Chapter 2

When Robin left his home, he went directly to his most favorite spot on the manor. Just to the south of the manor was a large hill. When he walked to the top of the hill, it overlooked all of Locksley Manor. He could see the manor house, the village, church, and mill. It was quiet and peaceful. Generally, he was not interrupted there when he went to practice his archery. However, practicing was not the only reason he went there. Often, his best friend, Marian Fitzwalter, could also be found there. Marian was the daughter of the Sheriff of Nottingham. They lived in the next village over. She was nine years old, but she and Robin got along quite well. Since birth, she had been his betrothed, an arrangement made by the Locksley's and Fitzwalter's. However, Robin and Marian were not aware of the arrangement just yet. Both families felt quite blessed because Robin and Marian had always been friends. There didn't seem to be anything to indicate that the arrangement would not go off without a hitch.

On this beautiful day, Robin was hoping that Marian would also try to get out of her house and make it to the hill. His mother was right, he had thought. He did not really need to practice his archery skills. But, while he waited for Marian, he decided to shoot anyway. He shot several arrows and retrieved them. As he prepared to shoot again, he notched his arrow and pulled back the string, when all of a sudden, he was startled by something crawling on his leg. He jerked because of it and as he let the arrow go, he totally missed the target. When he looked down, there was nothing there, but he heard giggling behind him. Turning, he found Marian in hysterics. She had a rope on a stick that she had swung and wrapped around his leg, making him think it had been a snake.

"Very funny, ha ha ha", he retorted.

Through her laughter, she managed to spit out, "You should have seen your face!"

They said their pleasantries and caught up on what they had been doing recently. They never seemed to run out of things to talk about. On this day, Marian decided to ask a favor of him.

"Robin, would you do something for me if I asked you to?"

"If I can, you know I will."

"Will you teach me to shoot?"

"Archery? Girls aren't supposed to like archery. They're supposed to do embroidery."

"I know, but, I would really enjoy it if you would teach me how. We could spend more time together, and …"

"Do you really want to?"

"Yes."

"All right. Come here and I will show you how to hold the bow."

Marian walked over and stood inside his arms. He held the bow up and had her place her left hand over his. Then he wrapped his right arm around her and showed her how to pull the string back. Just as he was going to show her how to notch the arrow, he heard his name.

" n."

"Oh, no. I must be late. I have to go." He bid Marian goodbye and ran down the hill as fast as his feet could take him.