Page 4 of Rogue of the Greenwood
“I say, here’s a whole shilling!” Will Redding declared with great cheer. “I suppose I could be parted from it.”
As if suddenly happening upon a church poor-box, the men gathered what they could and passed it to Robert who added a few coins of his own. He held the haul out to the first boy who blinked wide eyes, speechless at their actions.
“Here,” Robert encouraged. “Take it. I daresay you and your lot need this a sight more than we do.”
The boy glanced at his friends. His companion with the second rusted pistol let it drop from his hand. They exchanged nervous—but hopeful—looks. After a moment, the others shrugged, and the first boy reached out to take what was offered.
“I thank you, sir,” he said in a quavering voice. “You’ve no idea how this will help.”
“I hope so, lads,” Robert replied. “But may I suggest you use it toward the purchase of a new pistol? If you’re going to continue with this line of work, that is. You might need one that hasn’t got the hammer frozen in place when the time comes that you actually need to fire it.”
The boy’s face went ashen. “Oh, no sir! None of us would ever shoot anyone! This is just… just because we don’t know what else to do! See, my Ma’s sick, and myfriend here… his little sister is, too. They need medicines and, well… we can’t afford what the new doctor charges.”
“New doctor? What happened to Mr. Greene?”
“Oh, but he’s got himself locked up in gaol, sir.”
“In gaol? What on earth did he do?”
The boys shared nervous glances again. “He was treating people who hadn’t paid the local tax, sir.”
Robert wasn’t sure he had heard correctly. “Local tax?”
“Right, sir,” the boy said. “I gather you aren’t from here. The sheriff makes everyone pay, or they can’t buy or sell or earn a living here! And if anyone helps them, then they go to gaol for it.”
“Or worse,” one of the others injected.
Worse?What penalty could a simple sheriff inflict that might be worse than going to gaol? Robert glanced at his friends in the carriage. Their expressions showed the same darkening fury that he felt. He’d never heard of such a thing as imprisoning a doctor for helping the sick. Just what was going on here in Nottingham?
The would-be bandits shuffled nervously in the road. Robert realized it was unwise to keep them here, even though he’d very much like to get more information from them. The young men ought to be on their way, as should Robert and his party.
“I’m very sorry for your troubles,” he said simply. “I hope what we’ve been able to give you somehow lessens the burden. Now go, get back to your homes and consider abandoning this particular profession.”
“You’re not very good at it!” Alan called out.
Robert’s friends laughed heartily. Their would-be assailants mumbled words of shamed thanks, thenslunk back into the forest that they had come from. It was unlikely the paltry sum Robert and his friends had been able to give them would assuage the ravages of poverty for long, but he hoped somehow the boys would give up their delinquency. Surely things weren’t as bad as they claimed. More than ever, Robert was eager to reach home and retire in peace.
He called out to make certain their driver was well, and once assured, they were back on their way again.
“It would seem Nottingham’s got quite a sheriff,” John noted. “Doesn’t sound much like the paradise you described.”
“I never said it was paradise,” Robert replied. “But it’s home, and I don’t recall local taxes being such a burden.”
“Burden enough to send decent boys out to rob carriages,” Will noted. “Is that usual here?”
“No, it isn’t.”
John glanced out the window as if expecting more outlaws. “Perhaps we might want to look into things, find out just what’s been going on, just how bad things have become.”
Robert wasn’t ready to take on more trouble. He shook his head, dismissing his companion’s concern.
“The country’s been at war, John. We may have been gone for a while, but it’s only natural to expect there were hardships at home. Now that the Little Emperor has finally been vanquished and Wellington has established peace, I’m sure things will return to normal in England. Nottingham will go back to the way it was.”
“I don’t know,” John said with a frown. “I’ve not often heard of taxes easing up once someone has put them in place. When men come into power, they don’tlike to relinquish it. If this sheriff has such a hold on things here—”
“It’s nothing to me… to us,” Robert assured.
“Perhaps not.” Will joined the conversation. “But it certainly seems something to those boys we encountered.”
