‘Good morning, Thomasina,’ the cook replied. She cut a slice of bread from a giant loaf. ‘You’ll catch flies in there if you’re not careful,’ she observed as Tommy opened her mouth wide in a yawn.
‘Excuse me,’ said Tommy, covering her mouth. ‘I woke up in the middle of the night when that messenger arrived. He must have had important news.’
‘A messenger in the middle of the night?’ Mrs Moon sounded doubtful. ‘Perhaps you dreamed it.’
When she had finished her bread and a glass of milk, Tommy hurried across the courtyard towards the armoury. Was it possible that she had dreamed the sound of a horse’s hooves? As if in answer to her question, a shrill neigh rang out, followed by another, then another. It sounded as if all the castle’s horses were in distress!
Tommy immediately ran towards the archway that would take her to the stables. She had to see if Bess was all right.
Although Bess was Sir Benedict’s horse, Tommy had been allowed to ride her regularly ever since they had competed together in a tournament.
The small courtyard outside the stables was full of horses, all looking cross. Grooms and stable boys were trying to calm them. She found Bess stamping around near the water trough.
‘Are you all right?’ Tommy asked the chestnut mare. ‘I could hear neighing from the great courtyard.’
‘It’s that bay stallion who arrived last night,’ Bess grumbled. ‘He’s a cheeky rascal. Ever since he got here he’s been nothing but trouble, nipping and wanting to play, stealing other horses’ hay. He just won’t leave us in peace. We’ve had enough.’
‘It must be the horse of the messenger I heard in the night,’ said Tommy. ‘I’ll talk to the stable master about him. Maybe he can be stabled somewhere else so that he doesn’t disturb the castle’s horses.’
Tommy found the tall, wiry stable master in the far corner of the yard. He was talking to Sir Benedict.
‘I don’t know what’s got into them,’ the stable master was saying. ‘They all just went berserk.’
‘Excuse me, sir,’ Tommy spoke up. ‘It’s the bay stallion that’s the problem. The messenger’s horse.’
Both men turned to look at Tommy, clearly surprised to see her.
‘Shouldn’t you be in the armoury, Tommy?’ the knight asked.
‘Yes, Sir Benedict. I was on my way there when I heard the horses. I wanted to make sure Bess was all right.’
‘She’s fine,’ said the stable master. ‘Not as highly strung as some of the others.’ He tilted his head in the direction of a black gelding who was bucking and kicking in the centre of a circle of stable hands. ‘But what’s this about a bay stallion? There’s no bay stallion in the stables.’
‘It’s the messenger’s horse,’ Tommy repeated. ‘The one who arrived last night.’
The stable master looked at Sir Benedict questioningly.
The knight shook his head. ‘I’m not sure what you mean, Tommy. No messenger arrived in the night. I spoke to the sentries myself not ten minutes ago and they would have reported the arrival of a stranger.’
‘Oh.’ Tommy blinked. ‘I’m sorry. I – I must have made a mistake.’
Embarrassed, Tommy walked back through the archway to the great courtyard. So Mrs Moon had been right. There had been no horse and rider in the night; it was all a dream.
Then she stopped. But if it was only a dream, what about the bay stallion Bess had mentioned?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
FRANCES WATTS was born in the medieval city of Lausanne, in Switzerland, and moved to Australia when she was three. After studying literature at university she began working as an editor. Her bestselling picture books include Kisses for Daddy and the 2008 Children’s Book Council of Australia award-winner, Parsley Rabbit’s Book about Books (both illustrated by David Legge). In 2012 she won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Children’s Fiction for Goodnight, Mice! (illustrated by Judy Watson). Frances is also the author of a series about two very unlikely superheroes, Extraordinary Ernie and Marvellous Maud, and the highly acclaimed children’s fantasy/ adventure series, the Gerander Trilogy.
Frances lives in Sydney’s inner west, and divides her time between writing and editing. Her cat doesn’t talk.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
GREGORY ROGERS has always loved art and drawing so it’s no surprise he became an illustrator. He was the first Australian to win the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal. The first of his popular wordless picture book series, The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, the Bard, was selected as one of the Ten Best Illustrated Picture Books of 2004 by the New York Times and short-listed for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award in 2005. The third book, The Hero of Little Street, won the CBCA Picture Book of the Year in 2010. Gregory loves movies and music, and is a collector of books, antiques and anything odd and unusual.
He lives in Brisbane above a bookshop cafe with his cat Sybil.
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