Scarlet

“Fine, maybe I’ll guess. Secret love? Lad from one of the villages?” He studied me, then shook his head. “Are you running something? Show ’em some chest and they’ll let you get away with anything, I’ll bet.”

I snorted. “Please. If it were so easy, I’d gussy up every day.”

“Trust me, I think you’re not putting enough faith in how you look in skirts. Now, who do you think Scar would actually want knowing she was a girl?” John asked Much.

I looked away. “This is why we near get pinched; you lot pay too much attention to the wrong things.”

“Like what?” Rob asked, coming down over the ridge above the mouth of the cave.

“Scar was in a dress,” John reported.

“Looked pretty, too,” Much added.

Rob didn’t look at me. “She’s right—there are more important things to discuss.”

We all looked at him.

“Someone told Gisbourne we camp at Major Oak.”

“Who?” John growled, stepping forward.

“Hey,” I interrupted. “Settle back. If someone sung, then I reckon they had real good reason.”

He shot me a look.

“She’s right, John. I’m worried that whoever it is, Gisbourne has some heavy leverage on him. Or her.” He sighed. “It also means that we can’t put that burden on the people. If no one knows where we are, how we work, Gisbourne can’t torture anyone to get to it.”

“He can torture anyone, knowing or not,” I said.

“Well, we can’t risk it either. We can’t help the people if we’re dead.” He rubbed the narrow bit of his nose. “Much, you go into town today and talk. Take John with you. I’ll go with Scarlet. No one goes anywhere alone today. We need to find out who told and if they’re all right. Meet up at nightfall at Tuck’s.”

John held out a hand to help me up. I looked at it but stood on my own. He frowned.

“You two cover Worksop; we’ll go to Edwinstowe,” Rob said. We all nodded. The lads set off, and Robin started walking in the opposite direction.

“You know who told, don’t you?” I asked him as we went.

He nodded. “I knew John would react like that, but I wanted you to come with me.”

“Why? Who is it?”

“Edward Marshal.”

That weren’t good. Edward Marshal were the marshal for Edwinstowe, a position that came with some land and money and reported to the sheriff. Edward himself had always been an ambitious man, but folk made sure they didn’t tell him nothing. I also reckoned Lady Thoresby were in the habit of protecting us, for she talked fair often to Marshal and whenever he had some misinformation that I couldn’t account for, she’d been to see him fair recent. There weren’t too much she could do as the wife of a weak lord, but I liked to think she tried best she could. Anyways, for someone to tell Marshal something meant less helpless motives. He wouldn’t torture no one, so that left a volunteer.

“What do you need me for?”

“He’s clever; I need you to cover me with those knives.”

I looked at my hand, still a little swollen. My aim were just a lick off, but we’d be in close quarters. I nodded to Rob.

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.”