Sherwood Forest: Robbing The Rich

By Laura McVey

When a Nottingham villager stumbles across the outlaws' camp, Robin is challenged to find a new way to help his people. Meanwhile, the town innkeeper's daughter is romanced by a travelling minstrel, much to her father's disapproval.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Laura McVey
• Release date: Aug 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311712349

Laura McVey

Laura McVey is a university graduate with a minor in history, though neither of these things seem to have done her any good yet. She writes stories about heroes and kissing.

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Sherwood Forest: Robbing the Rich

by Laura McVey

Copyright 2014 Laura McVey

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Sherwood Forest had always been thickly populated with deer, though Robin’s family had hunted in it for as long as he could remember. The villagers were not permitted, by the King’s law, to hunt in the forest; the only meat they ate came either from the butcher or the rabbits that plagued their fields. So it was no surprise, Robin reflected, that they had gone hungry; if no one had money to pay the butcher and the rabbits had been hunted near to extinction, that left them with only the crops the Sheriff doled out to keep them fed through the winter.

Now, he reflected as he notched an arrow to his bow, he himself would be considered a poacher- if he was caught, at any rate. He wasn’t going to be. When he had known the Sheriff prior to his departure, they had occasionally gone hunting together, and the Sheriff was terrible at it. Neither he nor any of his lackeys knew how to move through the forest without making enough noise to alert every animal within earshot. Robin knew better. He knew every inch of these woods, where to put his feet and how to lie in wait for an animal to come within reach. And so he waited, kneeling in the underbrush with one hand holding the arrow in place.

There was a faint rustling sound. Robin tensed. A deer picked its way out of the surrounding trees- skinny, but that was natural, given the season. As Robin watched, it bent its head towards the ground, snuffling through the snow for fallen leaves. It was entirely unaware of his presence. Robin drew back his arrow.

A sudden, resounding crash split the air. The deer was gone in two leaps, and Robin relaxed his hand, cursing. He had been hunting for over three hours, and the deer was the first prey he’d seen. What had made that damnable noise?

Whatever it was, it was drawing closer. Robin tensed, moving backwards so that he was entirely concealed behind the nearest tree. The noise rose, culminating as a man came bursting into the clearing, his own quiver of arrows bouncing on his back. He was panting so loudly that Robin could hear him, but he didn’t look tired or frightened- on the contrary, he was grinning a broad and impish grin.

Stop in the name of the Sheriff of Nottingham!

Robin froze. But the voice wasn’t directed at him; it came from the two men who’d come bursting into the clearing on the first man’s heels. They were both dressed in the Sheriff’s livery, and bearing swords in their hands. Robin acted on instinct. He re-notched his arrow and drew up the bow in one smooth motion, firing forward into the trees. One of the Sheriff’s men yelled, whirling around in search of the source of the arrow. Robin took aim and fired another, watching as it sliced through the air inches away form the man’s ear. By now, the second man had realized they were under attack; they darted this way and that like frightened deer, unsure of whether to keep up their pursuit or flee and face the consequences later. Cowardice won out. Robin could still hear their panicked yells as they went crashing back through the underbrush.

Once he was sure they were gone, Robin lowered