‘But a guard in one of the watchtowers has suffered a nasty burn,’ the physician argued. ‘I need to mix your droppings with some grated cucumber to make a cure.’
The pigeon groaned. ‘Very well. If you must.’
Tommy hurried on, knowing how the pigeon disliked people watching when he gave his droppings.
She entered the kitchen to find Mrs Moon standing by the enormous fireplace, stirring a large pot of soup.
The cook’s face was creased with worry as she stared at the simmering soup. ‘He’s a devil is Sir Malcolm the Mean,’ she was muttering to herself. ‘If Sir Benedict doesn’t return in time to save us, we might find ourselves in the dungeons of Malice Castle. Or worse …’
Tommy’s heart thudded. She didn’t want to know what could be worse than the dungeons!
‘Mrs Moon,’ she said, ‘Smith asked me to go down to the cellar to look for old weapons.’
‘Thomasina!’ The cook put a hand to her chest. ‘You startled me.’ She shook her wooden spoon at Tommy. ‘This isn’t a good time to go sneaking up on people, girl.’
‘Sorry, Mrs Moon,’ Tommy murmured, though she hadn’t meant to sneak up.
‘What’s that you’re wanting? The cellar? That’s a fine idea. I don’t know how long this siege might last. I’d better go down myself to check the stores.’
The cook led the way to a small wooden door in the scullery and pulled a big iron key from her pocket. She took a candlestick from a niche in the wall and gestured for Tommy to take one too.
‘It’ll be mighty dark down there,’ she warned.
Down, down, down they went, into the dark. The cold of the stone steps seeped through Tommy’s clothes and shoes to chill her bones.
She clutched Jasper Swann in one hand and the candlestick in the other. ‘Are you there, Lil?’ she whispered. There was no answer, but Tommy felt something warm brush against her leg and knew her friend was beside her.
Finally the stairs stopped, and Tommy lifted her candle. They were standing in a small, low-ceilinged room that had a doorway leading off to the left and another leading off to the right.
‘The food stores are kept in these rooms under the kitchen,’ Mrs Moon told her, pointing to the doorway on the left. ‘But the cellar runs all the way under the great hall as well. That’s where the weapons are likely to be.’ She gestured to the right with her candle.
Tommy set off, entering a room that had barrels of ale and cider stacked against the walls. A door led to another room full of barrels and then another. As she walked through room after room her heart sank. She found dusty piles of tapestries that must have once hung on the walls of the great hall, a room full of bolts of cloth that had been long forgotten (except by the insects that had chewed holes in it), and another room full of tarnished armour. Her spirits rose slightly when she found a room of rusty shields and blunt swords. They weren’t in very good condition but they would be better than nothing. There were no lances, though, and to her dismay there was no sign of a tunnel.
‘Perhaps Nursie was right the first time,’ she said aloud. ‘Maybe there was no tunnel, and Sir Walter was just making it up.’
‘And yet it makes so much sense to have a tunnel,’ Jasper pointed out. ‘There has to be some secret way out of the castle during a siege.’
‘I agree,’ said Lil, her eyes glinting in the dark.
‘I suppose if it’s secret, it has to be well hidden,’ Tommy said. ‘Let’s look again.’
They went back through the series of rooms, this time poking into every dark corner, but there was still no sign of a tunnel. They had almost reached the stairs to the kitchen when Tommy heard Lil’s muffled voice.
‘I think I’ve found something.’
‘Where are you?’ said Tommy, raising her candle so that light bounced off the barrels stacked against the walls.
‘Here.’
Tommy lowered the candle to see the black and white cat emerging from a tiny space behind a barrel. She set the candle on the ground and lay Jasper beside it, then tugged at the barrel.
‘It’s too heavy,’ she said. ‘I can’t lift it.’
‘Come on, Tommy,’ Jasper urged. ‘Don’t try to lift it – just drag it.’
The muscles in Tommy’s arms strained as she heaved until the barrel began to move slowly across the floor. When she had slid it far enough she dropped to her knees and wriggled behind the barrel. Lil was right: there was an opening – but it was barely tall enough for Tommy to enter on her hands and knees, and the sides were so narrow she couldn’t even stretch her arms out.
