The Terrible Trickster Read online

  ‘I’m afraid we’ve had to ask Reynard to leave the castle. It turns out he was our trickster – not you.’

  The relief that washed over Tommy was so great her legs trembled beneath her.

  ‘How did you find out, sir?’ she asked.

  ‘A witness saw him,’ Sir Hugh explained.

  ‘In Sir Walter’s own bedchamber!’ exclaimed Sir Matthew.

  ‘I’m truly sorry, Tommy,’ said Sir Benedict. ‘I should have known you were not a trickster, and I was wrong to accuse you. Will you accept my apology?’

  Tommy was so overcome she couldn’t speak, so she just nodded.

  ‘But Reynard’s leaving will mean extra work for you,’ Sir Benedict continued. ‘We’ll need you to take over his duties as well as your own until we find a new Keeper of the Bows.’

  ‘Of course, sir,’ Tommy said. She didn’t care if she had to work day and night if it meant she got to stay at the castle!

  CHAPTER 7

  OUT IN THE GREAT COURTYARD, Lil was waiting.

  Tommy ran to her. ‘Lil! I haven’t been sent away after all! Sir Benedict knows that Reynard was the trickster.’

  The cat smiled. ‘That’s wonderful, Tommy.’ She didn’t sound at all surprised.

  ‘You already knew, didn’t you?’ Tommy said. ‘How?’

  Lil licked a paw and dabbed her whiskers with it. ‘After the trick with the itching powder last night, I asked around – and I found someone who’d seen Reynard in Sir Walter’s bedchamber. So of course we went straight to Sir Benedict.’

  ‘Really?’ Tommy said, thinking how lucky it was that, like her, Sir Benedict was able to talk with the castle’s animals. ‘Who saw him?’

  In answer, Lil raised her head and called, ‘Pigeon?’

  At first nothing happened, and then a bird came to land on the flagstone beside them in a flurry of grey feathers.

  His eyes darted from left to right. ‘The physician’s not around, is he?’ The physician regularly asked the pigeon for droppings to make his cures, but the pigeon – who was a highly skilled message carrier – found it insulting.

  ‘I haven’t seen him,’ Tommy assured him.

  ‘And you’re not after any droppings yourself?’ the pigeon asked suspiciously.

  Tommy blushed, because one time she had asked the pigeon for his droppings, when she wanted to make a cure for the crocodiddle’s sneezles. ‘No,’ she said.

  ‘Tommy was asking about what happened in Sir Walter’s bedchamber,’ Lil explained.

  ‘Oh yes. Well, as I told Sir Benedict, I happened to be sitting on Sir Walter’s windowsill last night waiting for him to return from dinner. Sometimes he likes me to coo him to sleep, you know. So I was just sitting there, humming some of Sir Walter’s favourite lullabies, when I saw that nasty boy, the one with red hair.’

  ‘Reynard?’ said Tommy.

  ‘Yes, that’s him. Whenever he sees me he threatens to turn me into pigeon pie. Horrible boy.’

  ‘And he was in Sir Walter’s bedchamber?’ Lil prompted patiently.

  ‘Yes he was,’ said the pigeon. ‘He pulled back Sir Walter’s blankets and then he took a pouch from his pocket and sprinkled a powder all over the sheets.’

  ‘Itching powder,’ breathed Tommy.

  ‘Indeed,’ said the pigeon. ‘And the oaf was laughing and laughing as he left the room. Sir Benedict didn’t like it when I told him that.’

  ‘No,’ Lil agreed. ‘He didn’t.’

  ‘Ah, Sword Girl,’ said Smith when Tommy returned to the armoury. ‘I had a message from Sir Benedict saying that young Reynard’s been sent away. So he was the trickster, eh?’ He clicked his tongue against his teeth. ‘It’s like I told him: there’s nothing funny at all about itching powder.’

  ‘No, Smith,’ said Tommy.

  ‘And you’re to look after blades and bows, then, are you? You’ll have your work cut out for you and no mistake. Well you’d best run off to town and get them tacks for me, Sword Girl. Sir Benedict’s shield won’t mend itself.’

  ‘I’ll be as quick as I can,’ Tommy promised.

  ‘’Course, he’ll only go breaking the strap again in a day or two,’ Smith was grumbling to himself as she ran out the door.

  Tommy flew across the courtyard, determined to get to town and back in double-quick time. After all, she now had Reynard’s work to do as well as her own.

