Page 49 of Robin and Marian
“You’re going to have to work harder to find something in common with me,” Robin said, finishing off the ties of his bow. Realizing that Guy was doing his best to further blacken his name, he met his eyes. “I eat what I kill—so fellow prisoners are off the table.”
“Ew! Even spiders?” Midge asked to the side of him. Robin snorted in laughter.
“So this is funny?” Guy asked. “I admire your complete lack of shame.”
“And I admire your stuffy speech,” Little John called over to him. Robin jerked in surprise.
Midge piled onto that, “I admire your shirt, Robin!”
“And I admire your spunk, Robin,” Marian said. “I love the underdog.”
“That explains a lot,” Guy muttered. She wasn’t meant to hear that, but Robin did, and it only set him to smirking.
The field captain blew the whistle. Robin cracked up when he saw who held the whistle to his lips—Tuck. For all his teasing about larping, he’d come dressed as a medieval archer with tights and tunic and a feathered cap. Only he could pull that off like it was the latest retro style. He lowered the whistle with self-importance as everyone shuffled into place.
Guy refused to retreat from Robin’s side. Breathing out his annoyance, Robin forced himself to focus on Richard as he walked onto a wooden platform next to the stands and explained the rules to the excited crowd. Each player was allowed six arrows for each round. After three rounds, the archer’s cumulative scores would determine who qualified for the knockout competition. “May the best archer win!” Richard finished. His twinkling eyes took in the competitors who made up his family, house guests, and friends, not a stranger among them.
At the sound of Tuck’s whistle, each archer took their turn. Little John’s aim was strong and consistent. He hit mostly reds and blues and his arrows sank deep. Marian’s was a good effort too. At least she was hitting the target now, maybe not near the center, but she looked good doing it. She finished and blushed when she caught Robin’s eyes on her. Too bad they couldn’t add their scores together.
Lifting his bow with a smug grin, Guy showed off his skills with another bull’s eye. But after that, his arrows sunk into the reds, and a few far away from the center in the black. He wasn’t consistent at all, and for the first time, Robin began to hope. If he’d gone into this without the handicap, he would’ve blown Guy away.
As it was, he picked up the mouth tab with his back teeth, having perfected the method yesterday. The spectators drew forward in fascination, shouting out exclamations at the strangeness of it. And, feeling like he was chewing at the bit, quite literally, Robin let it go. His arrow landed into the red. His aim was much better than the day before, but worse than that morning. He’d expected he’d lose some of his momentum under the pressure. He was too aware of anything that could attack from the corner of his eye—prison had done that to him. Still, he wasn’t bad. He hit the reds and blues, though more often he was in the blues. It wasn’t going to win him anything against Guy.
“One thing hasn’t changed,” Guy said in the raucous applause after Robin finished. “You’re still a show off.”
“Not bad, huh?” Robin said. Guy refused to answer.
It was Midge’s turn, and he shook with excitement. A bad sign. The whistle blew and he had four minutes to let loose his six arrows. His first was a bull’s eye and the chattering from the crowd dropped into silence as they craned forward in astonishment. Guy’s displeasure showed in the tightness of his jaw.
“We’ve been working together,” Robin told him.
“You’re going to use a kid to win?” Guy asked.
“Yes.” Robin met his eyes frankly. “I am.”
The next two shots were steady bull’s eyes. The audience screamed out their approval. And then it happened. True to form, Midge’s last three arrows flew off to the side, one landing firmly into the bull’s eye of Robin’s target. The onlookers let out a collective groan.
“I don’t think that counts as one of yours,” Guy said.
Robin actually got better points with his mediocrity, but he caught Midge’s eyes and winked. The boy brightened. The archers took their turns down the line, with Alan giving Midge a stern look before shooting off his arrows. They pushed steadily into the target, the plinks into the foam as dispassionate as his face. It left Robin staring. Was Alan a broken man after everything that had happened?
Eventually it was Missy Brandon’s turn. She was the daughter of the failed business owners on Main Street, though they weren’t completely destitute. She was dressed lavishly in hipster designs and clanging bracelets. She wore a single braid in the side of her hair like Katniss—that was no accident—and she took aim as her twin cheered her on. The kid was good. They could put her in theHunger Gamesafter this.
Tuck gave out three whistle blasts, and Robin caught Missy watching him with appreciation as she joined the other archers to collect their arrows. There was no accounting for taste. Seemingly unaware of his growing fan club, Tuck joined the sheriff as his target lieutenant to count up their scores. And Guy thought Robin had gall? He wasn’t the ex-convict trying to buddy up with the sheriff. Robin tried not to give away how well he knew Tuck as his friend reminded the sheriff to count Robin’s outer boundary shots as line breakers so he’d get the credit for every point he’d earned.
“Forty-seven!” Tuck announced after finally prevailing in the friendly debate.
It tied Robin with Guy for first place on this round. Marian wrapped her arms around Robin and kissed him softly on the cheek. “Not bad for doing this one-handed.”
“Yeah, if I keep up my mediocrity, I might have a chance.”
Guy’s face went cold—whether it was from what Robin had said or because of the tie was anyone’s guess, though it was likely more from Marian kissing him. And since that was the case, Robin caught her arm before she got too far from him and gave Guy something to really be jealous about, kissing her pliant lips much more thoroughly.
She wriggled away, laughingly, and he noticed her eyes shifting nervously to her aunt in the stands. Someone shouted out to her from the crowd. “You going to write another article on Robin, girl?”
Blushing, she took her place, and Robin felt a pang of guilt until she flashed him a smile and blew him another kiss. They were both defying everyone.
Now there were two rounds to go, and they went into the second round. After Little John made his robust shots, it was Marian’s turn. Robin noticed Guy’s eyes on her. If he hadn’t known what his cousin had done to them, he’d feel bad for the lovesick puppy. Instead it revolted him. Guy clearly had a thing for Marian. She finished shooting, and she circled to Robin, her hair bouncing against her back as she smiled at him.
