Mrs Wendell-Jones clapped her hands with delight. ‘Oh, how wonderful, Tomos,’ she cried. ‘Really getting into the spirit of things.’
Gwion looked puzzled. He didn’t quite know what I was up to.
‘I will challenge you, puny squire, and I will win,’ I shouted. All the knights started cheering and crying, ‘All hail Sir Tomos,’ and, ‘Go get him!’
Gwion glared at me. We both clambered onto our bicycles and faced each other down the long jousting lane. Mr Deacon seemed to take an age to blow the trumpet and then I was speeding towards Gwion. The knights were shouting loudly for me and stamping their feet on the ground so much that it thundered and drowned out Gwion’s battle cries. I kept my face firmly facing front, just glimpsing Gwion coming towards me on my left side. I waited till he was almost within reach and then I swung my noodle-lance as hard as I possibly could, throwing all my weight behind it.
I felt the lance swish through the air, the jolt as it hit Gwion, and then the lance rebounded round as I carried on down the lane. The crowd was cheering.
They were cheering my name!
I stopped my bike, gasping for breath, and looked behind me. In the middle of the jousting lane, Gwion Gruffudd was sitting on the floor looking furious.
I had won.
Chapter Sixteen
Crowns are unnecessary
It was just sinking in when the knights surrounded me and hoisted me up in the air chanting, ‘Tom-os, Tom-os!!!’ Everyone was clapping and cheering. Sharon Jones gave me the big thumbs up and Alan Pritchard put his little fingers in his mouth and let off a piercing whistle. Even Soppy looked a bit proud of me, punched me on the shoulder and said, ‘Well done, squirt.’
Mrs Wendell-Jones picked her way through the crowd and smiled at Lancelot.
‘He did splendidly, didn’t he,’ she said. ‘Now if you could just put him down we’ll sort out the prize-giving.’
The prize-giving! In all the excitement I’d almost forgotten what all this was for – the chance to meet PowerUp. Mrs Wendell-Jones led me up onto the podium and waved her hands to get everyone to quieten down.
‘I’m sure you’ll all agree that we’ve had a fantastic day,’ she said. ‘Young Tomos is our jousting champion and his prize is to meet PowerUp when he goes to their next concert.’ She handed me an envelope and said. ‘There you are, Tomos, you’ve earned this. You must have worked very hard.’
‘I had a bit of help, miss,’ I admitted, grinning at Arthur.
I felt brilliant. I turned to find Mum and Dad and they were looking at me like they looked at Soppy, like I’d done something really special for once.
As Mrs Wendell-Jones and I walked off the stage, she said, ‘One more thing, Tomos, may I have a word about your essay?’
Uh-oh, just when I was feeling really good about myself.
‘I’ve been having a word with Mr Lance,’ she said, pointing at Lancelot, who tossed his hair and winked at Mrs Wendell-Jones.
‘Well,’ she continued, ‘Mr Lance, it appears, is something of an expert in Arthurian works, and he informs me that there are some recently discovered texts which support the more … ah … unusual parts of your essay, so I will have to bow to expert opinion and regrade your essay, Tomos.’
She handed me a piece of paper. It was my report card. I turned it over to see what I got for my end of term essay. I looked down the list of marks and saw all those dreadful Cs (and worse) and there, at the bottom was an A!!!!
Oh wow! My first ever A!
I was about to thank Mrs Wendell-Jones, but Arthur came over and tapped me on the shoulder.
‘Urm, Tomos, we are thinking that it is about time we went,’ he said.
‘Oh that is a shame,’ Mrs Wendell-Jones said. ‘Well, you’d better give me the Eisteddfod crown back then.’
Arthur frowned.
‘My crown?’ he said.
Oh no. He thought he’d get to keep it.
‘You can’t take it with you,’ I explained. ‘It has to go back in the trophy cupboard.’
‘So what do I get?’ Arthur asked.
‘A certificate.’
Arthur was horrified.
‘But it’s my crown. Without my crown, I’m … well, I’m…’
‘Our King!’ came a cry from behind us. ‘Tomos was right. A king without a crown is still a King.’
Then all the knights knelt down and bowed their heads to Arthur.
King Arthur.
Their King.
Arthur beamed from ear to ear. Then he took his crown off, gave it one last polish with his sleeve and handed it over to Mrs Wendell-Jones.
‘It was nice having it back for a little while,’ he said, but Mrs Wendell-Jones didn’t understand.
‘Do you have to go so soon?’ I asked Arthur as we all walked towards the gate of the castle. He nodded.
‘My kingdom no longer needs me,’ he said, smiling down at me. ‘You won it all, Tomos. The joust, the respect of your classmates. You won it because you believe in yourself, and that’s good. There is a lot to believe in.’
‘You’re just being nice,’ I mumbled.
Arthur shook his head. ‘You are Sir Tomos of Harlech,’ he said. ‘Never let anyone tell you otherwise. You are a hero among men.’
The knights gathered round and bowed their heads to me. It hadn’t been easy having them all in the shed, but I was really going to miss them.
‘We’ll be back if you should ever need us, Tomos,’ said Lancelot. ‘You know, if you need your teacher buttering up.’
‘Or you need something fixing,’ said Bedevere.
‘Or you need the advanced jousting course,’ said Gawain.
‘What, the one with a horse?’ Lancelot joked and they all laughed. Usually when the knights laughed, Arthur looked sad because they were laughing at him, but this time he joined in.
I had a sudden idea.
‘I want to give you something,’ I said, ‘stay there!’
I dashed off and got my bicycle and pushed it over to Arthur.
‘Mum and Dad have promised me a new one for my birthday,’ I said, ‘so I won’t be needing this anymore and I thought … that if you ever get to joust again … you can use this. Instead of a horse.’
Arthur grinned. ‘That’s perfect, Tomos,’ he cried. ‘A mount fit for a king!’
‘Tomos,’ Lancelot said, ‘if you do ever need us, you know where to find us.’
I nodded. ‘The secret’s safe with me,’ I promised.
I looked at Arthur.
‘Goodbye, Arthur,’ I said. ‘Goodbye, King.’
Arthur suddenly gave me a huge hug.
‘Goodbye, Tomos,’ he said. ‘Goodbye, friend.’
Then he and the knights left the castle and began their long trek to their resting place. I stood by the castle gates waving at them till all I could see was their shadows on the horizon. Twelve knights and one king, wobbling towards the hills on my bicycle.
First published in 2014
by Firefly Press
25 Gabalfa Road, Llandaff North, Cardiff, CF14 2JJ
www.fireflypress.co.uk
Text © Sarah Todd Taylor 2014
Illustrations © Peter Stevenson 2014
The author and illustrator assert their moral right to be identified as author and illustrator in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act, 1988.
All rights reserved.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form, binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.
Print ISBN: 9781910080146
Epub ISBN: 9781910080153
This book has been published with the support of the Welsh Books Council.
Typeset by: Elaine Sharples
Cover design by [email protected]
Dragonfly series design by Laura Fern Baker
Printed and bound by: Bell and Bain, Glasgow
Arthur and Me Page 6