(The Tristan Stone by JThomas from Geograph)
The next morning Marian took Robin to her good friend Friar Tuck, a local chaplain. While being a man of God, Tuck was also a man of many hobbies. One of those hobbies was treasure finding and in his younger days he spent many hours searching for relics. Marian knew he had maps to all sorts of objects - and hopefully a map to the Stone of Tristan.
Upon opening the chapel doors Marian exclaimed, "Friar Tuck! I come in a hurry and in need of a great favor. There is no time to explain, but do you by chance have a map to the ancient Stone of Tristan?"
Friar Tuck was perplexed by this question but knew not to test Maid Marian when she was in this sort of mood. "Why yes, dear! I have just what you are looking for!"
As he was busy scrambling around looking for the map he recognized the outlaw known as Robin Hood was with Maid Marian. Never mind, he thought, she asked me not to ask her questions and I shall trust she knows best. Then he saw the map he was looking for and quickly handed it to Marian and said, "Godspeed, Maid Marian! And also to you Robin Hood!"
The adventuring couple was off to find the Stone of Tristan and then Fail-Not the bow of Tristan. Hopefully, they could beat the Bishop of Hereford there.
It had been a week. They had had a couple of minor blunders along the trail, but overall they were making good time. Robin figured they could reach the stone by nightfall. There was just one problem, for the last two nights they had watched the lights of the Bishop of Hereford's caravan slowly gain on them. Robin and Marian had decided to travel without the rest of the Merry Men so they could make quick ground and not be easily detected. However, the Bishop had horses and they did not.
At last, the night fell. Robin lit his lantern so they could see the trail. Typically, they would set up camp but they were so close. A hundred steps further lay the stone. There in front of them was the Stone of Tristan, but no famous bow.
Robin asked Marian, "My love, what shall we do now?"
"Dearest lover, I do not know. All I know is we have made it and have beaten the Bishop and his men. But they are closing in fast! We must find the bow with haste!"
Robin searched around the surrounding area - still no Fail-not. At last, he took a break and rested his back against the stone. Suddenly, the stone began to rise from the base. He could see a wooden box shaped like a bow. He went to reach for it...when unexpectedly he heard a shout, "Stop! If you dare touch it I will send this arrow through your face!"
It was one of the Bishop's men. He was flanked by two archers. One pointed his arrow at Robin and the other at Marian. Robin had laid his bow down and was defenseless - they were forced to surrender. The three men tied Robin and Marian to some nearby trees and told them they would remain there until the Bishop arrived.
Early the next morning the Bishop arrived with the rest of his men. Robin and Marian had slept tied to the trees all night. The bow had remained untouched at the base of the stone. When the Bishop of Hereford stepped out of his carriage he thanked his men and said, "Prince John will be so pleased when we bring him Fail-Not - now where is it?"
The men pointed them to the base of the Stone of Tristan. Then the Bishop proceeded to walk over the wooden case and smile with an evil smile at the object. He exclaimed, "Alas, we should wield this trustworthy bow and never miss again." Looking over at Robin he said, "If we had this you would not have won that Golden Arrow or the love of the beautiful Maid Marian."
What happened next can only be imagined from the words Robin and Marian have told their children and their children's children. The Bishop of Hereford bent down and lifted the bow out of the box. But the bow had a mind of its own. It began shooting by itself. First it struck one of the Bishop's men, then another, and yet another. The Bishop tried to stop it by putting it down, but it kept on shooting everywhere! The men were taking cover but the bow never failed to miss its mark, and it seemed to have a never-ending supply of arrows. Within two minutes only the Bishop remained. He bowed down to pray for it to stop, but Fail-Not would not have it and the Bishop soon lay dead next to his men.
Suddenly, Robin and Marian were free. An arrow had sliced through the rope which held them to the tree. Robin seized the bow and put it back in the box shutting the lid. Robin said, "Marian, this bow is too powerful for even the greatest to handle. It must be hidden and hidden well."
"I agree, Robin! Let us find a place to hide it and then head back to our friends in Nottingham!"
So they ventured into the woods and found a spot to hide that which they had been looking for. Where you might ask? Well, nobody else knows. Not even Little John.
*Author's Note: This story is not really based on any of the original Robin Hood stories. I did introduce a new character in Friar Tuck. Who I best know from Walt Disney's animated feature "Robin Hood." I just needed a character to give them a map and I though who better than Friar Tuck. Honestly, if I was writing more than four stories I may have gone in a different direction with the whole thing, but this seemed to be the quickest way to wrap things up. I do not have the time or the motivation to write more stories. Also, in this story my goal was to make Robin Hood and Made Marian look like two young love-birds (I hope I succeeded).
This story is actually heavily inspired by "Indian Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark." In which Indy's rival archaeologist (who is working for the Nazis I might add) opens the Ark of the Covenant while Indiana and Marion are tied to a pole (the scene is embedded from YouTube below). Thus, in that movie and my story there was a strong parallel. In which those who found it (for the wrong reasons) were severely punished. Also, the Ark of the Covenant is then boxed up and hidden away in a top secret warehouse.
Bibliography.
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child (1882-1898). Web Source.
Indiana Jones. Web Source.