the famous Will Scarlet, ” he said, spittle fl ying at my face. “Sheriff ’s been dying to meet you. ”

I sent it right back with a fair helping of my own spit. He cocked his arm back to throw a punch.

An arm shot out and hooked the guard’s, sending him off me. Robin stepped out of the smoke like a god and delivered a sound punch to the guard’s face. Without a breath he turned, grabbed my hand, and ran out.

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 144

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 144

5/31/11 1:45 PM

5/31/11 1:45 PM

.
145
.

The night were much, much colder than I remembered. Robin were holding my hand tight and I clutched at him like he were a handhold on a cliff and I were slipping off , like he were the diff erence between life and not.

When the smoke let us go Rob dragged hard on my arm, enough for me to yelp and twist back, which landed me fair square against his chest. His arms latched round me like iron bands, and for a stupid second I shut my eyes and squished my head to his shoulder. His face pressed to the side of mine, and hard breaths huff ed out over my hair. “Thanks, Rob, ” I whispered.

Guess it were the wrong thing to say. He pushed me back, pulling his heat away from me, and my shoulders hunched against the cold. He nodded.

“Christ’s bones, you saved the inn, Scar!”

I turned to see Lena fair fl ying at me, wrapping me up tight in her arms.

I looked over her shoulder. It were still standing, not even scorched. “Sorry about the stables. ”

“Don’t, my girl, ” she said soft. “You saved me and the horses. ”

“Here, ” Rob said, pressing a purse to her hand. “Money for the sheriff . When those guards come to, just pay them. ”

Lena didn’t like charity, and her face showed all its wrinkles and age that weren’t there when she smiled. “Take a horse, Robin. I’ll tell them one ran off . ”

We looked to the travelers huddled in the grass, watching the barn burn. She turned to call them all back into the inn, 212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 145

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 145

5/31/11 1:45 PM

5/31/11 1:45 PM

.
146
.

A. C. Gaughen

and Robin held me tight by the waist as he steered me to a horse that had wandered behind the inn.

“I can walk. ”

“I’m well aware. But right now, I don’t want you to walk away, ” he said.

That were fair enough. Right then, I didn’t have no clue what I wanted, so it worked fi ne. He mounted the horse and held an arm out, and I jumped on behind him, ringing my arms round his waist. I shivered, feeling like all the awful things in my head just left in one quick rush. He were like that. Rob could change anything in an instant.

He didn’t take me to Major Oak but to Thoresby Lake.

“You’re covered in soot and smoke, ” he told me. “And a fair helping of dirt. Were you sleeping in the tunnel, then?”

I nodded, jumping down off the horse. Rob came off as well and sat down on a rock facing away from the water.

“You ain’t gonna turn round, right?”

“Scar. ”

I took that as a yes and skinned out of my clothes real quick. The diffi

cult bit were the muslin I wrapped around my bits in front. Once I got it off , I dove into the water. It were ice cold and I scrubbed hard before my hands went thick with the cold. I liked the cold. It made Joanna and Gisbourne seem farther away, and that were good.

I scrubbed through my hair, and I remembered Joanna sitting up late with me, brushing out my hair.
What a cabinet we
could make together,
she said. I thought she were gone madder than a 212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 146

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 146

5/31/11 1:45 PM

5/31/11 1:45 PM

.
147
.

marmot.
You have rich mahogany and I have burnished gold; it would be a
precious chest indeed.
She braided our hair together to see the difference.
Good En glish hair,
she told me.
None of my Saxon color.
I took her tie and banded our hair at the bottom, and I snuggled against her as we went to sleep. Those were the days when she started going out at night without me, making me feel littler for not knowing what were going on. Seemed to me then that Joanna and I were as distant and separate as our hair, and if I could only braid us together, we’d never part. I had fallen asleep thinking it were as easy as that.

