John watched me a moment, then stood and walked over to sit beside me. “Rob’s been in trouble since the moment he marched down the hill at Edwinstowe and Gisborne saw his face.” The moment Gisborne learned his brother was still alive.
I glanced at Tuck. His chest rose and fell in the gentle rhythm of sleep. If he was awake, he’d likely have said the next words. Because he wasn’t, I spoke for him. “Before that, probably.” I’d had many heated conversations with Tuck about the first stupid thing I did when I arrived here and how it had probably ruined Rob’s life.
John watched me closely. “Your worry for him is about more than him not being here, isn’t it?”
I nodded. Knowing what I’d seen was going to happen unless I found a way to stop it made a ball of dread form in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t forget the dream of John lying on the ground and screaming in pain as blood poured from his fingers. I glanced at his hand, the white of the bandage bright in the moonlight. Rob’s description of that day had been exactly like my dream.
I ran a hand down my face. How did I explain this in a way that would make him believe me and not think I was a crackpot? “There’s this place. I’ve never been there, so I don’t know if it exists. But if it does, I think Rob shouldn’t go there.” Yeah, that didn’t sound crazy, at all.
John looked at me sideways. “Because…?”
How much was I allowed to say? “Because something bad will happen.” I wanted so much for him to believe me. But I still felt as if they thought I might leave at any moment, and that lack of trust meant it could be a while before he believed me without question.
He licked his lips, slowly, like he was thinking something through in his head. “That’s very vague.”
I nodded.
“Can you give me something more to go on?” His brow furrowed, like he was silently pleading for me to give him what he asked for.
But I couldn’t. “You don’t believe me.” I sighed. Of course he didn’t. Why would he when I hadn’t really told him anything?
“I want to. Does that count?” He tilted his head to one side, eyes roaming over my face.
“Then believe. I’m still the same person I was a few months ago. I want to keep Rob safe. To keep all of us safe.” I wasn’t going to skip out on them without saying goodbye again, but I’d told John I wouldn’t leave once before, and I had. No wonder he was having trouble trusting me.
“What place?” Tuck was so still, had he not moved one arm to rest over his forehead as he lay on his back, I might have convinced myself he hadn’t spoken at all. “What place can’t Rob go?”
I drew in a deep breath, my skin going tingly as I thought about the dream again. “It’s a huge grassy field. There’s forest all around, but far away, too. And water. Not close enough to see, but perhaps close enough to hear.”
Tuck sat up. “Anything else?”
“The field slopes downhill, toward the forest. It’s peaceful and pretty.”
The sky was beginning to lighten, and I caught a worried glance between John and Tuck.
I waited for one of them to speak. When neither did, I asked, “You know where it is, don’t you? You know the place I just described?”
John nodded but offered no further details. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why. “Is Rob there now?”
John glanced down, his eyes falling on my hands, which I’d gripped tightly together while I waited for his answer. He nodded again.
I jumped to my feet. “Let’s go, then. Let’s get him to leave.” As I was saying the words, I heard how they sounded. If I were them, I’d think I was looking for any excuse to find Rob and bring him back. Worse still, it sounded like I was hoping to drag him away from the life he was happily living.
Tuck shook his head. “Can’t.” The edges of his lips pulled tight, and I couldn’t help but feel pleased. If he was worried because of something I’d said, he was more likely to do something about it.
“Can’t? What sort of answer is that?” Urgency to get Rob to safety had me wired. It might be just before dawn, but we had to go now. We had to get to Rob before Gisborne did. My desperation may also have made my tone condescending, which was never the right way to talk to Tuck.
His nostrils flared. “What, exactly, is Rob in danger of?”
“Gisborne, of course.” Then, I added, “I think.” Because I didn’t want to lie, and I’d never actually seen who shot the arrow at Rob.
“You think?” He shook his head. “Seems like this is just some stupid-girl way to bring back someone who doesn’t want to be here. If you’re so worried, why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
Because mentioning the dream meant I would die. And I wasn’t ready to martyr myself just yet. “Stupid girl?” If Tuck understood the danger, he’d be as eager as I was to get Rob out of there. The trouble was making him see it. I stood up. “Better a stupid girl with all her friends alive than so closed off to possibilities that you no longer have friends.” I pointed my finger at him, and to make sure he didn’t miss my meaning, added, “Because they’re all dead.”
“Maryanne, sit down,” John said softly. “The reason no one is moving is not because we don’t believe you.” He leaned forward to look around me and give Tuck a pointed stare. “It’s because Rob doesn’t want us there. Any of us.”
“He…what?”
John shook his head. “He was firm. None of us are to go to him. For any reason.”
“You’re kidding, right?” There were reasons, and there were Reasons. Rob would want to know if the place he was staying was dangerous. Surely keeping him safe was a bigger concern than whatever rules he’d made. Unless. “You really don’t believe me,” I whispered. Somehow, I’d never considered they might feel this way. I thought I could convince them. Or that they’d just believe what I told them.
John swallowed. “Of course, we do.” It was a lie.
