Page 59 of Robin and Marian
“And get all the fun? I think not.” She squeezed Midge’s shoulder. “Enjoy the sun, Guy. We’ll see you tonight.”
“No, no.” Guy stood up with a low laugh. “I’ll come. This is my chance to teach you to ride. I won’t have you losing your horse again.”
“I wasn’t taking a horse.”
“No? But we could find the best boughs that way.” This was said with a look at Midge, who had grown stiff at the suggestion. Marian felt off-balance. It was a chance to lure Guy from the house. She still didn’t trust Robin to stay away from that safe, but this way Guy wouldn’t be there to catch him. It was like this was meant to be. “Where will you look for boughs?” Guy asked.
Midge pointed to the mouth of Sherwood Forest.
“Excellent,” Guy said. “I’ll get your horses and join you there.” He was off in a flash, calling out orders to more servants that came from hidden places. Where had they been when Midge had needed help?
Turning to the boy, she lowered herself down to meet his eyes. “Midge, I need you to give Robin a message.”
“Guy has kidnapped you?”
He was too smart. “No, tell him that I distracted Guy for about two hours and now Robin should know what to do.”
The boy’s face cleared of all suspicion and a gleeful look took its place. “Are we going to look for clues?”
In a way.“Yes,” she said. “Tell him to be careful. There are servants all over this place.”
“Oh!” Midge laughed. “I’ve got them.”
That would leave her alone with Guy, and with Midge’s sudden disappearance, Guy just might think she’d arranged it that way. But it was more important to keep Robin in the clear. “Can you really distract them?”
“I do it all the time!”
Her heart fell. “Okay,” she said. “Do what you have to do.”
Midge let out a whoop of excitement and bounded away, but not before turning and shouting back at her, “Be sure to bring back piles of those! You’ll get a dollar each!”
“All right, thank you!” she yelled back.This should be interesting.
Straightening her shoulders, she traveled through the tall grass to where she’d meet Guy. Just like before, she wasn’t dressed for riding, now with her flip flops and beach bag. The birds chirped through the trees, singing sassy little melodies at the mouth of the forest. Belatedly, she remembered that Sherwood no longer belonged to Richard, but to John. And it was all because of Robin. Now he was putting his freedom on the line to get those jewels back. How much could he get away with before Guy made him pay?
She turned to the work of snapping off greenery from the trees, and sometime later, Guy joined her, riding his horse and leading a chestnut bay beside him. He’d changed into a light blue pullover and tan riding pants. He did nothing halfway. “Where’d my uncle go?” he asked, not sounding disappointed at all to find him missing.
“He found something more interesting to take his time,” Marian answered. Just as she’d feared, his eyes narrowed perceptively, and she tried to banish any thought that she was trying to get him alone. “Maybe he’ll come back soon.”
“I hope not,” he said, and slid off his horse. He handed her a riding helmet and gloves. “I finally get you to myself and I’m not going to blow it this time.”
She bit back any retorts. This was about buying Robin more time, not defining their relationship. He slid the helmet onto her head and watched her closely. She couldn’t afford for this to end with him storming back to his study where he’d catch Robin red-handed. And so she put on the gloves and clamped her mouth shut.
Taking the reins of the horse, she felt reluctant for a lot of reasons. Seeming to sense her hesitancy, Guy took her by the hand to guide her onto the chestnut bay. His hand rested on her waist and lingered there for too long as he settled her onto the saddle. Teaching her to ride allowed him a lot of liberties, and she tried not to slap away his hands until she was safely in her seat and they were winding their way through Sherwood Forest.
As they traveled deeper into the woods, she saw this was not where she had been before, and for the first time she realized the enormity of the property. After about fifteen minutes, they stopped near a meadow next to a stream. No doubt it was the head of the one where she had almost lost Robin in Guy’s dangerous prank against them. He dropped from his horse. Too late, she realized she should’ve gotten off before he could reach her, but once again, his hands were all over her as he helped her down.
She slid into his arms, and he held her close a moment before setting her on her feet. “See? I’m not so bad,” he said.
Stepping back, she tried to gain her footing, not knowing how to answer. “This seems quite a ways to go for tree boughs.”
“You like it? The flowers here are especially vibrant—I like the Spring Beauty.” The man knew his flowers. He plucked one from the ground—this one was white striped with purple. He slipped it into her hair, his fingers trailing down the length of it. “You’re a nymph of the forest,” he said, breathlessly—in fact, he was only a breath away, and she felt the warmth of it against her cheek. Marian reached up, pretending to rearrange it in her hair to give herself some room, though he stepped closer to make up for it.
“There is a tradition behind the Spring Beauty,” he said.
“There is?”
“No.” He laughed and his hand went back to her hair. “But it’s as good an excuse as any to touch you.”
