Shadows of Sherwood (31 page)

Robyn drew the arrow on an impulse. It felt right. It was a symbol of the rebellion—wasn't she a rebel now, too?

As she ran out from behind the truck, the MP talking to Tucker spotted her. He pointed, and cried out, “Here, what's th——”

Tucker elbowed the MP in the face. He dropped like a sack of rocks. Out cold. Tucker hurried to Robyn's side.

“Minister, eh?” Robyn said, raising her eyebrows.

Tucker shrugged. “Some days it's easier to preach than to practice.”

They ran around the corner, back into the church.

The air rang with sirens once again as the area around the empty truck lot filled with more clusters of police. They strung up crime-scene tape, scanned for fingerprints, tweezed Robyn's note into a clear plastic bag, and puzzled over it.

“Are you sure that was a good idea?” Tucker asked. “Now the sheriff is really going to be gunning for you.”

“I'm already a fugitive,” Robyn said. “I'd rather they come after me than the people in T.C., or worse—someone totally uninvolved.”

The Wanted poster went up within the hour:

WANTED

Name:
Robyn (last name unknown)

Height:
5'7” (5'9” in boots)   Build: Thin, athletic

Hair:
black (last seen braided)   Eyes: unknown

Skin:
light brown

Status:
Hoodlum, thief, traitor

Last known whereabouts:
Sherwood

Considered dangerous. Apprehend on sight!

—Nott City Department of Justice

 

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Hubris

There was no such thing as a coincidence. Mallet knew it. She'd always known it.

A brash young thief by the name of Robyn?

The mistakes she'd made in purging the Crescent rebels were coming back to haunt her. Her own hubris.

What danger could one girl, one small child, pose to her? Plenty.

Crown had made clear the need to purge the rebel leaders. At the time, the order to take along their families had seemed irrelevant.

Now Mallet knew different. It was the children he had wanted, as much as the dissident Parliament leaders themselves.

The Crescent rebels followed the moon lore, which promised a leader would one day rise to bring unity.

Of course, the existence of “the One” was a myth, Mallet knew.

The rebels' belief in it was not.

And belief could turn a myth into action. She had seen it in the square a few days ago, when the crowd responded to her dire threats with rustles and hisses. A leader, propped up by legend, could wield unspeakable power. But that power belonged with Crown.

Mallet tapped her desk screen. The Wanted poster surfaced instantly. She keyed into the banner across the top, for MP eyes only.
#1 Most Wanted
. Charles Lorian and Nessa Croft could wait. Their agitation had already been stifled by the recent purge. Mallet had more pressing concerns today.

She leaned back in her chair. It was not necessary at this time to report the trouble in Sherwood to Crown. It would only highlight her failure. It would only reveal that she had lied.

Better to wait until the hoodlum Robyn was in hand.

 

CHAPTER FIFTY

Sherwood's Most Wanted

When Key arrived, he had one of Robyn's fresh Wanted posters in his fist. Laurel let him in through the plywood gap, and he stormed up to where Robyn was sitting at the front of the church and slammed the page down on the altar.

“No one was supposed to see us!” His voice burst angrily. “They're plastering Sherwood with these things as we speak. On ACTUAL PAPER.”

Robyn picked it up and studied it. “It's no worse than the previous one,” Robyn said. It didn't even have a picture of her, just a description that the MP who spotted her must have given. Once he regained consciousness. Or maybe the gate guard. He'd probably gotten a look at her, busting through the compound fence. Scarlet's and Laurel's heads had been below the dash—no reason they wouldn't think she'd acted alone.

“It's way worse,” Key informed her. “Out there, it's definitely worse. They're practically hunting for you.”

“I can't help that,” Robyn said.

“You could have warned me there'd be a cordon of cops out front,” he said. “Why did you want to meet here?”

“I-I didn't think it would be safe for us to leave,” Robyn stammered. “With all those MPs right out there.”

“Oh, but it's perfectly safe for me to wander through them,” Key thundered. “Do you ever think about anyone other than yourself?”

“I did what I had to do.”

“You didn't have to do any of it,” Key argued. “You could have just got out.” Robyn had seen him annoyed with her before, but she was surprised by how angry he seemed.

She jumped to her feet. “Going inside the compound was your plan to begin with. It was always going to be risky.”

“You left the truck and went somewhere. Why?” Key demanded.

“They have a lot of electronics in the 410,” Robyn admitted. “I thought I might be able to—“

“What were you thinking?” Key exploded at Robyn. “You could've gotten us all caught. They sent a perimeter patrol around outside the fence,” he informed her. “I almost got caught waiting for you. Laurel almost got caught inside.” He pointed at the other girl, who sat in the front pew with her knees tucked tight against her chest, watching silently.

“I told her to wait in the truck,” Robyn protested. “I didn't ask her to come after me.” She turned to Laurel. “I didn't want you in danger.”

Key scoffed. “Like she was going to let you run off on your own. You put us all at risk! And for what? Some wild goose chase.”

“It's not!” Robyn swung her backpack down. She thrust it forward. “There's something important in this message from my dad. Maybe I can find my parents now. Or at least know what they would have wanted me to do next.”

Key's expression turned cold. “Right. You don't care about us, or anyone else. All you care about is yourself.”

How could he say that, after what she'd just done in T.C.? Robyn clutched the backpack in both fists. All her hope rested in that little sphere, and it wasn't even working. Every time she got a little closer to finding the truth, something pulled her further away.

“You don't understand what it's like!” she shouted, looking between them. “Either of you.” She stared at them, realizing there was no way they could understand. “If either of you had parents, maybe you would get it,” she added.

Key's face grew still as stone. He uncrossed his arms and took two steps closer. Robyn already regretted her words, but she couldn't take them back. It was true. She wanted to find out what happened to her parents more than anything, and she had put her friends at risk because of it. But her desperate heart wasn't about to stop looking.

“Your parents are not here,” Key reminded her. “We're here. But, I don't think I want to be here anymore. Not with someone like you.”

Giving Robyn one last look, Key turned around and strode away.

Robyn turned to Laurel and was surprised to see tears rolling down the brave little girl's face. Laurel unfolded herself and stood up. “I thought we were friends,” she whispered. Then she turned and followed Key.

The door hinges groaned lightly and the slap of the loose plywood was just barely audible. Then the sounds faded. Robyn stood in the cavernous sanctuary alone.

 

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE