"Mayhap ye are right—yet reflect! The Puck is not by ye now, if ye're wrong!"
Geoffrey hesitated.
The four robbers squatted down around the offering-stone, and Borr upended the bag. Coins tumbled out, and the men hooted delight.
"One for ye, Morlan!" Borr shoved a gold piece toward the squat man. "And one for ye, Gran—and one for ye, Croll…"
"And all for me!" rumbled a voice like the grinding of a mill wheel. Out from behind the stone cross he came—eight-feet tall at least, and four-feet across the shoulders. His arms were thick as tree trunks, and his legs were pillars. The cudgel he swung in his right hand was as big as Magnus, and probably heavier. His shaggy black hair grew low on his forehead; his eyes seemed small in his slab of a face, and his grin showed yellowed, broken teeth. "Nay, then!" he boomed. "Bow down, wee men! 'Tis your master Groghat who speaks!"
The robbers stared at him for one terrified instant. Then they leaped up and ran—except for Morlan, who swept the coins back into the bag before he turned to flee.
Groghat caught him by the back of his collar and yanked him off his feet. Morlan squalled in terror, and Groghat plucked the moneybag out of his hands before he threw him after his mates. Morlan howled as he shot through the air, spread-eagled, and Borr yowled in pain as Morlan crashed into him. Gran and Croll, the fourth robber, kept running, but Groghat passed them in a few huge loping strides and slewed to a halt, facing them with a scowl and a lifted bludgeon. "I bade thee bow!"
Gran faced him, knees trembling and face ashen. Slowly, he bent his back in a bow—but Croll whirled toward the trees at the side of the road.
Groghat's club slammed into the man's belly, and the rob-ber fell, curled around the agony in his midriff, mouth spread wide, struggling for the breath that would not come. The giant stood over him, glowering down at Morlan and Borr.
Slowly, they bowed.
"'Tis well," Groghat rumbled. "Be mindful henceforth—I am thy master. Whatsoe'er thou dost steal, thou shalt bring three parts out of four unto me."
"Nay!" Morlan bleated. "'Tis we who do steal it, we who run the risk of a hang…"
The huge club slammed into his ribs and something cracked. He fell, screaming.
"And do not seek to withhold aught," Groghat bellowed over the noise, "for I shall know, soon or late, who hath taken what, and shall find thee wheresoe'er thou dost roam!"
"Nay!"
"Nay, Groghat, we never would!"
"Three parts out of four to thee, Groghat, ever, henceforth!"
The giant glared down at them, nodding slowly. "See thou dost not forget." He nudged Morlan with his foot. "Take thy fools, and be gone."
"Aye, Groghat! Even as thou sayest!" Gran knelt to pull Morlan's arm over his,shoulders. Morlan screamed in pain.
Borr stood looking up at the giant. He was trembling, but he plucked up his courage to ask, "Art not afeard of Count Glynn? Assuredly, thou art mighty—but how wilt thou fare an he doth come against thee with an hundred men, armored?"
Groghat laughed, a sound like marbles rolling down a sheet of iron, and pulled something out of the wallet that hung from his belt. "Look and see!" he bellowed.
Borr took a hesitant step, eyeing Groghat warily.
"Nay, be not afeard!" the giant rumbled. "I'll not smite thee now. Come and see!"
He doth wish them to look, Geoffrey thought. He doth wish to boast.
Borr looked down into the giant's cupped palm and his bream rasped in, harsh with dismay. " 'Tis Count Glynn's signet ring!"
"The same," Groghat laughed, "and I assure thee, I did not find it by the side of the road!"
Borr lifted his gaze to the huge face, trembling. "Hast thou then slain him?"
"What! Throw aside a counter for bargaining? Nay!"
Groghat laughed with contempt. "What would I do then, if the Duke and his horse and foot came against me, eh? What would I do now? Nay, ask!"
"What wouldst thou do now, if the Duke came against thee with all his horse and all his men?" Borr asked, quavering.
