The Secret of the Swords Read Online Free

courtyard.
    The castle was just starting to stir, and the courtyard was coming to life. Chambermaids were gossiping as they aired their mistresses’ sheets, a groom was leading a messenger’s horse to the stables and masons were busy repairing a section of stone wall. But where was Lil?
    Tommy scanned the courtyard anxiously, at last spotting the black and white cat stretched out in a puddle of sunshine, observing the goings-on around her.

    Tommy ran over. ‘Lil,’ she said, ‘you have to help me. Please.’
    The cat turned her watchful green eyes on the sword girl. ‘What’s wrong, Tommy?’
    â€˜Someone has stolen Sir Walter’s sword,’ Tommy told her. ‘And if I don’t find it quickly, I’ll be sent back to the kitchen!’ She gulped. Maybe she’d even be forced to leave Flamant Castle!

    Lil sprang to her feet. ‘We’ll see about that.’
    We’ll see about that … The words sent a shiver down Tommy’s spine. They were the same words Reynard had used when he found out that Tommy was the new sword girl.
    â€˜Lil,’ said Tommy, ‘I think Reynard, the Keeper of the Bows, might have taken it. He wanted the job of Keeper of the Blades for himself.’
    â€˜That oaf?’ said the cat scornfully. ‘Not if I have anything to do with it.’ She lifted a paw to stroke her whiskers thoughtfully. ‘What we need is a bird’s-eye view,’ she said.
    â€˜Do you mean we should climb one of the towers?’ said Tommy. ‘It might be a bit hard to see the sword from up there.’
    â€˜That won’t be necessary,’ said Lil. ‘We’ll ask the bird’s-eye view to come to us.’ She tilted her head towards the sky. ‘Pigeon,’ she called. ‘Are you there?’
    A few moments later, there was a flutter of feathers as a plump grey pigeon landed on a flagstone beside them.
    â€˜Not so loud,’ the pigeon muttered. ‘I’m hiding.’
    â€˜Is the physician after you again?’ Lil asked as Tommy stared at the talking bird. Did every creature at the castle talk? Why had she never known this before?

    The pigeon sighed. ‘Yes, he wants my droppings for one of his potions.’ The bird stuck his chest out. ‘I am a carrier pigeon,’ he declared. ‘I carry important messages. It is insulting to be hounded for my droppings.’
    â€˜Quite,’ said Lil, and it seemed to Tommy that the cat was trying not to smile. ‘Pigeon, I know you’re a bit of a night owl,’ she continued, ‘and you like to keep an eagle – I mean a pigeon eye on the castle. I was wondering if you saw anything unusual around the armoury last night. Perhaps someone sneaking out with a sword?’
    â€˜Why, I did see someone with a sword last night,’ said the pigeon. ‘It was that nasty boy who tried to shoot me down with a slingshot last week.’
    Tommy and Lil exchanged glances. ‘That sounds like Reynard,’ Tommy said.
    â€˜Yes, yes,’ said the pigeon. ‘That’s him. Reynard. He ran out of the armoury, and I remember being glad that he was holding a sword and not a slingshot. There’s no way he could reach me with a sword, I thought. He climbed to the top of the south tower and, when the guard wasn’t looking, he threw the sword over the battlements and into the moat.’
    Tommy buried her face in her hands. ‘Not the moat,’ she moaned. ‘It’s patrolled by a crocodile. We’ll never get the sword back.’
    â€˜Actually,’ said Lil, but she was interrupted by a squawk as the pigeon abruptly took off in a flurry of feathers. The next minute, Tommy was almost knocked over when someone barged into her from behind.
    â€˜What—?’ she started. She turned to see a short round man in a brown robe. His gaze was fixed on the sky.
    â€˜It’s the physician,’ Lil said in a low