A Very Strange Knight

By Gemma Mawdsley

After the sudden death of his father, eight-year-old Bobby has to move with his mother and six-year- old sister from a house in the country to the inner city. What he first imagines as an adventure soon turns into a nightmare as he encounters the many problems of a run-down council estate. His nights are now punctuated by sound of fighting in the street and the sirens of police cars. School is also a problem as he’s the target of the bullies who unmercifully tease him about his posh accent.

When he feels he can no longer bear it a miracle happens in the form of an essay competition. The winner and a friend are to be awarded the prize of the whole month of August at an exclusive summer school in a manor house in the country.
The manor belongs to the Greyleigh Family whose ancestor, Sir Walter, was a famous Knight. His descendents set up a trust whereby twenty underprivileged children are awarded a month of luxury living based on their reason for wanting to be there, and Bobby has many reasons. So he’s delighted when he wins and sets off with his little sister on what he believes will be the adventure of a lifetime, but, like most of Bobby’s dreams this one too starts to go wrong.

The house is exactly as he imagined it to be, and the suit of armour that once belonged to Sir Walter and now standing proud in the great hall, fascinates him, but there other things within the manor that are not so nice. Even though the present Lord Richard is kind to him, the butler Mr Roberts and housekeeper Mrs Wilson willing allies, it’s the other children who make life difficult for him. The rich boys and girls, whose parents paid a fortune to send their children to this exclusive school, resent anyone unlike them and not wearing the latest in fashion and trainers. So Bobby goes from one set of bullies to another.

On his first night in the dormitory he cuddles beneath the bedcovers feeling very alone until he hears a familiar and frightening sound from deep within the house-glass breaking. Sure that there is trouble brewing; he creeps down the stairs to confront the burglar, only to encounter a more sinister and amazing sight. The would-be housebreaker has been chased away and clanking slowly along the corridor, sword raised, is the suit of armour. After a chilling start, Bobby manages to explain to the Knight that he’s not the enemy and the two begin to talk. He learns how Sir Walter so loved his home that even after his death he couldn’t bear to leave it, and now haunts the place. The two become friends and Sir Walter helps Bobby through a series of adventures and dangers, when the rich children play tricks on him and his schoolmates.

When the month is almost up and the children must return home both Bobby and Sir Walter are heartbroken, until they hear Mrs Wilson, the housekeeper, is retiring. Sir Walter tells Bobby to speak to Sir Richard about the job for his mother. When Sir Richards agrees to an interview, Bobby rings his mother, who’s delighted and promises to call next day. The following morning Bobby stands next to Sir Walter in the great hall and listens to the murmur of the adults voices in the library as his mother speaks to Sir Richard. After what seems like forever the door opens. His mother smiling and some of her lost sparkle has come back as she explains she has got the job and they’ll be living in a cottage in the grounds of the manor. She stops for a moment to speak to Sir Richard, who is a widower and, whose eyes have lost some of their sadness. But what no one notices is when Bobby slipped his hand into the glove of the suit of armour and squeezed down tight on the cold metal, the fingers squeezed back.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gemma Mawdsley
• Release date: May 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458110725

Gemma Mawdsley

Gemma Mawdsley lives in Limerick. In 2007 she was short-listed by Waterstones in their search for a new childrens' writer. She is now a full time writer.

Book preview

A Vary Strange Knight

By

Gemma Mawdsley

Copyright©2011 Gemma Mawdsley

Smashwords Edition

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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

CHAPTER ONE

Although it was well past his bedtime, Bobby was wide-awake. His room felt stifling from the midsummer heat and the breeze from the open window felt hot when it brushed his face. Bobby knew if he didn’t get to sleep soon he’d be tired the next day and unable to concentrate in school. He tossed and turned for a long time until his eyes grew heavy with sleep and he dozed off.

That was when the noise started.

It was just shouting at first; loud men’s voices raised in anger and the thudding of running feet. But soon the noise grew louder; there were screams and the sound of breaking glass. Bobby shot up in his bed and stared fearfully towards the open window. The fight seemed to be right outside his house and he tugged his quilt from the end of the bed and covered his head.

It’s all right, Bobby, he heard his mother’s whisper above the noise.

He peeped out from his hiding place in time to see her pull the window closed.

Soon be over, she promised, and sat down on the bed beside him. Someone will have called the police.

Bobby cuddled closer to his mother and listened to the wailing of the sirens coming closer and closer. Soon the flashing lights of the police cars lit the room and blue flames licked at his bedroom walls. There came the slamming of doors, more angry shouts, running feet and then, silence.

Bobby felt his mother relax.

Well, she kissed his forehead. That’s over for another night.

Bobby nodded and tried to smile, but his heart was still thumping and his pyjamas were stuck to his skin.

Would you like me to stay with you until you fall asleep? His mother asked.

No, thank you, Mummy, Bobby replied. I’m very tired.

Even in the dim light Bobby saw the shadows of sadness swooping under her eyes and he didn’t want to worry her.

All right, my pet. She kissed him and brushed back his sweat-soaked hair. I’ll see you in the morning.

Bobby pulled the quilt closer and pretended to sleep, it was only when he heard the door click shut that he opened his eyes. He was alone again in the dark and surrounded by all his fears. A door on the landing creaked shut and he knew his mother was checking on his little sister. Katie was six years old, two years younger than he, and her room was at the back of the house, so she seldom heard the noises from the street.

Just for a moment he wanted to call out to his mother, to tell her he was afraid, that he wanted to leave this place. Then he remembered the words of the grownups at his father funeral, telling him he was the man of the house now, and how he must take care of his mother and sister. Anyway he knew the reason they had to move to this awful place in the centre of town. His Mummy explained they had to sell their house in the country, because they needed the money and she would have to get a job. At first, he imagined it would be quite an adventure to live among all the houses, but he soon found out this was not the case. At home, in the old time, the only thing that kept him awake was the sound of the night animals who awoken and were searching for food; or the calling of the night owl as she wished him good night from her branch in the oak tree at the bottom of the meadow.

Bobby bit his lip and tried to hold back the tears stinging his eyes. He wouldn’t think of that time over a year ago, and he pushed the memories back down into the place inside him where all his sadness was stored. He was in charge now; he would have to be a man. Still, it was hard to be brave in a place like this. Where grownups never seemed to sleep or smile and drank beer on the street outside their houses. Where the children used words that made his mother frown and called him posh, and imitated the way he spoke. Sometimes, like the grownups, Bobby forgot how to smile, and he wished and he wished something wonderful would happen to take him away for all the noise. He was still wishing when he finally fell asleep.

CHAPTER TWO

Bobby groaned and pulled the quilt over his head. He tried to ignore his mother’s voice calling up the stairs, telling him he’d be late for school. He slid from the bed, still half asleep and landed with a bump on the floor. No matter how hard he rubbed at his eyes he couldn’t seem to wipe away the sleep. After another warning shout from below, he stumbled towards the bathroom.

You’re late. Katie rushed past him, and he could see white toothpaste staining her mouth. You’d better hurry up.

I know, I know, he muttered