‘It’s very small,’ she said doubtfully.
But when she held up the candle she felt a twinge of excitement at what she saw. ‘It goes for a long way,’ she said, ‘and the walls are very well made.’ She ran her hands along the stone sides. ‘This must be it!’
‘Thomasina!’ Mrs Moon’s voice echoed through the stone rooms. ‘Thomasina, where are you?’
‘Coming, Mrs Moon.’
Tommy scrambled out of the tunnel and pushed the barrel back into place.
‘What have you been up to, girl?’ the cook scolded, smoothing down Tommy’s mop of hair with an impatient swipe of her hand. ‘You look like you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards. Did you find what you were looking for?’
‘Yes, Mrs Moon,’ said Tommy. ‘I did.’
CHAPTER 5
TOMMY RUSHED BACK to the armoury and told Smith that although there’d been no lances, she had found a room full of old swords and shields.
‘Never mind about the lances,’ Smith said. ‘We can knock their ladders over with brooms if we have to.’
But when she described the condition of the swords and shields, he grunted. ‘We don’t have time to bring them up to scratch. We’ll just have to work with what we’ve got. I want you to sharpen every bladed weapon in the sword chamber,’ he instructed.
‘I’m almost done,’ Tommy told him. ‘I made a good start on that yesterday.’
Smith raised his eyebrows. ‘You did, eh? Good thinking, Sword Girl.’ He called out, ‘Did you hear that, Reynard? Our sword girl started sharpening all the blades yesterday.’
There was a snarl from the bow chamber, but no answer. Tommy winced. Reynard already hated her because she’d been made Keeper of the Blades instead of him; he’d probably hate her even more now.
When she stepped into the sword chamber with Lil and Jasper she was met with the anxious voices of Nursie and Bevan Brumm.
‘Oh, thank goodness you’re back,’ said Nursie. ‘We were fearing the worst, weren’t we, Bevan Brumm?’
‘Indeed, we had begun to hold grave fears for your safety,’ the dagger admitted.
‘I’m sorry you were worried,’ said Tommy. ‘But guess what? We found the tunnel!’
‘You did?’ exclaimed Nursie. ‘Then my little darling was telling the truth all along.’
‘So you can send a horse and rider through the tunnel to carry a message to Sir Benedict, and save Flamant Castle,’ said Bevan Brumm. ‘Well done, Sword Girl!’
Tommy dropped onto her stool. ‘I’m afraid we can’t do that,’ she said, her spirits sinking again. ‘The tunnel’s not big enough for a horse and rider. It’s barely big enough for me.’
Silence fell in the sword chamber. Tommy prepared her file and whetstone and set about sharpening and polishing the swords she hadn’t finished the day before.
Hours had passed by the time she took the last sword – a short thrusting sword – from the long rack. There must be a way to send for help, she thought as she began to sharpen the blade. But they couldn’t get a horse and rider through the tunnel under the walls, and a messenger couldn’t very well climb over the walls, not without the invaders seeing. Oh, if only she could fly, then she’d be able to get a message to Sir Benedict …
Tommy raised her head as a thought struck her. The pigeon could fly! She remembered the cross voice saying, Your constant demand for droppings is an insult to my skills a
nd training. Of course! He was a carrier pigeon, trained to carry messages!
Tommy stood up. ‘Lil,’ she said, ‘the pigeon could do it! He could fly to Roses Castle with a message.’
Lil, who had been grooming her whiskers, paused. ‘You’re right,’ she said, her eyes brightening.
‘I’m going to find him,’ said Tommy, and she hurried out to the great courtyard.
She was pleased to find the pigeon slumped on the low wall where she had seen him earlier. He looked exhausted.
‘Pigeon, I’m so glad you’re here,’ said Tommy. ‘I need your help.’
The pigeon raised a limp wing. ‘Sorry, but I haven’t got a single dropping left in me.’
‘I don’t need your droppings,’ said Tommy. ‘I’d like you to carry a message.’
The pigeon straightened. ‘A message? Well, why didn’t you say so? Carrying messages is what I do best.’
Tommy clapped her hands together. ‘Hooray! Then you can go to Sir Benedict at Roses Castle.’
