Child of the May Read Online Free

again his handsome face and teasing smile.
    “Eh lass! Isn’t one strong lad enough company for you?” Philippa lowered her voice, nodding behind them at Tom.
    “Huh! Tom’s fine and I love him,” said Magda. “But he does drag his leg so. Besides, he’s more of a brother to me.”
    “You weren’t there when Tom near snapped that leg in a mantrap,” said Philippa darkly. “I was. I tell you this for nothing: though Rowan is the apple of my eye, you’ll never find a braver lad than Tom – not in the whole of Yorkshire.”
    “Well,” said Magda cheekily, “aren’t we in Nottinghamshire now?”
    She ducked fast as Philippa’s hand swung close to her cheek.
    They reached the edge of Sherwood as the sun began to sink. Tom led them through secret paths to a small cave mouth.
    “They were here,” he said, dropping to his knees to sniff at a light patch of wood ash that lay within a darkened circle of burnt earth. “Yes, Robert and Muchlyn. Two days ahead.”
    Magda stared at him. “Daft lad,” she muttered.
    “If Tom tells thee so, tha’d best believe it,” John told her.
    “How?” Magda still doubted.
    “A faint smell of burning.” Tom held a pinch of ash to her nose. “That will be gone by sunrise, and see how it’s raked out in a circle with one stone dropped into the centre here – that’s Robert. And the small white pebble – that’s Much. The circle is broken here; they’ve travelled on to the south.”
    “Huh,” said Magda. “And I suppose you’ll be telling me what they ate for their supper?”
    “Venison,” said Tom. “Smoked venison.”
    “How can you tell that?”
    Tom gave a wicked laugh. “Because I smoked the meat for him myself and wrapped it up in burdock leaves. Anyway, it’s what the Hooded One always eats when he’s journeying and there’s no time to make a fresh kill.”
    They quickly got a fire kindled and settled to eat Marian’s bread and goat’s cheese.
    “I thought you’d snare us a hare or shoot a fat partridge,” said Magda, disappointed.
    “Nay,” said John. “We must leave them to raise their young in spring, then we shall eat well of them when winter comes. Besides, who’d want burnt meat when they can have fresh bread?”
    They slept in the sheltering cave wrapped in their cloaks with sweet-smelling rushes piled beneath them. In the morning they woke with the sun and ate the rest of their food. They were on the road to Nottingham by the time the sun was high in the sky.
    As the great city rose in the distance before them, the road became thronged with rumbling carts, packhorses and dust-stained travellers heading for the main northern gate.
    Magda grabbed Philippa by the arm. “Look there!” she yelled, her cheeks pink with the excitement of it all. “See the towers that soar high into the sky? Is that Nottingham Castle? How does it float up there above us? But look . . . in that fine wagon. A lady dressed in scarlet with gold on her head! Is she the Queen? She must be the Queen!”
    Philippa could only laugh. She turned to John. “Look at this lad of yours. His eyes are fair popping at the sights.”
    John could not smile. He put his hand on Magda’s shoulder. “Look and stare as much as you wish but stay close, I beg.”
    “Don’t fret so.” Magda waggled her shoulders impatiently, moving away from his protective touch.
    A horn sounded three times behind them. “Wolfpack! Wolfpack!” The cry rose all about.
    There came the sound of galloping hooves and panic spread as folk dragged their wagons and mules to the side of the road. Philippa grabbed Magda and pulled her through the scrambling crowd. The horses were moving fast. Stragglers threw themselves into the ditches as a large party of armed soldiers galloped by on huge snorting horses. They sped along the road, regardless of people still struggling to get out of their way. There were cries and screams and everyone was spattered with mud and filth.
    “Christ have mercy!”