Hi! So this is a story about a modern-day girl who grew up near Sherwood Forest and loved it, there she met a boy who would be the companion and love of her youth but only within the confines of the forest. He was real enough but they were from different times, after she moves away she wonders whether he was really there at all but when she returns to Sherwood that question is most definitely answered. How will the gang (especially Marian) cope with this outsider in their midst?

Please review and tell me what you think, I'd really love to know!

Chapter 1

Delilah pushed the food around on her plate with a sigh, she had been eager to get out of the house but her Mum had insisted she eat breakfast. Just outside (she could almost smell the earth and trees) was Sherwood Forest – her playing place of choice as a child. She had lived with her Mum and Dad a few houses down from the one she was currently staying in, for nine years of her life, all that had changed when her parents had divorced. Wanting a change her Mother had moved to New York and taken her daughter with her.

She took a bite of scrambled eggs and rested her chin in her hand while she chewed, they were staying in a friends house whilst they were in England – Magda had been almost like an aunt to her.

"What would you like to do today?" Her Mother asked brightly as she washed up her plate.

"Oh...I was going to go into the forest." Delilah answered vaguely, her dark eyes distant.

Her Mother sighed, "Darling it's our first day back, we should go into the center."

"Please! I'll be 100% yours afterwards, I just...I've missed it." Delilah pleaded, dropping her fork onto the plate with a clatter.

"Well...alright but I don't understand what can be so special about that clump of trees." Her Mother said, rolling her eyes as she walked out of the room.

Delilah go to her feet hastily, disregarding her full plate, and piled her long, black hair on top of her head in a messy bun before slipping on her sandals and running out of the door. In no time at all she was at the edge of the forest where she'd stood so many times before, breathing in it's grounded scent and leaning her hand against the rough bark of a tree.

What wasn't special about this clump of trees? She thought, smiling. Her Mother did not know the half of it. She had loved running through the forest and pretending she was an outlaw like in the stories, having adventures and fighting for good, she had spent every second she could there and sometimes even snuck out at night. About her second week of playing there (she'd been five and very strong-minded) she had found a boy who was two years older playing roughly the same game but with lots more sword-fights involved, and they had become firm friends. He was called Robin but that was all she knew about him and all she needed to know – children do not ask adult questions upon making a new acquaintance – but they played together every day for 5 years. It was almost as if she'd imagined him as she never saw him anywhere outside the forest even though she sometimes looked for him at school...not to mention the funny clothes he wore and the odd way in which he sometimes spoke...but that didn't matter.

Coming back to the present Delilah smiled slightly and began to walk into the forest, telling herself that of course at age 21 he would no longer be there. She did not feel 19 at all as she walked through her old stomping ground, pausing now and then to remember. She had never told her mother about Robin for fear she wouldn't approve or (worse) would want to meet him, he was her secret and her best friend.

A branch made her stumble and brought her back to reality with a jolt, she just managed to catch hold of the trunk of a nearby tree to steady herself. As she dusted off her sundress she caught sight of something on the trunk itself and moved closer, looking closely. Wonderingly she raised one hand and traced a roughly cut heart with the letters R and D next to each other – Robin had cut it the day before she'd had to move away. Now she had to wonder where he'd got the knife but at the time it hadn't seemed strange at all. She smiled slightly and was just about to walk away when a rustling to her left made her catch her breath and stop in her tracks.

"Hello?" She said tentatively, turning round slowly to face in the same direction as the noise. Just as she had convinced herself it was a rabbit there was a crack and a man strode out of the trees, a hood covered most of his face and a bow was in his hands, the arrow pointing directly at her heart.

She backed away, unable to believe this was actually happening...surely she was imagining it?

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice verging on panic stricken as it climbed in pitch.

"What can you give me?" Was his cryptic response and her heart seemed to judder – she had heard all too many stories about men like this, who would wait for girls and then...well she didn't want to think about it...couldn't.

"Please don't." She forced out the words, terror making her inarticulate.

"Does it matter that much?" He asked, advancing a few paces. She shrank back, her lips forming an O of disgust.

"Of course it – what do you – who are you?" She tripped over her words, unable to process what was happening.

"That doesn't matter. Just hand it over." He said in a voice that was almost bored, yet he had never faltered in his hold on the bow.

Delilah blinked in confusion – she couldn't very well 'hand over' her virtue...unless that wasn't what he wanted at all.

"Hand what over?" She said, growing braver as he hadn't actually harmed her yet.

From what she could see of his face he thought that an extremely stupid question.

"Well that pretty little necklace for a start. That'll give a man food for a week." He said, nodding to the diamond necklace her Mother had bought her for her 18th birthday.

Delilah thought she might cry with relief, the sacrifice of her necklace seemed small in comparison with the other option. With shaking hands she undid the clasp and held the necklace out, taking care to keep her eyes impassive.

His lips quirked upwards in a smile as he lowered his weapon and took it from her.

"Pleasure doing business with you." He said, dropping the necklace into a pouch and beginning to walk away. Delilah stood frowning, there had been something about that smile...something she recognized. She watched him walk (or rather swagger) away and suddenly the penny dropped.

"Robin?"