My Unfair Godmother(79)

Hudson whispered into my ear, “Tell Robin Hood you don’t want anyone going through your supplies while you’re saying good-bye to me. Emphasize that. Then they’ll be so busy going through your supplies they won’t worry about coming after you for a while.” He let go of me, and I instantly missed his arms, the security they’d given me.

I was hopeless, really. One minute I was planning on flaunting famous friends in front of Hudson; the next, I missed his arms around me.

New moral of the story: Crushes make no sense.

“We need a horse,” I told him. “I’ll try to get one.” Hudson had just told me about the power of greed. I might as well use some of it to my benefit. I handed Hudson the book to hold and headed over to Robin Hood.

He stood next to a horse, tying a blanket onto the saddle. When I reached him, he doffed his hat in my direction. “My Lady Tansy?” I stepped close to him and lowered my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I’m going to walk a little ways into the forest with Hudson. I 241/356

want some privacy to …” I let the sentence dangle. “Well, you know how it is when those who are courting have to part.” It amazed me, really, how well I could bend sentences into lies without ever actually lying. “Can you make sure your men don’t go through our supplies?” I glanced in the direction my family had gone. “And if my time with Hudson takes a while and I’m not here when my family returns, will you tell them not to worry because I’ll be back.” This was not a lie. I would be back eventually.

Robin Hood put his cap back on his head. “Little John was not telling tales then? You’re in love with that knave?”

“What?” I hadn’t expected Robin Hood to ask this, and I didn’t know what to say.

Robin Hood noticed my hesitation and raised an eyebrow. “My lady does not answer. She is perhaps reflecting on the way she kissed me in yonder twenty-first-century store. She has feelings for me.” I felt my cheeks grow warm. “You were holding me up at sword-point.”

He stepped closer and gave me a rakish smile. “You wished me to your bedchamber and begged me not to leave it. Now fate has brought us together again. Are you certain you want to send off that sop of a fellow with anything more than a maidenly wave of your hand?”

“I’m sure, and if I could ask you for one more thing—” Robin Hood took hold of my arm. “Judge for yourself, Lady Tansy. The man is not trustworthy.” He glanced at Hudson again and pursed his lips. “He’ll toy with a maiden’s affections, then leave her with naught. I can tell.”

I bet he could. He had probably done it enough times himself. I pulled my arm away from him. “You told me yourself you weren’t ready to stand up with a woman.” I’d had no idea what the phrase meant when he said it, so I’d looked it up on the Internet. It meant he 242/356

didn’t want to stand up in front of a priest for a wedding. Like that’s why I’d wished for Robin Hood to come—no one in my own century would marry me.

He gave me a dazzling smile. “True, but your fair fingers not only change wood into gold but a man’s heart into fire.” No doubt it was the gold part that interested him.

Robin Hood held his hands out, palms up. “Who better than I to keep you out of King John’s grasp? I’ve eluded him for years. Don’t bother kissing that fellow farewell. Kiss me hello instead.” He put his arms on my shoulders and I worried that he was going to lean down and kiss me in front of everyone—in front of Hudson.

I stepped backward, smiling. “I’ll consider your words if you consider mine. Little John offered to ride Hudson partway to the village.

If you can spare the horse for a trip to the road, then certainly you can let Hudson take it for a little longer to ride to the village.” I gestured to a pile of medium-sized rocks on the ground. “If you do, I’ll change those into gold for you.”

Robin Hood’s blue eyes flickered over the rocks, calculating their potential wealth. The greed was taking hold.

“We have a shovel over there.” I pointed at our supplies. “If you can’t carry all of the gold now, you can bury some and come back later for it.”

He didn’t answer, so I stepped closer, putting my hand on his arm. “Please?”

Robin Hood’s lips twitched. I could tell he didn’t want to grant my request but couldn’t help himself. “I suppose we can spare one horse.” He turned and made a quick inventory of the horses, then called for Will to bring over a brown mare. “But you’ll need to change the extra wood as well.”