Sherwood

This month’s round robin is to write a short story, flash fiction, or use an
excerpt from one of your books. As a long time Robin Hood fan, I am delighted to bring you the following story:

Sherwood

There are some couples you never expect to split up, and Maid Marian and Robin Hood were one of them.

“Don’t you think,” Marian asked Robin one May morning, “that the two of us are more a habit than anything else?” 

“What do you mean?” Robin replied, but Marian noticed he wouldn’t look her in the eye, instead staring at a spider spinning a web. “Aren’t you happy here? We’re doing useful work, robbing the rich and giving to the poor.” 

“It’s illegal work.” Marian  eyed the dirt floor of their hut, pushing aside the rotten leaves and chicken bones with one foot. 

“Don’t you think the poor deserve a champion?” Robin stroked his black beard and brushed a pile of ashes off a three legged stool before sitting down. 

“You could go into politics, you know, and champion them that way.” Marian picked a bug out of her red hair and crushed it between thumb and forefinger. 

“Bah, politics. That’s worse than highway robbery.” Robin rose and stomped out of the hut, leaving Marian to sweep out the leaves and bones. 

“Haven’t you ever wondered how much of the money we take from the rich actually gets to the poor?” Marian asked one evening a few days later as they were sitting around the fire dividing the latest take, with Robin as usual giving himself the lion’s share. 

“No, why?” Robin poked a stick at a passing lizard. 

“Less than half of what we take in gets to the poor. The rest is overhead.” 

Robin tossed the stick away. “We have to eat, and anyway it’s our only source of revenue.” 

“Oh, never mind.” Marian shook her head in frustration, then rose, dusting some dead grass from the back of her gown before stomping off. 

One evening a week or two later Marian approached Friar Tuck.  “Father, I’m afraid that my relationship with Robin is getting stale.” 

Friar Tuck brushed  a few leaves off a convenient tree stump and sat down. “Stale, how?”

“I think we’re getting tired of each other. Both of us.” 

“So?” 

“So I want more than a dirt floor. I want better than burnt venison for supper. I want stone walls, neighbors, markets, a proper kitchen. I want a bath more than once a year.” Marian thought for a minute. “Maybe even once every three months. And I’m uneasy about the robbery. It feels wrong.” 

“It appears that your decision is made.” 

“It appears so.” Marian sighed and brushed some ants from her skirt, noting as she did so that it had acquired a few new rips and smelled distinctly of mold. 

The next day Marian broke the news to Robin. “I’m moving to Nottingham. Do you want to come?” Marian thought it churlish not to ask. 

Robin stared at the ground for a minute or two. “I think not, but perhaps you could come back from time to time to help with the housework and the cooking.” 

“Men!” Marian fumed as she packed her things and rode her horse to town. 

The first person she encountered was the sheriff. 

The sheriff stopped and smiled up at Marian, brushing a shock of wavy fair hair out of his eyes. “I’m surprised to see you here.” 

“Yes, well, I’m moving back to Nottingham. Do you know of a house for rent?” Marian dismounted, tying her horse to a convenient post. 

The sheriff looked Marian over from head to foot. “I might. There’s an in-law suite available at my place.” 

“Won’t your wife object?” 

“I have no wife,” the sheriff admitted, tugging at his blond beard. 

Marian grinned. “Really. In that case, how much rent do you require?” 

The sheriff raised one eyebrow. “How much can you afford?” 

Marian looked at the ground. “A bit. The last rich folks we robbed were pretty wealthy.” 

“I’ll forget you said that. Is Robin joining you?” 

“No, but he wants me to come back once a week to help with the chores. He’ll pay me.” 

The sheriff frowned. “Out of ill gotten gains.” 

“Those are the only ones he has. Besides, I need the money.” 

“I suppose I’ll have to overlook it then.” The sheriff sighed and led the way back to his home. 

Marian hung back a bit as they approached the thick oak front door. “Won’t this be improper?” 

“Mistress Abbott, my housekeeper, will act as chaperon.   Assuming we need one.” The sheriff’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. 

Marian blushed and followed him into the house. 

After a week or two, Marian started spending the evenings in the solar talking with the sheriff. 

“Just why did you decide to move to town?” the sheriff asked one evening at the end of June. 

Marian shifted on the bench, pulling her shawl across her chest. “Sometimes relationships don’t last. It was long overdue, really.” 

 The sheriff smiled down at his shoes. “Was it? In that case, perhaps you would care to walk out with me this Sunday.” 

Marian blushed. “That would be nice.” 

A month later the sheriff proposed to Marian. She hesitated for a minute and then said, “Think how Robin’s going to feel.” 

“He had his chance. He didn’t even try to move to town with you.” 

“It would have been awkward. Besides, I didn’t really push him very hard.” 

“There you are then,” the sheriff said, and Marian threw her arms around him. 

After several minutes, when they could both breathe again, the sheriff asked, “Do you suppose he’d agree to give you away? After all, the two of you go back a long way. It might give him closure.” 

“I’ll ask when I go out to clean this Thursday.” 

“And do tell him that he’ll have to find someone else to do his housekeeping. I don’t want you going out there once we’re married. It won’t do for a sheriff’s wife to be working for a robber.” 

