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“Scar has information that Gisbourne’s eff ects are coming up through the forest. At dawn, disguised, ” John said. Rob smiled. “Very interesting. We’ll all meet at the archway an hour before dawn. Agreed?”

We nodded, and I took my chance to run off . And I ran. And ran. It took an hour to get to Thoresby Lake, the farthest bounds of Lord Thoresby’s property far in the deep of Sherwood Forest, so I were running as hard as I could. I felt fi lthier than in London. It weren’t the blood. He hit me and broke my knife. For one measly second I were scared, and I needed to get that off me before the dawn, before we patrolled the roads, when I couldn’t be one inch of scared.

My fi sts were shaking as I ran, sweat pushing out the fi lth, desperate for the water. I jumped the big rock and dove in, breaking the surface and crashing into fi erce cold. I hung there, under the water. My eyes were closed and my skin went fair numb. My lumps and slices went to ice. There were no room for nothing in my mind but cold. When I pulled out of the water, heaving shivery breaths on the shore, I were fearless.

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C H A P T E R

T
he air were fair crisp, with the kind of crunch to it like a sweet apple. The leaves hadn’t fallen yet, which were good. When the leaves fall the trees get thin, and I have to try harder to hide. When the leaves fall, though, the whole forest is covered in a blanket. Leaves cover the pitfalls and ditches and level off the bumps, but it’s all lying in wait for them that don’t know what’s there. I like to know my forest better than those that might chase me into it.

I were crouched low on the archway. It weren’t a proper arch: two trees knitted together over the road years ago, forming a big curve with their branches. I couldn’t see John, Rob, or Much, but I knew where they were, and they were waiting for my signal. It were dawn and the road led to the markets, so several wagons had come through. Most of them we knew; some of them were strangers, but they didn’t look like they had 212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 50

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much in the way of coin. Besides, this morning weren’t about money.

The wind were coming through the trees fair hard when I spotted them down the road. It looked like a coffi n cart, with two souls in boxes, and two monks were at the reins. It were a good disguise, but the monks were half a belly short of the typical breed, and the chain mail beneath their robes clinked soft with every pitch of the wagon. What mucked it up true, though, were the horses. No religious house would have solid war destriers like that.

I threw a small dagger with a long red ribbon attached to it into the tree by Rob’s hiding spot. I never heard so much as a rustle, but I knew they’d be ready.

When the cart rolled close, I dropped to the ground, my thinning wool coat spreading out beneath me. The leaves whooshed away and I smiled, lifting my head slow.

“Whoa, ” they called to the

horses. “Out of the way,

ruffi

an!”

“You ain’t no monks, ” I said. “And those ain’t no bodies. ”

They jumped to their feet at this, pulling swords from their robes. “Let us pass, or our master will make you regret it. ”

“Don’t put much faith in masters, myself, ” I told them.

“So, are you gents going to pay the forest tax?”

“You want a tithe of a body?”

I looked them over. “If you’re off ering, then I’ll take your hand. Maybe a foot. You have lovely feet, sir. ”

“He meant the corpses, whelp. ”

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“Oh, are we still trying to wink by that you have bodies in those coffi ns?”

The one on the left jumped down, and I heard the chain mail rattle like rainfall. I stepped back, crossing my arms over my chest to grab two knives under my coat.

“Time to run off now, vermin. ”

Honestly. Why does everyone think I’m a rat? “So you’ll not be paying the tax, then?”

“I’ll take a tenth of your neck if you try, ” he growled. I shrugged. “S’pose that’s fair. I’ll be on my way. You might want to make sure those bodies are still safe, though. Don’t want a dead’un rolling around. ”

I grinned, and they both turned to look at the cart that were very much empty. By the time they turned round again, I were hidden in the tree and they were cursing a blue streak. They hacked around in the underbrush for a little while, but they couldn’t fi nd our men. The longer they looked the more they argued with each other, and after a bit they got back in the cart, red faced, and drove on to Nottingham. As they drove, I hoped they were the sheriff ’s own men. Then, at least, Gisbourne wouldn’t have no authority to kill them where they stood.

k

I helped John with his coffi n while Rob and Much struggled with the other; my arms were right sore by the time we got it back to the cave, and that were even with John hauling most of the weight. I hated that I weren’t more strong. Much were 212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 52

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sweating and pale, leaning back against the weight with his one good arm. Maybe it weren’t the worst fate to be the weakest of the group.

