Tournament Trouble: Sword Girl Book 3 (5 page)

Tommy concentrated hard as Sir Hugh demonstrated some movements with the lance. She would have to use her lance to knock her opponent off his horse.

For the next hour, Tommy practised with the others as Sir Hugh rode up and down the line, watching and making comments.

‘You handle the lance very well, Tommy,' he told her. ‘But tomorrow we'll be practising jousting against each other, and you can't do that without a horse. So you and Bess had better learn to get along, understand?'

‘Yes, Sir Hugh,' Tommy whispered, a miserable feeling welling in her chest. How could she make Bess like her? She didn't even know what she'd done to make the horse hate her!

When the lesson ended, Tommy returned her lance and shield to the corner and ran down to the moat, hoping to find Lil.

There was no sign of the cat, but the crocodiddle was backstroking lazily up and down the moat.

‘Hello, Sword Girl,' he said, flipping over onto his stomach and swimming towards her. ‘Why are you looking so glum? I thought you were excited about being in the tournament and riding horses?'

‘I was,' Tommy said. ‘But I had my first horse-riding lesson this morning and it didn't go very well.' She explained how Bess had thrown her off. ‘I don't even know what I did to upset her,' Tommy finished.

‘Maybe you were sitting wrong,' the crocodiddle suggested.

‘But I don't know any other way to sit,' said Tommy.

‘It's all about balance and grip,' said the crocodiddle knowledgeably. ‘I could teach you.'

‘You could?' said Tommy doubtfully.

‘Of course! You don't need a horse – I can give you riding lessons. Come on, get on my back.'

Hopes rising, Tommy slipped off her shoes and pulled her leggings up to her knees.

‘Ready?' said the crocodiddle when Tommy was sitting astride his back, her legs dangling in the weed-choked water. ‘Here we go.' He began to paddle slowly into the centre of the moat.

‘Oh!' Tommy wobbled wildly.

‘Grip with your knees,' the crocodiddle told her.

Tommy squeezed her knees into the crocodiddle's side.

‘Not too tight, your knees are digging into me. Relax a little. Grip firmly, but don't squeeze.'

Tommy was scared she would slide off if she loosened her grip, but she did as the crocodiddle said and found it was easier to balance if she wasn't squeezing so hard.

‘That's the way,' the crocodiddle said. ‘Now I'll go a bit faster.'

As the crocodiddle moved through the water, Tommy focused on the rhythm of his strokes and found that she was able to keep her balance quite well.

Faster and faster they went, circling the castle walls, the crocodiddle shouting advice. One lap, two … After they'd completed three laps of the castle, the crocodiddle, breathing hard, swam over to the bank.

‘I don't think you've got anything to worry about, Sword Girl,' he panted. ‘You're a natural.'

‘Thank you, Mr Crocodiddle,' Tommy said as she clambered onto the grass. ‘You've really helped me. I'll be much better on the horse tomorrow.'

‘Horses,' she heard him muttering as she hurried back to the castle gate. ‘So stuck-up. All they care about is having ribbons in their tails. They should use crocodiddles in tournaments. We're much more sensible.'

CHAPTER 7

T
OMMY WENT STRAIGHT
to the stables the next morning, determined that today's lesson would be a success. After her ride on the crocodiddle the day before, and everything she'd learned about balance and grip, she felt confident that Bess wouldn't throw her off again.

When the stable master caught sight of her, he called, ‘Wait there, Sword Girl, and I'll have a groom fetch Bess from her stall.'

But Tommy could see the chestnut mare over by the hay where she had been the day before.

‘She's already here,' Tommy called back.

‘Is she?' The stable master sounded surprised. ‘So she is. I can barely keep track of the goings-on around here.'

Together they walked over to the mare. She seemed to be regarding Tommy suspiciously.

‘I've been practising my sitting,' Tommy told the stable master. ‘I don't think we'll have any problems today.'

‘Good,' said the stable master. ‘Up we go then.'