“Rob’s just trying to keep everyone safe.” Miller’s voice was morning croaky. “It’s for the best.” He was a worse liar than me. It didn’t sound at all like he thought it was for the best.
“Everyone except himself.” Frustration welled inside me. “Gisborne said the other night he knew where…where the place is.” Gisborne was already a step ahead of me. He knew more than I did. “Surely you can see that makes him a target.” I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of this sooner. There was no way Rob should be staying in the place that Gisborne talked about.
“He’s no longer there.” Tuck’s tone said I was stupid for suggesting such a thing. “They’ve moved on.”
“How do you know?” I spat.
John threw a glare at Tuck. When he turned to me, his smile was weak. “He had a plan. In case something like this ever happened. And I checked yesterday. They’re no longer in the village Gisborne threatened.”
I let out a breath. Good. Although the word they drove a stake into my heart. “So, they’ve moved away from the place in my…the place I described?”
John looked at Tuck.
Their pinched expressions made it clear where Rob had gone. “Or to it?”
“To it.” John sighed.
“Then, please can you warn him? It’s stupid to think he wouldn’t want you to tell him about this.”
“Tell him what exactly?” snapped Tuck. “That you miss him and want him to come back? Because, that won’t make a scrap of difference to him anymore.”
I ran my hands down my face. I could totally hear how it sounded, and it was exactly the way Tuck described.
“How do you know all this, anyway?” Tuck demanded.
I shook my head. “I…I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?” Tuck was restless and growing angrier by the second.
“I just…can’t.” Not yet. Maybe not ever.
John tried to smile. “Rob has his reasons for making it this way. We all agree with him.”
“But do you really agree?” Because that half-hearted smile said
he didn’t.
John lifted his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. You know Rob. Once he’s made up his mind…”
I stared from one to the next. “So, after everything you’ve all been through together, you’re just letting him go? You don’t even want to give him the option of choosing to leave? Of choosing to live?” No one met my eyes. There was some other reason they didn’t want to listen to me, and I didn’t have a clue what it might be.
Fine. I’d try a different way. “Miller. Don’t you care about Rob enough to try to keep him alive?” It was a low blow. The pedestal Miller put Rob on was a high one.
Miller’s head shot up. “Are you saying I don’t love him? Because you’re wrong.” His voice shook with emotion.
“Then do something! Warn him. Tell him I think he’s in danger. If he moves on to another village from wherever he is now and I’m wrong, where’s the harm? If he doesn’t and I’m right…” I let my words trail off. Miller would get the picture. They all would.
Miller squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them and spoke to Tuck and John, he sounded far older than fourteen. “She’s right. You both know she is. We have to tell him that Maryanne thinks he’s in danger. He can make his own decision about what to do, but we shouldn’t keep this from him.”
Once I had Miller onboard, it didn’t take long for the other two to give in. I seemed to be the sticking point. They were adamant I couldn’t go into the village where Rob was staying. If that was their problem, they should just have said so in the first place. We could have sorted this out far quicker. I was fine with not going all the way with them—they didn’t want to leave me alone at Kings Cave, so were taking me part of the way—so long as they promised to make Rob understand he was in danger.
Tuck decided he wouldn’t come with us when we started out later that morning. He thought it was just as important to continue talking to his contacts in the nearby towns in the hope of finding out what the Sheriff or Gisborne were planning to do next. He would meet us at Bob’s Cavern, the place I would wait for John and Miller, and where we would stay tonight.
Still, they kept the name of the village where Rob was staying to themselves. Goodness knew what they thought I might do with that information. Go running to him to declare my undying love? Probably.
Tuck pointed a finger at me as we left. “You make sure you do what’s expected.” Meaning, don’t go near Rob.
I got their message, loud and clear. “Don’t worry. I want to go there about as much as he wants me to.” I had zero desire to see his new life. Seeing Rob—and her—would hurt more than I was ready to deal with.
TEN
We walked in silence along the trail. I wasn’t sure if John and Miller were quiet because they didn’t want anyone to hear us, or because they weren’t in the mood for words. Or, because they were worried for Rob. Any of those things seemed like a good reason for silence, and I didn’t feel particularly like talking either. What if we were too late? Rob’s death in my dreams always happened at dawn. What if this morning had been the morning?
I supposed it didn’t matter. Rob was either already dead or he wasn’t. If it had happened already, we were too late to do anything, and if that were the case, I’d deal with it once I knew for certain. If he was still alive, there was no rush. We still had until at least tomorrow morning to get him out of there.
John put his hand up to stop us walking and pointed down the hill to a larger trail where a carriage rumbled past. Soon it would make a turn away from us and around the base of the hill. I nudged John. Some habits die hard, but even with Rob’s absence, there was still a legend to protect. “Let’s go,” I mouthed. No need for me to explain what I wanted to do. We could beat the carriage to the other side of the hill by scrambling over the top.
He shook his head.
“Come on. There are no soldiers traveling with it.” We had a good view of the trail from both directions up here. “It’ll be fun.” And totally reckless. But if Rob wasn’t going to look after his legend, I would do it.