We brought it deep into the cave. We kept this place separate from our camp; we found it last winter and stored any loot we came ’cross here until we could get it to the townspeople. We also had a few crucial supplies that would get us through the winter and such. A calico cat had taken up in here to have her babies, and one of the little kittens seemed to like me. He clawed up on my shoulders like always.

“Hey, Kit, ” I said, scratching his ear. He were warm at least.

“Let’s crack them, ” John said.

I nodded, kneeling down to the locks and pulling my pick from my vest. I had the lock opened in a second or two. I stood and John stretched out his arms.

“Why couldn’t I just break them?”

I crossed my arms. “I reckon if you continue being yourself, we’ll need a coffi n that’s fully intact in short order. ”

Rob scowled at us. “Lads— and Scar— there’s loot to be sorted. Does this not hold your interest?”

I blushed. “Interested. ”

John kicked the box open. They bent over it, pushing through things, but I stood rooted to the fl oor. It were sitting there, on top of everything: a lock of dark brown hair wrapped in bright red ribbon. The scarlet ribbon were too close to the ones I tied to my knives; even if the boys didn’t know whose lock of hair it were, they’d yap about the ribbon. I reached in and grabbed the hair, twisting it round my 212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 53

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hand in a trice to hide it from the lads. Rob looked at me quick, but we just kept digging through the things. There were clothes and boots, some money but not a lot. Much got into the jewelry, which we could melt down and sell for the most money.

“What’s this?” asked Rob, looking over his shoulder. He picked up a small ladies’ ring. “This is the Leaford crest, isn’t it?”

“Leaford were his fi ancée, ” I told them. “The one that killed herself. ”

“He kept her ring? He must have taken her death hard, ”

John guessed.

Honestly. “You’ve no idea what you’re talking about or what a villain he is, John, ” I told him.

Rob looked at me in that way of his, and I looked down.

“What’s that mean?” John asked.

“He just wanted to own her, like he owns her ring. And she killed herself rather than have him. ”

It felt like a wave of water were coming to crush me with the weight of Rob’s stare.

“You knew her. ”

I couldn’t cop to that. That would put me in Leaford’s lands, which weren’t far from Nottingham. “She had a sister. I knew her sister. ” Even talking about Joanna made my pipes hurt. I couldn’t swallow proper.

I weren’t sure if Rob believed me or not. He kept looking at me, like I left a door open and he were trying to crane round the side to peek in.

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John looked up at me. “So you must know more about him than you’re letting on. What do you know?”

“Nothing useful. Nothing good. ”

“Tell us, Scar, ” Much said.

“There’s nothing you want to hear. She just said he were awful. Signed the contract before it were even legal to wed and set the date for the fi rst day it were. She said that her sister cried and cried to her parents that she didn’t want to be married, and they didn’t care. He wanted the land, and her parents wanted his money, and that were all there were to talk about. ”

“So she killed herself, ” John said.

“So they say. ”

“That really doesn’t sound all that awful, ” John muttered.

“Not worth dying for. ”

“You know nothing of it, John. To be silenced when your wishes don’t matter, to be sold like property, and to a man like him?” I spat at his feet. “A man would know nothing of it. ”

“And what would a thief know of it?” John scoff ed. “Like you’ve ever done a damn thing you didn’t want to. ”

I shook my head. “I know what it’s like when you can’t get no one to listen to you. When what you say don’t matter. I half think every girl knows what it’s like to be silenced. ”

“It’s a terrible practice, ” Rob agreed. “Most parents wait longer. Most suitors want them to. ”

“Let’s open the second one, ” I suggested, kicking it open like John did. My foot rang and jangled with the contact, but it felt good after all the talking.

