Revenge of the Red Knight by Paul McCusker

Author:Paul McCusker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
ISBN: 9781604828672
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2011-10-25T04:00:00+00:00

The Stocks

Beth got lost in the woods.

Night came fast. The old moon was nothing more than a sliver. It was covered in clouds.

Beth sat against a pine tree. She prayed and asked God to protect her from bears. And then she fell asleep.

At dawn she woke and found a path. She followed the trail downhill and out of the forest.

Before her was a beautiful valley.

Groves of rich green trees sat like islands in square fields of brown. A flock of sheep was grazing. A group of huts with thatched roofs was off to one side. On the far end of the valley sat the castle.

“Just like the fairy tales!” Beth said out loud.

Beth followed the path through the village. A rooster crowed. Cows mooed. Only the animals were awake this early.

She saw a small wood square in the middle of the village. It had holes in it where a person’s legs would be locked down. She had seen pictures of something like it in history books. They were called stocks. They were used for punishing criminals.

The legs of two criminals were locked in the stocks.

Patrick and James!

Patrick woke when he heard Beth’s footsteps.

Beth rushed toward him. Her red vest and long white dress flapped in the wind.

“Beth!” Patrick called. “Help! Get us out of here!”

“Shh,” James said to him. “Someone will hear you.”

The stocks were held shut by hinges and a lock. A sign in front of the stocks said, “A thief’s end. Beware!”

Beth looked around. None of the villagers were close by.

“What are you doing here?” Beth asked.

“Roderick put us in the village jail,” Patrick said. “But Master Hugh wanted the people in the village to see us.”

“Master Hugh likes to scare the villagers,”

James said. “So Roderick locked us up here.”

“It looks really uncomfortable,” Beth said.

“It is!” Patrick said. “Now please get us out.”

“How?” Beth asked.

“Use something to break the lock on the side of the stocks,” Patrick said.

Beth studied the lock. “It’s made of thick metal,” she said. “I can’t break it. I’d need a crowbar.”

“Only the blacksmith has those,” James said. He shook his head. “I wish I had my knife. It would be easy to pick that lock.”

Beth smiled. She pulled the knife out of her pocket. “You mean this knife?” she asked.

James smiled and said, “I am pleased you have it. Sir Andrew gave me that knife.”

James took the knife from Beth. He reached around the side of the stocks. The thin knife tip slipped inside the lock.

James twisted the knife right. Nothing. He twisted the knife left. Nothing.

He flicked the knife back and forth.

Click.

The lock dropped off.

The boys were free. They all crept to the edge of the village. They hid behind stacks of hay.

“What have you been doing all this time?” Patrick asked.

Beth told how Sir Andrew had vanished from the secret room.

“He put on the ring when he heard Hugh coming,” Patrick said.

Then she told how she’d followed Hugh to the cottage. She told them about the treasure.

Patrick said, “Hugh is stealing the treasure and letting Albert take the blame! That’s awful!”

Beth then showed them the sack.

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