Teddy climbed onto the unicorn’s back. Once he was settled, Taurek handed him the bag containing the goblet. He hung it from the saddle’s pommel. The family waved to him as Fury trotted off toward the castle.
As they trotted through the town, people stopped what they were doing and cheered. Children who had played with Teddy ran after the unicorn for a while before turning back.
“I forgot to ask,” Teddy said, suddenly remembering something just as they began to canter through the fields.
“What is it, Lord Teddy?” Fury asked.
“I am to give the goblet in the name of the townspeople, but I don’t know the name of the town.”
“That is answered simply enough. The town is called Robspeillen.”
“I hope I can remember that when the time comes,” Teddy said.
“You will,” Fury replied confidently.
The day was pleasant, the sun shining, with high, puffy clouds floating past occasionally. As always, a breeze kept the weather from being too warm.
As they reached the castle, Fury did not bring Teddy to the front gates as he usually did. Instead, they went around to a side entrance with huge wooden doors. The doors were open, admitting crowds of people on foot as well as those on horseback and in carriages to the castle grounds.
The walls around the grounds were decorated in garlands, and a different flag flew from each turret. Like Teddy, everyone was dressed in the finest clothes. People greeted one another, and it didn’t matter if they were rich or poor. There was no sense of one group of people being better than another. Some were knights; some were simple townsfolk. All were welcome.
When they arrived at the point on the lawn where the festivities were to be held, Fury stopped, and Teddy dismounted. People greeted him as he walked along the path to where the royal family was seated. Some people wished him good health while others thanked him for coming.
As he reached the royal family, he knelt.
“Your Majesties,” he said, “the town of Robspeillen asked me to present this gift to the prince as a remembrance of his knighthood.”
He held out the bag with the goblet in it. The prince stepped forward and took it.
“I thank you, and I thank the people of Robspeillen,” Prince Alexander said. “Arise, Lord Teddy.”
Teddy stood, not knowing where the words he had spoken had come from.
Alexander had Teddy sit to his left side. The prince opened the bag and removed the goblet. Many gasped at its beauty.
“Such a creation is a great masterpiece. Raneesh is, indeed, a gifted craftsman.”
“You know Raneesh?” Teddy asked, surprised.
“Indeed, I do. He made my sword for me. I understand he has made another for me, a ceremonial sword, to mark this day. But Flame Biter will always be my defensive weapon.”
He passed the goblet to his parents, who examined the vessel with approval.
The prince did not open all of the gifts, and he was not expected to. He showed off a few to the awaiting crowds, pledging his gratitude to all.
Finally, it was time for the knighting ceremony. Alexander was presented with his armor, his helm and his shield bearing his coat of arms: two unicorns rampant on a field of blue facing each other, their horns crossed.
After he had been knighted, a ceremony that lasted a shorter period of time than Teddy expected, his father presented him with the new sword, which he named Peace-bringer. The crowd cheered. Teddy felt proud to be in such fine company.
Several other knights were there that day. Now that the ceremony was over, they all prepared for the jousts.
“Lord Teddy, come joust with us,” the prince said.
“I can’t. I don’t know how. Besides, I don’t have armor.”
“I’m sure we have something that will fit you. And Fury will guide you.”
At this, the king stepped in. “Nay, Alexander, I cannot allow that. I know you mean well, but you must remember Lord Teddy is from another realm, and does not know the jousts as we do. Besides, we cannot risk endangering Fury by putting him in the lists. Should anything happen to him, Lord Teddy could never return to his own realm. He is not yet of an age to make that decision.
Alexander nodded and went off to join the other knights.
“My queen and I would be delighted if you would join us to watch the joust.”
Teddy smiled. He never expected to sit with royalty for the event.
Everything that day thrilled Teddy. Watching the knights line up on horseback at opposite ends of the lists – a long, narrow field divided by a sort of fence, with the two opposing knights charging toward each other on opposite sides of the fence – Teddy wondered if they were allowed to defeat the prince. He had his answer soon enough. While Alexander won his first test, the second knight he rode against knocked him from his horse. On horseback they had used lances, but once standing on solid ground they met in a square away from the lists and fought with swords.
Teddy noticed the prince did not use the new ceremonial sword, but the one he’d been given for his 18th birthday, Flame Biter.
The prince fought valiantly, showing his excellent skill with the sword, but he was no match for the larger, stronger knight who managed to pin him to the ground at sword point.
“I yield,” Alexander said. The other knight raised his sword, turned to face the king, and saluted. Then he reached out his hand and helped the prince to his feet.
Alexander was more successful in his other encounters, and he was generous in his congratulations of other knights when they went against one another.
As the sunlight faded, the joust ended, and the feast at long last began. There had been food available during the joust: fruits, drinks and tiny sandwiches, sweets and sausage rolls and a variety of things he couldn’t identify. Still, he was ravenous by the time the feast began.
Alexander sat with Teddy and explained the various fighting techniques.
“Of course, at a joust, no one is injured beyond a few bruises, and no one is killed. It is only for sport, and everything is dulled. But it prepares us in case we should ever have to go to war. I could teach you how to use a sword if you like.”
