"Trouble!" Much warned Robin, shadowing his master as the two headed toward Acre's marketplace. "Why do you always, always do this?"
"Do what?"
"Seek out Trouble! As if we didn't already have enough troubling us, here in this fly-infested, spider-dwelling, hotter than You-know-Where sandpit, filled with Saracens who want to KILL us! But oh, no! Not you! One little lull in the fighting, and you have to-"
"Acre's not such a bad place! There's a remarkable sewage system here, Much."
"WHAT?"
"A sewage system...a method to dispose of human waste. Did you know there are tunnels under the city, to wash out sewage and dispose of it far out to sea, cutting down on disease and making everything cleaner? We should learn from the Saracens, Much, and implement some of their inventions, when we go home. In fact, I intend to learn their language while we're here, so I can-"
"Learn their...! Unbelievable! They're our enemy, Robin! They want us DEAD! And you talk about sewage systems, and having conversations with them! What's next? Reading their Bible?"
"How did you guess?"
"Wha- wha- what? Unbelievable!"
"I need to understand what it is we're fighting, Much."
Robin's pleasant, carefree attitude changed with those words, turning to appealing sincerity, tinged with sadness. Seeing the change, Much softened, and began sympathizing with his friend.
"Well, alright," he conceded. "But that still doesn't change you looking for Trouble today!"
Grinning, Robin chuckled, "I don't go looking for trouble, Much. Trouble has a way of finding me."
"Please!"
Reaching the marketplace, Much was distracted by the sights, scents, and sounds, to stop his endless warnings, giving Robin a chance to think. Trouble wouldn't be found in Acre's marketplace, he believed, but later this evening, when he obeyed Queen Berengaria's plea to speak with Johanna about her attentions to Raymond of Toulouse, a newly arrived Crusader. The Queen knew Raymond to be a vicious man, an enemy of her brother Sancho, and no good for Johanna. Robin, knowing Johanna's lingering feelings toward him, had told the queen he needed to stay out her love affairs, but the tears in Berengaria's eyes made him promise to try to help.
But that would come later. For now, after a grueling week of war councils, back-breaking work rebuilding the city, countless hours training foot soldiers under the merciless, blazing sun, and heart-rending hours befriending the wounded in the hospital, Robin longed only to see the young woman who reminded him of Marian.
She wasn't hard to find, under her yellow turban that marked her as a Jew.
"Good morning!" Robin said, appearing at her elbow, startling her so that she jumped. "Sorry! I didn't mean to sneak up on you."
The sight of him, so splendidly handsome in his crusader's belted tunic with its red cross emblazoned on his chest, with those blue eyes of his twinkling with fun, made Rachel's heart pound wildly in her chest and her throat go dry.
He'd kept his word, and returned to the marketplace this Friday! She'd thought of him all week long, after their first initial meeting, and now, here he was, taking her heavy basket from her, smiling down at her, looking and sounding so incredible, she couldn't think what to say to him!
His servant, she noticed, was busy watching a performing monkey, his saucer-like eyes staring at the show, rather than at his master and her.
"So, what else is on your list today?" Robin of Locksley was asking, gazing at her with a kind, yet searching look.
"I finished shopping nearly an hour ago," Rachel confessed, letting it slip that she'd only been waiting for him.
The grin he gave her was adorably sheepish. "I'm often late, I'm afraid," he apologized, looking so handsome she instantly forgave him. "When it's only a matter of minutes, I claim I'm timely. So, was I timely today, or really late?"
"I don't know. I was only shopping for my father's dinner."
The mention of her father somehow made his smile even brighter. "And from the look of what you bought," he said, looking in her basket, "your father will enjoy his meal. Any chance you might set an extra place or two at your table tonight? I wouldn't mind meeting your father."
Robin wasn't sure what had made him just invite himself to dinner, barely knowing this lovely young woman, other than his intense longing to be sitting around the dining table at Knighton Hall, at home in Marian's house, basking in her company.
He half expected Rachel to grab the basket back from him, scolding him for his bold curiosity, and was disappointed when she didn't.
"You must not come to my house," the pretty brunette cautioned him. "It is forbidden!"
"Alright," Robin agreed, wanting to perpetuate the illusion she was Marian, even as it faded. "I promise I won't go anywhere near your father. But there's one thing you've forgotten to buy today. Allow me?"
Before she could answer, he'd gone to his servant, untied the small purse hanging from his belt, and removed two coins. He didn't notice a small Saracen street urchin watching his every move through his large, dark eyes.
Rachel flushed with nervous pleasure when Robin returned, holding a bouquet of lilies. "These are for your table," he told her, charmingly. "And this," he added, pulling out a single lily and tucking it behind her right ear, "is for you."
