The Way Back

Chapter Fourteen

"No wonder you didn't want to tell me who you were seeing....that beef-witted boot-licker!"

Meg jumped back from Guy's embrace, startled. Too late, she realised their mistake. Finding it harder to part, they'd become reckless; Guy had accompanied her to where the forest thinned near the village.

"And you – you clay-brained clot...you dare even show your face around here, after everything you've done? As if that's not enough, brazen as anything, you stand there mauling a lady of gentle birth where just about anyone can see?"

"We weren't..."

"You be quiet missy, I'll deal with you later, once he's gone."

"We've done nothing wrong." Guy, Meg saw, was struggling to keep his temper; his hands were fisted at his side.

"That's rich, coming from you. On which day might you be talking about? I bet he's not told you what he did to me?" Matilda had turned back to her.

"I didn't ask," Meg said hotly. "And I'd rather you..."

"Had me trussed up and shoved in Locksley pond, him and his lousy boss. They accused me of being a witch, tried to drown me. This one just stood by and watched, like he always did."

It made sense now, some of his objections to her being there.

Meg slowly turned toward Guy. A moment of surreal clarity; everything in her sight seemed to sharpen, down to the gossamer wings of the grasshopper on a leaf beside her arm. Her senses, marking the moment as one on which her world would turn. That one in which she had to reconcile the crimes he'd committed with this man who stood before her now, a desperate plea in his eyes.

"You should have told me," she said quietly.

"I wanted to, but I was afraid...." His grip on her arms was painful, a symptom of his agitation. "Meg – "

"Get your hands off her." Matilda slapped at his arms. "How can the girl think straight – some of them think you're easy on the eyes, I know, and I'll not let you use that to bamboozle her."

Meg felt Guy tense; saw a dangerous gleam in his eyes, as he lifted his hands away to fend off the barrage of Matilda's slaps.

"Stop it woman – I need to talk with her. Just leave us alone, will you?" he growled.

"I'll do no such thing. You – come with me." Now Matilda took hold of her. "If you see him again, you can forget about staying here. I'll have none of it."

"Meg..."

Guy took a step toward her. She shook her head slightly; it was too much, she needed to get away, to think. Almost told Guy to let her be, but she couldn't bear the look of hurt on his face, so instead she turned and simply let Matilda lead her away.
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Matilda saw it too; wondered, for a passing moment, if she might have been mistaken about him.

But then Gisborne looked at her and his face hardened – that look she knew, expected - so she humphed and, holding Meg's elbow, marched the girl back toward the village.

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Guy gripped the hilt of his sword, watching them leave. Once, for far less provocation, he would have drawn it - if only to make the madwoman keep her distance. The fact that he hadn't meant nothing; his past was always there, a gaping pit. The people around here would never accept him, no matter what he did.