’Course, I’d woken up alone in the bed, night fallen in full and the hair tie loose around my single tail, her gold hair gone. I pulled out of the water and twisted my hair up, tucking it under my cap with the good memories of Joanna. That’s where I liked to keep her, secret and safe.

My clothes were sooty, but it were cold so I wriggled back into them and then came beside Rob. He had already taken his cloak off , and he put it on my shoulders. His arm dropped to the rock behind me so he were caging me.

“I missed you. ”

I got that funny, twisted feeling in my stomach. ’Course he missed me. I were a member of the band and they didn’t work well without me. It weren’t nothing more he meant, and I were a ready fool to have my heart lurch with other hopes. “But you knew what I were ’bout. ”

“I knew that you were atoning to yourself, however you meant to do it. ”

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 147

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 147

5/31/11 1:45 PM

5/31/11 1:45 PM

.
148
.

A. C. Gaughen

“I stole things from the castle to sell, ” I said. He smiled. “Never idle. John thought you’d been collared. ”

“You have more faith in me. ”

He shook his head. “I don’t, really. You scare the hell out of me. ”

“To night were good timing, ” I admitted.

He nodded. “You would have gotten out anyway. ”

“How’d you know I hadn’t been collared?”

He shrugged. “I’d have felt it. I’d have known. ”

Whether it were that strange idea or the cold, something lodged in my chest and my breath were gasping round it.

“Let’s get you home. ” He stood and looked out over the lake. “If you’re ready to come back. ”

The thought of who else waited back at the camp pushed into my head, and I rubbed my knuckles. “Why would John kiss me, Rob?” It just jumped out of my mouth. I looked at him. He crossed his arms. “Aren’t you two—” He closed his mouth sharp. “The other night, you were sleeping together. ”

I blushed hot. “It weren’t like that. I were shaking, and he were trying to warm me up. ” I felt his eyes on me, but I didn’t want to look at him. I didn’t think he believed me. He saw how black my soul were— why wouldn’t he think my virtue were easy as they come?

“He likes you, Scar. You shouldn’t toy with him. ” The words were awful sharp, and I looked up.

“I’m not toying!” I snapped back. “And just ’cause he wants me don’t mean I want him. ”

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 148

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 148

5/31/11 1:45 PM

5/31/11 1:45 PM

.
149
.

Rob’s eyebrows went skyward. “You don’t?”

I wrapped my arms around my stomach. “Not sure. ” There were so much more to the thought that I wanted to tell him, but I just swallowed. “I’m not the sort of girl that goes with a lad. ”

Rob smiled. “So what, you’ll swear off men forever?”

“It’s worked so far. ”

Rob looked surprised, but before I could ask why, he said,

“Well, what about babies? You looked awfully thrilled with Mary’s son. ”

“You think I have any right to bring a baby into my life?

I’m a thief and an outlaw and a poor example of a girl. You think I could be any sort of mother?”

He looked away at that, and I felt it again, that ax of hurt in my belly. I didn’t much like saying it out loud, but it were worse that he agreed.

“If you want a man, Scar, for marrying or not, John’s the best you can come by. ”

I know it sounded nice, but to me it were a pretty insult. Like it or not, I would never deserve a man like Rob, and John were the best I could do. I knew it were true, but hearing him say it like that, so careful, made me feel hollowed out like a dying tree. I didn’t want him to see, so I smiled big and gave a little laugh. “That’s not fair true. John’s a charmer. ”

Rob shrugged. “Well, if he charms you, that’s enough, isn’t it?”

I shot him a look and didn’t say nothing.

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 149

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 149

5/31/11 1:45 PM

5/31/11 1:45 PM

.
150
.

A. C. Gaughen

“As to babies, don’t fool yourself, Scar. ”

Shame fi lled my face and I looked down. I weren’t the sort to fool myself, to be sure.

