The Black Arrow recap

During the Wars of the Roses, young Richard Shelton serves his guardian, the changeable knight Sir Daniel Brackley. A fellowship of outlaws known as the Black Arrow accuses Sir Daniel of murder, including responsibility for the death of Dick's father. While carrying messages, Dick helps a supposed boy called John Matcham escape and later discovers that Matcham is Joanna Sedley, an heiress Sir Daniel controls and intends to marry for profit. When Sir Daniel turns against him, Dick joins Ellis Duckworth and the Black Arrow, learns the truth about his father, and repeatedly tries to rescue Joanna. Their struggle passes through ambushes, disguises, a failed sea attack, and the battle for Shoreby. The Yorkist Richard of Gloucester knights Dick after the victory, but Dick's pursuit of Sir Daniel nearly ends in disaster. Dick finally recovers Joanna and spares his defeated guardian, only for Duckworth to kill Sir Daniel with a black arrow. Dick and Joanna marry and leave the civil war behind.

At Tunstall, old soldier Nicholas Appleyard is killed by a black-feathered arrow shortly after discussing threats from a woodland band. Messages signed in the name of John Amend-All accuse Sir Daniel Brackley and his chief servants of crimes and promise that each will be punished. Richard Shelton, Sir Daniel's young ward, is disturbed to see his guardian named among the targets but obeys orders to travel through a countryside divided by the Wars of the Roses. On the way he meets John Matcham, a slight youth fleeing a marriage being forced by a guardian. Dick agrees to help Matcham despite suspecting that the escape conflicts with Sir Daniel's plans. Their route through marsh and forest brings them into danger from pursuers and from the Black Arrow fellowship. Dick's loyalty to Sir Daniel begins to weaken as Matcham questions what he knows about his father's death and as the outlaws imply that his guardian has concealed the truth.

Dick and Matcham reach the neighborhood of Tunstall Moat House, where Sir Daniel's position becomes increasingly threatening. Dick presses for answers about his father and receives evasions rather than reassurance. He also discovers that Matcham is Joanna Sedley, the heiress Sir Daniel has kept as a ward and the very young woman intended for Dick, although Sir Daniel treats both marriages and guardianships as tools for his own advantage. Dick and Joanna acknowledge their attachment, but escape is difficult inside the guarded house. Evidence mounts that Sir Daniel would rather dispose of Dick than surrender control or face an inquiry into the past. Forced to choose between obedience and survival, Dick turns against the man who raised him. He escapes the Moat House and seeks the woodland fellowship, accepting the help of Ellis Duckworth and the Black Arrow in the hope of learning the truth and freeing Joanna.

Now aligned with the Black Arrow, Dick learns that Sir Daniel was responsible for his father's death and commits himself to rescuing Joanna. He reaches Lord Foxham, Joanna's rightful guardian, who is wounded but willing to support a rescue. Because Sir Daniel has taken Joanna to Shoreby, Dick, Lawless, and Foxham's men attempt to approach the town from the sea aboard Captain Arblaster's Good Hope. The expedition goes badly: resistance and confusion defeat the rescue, lives are lost, and the ship is wrecked. Joanna remains in Sir Daniel's power, with a marriage to Lord Shoreby being prepared. Arblaster holds Dick responsible for the ruin brought upon an uninvolved crew. Despite the failure, Dick reaches land and continues toward Shoreby with Lawless, knowing that another direct attack is unlikely to succeed and that secrecy offers his best chance to contact Joanna.

Dick and Lawless enter Shoreby in disguise while Sir Daniel arranges Joanna's marriage to Lord Shoreby. Dick encounters Alicia Risingham, Joanna's lively companion, and manages to renew contact with Joanna, but the town is crowded with armed factions and every rescue plan risks exposing them. At the abbey church, members of the Black Arrow strike during the wedding and Lord Shoreby is killed before the marriage can secure Sir Daniel's plans. Dick's disguise and divided loyalties draw him into the hands of Lord Risingham, the chief Lancastrian lord in the town. Dick reveals evidence of Sir Daniel's willingness to betray whichever faction is losing, damaging his guardian's standing. Although Dick survives the encounter, Joanna is still not safely beyond Sir Daniel's reach. Outside the private struggle, Yorkist forces are closing on Shoreby, turning the town into the next battlefield in the national conflict.

Yorkist forces under Richard of Gloucester defeat the Lancastrians at Shoreby. Dick fights bravely, is knighted by Gloucester, and receives a command of men with which to pursue Sir Daniel, who has fled with Joanna. His courage exceeds his experience as a commander, and a rash attack costs him most of his force. With only a few companions, he continues into the forest and at last reunites with Joanna. Sir Daniel remains dangerous but has lost the power and allies that allowed him to control them. When the defeated knight later approaches in disguise and asks for passage, Dick recognizes him yet chooses mercy. Ellis Duckworth does not share that mercy and kills Sir Daniel with the black arrow he has long reserved for him. Dick and Joanna marry once their guardian can no longer separate them. Dick also secures a pardon for Captain Arblaster, acknowledging the seaman's losses in the failed rescue. Lawless eventually turns away from warfare for a religious life, while Dick and Joanna retire from political conflict and live together in peace.

After the Yorkist victory at Shoreby, Richard of Gloucester knights Dick and gives him men to pursue Sir Daniel, who has fled with Joanna. Dick's inexperience costs him most of that force, but he continues with a few loyal companions and finds Joanna in the forest. Sir Daniel escapes the immediate pursuit and later approaches Dick in disguise, asking for safe passage. Dick recognizes his former guardian but allows him to go rather than kill him. Ellis Duckworth, unwilling to abandon his vengeance, shoots Sir Daniel with a black arrow. Dick and Joanna are then free to marry. Dick also uses his standing with Gloucester to obtain mercy for Captain Arblaster, whose ship was lost during the earlier rescue attempt. Lawless eventually leaves fighting for religious life. Dick and Joanna withdraw from the shifting civil war and make a peaceful home together, while the wider conflict between Lancaster and York continues beyond their private resolution.