  She was crossing the bridge when she heard a voice calling her from below. ‘Sword Girl? Hey, Sword Girl!’

  Tommy ran to the edge of the bridge and peered down at the moat. ‘Hi, Mr Crocodiddle.’

  ‘Where are you off to in such a hurry?’

  ‘Smith needs some tacks from town.’

  ‘Oh. I saw that red-haired boy walking towards town not long ago, but he didn’t seem to be in a hurry.’

  ‘Reynard’s been sent home,’ Tommy explained. ‘He was playing tricks.’

  ‘Ah, that explains why he was carrying a sack over his shoulder. I’d have thought he’d be riding his horse, though.’

  ‘Hmm, that is strange,’ said Tommy. ‘I wonder why he’d leave his horse behind?’

  She thought about this all the way to town, where she fetched the tacks from the blacksmith, and all the way back, but it still didn’t make any sense.

  ‘Where have you been?’ asked Jasper Swann as soon as Tommy entered the sword chamber. ‘What happened with Sir Benedict?’

  Tommy told the Old Wrecks everything that had occurred since the page had summoned her to the great hall, finishing with: ‘But I still don’t understand why Reynard would leave his horse behind.’ This reminded her of another mystery concerning horses.

  ‘While I was waiting in the great hall,’ she said, ‘I saw this wall hanging.’

  ‘I know the one,’ said Nursie. ‘It tells the story of the Battle of Barlow. My little darling used to love to look at it when he was a wee thing.’ Nursie always referred to Sir Walter as her little darling.

  ‘There was a knight from Flamant with red hair,’ Tommy said. ‘He looked familiar.’

  ‘That would be Sir Ferdinand Foxe,’ said Nursie. ‘Or Sir Ferdy, as everyone called him. Of course, he was already an old man by the time I arrived at the castle as a young girl. Sir Ferdy fought alongside Sir Cyril, who was Sir Walter’s grandfather.’

  ‘The thing is,’ said Tommy, ‘in the wall hanging it looked like he was riding a blue horse.’

  ‘Oh, he was a terrible trickster was Ferdy.’ Tommy could tell Nursie didn’t approve. ‘Even in the middle of a battle he just couldn’t be serious.’

  ‘But where did he get a blue horse?’ Tommy asked.

  ‘It was one of his favourite tricks,’ Nursie told her. ‘There’s a flowering bush called woad. He used to make blue dye out of the leaves.’

  Reynard had made the yellow dye for the sheets using leaves, Tommy recalled. Maybe he had got the idea from hearing about Sir Ferdy’s trick.

  At dinner that night, Tommy dipped her spoon into her soup cautiously, half expecting something terrible to happen. Then she remembered that she had no reason to worry. Reynard wouldn’t be playing his tricks around the castle anymore.

  ‘Reynard has been sent home,’ she told Mrs Moon, who was rolling out pastry. ‘He was the trickster.’

  The cook shook her head and tutted. ‘So I heard. It’ll be a great disappointment to his family. He was the first Foxe in generations to work at the castle. They were so proud.’

  ‘Reynard is a Foxe?’ Tommy said. ‘There’s a knight in the wall hanging in the great hall called Sir Ferdinand Foxe.’

  ‘That’s right.’ Mrs Moon wiped her floury hands on her apron. ‘Sir Ferdy was … let me see … He was Reynard’s great-grandfather, I believe.’

  So that’s who the knight in the wall hanging had reminded her of: Reynard!

  ‘Poor silly lad,’ Mrs Moon went on. ‘He could have been a knight one day, but now he’s got to walk all the way home to the farm in disgrace.’

  ‘But why
doesn’t he ride his horse?’ Tommy asked.

  ‘His horse?’ the cook retorted. ‘Reynard doesn’t have a horse. Where did you get a notion a like that?’

  ‘The croco— I mean, someone said they saw him riding one.’

  Mrs Moon snorted. ‘Don’t be silly, girl! A boy from a poor farming family isn’t likely to have a horse of his own, is he?’

  ‘I suppose not,’ said Tommy slowly. But if it wasn’t Reynard’s horse, she wondered, whose horse was it?

  CHAPTER 8

  TOMMY SPENT THE NEXT MORNING in the bow chamber. She had a lot to learn about caring for the crossbows and longbows. As she was sharpening the steel tip of an arrow, she heard footsteps enter the armoury at a run.

  She went to the doorway and saw two squires, one with fair hair and a big nose, the other with dark hair and goggly eyes.

