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My eyes bulged.
Gregory walked slowly toward a fire, squatting to run his palms in front of it. Night had fallen, and the sky was a light purple hue, with clouds coming in from the north.
“I didn’t feel it was my place to tell Robert about you, lass, or about the circumstances leading to your parents’ disappearance.”
“But Robert is their son.”
“Aye. A son I believed to be dead, returned from a brutal war. Still trustworthy? Or under the control of England’s crown?” Gregory glanced over his shoulder and shot Robert a guilty, sorrowful look.
When I followed his eyes to my brother, I saw Robert also shared the same torn expression. There wasn’t resentment or anger there, like they would see in my own eyes if they stared for too long. There was mutual understanding.
Gregory sighed, continuing while he stared into the crackling flames. “I didn’t tell you about Robert being alive, just like I didn’t tell him about you being alive, dear niece.”
I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Why wouldn’t he tell us about each other?
He just told me he didn’t immediately trust Robert when he appeared. Gregory had always been a superstitious fellow, after all, believing in Wulfric the healer and unorthodox means. So perhaps he thought Robert was a ghost, or an apparition of his mind going mad?
It was hard to believe that was all there was to it.
“As much as you might hate me for making this hard on you two,” he said, finally staring over his shoulder at us. “I don’t regret my decision. To this day, I’ve felt you should be the ones to explain yourselves to each other. These were the hardest secrets I’ve ever had to keep. I did it—at least in my mind—to try and keep you safe.”
He stood, marching toward me. Looking me up and down. Little John squeezed closer to me in a protective stance. I recalled our conversation from the night Gregory left, after the horrors of Loxley.
“Where will you go?” I asked.
And he replied, “I’ve had my hand in a few hats over the years. I have places to go—places I’d rather not say—to keep me well-hidden and protected.”
This was where he was talking about. The Oak Boys. Robert’s commonwealth.
“Robin,” he said, staring deep into my eyes, “there were too many pressing matters at the time to tell you about Robert. If you recall. I felt if I added one more thing to your plate, it would shatter you.”
I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my composure. I spat through them, “I deserved to make that decision myself, Uncle.”
He sighed. “Aye. That was my mistake, I suppose. Like I said, I don’t regret it.” A fond, crooked smile returned to his features, and he stretched his arms out. “Now look at us!”
“Arguing with each other, ready to rip each other’s throats out?”
A few of the Oak Boys snickered at that comment. It helped dilute the punch of my words, and only made Uncle Gregory smile wider. “A family reunited!”
The Oak Boys cheered.
“And you, Robert,” he said, putting both hands on the taller lad’s shoulders. “I didn’t have the heart to tell you about Robin’s experience—not even through these last few months together. I am sorry. She deserved to be the one to tell you what happened.”
My breath skipped a beat in my throat, dropping my heart to my stomach. Abruptly, I felt scared—worried I would chase away Robert only after just finding him again. Not because of my words, but because of what I’d done.
“Not here,” I said, shaking my head.
“Robin . . .” Robert croaked.
I took his hand and pulled him away from the fire. Away from the Oak Boys watching us intently. I couldn’t make a public announcement with the words I had to say to him. We both deserved better than that.
It was only when we had walked out of the glade to the trickling river nearby that I felt Little John’s huge, looming presence behind me.
“He gets to stay, but not my people?” Robert said.
“I’m sorry, little hope,” John answered back when I looked up at him, “but I’m not leaving you alone here. It’s nothing personal, Robert of Loxley. I don’t know you or these people. Where she goes, I go.”
I nodded firmly. “That’s right. This is my story to tell, brother. Little John already knows it, because he was there.” I emphasized the last word a little too harshly, and noticed the wince from my brother.
