BooksBarbecue
Back Nottingham
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

A grim silence met him. “You’d be headstrong turning around then,” Little grumbled, head still down. “Along with everyone else. Those that are still here, we’re out of options.”

“You’re probably right. But with your permission, I’d like to stay and help.”

“There’s nothing to help, did you hear me?” Little pulled himself to his feet with his staff and breathed deeply. “You’ve an opportunity to see yourself right with the King. No man or woman here would pass on that. Nobody judges you for it. Not one of us would stay, not one, if we could walk away and put on a crown. You’d be first fool to give that up.”

Robin had this way about him, this disarming charm that couldn’t be taught. If Marion had smiled the way Robin smiled and spoken as confidently, she still wouldn’t have half of it. It was how Robin had earned their trust in only a month’s time. It was probably how the son of a forgotten lord in Nottingham had come to be the right hand of the King. When Robin smiled it was as if he was letting you in on a personal secret, and it made anyone feel special and wanted, and important. Robin made people feel they could be something more than they were. Not by telling them as much, but by making them feel they had earned it.

“I know, John,” he said through that smile. “But given the company, I’d rather be an outlaw than a king.”

John melted. He’d wanted to, he just needed an excuse. “There it is, then. Welcome back.”

They grabbed at each other, pounded their fists on each other’s backs, but held a little longer in quiet recognition of what had passed. Others stepped up individually to welcome Robin as well. David of Doncaster smacked Robin’s face and swore he knew he’d return. Arthur complained he’d lost a bet, but admitted to be glad of it. All the while Robin eyed Marion, but she did not rise. She folded her hands over her chest and watched, to let him know that it would not be so easy this time.

“Catch me up,” Robin sat, and suddenly there was order. The firepit was a council, and they spoke in turns and with purpose. Marion marveled at the change. They skipped what happened at Bernesdale, being still too tender, but John described in detail their flight back to the camp and the days that followed.