Robyn and the Hoodettes Read Free Page B

Joan roared at them, “Or you’ll feel the
force of my weapon on your softest parts.”
    Wounded and miserable, the men rose on unsteady feet and
climbed aboard the front of the carriage.
    “ Did I get them all?” Joan asked. Her face split with a grin
that shone in the dim light.
    “ There’s one more up the back, I got him with this.” Robyn held
Marion’s hammer. A hammer that felt so much heavier now that the
excitement had worn off. “He doesn’t look too steady. We might need
to load him in.”
    They walked to the wounded man and rolled him over. He
refunded his stomach, blerking diced parsnips onto the road. Robyn
pulled his boots off to take for herself. They were far too big for
her feet, but she could cram some wool into the toes when she
reached home.
    Together she and Joan carried the messy man to the front
carriage and made the rest of the crew haul him aboard. He
regurgitated again, filling the air with acrid smells.
    “ He’s your problem now,” Joan said.
    Shadow finally moved off the road and nibbled at a clump of
grass. As if she knew her work was done. Robyn and Joan walked to
the horses at the front of the carriage and checked their harnesses
were tied. All good, according to Joan, who then gave the closest
one a good slap on the rump.
    “ Giddyup!”
    Unlike Shadow, these horses knew when it was time to push off.
Soon the horses, the defeated men and their carriage trundled off
down the King’s Road and into the night.
    Leaving Joan, Robyn and Shadow with a carriage to haul back to
the village.
    “ We did it!” Joan held her hand aloft for a high five. Robyn
had to jump to reach it.
    “ We got our answer,” Robyn said as they strolled towards the
horseless wagon. When the fight was on, there had been no time for
the luxury of reflection. Now there was far too much time for guilt
to settle in.
    Joan stalled. “What was the question?”
    Regret twisted Robyn’s stomach. “They’re definitely the Sheriff’s
men. Proper thieves would have fought harder.”
    “ Thanks a lot!”
    “ You know what I mean,” Robyn said as she encouraged Shadow
towards the carriage so they could strap her in for their return
trip. “They were good and proper tax collectors, and now we’re in a
whole world of trouble.”

     
     
     
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    The darkness made it difficult to see anything other than vague shapes. If not
for Shadow guiding them along, Robyn would have stumbled off into
the shrubbery. When they made it back to Loxley, they found a
bonfire burning in the middle of the green and just about everyone
from the village standing around it.
    “ Robyn?” Mother Eleanor stood up and peered towards them.
“Robyn!” Her mother charged towards her, crying out, “You’re here,
you’re safe!” Eleanor smothered Robyn in a fierce hug and didn’t
let go.
    “ What’s going on?” Robyn managed to squeeze out.
    “ You’re alive! I thought they’d taken you!” Eleanor splattered
Robyn’s face with wet kisses.
    “ I’m fine, Mother, relax. I owe it all to Shadow
here.”
    Eleanor took a step back and noticed the horse. Uh-oh. Time
for some sweet talk. “She followed me home. Can I keep
her?”
    “ Oh, Robyn . . . I don’t know. We can’t bring a horse into the
cottage. For starters, where would we put the cow?”
    The animals, including a cow, three goats and an ever-changing
number of chickens, lived on the lower level. Robyn and her mother
had their straw bed in the alcove above.
    “ But she saved me. Twice. Once in the village when we escaped
and the second time on the King’s Road.”
    But Robyn dear, she must be a noble horse–” Eleanor suddenly
noticed Joan. “Oh my!”
    Joan stepped forward and pulled her hood back to reveal her
smiling face.
    “ It’s you, Joan.” Eleanor patted her palm to her chest. “I
didn’t recognize you with that hood on. Come here then and give me
a hug.”
    While Eleanor and Joan embraced, the rest of the villagers
crowded