Elena helped Alan drag a particularly large sack. “I’m already tired,” he complained. “I can’t believe I used to pull grain all day. We should walk up to the guards and ask them to help.”

They heaved the sack onto the wagon. It was almost full, groaning with each new crate. Elena wondered whether they should heave off while they could. If they broke the axle on the way back to the Sherwood …

The tiniest squeak from far away.

Elena froze. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

The sky was warming, and in the quiet it came again, just a morning lark chirping its first song as the stars slowly disappeared.

“Nothing. Just keep an ear out for the signal from Much.”

He would have given a long, trilling whistle, not a quick chirp, if he’d seen any signs of trouble. But they’d been inside half the time, or talking. Might not have heard him.

“Don’t worry.” John plopped down an armful of horse blankets. “He can see everything from the treeline. Just keep moving.”

The minutes slipped by as they carried and rolled and dragged the last goods they could. Every now and then, John would crack the door and peek out. The gords at the fire were only talking amongst themselves or sleeping. Whenever possible, Elena snuck a kiss from Will as their paths crossed, to the point where they almost laughed and dropped their bounty. Tuck waddled back in with a devil’s grin, a small cask under each arm and a red stain down his beard.

“Was there ale in there?” John asked, and Tuck answered with a flourish of his eyebrows. John elbowed him eagerly, and the friar hurried back for more. The wagon complained terribly about its weight, and Elena eyed it with each added strain, thinking about how much more they would add to it with their bodies, particularly John.

“Will’s a lucky man,” John Little said importantly to her, while they both took a moment to catch their breath at a table full of leather harnesses.

“Why’s that?” she asked.

“Don’t ever let him take you for granted, Lena. What I wouldn’t have given for a girl like you.” John winked, his wide face smiling deeply. “Don’t mistake me now. You know I loved Marley with all my heart, God rest her soul. But she was ever a wife, and that’s what she cared about. It’s better she’s gone. She wouldn’t have fared too well with what we’re doing here. But to have a woman like you, who’s willing to go on robberies and fight with you back to back, a girl who’ll put a sword to the throat of the man who insults you … now that’s love.”

For the second time, Elena’s heart skipped at a noise from outside.

Voices and horses.