No Good Deed by Kara Connolly

Author:Kara Connolly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2017-07-18T04:00:00+00:00

My arrow split the bark beside Will Scarlet’s ear. Before he could do more than flinch, I put another shaft on his other side so he’d know the first one hadn’t been a miss.

“Stay put,” I said from the other edge of the clearing. I had a third arrow ready to fly. “You too, Little John, or I’ll give Will a new feather in his cap.”

The big man had gotten halfway to his feet. Seeing me at full draw, he considered his chances of jumping me without my skewering his friend, then sank back to his seat against the tree.

Will, irrepressible, just grinned. “Well done, Mistress Hood. The last time we met in the woods, you sounded like a boar hunt on two legs.”

“You’re lucky Captain Guilbert went after me and not the livestock, because you left a trail of goat droppings like Hansel and Gretel.”

“Like who?”

“It doesn’t matter.” It was hard to be intimidating when someone was openly laughing at you. “Where are my goats?”

“The better question,” said Will, getting slowly to his feet, “is whether you’re prepared to shoot me over a few farm animals.”

“Do you want to risk it?” My arm was getting tired. Even a half-drawn bow is heavy.

“Fortune is a lady, and I’ve always been good with the ladies.”

I hadn’t forgotten about Little John, but I hadn’t thought he could reach his stave—not until it hit my heels, sweeping my legs out from under me.

I hit the ground and my fingers let go. The shot went straight up, and it was going to come down sometime, which was one problem. The other was Little John, who jumped to his feet, swinging his stave. From the trees came a whir and a ffft, and a rock that smacked the big man between the eyes and felled him like a tree.

Will had his own bow in hand by then, and he aimed for the brush, where Much was reloading his sling. I grabbed a heavy-tipped blunt out of my quiver, nocked it, and loosed it at barely a quarter draw. The blunt hit Will in the ass, which had to hurt like hell. His shot went wild, and so did his language.

Rolling to my feet, I grabbed another shaft, a white-fletched sharp, and laid it across the bow. The outlaw limped in a circle, trying to walk off the sting. “Merde! That hurt! And it’s going to leave a bruise,” he added, craning his neck to check for damage.

“You’ll live.” I was shaking with adrenaline, but I managed to keep my voice steady. I hadn’t expected a fight. Well, I had a little bit. But there’s expecting and there’s that just happened.

Little John groaned on the ground as Much came into the clearing, still spinning his sling and eyeing Will with extreme dislike. “Meet Much,” I said, regaining my poise. “The first of my merry men. He can hit a gnat at fifty paces with that thing.”

Will raised his hands in surrender. “Put the sling away, lad. I call a truce.

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