The Black Arrow

The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses both an historical adventure novel and a romance novel, set during the Wars of the Roses (1453-1487), a series of civil wars between the houses of Lancaster and York fighting for the English throne.
Richard Shelton (Dick) lives as Sir Daniel Brackley's ward at Tunstall Moat House. A group of outlaws known as "The Black Arrow", strike, killing Nicholas Appleyard. They leave a message warning that they will also kill Brackley, and his men and implying that Dick's father, Harry Shelton, died under suspicious circumstances. Dick, who doesn't know how his father died, wonders if Brackley was responsible.