Page 71 of Queen of Sherwood

I nodded firmly. “We can’t know when Sutton plans on riding to Ravenshead, but we have to imagine it’s soon. Agreed?”

All the men nodded. Marian, standing over their shoulders, not wanting to get too close, made no motion of agreement. She studied us just as much as she studied the map, and it was a bit unnerving. I could never tell what sort of diabolical plots were cooking in her mind.

I had to hope she wasn’t conning us. For the sake of morale, this was a huge move for the Merry Men to take; to punish the people who have hurt us, and put a message out to the rest of Nottinghamshire that we were not to be trifled with.

John, being the strategist of the group, took the reins on developing a plan of action. He looked across the table at Robert, who had joined with Uncle Gregory in the tent once I made the decision to pursue this.

“The only reason a message would mention one path over the other is because there are two,” John pointed out, rather obviously. “Which means we’ll want to scour both of them. See if we can find what Guy is talking about.”

“The path of the Templar,” I recited.

“Indeed, little hope. What the hell does that mean?”

John glanced over to Friar Tuck for clarification.

Tuck simply shrugged. He looked dour and unsatisfied, and I understood why. We were talking about bringing down a man who had helped him in his life. He didn’t want to believe Bishop Sutton was capable of evil . . . yet we wouldn’t know the truth of it until we had him in our grasp, would we?

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Tuck mumbled.

“Because you don’t want any part of this, chaplain,” Will spat.

I put a hand on Will’s shoulder to stop him before those two could get started again.

“Regardless, both paths go north,” John continued. “The western path veers around Bestwood and Hucknall hamlets. The other goes east around Dorket Head before converging on Ravenshead. Either is just as likely to be the path taken by a carriage convoy.”

Robert said, “We can suspect Bishop Sutton to be heavily guarded, too.”

Little John nodded in agreement.

I made a quick calculation and pointed down at the map, tracing the roads. “Before Sutton can get on either route, we have to investigate them both. If we wait until he’s on the road already, it’ll be too late. We need to be preemptive.”

“What will you have us do, then, little thorn?” Will asked.

“Will, I want you going east on the Dorket Head route. See if you can find anything and come back with your findings. Go now, while you have sunlight, in case Sutton wants to make the journey this evening under cover of darkness.”

My mate pounded his fist against his chest. “I’m on it.” He turned to leave the tent.

I stopped him, saying, “Hoy. I don’t want you going alone and trying to be a hero, either, Scarlet.”

He scowled at me, but the scowl quickly turned into a wicked grin. “You know I’m no hero.”

“Good. Then take, uh, Rosco, Griff, and Jamie with you. Keep a low profile.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a wink, and exited the tent.

I glanced up at Little John across the table. “John, I want you and Robert going west to check that road. Is that all right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” John said. He was already strapping on his belt and grabbing his huge quarterstaff from where it was perched against a chair. “Loxley?”

Robert nodded. “Let’s go. Gregory?”

My uncle snorted. “This is a young man’s game, nephew.”

Robert rolled his eyes. “I’m starting to think that’s your excuse to get out of doing anything around here.”

Gregory smiled wide. “It just might be.”

I chuckled and then grew serious. “Be careful, yes? You’ve told me there are more bandits west than east, John.”

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