Chapters (76)
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- PROLOGUE
- PART I
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- PART II
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- PART III
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- INTERLUDE
- PART IV
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- INTERLUDE
- PART V
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- PART VI
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- INTERLUDE
- PART VII
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- PART VIII
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- EPILOGUE
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Newsletter Sign-up
“His men?” asked a small blond whelp with his arm around a bony girl.
The girl echoed with “His men?”
Stutely knew the stories were lies. “Who in their right mind would just throw away good coin, eh? What sort of trick is this?”
The troll and Robin Hood tried to say the gold was real, which was as sure a sign as any that it wasn’t, since that would be exactly what a bunch of liars would say.
“Is Robin Hood the only name you’ve heard of?” asked the blond.
“No, no,” Munday laughed, “there are stories about all his men, too!”
“Oh good! Have you heard of Will Scarlet?”
“Yes! Yes,” Munday scratched his head again as he tried to remember the stories. “Yes! They say Will Scarlet wanted to join up with Robin and his men, and he found them in the middle of the Sherwood Forest. Scarlet challenged Robin Hood to an archery contest in order to join the group. He handed one arrow to Robin and said, ‘I’ll bet you can’t hit that tree down yonder.’ So Scarlet shot an arrow first and hit the tree right in the middle. Then Robin pulled his arrow back, let it fly, and it split Scarlet’s arrow in half, feather to head, right down the middle!”
The blond’s face went red and he started yelling things, even as Munday finished. “They say he’s the best archer in all the lands!”
“That’s not what happened!”
“That’s exactly what happened, my friends!” yelled the big man from the cart, climbing down and laughing. He was big, bigger even than Stutely, which meant he was fat and probably slow, too. “You want to know about Robin Hood? The real story? Robin Hood was fighting with King Richard himself, you know. He’s the son of a rich land owner…”
“Did he call me a son of a bitch? What are you telling him about me?” Robin asked, but the giant shoved him off, walking away with Munday and a crowd of people interested in hearing more lies. Robin Hood looked at Stutely as they left.
“None of those stories are true, you know. Robin Hood? Where’d I get that name from?”
His friend the troll laughed and flicked at the hood he was wearing. “You wear a hood,” he pointed out. Stutely laughed. This Robin was as thick as Munday if he didn’t even remember what he was wearing.
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Listen now,” he looked Stutely square in the eye, “don’t you go running around telling those stories anymore. I don’t need my name out there attached to all this. If you hear someone tell a story about this Robin Hood, you just tell them it’s a complete lie, and the real Robin is nothing like what they say.”