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Chapter One
“Grandma! Grandma! Tell me a story!” A little girl no older than five years old said while running toward an old woman sitting on a wooden chair inside a small hut. The girl had short brown hair up into two messy ponytails on either side of her head. Her brown eyes seemed to pop out at you with childhood innocence and laughter.
The older woman laughed gently while pulling the little girl up to sit on her lap. The woman had dull grey hair and peaceful deep brown eyes that seemed even duller than her hair, yet full of joy and kindness. She gave the little girl a genuine smile, showing even more of her many wrinkles.
The child grinned back, showing her grandma her two black holes in her row of teeth, where she had just lost her two front teeth.
“Now, Miranda, which story would you like to hear tonight?” The old woman asked.
Every night, she told her grandchild a story at night, sitting on a chair by the furnace. They lived in a small hut, but it was capable enough of housing two. After the story was told, Miranda would be sent off to bed; peacefully dreaming of the story she was told. Most nights, however, she asked for the same story, her favorite.
“Robin Hood!” Miranda exclaimed happily, throwing her hands up in the air to emphasize the name.
The old woman laughed tenderly, she should have seen that one coming. Robin Hood was Miranda’s favorite story, and also her hero. They lived just outside of Nottingham, on a small farm, with very little to no money. Robin Hood always gave hope to Miranda.
“That one again? Don’t you want to hear something different for a change?” The woman asked.
Miranda shook her head with a big smile. She then poked herself in the chest with her right index finger and said, “I want to grow up and be just like Robin Hood. Then we will be able to buy a big house and you can get more medicine.”
The woman continued to laugh. “But dearie, being a thief is dangerous. I wouldn’t want you getting hurt. If you got hurt, that would make me very sad. It would also make all of your friends very sad as well.” She asked, calming down.
Miranda showed a blank expression. “I didn’t think of that.” She said sadly, turning her head down.
The woman couldn’t stand to see Miranda sad, so she quickly said with a smile, “I’m so delighted that you think so highly of others, Miranda. Tell you what, you continue to be a good girl and you never know what dreams and gifts will be bestowed upon you. We’ll wait until you get a tad older and then we’ll see if you still want to be a thief, alright?”
Miranda looked up instantly with a grin, she nodded her head fiercely. “Deal!” She said as she grabbed her grandma’s hand and shook it vigorously, but with a light grip, for she was only a child.
“Alright, where to begin. Years and years ago, in the town of Nottingham, there was a kind king and his evil brother. Business led the king out of town for just a few days, but his evil brother locked him away in a prison by his own guards and took over for his absent brother, he took over Nottingham, and no one could stop him. He had an evil sheriff as an accomplice. But one man stood above the rest to do what was right, one young man. And his name was Robin Hood. He stole from the rich and gave to the poor.” The woman started.
The child eventually gave way to the oncoming sleep and closed her eyes, slumbering peacefully on her grandmother’s lap. She fell asleep somewhere right before the end. She tried to stay up, she really did, but her stubbornness just wasn’t quite strong enough to fight back the much needed sleep.
The girl’s ponytail in the back of her head that was keeping her brown locks out of her face was slowly coming undone, with little strands of hair falling out every now and then.
Overall, she looked just as adorable as she had three years ago. She had just turned eight years old a couple of weeks ago. She had received wonderful gifts from her grandmother and friends. Well, a wealthy person would never understand why she considered them wonderful, but she appreciated them and cherished them greatly.
For her birthday, her six friends had given her a pendent, a ring, a bracelet, a compass, a brush, and a pocket watch. Four of her friends were girls, hence the girly items. The other two were boys, hence the non-girly items. Her favorite present out of all though was her grandma’s gift. It was a silver dagger. It was so beautiful. Normally, such a dangerous object would not be given to a child of eight years, much less a girl. But her grandma could tell that if she wanted to be great like her hero, Robin Hood, she had to learn certain things and posses certain things.
“Miranda! Get inside, quick!” An old woman’s voice was heard through the silence. The girl looked toward the woman to find her standing in the doorway, many expressions crossing her face. Fear gripped the girl who answered to Miranda. She dropped the hoe and frantically ran toward the small hut.
Once she reached the hut, she looked at her grandma worriedly. “Grandma, what’s wrong?”
“There are soldiers here. I just got word a few minutes ago. They’ll be here shortly. And they are not here for socializing, you must hurry and grab everything of yours and meet me back here, fast.” The woman said in a rushed voice.
Miranda nodded and didn’t waste a second. She ran over to another door and opened it, running into the bedroom. Her grandma and she shared a room, seeing as the hut was so small. She ran over to her side of the room and opened up the wardrobe. She grabbed her old, huge, sandy messenger bag and started cramming anything and everything that was hers into it.
About seven minutes later and Miranda hade every last thing of hers packed away and into her bag. She had all her clothes, all her books, which weren’t that many, all her trinkets and possessions, all her birthday gifts, everything. She slung it around her shoulder and walked out of the door and into the main room to be greeted by a still worried, frantic, and overly rushed grandma.
“Miranda, now, I want you to sneak out the backdoor and run into the woods. They shouldn’t follow you there if they don’t know you were ever here. I don’t want you to come back, not for anything. I’ll come and get you when this is all over. Do you have everything?” Her grandma asked as she placed her hands on Miranda’s shoulders.
Miranda nodded her head. “Yep.” She said.
“Okay then.” Her grandma quickly hugged her tightly, putting her head atop her grandchild’s and closing her eyes. She then opened her eyes and moved her head to kiss her granddaughter’s forehead. “I love you and I will see you soon.”
