Page 47 of Robin and Marian
Robin laughed and sat on the log. He covered his face with his hand, and Marian saw the tears. She was quick to throw her arms around him. Robin was the fire that she couldn’t keep away from. His reckless abandon got him into trouble, but he was a good man. Was he good for her? She didn’t care. She wanted to comfort him. “He won’t get away with it!” she soothed. “He won’t get away with anything!”
Groaning, he pulled back to stare up at the sky, shaking his head. Then he took a deep breath, and studied her with wet eyes before giving her his answer. “Let’s see you shoot.”
What was he doing? Was this shock speaking or was beating Guy at this competition the only revenge that Robin could think of?
“Marian?” he asked. “Can you shoot?”
She’d never done it before, but somehow it felt like if there was some justice in this world then she would pick up the bow and make a bull’s eye. She scraped it from the forest floor and, accepting an arrow from Robin, she pulled back on the string.
“Wait!” Robin stood up and readjusted her form. He’d normally be taking advantage of the situation with jokes and stolen kisses, but his face had settled into a look of such soberness that she vowed to do her best. “Okay, now,” he said. She let go of the arrow and it hit the base of the straw bale. “Well,” Robin said. “You’re better than me. Not by much.”
She relaxed into an uneasy smile. He smothered his anger with humor—she recognized what he did by now—and she was game to play along. “Give me another arrow.”
He did, and ran his hands all over her arms and back to get her into form. She let the arrow go and it hit the bottom of the target this time. “Better,” he allowed. “I’m not sure if they’ll let me set you up each time, but…” his hand lingered on her elbow, “who wants to stop now?”
Giggling, she bit that back, not sure how he would take her mirth, but at his answering grin, she knew he appreciated the distraction, and so she did her best to oblige him. “Just pass your archery skills onto me with your touch,” she said. “I’ll absorb your powers.” She tried again. This time the arrow missed the bale of hay altogether. It wasn’t going well, except it was… because Robin laughed. It was what she’d wanted to see from him all along, though it had a hard, despondent edge.
“I think calling a competition might’ve backfired on me,” he said.
“Come here,” she said and put her arms around him to kiss the roughness of his cheek. She tried to make him feel better, knowing that his cousin’s betrayal would haunt him for the rest of his days. “You still owe me a joy ride in that Porsche.”
“You want a car chase with that too?” he asked. “I can arrange that—we’ll just take a detour into King County.”
“Hi Robin!” Midge set up his bows and arrows next to them as if he hadn’t just caught them kissing. Marian pushed back from Robin, wondering how long the kid had been there. The little spy. But he didn’t seem bothered. Midge pushed up the sleeves of his oversized army jacket like he was ready for war. “I can win the competition for you, Robin!”
Before either of them could tease him for that, Midge let go of his arrow and did a perfect bull’s eye.
Marian jumped in astonishment, and Robin let out a whoop. “Uncle Midge! You’ve been holding out on me?” They’d found their new champion. Midge looked pleased at the reaction and accepted all hair-rufflings from his nephew with a good-natured laugh. “Do that again, Midge!” Robin said.
The kid tried again, but that time it went off into the woods somewhere. Robin exchanged glances with Marian. “One more time,” he whispered tensely.
The next one was another bull’s eye. The kid was a loose cannon, which meant this competition was anyone’s game. “Midge,” Robin kept his voice even. “If you win, who will you donate to?”
“Hmm.” The small boy touched his finger to his lips. “To Little John… but only if you do me a favor.”
“What would that be?”
Midge let out a funny little laugh. “Not telling until I win.” That sounded risky, and they worked on getting it out of him, but the child’s elfin features only grew more stubborn the more they tried.
Robin sighed, turning back to Marian. “Get back to practicing!” He picked up his makeshift bow and gave her the smaller one, his face as obstinate as his uncle’s. They were the little bow hunting family now, and they practiced until it was dark and they could no longer see the target. Unfortunately, neither Robin nor Marian bested Midge.
They packed up their gear to return to the big house when they got another visitor in the clearing. “Robin?” A willowy silhouette stood in the shadows next to the bales of hay surrounding the pathway out. The moon glistened through Sherwood Forest and illuminated Scarlett as she stepped forward. Her hand lifted to her brother. “I know…”
“Scarlett?” Robin’s voice cracked with emotion.
“Marian told me and…” his sister sucked in her breath, her words trailing off.
Robin dropped his bow and rushed over to her. The two siblings embraced, neither of them speaking. Marian couldn’t imagine what was going through their minds. Four years of misunderstandings only to discover the truth now. If anything, Scarlett would have no doubt to what lengths her half-brother would go to protect her. Only love in its purest form would motivate such a sacrifice. Those four years, as excruciating as they would’ve been, were not a complete waste when it brought such a token of love.
Squeezing Midge’s shoulders, Marian wanted to give them privacy. “C’mon, Midge,” she whispered. “They need to talk.”
Chapter 13
Robin set his bow down and shot a sharp glare at his cousin. He’d excused everything Guy had done against him because he’d thought his cousin couldn’t forgive him. Never would he have thought that it was to shut him up—that Guy had been guilty all along. The time for playing was over. Robin had hardly slept that night, running the wrongs against him through his mind until he shook with cold fury. Guy would find a changed man that morning. Robin had no intention of holding back.
He’d take away Guy’s hold on this town first. That meant winning this contest. The mouth tab on the bow wasn’t ideal, but Robin had been chewing gum to keep his jaw strong. It made him feel like a teenage girl, but he’d improved, and so had Marian. But it was Midge who might be his secret weapon in this. Who knew what favor the kid would ask of him if he won, but how bad could it possibly be compared to what Guy was doing?
The foam targets were lined up across the meadow on stands seventy meters away, about thirty in all, with tiny yellow flags waving through the light breeze above them. The competitors signed into the book in front of a grinning Richard. He looked like an upper-class car salesman in an immaculate black-and-red-checked suit. His weathered hands held out a pen, and he pinned Robin with a concerned look when Robin signed his name into the book of competitors. “You’re not putting more strain on that wrist, are you?”
