I stepped close to Hudson so he wouldn’t have to raise his voice while we talked. No, that wasn’t why I stood close. I wanted to be near him, to feel his sturdiness.

Hudson lowered his voice. “When I leave to buy horses, Robin Hood will probably take you somewhere different from the meeting spot and then say I didn’t show up. He won’t let you leave.” I clasped the book harder. Hudson might be wrong—I hoped he was wrong—but could I take that chance? “We never should have told him I could change things into gold.” My gaze swept around the forest and the thick wall of trees that surrounded us. At breakfast, the forest had seemed beautiful, but now this place seemed remote, isolated.

“You’re right. I can’t trust him.”

Hudson stared in the direction my family had gone. “Well, at least you’re finally listening to me about men.” I rolled my eyes. “I never had a crush on Robin Hood. Bo cured me of thinking bad boys were a good thing.” For a moment I worried this would count as a lie and my sparkler hat would go off. Because really, Hudson had cured me of that as much as Bo had. I hurriedly added, “I like more solid men now.”

“Solid?” Hudson’s eyes slid to mine again. “As opposed to wispy, transparent men?”

I ignored that line of questioning. “Do you have a plan?” 238/356

Hudson opened his mouth to speak, then shut it as his gaze shifted over my shoulder.

I turned and saw Little John leading a large brown horse over to us. He was a mountain of a man, with arms like tree trunks. I had noticed this fact before, but now it made me gulp.

Little John stopped when he reached Hudson. “Robin says I can ride out to the main road with you if you like. Give you a head start to the village.”

“No,” I said too quickly. I didn’t like the thought of Little John and Hudson out in the forest alone. What was to keep Little John from killing Hudson and thereby cutting off one of our ways to return to the twenty-first century?

“No thank you,” Hudson said more casually. “I’ve already had one of your escorts out of the forest and it was quite enough.” Little John grunted. “As you will. But you’d best be on your way.

You’ve a ways to go.”

Hudson put his arm around my waist, as calmly as if he’d done it a hundred times before. “True enough. But it’s hard for those who are courting to part ways.”

Little John’s gaze bounced back and forth between us and he made a grumbling noise. Twelfth-century lingo wasn’t my strong point, but I was pretty sure Hudson had told Little John I was his girlfriend.

To prove the point, Hudson pulled me closer. I leaned into him, playing along. He smelled of campfire smoke and earth and steel. I was glad for the excuse to lean into him, even if it was an act on his part. “You can stay for a few more minutes, can’t you?” I asked.

Hudson smiled down at me. “If that’s your wish, I wouldn’t think of disappointing you.”

239/356

Very pretty dialogue. I bet the book would use it for the next page.

Little John grunted, then turned and walked back to the others.

When he was out of earshot, I said, “What’s your plan?” Hudson kept his arm around me, and leaned toward my ear as though he were flirting. “As soon as the Merry Men aren’t looking, we both leave. You can pretend you’re just walking a little ways into the forest to kiss me good-bye. If you’re with me, Robin Hood will have to take your family to the meeting place. It’s the only way he’ll have a chance at more gold. We won’t come back with horses though; we’ll come back with the wizard.”

I considered this while Hudson ran his hand across my back. My skin tingled where he touched it, making it hard to consider much of anything else. “My parents will worry if I take off.”

“We’ll call them on the walkie-talkie and tell them what we’re doing.” His lips brushed against my ear. My knees felt weak.

“The king’s men are looking for me,” I whispered.

“We’ll take back roads.” His hand tapped the small of my back, waiting for my decision.

I pulled my mind away from the curve of his lips and the depth of his brown eyes. Which was the greater danger—the king’s men or the Merry Men? I tried to think it through logically, but logic wouldn’t stick. Emotion made the decision. If I left, I was risking my safety, but if I stayed, I was risking my family’s freedom. I couldn’t do that to them, not after I had already put them through so much.

“I’m with you,” I said.

Hudson massaged a slow circle on my back, which sent more tingles radiating up my spine. “The Merry Men won’t expect you to go far. Not with so many of your possessions sitting out in the open. They know you’re guarding them.”

240/356

I put my head against his chest. His heart beat a slow, steady rhythm against my cheek. “I can’t lie. If I tell them I’m going to kiss you good-bye, we’ll really have to kiss.” I glanced up to see his reaction to that.

He smiled and wound a strand of my hair around his finger. “I’d be happy to kiss you good-bye.”

I inwardly winced at the double meaning. Of course he would be happy to kiss me good-bye. He probably couldn’t wait to put me and this whole horrible episode behind him.

Which meant when we got back to the right century, I was not only moving to a mansion, I was moving to a mansion in Hollywood, so I could have famous actor friends that I would flaunt when I came back to visit Rock Canyon.

Hudson whispered into my ear, “Tell Robin Hood you don’t want anyone going through your supplies while you’re saying good-bye to me. Emphasize that. Then they’ll be so busy going through your supplies they won’t worry about coming after you for a while.” He let go of me, and I instantly missed his arms, the security they’d given me.

I was hopeless, really. One minute I was planning on flaunting famous friends in front of Hudson; the next, I missed his arms around me.

New moral of the story: Crushes make no sense.

“We need a horse,” I told him. “I’ll try to get one.” Hudson had just told me about the power of greed. I might as well use some of it to my benefit. I handed Hudson the book to hold and headed over to Robin Hood.

He stood next to a horse, tying a blanket onto the saddle. When I reached him, he doffed his hat in my direction. “My Lady Tansy?” I stepped close to him and lowered my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I’m going to walk a little ways into the forest with Hudson. I 241/356

want some privacy to …” I let the sentence dangle. “Well, you know how it is when those who are courting have to part.” It amazed me, really, how well I could bend sentences into lies without ever actually lying. “Can you make sure your men don’t go through our supplies?” I glanced in the direction my family had gone. “And if my time with Hudson takes a while and I’m not here when my family returns, will you tell them not to worry because I’ll be back.” This was not a lie. I would be back eventually.

Robin Hood put his cap back on his head. “Little John was not telling tales then? You’re in love with that knave?”

“What?” I hadn’t expected Robin Hood to ask this, and I didn’t know what to say.

Robin Hood noticed my hesitation and raised an eyebrow. “My lady does not answer. She is perhaps reflecting on the way she kissed me in yonder twenty-first-century store. She has feelings for me.” I felt my cheeks grow warm. “You were holding me up at sword-point.”

He stepped closer and gave me a rakish smile. “You wished me to your bedchamber and begged me not to leave it. Now fate has brought us together again. Are you certain you want to send off that sop of a fellow with anything more than a maidenly wave of your hand?”

“I’m sure, and if I could ask you for one more thing—” Robin Hood took hold of my arm. “Judge for yourself, Lady Tansy. The man is not trustworthy.” He glanced at Hudson again and pursed his lips. “He’ll toy with a maiden’s affections, then leave her with naught. I can tell.”