Peter was delighted with his new pets. They proved to be the most loyal and enjoyable friends a lonely scullery boy could wish for. Sir Dolenz loved to chase everything he could get his paws on, though he still refused to eat the mice he chased. He only chased things for fun. He loved to play games and make Peter laugh with his mischievous antics. He also loved to pick on Ronald and make him sneeze; Ronald soon learned to stay away from the farm yard and the cat, who always seemed to know the right time to be under his feet.
Sir Jones was the darling of the kitchen. The maids in particular thought he was adorable, and petted him and fed him to the point where Peter had to tell them to stop, or he would be fat. For his small size, Jones proved to be an effective watchdog, too. He barked at any suspicious people who came near Peter, the maids, or the kitchen, and chased wolves and feral cats from the main house.
Peter grew closest to Sir Nesmith. He’d never had his own horse before. He was a good, if inexperienced, rider. Father preferred he walk alongside him and Ronald when they went into town and seldom gave Peter the chance to practice riding. Now that he had his own horse, Peter snuck away whenever he could and went for rides. Nesmith could leap fences as gracefully as the frogs on the river bank and ride faster than any race horse. He was such a fast and efficient horse that Lord Babbitt began to send Peter more often on trips into town to buy groceries or deliver packages. Nesmith would let no one but Peter and the cat and dog ride or feed him, and he still became angry whenever Lord Henry came near.
Five months passed. King James launched an extensive search for the missing knights, but no one in Grenwicha or any of the surrounding kingdoms could find hide or hair of them. They had seemingly vanished into thin air. Princess Valerie was sure something terrible had happened to them. She was more unhappy than ever in the castle without their companionship.
“You can’t call off the search, Daddy!” Valerie wailed. “They have to be somewhere in the kingdom! I bet they’re being tortured, or worse!”
King James shook his head. “You read too much sensational fiction, Valerie. The boys are gone, and they don’t seem to be in a hurry to come back. They probably decided it was time to move on.”
Valerie shook her head. “They’re my friends and my bodyguards. They’d never leave me unless someone forced them to.”
“They’re also strong, handsome young knights. There isn’t enough excitement in this kingdom to keep them here for long.”
“Then who will be my bodyguards now?” Valerie sighed. “I hope it won’t be those old wizards who play bridge with you on Tuesdays. They’re no fun at all, and they treat me like a child.”
King James patted the place next to him on the window seat in Valerie’s tower room. “Valerie, you’re really getting too old for bodyguards. I’ve been thinking, it’s time we got you a husband.”
Valerie groaned. “Dad, we’ve been through this before. I’m not ready yet. None of the princes and nobles in this kingdom interest me. I want to marry for love, not because someone thinks I should or it’s good for the kingdom.”
“What if I held a contest?”
“I’m nobody’s prize!”
“You wouldn’t be a prize, sweetie” he said quickly. “You’d be involved, too. I would hold three tests of wit, cunning, and strength. You’ll pick the fourth test yourself and choose the winner from among all of the eligible young men in the kingdom.”
“I still think Robert, Georgie, and Davy will come back.” She sighed and gave her father a kiss. “But until they do, I’ll do your tests, Daddy.” She then turned her glance to the window as her father watched her, hoping his idea would do the trick and finally break down his daughter’s reluctance to find a suitable
Peter first heard of the contests on a trip into town. He was picking up some items Lord Henry had ordered from an apothecary shop in town run by a kindly middle-aged woman named Millie. Millie was married to the town’s blacksmith, Laurence, who made horseshoes, nails, carriage wheels, and weapons. It was said that Millie was a witch and her husband was a magician, rumors Millie only partially debunked. She and Laurence did practice magic and were quite good at it, but nothing harmful or damaging.
“Hi, Millie!” Peter said cheerfully.
Millie smiled. Peter was one of her favorite customers. He was such a sweet, gentle kid, nothing at all like his snotty younger brother. “Hi, Peter.” She ducked under the counter and brought up several brown paper-wrapped packages. “Here’s what Lord Henry ordered.”
“Thanks.” Peter pulled out a tattered leather pouch and gave her a fistful of coins.
She smiled and put the coins in her own leather purse, this one a red-yellow color that matched her hair. “Anytime, kiddo. How’s your animal buddies?”
