Page 43 of Rogue of the Greenwood
A tingle of electricity ran through her. Clearly, she’d have to control her thoughts better. There were far too many other—more important—things to be considering. Meg’s future, for one. How on earth was Marianne going to rescue her now?
“You’re worrying about your cousin, aren’t you?” Robert asked.
How perceptive! Then again, she’d been silent for some time as they picked their way through the brush. It would not take a seer to assume she might be fretting about her cousin. Still, she credited him for being more sensitive than many men would be in this situation. Her uncle, for instance, was surely in a rage.
“I am worried,” she replied. “I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
“Neither do I,” he admitted. “But see there, through the trees? That’s my family’s old hunting box. We haven’t used it for years.”
She looked up the way he indicated. Yes, there, on a rise over the thickly wooded stream they’d been following, was a very large house. It had many turns and angles, and the stone walls were dark with ages of moss and vines. At once it appeared foreboding and dangerous, but at the same time it beckoned to be explored.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
His brow furrowed, and he seemed to consider the structure for the first time. “Yes, I suppose it is. Mostly, it’s built for function, to house large huntingparties. There is plenty of room for our little band of outlaws here.”
He chuckled at his words. So, he really had become Robin Hood, hiding in Sherwood. He’d told her of his friends who traveled with him, and of the family he’d found and taken in. Their name was Grover, and they were the people who’d been trying to live in that pitiful camp they’d discovered. He told her there were goats and chickens in his drawing room, too.
She’d been impressed by his compassion. Who else would have done that, provided food and lodging for strangers who could, undoubtedly, cause so much trouble for him? Robert Locksley was unlike anyone she had ever known.
“Is that the carriage house?” she said as they moved up the hill from the stream and a small building set apart from the lodge came into view.
“Yes. We’ll put Clarence in there. I don’t see the dog running around, so maybe he’s already come back and been put inside the lodge.”
“So the dog that spooked Clarence lives here with you?”
“It belongs to the Grover children.”
“And it lives with the chickens and goats inside the house, no doubt,” she said.
“But of course!” he chuckled. “Oh yes, you are in fine company here, Miss Maidland. Much better than what you’ve been used to in London, I’m sure.”
“Oh, indeed! And look at me, so well dressed for the occasion.”
She adjusted her bonnet and a bit of the brim fell off. Robert threw his head back and gave a full laugh. She laughed along with him and wondered when she’d been so genuinely amused by her time with agentleman. Clarence shook his head and huffed at them both.
They led him around the house. The wet dirt in the overgrown drive showed recent footprints and wagon ruts, but other than that the place truly appeared completely abandoned. She supposed that was the whole point; Robert was not eager to draw attention. Should anyone unwanted come by, the hope was that they would keep going.
With only the sounds of their footsteps and the rain in the trees, they led Clarence across the overgrown lawn to the carriage house. Robert glanced over his shoulder, determined they were still alone, and then pulled the heavy doors open. Inside was Mr. Muchleigh’s wagon with his team, and a fresh-looking dog cart with a horse still in harness.
“Whose the devil is this?” Robert grumbled.
“For a dead man, you certainly do a great deal of entertaining,” she noted.
He just shook his head. Obviously, the cart didn’t worry him too much, so she focused her attentions on Clarence. They brought him in and found a stall. He nickered at the two draft horses, saying good-day to his mates, apparently. It was good that they could secure him in here with other animals that he knew. Should he hear the dog start up barking, perhaps he would not panic again.
“Shall I unsaddle him and rub him down?” she asked.
He frowned at her. “You would do that?”
“I have always loved horses,” she said, then added. “And apparently mules. I kept a beautiful mare when I lived in London, but she stayed with a friend when I came back to Nottingham. I think everyone shouldknow how to tend their own animals.”
“You continue to impress me, Miss Maidland. But for now, I think we’ll leave Clarence as he is. I’m not yet certain how we will return him to his home.”
Robert was checking the other animals there. While still in full harness, it appeared they were all quietly lipping at grain poured out in mangers for them. Robert then went to the back of the wagon.
“I see Much thought to bring us some oats.”
“Oats for them now, while they are working? Papa said I should never do that,” she questioned.