  ‘Have you seen him?’ demanded the fair-haired squire.

  Smith put down his hammer. ‘Seen who?’ he asked.

  ‘Reynard,’ said the squire with goggly eyes.

  ‘Reynard was sent home yesterday,’ said the smith. ‘He’s gone.’

  ‘No he’s not.’ The first squire sounded excited. ‘He’s played another trick. Sir Benedict thinks he must be hiding somewhere in the castle and he’s got all the squires searching for him.’

  Tommy spoke up. ‘What did he do?’

  The dark-haired squire turned his goggly gaze in her direction. ‘Go to the stables and see for yourself.’

  Tommy turned to Smith. ‘Can I?’

  At his nod, she set off for the stables.

  In the yard, the stable master was shouting at a stable boy to fetch as much water as he could carry. ‘Be quick about it!’ he ordered.

  ‘What’s happened?’ Tommy asked. ‘Was it the bay stallion again?’

  The stable master spun around. ‘Oh, it’s you, Sword Girl.’ He sounded distracted. ‘What’s that about a bay stallion? I told you: there are no bay stallions in our stables. Oi! You there! What do you think you’re laughing at?’ He advanced on a pair of grooms who were laughing and pointing at something inside the stables.

  Tommy felt a gentle nudge at her shoulder and turned to find Bess standing behind her. The chestnut mare’s nostrils were flaring. ‘It wasn’t the bay, it was his master: the redhead. You should see what he’s done to Belle.’

  ‘Belle? Isn’t that Lady Beatrix’s horse?’ Sir Walter’s wife had a beautiful white mare, Tommy knew.

  ‘That’s right. Look!’

  A stable boy was leading Belle into the yard. ‘Oh!’ Tommy exclaimed when she saw her. Lady Beatrix the Bored’s white mare was blue!

  Tommy stood staring at the blue horse, her hand to her mouth.

  ‘What’s wrong, Sword Girl?’ asked Bess. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’

  ‘You say the person who dyed Belle blue had red hair?’ Tommy said urgently.

  ‘I saw him with my own eyes,’ Bess responded angrily. ‘And I told Sir Benedict, too.’

  Was what she suspected even possible? Tommy didn’t know. But she had to find out …

  Tommy found Lil down by the moat with the crocodiddle. ‘Have you heard what happened to Belle?’ she asked.

  ‘I have,’ said the cat. ‘And I must say, I’m surprised that Reynard would dare to sneak back to the castle after Sir Benedict sent him away.’

  ‘I don’t think it was Reynard who played this trick,’ Tommy said. ‘Or any of the other tricks. Lil, do you believe in ghosts?’

  ‘Of course,’ said the cat. ‘I see them around the castle all the time.’

  ‘Me too,’ said the crocodiddle.

  ‘But if they’re so common, why haven’t I ever seen them?’ asked Tommy, surprised.

  ‘For some reason, people rarely do,’ the cat replied. ‘Animals must have better eyesight.’

  ‘So when you saw Reynard riding a horse into the castle late at night, Mr Crocodiddle, could that could have been a ghost?’ said Tommy.

  ‘It could have been, except that I recognised the red-haired boy.’

  Tommy turned to Lil. ‘And when the pigeon saw someone sprinkling itching powder on Sir Walter’s sheets, could it have been a ghost he saw?’ she asked.

  ‘I suppose it could have been,’ said the cat. ‘But the pigeon was certain it was Reynard. Tommy, why are you asking about ghosts?’

  ‘Because I believe Reynard is innocent,’ declared Tommy. ‘Quick – we have to find Sir Benedict.’

  CHAPTER 9

  THE KNIGHT WAS IN the great hall once again, seated by himself at the middle of the long table. He was looking very cross.

  ‘I hope you’ve come to tell me you’ve found Reynard,’ he said when he saw Tommy and Lil.

  ‘No, sir,’ said Tommy. ‘We haven’t. But, Sir Benedict, I know who has been playing all these tricks.’

  ‘So do I,’ said Sir Benedict. ‘Enough witnesses have seen Reynard in the act.’

  ‘No,’ said Tommy. ‘It’s not Reynard, sir. I think …’ She hesitated. Would Sir Benedict believe her? ‘I think the trickster is Sir Ferdinand Foxe.’

  Sir Benedict stared at her in astonishment. ‘Sir Ferdy?’ he said. ‘But, Tommy, Ferdy has been dead for a hundred years!’

