“I had nothing to do with it! I were right in the middle of telling her off and she kissed me,” I grumped.
“Thought all you girls liked to be insulted,” John told me, pinching my side.
I hit his arm. “Don’t touch me, and don’t lump me with that kind. She said everyone heard ’bout Freddy, Rob. If townspeople are talking, things are going to get worse.”
He looked at me, still smiling. “For us, maybe a little. But when they talk to each other about us, they’re passing on hope, Scar. The girls love you because you give them their hope back.”
I spat on the ground. “And if they ever knew it were a girl giving them hope back, they’d hiss at me on the way past.”
“Some of them know,” Rob reminded.
“Only them in no position to be judging.”
Rob shrugged. “None of us are in a position to judge anyone unkindly.”
“I’ll not put that to the test, thank you.”
“Good,” John said with a broad grin. “Because then what would Much and I do for amusement?”
He slung his arm around my neck, and I pulled away. “Wait, do you smell that?”
John lifted his shirt to his nose and sniffed it, but I took a deep breath.
“Smoke,” Rob said.
“Something’s on fire,” I agreed.
I set off running and the boys followed, heading up the crest to higher land toward Major Oak. When we breached the ridge, we could see it, even from far away. Smoke were starting to curl through the trees, blurring out the orange tongues that were lapping up our hideout.
They set Major Oak on fire.
We stood frozen to the spot, and it were then that arms came around my back. “We’ve been waiting for you lot,” a voice growled in my ear.
I didn’t hesitate. I slammed my foot down hard on his foot and drew my knives, twisting behind me to wedge them both in his stomach. “If you’re going to hold a thief, you might want to try the arms,” I snapped, pushing him off me. I felt hot blood on my hands and saw him fall down the ridge, sliding into a pile of leaves. He were dead, I reckoned, and it turned my blood to ice.
“Gisbourne!” one cried, hollering loud as possible. Gisbourne were close, then, hunting for us in the forest. I turned to see three men on Rob, and I felt the sting of insult. Honestly, I were just as much a threat as him. Why did I only get one?
One grabbed Rob round the neck while the other two came at him, and I skittered into action. I slid to my knees and cut the heel on one of Rob’s attackers. He fell to his knees, howling. Rob had his sword out, his bow strapped ’cross his chest, and he pushed off the two men, fighting them back.
I looked to John, who were getting punched in the face, but Much took my attention. Someone punched him down and got out a knife, the blade wicked and long and closer to his chest than I were fair happy with.
“John, duck!” I called. He took a punch and obeyed me, ducking down long enough for me to step on his back. He started to stand as I launched off, and I flipped in the air to bring my feet down hard on Much’s attacker. I threw him to the side, and his blade grazed my leg but I weren’t bothered. His head hit the ground hard, and I didn’t ’spect him to get up anytime soon. I held my hand out to Much, and he pulled himself up.
“Scar!” he said, pointing behind me.
“Hold on,” I told him, holding his good arm tight and turning us both around. I gripped his arm and jumped, kicking the guard’s chest and snapping my foot across his face. Much held on and pulled me back so I didn’t fall as the guard dropped.
I let go of Much and went back to Robin, charging into a guard from behind and pushing him to the ground. He were quick and threw me off his back, scrabbling on top of me before I could get up. I kicked sharp between his legs, but my knee met with some kind of armored codpiece.
He chuckled, and a thread of panic shot through my body. One of his hands pinned my arm back and the other pressed my chest to the ground. My fingers searched out a knife on my hip as his hand on my chest moved around too much for my liking.
His eyes narrowed as he pinched my bits. I caught a knife with my free hand and hit the hilt into the side of his head where the helmet didn’t cover.
He fell deadweight on top of me, and I shook a little as I tried to push him off. Rob threw him off and John caught my hand, pulling me up against him. He caught my waist, keeping me there. “You all right, Scar?”
I nodded.
“Let’s get to the cave. Scar, take the high road and be a lookout,” Rob told me.
“Rob,” I said, pulling away from John. “Rob, please tell me you and John took the chest to the cave.”
“What?” His head whipped toward the tree, and every muscle he had jumped forward.
“Please tell me you didn’t just leave it sitting by the oak.”
“Of course we didn’t,” John said. He lifted his shoulders and his jaw were tight. “I kind of put some leaves around it.”
Robin swore.
“You lot stay here,” I ordered. “I’ll see if they nicked the chest.” I jumped fast into an old pine tree. I scaled it quick and began running through the crisscross of branches, going toward the thickest bit of the smoke. Major Oak were hidden just beyond.
Close to it, I dropped to the ground. The tree were most ember and smoke now, and there weren’t any guards or Gisbourne’s men. The smoke stung my eyes like a whip and I covered my mouth with my sleeve, coughing hard. I went by our little fire pit, and my stomach wrung out like the washing. The chest—and everything in it—the baubles and riches that were to buy a bare slice of time for the people of Nottinghamshire—were gone.
I climbed back into the trees. My arms felt heavier now, and climbing were fair hard, but I made it back to the lads and whistled.
They looked up, and I shook my head, pointing them on to the cave. I stayed high, watching over the lads as they ran on the ground. The smoke were getting thicker, like it were chasing after me, and it were harder to run ’cross the branches. One snapped beneath me and I lurched forward to grab the next trunk. I looked down, my heart drumming in my chest.
Pushing my cheek against the bark and holding tight, I waited for the boys to catch up before moving ahead.
I whistled twice for the boys to hide as more of Gisbourne’s men came plowing through, and we all met at the cave without running into more trouble, going in and all the way to the back.
“Best for us not to light a fire tonight,” Rob told us. “Who’s injured?”