The Siege Scare Read online

  ALSO BY FRANCES WATTS

  AND ILLUSTRATED BY GREGORY ROGERS

  The Secret of the Swords

  The Poison Plot

  Tournament Trouble

  SWORD GIRL

  ILLUSTRATED BY GREGORY ROGERS

  First published in 2012

  Copyright © Text, Frances Watts 2012

  Copyright © Illustrations, Gregory Rogers 2012

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.

  Allen & Unwin

  83 Alexander Street

  Crows Nest NSW 2065

  Australia

  Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

  Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218

  Email: [email protected]

  Web: www.allenandunwin.com

  A Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available from the National Library of Australia

  www.trove.nla.gov.au

  ISBN 978 1 74237 990 6

  Cover design by Seymour Designs

  Cover illustration by Gregory Rogers

  Text design by Seymour Designs

  Set in 16/21 pt Adobe Jenson Pro by Seymour Designs

  This book was printed in July 2012 at McPherson’s Printing Group,

  76 Nelson St, Maryborough, Victoria 3465, Australia.

  www.mcphersonsprinting.com.au

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  For Claire, with thanks for the paper

  F. W.

  For Matt

  G. R.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Preview Chapter: The Siege Scare

  About the author

  About the illustrator

  CHAPTER 1

  ‘GOODBYE! GOOD 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?’

  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 an
d 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

  TOMMY 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

  ‘COME TO THE ARMOURY,’ said Smith. ‘We should work out exactly how many weapons we’ve got. If those brutes manage to breach the walls, we’ll need a weapon for every man, woman and child in the castle.’

  When they entered the dim room Tommy ran immediately to the sword chamber to see if her friends were all right. To her relief, the black and white cat was crouched in the corner beside the Old Wrecks.

  ‘Lil! Thank goodness you’re safe!’

  ‘Only just,’ replied Lil. ‘I was almost hit by an arrow.’ The cat, who always seemed so calm, looked shaken.

  ‘What is it, Sword Girl? What’s going on?’ Jasper asked urgently.

  ‘It’s the knights of Malice Castle,’ Tommy said. ‘We’re under siege!’

  Back in the armoury, Smith was stoking the fire.

  ‘We’re in a tight spot here, Sword Girl,’ he said. ‘Sir Malcolm’s men have the castle and the town surrounded. We’ll hold them off for as long as we can, but even if Sir Hugh and his men returned now, I don’t like their chances against a hundred enemies. We need Sir Benedict and the rest of the knights, but whether we’ll be able to defend the castle until they return is anyone’s guess.’

  ‘Can’t we get a message to Sir Benedict?’ Tommy asked. ‘Then he’d return straight away.’

  The smith shook his head. ‘If only it were that simple. But Roses Castle is a full day’s ride away. And we can’t risk opening the gate to let a horse and rider out. The invaders would storm the castle.’ He stared gloomily into the fire. ‘I’m afraid we’re trapped here until help comes. If help comes …’

  Tommy shivered. So the castle walls that protected them were also their prison. ‘But they won’t be able to get in, will they?’

  ‘They’ll be having a good go,’ said Smith. ‘They’ll try to crash through the gate with a battering ram long enough to reach across the moat, and they’ll try to scale the walls with long ladders.’ He poked at the fire. ‘We’ll have to make sure the guards in the towers have poles so they can knock the attackers off their ladders.’

  ‘I wish I still had my lance from the tournament,’ Tommy declared. ‘I’d knock them off.’

  ‘You’re right, Sword Girl – lances would do the job nicely. But all our lances are with the squires who’ll be jousting at Roses. Unless …’ He looked up from the fire. ‘There might be some old weapons in the cellar.’

  ‘I thought the cellar was for storing food?’ said Tommy.

  ‘Did you ever go down to the cellar when you worked in the kitchen, Sword Girl?’ asked the smith.

  ‘No,’ said Tommy. The door to the cellar was locked with a key, and the cook never let anyone go down there. ‘Mrs Moon always said that the cellar was her treasure vault and she wasn’t letting anyone near her treasure.’

  The smith nodded. ‘True enough. If we’re to survive under siege, the castle’s food stores will be more valuable to us than all Sir Walter’s gold and Lady Beatrix’s jewels. But the cellar is vast – there’s more than food down there. The castle’s old weapons will be there too. I want you to go down to the cellar and see what weapons we have, then report back to me.’

  ‘Yes, Smith,’ said Tommy.

  ‘Oh, and Sword Girl? You might want to take a weapon with you – just i
n case.’

  Tommy darted back into the sword chamber. ‘Jasper,’ she said to the slender sword, ‘will you come with me to the cellar? Smith wants me to look for weapons down there.’

  ‘Of course,’ said Jasper, and Tommy took hold of the narrow wooden grip and slid the sword from the rack.

  ‘You’re going to the cellar?’ quavered Nursie. ‘Oh, please be careful, my dears. What if my little darling really did find a tunnel in the cellar? The invaders might find it too!’

  Tommy stared at the sabre. ‘Nursie, you’re brilliant!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘I – I am?’ said Nursie.

  ‘Yes,’ said Tommy. ‘Smith said we couldn’t get a message to Sir Benedict because there was no way out of the castle. But maybe there is a way.’

  ‘Good thinking, Tommy,’ said Lil.

  ‘Maybe you could come too, Lil, and help me look,’ Tommy suggested. ‘You’re much better at seeing in the dark than I am.’

  ‘An excellent plan,’ said Bevan Brumm.

  ‘What’s an excellent plan?’ Nursie asked.

  ‘Why am I brilliant? I don’t understand.’ She sounded bewildered.

  Tommy lifted her sword. ‘The tunnel,’ she said. ‘Never mind about the invaders – I’m going to find it first!’

  CHAPTER 4

  THE PALE LIGHT of dawn was creeping across the sky when Tommy stepped into the courtyard. The shower of flaming arrows had slowed, leaving charred patches of stone.

  She picked her way across the courtyard towards the kitchen, skirting boulders and taking care to avoid the smouldering piles of ashes as the last of the arrows burned down.

  ‘Please!’ a voice nearby said, and Tommy turned to see the small, round figure of the physician. He appeared to be pleading with the pigeon, who was perched on a low wall.

  ‘Certainly not,’ the bird was saying in a cross voice. ‘Your constant demand for my droppings is an insult to my skill and training.’