Roland's Castle by Becky York Read Free Book Online

was meant to stand is meant to stand and no man’s meant to
un-stand it.” and he threw down the hammer.
    Uncle Dagarth had a fit of rage. He
leapt out of his seat and ran down to the base of the tower. “By
the stars I’ll do it myself!” he yelled, and picked up the hammer.
He swung it around his head and landed the most powerful clout that
any tower could ever have received. This time there most definitely
was a reaction. The ground shook and the skies darkened. A most
peculiar, dark cloud was gathering over the tower. It was circular
with a hole in the middle, like a doughnut, as if it were
surrounding something.
    Uncle Dagarth paused for a second
and looked up, then determination gripped him. He struck again.
This time there was a deep and aggressive rumble of thunder. Uncle
Dagarth stood back, his face creased with anger. He raised up the
hammer to strike yet again. Then a bolt of lightning hit the head
of the hammer causing it to explode. Dagarth was thrown backwards
onto his bottom. What happened next was talked of in the locality
for generations. The tower seemed to spin and buck, twisting and
turning like a colt trying to break free from a harness. More
lighting bolts were flung from the cloud right above it whilst
thunder sounded. One of the lighting bolts blasted the grandstand
to bits causing the spectators to be thrown out onto the cobbles.
They hastily picked themselves up as more bolts of lighting landed
at their feet. The bolts were very well targeted to terrify them
into fleeing for their lives and that was what they did. Dagarth
was still unsteady on his feet after being thrown backwards and as
he ran across the cobbles he tripped and went sprawling. The
impatient cloud zapped his bottom causing a shower of pretty sparks
to fly up. He was encouraged to pick himself up and move even
faster to the exit, pushing the men-at-arms out of the way as he
went, yelling “Open the gates! For goodness sake! Let me out!” The
guards at the gates hurriedly opened them and then fled themselves.
The cloud chased them all off the premises like an angry dog.
    With the cloud and its quarry gone
Roland and Savitri emerged from their hiding place. The area looked
like a battlefield. The wreck of the grandstand and the places
where the lightning bolts had blasted the earth blended in with the
ransacked castle. Despite the devastation Savitri laughed and
danced. “Whoo-hoo! You know how to throw a party don’t you! That
was good! Let’s do it again tomorrow!” and she danced around and
laughed even more. “Hurrah! They’re gone! They re gone! ”
    Roland laughed too but then he felt
a hand on his shoulder and turned his head to see Firebrace.
    “That was very stupid of them,
wasn’t it?” Firebrace said. “A little bit of rejoicing! Good! That
is right! We are rid of them for now, but they will return.” and he
sighed and said “Fear is an instant and fleeting thing. Now they
have seen the power of the tower that knowledge will overcome their
fear and draw them back. We must be ready for them! They must not
be allowed to take control again!”
    “What can we do?” Roland said.
    “We must gather our resources! We
must make plans to defend this castle.”
    “I think the tower can look after
itself!” Savitri said, looking at it in admiration.
    “Up to a point,” Firebrace said,
“against a small party, taking them by surprise. But to defend the
whole castle from an army, we must do more.”
    “But the castle is in ruins,”
Roland protested, “all the men-at-arms have fled.”
    “And good riddance too!” Firebrace
replied. “Ah! I think we have a compatriot coming to join our cause
already!”
    Firebrace indicated Oliver, who was
running through the castle gate toward them. He ran up
breathlessly. “What happened? We saw the whole kerfuffle from down
below! Your uncle ran through the village with his bum on fire and
everyone else chasing after him – is it a new sport?”
    “They have just