Scarlet

“He’s gone, my lord,” one of the men said, dropping the ax he’d been hacking with.

“They say the Hood is part fey, a spirit of the trees. They’ll never betray him.”

“Damn right,” I muttered.

All the same, it were almost an hour before Gisbourne called it off, and even then, I’d started to swing slow ’cross the trees to move farther away. I had been watching—there weren’t much else for me to do up there—and the boys had left Tuck’s ’long with the rest of the crowd. I hopped down from the trees some mile or more from Tuck’s and ran the rest of the way to the cave.

“Scarlet!” Much called, and before I knew it, Rob caught me off my feet in a hard hug, crushing my bones to my blood. I didn’t care none when my shoulder burned with pain. I pushed my face against the cords in his neck, squeezing him just as hard.

He put me down, clutching my sides like I would fall apart in his hands.

“Scar,” John said, and I turned sharp, almost knocking into him. He tilted his head to mine like he were going to kiss me, pulling me out of Rob’s arms, but I pushed forward, hugging him instead.

He chuckled. “Not so easy, Scar. You promised me a kiss.”

“You’re bleeding,” Rob said, taking my arm. “Much, get the kit.” John let me go.

Much went into the cave, and Rob tried to roll up my sleeve, but it wouldn’t go so far. His fingers went to the neck of my shirt, and my eyes leapt to his. The tips of his fingers felt like burning steel on my skin. Looking at me, he tugged it over, but it still wouldn’t clear the wound.

He touched the laces of my shirt that kept it together, and my heart started fluttering in my pipes. I weren’t even breathing.

“Hold it up a bit so I can open it without showing anything,” he told me gentle.

Heat pounded through my face. His fingers hovered by the laces for a second, then touched the bones by my neck the littlest bit. Something jolted through me, and I could have sworn that Much were lighting off powder again.

“I wouldn’t mind catching a glimpse of her,” John said, and Rob let go of me to whip around. He pressed his hand over John’s neck.

“Don’t ever talk to a woman like that, John Little,” Rob growled. John sneered and shoved him but Rob pushed him back.

I held my shirt tight round my neck. Seeing Much come out from the cave, I fair ran to him, then sat on a rock and undid the top of the laces. I let the shirt fall off my shoulder and clutched the rest tight. I knew I had my muslin on, but still. I were a girl, and they were boys, and I never felt more sure of that than when Rob were touching my skin like I were gold.

Much looked to Robin, standing a few paces off now, and I looked at him for a bare second. “Will you do it, Much?”

“If you want, Scar. But I’m not very good.”

“Sure you are.”

“I have to dig out the tip, Scar.”

I nodded, and a hand filled mine. Rob sat beside me, flipped around so that our faces were looking at each other and his back were sheltering me from John. A fluttering breath filled my chest.

“Do it, Much,” Rob said, squeezing my hand.

He raised his knife and I looked away, gripping Rob’s hand.

I felt the first lance of the knife and swallowed down a scream, ramming my head into Rob’s shoulder and crushing his hand. He crushed back, putting his arm on my back and keeping me on his shoulder. Rob’s cheek pressed to my cheek as the knife dug deeper.

I didn’t yell or holler. That boy died because I didn’t trust what I knew already ’bout Gisbourne, and if this were my punishment, so much the better.

When Much were done I fair collapsed against Rob, and he picked me up like a baby and brought me deep into the cave, wrapping me in furs and blankets. “You need to sleep now,” he told me.

“Lena and the others?”

“Boarding with villagers in Edwinstowe.” He brushed the hair back from my forehead, pushing off the cap.

“The boy died.”

Rob nodded. “Thank God he didn’t get you too, Scar. We underestimated him before.”

I nodded, feeling weak and sleepy.

“Scar.” He squeezed my hand. “If John gets out of line with you, Scar, I’ll handle it for you.”

I fisted my hand in his shirt, fair passing out without another word.

When I woke, it were light out, and Rob were at my feet, leaning against a trunk and hunched over his bent-up knees. I grunted as I rolled onto my shoulder, not remembering it were injured. Rob straightened as I sat up.

“Morning,” I said soft. I looked back; the other two were still sleeping.

“Morning. How’s your shoulder?”

“I’ll live, I reckon.”

“You scared me yesterday, Scar.”

“I couldn’t not help. You were going to turn yourself in.” I shrank my knees up, feeling smaller.

“He slit the throat of a boy he didn’t know from Adam. What’s he going to do to you?”

I looked down.

“You need to tell me how you know him, Scar.”

“He gave me the scar,” I told him. I didn’t look up. My bones shivered like they lost something; I held on to that one secret for so long, it felt fair strange to let it go so easy.

He didn’t say anything. I ventured a glance, and he were just looking at me, waiting.

“This scar,” I told him, covering my cheek.

“He was trying to catch you?”

“Something like that.”

“Scar, tell me.”

I looked at Robin and opened my mouth, and just like that it were ’bout to come pouring out. But then John sat up, yawning and calling to us, and I stood and went out of the cave.

Robin followed me. “Promise me you’ll tell me later. I need to know what kind of threat he is to you.”

I looked back at John, coming out of the cave as well, and nodded. I felt cold to my bones, but I nodded. Honestly, if there were ever a time for God and praying and such, I were praying hard that Rob didn’t turn me out of the camp after he knew.

“All right, lads,” Rob called, and we all came to the burnedout fire. “Taxes will be called on the farmers in less than a fortnight, and the townspeople need money, so we need to get it for them. We’re going to be on the road collecting a tax of our own, and when we’re not collecting, we need to be training. Gisbourne got the drop on us last night; we need to be prepared.”

We all nodded.

“Scar, I want you up in the trees, spotting us but staying out of it until your shoulder heals up.”