But for years afterward I distrusted such green-gold days, as if they might mean a cruel trick of fate. That day for a wonder the sun shone golden through the green trees. The knight wore his visor, but it was just blind luck that the squire did not see us. Later that same day I barely got Annie off the path before another knight passed by, this one with a squire riding behind him. A small distance up the trail Annie shied any horse will shy at the smell of fresh blood. He rode past, and I leaned against Annie’s solid warmth and took several deep breaths to keep from retching. At his knee, hanging by its hair, swung the severed, dripping head of what had once been a man. I noticed smears of brownish red on his shield and armor-at first I thought it was rust, but a moment later I knew better-then I had to choke back horror that would have made me cry out. He rode with his visor down, so unless he turned his head he could see only straight before him. All I could do was freeze like a rabbit, staring, and hope the knight did not look my way.
I grabbed Annie by the forelock and whispered to her, “Hurry!” But she had not hobbled much more than ten limping steps off the path when, with his chain mail jangling and the saddle leather creaking under his armored weight, the knight rode past. If I had not lamed Annie, damn my stupidity, she could have carried me swiftly into the forest and away-but as it was, we did not have much time. Thanks to his warning, when next I heard the rhythm of hooves on stone, I turned aside from the track. That rough, dirty, greedy rascal of a horse trader was a gentleman compared to what lay ahead. Springer lives in East Berlin, Pennsylvania. Her most recent series include the Tales of Rowan Hood, featuring Robin Hood’s daughter, and the Enola Holmes mysteries, starring the much younger sister of Sherlock Holmes. Field award, various Children's Choice honors and numerous ALA Best Book listings. Springer's children's books have won her two Edgar Allan Poe awards, a Carolyn W. Her novels and stories for middle-grade and young adults range from contemporary realism, mystery/crime, and fantasy to her critically acclaimed novels based on the Arthurian mythos, I AM MORDRED: A TALE OF CAMELOT and I AM MORGAN LE FAY. In a career beginning shortly after she graduated from Gettysburg College in 1970, Springer wrote for ten years in the imaginary realms of mythological fantasy, then ventured on contemporary fantasy, magical realism, and women's fiction before turning her attention to children's literature. Nancy Springer has published forty novels for adults, young adults and children.
0 kommentar(er)
