BooksBarbecue
Back Nottingham Save as PDF
Chapters (76)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. PART I
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EIGHT
  14. NINE
  15. PART II
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. PART III
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. INTERLUDE
  35. PART IV
  36. TWENTY-SEVEN
  37. TWENTY-EIGHT
  38. TWENTY-NINE
  39. THIRTY
  40. THIRTY-ONE
  41. THIRTY-TWO
  42. THIRTY-THREE
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. INTERLUDE
  45. PART V
  46. THIRTY-FIVE
  47. THIRTY-SIX
  48. THIRTY-SEVEN
  49. THIRTY-EIGHT
  50. PART VI
  51. THIRTY-NINE
  52. FORTY
  53. FORTY-ONE
  54. FORTY-TWO
  55. FORTY-THREE
  56. FORTY-FOUR
  57. FORTY-FIVE
  58. INTERLUDE
  59. PART VII
  60. FORTY-SIX
  61. FORTY-SEVEN
  62. FORTY-EIGHT
  63. FORTY-NINE
  64. FIFTY
  65. FIFTY-ONE
  66. FIFTY-TWO
  67. PART VIII
  68. FIFTY-THREE
  69. FIFTY-FOUR
  70. FIFTY-FIVE
  71. FIFTY-SIX
  72. EPILOGUE
  73. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  74. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  75. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  76. Newsletter Sign-up

Gilbert’s tone was indifferent. “I’m not like them. I’m something different, aren’t I? So I need you to know something. If you’re lying to me, I will find you again. I will cut off your eyelids and let your eyes dry in their sockets. I’ll slice your cock in half, down its length, and let it heal, only to do it again. I won’t kill you, but your life will be over, as it were. I kept a man like that for six months once. He ate his own tongue, and most of his left arm, and he thanked me for serving it to him. This is your future if you lie to me. I keep a place in the city, I have Guardsmen who owe me far more than your little life. I promise you there’s no place you’re safe from me, should I choose to want you. As it were. If you intend on bringing your captain and his men back to hunt these people down, that’s fine. I don’t care at all. I really don’t. The only thing I care about, right now, is the truth, isn’t it? Do you understand what I have said to you, yes or no?”

Bassett’s breath was dry, he turned hoarse. “Yes. Yes I do.”

“So what are you going to say about us?”

“The same as I told you before. That’s God’s truth.”

Gilbert looked down at Elena for approval, and she shrugged. There was no knowing if it would work, but one thing was certain. Bassett would tell the story to his friends.

Every gang needed a reputation.

TWENTY-SIX

GUY OF GISBOURNE

NOTTINGHAM

THE FIFTH RUNNER WAS a skinny lad in the Common Guard named George Sutton. The fifth summons in two hours, and the fifth distraction. It wasn’t George’s fault he had been sent, and he nearly tripped over his own words trying to speak. “The Sheriff demands your presence, imm-m-m-ediately,” he mumbled, fearing retribution. Guy simply thanked him. He didn’t punish people for following orders. But he had little interest at the moment in doing so himself.

The streets in Nottingham were grim and empty, and he did not like the haunted quality it gave his city. But grim and empty was what the situation called for. Nor was the city quite as barren as it seemed—Guy could feel eyes behind him. Window shutters twitched as he turned, and silhouettes in the shadows melted into walls. It was silent enough that he could hear bird calls above, but half of them seemed positively human.

Perhaps there were some in the city that feared him, and rightfully so. If they were afraid of the Nottingham Guard, then all the better they lock themselves away. The rest of the city, the goodfolk, deserved to have the streets to themselves for a while. They deserved to feel protected again.