The Siege Scare (2 page)

‘There's a tunnel running from here to the forest?' asked Tommy, interested.

‘Oh no,' said Nursie. ‘I'm sure he was just making up tales to fool his old Nursie.'

‘There used to be rumours about a tunnel when I was a squire,' Jasper said. ‘But no one ever seemed to know where it was.'

‘I often wished for a tunnel when I was riding through the forest on dark, moonless nights,' Bevan Brumm said. He had been a merchant when he was alive, and had travelled widely. ‘There's nothing worse than expecting a bandit to leap out from behind every tree.'

Tommy gulped. ‘I hope I never have to travel through a forest on a dark, moonless night,' she said.

‘If you ever do, you can take me with you, Sword Girl,' Jasper offered.

‘Thanks, Jasper, I will,' said Tommy as a voice called, ‘Hello? Is anyone here?'

Tommy ran to the door to see Sir Hugh pacing around the armoury.

‘Hello, Sir Hugh. There's just me here, sir – Smith is in town. Can I help you?'

The knight held out his sword. ‘Indeed you can, Tommy. I need my sword sharpened, and there'll be twenty more to be readied, too.'

‘Twenty swords?' Tommy said in surprise. Just when she'd thought things would be quiet in the sword chamber!

‘That's right, and as fast as you can.' Sir Hugh's expression was grim. ‘Yesterday Sir Benedict sent a couple of men out to patrol our western border and they've just returned with bad news. They spied a raiding party of a dozen of Sir Malcolm the Mean's knights from Malice Castle riding in our direction.'

Tommy put a hand to her mouth. ‘Sir Malcolm's knights are coming here?' she whispered.

‘Sir Malcolm must have heard that Flamant's knights are away at the tournament at Roses,' Sir Hugh said. ‘He obviously didn't reckon on the fact that some of us would be staying behind. But Sir Walter and Sir Benedict are smarter than that. I'm taking twenty men out to confront the raiding party. How soon can you have our swords ready?'

Within half an hour the armoury was as busy as it had ever been. Smith had returned from town to find Tommy hard at work. When she had explained why she suddenly had twenty swords to sharpen, the smith had immediately picked up a file and begun to help her. They worked side by side until finally, just as the sun was sinking beneath the battlements, they were ready.

Tommy could hear the stamping of hooves on the flagstones outside as Sir Hugh and his knights brought their horses round then hastened into the armoury to collect their swords.

After the last man had mounted his horse, Tommy and Smith followed them through the castle gate and onto the bridge. This time Tommy didn't wave cheerfully as she watched the small band of knights gallop towards the setting sun.

‘Do you think they'll be able to fight off Sir Malcolm's raiding party, Smith?' she asked.

Smith let out a heavy sigh. ‘Let's hope so, Sword Girl,' he said. ‘Because if they don't, we've no one left to protect us.'

CHAPTER 2

T
OMMY SLEPT RESTLESSLY
that night, and when she sat at the long kitchen table for her breakfast the next morning, she could only manage a couple of bites of bread.

‘What's got into you this morning, Thomasina?' the cook wanted to know.

‘I'm sorry, Mrs Moon,' said Tommy as she pushed her plate away. ‘I'm just worried about the raiding party from Malice Castle. What if Sir Hugh can't stop them?'

The cook snorted. ‘Sir Malcolm the Mean's knights are no match for the men of Flamant Castle,' she declared. ‘You stop your moping about, girl. Sir Hugh will be back with good news before the sun is high, you mark my words.'

Tommy went to work in the sword chamber, determined to sharpen every bladed weapon in the armoury. Mrs Moon had told her not to worry, but Smith's long face told a different story. Even Lil, who had been so eager to bask in the sun on the flagstones of the courtyard, was unsettled.

Midday came, and though the sun had reached its highest point, there was no word from Sir Hugh. As the sun sank behind the battlements once more, still nothing had been heard.

That night Tommy had bad dreams about fire and people shouting. She woke with a start to realise that she had heard something. She pulled on her tunic and leggings and ran outside to the great courtyard.

Instead of a dark, star-speckled sky, the night was lit up with flames! Just like in her dream, people were running and yelling, as flaming arrows the size of broomsticks hurtled over the castle walls.

The wooden roof above a walkway between two towers was on fire, and Tommy watched in horror as an arrow landed on the roof of the well only metres away from her. It burst into flames and Tommy shrank back against the wall.

Suddenly Mrs Moon appeared, her long nightgown flapping around her ankles.

‘Come back inside, Thomasina,' she ordered. ‘It's not safe, child.'

She grasped Tommy's arm and tried to usher her into the safety of the kitchen but Tommy pulled away and ran across the courtyard. She had to find Lil!

There was a rush of air as an enormous boulder hit the ground in front of her with a thud, cracking several flagstones. Tommy's heart started to race – the boulder had only just missed her! Whoever was outside the walls must have a giant catapult to be able to hurl such huge rocks.

‘Lil!' she shouted. ‘Lil, where are you?' The courtyard was so full of people running about in a panic, she could barely see or hear anything.

She reached Lil's favourite sleeping spot in the corner of the courtyard, gasping as another flaming arrow landed near her.

In an instant Smith was beside her, beating at the flames with a sack.

‘What's happening?' Tommy cried.

‘A siege!' he roared above the noise. ‘A hundred or more knights from Malice Castle. The raiding party to the west was just a decoy. While Sir Hugh is off chasing them, the rest of Sir Malcolm's knights have circled around and approached from the north.'

The ground beneath their feet quaked as another boulder landed nearby, and Tommy's heart quaked too.

Flamant Castle was under attack!

CHAPTER 3