John held up his bandaged hand. This morning I’d washed it and smeared it with the antiseptic cream Mom had stuffed into the little first aid kit I’d brought with me, before bandaging it again. Still no infection, thank goodness. “Ain’t a thing I can do if it all goes wrong.”
Hadn’t thought of that. I turned to Miller. “You’re game, right? You’d like to bring some joy to the less fortunate, wouldn’t you?”
Miller eyed the carriage warily, then glanced in both directions along the trail. “Maybe. So long as there are no soldiers over the other side of the hill.”
I turned back to John. “Nothing will go wrong. Hold your staff in your left hand. Keep your other hand hidden in your cloak. They’ll never know you’re injured.” He watched the carriage take the corner with his lips pursed. Not an immediate no. That was good. “You could take the gold with you when you go to Rob. He’ll be less annoyed with you for going to him when he sees how happy the villagers are.”
John looked at me from the corner of his eye, a faint smile on his lips. “You’re very persuasive when you want to be.”
“Is that a yes?”
He rolled his eyes. “I guess so.”
We jogged over the top of the hill and back down the other side. From here, we had a better view of the trail in both directions and there were no soldiers lying in wait, not another soul around. Miller started to hand me his bow, a reflex from other times we’d done this. I shook my head. “I’ve got my own, remember. Anyway, I’m coming with you.”
“Like hell.” John was about as serious as I’d ever heard him.
I shrugged. “Try to stop me.” I stepped around him and ran the final few paces down the hill and onto the trail.
“I don’t like this,” John murmured, following.
There was no point in answering. I was going out on the trail with them and that was that. “You take Rob’s place. Miller and I will back you up.” It would sound far more commanding to have John demand gold, than a woman or a fourteen-year-old. “Just try to sound authoritative.”
The carriage bumped around the corner. John held up his hand and the carriage slowed. “We’re going to need some gold to let you past.”
The coachman shook his head. “We have none.”
John’s laugh was forced. “You expect us to believe that when you’re riding through the forest in a fancy carriage rather than traveling on foot like the rest of us.” He shook his head. “Hand it over.”
Miller drew his sword, the metallic echo ringing around the forest. The coachman jumped.
I took an arrow from my quiver, nocking it and pulling the string back until the fletching brushed my cheek. The coachman’s eyes widened, and he banged a hand on the carriage, sending a message to the occupant. It may have been a few months since they’d robbed anyone, but the rich still knew the stories well enough to be worried.
The door opened a sliver and an old man’s hand poked out; a coin purse gripped between his wobbling fingers. John took it, weighing it in his hand before nodding. “Thank you, milord.” John gave a low bow, then strode off the track, the gold jingling as he walked.
Miller and I followed, sprinting up the hill until we couldn’t breathe. When we finally stopped, far from the trail, John and Miller looked at each other and, in unison, let out a huge whoop. That was a rush. No wonder they’d loved doing it so much. I couldn’t stop the smile pulling at my cheeks.
“So much for keeping quiet to avoid soldiers,” I mumbled.
John picked me up and swung me around. “No soldiers nearby. It’s been too long since we did that.” He placed me back on my feet. “And don’t pretend you’re not as high as either of us. I can see the smile bursting out of you.”
It was. I giggled. “That was so much fun!”
John held up the coin pouch. “And it’ll be even more fun giving this to the villagers.” He grinned, then threw me an apologetic glance. “Sorry, you won
’t get to do that.”
I didn’t care. If they were handing out gold, they were continuing the Robin Hood legend. It was better than letting Gisborne stop us doing all the things we wanted to do.
The wait alone at Bob’s Cavern felt like forever. I told myself it would take time to talk to Rob and hand out the gold, but I couldn’t sit still. Instead, I walked around the outside of the hollow base of the tree that was Bob’s Cavern, reminding myself this was why I’d come back. I was saving Rob’s life.
It was mid-afternoon when they returned. Apparently, the villagers were ecstatic, but Rob refused to move on.
“Did you tell him what I said?” I demanded.
“It’s not that he doesn’t believe you, milady.” John shrugged. “He thinks Gisborne will find him wherever he is. He thinks his current residence offers the best chance of escaping, if it comes to that.”
“There’s no escaping. The only escape is if he’s not there.” Panic built inside me and my words spilled out on top of each other. I should have insisted I go with them. If I’d been there, I could have made Rob see how important this was, rather than him hearing it second hand.
John shook his head. “We tried. There’s nothing else we can do.”
There was. I just hadn’t thought of it yet.
Tuck didn’t turn up that afternoon, the way he was supposed to.
I asked Miller for a sword lesson to fight the boredom and niggling worry, but John quickly quashed that idea. We were too close to the trail into the village where Rob was staying—which I now knew as Oxham after Miller let it slip—and someone might hear us. We weren’t close at all, but his caution was sensible. Instead, Miller and I went fishing in the river that passed by the back of the hollow tree that would provide our shelter tonight. We even caught a trout that tasted pretty darned good when John cooked it up for dinner.
Outplayed Page 9