This is the third time I've tried to fix the uploading issues. Anyone with any pointers about how to keep my format the same after it's posted as it is on my computer, please let me know. I'm hoping this will fix the problem with the quotation marks.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
The Long Road Home by Ecri
Part 1A: Familiar Ground
Smoke and flame poured from the window of the small home he'd shared with his mother, as he struggled to break free from the man who held him. The man laughed as it burned, growing all the louder when his mother's screams echoed from somewhere inside.
"Mum!" The ten-year-old Will called out, struggling fiercely to break away from the man. When he finally did, landing a kick on the man's shins, he raced toward the burning house. He screamed for his mother, smelling the burning thatch of the roof and choking as the smoke rolled in big black clouds. "Mum!" He called again.
He turned to plead with the man for help, but the man was gone. A commotion from the nearby village heralded the arrival of a group of men and women with buckets of water.
They were going to save his mother!
As they approached and threw they're buckets, which seemed pitifully small to the boy, he head several mutter something about stopping the fire before it spread to their homes. He knew the truth. His momentary elation that these people might care for him and his mother evaporated. "My mum's in there!" He called out to the nearest man, but he didn't hear.
He kept shouting it, figuring someone would hear, but all he heard was a howl from the house. He turned to face it, fear cutting off his own cries. A figure, engulfed in flames came through the door, running madly screaming for help, before finally falling and laying still.
Will blinked back the tears. "Mum!" He cried out loudly when his voice returned to him, and he tried to run to the still burning corpse. Somehow, instead, he found his way blocked, and his arms being held firmly at his sides. He struggled and looked up to see what obstacle this was and saw a tear-stained face looking down at him.
Fanny Little held the boy, whispering words he could not make out and hugging him fiercely. Knowing there was nothing he could do, he clutched at her desperately and sobbed.