The Sword in the Tree by Clyde Robert Bulla

Author:Clyde Robert Bulla
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

A PROMISE

9

The fall rains passed, and the winter snows came. In the home of the herdsman, Shan and his mother were safe and warm.

Shan helped care for the herd. He took hay and water to the sheep and goats. Phebe made him goatskin clothes like Magnus’.

Every day he and Magnus went hunting. With their bows and arrows they brought down rabbits and squirrels. Once they brought down a red deer.

Sometimes Adam and the two boys cut wood for the fire. They hauled it to the house in a cart. Load after load they hauled, until there was a great pile of wood outside the door.

Shan and Magnus made wooden swords. When the day’s work was done, they played they were knights. They took Phebe’s iron pot lids for shields and fought battles in the snow.

“Some day I’m going to be a knight,” said Shan. “I’ll ride out with my sword and shield. I’ll find people in trouble and help them.”

“I’ll be a herdsman like my father,” said Magnus.

“Don’t you want to ride out and have adventures?” asked Shan.

“You and I are not alike,” said Magnus. “You were born to be a knight or a lord. I was born to work with the herds.”

“Some day,” said Shan, “I’m going back and take Weldon Castle from my uncle. Some day when I’m a knight.”

“Eh! That’s a long time to wait,” said Magnus.

“Yes,” said Shan. “A long time.”

One evening a man came to the door of the herdsman’s house. At first Shan and his mother were afraid he might be one of Lionel’s men. They drew back from the firelight so that he could not see their faces.

But the man was only a hunter who had lost his way.

As they sat by the fire, he sang songs and told stories. He had been in every part of the land, and he liked to tell of the places he had seen.

“Have you been to Camelot?” asked Adam.

“That I have,” said the hunter.

“Did you see King Arthur’s castle?” asked Adam.

“That I did,” said the hunter. “Its towers are the highest in Camelot.”

“Did you see the king?” asked Magnus.

“No,” said the hunter, “because I was not there on one of the special days.”

“Are there special days,” asked Phebe, “when people may see the king?”

“Yes,” said the hunter. “Now that the wars are over, King Arthur has more time for the people. On two special days each month he opens his doors to them. They tell him their troubles. He listens and tries to help them.”

“But is it not true,” asked Phebe, “that only those who are rich may take their troubles to the king?”

“He listens to the rich and poor alike,” said the hunter.

Shan looked at his mother. “Did you hear?” he whispered.

She did not answer.

The next day, after the hunter had gone, Shan said to his mother, “When shall we start to Camelot?”

“It is a long way,” she said, “and I am not strong.”

“Then I will go alone,” said Shan.

“All the way to Camelot? You don’t know what you are saying,” said his mother.

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