  ‘I know, sir,’ Tommy said. ‘But the tricks all started after I was woken in the night by a horse and rider. I thought it must be a messenger, but no one had seen him. At least, no person had seen him. But Bess said a new horse had arrived in the stables, and the crocodiddle recognised the rider; he thought it was Reynard.’

  ‘That’s impossible,’ said Sir Benedict. ‘Reynard doesn’t have a horse.’

  ‘No, but Sir Ferdinand did, and he was Reynard’s great-grandfather – I saw him in the wall hanging over there.’ She turned and pointed. ‘He looks exactly like Reynard. And, Sir Benedict …’

  Sir Benedict finished the sentence for her. ‘Sir Ferdy is riding a blue horse,’ he said slowly. He added, ‘I’ve always wondered about that.’

  ‘Nursie says that Sir Ferdy was a well-known trickster, and dyeing horses blue was his favourite trick of all. And the trickster also dyed the sheets in the laundry yellow.’

  Sir Benedict was looking thoughtful. ‘So you’re suggesting our trickster is the ghost of Sir Ferdy?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Hmm. It’s going to be very difficult to prove this for sure if we can’t see him.’

  ‘You can’t see him,’ said Lil, ‘but we can. And that’s why all the witnesses have been birds and animals. Instead of squires searching the castle, it should be us.’

  Sir Benedict tapped his finger on the table for a few seconds while he considered this. Finally, he pushed back his chair and stood up.

  ‘You’re right. Lil, I want you to take over the search. I’m going to ride to the Foxe family farm. If Reynard is there, I’ll know for sure he’s not our trickster.’ He smiled wryly. ‘And I’ll have another apology to make.’

  So when Sir Benedict had set off for the Foxes’ farm, the pigeon surveyed the castle from the air, the crocodiddle checked the grounds outside and Tommy accompanied Lil as she checked inside the castle walls. They began with the places where the trickster had been before, starting with the stables, then the laundry, then the kitchen.

  They were in the pantry when Lil said, ‘Oh, dear. Not replacing the salt with sugar again. You’ve already played that trick.’

  Tommy heard someone say, ‘Eeek!’, though she couldn’t see anyone else in the pantry.

  ‘Who are you, girl, and how come you can see me?’ asked a voice. Then: ‘Oh, there’s a cat. I always forget that animals have much better eyesight than humans.’

  ‘We know all about you and your tricks, Sir Ferdy,’ Lil said. ‘You might as well show yourself.’

  ‘If you insist,’ the voice said, and as Tommy watched in amazement a short, stout, red-haired knight shimmered into view. ‘But how did you know it was me?’

  ‘You’ll have to ask our Keeper of the Blades,’ Lil said,
gesturing to Tommy with her paw.

  The knight’s eyes widened. ‘The Keeper of the Blades is a girl? Things have certainly changed since my day.’

  ‘She’s the first,’ Lil told him. ‘And one day she’ll be the first-ever girl knight.’

  Tommy blushed. ‘I hope so,’ she said.

  ‘Well if you worked out it was me playing those tricks, you must have a good head on your shoulders. Tell me how you did it.’

  And so Tommy described again how she’d heard the mysterious rider in the night, all the way to realising that the trickster in the wall hanging was Reynard’s great-grandfather.

  ‘I have a great-grandson working at the castle?’ asked the ghost, interested. ‘I’d like to meet the lad.’

  ‘That’s a good idea,’ said Lil. ‘You can apologise for all the trouble you’ve caused him. He was sent away from the castle because of your tricks, but Sir Benedict should be bringing him back soon. Let’s go wait in the bow chamber.’

  Sir Ferdy faded from Tommy’s view, and the three of them walked across the great courtyard.

  Smith wasn’t in the armoury, but Reynard was, strutting around the room like he’d never been away.

  ‘You’re back already,’ said Tommy.

  ‘Sir Benedict came to fetch me home and apologised to me personally,’ said Reynard. ‘I suppose you’ll be wanting to do the same, Sword Girl. I bet you feel pretty stupid for telling Sir Benedict I was the trickster when I wasn’t.’

  ‘I didn’t tell—’ Tommy began, then stopped. She had thought Reynard was the trickster. She supposed she did owe him an apology. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘And there’s someone else who wants to apologise to you too.’

  ‘Who?’ said Reynard rudely. ‘Your stupid cat?’ He aimed a kick at Lil, who dodged it nimbly, though she growled.