Again, Rachel found it hard to speak, hard even to find any words to say. A jolt had shot through her when his fingertips touched her hair, and now, she hoped he didn't notice her trembling.
"Thank you," she finally managed to say. "I have something for you, as well."
To his surprise, she held out a piece of green silk, heavily embroidered with gold thread. "You're the Earl of Huntington, aren't you?" she asked, shyly. "This, I believe, is your crest."
"Where did you get this?" Robin asked, pleasantly surprised at her gift.
"I made it."
Rachel couldn't understand his surprised, disbelieving laughter. Good-natured though it was, it made her feel embarrassed, as if she'd done something wrong. "You didn't make this," he said, his good humor fading, as he grew crestfallen before her eyes.
Realizing she spoke truth, he apologized. "I'm sorry, Rachel. I didn't know you embroidered."
"Is there something wrong with embroidery?"
"No! Of course not! I only imagined...It's perfect. Thank you very much."
"I hear your army will march south this week," she told him, recovering. "Is it true? I wanted to make you something, to remember me by."
"Thank you. We do plan to march south, but we'll be back. You're not angry? I have to go. I have to do my duty to my King."
"Why should I be angry?"
"No reason. But I'm glad you're not."
In the sizzle of the sun, with waves of heat rising from the ground beneath them, he found he wanted to kiss her, for her image shimmered before his eyes, turning her in his love-besotted mind to Marian.
But, of course, he didn't. His heart and mind knew she wasn't Marian, and it wouldn't be right to kiss her. All the same, she was a lovely girl in her own right. She couldn't help it if she wasn't The Girl.
Rachel was wishing he would kiss her. Sheltered by her culture and her father, she'd never been kissed before, but she'd never wanted to be kissed, until this moment when the want was overwhelming.
Much's shouting outcry shattered the mood between them. Instantly, Robin was by his side.
"What is it, Much?"
"Our money! It's been stolen! Some dirty little Saracen street rat took advantage of me watching the monkey, and robbed us! There he goes now! Come back here! You can't steal from us, and get away with it!"
In what seemed like a blink of an eye, Robin was after the boy, dodging the throngs of people and vaulting over tables. In an instant, he'd caught the terrified child, while the crowds of onlookers watched.
"Don't be afraid," Robin told the child struggling in his grip. "I mean you no harm. Now, why did you take my friend's money?"
In reply, the child spat in his face.
Wiping his face clean, Robin continued, his voice and manner kind and calm, while his heart seemed to break within his chest. "I'm the enemy, I know. Are you hungry? Did we kill your father? Is that why you stole?"
"What did you catch there, Locksley?" Raymond of Toulouse asked, escorting a haughty Princess Johanna on his arm. "By Saracen law, he must lose a hand."
"No one's losing a hand," Robin shot back, furious at Toulouse's suggestion. "It was my money he stole. Let me handle it."
"What? So that you can reward the brat, by giving the rest of your purse? Thieves need to be stopped. We Christians can learn a thing or two, from Saracen justice."
"Not when it's barbaric, Toulouse."
"Leave him, Raymond," Johanna said, pretending to care about the fierce Crusader, while scorning the one she truly cared for. "Robin will no doubt convert the boy, and have him fighting against his own people by nightfall. Goodbye, Robin."
"Master," Much wondered, rushing toward him while the princess and her escort disappeared into the crowd, "did you get our money back?"
"Look how thin he is, Much," Robin said, lightening his hold on the child, who had ceased struggling. "Give me the purse."
Obediently, Much complied, but was dismayed when Robin emptied it in the thief's small hands. "There!" the archer said, satisfied. "That should feed you and your family for a week, at least. Go, and no more stealing."
"Master! What did you do? He...he...he tried to rob us, and you paid him...EVERYTHING?"
"He was hungry," Robin replied simply, staring at the retreating figure of the boy. "I really need to learn to speak the language! Just a minute, Much. Let me say goodbye to Marian, and then, we'll be off. Monkey perform well?"
"Monkey...what? Oh! Yes! You should have watched him! But, master, did you just say Marian?"
"No! Did I?"
"You did! You said Marian! 'Let me just say goodbye to Marian' you said! I knew it! That Jewess, Robin, is not Marian!"
Robin's face looked so sad, Much grew sorry for his scolding. "I know she's not, Much," Robin admitted. "I only wish she could be."
"It's alright. I'm sure she's very nice anyway. You say goodbye, and we'll...I'll do without the honeyed almonds, dates, and figs you promised me this morning. Trouble! I knew it! You'd think, for one day, you might decide to sleep in, and avoid Trouble!"