“I would. I just don’t know how long I’ll be here.”
“The offer stands, whenever you are here.”
The revelry and feasting lasted late into the night, but finally came to an end. Teddy made plans to visit Alexander the next day for sword lessons.
“I’ll understand if you’re not here, but I hope you will be,” Alexander said.
Fury took the tired boy back to the village, where he went to bed as soon as he arrived at Taurek’s house.
Chapter 4
“Where’s Teddy?” the teacher asked Kenny.
“I don’t know. Probably went to visit the land of the unicorns.”
Several boys laughed as they returned to the classroom.
“Kenny, you’re funny,” one boy said.
“I’m just telling you what Teddy told me. He was supposed to take me, but he didn’t.”
“Do you really believe that?”
Kenny laughed. “No, but Teddy does.”
Meanwhile, Teddy awoke to find himself in the boys’ bathroom. He heard the other boys talking as they left the bathroom, and the teachers in the hall telling the students to go to their classrooms quietly. Teddy left the bathroom with the other boys, and returned to his classroom.
Mr. Bloom returned to the social studies lesson. Teddy looked at the clock and realized that only 10 minutes had passed since the sirens started ringing. This would be a long day.
When lunch time finally came, he stood in line with his classmates to buy lunch.
“Hey, Teddy, see any unicorns lately?” one boy asked. Several others laughed.
“What?” Teddy asked, pretending to be confused. “Unicorns aren’t real. Did you get hit in the head or something?”
Now the laughter turned on the boy who had made the comment.
“It’s what Kenny said,
” the boy replied.
“Well, if Kenny thinks he knows where there are unicorns, maybe he should bring one to school,” Teddy replied. Now that he knew he couldn’t bring anyone with him, he thought it best not to let anyone know about the kingdom of Blevny.
After school Kenny caught up with Teddy as they got off the bus.
“Why did you tell people I believed in unicorns?” Kenny asked Teddy.
“Why did you tell people I did? You weren’t supposed to tell anyone what I said.”
“Did you go back there?”
“How could I? I was in school. It was just a story. It just seemed very real when I dreamed it.”
“I don’t believe you,” Kenny said.
Teddy shrugged and walked to his house.
“How was your day?” his mother asked. She had arrived home a few minutes before Teddy did. He took the bus because some days she stayed later at school, and he didn’t want to have to wait there.
“It was okay. Did the tornado come near your school?” he asked.
“Yes, close. There was some damage to some of the stores nearby. I heard it didn’t get close to yours. I’m glad.”
The middle school Mrs. Lyndhurst worked in was a few miles from Teddy’s elementary school.
Mrs. Lyndhurst asked about Teddy’s teacher. He was new to the district, so she didn’t know him. Teddy thought he was all right.
Teddy had a little bit of homework, so he worked on that before dinner. When his father came home, he also asked about Teddy’s day.
“There was a tornado near our school,” Mrs. Lyndhurst said. “Fortunately, it didn’t go near the elementary school.”
I don’t like that it went near either school,” Mr. Lyndhurst said.
Mr. Lyndhurst was tall, with a slender build and light brown hair that curled if he let it get long. Teddy remembered when he was very small, his dad wore it long. Now it was short on the back and sides, and a bit longer on top. People said Teddy looked like his father. Teddy was glad because if he looked like him, maybe he acted like him, too, and most people he knew liked Mr. Lyndhurst a great deal.
Mrs. Lyndhurst was a few inches shorter than her husband, with dark hair and deep blue eyes. Normally quiet, she could make her students quake when necessary. Teddy thought his personality was probably a mix of both parents’.
“Maybe we should move,” Teddy said.
“Move? Why?” Mrs. Lyndhurst asked.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to live somewhere without tornadoes?”
“I would like that,” Mr. Lyndhurst said, “ but your mother’s and my jobs are here.”
“But there are teachers everywhere. And couldn’t you work for a different company?”
Mr. Lyndhurst worked for a company that made chemicals for other companies.
“Teddy, you can’t just quit a job and find something else. I’m the head chemist here. I grew up in this part of the world.”
“But other places don’t have tornadoes.”
“That’s true. They may have hurricanes or earthquakes instead. I like the people here, too. In other places there may be more crime, and things might be more expensive.”
Teddy looked down and sighed. His father ruffled his hair and tried to sound comforting.
“I know it’s difficult for you right now, but in a few years you’ll beg me not to change jobs and move somewhere else.”
Teddy doubted that. He couldn’t imagine ever not minding tornadoes. He didn’t just worry about what might happen to him or worry about coming home to find the house gone. He worried that something would happen to his parents and he’d have no way of knowing. They were all in different parts of town during the day. When the siren sounded, he worried because they were cut off from one another.
At least when they were home together he had the comfort of knowing they’d either survive together or they would all die. It never occurred to him that one might be fine, another injured and the third killed.
Teddy kept his fears to himself, just as he kept the realm of the unicorn, the kingdom of Blevny, to himself. He didn’t need anyone teasing him more than they already did.
