The Siege Scare Read Online Free Page B

feeling her way with her hands. The weight of the stone above her head seemed to press down on her in the small passage, so narrow there wasn’t even room to turn around if she should meet an enemy coming towards her in the dark. She began to breathe more quickly, and then a new fear struck her: she was deep underground and there was nowhere for fresh air to enter the tunnel!
    On and on she went, fighting off the frightening thoughts that threatened to overwhelm her. Surely she must be nearing the end of the tunnel?
    â€˜It’s taking too long,’ she said. ‘What if we were wrong? What if the tunnel doesn’t actually go anywhere?’
    Then a dim glow pierced the darkness and something brushed against her face.
    â€˜What is it?’ Jasper asked as Tommy, stifling a scream, drew back in alarm.
    â€˜I don’t know,’ Tommy whispered. She put out a hand to feel. ‘It’s leaves,’ she said excitedly. ‘Jasper, we’ve made it!’
    â€˜Careful now,’ said Jasper. ‘We don’t know what’s waiting for us out there.’
    Tommy pulled the sword from her belt and held it out as she cautiously parted the leaves. She was dreading a shout, a cry of discovery. What if the knights of Malice were in the forest, too? But all was silent.
    A road stretched ahead of her, the trees casting eerie shadows in the moonlight. Tommy had just stepped out of the shelter of the trees when a cloud floated across the moon. She began to tremble. It was a dark, moonless night, like the ones Bevan Brumm had described. What if there were bandits? She reached down to touch Jasper’s grip. She had a sword, she reminded herself, and she knew how to use it. But all the same …
    Her heart hammered in her chest as she began to run, stumbling in the dark but never slowing, till at last she saw something glowing through the trees.

    It was the inn, and there was a single lantern burning in the window.
    With a cry of relief she entered the yard.
    â€˜Sword Girl?’
    Tommy jumped, her hand flying to the sword in her belt as a quiet voice spoke in her ear.
    It was the innkeeper, and he was holding a bridle. ‘This is my own horse, Ned,’ he said, and Tommy stroked the neck of a stocky horse.
    â€˜Hello, Ned,’ she said. ‘Thank you – thank you both – for helping.’
    â€˜I hope your plan works, Sword Girl,’ the innkeeper said. ‘Or I’m afraid Flamant is doomed.’

CHAPTER 8

    T HE CLOUDS PARTED and the moon lit her way as Tommy rode through the night. She and Ned took the forest at a gallop, then followed the road east through fields and meadows, and along a winding river.
    The sun rose over the tops of the trees that lined the river and kept rising and rising until it was directly overhead. On she rode, and by the time she had her first glimpse of Roses Castle, squatting huge and grey in the middle of a plain shimmering with grasses, the sun was beginning to sink once more.

    As she drew nearer she could see the tents and viewing platforms of the tournament, but there were no knights or squires on the jousting field. The day’s competition would be over and they’d be gathering in the great hall for the evening’s feast.
    Tommy rode up to the castle gate, breathing hard from her long ride.
    A guard stepped forward to bar her way. ‘Who goes there?’
    â€˜I’m the Keeper of the Blades from Flamant Castle,’ Tommy panted. ‘I need to speak to Sir Benedict urgently.’
    The guard looked her up and down.
    â€˜All right,’ he said. ‘You may pass. I’ll have someone fetch Sir Benedict.’
    Tommy rode Ned into the great courtyard of Roses Castle. When she slid from his back she found her legs were so weak they could barely hold her. She was leaning against the stocky brown horse for support when Sir Benedict entered the courtyard at a run, Sir Walter and Sir Percy close