"Robin McKinley - The Outlaws of Sherwood" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKinley Robin)

from him now, for the footsteps came ever closer. It sounded like two peopleтАФonly
two; and he thought wistfully of his several good arrows, but he did not move to
ready one. The footsteps were approaching with rather too much haste at the
expense of care; while they belonged obviously to woodsmen and not common
soldiers, he could follow their progress without difficulty. And they seemed to be
coming directly and deliberately toward his place of concealment.
He closed his eyes briefly, for his head swam with weariness and an urgent will to
live; and when he opened them he thought he dreamed, for he did not see two grim
kingтАЩs foresters reaching out to drag him to gaol and the hangmanтАЩs noose,
butтАФMuch and Marian, their faces pale and taut with worry.
 He stood up, not knowing what he could say, and staggered around one end of
his boulder. His head felt light, and MarianтАЩs face was surrounded by tiny bright
twinkling stars. She ran forward, heedlessly dropping her bow on the ground, and
threw her arms around him, pressing her cheek to his; her hair tickled his nose.
Much, with a sigh, laid his bow carefully against the boulder that had hidden Robin.
Another squirrel chattered somewhere close by, and the stream made small glooping
noises as it ran, as fish broke the surface to swallow water bugs and bits of leaves.
Marian said, тАЬI was so afraid we wouldnтАЩt find youтАФthat youтАЩd go straight away,
take ship for the Holy LandтАФbe sold as a slave to the SaracensтАФthat weтАЩdтАФthat
IтАЩd never see you again.тАЭ
Much said, тАЬWe heard they had some trouble planned for you todayтАФbut we
only heard this morning. тАШTwas a friend of my fatherтАЩs told him. If there had been
time we would have tried to stop you coming; but it was too late.тАЭ
Marian, unmoving, said to RobinтАЩs shoulder, тАЬI was worried today, at the fair,
long before there was any reason to worryтАФ before you were even late.тАЭ
тАЬAnd then you were late,тАЭ said Much.
тАЬAnd then you were later, and then we started looking,тАЭ Marian said, and turned
her face at last; there were tear marks on it, and Robin felt a pricking behind his own
eyes, that Marian should cry over him. тАЬThis place was my best hopeтАФand my
lastтАФthat you might think to come here and look for us.тАЭ
Robin looked around, puzzled, and then recognised what he had not thought to
look for. This was the little river where MuchтАЩs fatherтАЩs mill lay, below them where
they now stood by over a mile. But here, with its splendid boulders for playing King
of the Mountain, and a pool just upstream for pirates and leaf-sailing races, was
where Much and Marian and he had spent happy hours as young children. He
murmured, half to himself, тАЬIтАЩve been runningтАФas I thought, away, or
somewhereтАФall day. Since morning. And this is where I end: barely a league
fromтАФfrom whereтАжтАЭ
Marian stepped back, but only to put her hands on RobinтАЩs shoulders, as if she
feared that if she did not hold on to him he might still go to the Saracens.
тАЬRobinтАФhas it been so bad, since your father died?тАЭ
Robin almost smiled. тАЬNot so bad as right at present.тАЭ
But Marian would not be distracted. тАЬWhy did you never tell us? IтАФI thought
you grieved for your father, and did not wish to press you as you seemed not to
want to speak. ButтАФsomeone could have done somethingтАФmy fatherтАФor you need
not have been a forester.тАЭ
Robin shook his head. тАЬYour fatherтАФor anyone elseтАФcould have done nothing,
had I been willing to ask. Hush,тАЭ he said, as Marian opened her mouth. тАЬIt doesnтАЩt
matter. Forestry, and the making of arrows, is all I know; and you know what Will
Fletcher in Nottingham is likeтАФhe would have stood no competition, and I could