"Why, bid him, 'Hold, or I will slay them! Slay Count Glynn, and his wife and babes!" Groghat cried. "Would he charge me then? Nay!"
He holds them imprisoned! Cordelia thought, appalled.
We must rescue! Geoffrey clenched the nearest branch so hard his knuckles whitened.
"Hold fast," Kelly hissed, laying a hand on his shoulder. "He will not kill them, as thou hast now heard. No further harm will come to them—yet it might, to thee."
"Aye, quake!" Groghat laughed, "Tremble, and rightly! For 'tis I who rule this county now, and all must pay me tribute!"
"Aye, Groghat!" Borr was nodding so quickly it seemed his head might fall off. "All shall be as thou dost say, Groghat!"
"Be sure that it will," the giant rumbled. "Will you or nill you! Nay, be assured—I will not take all thou dost steal. Wherefore ought I? For then thou wouldst steal no longer, and I wish thee to—to keep garnering gold for me. Yet thou wilt give to me three gold pieces of each thou dost steal, and three of each four silver and copper, also!"
"Aye, Groghat!"
"Even as thou dost say, Groghat!"
"Be sure of it!" The huge club hissed through the air and slammed into Borr, sending him flying with a yelp. Groghat laughed as he tied the moneybag to his belt. "That will ensure thy memory! Forget me not! Now up, and away—the whole day lies before thee, and thou hast much stealing to do for me!" And he turned away, guffawing and beating the money-bag in time to his footsteps as he strode away down the road.
Borr and Croll hauled themselves to their feet, groaning.
"Here, then! Aid me with him!" Gran cried.
Borr turned, frowning at Morlan, then nodded. "Aye. He did, at the least, fight the ogre." He reached down.
"Not the arm—he hath broken ribs on that side," Gran cautioned. Together, they helped the moaning man to his feet.
" 'Twill heal, Morlan, 'twill heal," Gran soothed.
"Yet will we?" Borr muttered as they turned away. "We must now rob whether we wish to or not!"
"Oh, be still! Thou knowest thou didst wish to," Morlan groaned.
"Aye," Borr admitted, "yet to keep only one coin out of four!"
" ''Tis one more than thou wouldst have otherwise," Morlan growled. "But help me to a bandage and a bed! Then give me two days, and I'll aid thee in robbing again!"
And they went off down the road, grumbling and moaning.
"Nay, 'tis scandalous!" Geoffrey hissed, as soon as they were out of hearing. "Will the roads not be safe for any man now?"
"At the least, we know now why Count Glynn did not summon his knights to battle Count Drosz," Gregory pointed out.
"Even so," Magnus said with a scowl. "There will be no government henceforth—he who hath seized rule, will do naught but take money!"
"'Tis outrage!" Geoffrey exclaimed. "The Count can no longer protect his people—and this giant will encourage bandits, not stop them!"
"No woman or child will be safe now," Cordelia whispered.
"Out upon him!" Geoffrey cried. "Let us slay this vile giant!"
"Nay, children, stay!" Kelly warned. "''Tis not a common man ye would fight now, but a monster!"
"And was that dragon a garden lizard?" Geoffrey countered.
" 'Gainst that dragon, thou hadst the power of the unicorn to aid thee—but what aid will she be 'gainst a fell man of that size? Nay, Groghat might catch and hurt her!"
"Oh, nay!" Cordelia cried, flinging her arms about the unicorn's neck.
Kelly pressed his advantage. "And thou didst have the Puck's magic to strengthen thine. Wilt thou not wait till he doth rejoin thee?"
"But this monster must not be left an hour, nay, a minute, to strike terror into our neighbors!"
"And who will take up the reins of governance when he hath dropped them?" Kelly demanded. "Nay, ye must free the count and his wife and children ere thou dost seek to battle the giant!"
"Why, then, lead us to them!" Geoffrey said.
"Thou carest not which battle thou hast, so long as thou hast battle," Cordelia scoffed.