Damsel Disaster! Read Online Free PDF

pale. Sir Spencer, on the other hand, turned positively green.
    “W-whaaat?” he squeaked. “You don’t mean – c-climb up there?”
    “Of course,” said the High Steward. “This is a test of
bravery
. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of heights, Sir Spencer?”
    “This isn’t terribly
fair
, you know,” said Sir Percy. “None of us have brought any equipment. We can hardly climb up with our bare hands, can we?”
    “Of course not,” snapped the High Steward. “There’s plenty of equipment in the pavilion. You can use whatever you like as long as no other knight has chosen it. You will have one attempt only. So what you choose and how you use it will be an
excellent
test of your intelligence.”
    “Oh, that’s all right then,” said Sir Percy. “Cedric, there’s bound to bea ladder. You can hold it steady while I nip up and rescue—”
    “Wait!” said the High Steward. “Each knight must perform the challenge alone. Anyone helped by his squire will be instantly disqualified! Now, gentlemen, let’s see who’s going first. Pick a ball.”
    She took a silk pouch from her belt and held it open. Each knight put in his hand and took out a little silver ball with a number on it. Sir Roland chose the number one, Sir Spencer two and Sir Percy three.
    “Sir Roland, you’re first,” said the High Steward. “Choose your equipment.”
    “Good luck, Sir Roland,” smarmed Walter.
    “
Luck?
I don’t need luck to prove who’s the best knight around here!”
    Sir Roland went into the pavilion. He came out carrying a rope with a heavy three-pronged hook on the end.
    “This will do the job,” he said. “Stand back!”
    We all scuttled away to a safe distance as Sir Roland started to swing the hook round his head. Then, with a mighty roar, he let go of the rope. The hook hurtled to the top of the tower, caught the edge of the battlements – and stayed there.
    “Right, up we go!” laughed Sir Roland. After a quick tug to check the hook was secure, he shinned up the rope like asquirrel up a tree. We watched in awe as he reached the battlements, slung the dummy over his shoulder and shinned down the rope again at incredible speed.

    Sir Roland jumped the last few feet to the ground.
    “Hur-hur! I haven’t had this much fun since my last siege!” He laughed and flung the dummy to the floor.
    “Really, Sir Roland!” snapped the High Steward. “Is that any way to treat a
lady
? I shall bear that in mind in the event of a tie.”
    Sir Roland looked a bit sheepish.
    “Don’t worry, Sir Roland, you’re still bound to win,” said Walter. He turned to me and hissed, “I’d like to see your useless master do better than
that
, Fatbottom!”
    “Yikes,” I whispered to Patchcoat. “Walter’s right. Sir Roland’s going totake some beating!”
    “Sir Spencer,” said the High Steward. “Your turn next!”
    Sir Spencer looked frantically around as if he was trying to find a way to escape.
    “Come along, Sir Spencer!” barked the High Steward. “We haven’t got all day!”
    Sir Spencer smiled feebly and finally entered the pavilion. We heard him give a cry of surprise. A few seconds later he came out, dragging a very long ladder behind him.
    “Look what I found!” he said. “A siege ladder! You missed a trick there, Roly. Surprised you didn’t spot it! This is by far the easiest way to climb a tower, eh, Algie?”
    “Oh, well done, Sir Spencer!” beamed Algernon. “You
are
clever!”
    I was sure Sir Roland would say something rude. But to my surprise he just smiled.
    “Yeah,
really
well done, Spencer,” he said. “How very
silly
of me not to use the ladder, eh?”
    He sounded sincere – which instantly made me suspicious. Had Sir Roland done something to the ladder?
    With much grunting, Sir Spencer lifted the ladder against the tower. It reached just to the battlements.
    “Right,” he said. “Here goes!”
    He muttered something about beingfine as long as he didn’t look down. Then,