Peter beamed. “They’re great! I taught Jones a trick. He can stand up on his back legs and do a little dance! It’s so cute! And Nesmith is getting so much better at jumping fences and dodging carriages. He makes me feel like a real knight in battle.”
“Speaking of real knights, there’s something going on at the castle that you might like.” She indicated a parchment attached to the cork bulletin board on the far side of her shop next to the door. “It would seem our king is tired of waiting for his girl’s personal knights to show up and decided to look for a real man to take care of her. They’re going to hold four trials, starting this evening. Whomever Valerie picks as winning the most trials will get her hand in marriage and half the kingdom.”
Peter wasn’t listening to Millie. He couldn’t take his eyes off the painting of Princess Valerie next to the notice. The picture depicted Valerie sitting in her tower room, dressed in a beautiful yellow gown. Her red hair was piled on top of her head, and her bright blue eyes were intense and thoughtful. *She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, a thousand times more beautiful than any of the maids at the manor,* he thought. *I wish I could win her hand and her heart.*
Millie grinned at the look on Peter’s face. He wasn’t the only one who wanted him to meet Valerie. *Wouldn’t it be a kick in the pants to that jerk Henry if the kid he hates got to marry Princess Valerie? Peter deserves her. He’s such a sweet boy, too nice to be letting Henry and that wimpy son of his push him around for the rest of his life!*
Millie went to the bulletin board and removed the pin holding the proclamation and Valerie’s picture. “Here, Peter.” She handed him the papers. “Every boy should have at least one pin-up girl in his room.”
“But Millie, these are yours!”
“I can get more. You look like you’re interested in her.”
Peter blushed. “I don’t know her! Anyway, she’s a high-born princess. I’m a scullery boy in the household of a minor nobleman. I shouldn’t even be looking at her.”
Millie shook her head. “Don’t say stuff like that, Peter. You’re a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for, you’re pretty strong physically, you play the best music in Grenwicha, and I’ve seen the way the girls in town look at you. You’d knock her stockings off!”
Peter looked at his worn boots. “They laugh at me. I never know what to say to them, like Ronald does.”
Millie snorted. “They laugh at Ronald, too, but he’s too full of himself to notice.” She shrugged. “It’s your choice, but I really think you should try that contest. What harm could it do?”
Peter looked at her picture again. “Do you think so?”
Millie nodded. “I know so. She doesn’t leave the palace much, and you don’t leave the manor much. You’re both lonely. That’s probably what this is all about in the first place. Her bodyguards disappeared, and her father wants her to be protected and have friends.”
Peter wasn’t paying attention to Millie. He was too busy gazing into Valerie’s blue eyes. Even in the picture, they had a gentle, intelligent glimmer to them, a spark unlike any Peter had ever seen in a girl. “I...maybe I will do it...” He sighed, hugging the picture as he left, barely murmuring “Bye, Millie.”
“Bye, Peter,” she told his retreating back as her husband Laurence came in from the blacksmith’s shop. He was a small man with dark hair who seemed overwhelmed by his huge, heavy apron.
“Was that Peter Tork?” Millie nodded. “Yeah. I gave him the announcement for the contests.” She chuckled. “He’s crazy about the princess. You should have seen the look on his face when he saw her picture. Poor kid broke the land-speed record for falling in love.”
Laurence sighed. “I hope this works, Mill. Do you really think the boys...”
Millie nodded. “Larry, you know as well as I do they’d never abandon Valerie like that. She was like their sister.” She stared thoughtfully at the ceiling. “It makes sense. Peter’s animal pals appeared around the same time the boys went AWOL. Henry probably wanted to force King James’ hand by getting the boys and the swords away from Valerie long enough for his son to butt in.” She smirked. “Henry won’t know what hit him when Peter shows up and kicks him and his kid in the rear!”
Larry frowned. “Does Peter know about any of this?”
Millie shook her head. “He just thinks he has very smart animal friends. He doesn’t know what they really are, and I haven’t told him my suspicions.” She took a box of jars to stock in a shelf. “I won’t tell him, either. He needs this as much as Valerie does. The way Henry and Ronald treat him is a sin. They’ve got it in his head that he’s just some dummy.” She banged the box on the table with a noisy crash. “If his mother knew...”
“Thank goodness she doesn’t.” He put an arm around his wife as she shoved jars onto a shelf. “It’ll work out, Mil. Peter and Valerie will figure things out on their own.”
“I hope so, Larry.”
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
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