father doesnât mean me to be a squire at all? I know Grace likes me and I do hope that we will be betrothed. But my third fear is that my parents may want her to be betrothed to Serle and not to me.
My three joys. The first is to go out and about with Gatty, and Tempest and Storm. Theyâre my companions; I am their leader. My second joy is my skill with the longbow. I am the best at that, and have even beaten my father. My third joy is my reading and writing, and what I learn when I talk to Oliver and Merlin.
17
TEMPESTâS TEETH
A S I WALKED INTO THE HALL, TEMPEST CAME RUNNING out with some teeth between his teeth. They looked like a row of spikes: like the long, pointed teeth of the witch, Black Annis.
I called Tempest back and made him open his jaws, and what fell out was the comb I carved for Sian for her last birthday! I donât know where it had been hibernating, but I thanked Tempest for finding it and washed it in the moat. Then I gave the comb back to Sian and told her to use it sometimes. âOtherwise,â I said, âBlack Annis will come in the night and eat you.â
âNot just for that!â said Sian. âWould she?â
18
JUST JACK
S LIM COOKED MUTTON STEW TODAY, AND MY MOTHER complained he put too much spice into it.
âI canât taste the meat at all,â she said, âor the onions. Only the cinnamon.â
She liked the honey custard, though, and so did I. At dinner, I told everyone my Jack-words. Jack-Daw and Jack Frost, Jack-Straw. âAnd thereâs Jack-oâ-Lantern,â I said.
âThere is!â cried my mother. âAnd the uglier the better!â Then she screwed up her eyes. I should have remembered that baby Mark died on Halloweâen last year.
âGo on, Arthur,â my father said.
âThatâs all I know.â
âI know another,â my father said, âand so should you, Serle.â
âI do,â said Serle. âJack. Just jack.â
âWhat is it?â
âA kind of coat,â said Serle. âWithout any sleeves. I think jacks are made of leather, usually.â
âThey are,â said my father. âCloth or leather.â
âWith small iron plates sewn into the lining,â said Serle. âWe wouldnât wear them. Foot soldiers wear them.â
âVery good, Serle,â said my father.
19
NAIN IN ARMOR
L YING BESIDE THE HALL FIRE LAST NIGHT, I STARTED to think about the names for different pieces of armor. Then on the far side of the hall, Nain began to snore. And then I connected them:
And her shoes are connected to her shin guards,
And her shin guards are knotted to her knee joints,
And her knee joints are tied to her thigh plates,
And her thigh plates are thonged to her mail-shirt,
And her mail-shirtâs strapped to her neck flap,
And her neck flapâs fastened to her helmet,
And her helmetâs bolted to her nasal,
And her nasalâs what covers Nainâs nose!
20
OBSIDIAN
I WAS HALFWAY UP TUMBER HILL WHEN I HEARD A SHOUT and saw Merlin climbing up behind me. He has never done that before.
When we reached the top, he asked me whether I had ever thought about crossing-places.
âYou mean fords?â I said.
âFords, yes. Bridges! And the foreshore, where the ocean tries to swallow the land, and the land tries to dry up the sea.â
âIâve never seen the sea,â I said.
âYou will,â Merlin replied. âLook over there, beyond Pike Forest. Where England ends and Wales begins.â
âItâs trembling,â I said.
âExactly!â said Merlin. âBetween-places are never quite certain of themselves. Think of dusk, between day and night. Itâs blue and unsure.â
âNew Yearâs Eve is a crossing-place,â I said.
âIt is,â said Merlin. âBetween year and year. And this year, between century and century.â He snapped a piece of grass, then wrapped one hand