The Siege Scare (7 page)

Tommy tightened the reins and leaned forward in the saddle, urging Ned into a gallop.

The enemy knight must have heard Ned's hooves pounding across the field because he glanced up and, seeing Tommy and the horse streaking towards the catapult, broke into a run.

‘Faster, Ned!' Tommy said, bending low over the horse's neck.

The ground passed beneath her in a blur and Tommy's pulse raced in time with the horse's steps. They had to reach the catapult first – they had to!

‘Whoa!' Tommy pulled on the reins as they reached the wooden structure and slid from the horse's back a split second before the enemy knight ran up.

‘Out of my way, girl!' he barked.

‘No!' Tommy said, though she trembled with fear as she gazed at the black-clad man towering over her.

‘I said move!'

The knight took a step towards her and Tommy pulled Jasper Swann from her belt.

‘Don't take another step,' she told him, brandishing the sword.

‘I warned you, girl,' the knight hissed as he pulled his own sword from his belt.

Without thinking, Tommy stepped forward and, with a powerful downward stroke, knocked the knight's sword from his grasp.

‘Wh-what?' he stammered, looking at his empty hand in disbelief.

‘You don't want to get in a fight with our sword girl,' said a voice behind Tommy.

She spun around to see Sir Benedict, still on horseback. She'd been so intent on the enemy, she hadn't even heard him ride up.

‘Well done, Tommy,' Sir Benedict said. ‘You took care of him.'

The knight from Malice was now running away across the field, with two of Flamant's knights riding after him.

Sir Benedict gave her a nod. ‘Now let's go home.'

Tommy grasped Ned's reins and put her foot in the stirrup, then swung onto the horse's back.

Together she and Sir Benedict cantered back to Sir Walter, Sir Percy and the procession of knights riding towards the castle.

‘Sir Thomas,' Sir Walter was shouting as they rejoined the others, ‘take fifty men and continue west to find Sir Hugh.'

With a burst of speed, fifty horses peeled off from the main group and followed Sir Thomas west after the fleeing knights of Malice.

‘Sword Girl, take the front!'

Tommy's head jerked up. Had she heard Sir Walter correctly?

Sir Benedict was grinning at her as Sir Walter the Bald repeated the instruction.

‘Sword Girl! To the front!'

‘Yes, sir!' cried Tommy.

Urging Ned on, she rode to the head of the group. As she lifted her head to gaze at her beloved castle, a flutter of wings above the battlements caught her eye.

‘Pigeon!' she called.

There was a flurry of feathers as the pigeon swooped down to fly beside her. ‘Sword Girl, you did it – you've saved us!' he crowed.

‘No, Pigeon; we did it!'

And to the sound of deafening cheers both inside and outside the castle, they led the knights home.

J
OIN
T
OMMY AND
HER FRIENDS FOR ANOTHER
SWORD GIRL
ADVENTURE IN

CHAPTER 1

‘F
LAMANT FOR VICTORY!
'

The battle cry was so loud it carried through the thick stone walls of the armoury and all the way to the sword chamber where Tommy was working.

‘Flamant for victory!'

The cry was echoed by dozens of voices, followed by the thunder of horses' hooves across the great courtyard of Flamant Castle. The castle's squires were practising their jousting skills in preparation for the tournament that was only five days away.

Tommy held up the sword she was polishing and saw the blade gleam in the flickering light of the candle on the wall. With a sigh, she replaced it in the rack then picked up another sword from the pile on the floor beside her and dipped her rag into the pot of clove-scented oil.

The squires, who were training to be knights, would be jousting with lances on horseback, but the knights themselves would be competing in sword fights. The knights had been practising every day, and Tommy had been polishing and sharpening their swords from morning till night. In all the months she had been Keeper of the Blades, she had never been so busy.

The cries of the squires were drowned out by a clatter as Reynard, the Keeper of the Bows, burst into the armoury and dropped an armful of shields on the smith's wooden table.

‘You've been gone a while,' the smith observed with a grunt. ‘Busy in town, is it?'

‘You should see it, Smith,' Reynard replied. ‘All the houses have banners on them in the colours of Flamant Castle, and the town is full of merchants who've come from all over for the fair in Jonglers Field.'

Tommy, who had lifted her head from her work to listen, ducked it again when she saw Reynard glance in her direction. Reynard had hated Tommy ever since she had been made the Keeper of the Blades instead of him.

But Reynard must have seen that Tommy was listening for he raised his voice to say, ‘There are going to be dancers and musicians – I even saw some acrobats practising their tumbling. I feel sorry for anyone who's missing all the fun.'

Reynard didn't sound very sorry at all, Tommy thought, as she scrubbed furiously at a smudge of dirt on the blade of a sword. She had been so excited when Sir Walter the Bald announced that Flamant Castle would be holding a tournament, and all the knights and squires of neighbouring Roses Castle had been invited. There was to be a grand procession followed by three days of competitions, with a big feast held every night. And on top of that, there was to be a fair in Jonglers Field, with stalls and games and entertainment. Tommy longed to see the preparations, but whenever Smith needed an errand run to the blacksmith in town, he sent Reynard instead of her. ‘I'm sorry, Sword Girl,' he would say, ‘but you're needed here.'

Tommy sighed again.

‘What's the matter, dearie?'

The voice came from a sabre behind her. It was Nursie, one of the Old Wrecks. When Tommy had first become Keeper of the Blades, responsible for looking after all the bladed weapons of Flamant Castle, the Old Wrecks had been neglected for years. But Tommy soon discovered that the swords in the small rack in the darkest corner of the sword chamber were inhabited by the spirits of their previous owners.

‘I'm just thinking about the tournament,' Tommy told her.

‘Ooh, the tournament,' said Nursie. ‘What an exciting time. Why, I remember when my little darling fought in his first tournament. He won, of course.' Nursie's ‘little darling', Tommy knew, was Sir Walter himself; Nursie had been his nursemaid.

A long-handled dagger with a deep voice chimed in, ‘And don't forget the fair. All those stalls … There'll be leather goods and delicious pies and spices and candles and – oh, anything you can imagine. It's a fine time to be a merchant. Will you be buying anything at the fair, Sword Girl?'

‘You merchants are all the same, Bevan Brumm,' Nursie scolded. ‘Always wanting people to buy things. But our sword girl is more interested in the tournament, aren't you, dearie?'