“You’d be an uncommonly good mother, ” he said. I looked up, blood fi lling up my cheeks ’stead of shame. He looked fast away from me, and I stood, wanting this chat to be over. “Let’s go. ”

When we came to the cave, the lads were around a small fi re under the rock overhang, and they both stood up. I crossed my arms, feeling like I ought to apologize for something, but I weren’t ’bout to. Much laughed with surprise and ran over to hug me, and I gave him a little smile and hugged back. When he let go, John were standing behind him, and he looked at me with a smile. “So, you’re back. ”

I laughed. “Not for you, John Little. ”

He looked like I slapped him.

“Just because you kissed me don’t mean I’m your girl none, ”

I told him.

I heard Much chuckle, and John stepped closer to me.

“Maybe I wasn’t asking you to be my girl. ”

“I’m nobody’s bit of fun either, ” I told him, right serious

’bout that. I went toward the fi re, and John threw up his arms.

“What does that mean, Scar?” he asked me.

“I guess we’ll have to see. ”

Rob and Much both laughed at this, and John glared at them. “Will one of you talk to her?”

Rob shook his head. “I don’t get on the wrong side of a lady thief. ”

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 150

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 150

5/31/11 1:45 PM

5/31/11 1:45 PM

.
151
.

“Well, how am I supposed to get on the right side of her?”

I leaned back in front of the fi re. “Try harder, Little John. ”

Much laughed and John grumbled and sighed, and I looked across the fi re to Rob, hiking my chin higher. Never would I have a man saying what or who were best for me, and that were all there were to it.

k

The next morning we all took some bread and hoofed it to Nottingham; the sheriff had been bandying ’bout that he had an announcement to make, and though I fi gured it were ’bout Ravenna, we still all wanted to hear.

We got to the town center, where market would often be, and instead of shops, there were a raised dais and a scaff old. Three nooses hung empty, swinging in the wind like the bodies that would swing later. The guards were keeping people off the two structures, but the sheriff weren’t there yet, and neither were Ravenna.

People were crowded into the town square, and it weren’t hard for us to blend in. The trumpets began to sound, and a pro cession from the castle began.

The sheriff were fl anked by many men in black and silver, but he were on foot, not horse back, which were fair surprising. He never liked to mix with the common folk. Gisbourne were on one side of him, and at the sight of him I stepped back. Robin caught my arm. “Scar?” he said, soft in my ear.

“Fine, ” I said, shaking him off , blushing, and tucking my hat down.

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 151

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 151

5/31/11 1:45 PM

5/31/11 1:45 PM

.
152
.

A. C. Gaughen

Ravenna were on his other side, and she looked beautiful. Undeniable, she were the prize of the shire. She had long black hair curling down all around her, and she were wearing a white dress with gold bits on it. Her family walked behind them, and they were fair beaming. Even Godfrey looked happy. The sheriff reached the dais, and he helped Ravenna to her seat. That were when the prisoners were marched out, and I felt like my gut had been sliced: it were Lena and Mark Tanner and Thom Walker. I grabbed Robin’s arm. His eyes hit mine and I looked to the side. He nodded.

“Spread out. Scar, take John. Much, come with me. ” To me he whispered, “Take any chance you have to get them down, Scar. ”

I nodded, tugging John’s arm and sliding through the crowd.

“Good people of Nottingham!” the sheriff called, and everyone hushed, looking from Ravenna to the scaff olds. “Today, we have great cause for celebration. I am thrilled to announce a truly blessed event not only for me personally but for the whole shire. In one month’s time, I will take a wife, and rather than marrying a noblewoman from a far-off land, I have chosen a bride from our fair shire. One of your own to show you my love and devotion. ” He gestured to Ravenna, and she took his hand and stood, smiling at him. People gasped, whispered, and murmured.

I circled round to behind the scaff olds. Lena’s hands were tied, bloody and raw. They hadn’t just arrested her that morning—they must have arrested her bare after I left. My 212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 152

212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 152

5/31/11 1:45 PM

5/31/11 1:45 PM