"Clayton Emery - Robin Hood's Treasure" - читать интересную книгу автора (Emery Clayton)

Robin Hood's Treasure
a Robin Hood & Marian Mystery
by Clayton Emery

"-- almost defiled me! The indignity of it! The nerve! Burned my barn and
my castle! Laid hands on me! And stole -- stole -- the last of the money
I'd planned for my old age! A pittance to you, no doubt, good Sheriff,
but the only bulwark I had against the cold and the wolves of the forest!
And now it's gone! I say to you, I demand of you, what are you going to
do about it! What? Tell me!"
"Good lady, I --"
"You don't care! Why should you? You have money! You have wealth!
You have silver enough and gold too to last the winter! What care you?
Eh? Tell me!"
"Good lady, we --"
"Oh, it's all very well to talk! That's all you men ever do! Here I am,
practically naked as a virgin before the world, and you can only boast of
catching these ruffians and bringing them to justice! But any real help?
No! Where am I to get it? Needs I take myself to the forest and beg
help from some scurrilous outlaw? He's a friend of the poor and the sick
and elderly and the widowed! He's not sitting here in a silver chain
swilling wine while --"
"Madame, I'll get your money back!"
Nicholas, High Sheriff of Nottingham, was reminded of that Greek king
who could never eat his meals for the harpy women who swooped from
the skies and shit on his plate. Even his wine tasted sour. The Lady
Amabillia, formerly of Three Oaks above Derby (Would she sell her land
cheaply, he wondered?) hung over him like a gallows tree, alternately
wringing her scrawny hands or sketching in the air the horrors she had
suffered. Her sleeves brushed against his forehead time and again, no
matter how far back he leaned. The Blue Boar's patrons peeked and
chuckled. The lady's sleeve dipped in the mustard sauce on his plate,
then striped across his forehead. Nicholas clambered to his feet and
upset the table. His breakfast, barely begun, landed on the floor.
"Will you, good Sheriff, will you?" Lady Amabillia cried with joy. Her
hands hooked as if to caress his cheeks. He jerked back and tripped
over his stool. "Yes, m'lady, yes, I will. I'll have your gold back by
tomorrow."
"Will you start right now? Right away? Now?"
She swayed back enough that the sheriff could scuttle upright. A boy
had come to clean the mess. He held up the sheriff's slice of mutton. It
was speckled with straw and dirt and dried dog shit. "Will you take this
with you, milord?"
The sheriff's hands shook as he fumbled out a silver penny and threw it
at the boy. He scampered for the door with the widow right behind.
Out in the sunshine his men snapped to attention. One let go a
milkmaid's waist. One lobbed a tankard behind a tree. Three got up
from dicing in the dust. They tightened cinches and untwisted reins.
The sheriff squinted in the light. Nicholas of Nottingham was a short man
with flat black hair and beard. He was dressed in a silver-chased