The pigeon slumped again. ‘I don’t think I can, Sword Girl. I’ve given so many droppings that it’s left me weak. If it were somewhere closer, perhaps I could manage it, but Roses is so far. I’d never make it …’
Tommy tried to hide her disappointment. ‘That’s all right. Thanks anyway.’
She returned to the sword chamber and sat down with a sigh. The pigeon was right – it was a long way to Roses. Even if she squeezed through the tunnel herself, it would take her days to get there on foot, and she might arrive too late. If she had a horse, she’d ride to Roses. Though she could never get a horse through the tunnel, she reminded herself.
She dipped a rag into her pot of clove-scented oil and began to polish the blade of the thrusting sword.
But what if she could find a horse outside the castle? Then she could sneak through the tunnel, get the horse and ride to Roses. Where could she find a horse, though?
‘Bevan Brumm,’ she said, ‘when you were a merchant and you needed to hire a horse, where did you go?’
‘I would usually enquire at an inn,’ the dagger replied. ‘The innkeeper at The Twisted Tree, a mile or so into Skellibones Forest, kept horses for hire.’
‘Skellibones Forest?’ said Tommy. ‘That’s perfect!’
‘What are you thinking, Sword Girl?’ asked Jasper.
‘We can’t get a horse and rider through the tunnel, but I could go through the tunnel myself and then hire a horse at The Twisted Tree,’ Tommy explained.
‘It would be quicker if you could get a message to the innkeeper so that he could have a horse ready and waiting,’ Lil suggested.
‘But how could I get a message to—’ Tommy stopped. ‘The pigeon! He said he couldn’t make it all the way to Roses, but he could take a message to somewhere closer. He could carry a message to the innkeeper.’
The cat nodded. ‘The question is,’ she said, ‘who should write the message? It should be someone the innkeeper knows and would obey without question.’
Tommy thought for a minute, then smiled. ‘I know just the person,’ she said.
Tommy brushed at her tunic and tugged it straight, then ran across the great hall and climbed the steps to the upper floor of the south tower.
She drew in a breath as she gazed around the bower that was Lady Beatrix the Bored’s private room. Colourful tapestries hung on the walls and the big bed in the centre of the room was scattered with beautifully embroidered cushions and covers. Lady Beatrix herself was lying on the bed with her lady-in-waiting sitting on a bench beside her.
‘Sieges are terrible, Eliza,’ Lady Beatrix was saying. ‘And terribly boring, too. What will happen if Sir Walter and Sir Benedict don’t return in time to save us?’
‘I couldn’t say, my lady,’ said Eliza.
‘Excuse me, my lady,’ Tommy said from the doorway.
Lady Beatrix sat up. ‘Eliza, look – it’s the little sword girl from the armoury. The one who was my champion at the tournament last month. What are you doing here, Sword Girl?’
‘My lady, I have a plan to save the castle – but I need your help.’
‘A plan to save the castle? My dear girl, I admire your spirit, but how can a little thing like you save the castle?’
‘I’ve found a tunnel that goes under the castle walls and comes out in Skellibones Forest. If I can arrange to have a horse waiting for me, I could ride to Roses to fetch Sir Walter and the knights. Would you write a message to the innkeeper of The Twisted Tree for me, my lady, asking him to ready a horse? I’ll get the pigeon to carry the message to him.’
Lady Beatrix was staring at Tommy with her mouth open. ‘Why, Sword Girl,’ she said, ‘I beg your pardon for doubting you. I most certainly will write a message for you.’ She turned to her lady-in-waiting. ‘Eliza, fetch me some ink and paper.’
When Eliza returned, Lady Beatrix immediately began to write. When she was done she blotted the paper, folded it and fixed it with her wax seal.
‘There,’ she said, as she handed the message to Tommy. ‘I’ve outlined your plan and instructed the innkeeper to prepare a horse for the Keeper of the Blades and have it ready just before dawn, when it’s darkest.’
‘Thank you, my lady,’ Tommy said, turning for the door.
‘Sword Girl?’
Tommy stopped. ‘Yes, my lady?’