“I love you to grandma.” Miranda said with a smile.
Suddenly they both paused; light sounds of hooves hitting the dirt could be heard.
“That’s them. Go, hurry. And remember; don’t turn back, not for anything.” Her grandma said as she pushed Miranda across the room and out the back door. She then quickly closed the back door and got rid of any evidence that there was ever anyone else here other than herself. She grabbed the hoe that was left on the field by Miranda and quickly put it into the small shed.
By the time she got to the front, she saw the horses arriving. She kept her calm face as she stood in front of her house, waiting, and secretly praying that Miranda would listen to her orders.
The horses soon stopped in front of the hut and the little old woman. The person on the front horse jumped down and looked around. He then walked up to the woman.
Miranda’s grandma was a brave one. She wasn’t afraid for her life, only for that of her only living family, the closest person to her heart. “What business do you have here, with an old farm lady, may I ask?”
The man ignored her and motioned to his men, “Search the place.”
“There is no need to search, for I have nothing to hide.” The woman said, standing her guard and in doing so, making it near impossible for the men to get inside.
“I’ll be the judge of that, move aside.” He said as he pushed her. She had to put her hand on the siding of the hut to refrain from falling and keep her balance long enough to give the man a glare which no one caught, thankfully.
The woman allowed the men to search her house, for she had nothing to hide, she had made sure of it. She turned her attention back to the man when he stepped out the front door.
“Why are there two beds when there is only one resident of this…house?” He asked.
“My daughter usually visits me every other week. I’m expecting her later on this week, actually. I made it up just yesterday.” The woman lied, though it went unnoticed.
“How could an old woman such as yourself do all that work out in the field by yourself?”
“Oh, that wasn’t me. A neighboring farmer’s son was kind enough to do it for me; he didn’t even ask anything in return. I think his family and he are in church now, he just did it for me this morning.”
“It doesn’t matter either way. I’m afraid that you’ll have to be punished.”
“And what was my crime?”
“Lack of tax paying and treason against the current king from years ago. We finally caught up with you. And I’m afraid the punishment in severe.” He said, pulling out a knife.
The woman’s last thought was that of her granddaughter.
She ran farther into the forest. She just kept running and running, even long after her feet started to get sore from her improper shoes. She just kept on running, not stopping for anything. Finally she tripped over a low vine that hung on the floor. She would have easily dodged it had she been able to see with watery eyes and blurry vision.
Miranda stayed there for what seemed like hours. Lying against the ground and crying her eyes out. She leaned up against a tree trunk for more comfort and put her face in her hands, her bag was still on her shoulder and around her neck, but was lying comfortable beside her; not giving her any weight for the ground was carrying it for now.
Miranda had cried herself to sleep that night. She was awoken by the early morning light, the chirping of the birds, and the feeling that someone was watching her. She opened her eyes slowly, for they were painfully swollen and red from the night’s crying. She opened them to only find out that she was face to face with a boy that looked only a couple years older than her. He was crouched down on the ground and was just watching her. She reacted to her first instinct.
She screamed.
She was hurriedly quieted though, for the boy’s hands had quickly attached themselves over her mouth.
“Shh. Do you want to wake up the whole forest?” He asked in a whisper.
Miranda slowly shook her head.
The boy sighed and removed his hands from her mouth.
She rubbed her eyes with her hands. They were swollen, but not too bed. She doubted that she looked the best in the world because of the previous day’s events.
“Were you crying?” The boy asked, surprising Miranda by his bluntness.
She shook her head. No. She didn’t want this stranger to know anything about her.
“Then why are your eyes all red?” He asked as he cocked his head to the side, making him look even cuter in Miranda’s opinion.
She stayed silent, unsure as how to answer that.
The boy rolled his eyes and stood up. “I’ll take that as a yes, you were crying. Here, let me help you up.” He said as he shot his arm down toward her.
Miranda looked at it warily before hesitantly grabbing it and standing up. She brushed the dirt off of her clothes after she had released his hand.
“What’s your name?” The boy asked her.
Miranda was silent for a moment. Then she decided to answer. “Miranda.” She said quietly.
The boy smiled. “My name’s Wesley, but you can just call me Wes. What were you doing out here all alone? Don’t you know that it’s dangerous? There are many wild animals in the forest.” He said.
He then finally got a good look at her. She was wearing a peasant dress and peasant shoes. Her attire was dirty and worn out. She looked as if she were a slave almost. Her brown hair was up in a ponytail with a few strands out and around her neck. She had her long bangs out of her ponytail; they obviously must have fallen out during her sleep. He then looked at her eyes. She had beautiful eyes, in his opinion.
While Wesley was taking in her appearance, Miranda was taking in his. He was well dressed, must have been the kid of a wealthy family, he had shaggy dirty-blond hair and dark blue eyes. His hair reached to the bottom of his ear.
A voice sounded in the background that broke both children out of their thoughts. It was a deep man’s voice that sounded beyond the trees.
“Wesley. Come on, we’ve got to get going. Your father is anxious to see you and if you don’t hurry, we’ll be late.”
“Coming.” Wesley called back.
He then smiled at Miranda and said, “I’m sure I’ll see you again, Miranda. Until then, be well. And don’t cry too much. You don’t want your eyes to swell shut, do you? I’ll meet you again, Miranda.” Wesley turned around after that and walked into the trees and out of eye sight.
Miranda sighed and kept on walking. Walking to the nearest village or town. She only had one choice left to do in life. She would do what she had always wanted to do, what she had dreamt of for so many nights. She would become a thief.