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“Ooh, weapons, ” Much said.

John pushed him aside. “You don’t even know what to do with them, Much. ”

Much scowled dark, and before I could fuss at John for it, John tossed me a set of knives. I caught them. They were trea sures, the metal darker than most I’d seen. There were a fi ne grain where the metal had been folded. “This is Saracen metal, ” I breathed. Both had a small ruby set in the hilt, a fi ner version of the garnet in my favorite knives.

“Easy, Scar— we should sell those, ” Rob reminded. I frowned. “You’ll never get a good price for these here, not what they’re worth. Besides, I can steal back the value if you give me the say-so. ”

“Maybe she is a girl after all, hankering after shiny baubles. ”

John laughed.

My fi st balled up but I didn’t sock him. Me wanting shiny knives and fool girls’ sighing over shiny jewels weren’t near the same thing.

“Do what ever you think is right, Scar. I can’t tell you what to do— isn’t that what you always say?” Rob said. He weren’t smiling at me, though, and he turned away, as if he didn’t want to see me nick them.

My mouth tightened and I tossed them into the pile that we’d sell or give away. I don’t have no grand thoughts of myself— I ain’t no saint to be sure— but thinking of Amy Cooper and the people who didn’t have nothing to eat, it’s not like I could keep them fair. Nothing were fair.

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We kept digging through Gisbourne’s belongings, and the only thought that cheered me up were Gisbourne’s mug when he found out.

Much and I set to sorting the clothing into packages that we could give away. We could do that with the clothes since none were too distinct, but the jewelry and metals had to be melted and broken to sell raw. See, if Gisbourne were to fi nd someone with something of his he could recognize, he’d kill the lamb for sure, innocent or not, and we couldn’t risk that. John and Rob took to hacking and snapping the other bits.

“Will you show me how to throw a knife, Scar?” Much asked, quiet.

I looked up at him. He weren’t looking at me; he were tying off a package of clothing. “Not sure if it’s your weapon. ”

He frowned. “I know I’d have to borrow your knife. ”

I shook my head, pointing at Rob with one of my knives. He had his long bow strapped ’cross his back. “Bow is Rob’s weapon. It suits him. He moves with it; it works like his arms got pulled out and shaped to a bow. ”

“It’s part of him, ” Much said, tucking his bad arm ’neath his cloak.

I nodded. “I’ll teach you, but I ain’t sure it’s your weapon. ”

“Of course it’s not, ” he muttered, piling more clothes.

“Hey, ” I said, enough bite that he looked up. “I ain’t saying you don’t have a weapon, Much. ”

His eyebrows got bunched up tight together. “Sure you are. I only have one decent arm. How can I fi ght worth a damn?”

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My mouth twisted, and I pushed him. “Shut it, Much. People think I can’t fi ght worth a damn, even not knowing I’m a girl, and I prove ’em wrong. We prove ’em wrong. And I have an idea, all right?”

He shook his head. “You lot think I’m not good for anything. John says as much every chance he gets. ”

“Oh, and he would know? All he does is hit things. ”

He rubbed his chest where I shoved him. “You do a fair lot of hitting yourself, Scar. ”

“Don’t make me do it again. John ain’t the be-all of opinions. ”

He sighed, going back to his pile of clothing.

“Look, I ain’t saying it will be fair easy. ” I pushed up my sleeve and showed him loads of little white scars from nicks and cuts. “I were terrible with my knives when I fi rst started, but they were the only weapons I could hold and hide, so I learned them. ” I showed him the ribbon on one of them. “And then they learned me. ”

“I don’t understand. ”

I ran the ribbon through my hands. “I used to tie ribbons on them to grab them quick. They’re my hair ribbons. And then when Rob nabbed me in London, I wouldn’t tell him my name. So he called me Mr. Scarlet till he found out I were a girl. Then it were just Scarlet. ”

“It’s not your real name?”

My eyes met his, fair serious, fair dark. I shook my head slow. He looked at me for a long time, and I looked down. When 212-47765_ch01_1P.indd 58

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