Sherwood Rogue

Chapter Fourteen

A light spring rain fell outside the shelter where I sat, tying up bags of silver. Robin planned to make one of his trips around to some of the outlying villages worse off than the others. He made regular visits to ensure the poorer folk kept up with their taxes, and I was helping him count money from our reserve to give out.

We hadn't filched much money lately, not since King Richard had been shipwrecked near Venice. Duke Leopold of Austria had captured him and was asking a substantial ransom for his safe return. Most of the money passing through Sherwood these days was on its way to Austria.

A man entered the shelter, giving Robin a half-salute. "A shipment of gold's going through tomorrow," said Oswald Eagle Eye. He was a Welshman who had joined two years earlier. His brother, Caleb, was in the group long before me.

Robin looked up, interested. Oswald was one of our best scouts. He wasn't called Eagle Eye for nothing. "What's it for?"

"The king's ransom."

"Then we'll leave it." Robin went back to his counting. "Richard may tax his people to death, but we won't be the cause of him remaining in the hands of his captors."

Oswald nodded and left the shelter. I sighed as I tied up another bag, then looked up to see Robin watching me.

"What?" he asked.

"I just hope the men don't get riled up." I set the bag down with the others.

"Oswald won't start anything."

"No, he wouldn't, but his brother might. Caleb's got one hard head, and since Jerod's death . . . ."

Jerod had been captured by the sheriff and hanged before we could even think about rescuing him, which had saved Robin any guilt he might have felt from refusing to go to his aid.

"They won't start anything," Robin said confidently.

"They're restless, Robin. We've made no raids in months." Years of associating with Robin made me comfortable enough to tell him what was on my mind. "I heard someone say you've gone soft."

Robin laughed. "That's why I'm taking all the pushy ones with me this time. Walking around Sherwood for a week or so ought to cool their heels a bit. It'll give them a chance to see their women, too. That's what most of them have been aching for in the first place."

We were quiet for a moment, the clinking of coins making small music in the shelter.

"I've always wondered," I said, a touch of anger returning, "why no one has ever approached me. I mean, what makes me so different from Jenny?" It was a thing that had puzzled me all winter.

Robin grinned. "Kay, you're forgetting Alexander."

"Alex was drunk."

"That didn't stop you from giving him a shave he'll never forget. The others haven't forgotten, either."

I chuckled. "No, I don't suppose they would."

I remembered the wide-eyed looks of respect I got for days after that incident. It was a rotten thing to do to a drunk man, but I couldn't help it. After I had knocked him out, the sight of his unkempt hair was too much. I had used a knife to give his hair and beard a trim. He'd come out of it looking marginally better, but my lack of barbering skills meant he had more than a little razor burn, not to mention a cold head until his hair had a chance to grow back.

But Robin hadn't answered my question. "Besides, his drunken groping was not the same as what Seward did to Jenny." I paused thoughtfully. "You know, that's the only time in four years I actually thought about going home."