Marian  smoothed her skirt. “Oh, very well.” 

Marian approached Robin that very Thursday. “The sheriff and I are getting married. We wondered if you would give me away. You know, for old time’s sake.” 

Robin frowned. “Are you sure this isn’t a ploy to get me to town so he can arrest me?” 

“No, he really wants you to do it. We both do. But I can’t come here and clean any more. It wouldn’t be right.” 

“Not clean? But …” Robin sputtered. 

Marian brushed some cobwebs out of her hair. “Things change. How about the wedding?” 

Robin picked up his bow. “I’ll come, but I won’t give you away, and that’s that.” 

Marian watched Robin stalk off into the forest. “Men!” Then she mounted her horse and rode home.

“He took it badly,” said Marian to the sheriff as she walked in the door. 

“Well, what do you expect? At least he agreed to come to the wedding. We don’t want any hard feelings.” 

It wasn’t long after the wedding that Marian discovered she was pregnant. “If it’s a boy, I’d like to name him Robin. Would that be all right?” 

“Robin?” The sheriff raised his eyebrows. 

“It’s a nice name.” 

The sheriff took Marian in his arms and kissed her. “If it will make you happy, then we will. ” 

A few months after baby Rob was born, Robin started coming into town once or twice a week. He would visit with Marian and the sheriff for a few minutes and then go about his business.  After a few weeks of this, the sheriff asked, “What do you think Robin is doing coming here so often? It’s making me uneasy.” 

“I have no idea.” Marian pushed a few strands of red hair off her face. 

The sheriff stared into Marian’s blue eyes. “Oh, never mind.”

The Sheriff disliked having a robber in the family, even one as apparently well-intentioned as Robin, and he wanted to know what Robin was up to, so one Tuesday as Robin was saying goodbye to Marian, the sheriff pulled him aside.  “Robin, there have been quite a few robberies on the road to London. That wouldn’t be you, would it?” 

Robin frowned. “No, it’s not me. In fact, I’m getting tired of robbery as a profession but I don’t know what else to do to support myself. It’s all I’ve done since I was a boy.” 

The sheriff pulled at his blond beard and look down at his feet. “You could go into law enforcement.” 

Robin’s brown eyes opened wide. “What do you mean?” 

“I could hire you as my deputy. Then, when an opening for a sheriff in one of the neighboring towns comes up, I could recommend you.” 

“I can’t abandon the Merry Men. They count on me.” 

The sheriff considered the gray streaks in Robin’s dark hair. “You know, these damp mornings must be hard on your knees and back. Surely there’s someone younger who can take over. Young Will, perhaps.” Robin’s face turned red, and the sheriff added quickly, “Think about it.”

Robin stomped out, slamming the door as he left. 

When three weeks went by without a visit from Robin, Marian started to worry. “What did you two talk about the last time Robin was here?” 

“Oh, nothing. I just mentioned he might think of retiring from the robbery business. Did you notice how stiff he was when he got up from the bench?” 

Marian twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “Perhaps I should go visit him.” 

“No, no, think of the baby. You might get sick or hurt.” 

That Friday, just when Marian had decided to defy her husband and go visit Robin in Sherwood Forest, Young Will knocked on their door. “Marian, Robin’s very sick. He’s got a fever and he’s ranting and raving. I’ve got him outside on the donkey.” 

“What happened?” Marian asked as Will and the sheriff carried Robin into the second-best guest room. 

“He got soaked in that thunderstorm last Sunday and spent the whole day in wet clothes. Besides, the roof of his hut is leaking…” Will’s voice trailed off. 

Marian patted Young Will on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll look after him.”

A week later, when Robin was better, the sheriff approached him again. “Have you thought about that job offer? Your lifestyle isn’t exactly conducive to good health and long life, you know.” 

Robin shook his head. “I couldn’t possibly work for you. Suppose I had to arrest one of the Merry Men!” 

“A good point. We’ll have to think of something else.” 

There was still the problem of Robin’s profession, so the following week Robin and the sheriff went to the inn to have a pint or two of ale and consider Robin’s options. They barely finished their first when Harold, the innkeeper, approached their table. 

He put his large hand on Robin’s shoulder. Robin’s eyes darted from side to side.

“I hear you and my daughter Leticia have been keeping company.” 

Robin’s suntanned skin turned pale. “Maybe once or twice. Well, maybe a few more times. She’s not, you know, expecting, is she?” 

Harold thumped Robin on the back, nearly sending him into his pint of beer. “I know you’re going to do the right thing by Letty.” Robin swallowed a few times and then nodded.

The sheriff grinned and raised his pint. “Well, there’s the problem of your new profession solved. Harold has always said that Letty’s husband would take over the inn.” 

Robin married Leticia and their daughter was born six months later. Robin entertains visitors with tales of his former exploits. Business is booming and little Mary Anne is the apple of her father’s eye.  She and Baby Rob are becoming the best of friends.

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/
Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-29F
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Margaret Fieland https://margaretfieland.wordpress.com
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com

Check out the posts of my fellow bloggers:

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/
Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-29F
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Margaret Fieland https://margaretfieland.wordpress.com
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com