“Best you leave some men here,” said John as he stood up.
“Aye,” agreed Robert. “They cannot see well from the walls, but if there is no sight of a shadow near the fires now and again, that could rouse some suspicion. We do not want anyone alerted.”
“Does Pickney know this way out, this bolthole?”
“Nay, Thayer. I never told him. Oh, the men-at-arms are in the dungeons. That is where the entrance to the bolthole lies. They will need weapons. We set Wee Tom there to be sure no one came down and set up an outcry.”
Nodding, Thayer strode out of the tent, the rest hurrying after him. He left Roger standing with Robert and John as he issued orders and made preparations. While he felt Robert was sincere in his wish to help, he did not trust his cousin to have the strength to persevere. Robert had grasped a thread of courage for the first time in his life, and Thayer intended to take full advantage of it before Robert lost his grip on it.
Seeing how Robert never took his gaze from Thayer, Roger asked, “Why do you stare at him so?”
“I am not thinking of how to betray him, if that is what you think,” Robert snapped.
“It did occur to me. You have been deep in it for a long time.”
“What I have been deep in is my uncle’s plots and unable to pull myself out. Now that I have taken the first step, I have seen that he forged my chains years ago. He even said as much, but I was too drunk when I heard it to fully grasp it. He had trained me since I was a babe to be just as I am—a weakling. He wanted no argument from me and he never got one.
“Nay, I stare at my cousin bewildered as to why Gytha seems so taken with him. She is, you know.”
“Aye, I know.”
“She is so beautiful, a woman the troubadours sing of. Yet she holds loyal to Thayer. He is a man of battle, a warrior wild and deadly. Yet Gytha…” He shook his head. “They should not be so firmly mated, yet I feel they are.”
“They are, so you had best cast aside all your dreams of her.”
“Oh, I have.”
“Good, for if you think your cousin is wild in battle, you should see him when caught in the grip of jealousy.”
“I should rather not, thank you.”
“That is wise of you, boy,” muttered John. “Best gird what loins you have, for it looks as if the Red Devil is ready to leave.”
“Look, John,” Robert began, angry over the not so subtle insults the man kept hurling at him.
Thayer stopped in front of Robert. “You can bicker with him later. We leave now. Show us the way in and, mind you, if a trap awaits, you will die with us.” He watched Robert nod, then stride off towards the wood. “Can he have changed?” he asked Roger as they followed Robert and John.
“Aye, I think he can. He adores your wife, Thayer. So much so that, rather than see her hurt, he will give her back to you.”
“And find the courage to act against the man he has cowered before for years?”
“Aye, that too. The question is—what do you do to him, and that fellow John with his friend Henry, after all this is over?”
“Most men would hang them.”
“True. Most men would.”
“I cannot, I fear—not if they truly help me gain Gytha back safely. How can I punish Robert for being the weak fool his uncle twisted him into? And this John and his friend? He faced me square, spoke honestly. He truly believes stealing brides and murder is the way of the gentry. Yet, he has some sense of right as he put it. No harm to women and babes. I will owe him Gytha’s life. How can I punish him even if he did bring her here?”
“Aye, you are presented with a puzzle. I say leave them be. There are two rogues who will surely think twice ere they do anything again that even hints of wrong, no matter what the coin.”
“True.” He stepped up next to Robert when his cousin halted before a large tree. “Here?”
Cautiously he followed Robert, using a covered lantern Merlion handed him. Thayer cursed in surprise when he saw the hatch door. Although he hesitated a moment, seeing what a perfect trap could be awaiting him, he followed Robert into the dark hole.
Robert’s squeak of fright came too late to warn Thayer that his cousin had halted. Looking ahead of Robert, Thayer almost laughed. The faint light from the lantern he still carried revealed it was Wee Tom’s bulk which filled the opening at the end. Poor Robert had nearly crawled into the sword Tom held.
“So, you did come back.” Wee Tom easily tugged Robert out of the tunnel, stood up, and set the slight young man on his feet. “Began to think you had just run off. M’lord,” he greeted Thayer in relief.
