Tournament Trouble: Sword Girl Book 3 (8 page)

She reached the merchants' stalls and began to walk among them, clutching the purse Lady Beatrix had given her. The delicious smell of mince pies distracted her for a moment, but she moved past the pie stall without buying anything. There was a stall selling pots and pans, a stall for shoes and a stall for silks. Belts and buckles, combs and mirrors, pincushions …

Ah, there it was. She hurried over to a stall draped with ribbons in every colour of the rainbow.

‘Buying ribbons, Thomasina? I must say, I'm surprised. I never thought you were the kind of girl to like ribbons. Still, you deserve all the treats you want after your victory.'

It was the castle's cook, Mrs Moon.

‘I should be in the kitchen preparing tonight's feast,' she confided, ‘but I just had to come and see you fight in the tournament. We're all very proud of you, girl.'

‘Thank you, Mrs Moon,' Tommy said. ‘But the ribbons aren't for me. They're a gift for a friend.'

Tommy looked over all the ribbons on the stall before choosing the widest, shiniest pink and blue ribbons. She took some coins from her purse and paid for them, then hurried back to the castle.

With everyone still at the fair or celebrating Flamant Castle's victory on the field, the bridge over the moat was deserted.

‘Mr Crocodiddle?' Tommy called.

There was no answer.

Tommy crossed the bridge and ran down the grassy bank to the moat. She couldn't see the crocodiddle anywhere but she was sure he was nearby.

‘I fought in the tournament and won,' said Tommy shyly. ‘I was so good at keeping my balance and gripping with my knees that the Roses squire couldn't knock me off the horse. But I couldn't have done it without you, Mr Crocodiddle. You taught me how to ride.'

A series of bubbles erupted on the surface of the water. Two beady eyes emerged from the murky depths, followed by a long snout.

‘I bought you a thank-you present,' Tommy said.

‘A present?' said the crocodiddle. ‘For me? What is it?'

‘Turn around and put your tail on the bank,' Tommy ordered. She held up the ribbons she had bought. ‘They're in the Flamant Castle colours,' she told him.

‘Ribbons for my tail,' the crocodiddle breathed, craning his head to look as Tommy tied them on. ‘Thank you, Sword Girl. They're beautiful.' Tommy could have sworn the crocodiddle was blushing.

Tommy turned as she caught a movement behind her, and saw Sir Benedict, accompanied by Lil.

‘Congratulations, Tommy,' said the cat. ‘Sir Benedict says you fought extremely well.'

‘Mrs Moon told me she saw you at the ribbon stall,' said Sir Benedict. He looked at the crocodiddle's tail. ‘You're a real champion, Tommy,' he said. ‘And not just on a horse.'

‘Hooray for Sword Girl!' the crocodiddle cried, and it was Tommy's turn to blush as the others joined in: ‘Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!' 

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

CHAPTER 1

‘G
OODBYE
! G
OOD LUCK
!'

Everyone at Flamant Castle had poured out of the castle gate to see off the knights.

Tommy waved until her arm hurt, then leaned against the railing of the bridge and watched till the knights were out of sight. Sir Walter the Bald, the nobleman who owned Flamant Castle, rode at the head of the procession. Sir Benedict, the castle's bravest knight, was at his right hand. They were on their way east to Roses Castle. A month ago, Sir Percy and the knights of Roses had come to Flamant for a tournament. Now Sir Percy was holding a tournament at his castle, and nearly all the knights and squires of Flamant would be competing.

‘I bet Sir Hugh is disappointed about being left behind,' Tommy said as the knight escorted Sir Walter's wife, Lady Beatrix the Bored, back inside the castle walls.

‘Someone has to guard Flamant Castle and its lands,' Lil pointed out. ‘But you're right. Nothing much will happen around here until the knights return – which suits me just fine.' The black and white cat stretched and yawned. ‘There's been too much activity for my taste. I'm looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet and a warm patch of sun in the great courtyard.'

She began to pad across the bridge towards the castle gate and Tommy fell into step beside her.

‘What about you, Tommy? The armoury will seem very quiet after all the hustle and bustle of getting the knights' swords ready for the tournament.'

‘What I'd really like to do is spend some time looking after the Old Wrecks,' Tommy confided. ‘I've been so busy with the other swords I feel like I've neglected them.'

‘I'm sure they wouldn't agree,' said Lil. The Old Wrecks had been neglected for a long time, sitting dusty and unused in the darkest corner of the sword chamber. But when Tommy had become Keeper of the Blades she'd polished and sharpened them and found, to her astonishment, that the swords were inhabited by the spirits of their last owners.

For once the armoury was silent when Tommy entered. Smith had gone into town to see the blacksmith about some new shields, and there was no sign of lazy Reynard, the Keeper of the Bows.

Tommy went through the doorway to the left of the forge and into the sword chamber.

‘Sir Walter and the knights have left for Roses,' she announced to the Old Wrecks.

‘What a pity you couldn't go with them, dearie,' said a sabre from the rack in the corner.

Tommy, who had fought in the tournament at Flamant when one of the squires was injured, shrugged. ‘I'm of more use here, Nursie,' she said as she pulled the sabre from the rack. ‘After all, Sir Hugh and his men will still need their swords cared for.'

‘Our sword girl has an admirable devotion to duty,' said the dignified voice of Bevan Brumm, a long-handled dagger.

‘She does,' said the slender, slightly curved sword that was Jasper Swann. Jasper had been a squire, and was close to Tommy's own age when he'd fallen ill and died. ‘But tell us again about how you won your jousting bout at the tournament, Sword Girl.'

So Tommy settled down with her file and whetstone for sharpening, and a pot of clove-scented oil for polishing, and described her victory.

‘Ooh, well done, Sword Girl,' said Nursie appreciatively. ‘Of course, my little darling won every bout he entered …'

Tommy thought she heard a groan from Bevan Brumm.

Nursie loved telling stories about her ‘little darling', which was what she had called Sir Walter the Bald when he was a boy and she was his nursemaid.

‘He had so much energy, you see,' she recalled fondly. ‘He was always up to something. Oh, the mischief! One time he went missing for a whole day. My stars, I was in such a panic. I finally found him in the cellar. He said he'd been playing in an old tunnel. He told me it ran under the castle walls and underneath the town and came out in Skellibones Forest. Playing in dark, dirty tunnels was not at all what a young nobleman should be doing, I told him.'

‘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?'