At the Joust by Tony Davis

Author:Tony Davis [Davis, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-375-98925-4
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2011-09-12T16:00:00+00:00

“Hello, Roland; hello, Nudge,” said Sir Tobias, rubbing his right knee and talking at the speed of a flying arrow. “You’re probably wondering why I’m not practicing my footwork, sword swings or lance grips.”

“In truth,” said Roland, spitting out blades of grass, “I was daydreaming about my family.”

Nudge watched Roland pull yet more grass off his tongue, and let out what sounded like a mouse-sized giggle.

“As it turns out, I’m just catching up on my reading,” Sir Tobias said, holding up a large and weighty book and gently shaking his curly white hair. “Knights need to be studious and clever, as well as brave and strong. Although maybe, of course, I’m none of them. This is called Slay a Dragon a Day, but there’s quite a lot about lance work in here.

“Lance work is what we’ll be doing first up. So if I read this properly, when I get beaten I’ll know what I did wrong.”

Roland spat out what he hoped was the last of the greenery. “Slay a Dragon a Day? Isn’t that by Lord Urbunkum?”

“That’s right,” said Sir Tobias. “Once we thought we could get by without an expert. But as the King says—or is it the expert himself?—the time that people like us waste doing things is the time Lord Urbunkum spends studying how those things can be done better.”

Sir Tobias picked up a flute and turned his eyes back to the book. He played just a few slow notes as he read, but the melody was so pure and charming that people all around stopped what they were doing to listen.

Among those drawn to the music were Lady Mary and Jenny. “A good day to you, sir, and best of luck in the jousts,” Lady Mary said when Tobias had finished playing his little air. “I should introduce Jenny Winterbottom, newly arrived at the castle and soon to be trained as a maid. Roland is a friend of hers.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.