Scarlet

I got to the cave and only John weren’t there yet.

“Oy!” I called. Much and Rob turned. “Were you followed?”

“No,” Much said. “’Course not.”

I cursed. “Gisbourne were in Leicester. He must be tracking me, Rob.”

His mouth twitched up. “I doubt he’s following you, Scar. You’re too suspicious by half.”

“Then what, a damn good guess? He has to be marking us somehow.”

“If the thief taker has it out for you, and he’s got tabs on you, wouldn’t he have roughed you up by now?” Much asked.

I ran my knuckles over my scar. It weren’t a bad point.

“We don’t have time to worry about it, Scar. There’s no way he can be tracking you, or he’d have made his move on you, us, or the cave already. We need to focus and start splitting up the coin.”

I nodded. I weren’t too sure of it, but he were right—other things needed time more. “How are we going to do it?”

“Let’s count what you’ve got, we’ll count John’s when he gets back, and then I think we’ll split up again tonight. We have to get all these people money.”

I rolled my shoulders, a creep sliding down my neck. “I don’t think we should be alone, Rob. We’ve got time enough to give out the coin before sunrise.”

“I definitely don’t want anyone in one town alone—it won’t allow enough time to parcel out the coin. Same partners as today.”

I shook my head. “I don’t trust Thom Walker, Rob. He were more like a ball round my leg anyway. Slowed me down terrible.”

He chewed this over.

“Even if we pull the same partners as today, someone needs to be alone. I’d rather go alone than with Walker.”

“Alone’s not a good idea. Not with Gisbourne and the sheriff in full force tonight. Besides, we need all the hands we can get.”

“What’s this?” John called, slinging a sack down that clinked with coin. “What about hands?”

“We’re talking about tonight,” Much said quick, looking down. “We need more people, but Scar don’t want to go with Thom Walker.”

“I’ll go with Scar,” he said quick.

“I just said, we need more people, not fewer.”

“Well, we’ll take Edwinstowe, and Much can go with Lena in Worksop, and you, Thom, and Mark Tanner can take Nottingham. That will work out.”

“Not really,” Much said. “Really it should be me and Tanner in Worksop, and you, Lena, and Walker in Nottingham, then Rob with Scar in Edwinstowe, to balance out fast and strong. Different sort of thing than selling jewels.”

Rob sighed. “Fine. Let’s just get this counted and parceled and be on our way.”

I nodded, but still I couldn’t shake the bad feeling. Something were wrong, and I knew it. I just hoped I had enough knives when it came to bear.

To that end, I pulled Much away while Rob and John kept counting, and I shuffled the blade from my vest. I held the burlap package out.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“I think it might be your weapon,” I told him.

He pulled the burlap off and, using his good arm, hooked the belt that the sheath were lashed to over his shoulders so it lay high on his hip. He slipped his hand between the long metal braces to grip the crossbar.

Much pulled it out, and the metal looked richer in the dark forest, dappling green earth and silver sky. Much smiled, slicing through the air. It were like his fingertips had welded tight and become a wicked blade.

“This,” he said, “is much better than a knife!”

I let my smiling teeth show my pride. “The ‘Much’ part is more important than being ‘better,’” I told him.

He chuckled. “Now I’ve just got to figure out how to use it.”

“You’re smarter’n all of us, Much. You’ll get it.”

Holding the blade away, he stepped forward and hugged me with his bad arm. It were tighter than I thought he might hug, but he pushed me away after a minute. “Get your knives out, Scar. Let’s fight!”

It were after dusk when we all went to Edwinstowe, and Lena, Mark, and Thom were all in front of the Morgans’ house. I hung back from there. I knew I weren’t any more welcome than Saladin in that house.

“Right,” Rob said. “Mark, will you head off with Much?”

He nodded.

“Lena and Thom, you two are with John.”

Thom looked over to me, and I felt it again, the creep on my neck.

“I’m not going with Scarlet?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Call me Will.”

He chuckled. “Why? I know you ain’t a boy.”

It felt like hot lead slipped down my pipes.

“And how would you know that?” Rob asked. Were more like a growl. John stepped in front of me.

“Was it a secret? I could tell.”

“She’s coming with me tonight,” Rob said.

“Yeah, and you leave Scar to me,” John said.

“Oh,” Walker said, like he just understood something new. “You’re her fellow, then.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Me and John spoke at the same time, and I crossed my arms. “I ain’t your girl, John,” I hissed at him.

He winked at me. “I’m getting there.”

I shook my head, and we all broke up. Much and Mark headed off, and John came over to me and rubbed my arms.

“So why aren’t I your fellow yet?” he asked me.

I shut my eyes so that I didn’t look after Rob. “Come on, John, you ain’t serious about me. It wouldn’t end well if you were my fellow and I saw you charming Bess, or Agatha Morgan.”

His arms went round my waist. He had a big grin, full of teeth like stars. “You saying you’re the jealous sort, Scar?”

“I’m saying that some girls slap, but I have knives.”

“For me or for Agatha?”

“Both.” He pulled me tighter, but my arms were still crossed so my elbows pushed into him.

“What if I kept all my smiles to you?”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “You ain’t that sort, John. Why go changing for me?”

“Because. You’re worth changing for.”

That gave me some sort of flutter inside, but I put my hands on his big chest to push away. He let my waist go. “We’ve got work to do, John.”