‘We don’t want you to catch a chill on your journey. Eliza, fetch one of my woollen cloaks – the dark blue one – and one of Sir Walter’s belts. She’ll need it to hold her sword while she rides. Oh, and one of my ribbons, too, Eliza; you shall be my champion again, Sword Girl.’
As Tommy hurried down the stairs, the cloak around her shoulders and the belt around her waist, she heard Lady Beatrix say, ‘Do you know what I like about that girl, Eliza? She never bores me.’
CHAPTER 6
THE SUN WAS LOW in the sky when Tommy stepped from the great hall into the courtyard.
‘Pigeon,’ she called. ‘Where are you?’
‘Here!’ a voice croaked.
Tommy traced the sound to a bedraggled pile of feathers sitting on the edge of a water trough. If anything, he looked worse than when she had seen him earlier.
‘Pigeon, are you okay?’ she asked.
The bird waved a weary wing. ‘I had to give more droppings,’ he gasped out.
‘Oh no,’ Tommy said. ‘I was hoping you’d carry an important message for me. Not to Roses – just to The Twisted Tree in Skellibones Forest. It might be our only chance to save Flamant!’
With some effort, the pigeon got to his feet and stuck out a leg. ‘If it will save the castle, I have to do it,’ he said.
Tommy tied the message to the pigeon’s leg using the ribbon Lady Beatrix had given her. She hoped the lady wouldn’t mind.
‘Don’t let any of the knights of Malice see you,’ she warned.
The pigeon was already flexing his wings, ready to depart.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘This is what I was trained for.’
Tommy watched as the pigeon rose into the sky and soared out of sight. Then she headed for the kitchen. There was one more part of the plan she had to put into place.
The kitchen was bustling with preparations for supper. A dozen kitchen girls were arranged around the long table, peeling potatoes, slicing carrots and dicing turnips. The cook was barking out instructions, but she broke off when she caught sight of Tommy in the doorway.
‘What is it now, Thomasina? I don’t have time for … what on earth are you wearing, girl?’
‘It’s a cloak,’ said Tommy.
‘I can see it’s a cloak, girl,’ the cook snapped. ‘But it’s not your cloak, is it? What I want to know is why you are wearing it.’
‘Lady Beatrix lent it to me.’
Mrs Moon’s eyes went wide. ‘Lady Beatrix? If you’re lying to me, Thomasina, I’ll twist your ear so hard it’ll come right off in my hand, so I will.’
‘Mrs Moon, I need to speak to you,’ said Tommy. ‘In privat
e.’
The cook’s face grew serious. ‘Very well,’ she said.
They stepped out into the courtyard and Tommy explained her plan.
‘So I need the key to the cellar,’ she finished.
Without a word, Mrs Moon reached into her pocket, pulled out the big iron key and gave it to Tommy. Then she put her hand on Tommy’s shoulder. ‘You’ll be needing a good supper, too,’ she said. ‘Come and I’ll give you a bowl of soup.’
It was dark when Tommy returned to the armoury. There was no sign of Smith or Reynard, but she found Lil waiting in the sword chamber.
‘I saw the pigeon in the courtyard a few minutes ago,’ the cat said.
Tommy’s heart almost stopped beating as she waited to hear what Lil said next.
‘The message was received and understood.’
Phew! Tommy sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. ‘Then all I have to do now is wait till the dead of night,’ she said.
Tommy was dozing against the wall of the sword chamber when she was woken by the touch of a paw against her cheek.
‘Tommy?’ It was Lil. ‘It’s time.’
Tommy stood up and stretched. ‘Ready, Jasper?’ she asked as she closed her hand around the sword’s narrow grip.
‘I’m ready,’ came the reply.
The sky was glowing from the fires of the invaders outside the walls, but inside the walls the great courtyard was deserted. Not everyone was asleep, though. The men of the castle lined the battlements, prepared to repel any invasion.
With Lil by her side, Tommy walked through the dark kitchen to the scullery, and unlocked the small wooden door.
Down into the cold cellar she went, carrying a candle in one hand, her sword in the other. Her heart was pounding now at the thought of what she was about to do.
In the third room under the great hall, she set her candle and sword down and pulled back the barrel that hid the opening of the tunnel.
The Siege Scare Page 2