He made a cradle with his hands and Tommy vaulted lightly onto the horse's back. But as soon as she put her weight on the saddle, Bess began to buck.

‘Please,' Tommy gasped, clutching the pommel. It was no good. The horse bucked and twisted until she had dislodged Tommy, who fell heavily to the ground.

As the stable master helped her to her feet, Tommy blinked back tears of pain and disappointment.

‘I've never seen Bess take against someone like this before,' the stable master said.

‘Isn't there another horse I could ride?' Tommy begged. ‘Sir Hugh said that I had to be riding a horse for the jousting practice today.'

The stable master shook his head. ‘I'm sorry, Sword Girl, but we've no horses to spare.'

Before Tommy could respond, a stable hand ran up. ‘Sir Walter is here, sir,' he said.

‘Sorry, Sword Girl, I'll have to go see what his lordship wants.' The stable master hurried off after the boy.

‘Why do you hate me so much?' Tommy asked the horse softly when they were alone. Bess snorted. ‘Because you're a cruel, vicious girl.'

‘How can you say that?' Tommy cried. ‘What have I done?'

But the horse just stamped her hoof and turned away.

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Tommy walked through the archway into the great courtyard. What should she do now? She couldn't practise jousting without a horse – and there was only one more day of practice left before the tournament! If only she knew why the horse disliked her so much …

She would go back to the armoury and clean swords, she decided. At least that was something she was good at.

She trudged through the armoury to the door of the sword chamber. There she stopped, dismayed to see a dozen swords waiting to be cleaned.

Turning, she asked the smith, ‘Where's Reynard?'

‘You tell me,' Smith grumbled. ‘That boy is never around when there's work to be done.'

Tommy entered the chamber, sat down and picked up a sword.

‘We weren't expecting to see you back here, dearie,' said Nursie. ‘We thought you'd be spending all your time practising for the tournament. Ooh, we are just so proud of you!'

‘Thanks,' said Tommy dully.

‘What's wrong, Sword Girl?' asked Jasper Swann, quick as always to pick up on her feelings.

Tommy threw her rag down in frustration. ‘It's Bess,' she said. ‘The horse. She … she hates me!' Tommy had to fight to keep her voice from trembling. ‘And I don't even know what I'm doing wrong.'

Bevan Brumm said wisely, ‘Horses are mysterious creatures, Sword Girl.'

‘Mysterious creatures, my foot,' said Nursie. ‘Four legs and a tail – what's so mysterious about that?'

‘What happened, Sword Girl?' Jasper asked.

‘I don't know!' Tommy said. ‘All I did was sit on her.' With tears in her eyes, she continued, ‘I know I'll be letting Sir Benedict down, and you'll all be disappointed in me, but I don't have a choice: I'll have to drop out of the tournament.'

CHAPTER 8

T
OMMY WAS SITTING
in the corner of the sword chamber, her knees pulled up to her chin, when Lil entered.

‘What's wrong, Tommy?' the cat asked. ‘I went to the courtyard to watch the jousting practice but you weren't there.'

‘I won't be fighting in the tournament,' Tommy whispered over the lump in her throat.

‘It's the horse,' Jasper explained.

‘It doesn't like her,' added Nursie.

‘Mysterious creatures, horses,' Bevan Brumm finished.

‘I don't know what I'm doing wrong,' Tommy wailed to Lil. ‘Every time I get on Bess, she bucks me off again. She called me cruel and vicious.'

Lil frowned. ‘That doesn't sound right,' she said. ‘I'm going to talk to her. Maybe I can convince her to give you one more chance.'

‘There now, you see?' said Nursie comfortingly. ‘All's not lost.'

‘Indeed,' began Bevan Brumm. ‘I think you'll find—'

But Bevan Brumm's speech was interrupted by a shout from the armoury.

‘Sword Girl?' It was Smith. ‘I've run out of those tacks again. Honestly, the way they're disappearing, it's like they've grown little legs and walked away. I need you to go into town to get some more.'

‘Yes, Smith.'