Page 31 of Rogue of the Greenwood
“Of course! Hasn’t everyone?”
“But you haven’t heard about himlately?”
“Have people been talking about Robin Hood lately?”
He seemed shocked that she would even ask. “You’ve not heard them? Oh indeed, people are saying he’s come back!”
“Certainly not! They are saying that? But why?”
“You really have not heard? Maybe I shouldn’t tell you…”
“Oh, but you must! Now I am horribly curious. Why should people say he’s come back? Have they seen him?”
The delight of sharing forbidden information was apparently too tempting for the boy. He glanced around again, decided Clarence was trustworthy, then continued in hushed, conspiratorial tones.
“People say they’ve seen him, that he’s been giving alms to the poor and helping folks that can’t pay their taxes.”
Was this true? She was prepared to believe that Robert Locksley was hiding in the forest, and even that he was plotting some sort of scheme. But tending to the poor? Why should he do that when he could simply take his place in his own home and be able to do so much more for those in need? How very odd.
“Surely these stories can’t be true,” she said, eager to hear the boy defend them.
“Theyaretrue! I know it for a fact.”
“You’ve not seen the man, of course.”
“But I have! Oh yes, he gave me a whole lot of money, almost enough to get my Pa out of gaol!”
“Your father’s in gaol?”
“Taxes, you know. But not for much longer! Pretty soon I can pay the sheriff and my Pa will be free. Look, I’m sorry Miss Marianne, but I’ve got to go. I’m supposed to help Mr. Muchleigh with a delivery today. He’ll be looking for me. See, there he is now.”
The boy pointed excitedly toward the mill. From one of the buildings below, a wagon appeared, pulled by two sturdy draft horses. Mr. Muchleigh himself was driving the wagon. From where she stood, Marianne could see that it was partially loaded with what appeared to be blankets or perhaps a large pile of rags. An odd load from a mill, but it clearly fit the boy’s claims.
The mule flicked his ears and turned his big head toward the sounds at the mill. George Muchleigh left the driver’s bench and climbed into the back of the wagon. He was very intently checking on whatever he had been loading, although all Marianne could see was that pile of blankets. The man fluffed and arranged them carefully. Whatever he would be hauling, he didn’t want it getting damaged.
Once he seemed content with his arrangements, he called into the mill. Two men came trotting out. These were not the same two men Marianne and Meg had witnessed before. No, these appeared to be common laborers. Mr. Muchleigh pointed and spoke a few words, but Marianne could not make them out.
“See? I’ve got to go help now. It’s been very nice to meet you,” the boy said, making another awkward bow.
He was a charming lad. How was he involved in allof this? If anything the boy said could be believed, she hoped it was true that he’d be able to get his father from gaol soon. He was far too young to be left on his own, carrying the burden of paying his family’s taxes. What sort of sheriff would let that continue?
All the more reason to make sure poor Meg didn’t have to marry that man. Perhaps Marianne should take the time to speak with George Muchleigh now. If there was any hope for Meg’s future with him, Marianne needed to know. Did he love her cousin more than he hated her uncle?
“I’ll walk with you, Henry,” she said. “I may like to speak with this miller for a moment or two.”
Chapter 10
She walked along with the boy. He was oddly quiet as they approached. Mr. Muchleigh and his men worked diligently, carrying bags and boxes and various other parcels from the mill and loading them carefully onto the wagon. She could hear the distant chatter of the two laborers while they worked, but Mr. Muchleigh seemed distracted and after a moment he went back inside the mill.
“I tell you, it’s got to be true, what everyone’s saying,” the one man called to the other.
Marianne couldn’t make out what he said next, but the other fellow merely laughed at him. “You great looby. Get up here and lend a hand.”
They bantered a bit, pausing in their work, and it seemed the first man was determined to tell the other his story. Marianne craned her ears but could only catch a few words here and there.
“Two strangers giving out money...”
“M’ cousin swears it’s the honest truth…”