Tornado season finally ended. Teddy was able to relax and not worry about what the weather would bring. Winter snow didn’t bother him. He looked forward to playing in the snow and days off from school.
School wasn’t difficult for him, and after the first few days beyond the last tornado, the other boys forgot about what Kenny had said.
Teddy continued to be a bit of a loner. He played with the other boys at times, but still preferred his books. They provided him with stories that took him to places like the ones he had seen with Fury. His friends also depended on him for help with homework.
He turned ten just before the school year ended. Several of his classmates came to his house for a party. The day was sunny and they had the party outside in his yard.
Teddy should have been happy, but some foreboding kept him from relaxing. Perhaps it was that his birthday came at the beginning of tornado season that made him uneasy. Still, the day was fine and he tried to enjoy it.
“Did you ever go back to that land with the unicorn in it?” Kenny asked when he had a moment with Teddy away from the other boys.
“I told you before, I just made it up.”
Kenny nodded, but Teddy didn’t think his friend believed him.
Although Kenny didn’t ask any more about it, his question made Teddy start to think about Fury. He wondered about the prince and what might be happening in the kingdom. As much as he wanted to go back, he didn’t want the fear that a tornado threat brought.
The summer that year was mainly hot and sunny. They seldom had rain. A few thunderstorms occurred, but the tornadoes kept to neighboring states. He wondered as he sat in the tree whether some other child visited with the prince. He thought that was probably the way things were. While he couldn’t bring a companion with him, he suspected that as long it was one child at a time, Fury could entertain others from the real world. It was a shame it took a tornado to get to Fury’s world.
As time passed and no tornadoes came, Teddy began to doubt the reality of Fury’s world. It must have been his fear and an over-active imagination, as his mother believed. Kenny thought he was a liar. Teddy didn’t know what to believe.
A year passed and a second without any significant tornado threats. Teddy’s father showed no trace of looking for a job somewhere else. By the time Teddy was 12, all thoughts of unicorns had vanished.
The idea of sword-fighting had stayed in his imagination, and his parents let him take fencing lessons. Dressed in his white fencer’s jacket and mask, holding a foil in his hand, Teddy could pretend he was a knight like the ones he’d read about in novels. While his parents had their doubts about Teddy’s athletic ability, for once he’d proven he had the speed, coordination and determination for this sport. He didn’t need to be picked for a team. He could rely on his own skill. Pitted one-on-one against another fencer, he shone.
By the time he was 13, Teddy was growing into a tall, lithe teenager. He showed the confidence his fencing skill had given him.
Teddy had always done well in school. Having a teacher for a mom didn’t hurt, either. One day in Language Arts class the teacher had asked them to write about something they enjoyed, and how they would use it as an adult. Teddy started to write about fencing. He intended to make it a story about someday fencing in the Olympics, but somehow the story had gotten away from him. He wrote about participating in a joust with his friend, Prince Alexander. What started out as a friendly competition between the prince’s companions and that of a rival prince from another country quickly became a battle for survival. Teddy and Alexander barely came out victorious.
Although Teddy didn’t think he followed his teacher’s directions very well, she was impressed.
“I see you’ve decided to tell us by showing, Teddy. Your fencing has given you ideas for stories and you’re planning on being a writer. How unique.”
&n
bsp; He was stunned. That wasn’t what he’d intended at all, but he wasn’t going to throw away a good grade by telling Miss Evans she was wrong.
Kenny caught up with Teddy after class.
“Prince Alexander was that prince in the fantasy land you went to, wasn’t he?” Kenny asked.
“What? Oh, was it? I don’t remember.”
“Have you ever gone back?”
“Ken, I told you ages ago, it was just a story.”
Kenny nodded He acted like he wanted to believe, wanted to have the chance to see Fury and the realm Ted had described to him. Teddy wished his sometime friend would just let it go.
They’d been lucky. There had been no tornadoes in their town in a few years. Neighboring towns had experienced them, but Teddy had been spared.
Good luck didn’t last forever. Two days after Teddy’s 14th birthday, the security of knowing Fury’s world wasn’t real came to an end.
All day the weather had been rainy, with wind whipping at anything not tied down. By the end of his school day the rain had stopped, but the sky continued to darken, turning an almost greenish hue.
Off in the distance the clouds looked like they were dipping to touch the ground. Teddy just wanted to get home.
When the bus stopped at his street, he breathed a sigh of relief that he wouldn’t be on the bus if anything happened. He ran to his house just as the warning siren sounded. His mother wasn’t home yet from school, so he dashed into the storm shelter alone, and locked the door behind him. He’d never been there by himself before. He’d forgotten in the tornado-free years how terrifying the funnel clouds could be. He dove into the sleeping bag as the wind rattled the locked door.
Chapter 5
The rattling quieted to a hum like a loud engine. Curious, he sat up and saw the tall, spinning cyclone several yards away. He was back!
Teddy looked around and everything looked as it had the last time he was here. He wondered idly where Fury was when he saw the unicorn come over the rise of land near the woods. If unicorns could smile, Teddy would have said Fury was smiling.
Fury: The Wind Unicorn (The Unicorn Tales Book 2) Page 4